Chapter 50
Chapter 50
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Reunion
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The joy of recognizing each other was short-lived.
The situation hadn't improved one bit.
"Kuhk...!"
Ben vomited up bright red blood.
His crushed ribs had clearly pierced a lung.
If left untreated, it was a life-threatening injury.
"Just hang in there a little longer."
Damian didn't hesitate to strip off Ben's armor.
Then he pulled out emergency medicine and first-aid tools from the pouch at his waist.
It was a situation where the most urgent fire had to be put out first.
Damian's hands moved with expert speed.
He applied medicine to the wound and wrapped it tightly with bandages.
He even repositioned the displaced bones as best he could.
"Haa, haa, huuu..."
Ben's ragged breathing gradually calmed.
The pain hadn't fully subsided, but his complexion had improved noticeably.
"...Damian."
Ben opened his mouth with difficulty.
Deep confusion swirled in his eyes.
"Why are you here...?"
It was a natural question.
Why was this guy, who had been discharged and left, back in the north?
In the middle of this living hell, no less.
"It's a long story."
Damian gave a curt reply.
Now wasn't the time to recount the past.
"Let's finish the treatment first."
At those words, Ben looked around.
Then he grabbed Damian's arm.
"...Run."
Desperation laced his voice.
"This is basically smack in the middle of enemy territory."
Ben's gaze turned toward the depths of the snowfield.
Terror filled his eyes.
"Don't try to save me again and get yourself ki—"
That was when it happened.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground trembled.
Heavy footsteps echoed from far away.
"Grroooaaar!"
A roar accompanied the emergence of the beasts.
They were kin to the yeti Damian had just hunted.
Even counting conservatively, there were over ten of them.
And they had brought their beasts, 'Saber Tigers,' with them.
"...!"
Ben's face went pale.
He hadn't expected so many.
We're done for.
Despair washed over him.
But.
"Don't worry."
Damian remained calm.
Unyielding eyes.
And a steady voice.
"I'm not here alone."
Not alone.
Though it wouldn't matter if he were.
Right then.
Thud thud thud thud!
Another vibration shook the snowfield.
This time, it wasn't the yetis' footsteps.
"Frost giants spotted ahead!"
The clear sound of hooves.
A massive force charging through the blizzard.
"...The Royal Army?"
Ben cried out in shock.
The blue hawk emblem on their banners.
The unmistakable symbol of the Coldwood Kingdom.
"Commence the hunt!"
The command from the lead officer.
At his order, knights and soldiers moved in perfect unison.
Strange, unfamiliar equipment in their hands.
What is that...?
It looked like massive harpoons.
Connected by thick iron chains with hooks.
Shwoooaa!
The cavalry hurled the harpoons in unison.
They pierced deep into the yetis' thick hides.
The yetis writhed in agony.
But only for a moment.
"Pull!"
The power of multiple warhorses yanked the chains taut.
The specially made hooks immobilized the yetis.
Experience gained from battling the ogres of the Great Jungle.
Damian watched the scene quietly.
Not an ordinary army, but a unit specialized in giant hunting.
No wasted movements in their actions.
Kwachak!
A spear pierced the bound yeti's heart.
The massive body collapsed limply.
"I'll be right back."
With first aid complete, Damian drew his sword.
He couldn't miss this opportunity.
"..."
For a while after that.
Ben watched in a daze.
His face questioning if this was a dream or reality.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
The yeti pack of over ten was wiped out that quickly.
The Royal Army, led by Damian, overwhelmed them.
"Are you alright?"
With the battle over.
Damian returned to Ben.
Something gleamed at his waist.
What is that...?
A silver badge shining brightly.
The mark proving he was a knight of the kingdom.
Only then did Ben understand the situation.
"A knight... of the kingdom?"
Ben asked in disbelief.
"Don't tell me, the reinforcements from Sobkov Territory...?"
"Yes, that's us."
Damian nodded.
As Damian Winter, knight of the kingdom.
"...The situation is more serious than I thought."
On the way to the temporary camp.
Damian spoke gravely.
"Serious? It's completely shattered."
Ben's voice carried a deep sigh.
"See that snow-covered mountain range over there?"
The massive snow mountain range forming the border between kingdom and empire.
Ben pointed toward it.
"Monsters are pouring down from up there."
Veil Territory in the north had never been prone to intense monster waves.
Unlike the Great Jungle, the monsters in the snow mountains didn't venture out.
Until this incident.
"A full-scale evacuation order has been issued, and the entire 6th Legion is helping evacuate the territory's people. But..."
Ben gave a bitter smile.
"Even that's not easy. Honestly, I don't know how much longer we can hold."
In some ways, a more hopeless war than Sobkov Territory.
Damian could see why the prince chose to reinforce the north.
"...By the way."
After a brief silence.
Ben glanced at Damian.
Awe filled his eyes.
"You've... gotten really strong."
His prowess was incomparable to when he was discharged.
He had become a completely different person.
Beyond anything I could even gauge.
Ben had grown stronger too.
After Damian left, he had awakened to mana sensitivity by sheer luck.
Thanks to that, he reached the sword user realm and became a respectable knight.
But Damian was beyond that.
Reigning from an unreachable height.
"I got lucky."
Damian replied curtly.
His usual composed demeanor.
"Always so humble."
Ben chuckled.
How much further did they walk?
"We're here."
The temporary camp came into view in the distance.
