Chapter 114
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Ruler of the Lake (3)
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Splash.
Was it because of the suddenly approaching autumn?
Lloyd pulled his hand from the lake water.
The water was much colder than expected.
The early morning air was no different.
‘Perfect weather for catching a cold if you’re not careful.’
After finishing washing his face, he surveyed the lake.
Capua Lake, planted squarely in the center of the Eastern Mountains.
A typical mountain lake.
But vast.
Absurdly vast.
Its winding, elongated shape made it impossible to take in the whole thing at a glance.
‘Probably about the size of Soyang Lake.’
Soyang Lake in South Korea’s Gangwon-do, spanning Chuncheon, Yanggu, and Inje.
An area of about 1,608 hectares.
A straight-line surface distance of 60 kilometers.
A winding surface distance of 120 kilometers.
A storage capacity of a staggering 2.9 billion tons—an monstrous lake.
‘This place is right around that size.’
Soyang Lake in South Korea and Capua Lake in these Eastern Mountains.
The two had quite a few subtle similarities.
For starters, neither was a natural lake.
Soyang Lake had been made by humans, while Capua Lake had been made by the magical beast King Stoma.
Which meant most of the lake’s water was blocked at a specific point—another similarity.
‘Soyang Lake’s blocking point is the Soyang River Dam, so here it’s over there.’
Lloyd’s gaze turned to the west.
His eyes were already faintly shimmering with ripples of mana.
Ding-dong.
[Using Surveying Skill.]
[Beginning scan.]
Zzzzt!
He scanned the western side of the lake with a piercing gaze.
Through the Surveying Skill, he meticulously analyzed the terrain and features there.
‘This is straight-up a real dam. If I had to compare, it feels like a rock-fill dam?’
Unlike a standard concrete gravity dam, a rock-fill dam was built by mixing abundant local materials like rocks, gravel, and sand.
And that’s exactly what King Stoma had constructed here.
‘Massive rocks and gravel on an insane scale, plus whole trees piled and woven in.’
He invoked the ‘Underground Scanning’ option of the Surveying Skill.
It let him probe the composition up to five meters below the surface.
A glimpse of the dam’s interior.
It was enough to make “impregnable fortress” spring to mind.
‘Uprooted full-grown trees stacked right on top.’
The sheer volume of trees looked to be thousands, maybe tens of thousands.
Enormous quantities of gravel, rocks, and soil packed into the framework.
Over time, soil had naturally built up on the surface.
Fresh grass and trees sprouted atop it, roots digging in. Intertwining. Making it even more solid.
At this point, it wasn’t just a dam anymore.
It was the landscape itself.
‘Dynamite wouldn’t even scratch this.’
The structure left him speechless the more he examined it.
But Lloyd wasn’t worried.
Destroying the entire dam wasn’t the goal right now.
If it collapsed carelessly, tens of billions of liters of water would come crashing down the mountain, unleashing a massive flood.
So for now, only an “extremely small portion” of the dam needed to be brought down.
‘Without compromising the overall structure.’
Precise calculations were naturally essential.
Splash! Splash!
After pulling data from around the dam with surveying, Lloyd washed his face in the lake water.
The cold water sharpened his focus as he activated the Design Skill.
To run precise simulations based on the surveying data.
Ding-dong.
[Executing Design Skill Option ③: Simulation Mode.]
[Designating terrain data loaded in the current design space as simulation target.]
Flash!
A virtual design space materialized in the air before Lloyd’s eyes.
The freshly gathered surveying data was applied.
Zzzzt!
All sorts of metrics and physical properties.
Terrain elevations and chemical compositions.
Every element integrated: points plotted in the design space, lines drawn, surfaces layered on.
Thus, a polygonal model of Capua Lake’s western terrain took shape in virtual space.
Virtually identical to the real thing.
‘Let’s begin.’
He moved his hands.
Like a guitarist arpeggiating strings. Or staccato strikes on piano keys. Glissando slides along violin strings.
His hands freely shaped the virtual design space.
Pulling points.
Stretching lines.
Rotating surfaces.
Scooping out mounds.
Prying loose boulders.
Drilling holes.
Piling up or toppling in places.
Dismantling, compacting, piercing, excavating.
Endless trials and experiments.
He tested nearly every spot on the dam blocking the lake’s west side.
He sank into total concentration.
He didn’t even notice the eyes watching him nearby.
“…….”
Haviel watched Lloyd in silence.
Lord Lloyd in that state again.
Deep in a trance.
But not meditating or lost in thought.
Eyes wide and sparkling.
Restlessly sweeping over, staring at empty air.
His hands too.
Relentless.
Thrust forward, they danced busily.
‘Is Lord Lloyd alone seeing something no one else can?’
He couldn’t conclude otherwise.
Which made it all the stranger.
‘Lord Lloyd seeing what I cannot.’
Haviel’s neat eyebrows furrowed faintly.
He’d witnessed Lloyd like this plenty of times before.
Back then, not yet a Swordmaster, senses incomplete—he’d chalked it up to missing something.
But now?
No.
‘Becoming a Swordmaster perfected my senses. Yet still nothing visible, nothing felt.’
His perception now far surpassed human limits.
If he focused, he could catch nearly every subtle sound around. Sense the energy in drifting motes of dust.
And yet, he couldn’t perceive whatever Lloyd saw.
Even side by side with Lloyd.
‘What could it be?’
Visible to Lloyd, invisible to him.
Pondering yielded no clues.
