Iron grabbed his head for a long time as he regretted his impulsive decision. He couldn’t help but blame his hot-headedness for making a bet with the Lion Family Head, Lioner. 

When Lioner left his room, Iron saw that his eyes were filled with the determination to take him away. Iron did not know the exact reason why his determination was that high but he could take a gander that it was because he provoked him completely.

After Lioner’s visit, Iron had solely focused his attention on his body’s recovery. 

The first thing that he needed to do was to resolve the dimensional crack. He hoped that his words could be proven quickly since they needed to move quickly. After all, the best treatment for a rotting flesh wound was cutting it off as soon as possible. They needed to stop the dimensional crack to make sure that the dimensional gate would not get strengthened even further by the contaminated mana that the crack continuously let out. So, they had to explode the crack as soon as possible.

The difference between a gate being fixed and strengthened on the spot was not that huge. But once the gate was fixed in place, the passage that connected the contaminated space and this world via the forcibly created dimensional crack would be maintained and strengthened. If this happened, then more powerful monsters would be able to pass through the gate and wreak havoc in this world.

Iron kept on thinking about the situation of the dimensional crack while he worked on building his body up. He knew that the situation would get more dangerous the longer they decided on the action that they should take. And one day while he was warming up…

“It’s been a while.”

“Loyalty.”

“I heard that the medics had discharged you. Have you recovered well?”

Iron smiled and showed Crimson his warm up exercises to prove that he’s all well. 

“I have no problem with moving.”

“Good. Then we should go right away. We have to meet someone.”

Hearing Crimson's orders, Iron immediately changed his clothes. There was nothing that he needed to pack so he just wore his cleanly washed and ironed military uniform as he followed behind Crimson.

“This is Wizard Tower’s Mailte Preston. This is Lieutenant Iron Carter, the one who suggested the method.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Mailte Preston. I may not be good enough but I’m an elder from the Wizard Tower.”

“Lieutenant Iron Carter. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Iron grabbed Mailte Preston’s hands sincerely.

He felt extremely honored to meet Mailte Preston. After all, this was the person who made the basic theory that he had proposed before. He couldn’t believe that he would meet with this person directly.

‘I didn’t know that Mailte Preston would come himself…’

Mailte Preston, the person hailed as the next owner of the North Wizard Tower with his extensive knowledge and skills, unexpectedly came here to see him.

Being named as the tower’s successor meant that they had a lot of work to do. In addition, just like any other wizard, he was a person who rarely cared about the outside world. He was someone who only wanted to devote his everything in the development of his research and skills. So it was extremely surprising and unexpected that he would take time out of his schedule to come and meet him personally.

“You have a very interesting theory.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Just like you said, I looked it up and found out that exploding the dimensional crack is alright. We’ll still be fine even in the long run.”

Mailte Preston, who had already reviewed cases of dimensional cracks being flooded and exploding, enthusiastically explained to Iron a lot of things. Whenever he asked Iron about the things that he was curious about, Iron would patiently explain while recalling the information from his previous life.

Iron explained as much as he could while using Baepsae as an excuse. However, his explanations still came out clumsy and filled with holes. Perhaps it was because it was not his expertise and he only knew about it through experience. But nevertheless, they experienced no problem in their conversation. All of this could be attributed to Mailte. He understood Iron’s words perfectly despite them being crude and clumsy.

“What do you think?”

“It’s very interesting. The dimensional crack…”

“Just tell me your conclusion!” 

Crimson was tired of Mailte’s explanation. He looked like he would explode from annoyance if another word of explanation came out of Mailte’s mouth.

Mailte Preston frowned and clicked his tongue at him.

“Tch! I believe it’s possible but we have to struggle for a few years.” 

“It’s because the crack would widen temporarily from the explosion, right?” 

“That’s right. It’s very interesting to know that the dimensional crack will widen…” 

It looked like Mailte Preston and Crimson were close friends with how eager the other was in explaining the theory to Crimson. However, it was entirely impossible for Crimson, who did not know jack shit about this, to understand even if he heard the magic theory behind the process. 

“Stop already. Why do you keep on explaining things that I can’t understand?” 

“Tch! You have to use your brain once in a while to live. It seems like your stupidity did not change even as you got older?” 

“I’m pretty smart, I tell you!”

“With that head of yours? Please listen to me attentively. Aren’t you like that in your old age because you keep your ears closed every time I speak?” 

