Chapter 230
Chapter: 230
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 230
>Chapter Title: Defense Battle (3)
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The Ice Wall Base has fallen!
A heavy silence fell over the group at that news.
"It's said that the attacking Glacier Trolls displayed unusual behavior. They apparently had the ability to melt into the ice of the Ice Wall and vanish. They had no choice but to abandon the Ice Wall."
"No way..."
The impregnable fortress of ice, completed over many long years by the previous Margrave, had never once allowed a single demonic beast to breach it.
Though he had considered the possibility of it being pierced, the shock Orden felt upon hearing the news was beyond words. After all, this barrier had stood firm even before he was born.
"With the entrances to the Ice Walls in that state, is the troop withdrawal proceeding smoothly?"
Seongjin, who had maintained his composure better than the frozen Orden, asked the Guard Captain on his behalf.
"Fortunately, by the Lord's order yesterday evening, they expanded the secondary Ice Wall. The retreat is progressing steadily, albeit slowly. However..."
Up to there, Sir Sebastian's gaze flicked toward a group of soldiers hurrying past.
They were each carrying tools like pickaxes, hammers, and drills, moving at a near-run. It was obvious at a glance what they were doing.
"For the primary Ice Wall, the work was still in full swing, so the troops there seem to be stuck without advancing or retreating. They're currently widening the entrances from both sides simultaneously."
It seemed Margrave Zigsmund hadn't taken Seongjin's warning lightly. Seongjin let out a sigh of relief.
"In any case, sending immediate reinforcements from the territory would be impossible."
"Yes, Your Highness. Even the retreating soldiers are barely managing to move. All we can do is hope the Wolf Knight Order left in the rear holds out."
Sir Sebastian's voice was utterly calm as he replied, even though his wife, Lady Ilma, was fighting a desperate battle in the rear.
He probably wanted to rush there alone deep down.
But with the Margrave and the Wolf Knight Order absent, the only one left to protect the territory's safety was Sir Sebastian himself.
Meeting the Guard Captain's steadfast black eyes, Seongjin thought.
'The more I look, the more I think Louise takes after her father.'
Louise.
The thought naturally drifted to her, and suddenly, a faint impression that had brushed past him like a dream while controlling Frost No. 1 resurfaced.
-Your Highness. I must go on a distant journey from which I may never return.
Had that truly been Louise's voice? There was no way to know now.
It might have simply been a hallucination born from Seongjin's intuition. When she left for the flower garden, he'd felt an odd premonition that if they parted like that, they might not meet for a long time.
'But if it really was Louise...'
She'd said she'd just confirm what the flower garden was and come right back, so why did she suddenly have to go somewhere?
What on earth had she seen there?
'...No!'
Seongjin shook his head vigorously, reining in his wandering thoughts.
'Louise can take care of herself. Right now, I need to focus on solving the territory's immediate problems!'
Seongjin looked around to clear his mind.
"Are those the fourth wave of troops scheduled to depart today?"
"Yes, Your Highness. Upon hearing of the base's fall and the retreat, we decided to establish a new defensive line here. Since it's unfamiliar territory, they could use some guidance."
As the Guard Captain said, the hastily conscripted soldiers were forming a textbook defensive formation under the instructions of a few veterans.
Having grown accustomed to fighting relying on the Ice Wall for so long, facing demonic beasts on flat ground was practically a first for them.
Some troops were sporadically building low log palisades, while others shoveled away ice and snow diligently. Probably because they'd heard the Glacier Trolls could fuse with ice.
Still, preparations to meet the enemy were progressing steadily under Sir Sebastian's command. Seongjin's role in this situation was clear.
"Young Lord. Pull yourself together."
Seongjin patted the shoulder of Orden, who was still wrapped in shock.
"We can use Frost No. 1 to expand the Ice Wall in one go. That'll speed up the troop withdrawal significantly. Once that's done, we'll immediately support the Wolf Knight Order in the rear."
"Your Highness..."
"The Wolf Knight Order must have decided to abandon the Ice Wall to fight them where there's no ice. As long as they stay away from the Ice Wall, they're just ordinary Glacier Trolls."
Sir Sebastian looked at Seongjin with a surprised expression from the side.
