Chapter 36

Chapter 36

We seamlessly joined the allied forces.

Thanks to someone spotting us first and sending people.

‘Who could it be?’

After troop deployment, those called officers gathered and headed to a large tent.

Inside, many others had been summoned.

At the center.

“Greetings.”

‘He’ was waiting.

The man who first called out to the entire continent.

The one who ignited the flames of revolution against the empire’s oppression.

The allied forces’ commander-in-chief, Hamerd.

You have met Commander-in-Chief Hamerd.

He will later be known as Hamerd Imperium, the first Emperor of the Imperium Empire.

Young Hamerd had a refined, resolute demeanor, his eyes brimming with determination.

“I offer boundless respect and gratitude to all of you gathered here for this righteous cause.”

Militia leaders from various regions responded with humility.

“No, it was only natural.”

“It’s an honor for us to join.”

“Your rise gave us the courage to act.”

Warm greetings were exchanged.

“Soon, there will be a strategy meeting for allied officers. Please join us.”

At Hamerd’s invitation, we could participate in the strategy session.

The large tent was packed like a sardine can with countless allied squad commanders.

There, I spotted familiar faces.

‘As expected, they made it here too.’

Elisha, Bord, Mary.

Judging by their proximity to the commander, they’d been quite active.

‘Those guys are here too.’

Prince Kazaks, the protagonist’s rival, and his lackeys, Muller and Shuga.

They bore signs of fierce battles.

‘…Not knowing the details is frustrating.’

The original work didn’t delve into the dungeon tournament’s specifics.

I’d only vaguely guessed they’d be here.

Besides them, I saw numerous war heroes and founding kings from textbooks.

Hamerd was the one who united them.

“An hour ago, we received word that the Defardly Empire dispatched reinforcements to the fortress.”

The strategy meeting began with grim news.

“We have little time left. A week at most.”

The allied forces had been waging a siege against the fortress on the plains for a week already.

“Tomorrow, a regiment of Silent Rangers from Boden Castle will arrive to support the enemy fortress.”

One regiment.

3,000 troops.

“Three days from now, a division of barbarian warriors from Odif Castle will come.”

One division.

15,000 troops.

“A week from now, Sword Master Sir Dominic, departing from the empire’s capital, will arrive with an army corps and renowned knights.”

One army corps.

80,000 troops.

At the mention of Sword Master Dominic, several commanders flinched.

He was a war hero of the Defardly Empire and its deadliest butcher.

Hamerd encouraged them.

“Do not fear, brothers. The empire finally sees us as a threat and is playing their strongest card to hold the front.”

His greatest weapon was the ‘power of positivity.’

“Let’s seize the Imperium Fortress before they arrive! Let’s use this impregnable castle to block the empire’s sword! This is our only chance to break free from the empire’s tyranny!”

“Yeah! He’s right!”

A spontaneous cheer.

“We can do this!”

“Let’s do it!”

The power of positivity grew stronger as it spread.

“The journey here was tough, but retreating now would make for a lousy tavern tale!”

“I’ve killed a hundred imperial soldiers with this spear. I won’t turn back until I’ve killed a thousand.”

Filled with positive energy, Hamerd finally began explaining the strategy.

Each plan was incredibly dangerous, exhausting, and difficult.

The emboldened commanders embraced their assigned missions.

“And… I heard the great militia leader who disrupted the Defardly Empire’s supply carriage is here.”

“That’s me!”

The militia leader, tense and looking even more rugged, stood.

Anyone would be nervous hearing Hamerd’s speech and being called by him.

“Relax… I’d like to say, but I have a request for someone who’s already achieved so much.”

“P-Please, tell me!”

“I’ll attach a few more units to you… please intercept the reinforcements arriving tomorrow.”

“Yes! …What?!”

“The Ranger unit settling in our rear will harass us day and night, gradually wearing us down until we’re gone.”

“B-But how can I…?”

The militia leader tried to refuse the daunting task, but Hamerd’s ensuing speech swayed him to accept.

“That’s how it is…”

The Holy Knight commander, dumbfounded yet amused, wore an odd expression.

“W-Will you join us?”

Hamerd hadn’t given orders to the Cosmos Church’s expeditionary forces, trusting they’d manage on their own.

“Of course. The most dangerous missions need the greatest light.”

Relieved, the militia leader turned to me with puppy-like eyes.

Despite his bandit-like appearance, his actions were slyly cunning.

“…Alright.”