Positioned far to the rear.
Meaning the front lines had been pushed back that far.
"Oh, Sir Damian!"
The moment they arrived.
Someone rushed toward Damian.
Blinding golden hair, silver armor.
Prince Bastian Calitus.
"You made it safely."
Relief washed over his face.
Everyone was welcome.
Damian, and the kingdom's forces with him.
"Your Highness."
Damian paid his respects.
"We've been waiting. Come this way."
The prince led Damian.
Damian naturally followed.
He turned to Ben, who was returning with them.
"Get treated first. I'll see you soon."
"...Ah, sure."
Ben replied blankly.
And understandably so—the prince himself had come out to greet Damian.
Even if the first prince was polite to everyone, this was different.
What the hell happened?
Damian's back, walking shoulder-to-shoulder with the prince.
He felt somehow unfamiliar, distant. That was when.
"Squad Leader Ben! No, Sir Ben!"
A group of soldiers rushed over.
From the 6th Legion's 1st Infantry Division.
"The guy who just went in with His Highness... was that Damian? The one who served with us...?"
"...Yeah. Damian Winter."
The soldiers buzzed as Ben nodded.
"Whoa, it really is him."
"How'd he change so much?"
"He looks like a totally different person."
This went beyond jealousy.
First awe, second awe.
Nothing but awe.
"...Looks like."
Ben murmured.
"He's become something else entirely from us."
Meanwhile.
Inside the prince's tent.
Damian spoke first.
"What about Sir Gerdt...?"
"He's helping with the territory's evacuation alongside the 6th Legion commander."
The Royal Knights.
Gerdt was famous as the prince's guard knight.
Yet he was aiding civilians instead of staying by the prince's side?
"No need to waste his talents guarding just me in the rear."
Strictly speaking, this wasn't the rear either.
It was the epicenter of the monster break.
But Damian understood the intent.
"Now, shall we hear about the Sobkov Territory situation first?"
The prince changed the subject.
His eyes grew serious.
"The Great Jungle subjugation was successfully completed."
Damian began his report.
From the lord governor's death to the Double-Headed Ogre.
And the immediate subjugation of the Great Jungle.
"...The lord governor has passed."
The prince's expression darkened.
He had heard via letter, but it was still regrettable.
He had planned great things, even appointing him as Grand Marshal.
"A truly tragic loss. A great star of the kingdom has fallen."
Sincere condolences.
Damian added to him.
"The new lord governor is exceptional too, so no need for major concern."
"Ah, right—the Great Jungle subjugation was decided by the new lord governor, Lady Elena, wasn't it?"
"Yes. She even took command."
"As expected of the Sobkov family, which has produced fine knights and commanders for generations."
Sobkov Territory was in good hands for the time being.
The prince understood and asked no more.
"Then, let's talk about here."
His expression, briefly brightened by Sobkov's victory report, darkened again.
"To be frank, the situation here is far more dire than Sobkov Territory."
Dire.
Much worse than Sobkov Territory.
Damian's eyebrow twitched.
"Why is that?"
The prince looked outside the tent.
Toward the rugged snow mountains in the distance.
"First, this isn't a traditional monster wave origin."
Traditional monster wave sites like Sobkov Territory.
Northern Veil Territory fell short in many ways.
"We were unprepared, and it collapsed in an instant."
The north had specialized in guarding against the empire, not waves.
In the end, caught off guard by the sudden outbreak.
"Second, the terrain's uniqueness. Sobkov has the Spine of Sighs passage, making it a natural hotspot. But the north is different. Monsters pour from the entire vast range—no way to focus on one spot."
Monsters flooding from everywhere in the expansive mountains.
Impossible to cover every inch flawlessly.
"And finally—the most critical point."
The third reason.
The prince continued.
"The entity presumed responsible for all this has revealed itself."
The culprit behind it all.
Like the shaman king kaldaram or Grol Dash—a central figure.
In the Great Jungle, identifying it took ages.
But here, in the northern snow mountains, it was different.
"What entity?"
Damian asked.
The key question.
"This is... ironically fitting."
The prince looked troubled.
He spoke carefully.
"...Winter Elves."
"Winter Elves... you say?"
Damian got it.
Why the prince called it ironic.
The glacial sword bestowed on him recently.
Its origin: the Winter Elf tribe.
"But they vanished long ago..."
"Yes, long ago."
Or so it was said.
Apparently not.
"The problem is, the local knights, soldiers, and even the legion commander clearly witnessed them. Winter Elf knights commanding the snow mountain monsters and attacking us."
Everyone saw the same thing.
No way it was false.
Bwoooo—!
Then.
A horn signaling something blared.
"The legion commander is returning!"
A commotion outside.
"Seems the legion commander is back."
As they stepped out, a cavalry unit approached from afar.
The 6th Legion's snow leopard banner fluttering.
"It's the legion commander!"
Soldiers cheered to welcome them.
The legion commander returning from aiding evacuations, his cavalry, and even Gerdt Kan.
Exhaustion etched their faces.
"Your Highness. You're here."
"Good work. Your efforts are immense."
Even so, the 6th Legion commander, Christian Veil, dismounted immediately and paid respects.
After a brief exchange with the prince, his gaze turned to Damian.
"...Hm?"
Initial puzzlement.
But only briefly.
"You...?"
He recognized him soon enough.
A soldier once under the 6th Legion.
The conscript who racked up countless merits.