Published at 19th of September 2024 11:14 pm

Chapter 243: The Story of Ordinary People (2)

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Since the amount of water that was released from the crack on the dam was not large, the level of water that covered the area began to gradually decrease after the surprise attack ended.

As a result, the corpses of both the enemy and friendly soldiers who had died during the surprise attack began to appear slowly.

Deciding that it was no longer feasible to attack the enemy force’s confidence anymore, the Ernes Empire army quickly closed the distance.

Even though they were moving around in a cold winter with their body soaking wet, their body temperature did not go down due to the rising heat.

“Just around half of us came out alive, huh……”

There were only 8 people remaining.

Still, since they were definitely able to kill more elemental mages and warlocks from the enemy camp, feelings of despair did not come to them once they caught their breath.

The most dangerous thing in hand-to-hand combat, which could be called dog fighting, was mistakenly attacking allies rather than enemies.

The fact that they were able to achieve such a good outcome was a testament that the enemy was panicking while choking on their breath due to the water that was blocking their retreat.

But this surprise attack was nothing but an introduction.

There was no way that the detached unit did not know that the real story had only begun now.

If the operation was not completed before the enemy reinforcements arrived, it would result in their defeat.

If they had successfully completed the operation before then, they would have been able to greet the enemy reinforcements with open arms when they arrived.

*****

Rumble-!!

Flinch-!

At the very bottom of the constructed dam and in the deepest part of the river.

The elemental wizards who were there were startled and flinched as a huge block of ice suddenly came down from above.

Since it was not just a single ice block, every time another one fell and caused intense vibrations, they were assaulted by tremendous amounts of pressure.

However, it was hard to say that the attack was aimed at harming the people there. After all, it would not be very effective because the area of the dam was enormous.

Of course, there might be other intentions behind the attack, but the main objective was probably to forcibly raise the water level of the dam.

“We secured the air by putting the barriers together before we went down. If the barriers are destroyed, we will all drown.”

Since the air inside was limited, they naturally created several piles of ice barriers filled with air before diving inside the river.

However, no matter how much they relaxed themselves and breathed steadily, adapting to a change in water pressure without any problems was something that was impossible.

The elemental wizards of the Ernes Empire cautiously walked towards the barrier as they looked at their surroundings. In the first place, it was already hard for them to see anything beyond it. And now, thanks to the blocks of ice that were falling, it had become even harder because the water was filled with mud floating around.

‘……’

There, they could hear an eerie, calm yet frightening sound which sounded like the water was breathing that could be heard whenever someone was submerged in deep water.

Thud-!!

Flinch-!!

Even something as simple as a fish tapping on their barrier made their entire body tense up.

"Ha……”

The elemental wizards who soon arrived in front of the first barrier and replenished the air inside felt a strange sense of relief as their bodies became lighter.

In some ways, it was fortunate that magic power could not be transformed into air—oxygen, to be exact.

If they inhale pure oxygen once they are deep underwater without going through proper decompression, they will definitely die from oxygen poisoning.

However, that relief was short-lived as the elemental wizards of the Ernes Empire, who were standing deep beneath the water, felt a chill at the strange sound coming to their ears.

Would it be like this if someone blew a trumpet under the water?

It was like the sound when their ear rang was being transmitted through water.

The elemental wizards who were looking at the darkness beyond the barrier which was so filled with mud to the point they could not see anything…

Crackle-!!

…Created a fire whose nature had been changed in the water and slowly pushed it away from the barrier.

“He-heuk!”

The moment the dirty water brightened, what caught their eyes was a grotesque fish-like creature thrusting its face right in front of them.

Grab-!!

Soon after, the monster's two hands grabbed hold of their ice barrier, lifted it up, and slammed it down to crack it with violent force.

Since the enemy should not have high-level warlocks among them, dealing with them was anything but impossible.

However, the fear of suddenly encountering a strange monster under the dark water was something that an ordinary human being could not handle.

Rumble-!!

“Heuk!”

However, another monster appeared right after and grabbed the head of the fish-like monster that was holding the ice barrier and dragged it beyond the darkness.

At that moment, the elemental wizards, who felt the slight impact of the ice barrier hitting the ground, quickly began repairing the cracked area.

“Heok, heok……”

Perhaps the first monster was summoned by the enemy.

While the second monster was summoned by their allies.

“I’m going crazy……”

Deep down, they all wanted to get out of there and fight the enemy on the flat ground.

But that would be foolish and would be rude to their allies who were shedding blood outside.

Therefore, suppressing the intense sense of claustrophobia, they just tried their best in their respective roles.

*****

“Cough!”

Even though he was just trying to breathe, blood still came out of his mouth together with the cough.

What is he doing now, holding up a sword with a broken blade?

There were only five of them left now.

Among the five, there were only two knights, including him.

The shattered terrain around them showed just how fierce the battle had been.

In the end, it clearly reminded him that the members of the detached unit were candles that would soon be extinguished.

“……Those bastards. They have so much wealth.”

Why does the open gate of The Underworld behind the enemy feel so unpleasant?

