Chapter 189
The moment the branches of the rubberwood tree were set ablaze, small flames flickered, and thick gray smoke began to rise.
"Fan the flames faster! We need enough smoke to completely obscure their vision!"
"Yes, sir!"
At the officers' orders, soldiers hastily fanned the fire, fueling the burning branches of the rubberwood trees.
As an overwhelming amount of branches were burned, the front of Everblade became shrouded in smoke.
The sheer volume was so immense that the Imperial soldiers stationed at the fortress’ gate could no longer see ahead.
"What are they doing?"
"The enemy is burning rubberwood branches and releasing thick smoke!"
"It looks like the coalition forces are using some strange tactic!"
With their vision obscured, the soldiers of Everblade were naturally thrown into confusion.
The report quickly reached the high-ranking officers.
"What? They're creating smoke?"
"Yes, sir."
Everblade’s lord, Astin Roniel, furrowed his brows at the unexpected report.
The smoke itself wasn't a major problem—
The issue was that the enemy was using it as cover to do something.
"It seems they’re about to make their move."
"Hmm… I didn’t expect them to use rubberwood trees. Those trees have a unique elasticity and moisture content, causing them to produce an enormous amount of smoke when burned."
"Shouldn’t we send out scouts?"
"That would be ideal, but… is it really wise to open the gate and send out scouts in this situation?"
Astin crossed his arms.
He could sense that something was amiss—
But even so, he remained composed.
No matter what tricks the enemy pulled, as long as Everblade's gates remained shut, they couldn’t do anything.
At that moment, Alexandro shook his head.
"We need to confirm what they’re doing. Send out fast-footed scouts to investigate their movements."
"This could be a trap. What if they have troops waiting beyond the smoke?"
"Then we close the gate immediately. The enemy is burning their fires at quite a distance from the fortress, aren’t they?"
Even if it took time to shut the heavy gates, there was still enough leeway to do so before the enemy could charge in.
At worst, they might lose a few scouts—
"Very well, let’s proceed with that plan."
Astin rose from his seat.
Regardless of the risks, they needed to uncover the enemy’s intentions.
Without delay, he issued orders to assemble a scouting party.
"Proceed with extreme caution beyond the smoke. The enemy may have troops lying in wait."
"Wouldn’t it be wise to deploy the archers first? We could fire into the smoke to gauge the situation before advancing."
"Agreed. Let’s do that."
Astin nodded at his officer’s suggestion.
That would allow them to safely gather intelligence while minimizing risk.
Before long, a scouting force was assembled within Everblade.
A total of fifty men—
Among them, thirty were archers who would remain in the rear to provide cover before the scouts entered the smoke.
"Your mission is reconnaissance only. Identify the enemy's movements and retreat immediately. Do not engage."
"Understood!"
At the commanding officer’s order, the scouts responded firmly.
Then—
Creeeak!
Everblade’s colossal gates slowly lifted.
Cautiously, the Imperial scouts slipped outside.
What are they up to…?
The thick smoke had already filled the area, reducing visibility to near zero.
The only fortunate factor was that the enemy had started their fires at a fair distance from the fortress.
If they had attempted to set up closer, the archers on the walls would have easily cut them down before they could even light the branches.
"When we reach the smoke, the archers will fire ahead first to confirm the enemy's presence. If the area is clear, we advance."
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood!"
The scouts nodded and quickened their pace.
Upon reaching the smoke—
"…Those bastards."
"Where did they even get this many branches? Don’t tell me… they transported all of this from the eastern forest?"
"…That could be possible."
Did they really haul this enormous quantity of branches from such rugged terrain?
The sheer volume of burning branches stretching endlessly before them left the scouts speechless.
But then—
Nod.
"Prepare to fire!"
At the scout leader’s signal, the archers drew their bows, aiming into the smoke.
Even though they couldn’t see their target—
"Release!"
Whoosh!
A volley of arrows shot forward.
The scout leader swallowed hard, watching intently.
Clang! Thud! Thunk! Clang!
But the moment the arrows flew—
A sound of impact echoed, as if they had struck something solid.
The scout leader’s eyes narrowed.
The enemy is right in front of us.
"Fall back!"
"Yes, sir!"
The scouting unit quickly retreated to assess the situation.
If the enemy was planning to counterattack, they needed to be ready to defend.
However—
"……"
"……Are they just holding their ground?"
"Damn it."
With their vision obscured, they couldn’t push forward.
As the scout leader frowned, considering another approach—
Whoosh!
