The Duke's Eldest Son Escaped to the Military
Chapter 259: Conquer the West! (2)

Translator: Pai_

If there were a demon, would it be the very being standing right in front of them?

To think what they thought was the end had merely been a warm-up!

Everyone shook their heads in denial at what had just happened to them.

But denial doesn’t erase what happened.

“From this point on, we are entering enemy territory.”

At Iron’s words, the knights swallowed nervously.

After the Holy Alliance, which had been attacking the Western Front, suffered a crushing defeat, they scattered across various regions to avoid pursuit by the Imperial Army.

Iron was aiming precisely for this situation.

“The Rangers and reconnaissance teams have already entered enemy territory. So we will attack the enemies based on the information provided by the reconnaissance teams.”

That was the essence of the operation.

They would not target the main force centered around the aerial fortress, but instead attack the scattered units acting as reconnaissance teams.

Using the knights as the main assault force to attack the enemy, and stepping in himself if necessary.

Engaging a force with a Grand Master could easily lead to annihilation for most units, and the main force was too slow to mobilize.

Moreover, Iron wasn’t moving alone, special forces, including the knights and Rangers, were moving with him, so to confront them, a corps-level force would be necessary.

“Don’t overexert yourselves trying to deal damage. This operation is the final confirmation of what we’ve been experimenting with.”

At Iron’s words, one knight raised his hand and asked a question.

“Don’t we need an external god to confirm it?”

“The most certain way, yes. But thinking about it, there might be a way to confirm it without one.”

As Iron said that, he looked toward the aerial fortress floating in the distant sky.

At first, he thought the aerial fortress merely weakened the restrictions on descent when fighting an external god. But upon closer inspection, it seemed that part of the external god’s power was embedded in the aerial fortress.

‘Well… that makes sense…’

Without something of that god embedded in it, not even the Holy Alliance could weaken the restrictions on a descending god.

That raises a question.

If that’s the case, then wouldn’t a relic containing the god’s power produce a similar effect, not just the aerial fortress?

What if the power currently enforcing strict control over the Holy Alliance is actually mental image?

If both of these questions are true, then Iron’s experiment might also be applicable.

“Couldn’t we test it with the mental image embedded in the god’s relics?”

At Iron’s words, the knights silently looked at their armor.

“There’s nothing to lose. If it doesn’t work, we’ll just move on to the next plan. So don’t feel pressured and carry out the operation.”

As Iron said this, the knights nodded with more relaxed expressions.

Having eased his subordinates’ burden, Iron began to move in earnest.

First, he raided areas estimated by the Rangers and reconnaissance teams to contain enemy forces.

Not all of them contained enemies, but in about three out of ten locations, enemies were hiding, and they were all wiped out in ambushes.

“No one was tainted by mental image.”

“I also found no one with any reaction.”

“Same for us.”

Upon hearing the reports from the returning knight orders, Iron nodded and moved on to the next area.

As they swept through the areas identified by the reconnaissance teams, eliminating the Holy Alliance’s outer forces, the sluggish main force of the Holy Alliance began to react.

“No response.”

Iron smacked his lips in disappointment at yet another fruitless day.

It could have been easy, but unfortunately, from the Imperial army's perspective, it seemed they would need an external god to test the mental image.

In the end, he decided to withdraw from the operation and return to the Western Front once the knights had all returned.

Now that the Holy Alliance’s main force had responded, if they weren’t careful, they could be surrounded and wiped out.

“Such a shame.”

Iron was deeply disappointed, as he had expected that only an external god or the Holy Alliance’s special forces would invade the territory.

He had kept his participation in the operation secret, moving covertly with the possibility of using an external god in mind.

But the Holy Alliance tried to mobilize their main force.

It was a strong indication that they had no intention of taking unnecessary risks.

“Sir… we found it!”

At the knight's urgent report, who came running, Iron's eyes widened.

“Where is it?”

“Near the hill, 10 kilometers northwest.”

“That’s the forested area.”

“Yes, sir.”

At the knight’s report, Iron frowned.

Just when he was about to give up, such a report suddenly came in.

But what was even more surprising was the knight’s follow-up report.

“But strangely, the reaction came from only one individual. So we searched his belongings and found this.”

A small ornament.

But from it, a unique form of mental image could be felt.

Not the mental image of a single god, but multiple mental images were attempting to pierce into Iron’s mind.

It felt like how three mental images tangled during the war, tormenting the Holy Alliance.

“There was no reaction.”

“Same here.”

“No response on our end either.”

From the knights who went to other areas, there was no response.

Iron then looked at the knight who said there had been a reaction and asked.

“Did that person use any special power?”

“He did use a slightly strange power. It wasn’t mana, but a different kind of force. Fortunately, with the combined assault of the knights, we were able to kill him. The strange part is, even at the end, he held his ground and tried to send a signal to the rear.”

At that report, Iron’s eyes gleamed.

Iron looked at the knight as if saying, “This is it!” and said,

“Immediately gather all forces.”

At Iron’s command, the knights hurriedly assembled at his location.

Then, without delay, they moved out at once.

After summoning even the Rangers, he had the reconnaissance team contact the Western Command Headquarters to request support for this area, and then he headed directly to the suspicious area.