What? Why? If you'd figured it out too, you should've told this guy earlier, right? He's just standing there dumbfounded, thinking the world has ended.
"Moreover, even though it fell to the enemy, it's not easy for them to completely demolish that thick tertiary Ice Wall. It's not a volume of ice a few Glacier Trolls can handle."
"You mean..."
"Even if they make a hole, it'll only be partial. The massive Lycanthrope army won't come pouring over the Ice Wall into the territory all at once."
At that explanation, light slowly returned to Orden's eyes.
"Yes, that's right. Just as Your Highness says!"
"If you get it, then move quickly!"
The red-haired Inquisitor, who had been watching from the side, smiled and waved.
"Then, I'll stay here and tend to the wounded retreating soldiers. May the Lord's blessings be with you two on your grave mission! Please return safely."
Of course, before he could take a few steps, Seongjin grabbed him by the scruff and dragged him along.
"Where do you think you're going? Spokesperson for the Inquisition. You need to serve as proof that our Frost No. 1 is harmless."
"...Please spare me, Your Highness."
* * *
Before the Ice Wall Base fell.
The Wolf Knight Order, facing Glacier Trolls on the snowfield, had initially been handling them smoothly in group formations.
In particular, old man Vincent, who had returned to the battlefield after a long time, flew across it as if he had wings.
Thwack! Thwack! Crack!
The old man's sword aura slashed chunks off the ice monsters' bodies with powerful strikes.
Uwoooo—
The Glacier Troll, writhing as it rapidly lost its ice, eventually exposed its heart defenselessly and collapsed onto the snowfield. Then, with a single stroke, its heart shattered, and it fell silent.
"Come at me! Wahahaha!"
The old man's booming laughter echoed across the snowfield.
In that way, they quickly reduced the number of Glacier Trolls. Soon, seven out of thirty were completely incapacitated, and the remaining ice monsters were being handled without the Wolf Knight Order yielding much ground.
So they paid no mind even when one Glacier Troll approached the Ice Wall.
It was a massive ice wall over four times their height. At its base, it was a thick barrier at least fifteen meters wide. No matter how much those things pounded, they'd barely scratch it.
The anomaly happened then.
Craaaack.
The Glacier Troll that touched the wall merged with the Ice Wall and froze solid.
Vincent, who had guarded the demon realm's border for decades, had never seen anything like it.
"Eh?"
As the old man's eyes widened in surprise, Lady Ilma ran toward him, shouting.
"Sir Vincent! It seems there's a reason the Lycanthropes are using Glacier Trolls in front! What if they're clustering together on the Ice Wall to form a bridge to climb over?!"
"What?"
The bewildered old man soon burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! Even so, it's pointless! Just cut them all down before they can cluster properly!"
Having frozen in place, they made nice, stationary targets, didn't they?
"I'll slice straight to their hearts!"
Thus, the Decaron Knight's sharp sword aura mercilessly shredded the frozen Glacier Troll.
The giant shapes clinging to the wall were all severed, and the Ice Wall's surface quickly regained its smooth appearance.
However—
"...Gone?"
The ice heart that should have been inside the creature's body was nowhere to be seen.
Ruuuuumble—
A small vibration occurred then.
"...What?"
In the midst of the battlefield with massive demonic beasts rampaging, it could have been dismissed as nothing.
'No way?'
The Decaron Knight's sensitive aura sense detected that the vibration originated from deep within the Ice Wall.
Then, a Glacier Troll raced past the old man and splatted against the wall again.
Craaack.
The startled Decaron Knight hurriedly slashed the giant, but once more, no heart was found in its body.
"What in the world..."
And one more. Another one.
While the old man and the Wolf Knight Order were flustered, gaps formed in their defense, allowing a few more ice monsters to freeze onto the Ice Wall.
Even when they rushed over and cut them down, the ice hearts were still missing. As if they'd completely melted into the ice.
"No way...!"
Lady Ilma gasped, a chilling hypothesis dawning on her. If those things had fully melted into the Ice Wall...
And regrettably, her ominous imagination soon became reality.
Rumble rumble rumble.
As if the top of the Ice Wall were shaking, a massive Glacier Troll suddenly rose up on top of it.
