Chapter 329: The Collapse of Arcadia (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 329: The Collapse of Arcadia (4)
The battle erupted.
Tangled in a chaotic melee with the Orcs, Jairo gritted his teeth.
'At this rate, we'll all be wiped out.'
Behind them was a sheer cliff. The only path forward was blocked by Graxar.
With the Orcs overwhelming them in both sheer numbers and raw, individual strength, the scene unfolding before his eyes was incredibly bleak. Suddenly, Sebastian's warning echoed in his mind: If the operation fails, you must send the troops back alive by any means necessary. Only then could they keep the spark of hope alive until Roman Dmitry arrived in the Luna Kingdom.
'I am truly sorry...'
A belated wave of regret washed over him.
Even though he knew defending the fortress was the most logical option, he simply couldn't ignore the screams of his people dying outside the walls.
The Storage was sacred ground. Those who had stayed behind to defend the land and food blessed by Isabelle, refusing to surrender, now lay scattered across the ground—reduced to mere bone fragments. The sheer misery of the sight defied words. Staring down at the bits of flesh still clinging to those bones, Jairo had sworn to take his revenge by any means necessary.
And yet, he had failed.
Graxar was far more cunning than anyone expected. The Orc chieftain had intentionally targeted the Yeti's territory to bait Jairo into a trap.
Rumble!
Ruuuumble!
He flared his Aura. Gripping his sword so tightly that the veins in his neck bulged, Jairo roared.
"I will open a path! When I give the order, run and don't look back!"
There was no other way. He had to carve out a path in blood.
Jairo charged.
Though his feet should have sunk deep into the heavy snow, he dispersed his mana, stepping lightly across the surface to build momentum. It was an incredible display of mana control. In this snow-covered terrain, every single movement required delicate precision, and Jairo's vast experience shone brightly amidst the falling blizzard.
Swoosh!
Rumble!
His Aura exploded. As the Orcs bared their savage fangs and lunged, his brilliant white Aura sliced cleanly through their flesh.
Flash!
"Aaargh!"
A horrific scream erupted.
Jairo slashed open the chest of the first Orc to reach him, immediately severing its head to silence its cries. His footwork was light and swift. As the other Orcs rushed in to avenge their fallen comrade, he glided gracefully over the snow, ruthlessly exploiting their openings.
Slash!
Thud.
He severed arms and crushed hearts.
Though his Aura seemed on the verge of freezing in the extreme cold, he maintained just enough warmth to amplify its sharpness. The slightly frosted edge of his Aura Blade instantly froze any flesh it bit into.
"Come at me, you filthy pigs!"
Rumble!
Ruuuumble!
Jairo. The 5-Star Aura Swordsman representing the Luna Kingdom.
He exuded a truly overwhelming presence.
The falling snow didn't hinder him in the slightest as he slaughtered his enemies, staining the white ground red. He truly lived up to his reputation as the Swordsman of the Snowfields. Watching him rampage as he scattered his brilliant white Aura, the soldiers of Luna found their courage. They believed it wasn't over yet. If they just trusted and followed Jairo, they still had a chance to survive.
It was then that Graxar came into view.
Unleashing his full power, Jairo shouted to his soldiers, "Now! Run!"
He intended to buy them time. Even if he were to die here, saving as many soldiers as possible was Jairo's top priority.
Ruuuumble!
He charged. Staring down Graxar, who stood firmly blocking the path, Jairo gritted his teeth and gripped his sword with all his might. The Aura rising from his blade flared with a blinding light. It reflected off the snow on the ground, aiming to temporarily blind the Orc chieftain. This was one of the signature techniques that had earned him the title of the Swordsman of the Snowfields, and the unorthodox move successfully created a single opening.
However...
"Chwiik. What a pathetic trick."
In that instant, Jairo saw it.
Despite taking the blinding light head-on, Graxar was staring right back at him with fierce, unyielding eyes.
And above the Orc, an axe seething with Aura rose high into the air. The power exploding from the weapon was undoubtedly a 6-Star Aura—a force Jairo could not possibly withstand.
'No way...'
It was clear. Years ago, during their duel, Graxar had hidden his true strength.
As the axe came crashing down like a bolt of lightning, Jairo swung his sword with everything he had left.
Boom!
Crash!
Rumble!
That was the last thing Jairo remembered.
* * *
How long had he been unconscious?
When he finally opened his eyes, all Jairo could see was a dark cave. It wasn't completely pitch black; a sliver of moonlight filtered through a small crack in the ceiling, allowing him to dimly make out his surroundings.
"Sob... sob..."
"We're doomed. It's all over."
He saw people. They were the captives from the seventh and eighth Storages.
Having initially believed the Luna Kingdom would rescue them, they had fallen into utter despair upon seeing Jairo dragged in, battered and broken. Jairo was the representative swordsman of the Luna Kingdom. His capture by the Orcs signified more than just one man's defeat—it meant the Luna Kingdom had been utterly vanquished.
Despair was contagious.
The captives wept hysterically, trying in vain to shut out the harsh reality.
Just then, the screech of a rusty hinge echoed through the dark.
The prison door opened. It was the Orcs.
The captives flinched and quickly averted their eyes. Jairo wanted to attack them, but his legs were broken, refusing to move. The Orcs scanned the humans with twisted, hungry expressions. One of them was a high-ranking Orc serving under Graxar, a monster Jairo remembered as Kalot.
Kalot sneered. Striding forward, he grabbed a man by the hair.
Grab!
"Argh!"
"Chwiik. This one looks good today. Nice and plump. He'll taste much better than the others."
