Translator: Pai_
While Iron moved through the warp gate from the central region, the news also reached the two Family Heads.
The Family Heads, who had gone into seclusion, came out upon hearing the news that an ancient ruin had been discovered and that there could be potential danger.
At the same time, news also spread that the ruin had appeared in the contaminated desert region.
“If the Family Heads are moving… does that mean it’s dangerous?”
“Maybe…”
“They said it’s just an investigation of the ruin though?”
People murmured anxiously.
When the news broke that Iron had already headed to the ruin, people’s anxiety deepened.
They began to think, ‘If even Iron, the Supreme Commander, is moving, doesn’t that mean it’s truly dangerous?’
“Uh… what should we do?”
“We’re already busy preparing for Destruction, and now there’s a war too?”
“Ha… please… let it be nothing serious…”
Although there was still time left before Destruction, people worried whether there was yet another threat separate from that.
Amidst that situation, the confidential situation with the Eastern Continent, which had been treated as classified, was leaked by a member of the assembly.
[The Eastern Continent! Declares the Empire an Enemy]
As the news about the Eastern Continent spread, the Empire fell into chaos.
And that soon turned into rage.
“They’re brainless bastards!”
“I heard a dragonkin is their emperor?”
“That’s insane! After Destruction ends, we should conquer the Eastern Continent first!”
The enraged citizens of the Empire acted as if they were about to go to war with the Eastern Continent, but fortunately, it didn’t go that far.
They, too, were aware of the current situation.
However, the anger remained.
In a situation where Destruction was imminent, the actions of the Eastern Continent, targeting the Empire’s rear, were simply unacceptable.
While the capital of the Empire seethed with fury, the Imperial Army stationed in the contaminated desert moved swiftly.
“Loyalty! We salute the Supreme Commander!”
As all the soldiers simultaneously saluted, Iron returned the salute and entered.
Having passed through the Special Defense Forces and arrived at the Mobile Field Army’s command, Iron saw familiar faces after a long time.
They were the subordinates who had once served under him.
They saluted Iron with smiling faces.
“Faulden, it’s been a while?”
“The Divine Beasts look lively.”
Faulden looked at the Ludem and Rodem brothers with a face marked by deep dark circles.
Faulden was the only one from the Mobile Field Army whom Iron had brought to the central region.
That was because the Intelligence Unit was more useful in the central region than in this desert.
Thanks to that, unlike Faulden, who lived buried in paperwork every day, Ludem and Rodem didn’t have much hardship aside from occasional real combat.
Perhaps because of that, their skills had significantly improved, and their physiques had also become better.
While Faulden looked at them enviously, Iron tilted his head as he spotted unexpected individuals in the Mobile Field Army.
“It’s been a while.”
“Yeah. It really has, hyung.”
Caeden frowned at Iron’s greeting, while Aiden smiled warmly.
“But why are you guys here?”
“We came for live combat. The Family Head said it’s important to maintain combat senses with Destruction approaching.”
“Hmm… a good choice.”
Iron nodded.
Then he looked at Caeden.
“If even you came, I guess this place is pretty decent for training.”
At Iron’s words, Caeden silently nodded.
Certainly, there was no better place than this to maintain combat readiness.
Since battles against corrupted beings were expected, resisting contaminated mana while fighting monsters that emitted corrupted energy was more helpful than any other kind of training.
“Will you move once the Family Heads arrive?”
At Faulden’s question, Iron shook his head.
“I’ll move first.”
“I’ll assist you.”
At Saeriden’s words, Iron nodded with a faint smile.
Saeriden still possessed his characteristic psychopath-like tendencies, but at least outwardly, he now carried himself with the seriousness and demeanor of a corps commander.
Seeing this, Caeden shook his head as if he had seen something he wished he hadn’t.
“I’m no longer the commander of the Mobile Field Army. No need to be so stiff.”
“This is Commander Ariel’s order.”
At Saeriden’s response, all the commanders of the Mobile Field Army straightened their posture and bowed their heads.
“We will assist the Supreme Commander!”
When Saeriden spoke on behalf of them, Iron was silent for a moment before replying.
“…Alright.”
At Iron’s reply, the commanders of the Mobile Field Army began to move in unison.
Watching them, Iron turned his head and asked,
“Are you two staying here?”
At Iron’s question, Caeden quietly looked at Aiden.
“Silverstein will stay and wait for the Family Head to arrive. We’ll move with hyung.”
“Yes!”
At Aiden’s command, Silverstein, who was holding the position of vice-captain of the Silver Lions, bowed his head in response.
He was one of the few who survived through countless wars and continued to hold his post in Leonhardt.
As the members dispatched from Leonhardt split up and those who would move with Iron were decided, preparations to head to the ruin began immediately.
“Monster?”
As Iron mumbled while looking at a strange creature, a massive bat-like being let out a sharp screech.
Then Saeriden quickly gave orders to his subordinates.
“Move quickly! The enemies will be swarming in soon.”
At Saeriden’s order, the airship dashed through the contaminated desert at top speed.
Before long, contaminated entities charged toward the airship.
“Engage only minimally and advance!”
As Saeriden commanded, Iron quietly observed the beings through the glass of the airship.
“They look bizarre.”
Iron commented as he saw the grotesque bat-winged creatures flying toward the airship.
The monstrous beings spewing out violet poison had been so deformed that it was impossible to identify their original appearance.
Usually, monsters retain at least a trace of their original form, but the contamination level in the desert was so high that even that was impossible.
“There are more than I expected.”
“Their numbers have surged recently.”
At Iron’s question, Saeriden replied with a tired expression.
Unlike normal monsters, contaminated entities were exhausting to deal with.
Even Saeriden, who enjoyed combat, found them unpleasant.
