Chapter 297 – Back (3)

"I'm relieved. I'm glad you and I are on the same page, commander."

Adin started to smile.

'I hope you fall down and break your back, you bastard!'

Cale's mind was boiling. However, he didn't let it show on his face. His gaze then turned toward the golems.

"Y, young master-nim. I, I've never seen such disgusting things in m, my life."

The usually smooth talking Hilsman was stuttering. He could not hide his fear.

The golems were not moving.
There were just thirty black human-like things that were 10 – 15 meters in height standing there and putting pressure on people.

They were scary and disgusting.

Vice Captain Hilsman looked toward his allies. Crown prince Valentino could not hide his shock while Cale was not saying anything.

'…Choi Han, Mary, and Miss Rosalyn.'

Hilsman thought about his allies in Maple Castle.

Mary could not show herself.
Rosalyn had to lead the mages.
Choi Han could not use his aura.

Would they be able to survive fighting against these golems with their restrictions?
Hilsman was getting scared.

'He can't even use his shield!'

Would the mages be able to stop the golems as they slammed on Maple Castle's walls with their large hands and feet?
Even if they could defend against it, they probably wouldn't be able to attack back.

'If young master Cale-nim's shield was there… Then they would at least be able to defend!'

Vice Captain Hilsman bit down on his lips.
It was at that moment.

"Vice Tower Master."
"Yes, your highness."

Imperial Prince Adin called Vice Tower Master Metelona who immediately started to speak.

"Everybody step back!"

Vice Tower Master Metelona's voice echoed throughout the base.

Step back.
Make way for the golems.
No, run.
Run if you don't want to be stomped to death by the golems.

Creeeeeeeea-k.
The large-bodied golems slowly started to walk.

B- oooooom-

Just their walking made the ground start to shake.
The Empire's forces and the nobles could not hide their astonishment as they quickly moved as far away as possible from the gate of the dirt wall.

"Commander, can you get up?"
"That much is doable, your highness."

Cale wiped his mouth that had stopped bleeding before standing up. Hilsman quickly supported him.

'The pressure is even worse watching them walk toward you.'

Cale pretended to be hurting as he moved away from the center of the dirt wall.
His eyes were quickly moving.

'Most of them don't know about golems.'

It was possible that only the royal family and the Alchemists' Bell Tower knew about the golems.

Baaaaaang!

Loud noises could be heard as the golems destroyed the gate and the dirt wall around it. They could not fit through the gate.
The dirt wall that was close to ten meters tall allowed Cale to clearly see the side of the golems as they walked by.

'There are the controllers.'

There was a seat for the controller on the golem's shoulder.
Alchemists were sitting inside half-transparent glass domes.

"Young master-nim, they seem to be the contro-"

Hilsman who was urgently speaking to Cale in a low voice suddenly stopped talking. He could see the look in Cale's eyes.
Contrary to the shocked crown prince Valentino, Cale's gaze was the same as usual. Hilsman was able to tell because he had served Cale for a long time.

It was a calm and collected look.
Cale was more rational and calmer than ever before.
He also didn't seem like he had given up.

Hilsman started to calm down as well.
Cale was observing the golems that were walking by him to the battlefield.

He was looking for something.
It was something that should exist if it was like any other golem that appeared in fantasy novels.

'Where is the core?'

The golem's core.
It was the golems' weakness and the easiest way to destroy it.
Cale was looking for that.
He lifted his head and looked at the sky.

Imperial Prince Adin was observing Cale.

'He seems to be shocked.'

The fact that Cale was looking at the empty sky and not at the golems let Adin feel that Cale was extremely shocked and astonished even though he had a calm expression on his face.

– Human!

However, Cale was looking for something invisible in the sky.

The golem's cores.
It was the being that would be able to quickly find the hidden cores.
Raon Miru.

– Human, are you looking for the orb that is the source of the golem's powers by chance?

'I knew it! Our Raon Miru is great and mighty!'

Cale stealthily nodded his head. He made it look like he was admiring the golem's strength.
Of course, Cale and Raon were looking for the golems' weakness.

– Human, they are all located in different spots! One is in the arm, one is by the heart. They are all different!

'They used their brains.'

That was what Cale was thinking.
Now they would need to try multiple times per golem in order to find the golem's core.