Uwoooo—
In the too-sudden crisis, soldiers standing dazed were swept off the Ice Wall like leaves by the ice monster's wildly swinging arm.
What awaited them was the ice sheet forty meters below.
"Aaaah!"
"Aaah!"
Thud thud thud.
To evade the demonic beast prowling atop the Ice Wall, soldiers rushed to the ladders.
But as people haphazardly clung to the ladders, the unbalanced ones toppled over with the soldiers, crashing to the ground.
Splat! Thud!
The gruesome sounds of something breaking echoed one after another.
Boom! Thud boom!
The vibrations from the ice wall were also intensifying. Now, every member of the Wolf Knight Order on the snowfield could feel them.
Awooooo—
To make matters worse, long howls rang out one after another from the distant chip-leaf woods. The Lycanthrope units that had been holding back until now began moving all at once.
It was a nightmare.
'Ice... The ice that had always been our strongest defense is now the greatest threat!'
Lady Ilma's decision was swift.
"Sir Vincent! My Lord! We must move the troops to a place without an Ice Wall! Somewhere with absolutely no large ice they can hide in!'
After losing ropes and pulleys, the Wolf Knight Order had barely climbed the Ice Wall on their own to reach the base interior. Now, with nothing holding them back, the Glacier Trolls crossed the snowfield freely, slamming their bodies against the Ice Wall.
Boom! Thud!
Following the ones prowling atop, ice monsters began appearing one by one inside the base as well.
The Wolf Knight Order swarmed them and dispatched them quickly, but the other Glacier Trolls that caught on clung to the Ice Wall again to hide. Then reappeared in completely unexpected places.
A few more hapless soldiers became sacrifices to the ice monster's fists.
'We could hold out by feeding in troops, but this way, the pointless casualties are too high!'
The Margrave also reached a quick conclusion. It would be far more advantageous to retreat and lure them to the rear.
But even retreat was no easy task.
They had widened the Ice Wall entrance all night, but it was still far too narrow for over 700 troops to move quickly.
While arduously fending off the elusive Glacier Trolls for a long time to support the stalled retreat, unbelievable news reached them.
"My Lord! The primary and secondary Ice Walls have completely collapsed!"
...What? How?
And soon, they confirmed the answer with their own eyes.
Thud boom thud boom!
A massive Glacier Troll boldly appeared in the narrow retreat path leading to the secondary Ice Wall.
"Aaah! Glacier Troll attacking! From the territory side!"
"Did the territory fall? A diversion!?"
And then.
"No!"
"It's friendly! Fall back now!"
Familiar voices explained for them.
"...Young Lord?"
"His Highness too?"
A person riding a Glacier Troll? It was an unbelievable sight even seeing it plainly.
The Glacier Troll that thundered into the base soon obediently crouched down and extended its arms to the ground. It was clearly a careful motion to let its passengers dismount safely.
"Am I dreaming right now...?"
Old man Vincent muttered with a dazed expression.
Whoosh.
Prince Mores, leaping down from atop the ice monster with an angry face, stormed toward him yelling.
"You slow old fogey!"
"...What did you say?"
For an old man revered his whole life as a Decaron Knight and imperial legend, it was the rudest remark he'd ever heard.
"This brat, a mere prince, dares...!"
But Seongjin barked back at the indignant old man.
"You gonna keep dawdling? We need to catch the one controlling these things first! Why's a Decaron Knight doing something this stupid?"
"What...?"
As the old man's eyes bulged at the unexpected words, the prince, exasperated, pointed to one side of the cliffs surrounding the base.
"You really don't get it?"
"......!"
Only then did the old man open his eyes wide.
Atop the cliff the prince pointed to. In the dense shadows of the thicket.
The Decaron Knight, whose aura sense could detect demons without holy power, instantly pinpointed the suspicious presence now that he had a cue.
That ominous, wicked feeling.
Just like that of a demonkin.
"...How in the world?"
The young prince knew of a presence even he hadn't detected.
The young prince then commanded the Decaron Knight firmly, his entire body wrapped in an intangible pressure that made resistance impossible.
"What are you hesitating for? Capture that bastard right now!"