Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Danger inside the danger (2)

The soldiers of the 7th corps were hiding behind a low mountain slope .

Their numbers amounted to 4,000 .

They had moved in small troops until now, but half of them had gathered to attack the supply storage .

“This is their supply storage, right?”

“Yes . That’s right . ”

At Aaron’s question, Richard nodded with a confident face .

“While we were patrolling, we discovered five wagons moving in the middle of the night . We followed them because it was a bit weird, and we ended up in this place . ”

The empty lot they were peering down at was surrounded by mountains .

The empty lot was quite wide and flat, taking into account that it was located in the middle of the mountains .

The lot, that had the shape of a gourd, only had one entrance .

Only, they couldn’t see the insides of the lot clearly because it was covered by trees .

Wooden fences were surrounding the entrance, and a coarse watchtower was placed on the grounds .

Right inside of it, there were huge tents and houses built .

There were a lot of heavy sacks placed below the tents .

When they vaguely guessed the number of wagons, adding the ones they couldn’t see, it amounted to at least 1,000 .

‘There’s some left over even after providing for two corps . ’

A smile appeared on Aaron’s mouth .

Then, Richard pointed the pile of sacks .

“Those are the provisions of Istel kingdom . ”

Mendel, who was next to them, mumbled with a surprised expression .

“Even so, I didn’t know at all that there was a place like this . ”

At those words, Roan, Aaron and Richard who were next to him, nodded .

‘It’s a place I hadn’t expected at all . It’s the best place to save provisions without getting caught . But…… . . ’

It certainly was one of the best places because of the many advantages it had .

But storage facility only had one entrance, and the wide road that followed below the mountain was suitable for an army to cross on it .

And there was one bigger problem .

‘It’s too far with the front line . ’

Istel kingdom had advanced quite a ways into the west .

‘Although it’s to protect the provisions safely…… . . ’

There was nothing good in making the supply line longer .

Roan glared at the entrance .

At that instant, the entrance was zoomed in on .

He was looking at the soldier that protected the entrance .

Traces that wagons had come and go were seen .

There were no weird things going on .

‘Am I worrying too much?’

Then, Aaron’s voice was heard .

“What’s the number of soldiers guarding the supply storage?”

Richard and Mendel looked at the entrance and replied .

“It’s difficult to say the exact number as we can only see the entrance and the fences . But from what we can see, it seems like they are 500 . ”

Aaron frowned .

“500………”

500 only at the entrance .

When he also guessed from the size of the interior, there may be three or four times more soldiers .

“They are at least 1500-2000 . ”

At Aaron’s guess, everyone nodded .

2000 enemy soldiers .

On the other hand, Aaron’s force was 4,000 .

“You’ve done well, Richard . ”

At Aaron’s compliment, Richard brightly smiled and bowed .

“I was just lucky . ”

His humbleness was not too excessive .

However, Richard’s merit was quite big .

Also, Istel kingdom had hid themselves because of the repeated blows they had suffered .

They seriously lowered the amount of soldiers protecting the storage even after knowing that the advancing speed of the main troop would lessen .

They used a method to quickly spread small provisions in the middle of the night .

Thanks to that, the 7th corps was taking quite a lot of time to find the supply storage the more time passed .

But Richard, of the special troops, had found the supply facility .

It was a merit that was complementable enough .

Aaron turned to look at the troop commanders and said in a low voice .

“We hit at the fastest speed possible and fall back . ”

“Yes . Understood . ”

It was impossible to seize that amount of provisions, as it was the enemy’s territory .

Rather, it was more suitable to burn it all and retreat quickly .

Aaron faced everyone and then stood up and shook his right hand .

The flagman who was waiting, shook his flag .

At the same time, the archers fired off arrows .

Sweeeeee!

Thousands of arrows split the air alongside a sharp sound .

Pubububuk!

A rain of arrows poured over the tents and the entrance .

“Kek!”

“Kugh!”

