Emperor of Steel

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Kiiing!

The path west to the Perios road to Dris mountain.

A group of men were climbing on the mountain which had been raining.

They were the western army Gigant troops led by Duke Butler.

The western army had troops of 200 Gigants and elite riders, who were all very carefully selected, and followed by the artillery and engineers on 120 trailers.

In addition, the troops in charge of the mission were actively moving ahead.

“Hurry up! The canyon must be captured before the Emperor’s army reached!”

“Make it faster!”

The lower commanders continued to speak encouraging words to the unit.

However, the march was much harder than expected.

Although they were too many men, the path on the mountain wasn’t very wide, and the ground was mushy due to the constant rain.

As a result, it was common for the Gigants and trailers to fall because of the sludge.

The Gigants were known to be the key materials for war.

They were difficult to operate on a rainy day, however, it was the same when it came to use gunpowder, and the bows whose strings get stretchy because of moisture and the spears which will rust.

For that reason, it was common to engage in spy activities than war during the rainy season and pull negotiations between the two parties.

Nevertheless, since the Emperor had moved his army, Duke Butler too was forced to move his men.

“How long until we reach the canyon?”

“We have another 5 kilometers to go.”

“Is that so? I hope the rain will stop by then.”

Butler who looked over at the inclement, climbed up using his Hero class Gigant, Rigel.

Before closing down the hatch, the Duke suddenly frowned when he looked around.

“Vanden, why are the troops left behind?”

Just as Butler has said, pointing out to the military flag of Vanden which was pushed out in the marching.

Considering that he was the one leading it, the troops were comparatively behind.

“That, a trailer sat behind during the march. There seemed to be some trouble with the magic items, and the Gigant is being used to tow it. But we have no help in speeding it up…”

“Tch, such pathetic things! Gigant being used to drag a trailer that needs to carry a Gigant!”

The trailers were less than Gigants.

It was because they weren’t used in combats and had a simple structure, so they needed to have fewer troubles.

Nevertheless, the fact that it had broken down meant that they neglected the maintenance of it before the journey.

“You weren’t thorough enough in managing the troops. You can never get to a higher level with that poor mental state of yours.” Said Butler.

“Sorry, Sire.”

“Get assistance from the rear units. You can’t dawdle behind. Do you understand?”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Butler, who looked at Vanden with an unpleasant look, hurriedly to the front of the march once again to encourage the troops.

“Speed up! Don’t forget that our luck is based on the fight!”

Apart from Butler’s hope, he was hoping for the rain not to get stronger, and the dark clouds not to get darker due to the rain.

The rain was falling and disrupting their field view with blur and faint image.

An hour later, the western army Gigant troops made it to their target, canyon.

“Phew, we have arrived at last!”

“Go ahead and place the troops in their places!”

When the troops in the mission had entered the canyon, the riders and soldiers suffered on a mushy land took a small break.

“Oh my, to move without rest.”

Count Voltas accompanied Vanden’s troops who were chewing on beef jerky and stiff bread to soothe their hungry stomach.

In such weather, hot soup with lots of spices was the best, however, it was hard to hope for it since making a fire in the current weather would be difficult.

Marquis Vanden, who moved to him gave him tea.

“Have this.”

“Ah, where did this come from?” Asked Voltas.

“It was boiled using magic by the Iron Mage. I have never regretted walking on the path with a sword, but I feel a little envious right now.”

“Huhuhu. I am sure you do.”

Voltas was soothing himself with a warm tea and saw the scene where the engineers and wizards were doing something at the entrance of the canyon.

Vanden was also seeing the sight.

“We are prepared for the other situation too, right?”

“Of course. If the Emperor arrived first and is trying to ambush us, we will have to put ourselves out on the line and go full power.”

“Otherwise, we could cut off the road and stop their attacks.”

So the engineers buried gunpowder wrapped in oil scrim on the slopes of the ground at the entrance of the canyon.

So the entrance of the canyon will collapse, and the heat wave installed by the wizards will get activated.

A lot of rain poured in, but the gunpowder wrapped in the oil scrim could explode with a simple spark.

“But the fog is quite dense.”

“That is right. In such cases, if we did any mistake, the members of the troops will also get hurt…”

Unlike the concerned eyes of Voltas, Marquis Vanden’s lips curled up.

Whether Voltas saw it or not, he was just sipping up the hot tea.