Chapter 300
Chapter 300
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 300
Chapter Title: Monster Horde Assault
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“No monsters in sight.”
The excitement that had driven their mad dash lasted less than half a day before fizzling out.
The endless white expanse was just that quiet—and that boring.
In this barren land devoid of monsters or even wild animals, it was quite the challenge to keep up the fun.
They had finally escaped the clutches of Banslain’s demonic beast and tasted freedom, only to find themselves with nothing to do but run...
No wonder the thrill had worn off.
“Are we seriously just gonna keep moving like this?”
“No choice. The previous subjugation force already swept through once.”
When Goo Dong-hwan grumbled, Kesuji shrugged and replied.
He looked like he’d seen it coming.
“Gonna be pretty boring.”
In two days of running, the only living thing they’d spotted was a single tiny rabbit.
No surprise it felt dull.
“We should catch up to the subjugation force in about a day. Hang in there just a bit longer.”
Kang Byung-gyu laughed and patted Goo Dong-hwan on the back.
“It’s about time ‘Search’ picks up the subjugation force’s position... Huh?”
He trailed off, tilting his head.
“Did you find something?”
Goo Dong-hwan asked at the sight.
But instead of answering, Kang Byung-gyu looked to Seo Woo-jin.
“Hey, Woo-jin. Someone’s coming this way.”
“I felt it too.”
Moments ago, he’d sensed a single person with powerful mana racing down from the south.
‘A knight?’
Nothing special about it.
The mana was plentiful, but nothing compared to him or his comrades.
Generously, it was mid-tier knight level at best.
The issue was the speed—far too fast.
It was as if the man was fleeing from something, hurtling toward them in desperate haste.
“Wait here. I’ll go check it out.”
Seo Woo-jin told his comrades and kicked off the ground.
Screeeeech—!
He crossed the space at a speed incomparable to before.
The presumed knight was still quite a distance away.
At their previous pace, it would’ve taken a couple of hours to meet.
But that distance was no obstacle for Seo Woo-jin.
Just minutes after deciding to move in earnest,
Seo Woo-jin arrived right in front of the knight in blue armor.
“S-Seo Woo-jin!”
The knight cried out in shock at the sudden appearance.
‘Something’s definitely happened...’
The knight’s state was rough.
His whole body was splattered in blood, and fear was plain on his face.
Fortunately, no visible wounds suggested it wasn’t his own blood...
“What happened?”
Seo Woo-jin asked.
“Monsters!”
A curt explanation, but enough to grasp the situation.
“How many?”
“At least fifty thousand! Could be more!”
The knight had been heading to Massive Guardian for reinforcements, so he knew the details.
‘They won’t hold out long.’
The subjugation force numbered twenty thousand.
A massive army.
But several times that in monsters?
Even Massive Guardian’s elite soldiers couldn’t last forever.
“Which way?”
At Seo Woo-jin’s question, the knight pointed urgently in one direction.
“A day’s march that way. At your speed, it won’t take long.”
“Just in case, get word to Massive Guardian. My comrades and I will head there first to help.”
“P-Please!”
The knight, pale-faced, pleaded desperately with Seo Woo-jin.
He seemed deeply worried for those left behind.
“Got it.”
Seo Woo-jin nodded and turned back.
“Woo-jin! What’s going on?”
“Huh? Who’s that?”
His comrades, who had followed, spotted the knight and widened their eyes.
Seeing his condition, they realized something serious was afoot.
“Looks like we need to hurry.”
Seo Woo-jin’s voice grew heavier.
* * *
“The left flank is breaking!”
“Send three squads to plug that gap! Block it with your bodies if you have to!”
Tens of thousands of monsters clashed with the soldiers.
Blood and flesh rained down, staining the pristine snowfield crimson.
A vision of hell.
Soldiers pierced by razor claws screamed, only to be swallowed by monster roars.
The blue-armored knights struggled at the forefront, but they alone couldn’t hold the entire line.
“Sir Oien!”
Testron, judging they could hold no longer, shouted toward the rear.
Roooar—!
An aura whiter than the northern snow blazed to life.
“In the name of the Lord God, smite all unholy abominations!”
Oien’s mighty cry shook the battlefield.
At once, the holy knights surged forward.
Slash slash slash—!
Hundreds of monster heads soared into the air.
Seizing the opening, the weary Blue Shield Knights fell back.
