The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (98)
Translator: ChubbyCheeks
33 Great Naval War (1)
The mermaids led the monsters corroded and corrupted by black water to charge forward and attack the temporary medic ward set up in the island. The knights did their best to lead the deployed soldiers and stop them from moving forward but it gradually became difficult for them when the void insects appeared in the sky. It came to the point that even the medics and the injured took their weapons and fought. However, no matter how hard they resisted, they were still pushed back.
Then…
Shiiiing!
A beam of light suddenly flew in from somewhere.
“Gr… rrrrrr.”
A crabman collapsed as blood gurgled out of its throat that was pierced through with the shining beam of light.
Everyone was stunned as they turned to look at the direction where the beam of light came from.
There, they saw a sharkman smoothly moving behind the person that let out the beam of light. Although the sharkman wasn’t as fast as they were at sea, it could still summon a spear and a wave made of black water. It was surfing towards the man that let out the attack. But before it could reach the mand, a cold and freezing wind blew which immediately froze the water that the sharkman was surfing on. And in just a blink of an eye, the sharkman had turned into an ice statue.
“Lieu… Lieutenant Colonel Iron?”
Iron cracked his neck after killing one crabman and one sharkman in an instant.
The mermaids were enraged as they watched him move nonchalantly. They took their spears, aimed and threw it straight at him. However, before the water spears could reach him, they evaporated in an instant. This was thanks to the single lightning bolt that appeared in front of Iron.
“The effect is quite good.”
This was the combination of his innate ability and Thunderbird’s ability. He was able to disintegrate the mermaids’ attacks with just a single bolt of lightning thanks to the fusion of their abilities.
Seeeing his unusual power, the mermaids immediately changed their tactics. The undead went to block the soldiers while the crabmen, the sharkmen and the mermaids rushed towards Iron.
However, Iron was not someone who could be easily beaten by such a foolish tactic.
The crabmen, which were acting as tankers, ran in front of the horde. But a single sweep of the blue ray of light from Iron’s eyes had turned them into dust. He also kept the sharkmen in check with his lightning.
“Graaaaaack!”
The mermaids, the crabmen and the sharkmen endured Iron’s attacks as they tried to rush forward. And finally, one of the crabmen finally succeeded in escaping Iron’s onslaught of attacks. The crabman immediately swung its two gigantic claws forward as it charged towards Iron in a full-frontal body slam. And Iron, who was trembling and only barely standing, could not have avoided such a direct and brute attack.
“Ugh!”
Iron flew back and slammed into one of the building’s walls. He couldn’t help but let out a slight groan of pain before coughing and standing back up. What was surprising was the fact that he only let out a slight groan of pain and a cough after receiving the crabman’s direct rush in his injured condition.
Everyone who saw this couldn’t help but be shocked. Even the crabman, who rushed straight at Iron, just stood there and stared at him dumbly. They couldn’t believe that an injured and trembling person was still alive after receiving such an attack.
“Steel mana?”
The knight muttered to himself when he saw the black and sturdy mana that wrapped around Iron’s body.
Iron’s eyes shone once again as beams of light swept away the mermaids. Although the power of Iron’s beams of light were not as strong as Two Moons’ light, the compressed mana that he let out was still more than enough to pierce through the unguarded crabmen’s defenses. There was also the lightning that attacked them whenever they tried to approach him. And he would also freeze them if they tried to use water against him.
His force and fighting prowess was extremely overwhelming especially when he used different powers and abilities. It was to the point that his enemies found it difficult to determine how many powers he was using in one attack.
His enemies couldn’t even determine if they could kill him once they appraoched him thanks to the weak steel mana that wrapped around his entire body.
Beams of light.
Lightning.
Frost.
Steel mana.
Anyone could tell that he was using four different kinds of power just by watching him fight like that.
Surprisingly enough, there was also a faint green light that wrapped around his wounds. It seemed like he also had the ability to heal.
‘Isn’t this japtang?’
This thought flashed through the knight’s head unconsciously.