***

The Defardly Empire conquered over half the continent with military might alone.

Their management and security of military supplies were ruthlessly thorough.

All resources gathered nationwide were centralized, transformed into supplies, and redistributed.

This absurd strategy was possible thanks to a technology the empire painstakingly developed: the mana train.

The high-speed train running along rails was revolutionary for the continent at the time.

“The Defardly Empire’s continental unification and world peace through tyranny.”

It was within reach.

“…Like hell! Where are the reinforcements?!”

“In one hour, the Ranger brigade will set up outside the encirclement to harass the allied forces.”

Despite hearing this repeatedly, the tense Duke Baxter asked again and again.

Suddenly, hundreds of thousands of allied troops had surrounded the Imperium Fortress.

All railways were blocked, and access was cut off.

All materials for the conquest war flowed through here.

Even the last supply, sent with great effort, was intercepted by some militia.

The worst of the worst.

‘If the fortress falls…’

They’re just a large, poorly trained volunteer army now, but capturing the fortress would give them experience and the empire’s latest weapons.

‘Who knows what could happen.’

A 600,000-strong force armed with imperial weapons was a soul-crushing threat just to imagine.

‘I must stop them.’

This was why he, a duke of the empire, was tasked with the fortress.

But this endless onslaught was unfair.

Then, his aide brought calming warm tea.

The fragrant aroma eased his mind.

“Duke, these are the empire’s proud Rangers. Given the right conditions, 3,000 can take on 30,000. Relax and wait.”

“…You’re right. I’m too tense, aren’t I?”

Still, the duke postponed sleep, handling remaining tasks, wanting to see the reinforcements arrive.

‘Calm down and focus.

They’ll be here soon.’

Duties as munitions factory head, duke, and battlefield commander.

Ten bodies wouldn’t suffice.

‘Hm?’

He raised his head, feeling sunlight.

‘…I didn’t doze off.’

Sunlight streamed in.

Morning.

But the awaited report hadn’t come.

‘The Ranger unit due at dawn?!’

He leapt up and left the office.

Far off, his aide was running toward him.

“Aide!”

“Duke! Disaster! The Ranger unit is being annihilated!”

“W-What…?! The Ranger unit! Annihilated?!”

The empire’s Ranger unit—3,000 masters of sword, bow, and magic, first to receive cutting-edge gear.

The duke stammered.

“H-How did this…?”

Instead of waiting for reports, he decided to see for himself.

Dragging his exhausted body from the all-nighter, he climbed the ramparts to survey the situation.

Beyond the Imperium Fortress and the allied encampment, a battle raged on the ridge.

Duke Baxter, trembling, raised one of the empire’s rare ultra-high-magnification telescopes to his eyes.

A black specter was rampaging.

One Black Knight, fearlessly taunting the Ranger unit alone.

Dodging thousands of arrows with cover, a miracle repeated, his intermittent sniping picked off Ranger commanders one by one.

Rangers who caught up were toyed with and killed.

Meanwhile, allied forces, circling the battlefield, surrounded and annihilated the Ranger unit from all sides.

He lowered the telescope.

No need to see more.

It was over.

Hours later, the allied camp sent a display prisoner.

“Ah… you…”

A battered man, a familiar Ranger.

“What happened?”

He convulsed at the memory.

“Aaah! Aaaah!”

Soldiers on either side restrained him.

Unprepared for such a reaction, the duke, grim, calmed the Ranger.

“C-Calm down! Calm!”

The Ranger’s eyes were bloodshot with fear.

“I-It was unprecedented!”

“What was?!”

“A sniper! A… terrifying sniper! A demon in black armor!”

***

By Commander-in-Chief Hamerd’s order, several units joined us.

The Holy Knight commander tirelessly recruited other Holy Knight and priest units.

As a result.

A massive army of 30,000 was formed.

But the opponent was the monstrous Rangers, 3,000 against 30,000.

Honestly, Hamerd planned to praise the militia for merely inflicting losses and returning safely.

But.

“Good heavens! You did it?! What miraculous method?!”

Arriving on time for the strategy meeting, we reported immediately.

Hamerd leapt from his seat, embracing the militia leader.

He couldn’t have been happier.

The allied officers buzzed.

“No way? They really beat the Ranger unit?”

“What did I just hear?”

“If it’s true, there must be proof!”

The Holy Knight commander presented prepared prisoners, their gear, and orders.

The meeting room erupted into a frenzy of celebration.