Back in the southeastern region, Saeriden used to find the role of commander annoying, but here, he considered it a relief, this alone said everything.
“How much have their numbers increased?”
Iron asked curiously while looking at Saeriden’s weary face.
Then Saeriden spoke with a serious expression.
“They’ve multiplied several times. But the timing is strange.”
“Strange?”
“Yes. Their numbers began to increase ever since we discovered the ruin.”
“Hmm…”
At Saeriden’s words, Iron fell into deep thought with a serious expression.
“You’re saying there might be a connection between the ruin and those things?”
“Well… it’s unclear. The monsters near the ruin aren’t contaminated like these ones.”
At Saeriden’s words, Iron frowned.
“What do you mean by that?”
“They’re stone-like beings… but we haven’t figured out the details yet. What we do know is… they’re definitely not ordinary.”
Saeriden answered with a frustrated look, showing even he was unsure.
“…We’ll know when we get there.”
Iron said as he looked out the window.
The grotesque creatures had already been shredded by the attacks from the aerial fleet.
Without wasting any time after the battle ended, the Mobile Field Army moved quickly and, after flying for nearly two days, finally reached the vicinity of their destination.
“There’s fierce fighting up ahead.”
“We still have a bit more to go before reaching Commander Ariel. It seems the Special Defense Forces are currently engaged in battle.”
Along with Saeriden’s words, he began preparing forces to support the Special Defense Forces.
Bang! Bang!
With booming cannon fire, the Mobile Field Army began to move to support the heavily engaged Special Defense Forces.
As Saeriden’s 23rd Corps began providing support, the struggling Special Defense Forces quickly recovered and started wiping out the enemy.
– We greet the Supreme Commander!
“Good to see you. Where are the Commander and the 1st Corps Commander?”
– The main forces led by the Commander are at the ruin. The 1st Corps Commander’s forces are also there. We were ordered to hold the rear.
As the officer who had been ordered to guard the rear saluted Iron with a sharp posture, the airship carrying Iron immediately set off toward the ruin after a brief word of appreciation.
“That must be what Saeriden was talking about.”
They looked like gargoyle-type creatures, but their appearances were all wildly varied.
However, the closer they got to the ruin, the more unusual entities began to appear.
From beings resembling the Birdmen to spirit-like entities and even ones that looked like aliens, a variety of different lifeforms emerged.
All of them were attacking on sight, as if hostile toward humans.
“There’s a bit of corrupted energy… no, it’s slightly different from that.”
Iron stroked his chin as he analyzed the energy emitted by them.
He couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but one thing was clear, it was definitely different from corrupted energy.
As Iron was deep in thought about the lifeforms near the ruin, Saeriden’s 23rd Corps quickly advanced toward the site.
“Supreme Commander, we’ve arrived at the exterior of the ruin.”
At Saeriden’s report, Iron, who had been lost in thought, turned to look ahead.
There, at the entrance leading into the ruin, the main forces of both the Special Defense Forces and the Mobile Field Army were gathered.
They were engaged in a battle against the entities pouring out from the ruin, defending a makeshift stronghold they had established.
“Are those the guardians protecting the ruin?”
“Yes.”
At Iron’s question, Saeriden immediately responded.
Iron, who had been carefully observing the endless stream of guardians emerging from the ruin, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
“That’s…!”
Iron stared in shock at a certain object.
A tank, something that had been created in this world by people from another world.
Something resembling that tank was now moving and attacking both the Mobile Field Army and the Special Defense Forces.
The problem was the purple beam of light that was being fired from that tank.
“Is that… a mana compression cannon or something?”
Iron stared intently at it.
Just then, something fell from the sky.
Kwaaang!
Though it was blocked by the barrier the Mobile Field Army had erected, the impact was strong enough to shake the barrier violently.
“…A missile.”
Iron’s expression hardened when he saw that even missiles had appeared.
He realized this was no ordinary ruin.
‘That tank design… it was American. Which means something from Earth came through…’
With a grave expression, Iron looked at the half-destroyed tank.
Among the countless guardians pouring out, there were occasionally weapons that seemed to originate from Earth, plunging Iron deep into thought.
It wasn’t just Earth’s technology, everything coming from the ruin appeared to belong to different civilizations. Some were bizarre, others had more advanced technology than what existed on Earth.
“No wonder Ariel called so urgently.”
As Iron muttered that to himself, the enemies that had flooded out of the ruin began to withdraw one by one and disappeared inside.
The guardians vanished completely as if they had never attacked.
They could have launched a counterattack, but even that was difficult because a powerful barrier was deployed around the ruin.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
“A gate…?”
As Iron murmured, he looked around.
At some point, he had fully entered the exterior of the ruin and began to sense a strange force in the area.
‘Has the ruin and the Auzria Continent been spatially connected?’
Iron realized that two separate spaces had been artificially linked.
It was a powerful force that only someone who had reached the level of a Grand Master could detect, and it was connecting the two dimensions.
And faintly, he could also sense the power of a barrier.
He could feel the remnants of the power that had hidden this place until now.
‘Was it erased by an Outer God?’
As he stared at the ruin, he contemplated.
Whether it had been erased by an Outer God or caused by the progress of Destruction, he couldn’t be certain, but what was certain was that this was not an ordinary ruin.
It was on an entirely different level from ruins that contained remains of Archmages or vestiges from the Mythical Era.
And as if to confirm Iron’s thoughts, the mural drawn on the front entrance of the ruin served as proof.
“Is that what Ariel was talking about?”
Iron muttered as he looked at the mural on the exterior.
Depicted on it were all sorts of heroes from different civilizations, including Heurimre and Odin, whom he had fought against until now.
***
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