Although the knight did not grasp it, Iron was in fact also using Phoenix’s power. He was actually actively purifying the contaminated mana around him. That was the amount of abilities that Iron was using in this fight.
For the soldiers watching him fight, they could finally see why divine beast contractors were highly regarded in ancient times despite their rareness.
“Isn’t he stronger than when he was in the Northeast?”
Another one of the knights looked blankly at Iron.
His body was shaking and trembling since he was still injured but the power that he was showing right now was extremely overwhelming. However, the special troops led by the mermaids were firmly blocked even though Iron could not use his divine beasts or his steel sword, the power that was known to be his specialty.
In the end, the mermaid’s special troop retreated after discerning that they could not pierce through their defenses.
Stagger!
Although the knights and soldiers worked hard together to buy enough time, the main force that blocked the mermaids, the crabmen and the sharkmen was Iron alone.
“Heok… heok…”
Iron sat on the stairs and leaned on one of the pillars as he tried to catch and stabilize his ragged breathing. He stared at his trembling limbs wondering if he did too much when he was yet to recover. Still, he was glad that he woke up in time and prevented the mermaid’s special troops from breaching any further.
Perhaps it was because everyone including the medics and the injured endured and blocked the enemies that they all felt relieved and happy that they had also survived today.
“Thank you for your hard work. I survived thanks to you.”
The knight came out and thanked Iron as everyone’s representative. Even the soldiers in the back were saluting and paying him their respects.
Iron nodded shyly when he saw them acting like this.
The knight noticed that Iron was so tired that he couldn’t even answer him and their thanks. The knight couldn’t help but smile as he thanked him once again before stepping back.
Iron quickly calmed his shaking body as he activated the power of healing and applied it to his body.
The knight was in awe when he saw this scene.
“I heard that you can use the divine beast’s power… that’s incredible.”
They had seen the huge firebird and thunderbird on Ghost Island from afar. There was also a bird with two big eyes that lit up the Ghost Island like a moon on a dark night. As well as a small light that purified the entire Ghost Island.
The knight once again felt how amazing and powerful someone who could borrow just a little bit of power from such monstrously strong beings. And although the knight was not high enough in terms of force, he still was able to grasp the fact that Iron could already use his steel mana.
From what he had seen, he was sure that Iron’s swordsmanship had already gone beyond the beginning stage of the 5th Stage. After all, he was already strong enough to wrap the mana all over his body. In addition, he could tell that Iron could manage and move his steel mana according to his will after watching him move it to reduce the impact of the crabman’s body slam earlier. In other words, Iron could already use his steel mana like it was just normal mana.
The knight could tell that this young genius was already preparing to enter the 6th Stage. Being able to make full use of the attributed mana like it was just some normal mana meant that he had already fulfilled one of the two requirements needed to get to the 6th Stage. All that was left for him to do was to engrave and imprint his swordsmanship to fit his attributed mana.
Of course, there were countless people who wandered near this wall all their lives and failed to go past the 5th stage. However, for some reason, the knight believed that this young genius would be able to break through that wall quickly.
“I’m envious.”
The knight unknowingly felt envy when he saw Iron like this. After all, Iron had an overwhelming talent that he couldn’t even dare to chase blindly. The knight finally left Iron behind to rest after these thoughts ran through his head.
Was it because everyone saw a miracle?
In just an instant, the news about the battle that happened in the temporary medic ward spread. It reached the Eastern Army, who was fighting in full swing with the mermaids. As well as the Northeastern Army fighting against the void insects coming out of the dimensional crack. It even reached the support personnel that were working hard to finish the stronghold.
Morale began to rise as the news spread all over Ghost Island.
On the other hand, the mermaid’s special troop that failed to pierce through the depths of Ghost Island brought down the morale on their side. In the end, they had no choice but to retreat. They wanted to keep the main fleet in check with the kraken, the megalodon and the sea serpent while they focused their main troops in Ghost Island but everything was ruined in the beginning. They failed to squeeze through the gap and turn them to smithereens before the Eastern Command came.
The Ghosts rushed to where Iron was after the mermaids retreated back to their home, Atlantis.
