Emperor of Steel

Chapter 670: Battle in Pamire Mountains 2

The Pamire Mountains to the northwest of Symphonia Kingdom.

It was a path that had to be taken to enter the Symphonia Kingdom’s territory.

There was a path from where wagons could come in and go, but it wasn’t that wide. Also, it was a windy road, so it took a lot of time for one to travel on that path.

Moreover, the northwestern border was crowded with monsters, so there weren’t many traders, and thanks to that, the maintenance of the road was hardly done.

“Damn! This is difficult!”

Lenuk, who was leading the monster legion of 100,000 monsters under Arsene’s orders, burst into anger.

It was because it took a lot more time than what he expected to move on that narrow land with blowing winds.

Above all, the problem was that their procession was as long as a thin thread.

As the brainwashing magic only worked in a certain range, it was common for those outside the range to go crazy.

In the western wasteland, Lenuk and around 100 warlocks were enough to control them, but marching on the road ended up being a whole new challenge for them.

As a result, Lenuk was forced to ask Arsene for additional help.

Fortunately, he did send in reinforcements, but in the process of their arrival, the march got delayed.

And that meant giving some time for the Symphonia army to prepare.

He was worried about what would happen if the enemy brought in a huge army, but fortunately, the spies didn’t see such a thing.

Obviously, if there was any movement, the spies would have reported it right away.

“It means that the pirates are doing a very great job? Margareta, that one seems to be doing a good job.”

Although she seemed like a pathetic girl who was working for her own ambition, she went away on one word from his ancestor and did a very great task.

She was able to move the naval nation like a puppet in her hand without much effort.

‘But things are going to be difficult because now that bitch’s merit would increase…’

The new era, which was supposed to come, should only be enjoyed by people from the Veritas Magic Tower.

He thought that a woman shouldn’t be given such a position, especially for a woman who dressed like she was in heat all the time.

It was when Lenuk was in his thoughts, the advancements of the monsters stopped.

‘What is it?’

He immediately connected to the other warlocks in the lead through magic communication.

“Why did you stop? Is the road broken or something?”

-The road is blocked by something like a landslide… We are trying to clean it up.

“Ah, hurry up! It will be hard for us if we get delayed any further!”

Perhaps, as the road wasn’t maintained, there could be cases where the mountain collapsed on the road and ended up blocking the path.

Every time such things happened, they couldn’t help but waste time, but Lenuk was annoyed because the monsters that had to be used to kill the enemy were being used for such tasks.

Kung!

Somewhere, it felt like a noise of something hitting the ground could be heard, and soon afterward, he heard the screams of the monsters.

“What? Did something happen again?”

Lenuk looked to the distance where dust was rising and called the man who was ahead.

In the crystal ball, his subordinate warlocks that were covered in dust appeared.

“What happened?”

-That, the stones and rocks on the side of the hills suddenly fell.

Hundreds of monsters, including trolls and ogres, were crushed beneath the rocks.

-Someone deliberately did this. I can smell gunpowder…

Kuak!

An arrow from somewhere came in and hit the neck of the warlock who was reporting.

“N-no!”

Shocked, Lenuk hurriedly called the other subordinate through magic communication, but the call didn’t connect at all.

“No way, this can’t be an enemy ambush, right?”

When looking at the point from where the arrow flew in, he thought that whoever it was had to be good at mountain climbing and an elite.

‘There can’t be a lot of them. Their number might not exceed a thousand. But if they are elites, then they might be able to inflict huge damage,’ Lenuk thought while being drenched in sweat.

Even if the monsters were 100,000 in number, if they were attacked in the rear, they would suffer great damage.

Most of all, if the warlocks died, the monsters who were under their control would run lose and inflict more damage to the other monsters.

‘The collapsing road and the landslides must be one of their tricks, trying to delay our advance. I can’t play the game they intend to play.’

Lenuk ordered his subordinate warlocks to hurry up and clear the chaos and select monsters such as orcs or kobolds, who could run on the mountain, to track down those who were trying to ambush them.

But he couldn’t have ever imagined.

The fact that his given instruction was already in the enemy’s plan.

“They started scattering the power and searched the mountains.”

At the scout’s report, Scarlet, who was commanding the special troops, nodded and gave orders.

“Nice, erase the traces as much as possible and hurry to the third point. Build up a trap that will stop their pursuit.”

“Yes, commander!”

Two months ago, Scarlet, who turned into a Bow Master, came to Verange Castle with the 1st squad led by Marquis Rogers.

Originally, she was in charge of observing and reporting enemy troops that she could spot, but then the operation was changed along the way, and it turned into a special unit for war.

In the process, the troops were reinforced and formed separately into 1,000 elite troops.

The troops had more fairies than humans. In particular, there were many elves and lycans.

They were all flying, riding the mountain, and good at handling bows and explosives.

“Captain, we have finished up cleaning the area and installing the traps.”

“Okay, go right away.”

Scarlet and her special troops moved through the mountain like snakes.

They then saw a group of monsters climbing from the bottom.

Since the distance was quite far, the monsters couldn’t see the special troops yet.

However, for Scarlet and the other fairies, the monsters were clearly visible. Scarlet, who was an archer, had exceptional eyesight.

‘Orcs and kobolds are mostly easy.’

Scarlet paid attention to a human in a gray robe, who was accompanied by orcs.

A wizard that seemed to be controlling the monsters.

Scarlet didn’t even know that her opponent was a warlock, but she clearly recognized that they were the targets she had to remove.

‘With a little more, I’ll reach the place where the trap is installed. And…’

Scarlet pulled the string of the bow in her hand.

The bow she was currently using was a special Horn Bow made from Yemaek, and she received it as a gift from Hwang Bo-sung, who came back from the Southern Continent.

Its size was smaller than the bow of the Rhodesia Continent, but the elasticity of the string was very strong and using it was a lot difficult.

Still, it was worth the trouble.

It had almost twice the range of a normal bow, and the power it had was greater than her previous bow.

Puck!

When she released her arrow…

Pop! Pop!

Kiik!

The leading orcs were caught up in the explosion. It got caught in a trap that the special troops had set up before withdrawing.

The moment the warlocks shouted and tried to stop the advancing monsters, Scarlet readied her bow.

Piing! Swoosh!

The arrow broke through the wind and flew for the warlocks.

The warlock, who heard the sound, laughed. It was because he anticipated the attack in advance and was ready with shield magic.

However, the arrow pierced his shield as if it was a sheet of paper, and it struck his eye.

“Kuak! This… This is such…”

A Bow Master’s skill, the Yemaek Bow, which was famous in the Southern Continent.

Among them, it was made by the best master that had the ability to enhance the power, but the dying warlock didn’t know that.

After a while, the warlock’s magic, which controlled the monsters, disappeared upon his death.

Kiiik!

Kik! Kiik! Kiiik!

Scarlet’s special troops hurried into the third point while the orcs, gnomes, and kobolds went rampant after waking from their slumber.