After hearing the report and arriving in person, Iron could tell for sure.

He felt the power of a god.

Not only that, but mental image containing the mental images of multiple gods was faintly forming a barrier.

It was as if the power inside was being prevented from leaking out.

The problem was that such a barrier could not be easily detected without being at least Grand Master level.

High-ranking knights might be able to sense it if they were accustomed to mental image, but at the current point, that was impossible.

“We’re going in.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Iron’s command, the knights attempted to enter.

Kwaang!

Through the barrier broken by Iron, the knights entered, and the Rangers spread out around the area to scout for any reinforcements that might be coming.

“Ha! So they were hiding something like this?”

As soon as Iron entered, he clicked his tongue at the corrupted Divine Power and mental image with various mental images tangled together.

If this much power was gathered in one place, it was certainly for some purpose.

He moved quickly to find out what that purpose was.

Then he looked at the knight running ahead.

“Are you sensing anything?”

“Y-Yes. But… I think I can endure it.”

In a place teeming with such contaminated Divine Power, the knight was still managing to keep his composure.

It was thanks to the protection granted by Iron’s Power.

Seeing that, a smile formed on Iron’s lips.

Because what he had suspected was turning out to be true.

“If you feel like you can’t endure it, exit the barrier!”

Iron shouted that and quickly made his way to the heart of the forest.

The deeper he went, the stronger the mental image became.

All sorts of mental images tried to invade Iron’s mind.

“Knights, stand by here!”

In Iron’s judgment, going any deeper was too dangerous for the knights.

That was how concentrated the mental image had become.

The knights stopped advancing as ordered and instead formed a formation around the perimeter.

After confirming that, Iron entered alone.

“What exactly were they trying to do?”

Upon confirming the existence of a building, Iron went inside and discovered a massive structure.

A bizarre structure built underground.

And at its center, statues were erected, each holding strange objects.

"Sacred relics?"

Iron made that assumption as he looked toward the center of the structure.

Sticky, corrupted energy was clustered together visibly, and the mental images of various gods was flowing into that place.

Even at a glance, it was a power that seemed dangerous to humanity.

Seeing it, Iron began to draw up his strength.

‘I can’t leave that thing as it is!’

With that thought, Iron created a massive white Aura Blade.

The white Aura Blade, infused with his mental image, fused perfectly and began to annihilate the corrupted energy while destroying the statues.

Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!

With each statue destroyed, the barely maintained balance collapsed, and the corrupted energy at the center began to stir.

Seeing that, Iron quickly brought down all the remaining statues and focused all his strength on the spot where the corrupted energy was.

At some point, wings spread from Iron’s back, and the mental image and corrupted energy swirling in the surroundings began to be eradicated.

KWAANG!

With a massive explosion, the structure collapsed.

Even so, the corrupted energy managed to withstand Iron’s full-powered attack for a moment.

But only for a moment.

Under repeated attacks, the corrupted energy began to fade little by little, until the balance finally broke and it exploded completely.

Corrupted power, a mixture of purple and black light, burst in all directions, instantly destroying the hill and shooting into the sky.

The knights were nearly caught up in the massive explosion, but Iron protected the side where the knights and Rangers were with an overwhelming surge of Divine Power.

“Hoo...”

After the explosion ended, Iron looked at the origin point of the blast with an exhausted expression.

“Incredible.”

Even Iron, who had drawn out all his power, was tense from the sheer magnitude of the explosion.

Just as he was making a grim expression while observing it.

[A portion of a hidden formation has been destroyed. A new quest has been generated.]

[Sub Quest: Destroy formations for ???’s ??. The more you destroy, the higher humanity’s chance of survival becomes.]

When the system issued a quest directly, Iron looked with surprise at the spot where the suspicious structure had been.

“Formation?”

The moment Iron said that, the corrupted energy that had surged into the sky shattered and disappeared somewhere.

Iron’s eyes gleamed at the sight.

“No way…”

The Holy Alliance’s main force moving wasn’t to avoid danger.

He had mistakenly assumed they were relocating to avoid unnecessary risk.

‘They were moving to protect this place!’

The moment Iron realized that, he quickly moved back to where the knights were.

“We move immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

Just as Iron and the knights stepped out of the area where the barrier had been, a Ranger came running up in haste.

“The Holy Alliance’s main force is heading this way.”

“They say the enemy is preparing to attack the Western Front again.”

Hearing these reports from the Rangers, Iron realized that the formation he had just destroyed was far more important than he initially thought.

It might very well be a critical element that could determine the outcome of this Apocalypse storyline.

Once his thoughts reached that conclusion, Iron gave orders to the knights.

“Did you see the direction where the lights scattered earlier?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What’s the closest possible location?”

“The northwest.”

At the knight’s report, Iron gave a small nod and said,

“We continue the operation as is. I’ll buy time against the main force. You all move ahead.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Iron’s command, the Rangers and knights all bowed their heads in unison and responded.

“From the system, you probably realized, what we just destroyed seems to be important to the enemy. So… we need to interfere, don’t we?”

At Iron’s wicked smile, the knights and Rangers also curled their lips upward.

“Then let’s interfere properly!”

With that, Iron gestured for the knights and Rangers to move.

***

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