His allies had already exhausted all of their resources. They had even sacrificed the costly corpse of someone who had the talent for magic.

Rumble-!!

However, while he was despairing like that as if responding to the enemy, the allies also opened the gate of The Underworld.

Creak-!!

However, the gate that was opening up was not the only one.

A total of three gates sat on the ground, vaguely showing the bizarre scenery of the underworld beyond.

“Wh…… What are you……”

Everyone present there knew that they no longer had any goods to make a deal with monsters from the underworld.

Facing the knights who looked back at them with surprised faces, the three warlocks grinned and held on tightly to their altars.

“What is so surprising that makes you look at us like that?”

“Have you forgotten that a warlock can use their own life to make a deal?”

“Since we are going to die anyway, we won’t have any regrets if we make a last stand.”

Probably the leadership had taken this kind of situation into account when they decided to send some warlocks to the detached unit.

If they ‘Order’ them to sacrifice their own life to open the gate of The Underworld, they would undoubtedly be questioned by the Magic Association.

If it was done based on the judgment of the doers, there would be no reason for them to be caught.

Honestly, considering the difficulty of the mission assigned to the detached unit, the leadership just simply did not say the orders out loud.

After all, the moment they left, it was no different from coercing them to do so.

But the three warlocks had no regrets at all.

Of course, originally they were not the ones who were supposed to be in the detached unit.

It was true that there was an unreasonableness in the process, but wasn't the Imperial Family that ruled their Empire reasonable?

The world was cruel.

And society has always been selfish.

The fact that the Imperial Family which was the center was not unreasonable was definite proof that they were living in a truly good world.

Without any talent in magic,

The Prince, who was no different from an ordinary person who had learned swordsmanship, held his sword on the front lines with them.

To those who were persecuted and looked down because of their lowly status no matter how hard they worked or how talented they were,

The Imperial Family stretched out its hand and gave them something called honor.

To regret shedding blood for such an Empire was outrageous.

After all, their Empire was not a place that forced them to feel patriotism.

But a place that instilled patriotism, and they were proud to live in such a place.

If the history continued far to the future,

Even the remaining unreasonableness would be completely eradicated.

After all, a man who was worthy of being called an Emperor was the one who was leading the country.

On top of that, they had seen with their own eyes that a person who was worthy of being called a noble was by his side.

Because of that, they were willing to become the stepping stones that would help them to continue history.

If there’s one thing they regret,

It was the fact that they would never be able to set foot on such an Empire that they called homeland again.

But if that's the cost of their sacrifice, it was rather cheap.

Rattle-!!

Before long, the sign showed which floor of the Underworld was connected to the gate.

Then, the monster from the underworld which responded to the deal appeared outside the gate, swallowed both their souls and bodies cleanly, and ran towards their enemy.

In the meantime, in the place where the three warlocks once stood, only their altar remains, lying in a puddle of their comrades' blood.

*****

“Are we late or are we on time?”

The reinforcement of the Elmark Empire frowned as they measured the remaining distance to the Rubelta River.

They were sure that only a small number of people had passed through the snowy fields.

Therefore, they could not help but wonder what kind of battle had taken place as the traces of it stretched all the way to the place they stood.

When they finally reached the Rubelta River, they were speechless for a while as they saw the sheer size of the dam as well as how devastated the nearby terrain was.

The water level of the Rubelta River that flowed from above and the water level of the river flowing on the other side of the dam were as different as those of an adult man and a small child.

So just how much water was stored in that dam?

Gulp-!

Since they had an idea of what would happen the moment that dam collapsed, those who arrived as reinforcements swallowed their saliva without even realizing it.

“Cough……!”

Flinch-!!

Is there anyone still alive among all the bodies that were lying around?

At the sound of coughing, they all flinched and looked towards it.

Unfortunately, the one who was still alive was not their ally but an enemy—a knight of the Ernes Empire.

“Cough…… Hehehe……”

Considering the injuries that he suffered, it was certain that his life would soon end.

So, what did he find so amusing to the point he was smiling cheerfully while barely leaning his upper body against the dam?

“The supporting characters' time is over…… You idiots...…”

Both in novels,

And play.

Vigilantes and reinforcements always arrived late.

Now that he thought about it, weren't they also supporting characters?

So, thinking that it was truly fitting, the knight stretched his trembling hand out and took the memento of the three warlocks who were no longer in this world, their altars, to his chest.

Crack-!!

At the same time, the dam began to collapse.

The water began to discharge from above and overflowed.

In the meantime, the knight, who quietly closed his eyes beneath it, muttered to himself.

…… Please, follow this rough current,

And let him set foot in his homeland once again.

*****

“It’s done!”

The sound of cheers echoed from inside the barracks.

The leaders immediately got up from their seats and began to prepare for dispatch.

However, Before Prince Raymond stood up, he looked at the scenery reflected on the connected object and offered a small condolence first.

He then barked his orders to the nobles who were looking at him.

“Bring the Imperial flag!”

“We!”

“Will definitely win and plant that flag on the Rubelta River so that they can have their eternal sleep in the land of the Empire and not on foreign /genesisforsaken

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