'But we have Raon.'

We have a damn Dragon.
Our Dragon was better than a ghost at tracing the source of power.
Cale's mind started to calculate things as he finally saw a way out.

It was at that moment.

– Human, but something is weird about those orbs.

'What? Weird?'

Cale hesitated.
What was there that Raon would call weird?
Cale suddenly had a question.

'…What is the golem's core made of?'

What was making the golems move?

– Human, it is not mana or magic stones.

'Yes, I expected that much.'

Cale thought about something else.

'Is it dead mana?'

However, Raon's answer told Cale he was wrong.

– …It is different than dead mana as well. There's something else in there with it.

'Something else along with dead mana?'

Cale started to frown.

All living beings eventually die.
Dead mana comes out of them upon their death.
That was just another side of nature.

However, that core had something else in addition to that.

– It's depressing.

Raon's voice filled his mind.
Raon was talking about the thing that was mixed in with the dead mana.

– I can sense anger, sorrow, and grudge inside of it. They're shouting! I can hear them! There are all sorts of things intermingled inside the orb!

Raon's voice was slowly getting louder.
The young Dragon was able to feel the things inside the orb better the more he inspected it.

– Human! This is terrible, this is so sad!

The things inside the dead mana.

– … I heard the voices of children! N, no! I hear all sorts of voices inside the small golems.

Cale started to frown.

'…Perhaps?'

He quickly recalled the Alchemists' Bell Tower's past.

The Alchemists' Bell Tower had gathered children from the slums 15 years ago to experiment on and kill.
They also gathered slaves throughout the Western continent to experiment on after that.

What was the Alchemists' Bell Tower experimenting on and what were they trying to create?
Why did they research dead mana?

Cale's eyes started to fill with anger.
He looked toward the large human-shaped golem.

'What if these golems were what they created through those experiments?'

Cale was almost certain about what they were made of.

'You scummy bastards!'

Cale himself was not a good person, but he wasn't a total scumbag like them. Hilsman looked toward Cale after feeling Cale's hand tighten around him.

"Young master-nim?"

Cale's face was calm contrary to his clenched fists. His eyes headed toward the battlefield.

Boom- Boom!

The atmosphere around the battlefield quickly changed with the appearance of these large golems.

"Knights, hold your positions! Mages, support the Golem Brigade controllers!"

Excited voices could be heard throughout the Empire's formation.
Cale looked toward the Imperial Prince, Vice Tower Master, and Honte. They were heading into the battlefield as well.
He made eye contact with Adin in the process. The Imperial Prince feigned a concerned expression and started to speak.

"Commander, step back and get some rest. We don't need you to hurt yourself even more."
"… I will do as you wish."

'Oh how wonderful.'

Cale pretended to be disappointed as he stepped back. He walked far away from the Imperial Prince to a spot where Adin couldn't see him.

"Commander."

It was right next to crown prince Valentino.
Only Valentino's guards were around him as the priests were quickly moving as well.

This was the safest spot for Cale.
Something happened as soon as he got there.
Vice Tower Master Metelona's voice shook the battlefield.

"Golem Brigade, destroy Maple Castle!"

Cale quietly said something at the same time.

"Persist."

The hidden video communication device inside Vice Captain Hilsman's chest pocket flashed.
His voice was delivered to the other side.

– Persist.

Chief Harol blinked after hearing those words.
The close to thirty golems were charging toward Maple Castle.

"W, what a monster!"
"Even monsters aren't as disgusting as those things! What are they?"
"G, giants have appeared!"

Scared voices could be heard throughout Maple Castle.
The Whipper Kingdom's forces had been full of confidence after creating that hell-like fire.

"…That is the strength of the Empire?!"

However, they couldn't help but be suppressed by the Empire's hidden true strength.

How could they defeat these extremely large golems?
Could hundreds of ants defeat a human?

The soldiers' fears were delivered to Harol.
Harol's hands were shaking as he held onto the ledge of the tower.

It was at that moment.

– Open the gate.

He heard Cale's quiet whisper.

'Open the gate? Not guard the castle? He wants us to fight against those golems?'

Harol flinched and turned around.

The video communication device that was connected to Cale.
There was a total of five people by the device.