“What?! You punk! Do you want to have a go?!” 

“Such a nincompoop.” 

Crimson and Mailte Preston argued. They only stopped when they finally realized that Iron was still there. They felt a bit ashamed and embarrassed when they realized that they almost fought while they were chatting in front of a junior. 

“I’ll go first.” 

“Alright.” 

Crimson sent Mailte Preston, his close friend, away first. Then, he moved towards Command with Iron. 

“I heard that you met with the Leonhardt Family Head?” 

“…Yes.”

“I also heard that you two made a bet… Will you be fine?”

He had heard the details directly from Lioner so he was aware of everything. Nevertheless, he still couldn’t help but look at Iron with worry and anxiety. 

“I want to try everything that I can try first.”

“Hoo… I hope you win your bet. Whenever I see that bastard’s cheeky face, I always want to give him a punch.”

Crimson talked about his deeply hidden annoyance. Then, he suddenly realized that he was Iron’s father so he turned to look at the boy apologetically. 

“Ahem, ahem… Sorry.”

“No, sir. I also think that he’s a madman.”

Crimson smiled bitterly when he saw Iron saying that his father was a madman. 

“Anyway, go win that bet and give him a proper taste of his own medicine.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Crimson smiled when he heard Iron’s answer. 

“I wish you all the best.”

“Thank you.”

Iron headed towards where the drakes were as he watched the commander send him off. He sat alone on a saddle that was specially made for a patient as he headed straight to where his unit was. 

He was a person who deserved proper rewards and compensation for the tremendous contributions that he had made during his mission as a Ghost. Unfortunately, the current situation was too ambiguous that they couldn’t give him proper recognition. 

Iron had currently made three tremendous contributions. First, he played a big role in preventing the dimensional crack from completely opening. Second, he discovered that the dark elves were behind the dimensional crack. And third, he relayed a method of breaking the dimensional gate and sealing the dimensional crack. His third contribution in particular was more than enough to give him a promotion or be awarded a medal.

However, since this was a mission that he took on as a Ghost, he needed to reveal his status as a Ghost to be promoted. But doing so right now would be a bit too much especially since the Ghosts had been injured severely due to this incident. Because of this, he willingly agreed to postpone his rewards and compensation after everything had been settled.

Then, came the next problem. With the Ghosts’ units almost destroyed, there was no place left for Iron to return to as a Ghost. So, finding a new place where he should be assigned has become a complicated matter. And since the situation with the dimensional crack was so urgent, Iron had no choice but to agree to work a bit longer in the Winter Mountains as an outpost leader.

Of course, it hurt the pride of the military to just proceed like this, especially because the person had contributed greatly. In addition, even though they were trivial in the grand scheme of things, the contributions that Iron had achieved as an outpost leader were things that also deserved praise. The higher-ups felt uncomfortable just continuing without doing anything for the young officer. They even went so far as to allow the Lion Family’s family head to intervene to the point that he would make a bet with the boy. However, despite everything, Iron still willingly compromised with them. The military did not only feel uncomfortable, they also felt ashamed.

However, Iron did not care about those things as he focused on more important matters.

“So… You’re telling me that our company should prepare to make a move, right?” 

Company Commander Franco looked dumbfounded as he stared at Iron. 

Currently, all of the elite troops from Command, the Vanguard Corps, the Mountain Corps, the Fog Corps and even some of the elite troops from the Wizard Tower and the Leonhardt Family had gathered around the dimensional crack. Even the Northern Command had sent their elite knights over there. With this line up, everyone thought  that the things that the Winter Mountain Units could do were virtually non-existent. Even the company commander firmly believed this.

“Be serious. They’re only soldiers. No matter how good they can control their mana, what can a soldier do against those contaminated creatures?” 

Company Commander Franco’s arguments were valid. Generally, what he said was correct. The soldiers were all weaker than those elite troops so they wouldn’t be able to deal with those monsters with just their power alone. 

“I know how to deal with the void insects.” 

“You do?” 

“Yes.” 

Hearing Iron’s confident words, Company Commander Franco couldn’t help but stop and stare at him. Given the fact that the special search unit commander and the army commander had been caring about him and supporting him, Franco already knew that he was unusual. But knowing something like this had proven that he was truly a special existence in this place.