“Our youngest!”
The first one to arrive was Lintel.
“Are you alright?”
“No. I’m still not fine.”
“What? You punk! You look all better now!”
The other Ghosts arrived one after another as Lintel and Iron bantered happily.
“I heard your performance was quite amazing?”
“Amazing…”
“I heard that you shot beams of light with your eyes, used ice and even lightning?”
“That’s true.”
Iron replied shyly when Lintel asked him about what he did.
“But… don’t you look stronger all of a sudden?”
“I received a bit of help this time.”
The Ghosts looked at Iron curiously. Iron had no choice but to open his mouth and solve their curiosity.
“Maybe it’s because my divine power has expanded so it increased a lot more than before. And I don’t know if it was an aftereffect or not but…”
Black mana moved around his hand as Iron raised his steel mana while explaining.
All of the Ghosts’ eyes widened in shock.
They all wondered if the rumors were true. However, it seemed like it was far more than what the rumors had painted after checking it with their own eyes. After all, there was a limit to what a knight, who was only at a lower level, could confirm.
The Iron that the Ghosts have seen right now was already at the advanced 5th Stage. He was close to the level of Billy and Lintel, the two strongest except for the captain in the team.
“You… you’re already at that stage?”
“Ha! Aren’t you too fast?”
It was not only Lintel, even Billie Brandt was scratching his hair as he spoke in frustration.
“Do you already have a grasp of your swordsmanship?”
“I’m thinking of doing it with just Imperial Swordsmanship.”
“Hmm… Well, it’s your choice.”
Everyone nodded their heads as they listened in on Lintel and Iron’s conversation.
Anyway, there was no clear and definite answer from this point on. All they had to do was to believe in the path that they have chosen and keep on grinding and polishing themselves.
“Maybe you’ll be the first one to reach the 6th Stage among us.”
All of the Ghosts nodded in agreement to Lintel.
If Iron’s simple sword technique was truly the answer fit for him, then, he would be able to reach the 6th Stage faster than anybody else.
The complexity of sword techniques would only give one the upper hand if they were in the same stage. In addition, it had a lot of things that one needed to understand and learn. If that was the case, then a simple swordsmanship would be a good choice.
It’s not that no one was given the choice to take on this simple swordsmanship. After all, it was still necessary for them to understand the meaning of tha basic swordsmanship to further understand their experiences and essences of their complex swordsmanship. However, they still chose their own complex swordsmanship.
But that might be the reason why they might get hit by Iron and left behind.
As a Ghost, he would be required to go to the battlefield countless times and gain experience. In addition, he also had experiences gained during his previous life. Choosing the basic swordsmanship would help him grow and imprint these experiences into his body and his sword. If that was the case, Iron would not have any problem with his swordsmanship at all.
“Can you come back right away?”
“Ah! I suddenly feel dizzy…”
“Pretending to be sick? Huh~ Doing this while your seniors are holding the sky and working hard?”
“Tch, tch! Newbies these days don’t know any manners.”
“The seniors are rolling hard but the youngest is trying to rest on the bed?.”
Lintel laughed and giggled when he saw Iron grabbing his head. The Ghosts patted Iron on the head and joked with him.
Iron and the Ghosts jokingly talked about returning to the battlefield. But maybe their luck was just terrible? Their jokes immediately turned into reality.
“Ah…”
Iron stared blankly at the sea as he rode on a ship. He stood there blankly asking himself…
Who am I? Where am I?
“Cough, cough… Cheer up.”
Gustav tapped Iron’s shoulder as he passed by him. The Ghosts also avoided Iron as they watched him stare blankly at the sea.
There was only one reason why he was placed back in the field immediately…
“I think you can move around well now. Come back.”
This was what Crimson Halo, the Northeastern Commander, told him after watching him play around with the Ghosts.
Carl Gustav could only bow his head silently.
***
Notes
[Japtang 잡탕] – A dish made with an assortment of ingredients, seasonings and garnishes. A metaphor that describes a state or appearance where various things are mixed in.
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