They were Chief Harol, Commander Toonka, Mage Mercenary Leader Rosalyn, Choi Han, and Clopeh.
Cale called for one of them.

– Choi Han.

Choi Han's gaze headed toward Chief Harol.
Choi Han started to speak. Cale could hear him through the video communication device as well.

– Open the gate.

Cale started to smile before it quickly disappeared.
He lifted his head up.

The Empire was excited while the Whipper Kingdom was completely quiet.

Cale started to speak again.

"Clopeh, we are changing the order of things. Start with the firebird."

Rosalyn's urgent voice could be heard as well.

– We will persist! Mages, hurry up and put shield magic and offensive magic in your memory banks! We will use all of the magic stones!
– Chiefs, spread out and observe the golems! Find their weaknesses! You can use the remaining Dragon's Rage as well!

Harol's voice could be heard as well.
Choi Han's voice was the last to be heard.

– Cale-nim, are we just holding on?

The corners of Cale's lips went up in the end.

– Or are we destroying them?

'This smart bastard.'

Cale turned his head after hearing a noise.

Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii- piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-

It was the sound of a flute.
The white-haired masked man wearing a brown robe was blowing the flute.

Screech- screech-

White birds slowly started to rise up into the sky.
The white skeleton birds started to fly up as the black golems were approaching the castle.

Imperial Prince Adin was nonchalantly looking at this before he flinched.

"Perhaps?"

The largest white skeleton bird.
That bird lowered its body toward the tower in Maple Castle.
The bird did not fly up.

The Imperial Prince could see something else as well.

"It's not a Dwarf?"

There was indeed a Dwarf on the white skeleton bird.
However, there was someone else who got on as well.

"…Swordsmen?"

Swordsmen were climbing on top of the white skeleton birds.

Screeeech. Screeeech-
Chief Kanelle who was on the largest white skeleton bird reached his hand toward the tower.
He grabbed someone's hand and helped the man to get on top of the bird.

"Long time no see."

Kanelle handed the reins over and greeted him.

"Nice to see you again, Wyvern Knights Brigade Captain-nim."

The North's legendary Wyvern Knights Brigade.
They had looked ready to dominate the air. Those individuals had shown up on the battlefield.

It was a combination of the Paerun Kingdom's Wyvern Knights Brigade and the Flame Dwarf tribe's wings.
They were working together.

Clopeh had gathered up all of the Wyvern Knights Brigade members who did not take part in the Henituse territory battle and remained alive.
He recalled a conversation he had with Cale.

'The Paerun Kingdom should be the strongest when it comes to fighting in the air. Show them your strength.'

The white-haired priest started to laugh.

'I have to put off pretending to be Cale-nim until later, but this is good too.'

The priest shouted toward the Wyvern Knights.

"Here are your orders!"

Clopeh, the white-haired priest, recalled his past as a Wyvern Knight and the Guardian Knight. It sent electricity throughout his body. He felt as if he was going to go crazy. He felt like he could do anything.

How could he not when a legend was behind him?

He repeated Cale's order word for word.

– Fly up.
"Fly up!"

And then…

– Aim for the monsters on land.
"Aim for the monsters on land!"

Screeeeeech- screeeeeeech-
The wings of the white skeleton birds opened up.
They started to flap their wings and moved to cover the sky while remaining in formation. The Indomitable Alliance's power to dominate the sky was finally revealing itself to the world in its proper form.

Boooom. Boom!

The Golem Brigade stopped walking and lifted their heads up.

There were large birds in the sky.
In contrast, there were their large golems on the ground.
They started to prepare for battle.

It was at that moment.

Screeeech.

The main gate to Maple Castle opened.
Someone who looked like an ant in comparison to the monsters on the battlefield appeared.

Only a single human was walking toward these large monsters.

It was a swordsman wearing a black helmet and holding an average sword.
He appeared on the battlefield alone.

Clang!

The black helmeted swordsman unsheathed his sword.
The order he had just received went through his mind once again.

– Choi Han.

Choi Han pointed his sword toward the golems.
He had asked Cale a question.

'Cale-nim, are we just holding on? Or are we destroying them?'

Cale's response became etched in Choi Han's mind.

– Destroy them.

Choi Han rushed toward the golems.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]