Suddenly, arrows rained down from the opposite side, piercing through the smoke.
The scout leader bellowed—
"Get down!"
"Argh!"
Imperial scouts screamed as arrows whizzed past them, narrowly missing their heads.
They were waiting for us just beyond the smoke?!
"Damn it…!"
There was no way forward.
And the worst part—
Even after firing, the enemy remained hidden.
The eerie, impenetrable fog of war was suffocating.
Unless they deployed knights to break through by force, it seemed impossible to push forward.
"We’re pulling back. We need to report this immediately."
The scout leader made the wise call to retreat.
It stung his pride that they had failed to gather any significant intelligence—
But charging into certain death wasn’t an option.
As the Imperial scouts withdrew—
"…Looks like they’re falling back."
"Whew, good."
The soldiers behind the barricades inside the smoke caught their breath.
Although they had fired arrows, their primary task was to straighten out the winding road into a direct path.
Most of them were wielding axes and pickaxes, focusing on leveling the ground. If the enemy launched a full-scale attack, they would be sitting ducks.
However—
"The closer we get to the fortress, the greater the danger. Stay alert and keep working!"
"Yes, sir!"
The coalition forces were exhausted in their own way.
"The operation is proceeding smoothly."
"It seems the smoke tactic worked perfectly."
No one had expected that burning rubberwood branches would produce such an immense amount of smoke.
To devise such an ingenious plan after just a few observations of the area—
The coalition officers all raised their thumbs toward Henry.
"But it won't be long before they try something new. At best, we’ll have two or three days of uninterrupted work."
They had to secure and expand as much of the road as possible in that time.
And—
'We need to prepare the launch platform as well.'
The only issue was that the cold weather was making the labor even harder for the soldiers.
To ensure the enemy remained unaware, they would need to keep burning branches to maintain the smoke screen while preparing the launch platform.
'There's no way they’ll anticipate this, though.'
Dragging things out too long wouldn’t benefit them either—there was a need to speed up.
"Let’s start twisting the rubberwood strands for the launcher. The elasticity needs to be just right—nothing too thick for us to grip with both hands."
Since soldiers would need to pull it back manually, it couldn’t be overly rigid.
It only needed to propel four people over the fortress wall.
What happened after that would be up to them.
"Now, we need to organize the troops and move them forward to work on the main road. If the enemy decides to charge head-on, we need enough troops ready to block them completely."
Henry’s words made both Kiaran and Matirn nod.
Matirn then spoke.
"I'll personally oversee the defenses. A force of 5,000 shield bearers and spearmen should be more than sufficient to hold them off."
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
At Henry’s gratitude, Matirn immediately began assembling the Iren Kingdom’s troops, leading them toward the worksite.
At the same time—
"Haa, Damian, are we just going to stand around here?"
"Orders will come soon. We'll be moving to the eastern forest to begin our task."
Standing idle was not something the Caion unit was used to.
At Dianal’s question, Damian gave a calm nod.
Everyone had their designated role.
And at that moment—
"Commander Damian."
Henry approached the Caion unit, calling out to him.
Damian turned toward him.
"Is it time to move?"
"We've begun twisting the strands for the launcher. Once the road is sufficiently cleared…"
Henry trailed off, and Damian nodded.
"We’ll handle launching the platform. There aren’t many soldiers besides us who can navigate the forest freely."
"My apologies for involving your unit in this task."
It was, after all, something that ordinary soldiers should have been doing.
Proud knights typically wouldn’t take on such labor.
But at Henry’s words, Damian shook his head.
This wasn’t a matter of pride—this was something only they could do.
Damian turned his gaze toward the eastern mountain path of Everblade.
"The terrain is rough. One wrong step, and you’ll go tumbling down."
But considering the Caion unit’s training, this wasn’t a challenge at all.
"In fact, we’re honored to do something only we can accomplish."
The phrase only we can do this held immense meaning for Damian and his unit.
He turned to his men.
"Anyone have complaints about this mission?"
"None, sir!"
At their firm response, Damian grinned.
"If anyone does, speak up now. I’ll crack your skull open."
"Haha! Wait, you’re not the one trying to avoid this task, are you?"
"Not at all. Besides, I won’t be doing it—I’ll be getting launched into that fortress."
"We’ll make sure you fly perfectly."
"No need to worry!"
As his soldiers responded enthusiastically, Damian turned back to Henry.
"No issues here."
Hearing that, Henry grinned.
"Then let's get started."