Not magic, either—no mana detected.
‘Some undiscovered special ability? Or just an odd tic from sustaining peak focus?’
Stretch.
Testing, he pinched Lloyd’s cheeks.
Stepped in front and waved his arms.
No reaction from Lloyd.
Still focused face and eyes, hands idly pawing at thin air.
‘The more I learn, the less I understand.’
Lloyd Frontera.
The young master he served.
What was this man, really?
He’d once thought he knew.
Just a reformed wastrel.
‘But now, I’m losing grasp.’
Lloyd, utterly absorbed in design.
Haviel, gazing at him.
The silver-haired knight buried the nagging doubts deep in his blue eyes.
Oblivious leaves kept drifting down, pat, pat, on his shoulders.
♣
Three days passed.
Design complete.
The dam demolition plan finalized.
“You all probably know by now. Today, here, we’ll delicately remove just a portion of the dam holding back Capua Lake.”
Lloyd addressed the 500 White Lancers.
“First, we must grasp the work’s purpose clearly. Today, we absolutely cannot collapse the whole dam. Excavate and demolish only the exact designated spots, exact amounts. That’s why you’ve spent the past days attached to the Engineering Corps—learning construction and shoveling.”
His speech flowed on.
“Some might question: if it’s just shoveling, why not bring the territory’s Engineering Corps? Wrong. Their safety couldn’t be guaranteed. From here on, they couldn’t protect themselves from King Stoma awakening due to today’s demolition. Not like you brave White Lancers.”
Lloyd’s eyes—his hand—swept over the White Lancers’ ranks.
Pointing to each one.
“I know. You’re a cut above those engineers. If King Stoma wakes and charges mid-shovel today? You’re the warriors who grip that shovel tighter and dive into battle. Anything off about my words?”
“Nothing!”
Bluntly stroking the White Lancers’ pride with honeyed hype.
The troopers’ morale crept upward.
“Right, only you could pull it off. Amateur knights? Hotshot warriors? Dream on. Who else would shovel in a death trap, rouse a colossal beast, swing away fearless? Only possible ‘cause you’re White Lancers!”
“Wooo!”
“What are you!”
“The strongest White Lancers!”
“What are White Lancers!”
“Brave! Honorable! Advance!”
“So what’re we doing today!”
“Shoveling! Brave and honorable! Advance!”
White Lancers’ pride now scraped the sky.
Lloyd hid a sly smile, hefted his shovel, pointed to the site.
“Let’s move. Squad 1, deploy!”
“Deploy!”
Demolition underway.
White Lancers, pride eclipsing fear.
Robust stamina and guts fueled relentless shoveling.
Lloyd didn’t just cheerlead.
Shovel in hand, he worked the site alongside.
The plan honed through endless simulations.
Executed to the letter.
Exact personnel counts.
Precise excavation areas per design.
Solid piling where needed.
Partial removal calibrated so lake water stayed contained, dam intact overall.
Final touch: calling Haviel.
“Alright, like I explained. See the red mark on the dam face?”
“Smash that?”
“Yeah. Blast it. Quick, clean. Exact angle. Escape fast post-blast—collapse incoming.”
“Slow escape means swept away?”
“Yeah. Duh.”
“Then Lord Lloyd saves me?”
“Why would I?”
“…….”
“I’ll handle workers’ comp instead.”
“What’s th…….”
“Annual memorials, no skipping.”
“……I’m still alive.”
“Just talk. Hurry up, deploy.”
“Sigh. Deploy.”
Haviel shook his head wearily, moved to site.
White Lancers shoveled bravely half the day.
Cleared out, site empty, breaths heaving.
Drew swords.
“Hup.”
Flash!
Gleam struck red mark.
Ground quivered faintly.
Haviel’s blade already sheathed.
Boom!
Six blasts chained off.
Exact direction, force as planned.
Pierced, churned dam’s upper reaches evenly.
Detonated.
Kwaaaang-! Rumble!
Explosion, collapse.
Controlled destruction.
Thus, first breach in King Stoma’s 300-year foundation.
Ruuuumble!
Hundreds of tons of debris tumbled down.
Vibrations rocked the full dam.
But it held.
Lake held too.
‘Done. Success.’
Lloyd fist-pumped.
Gaze to lake center.
A tiny island there.
Not truly an island, of course.
Like a beaver’s branch lodge mid-reservoir: King Stoma’s colossal central nest.
‘The beast?’
Lloyd’s nest-staring eyes betrayed impatience.
Demolition wasn’t today’s endgame.
Rouse King Stoma via demo.
Nudge the awakened king into active mode.
That was the true aim of White Lancers and shovels.
‘So quit lounging, sleepyhead, and wake up already.’
Three centuries asleep? Plenty.
Time to earn it.
Patch that dam.
Territory marks morning, night.
Hold back the eastern monster domino rush.
Lloyd gripped tight, willing it.
Dry-swallowed, nest-fixed stare.
Then—
Crack!
Nest-isle cresting lake surface.
Its crowning mighty willow twitched.
Again.
Krrrack!
Bigger shake.
Shaking, swaying, dancing.
Krzak! Crunch!
Willow toppled.
Nest-top supporting it buckled too.
Krrak! Crack!
Whole nest quaking.
Like a titan inside stirring from slumber.
Groggy stagger.
Grumbly mutter.
Raw roar.
“Beeebung-!”
World-shaking grandeur.
Yet phantasmal-species cute?
King Stoma’s bellow thundered lake-wide.