The soldiers who were guarding, became porcupines and fell down .

The 7th corps fired two more rounds of arrows and then charged forward .

“Take over the supply storage!”

“Kill them!”

4,000 soldiers poured out from the forest .

They ran towards the confused soldiers .

“Uo!”

“Kok!”

The soldiers of Istel kingdom couldn’t properly fight back and fell by becoming cold corpses on the ground .

Puuuuu!

The only thing they did was blow a horn trumpet to let their troops know of the infiltration of the enemy .

The battle flowed quite one sidedly however .

“Don’t let even one alive!”

“Don’t let them go!”

The soldiers of the 7th corps charged through the entrance and were able to get into a deep part of the storage with a violent intent .

However, they couldn’t see any more enemies .

Roan, who caught up late, frowned .

‘The number of soldiers protecting it is too low . ’

The number they had expected was 2,000 .

However, the only ones guarding it were the 500, the ones from the entrance .

The situation in Istel kingdom wasn’t good .

To the point that it was difficult to stay in war for long .

‘But they are maintaining the supply this sloppily?’

There was no way .

‘Something’s not right……’

A feeling that uneasiness took over his heart .

“Roan, why is your expression like that? This battle is also a complete victory, a complete victory . ”

Aaron approached while brightly smiling .

Then, one sack moved into Roan’s sight .

‘That!’

This was the reason of the uneasiness .

He hurriedly tore up the sak .

Riip .

What fell outside of the sack were weeds covered in oil .

Roan looked at Aaron and yelled .

“It’s a trap! We have to get out immedi……”

When he talked up to that moment .

Something moved inside his sight .

One arrow that split the blue sky .

Roan concentrated on the tip of the arrow .

Because of Kalian’s tear, every movement in the world became slow .

Sweeeeee!

The arrow flewwhile cutting through the air really slowly .

There was a flame at the tip of the arrow .

Sweeeeeeeeeee!

Below the first arrow, hundreds more could be seen .

Roan’s face stiffened .

He yelled with all his strength .

“Dodge!”

His voice was heard slowly .

The soldiers had confused expressions and looked at the surroundings at Roan’s yell, and then kicked the ground .

Roan also grabbed Aaron’s neck and threw him .

At the same time, the slow world’s movement turned to the original speed .

Pubububuk!

Arrows poured over the heads of the 7th corps .

The tents and the sacks got caught in the arrow rain and caught on fire .

Whooooosh!

An amazing heat flew out .

The fire surged up to the sky and gulped down the sacks .

“Uhh . What is this…… . . ”

Aaron was thrown by Roan .

He couldn’t finish his sentence and shut his mouth .

And it was the same for Roan .

He looked at the path of fire burning fiercely and ground his teeth .

‘For it to be a trap . ’

It was the first time since he had returned to the past .

He had achieved consecutive victories because he knew the future until now .

Roan’s eyes sunk calmly .

‘For me to fall in a trap……’

This was really, a really unexpected thing .

*****

“Hahaha!”

A magnanimous laughter rang out .

The one who was looking at the scene while standing at the top was a big builded middle aged man with quite a pretty face .

“We finally caught those rats . ”

He looked at the place where his sight reached .

That was none other than the 2nd supply storage which the 7th corps of Istel had broken through .

‘As the big and small supply lines got cut off, the front troops fell in chaos . ’

It was a troublesome and angering situation for the one in charge of the provisions .

He tried making a separate troop to annihilate the ones attacking the supply lines, but it was fruitless .

‘The scale of the troop was really small, and on top of that, their movements were quite swift . ’

But even so, they couldn’t just stand still .

In the end, the middle aged man decided to set up a trap .

And there was even a suitable place .

An empty ground they used as the saving point of supplies at the start of the war .

It was a place they didn’t use anymore because of the advancing speed of the main troop .

They filled the sacks with weeds and oil .

And then set up soldiers and purposely spilled the location of the fake storage .