Currently, they were in a situation where their search unit commander was seriously injured and out of commission. Because of this, each company was given autonomy. In other words, they were in a situation where the company commander could move without reporting their situation to the search unit commander.

“Will we really be of help even if it’s a dimensional crack?” 

“Yes.” 

The company commander pondered for a moment after hearing Iron’s ever confident reply.

He was fully aware that this was an opportunity that wouldn’t come often. Although there were clear risks, the fruits that they would harvest if this became successful would be sweet. Being promoted to Major, the first wall that any officer needed to overcome, would not be just a pipe dream for him.

At that moment, it seemed like Company Commander Franco’s eyes were in the shape of the letters of the word Major. 

“Hoo… So, what do you want to do?” 

Iron replied quietly when he heard the company commander’s question. 

“We will need weapons to deal with the void insects.” 

“Weapons?” 

“Yes. Bombs filled with non-attributed mana. That’s what we need.” 

“Non-attribute? Will that work on the void insects?” 

“That’s right. I have directly confirmed that they are vulnerable to non-attributed mana in the underground opening in the cave.” 

The company commander looked at Iron suspiciously when he heard Iron’s rough lies. However, he decided to listen to him for now. After all, Iron was the one who had seen the dimensional crack personally. If he did not believe him now, then what would that make of him?

“Do we use it ourselves?” 

“No, sir. The Artillery Unit will blow up the bombs. Or we will call for the airships to drop massive amounts of bombs on the void insects.” 

“Then, doesn’t that mean that we have nothing to do?” 

“In this operation, our troops are the most important part.” 

The company commander frowned. It seemed like he couldn’t understand what Iron wanted to say.

“Are we still important when the Artillery Unit and the airships will do everything?” 

“Yes.” 

The company commander’s brows continued to furrow as he urged Iron to finish his words.

“Because it will be our troops’ job to inform them on where the void insects are and where they should drop the bomb.” 

“Will they go outside the cave?” 

“…Yes. They’ll start to come out like crazy soon. And I’m sure that they’ll spread all throughout the Winter Mountains.” 

The company commander fell silent. He realized that Iron knew something. 

“Is this confidential?” 

“Yes.” 

He couldn’t help but let out a sigh when he heard that it was some kind of confidential secret. He felt like he had not experienced any comfortable day ever since this very competent junior appeared under his command. 

However, it still remained undeniable that this was his chance for him to get closer to his dream promotion. In fact, he was praised by his superiors even if he, the company commander, did little to nothing during this operation. On the other hand, Captain Paulo, who was scheduled to become a Major, had been zealously criticized. His situation was completely different to his rival after he hung himself faithfully under the search unit commander. And since this operation was related to the dimensional crack, there was a chance that he could probably go higher than Major if he played well. However, there was also a chance that the corruption in their lines would be revealed and he would be demoted to captain. If that happened, then his dreams of becoming a Major would most likely be dashed and the next in line to be Major would probably take this position. 

After pondering over his thoughts, the company commander was barely able to make up his mind. He quickly stood up from his seat as he spoke to Iron.

“I’ll report this to the commander myself.”

“Thank you for your trust.”

In their current situation where their search unit commander was out of commission, their immediate superior would be the Northeastern Commander himself. 

For the company commander, just having a meeting with the special search unit commander was already nerve-wracking. But right now, he was going to willingly venture into the tiger’s den to meet with the army commander himself. All he could do was breathe deeply to calm himself down and straighten his military uniform in preparation for the inevitable meeting that he would go to.

Iron smiled bitterly as he watched the company commander nervously leave the office. 

“Hoo… Prove…”

Iron clenched his fists tightly as he recalled the words of the family head and his father, Lioner. 

This was an operation that was difficult even if it was done in the future. However he had no choice but to do it. He wanted to lie and say that he was still sick so he could take a rest right away but he had to establish his specialty and show off that his choices were correct just so he could escape from that madman. 

And Iron was someone who firmly believed that if one was going to do it, then one should do it properly.

“By that time, I should be Winter Mountain’s hero.”

This life’s very first hero who sealed the dimensional crack.

Iron’s eye shone brightly at the thought of taking such a title. 

A few days later, Crimson officially approved the dimensional gate explosion operation. All of the troops set foot at Winter Mountains and gathered at the place where the dark elves had created the dimensional gate. 

The very same day that the dimensional crack had exploded, the mindless slaughter of countless void insects also began. And of course, Iron was at the center of it all.