The man thrashed wildly. He clawed at the massive hand gripping his hair, trying desperately to break free, but Kalot dragged him away with brutal strength. The man's face was a mess of tears and snot. Locking eyes with Jairo, he cried out in pure desperation, "P-please! Save me, Lord Jairo!"
Only then did Jairo realize the horrific truth.
Kalot intended to use the man as food.
A sudden surge of fury washed over Jairo. Crawling along the freezing ground, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "You bastards! Take me instead! Let him go and eat me!"
He was consumed by rage and guilt.
If only he had been stronger, he could have saved these people. Instead, his reckless decision had plunged them into the abyss, and even he had been reduced to mere livestock. Jairo didn't care about his own life. The guilt burning in his chest was so agonizing that he would rather die in their place than watch them be dragged away to be eaten.
Kalot stopped in his tracks. He looked down at Jairo and smirked.
"Chwiik. Do you know why we didn't kill you? To keep the meat fresh, it's better to keep it alive than to slaughter and store it. Chwiik. So don't beg to die just yet. The day will come when we strip the flesh from your bones while you're still breathing."
With that, the iron gate screeched shut with a heavy thud.
As the man's screams faded into the distance, Jairo hung his head.
It was over.
Because of his foolish mistake, the Luna Kingdom's last spark of hope had been completely extinguished.
* * *
A few days later.
While rapidly traveling through teleport points, Caden received an urgent message from the Luna Kingdom.
[Caden. The situation here is dire. Jairo attempted a surprise raid with his forces, but they fell into an enemy trap and were completely wiped out. Jairo's current status is unknown. Graxar's Orcs are marching directly toward Luna's Fortress. At this rate, we will be attacked before you even arrive.]
Caden froze.
His face turned pale, and he exploded in sheer frustration.
"Why?! I explicitly told them not to fight!"
He was furious. It was only two weeks. If they had just waited a little longer, he would have arrived with reinforcements. But Jairo couldn't hold out and had made a fatal mistake.
He understood the reasoning. A mere thirty men wouldn't have inspired much confidence, and joining forces with the Yeti was one of the few opportunities to turn the tide. But in this world, results were all that mattered. Jairo had been missing since that day, and the fact that most of Luna's forces were either dead or captured made Caden dizzy with dread.
What was done was done. Now, they needed a solution.
'Since Luna's message was likely sent days ago, I must get to the Luna Kingdom as quickly as possible.'
The vast distance and Luna's unique environment made communication highly unstable. If they had established coordinates for a Warp Gate, communication between the two continents would have been seamless, but that was currently impossible. He couldn't check Luna's status in real-time. Thus, Caden left a desperate reply:
"Hold out by any means necessary. I will get there as fast as I can."
He cut the connection. There was truly no time to lose.
He immediately went to find Roman Dmitry. To speed up their journey, he needed Roman's help.
* * *
The journey was originally expected to take a week, calculated based on the intervals between teleport points. However, with Roman Dmitry's assistance, Caden managed to reach Arcadia in just five days.
A biting cold assaulted Caden.
The blinding blizzard and bone-chilling winds made it abundantly clear that they had entered the realm of Arcadia.
Caden spoke up. "Lord Roman Dmitry. I have a request. Could we spend just one day here training in Luna's methods before we move on?"
It was an unexpected request. When asked for his reasoning, Caden shared his honest thoughts.
"As I mentioned before, the Luna Kingdom is in a highly critical state. While we must reach Luna's Fortress as quickly as possible, the problem is that Arcadia's environment will pose a massive obstacle in battle. The deep snow will restrict your movements, and if you flare your Aura carelessly, it might freeze and shatter. Furthermore, our opponents are Orcs who have survived and thrived in Arcadia's freezing cold."
He was anxious. He wanted to set off immediately, but he couldn't send the Dmitry forces—who were entirely unaccustomed to this extreme cold—to their deaths just to save Luna.
So, he tried to persuade Roman. His original plan, had time permitted, was to let them experience the harsh cold first, then spend three to four days teaching them Luna's specialized techniques. But they didn't have that luxury now. Even a single day of crash-course training would at least prevent them from panicking in the snow when they encountered the Orcs.
However, Roman Dmitry's response was unexpected.
"Caden. I believe I told you before. We will handle Arcadia's cold on our own. Hurry your steps. If Luna's Fortress falls, the situation will become irreversible."
"But..."
"Keep this in mind. We are here to help, but the decisions are mine to make."
Caden bit his lip.
Why? Why wouldn't Roman accept his advice when he was only worrying about Dmitry's safety?
A stubborn streak flared within him. If Roman Dmitry had not yet realized the terror of Arcadia, Caden would have to show him reality.
"Understood. It takes about a day to reach Luna's Fortress from here. To shorten that time, I plan to travel at full speed from now on. If you find it too difficult to keep up, feel free to call my name at any time."
The White Flying Squirrel.
How had he earned that nickname? Because on the snow, absolutely no one could match Caden's speed. It was for this very reason that he had been chosen as a messenger.
Confident in his swift movements, he had crossed the Endless Mountains to meet Roman Dmitry.
'Once they run on the snow, they'll face reality. They'll understand what it truly means to slog through deep powder. Once they finally accept the truth, I can teach them Luna's methods.'
It was a matter of survival. He couldn't lead the ignorant Dmitry forces to their doom like this.
Caden stepped forward.
"Keep up. I will lead the way."
Whoosh!
A fierce blizzard raged. Soon, Caden and the Dmitry forces vanished into the swirling white snow.