“Hold the line at all costs!”
The holy knights were formidable.
These were the empire’s elite, mobilized to conquer it—no weaklings among them.
They healed themselves with holy magic as they faced the monster horde.
“Blessings!”
After cleaving a nameless colossal monster in two, Oien ordered the priests waiting behind.
A gentle light descended from the heavens.
The Lord God’s Blessing, the signature holy magic of Aier priests.
Those exhausted to the brink began recovering as the light touched their bodies.
‘Not bad.’
As his overheated muscles cooled, Testron nodded faintly.
He could see why Aier was counted among the great powers amid countless kingdoms.
‘They won’t die easily.’
As long as it wasn’t an instant kill, they could keep recovering and fighting.
Testron chuckled, recalling the nickname stuck to the holy knights.
‘No wonder they’re called cockroaches.’
Their vitality was absurdly tenacious.
“Whew—”
Testron sighed while watching the holy knights fight and recovering his strength.
They were holding for now, but limits loomed.
Even holy knights and priests were human—they would tire.
They couldn’t fight forever.
The enemy numbers were beyond counting, and they were at a clear disadvantage.
‘How long?’
Until the defensive line crumbled and the massacre began.
Testron’s estimate wasn’t optimistic.
Stronger monsters were appearing too.
“Testron, that thing over there.”
James, resting in the rear like him, pointed to one side.
“Drakeas, right?”
Following James’s finger, Testron spotted a hulking ten-meter form.
A draconic monster resembling a dragon.
“Indeed.”
Testron nodded.
“We’re screwed, aren’t we?”
One wouldn’t be an issue.
Testron and James alone could handle it easily.
But Drakeas weren’t singular.
“One, two, three... Quite a few.”
Seven visible to the eye alone.
Once they reached the front, not even blessed holy knights could stop them.
James, who’d let out a hollow laugh, began loosening up.
“No more time to rest, huh?”
Testron nodded.
“Time to move.”
His stamina wasn’t fully restored yet.
Holy magic was potent, but not enough for full recovery in such short time.
Only hero level-ups could manage that.
But as James said, no time to spare.
“We need to thin out those Drakeas at least.”
If they charged en masse, casualties would be catastrophic.
Possibly a total wipeout.
They had to prepare in advance.
Testron rose with James, assembling his subordinates.
Thirty in total.
All mid-tier knights or higher, hardened veterans.
“We’re splitting off now.”
“The Drakeas?”
They were all northern battle-hardened vets.
Guessing why Testron had gathered them was simple.
“Correct. We handle them before they clash with the line.”
“But no way to approach.”
The Drakeas were still some distance off.
And between them swarmed countless monsters.
“To hit them, we’d have to punch through that...”
Even they couldn’t traverse that horde to intercept.
“I’ll ask Sir Oien for help.”
At Testron’s words, the knights pondered briefly before nodding.
“That could work.”
Oien was a top-tier knight.
Not yet at transcendent realm, but firmly in superhuman territory.
If they cleared the path and Oien took the Drakeas?
Good odds.
“We’ll need priests too.”
James suggested.
“We might make it there and handle them, but not have the stamina to return.”
Trapped in the middle meant death.
Oien might survive, but they’d be 100% goners.
Testron shook his head.
“No spare manpower to escort priests.”
Aier priests’ holy magic was incredible.
But specialized for rear support, not frontline combat.
Meaning they’d have to divert forces to protect them.
“We might fail to even reach the Drakeas.”
Testron stated flatly, and the mood sank instantly.
“Well, no choice then. Just us.”
James shrugged it off casually.
But the knights sensed it.
‘We’re dying back there.’
Testron planned to trade their lives for stopping the Drakeas.
“Heading out now?”
No panic, though.
As if they’d long known this day would come, utterly calm.
“Fetch Sir Oien. Brief him on the plan and move out.”
“Understood.”
One knight dashed to call Oien from the frontline lead.
“...Not scared?”
Testron, standing silently in wait, asked his men.
“Scared? Of what.”
James answered.
“Dying fighting monsters in the north—what’s the big deal.”
Routine.
Sending off comrades, steeling for death.
“Makes it easier thinking it’s just my turn this time, right?”
They nodded in agreement.
“For our families and brothers-in-arms!!”
Unlike Aier troops, they steeled their resolve not for the Lord God, but for their loved ones.