‘And they took the bait . ’

The middle aged man was waiting at the cliff surrounding the storage and fired off arrows the moment the 7th corps broke in .

The fake storage, that was filled with weed and oil, was caught up in an amazing fire .

On top of that, they threw strong trees to block the entrance .

‘Although it’s regrettable that it isn’t rocks……’

It wasn’t easy to find rocks big and strong enough to block the entrance .

Instead, they blocked the entrance with trees and set it on fire .

“The entrance has been blocked!”

“Damn! Look for an escape route!”

“Put out the fire!”

The 7th corps yelled while looking at the spreading fire .

“Hahaha! How good to see!”

The middle aged man saw that and burst out of laughter .

Then, a thick voice was heard .

“Troop commander Martin . Won’t it be better to pour more arrows?”

He had a huge body and a thick lined face .

The left eye that was covered with a clean cloth .

He was Vernon Pollet, who had lost his left eye because of Harrison’s arrow while he was chasing Roan’s back .

The middle aged man, Teise Martin shook his head .

“Even if we don’t do that, we are lacking goods . And that’s the same for the arrows . They will die by getting caught in the fire, so there’s no need to waste any more arrows . ”

“Mmm . ”

Vernon smacked his lips and stepped down .

‘You have to end it when you can . ’

Actually, he didn’t quite like Teise .

If Vernon was a normal military officer, Teise was closer to being a civil officer .

Because of that, he liked to use his head to win battles rather than using force .

He was the polar opposite to Vernon, who liked to charge to the front without looking back .

‘If only it wasn’t for the wound…… . ’

He wouldn’t have fallen back to the rear like this .

He remembered the greenhorn spearman that made his eye like this .

‘I have to catch that bastard and kill him . ’

Ududuk .

The sound of teeth grinding was clearly heard .

Then, a familiar guy was heard among the soldiers of Rinse kingdom .

‘Mmm?’

Vernon frowned and inserted mana in his right eye .

The guy who was leading the soldiers with a really calm attitude .

“That guy?”

Vernon opened his eyes widely .

His face burned in an instant .

“Kuhahahaa!”

The laughter that explodes .

“Wh, why are you suddenly like this?”

Teise shrinked down with a surprised expression .

A sharp and chilly bloodthirst was felt in Vernon’s eye .

“The bastard that made me like this is over there . ”

*****

Chaos .

The storage resembled a chaotic place .

Whooooooosh!

The flame gulped down the tents and the sacks .

Below that, the soldiers of the 7th corps had become porcupines .

The red fire gulped down the corpses .

“Get away!”

“Fall back!”

“Don’t push!”

The soldiers stepped back while dodging the fire .

They were pushing their comrades in order to survive .

“U,uak!”

“F,F,fire!”

“Save me!”

The soldiers that couldn’t dodge, got caught up in the fire .

“Uuk . ”

The disgusting smell of skin getting burnt spread out .

The roasted skin slowly started to melt .

The burnt corpses increased bit by bit .

‘Damn . There’s no escape . ’

Roan ground his teeth .

He searched his back and his sides but there was no escape .

‘And we can’t climb the hill . ’

In the end, they had to get out through the entrance they came in .

The problem .

‘That place is blocked by trees . ’

On top of that, there was an amazing fire .

“The, there’s no way…… . . For, for it to be a trap…… . . ”

Richard, who brought this information, was half absent minded .

And Aaron also didn’t have any solutions .

“Don’t run about in confusion!”

He calmed the soldiers and fell back to a place that still hadn’t caught fire .

“Uooo . ”

“Kuhuk . ”

Cries filled with pain .

It was the groan of the wounded that couldn’t dodge the fire .

“It’s too hot! Too hot!”

“I, I don’t want to die . ”

The ones that received disgusting wounds had their hearts crumble .

“Damn! Move the wounded to the inner part!”

“Take care of them so the wound doesn’t worsen!”

The troop commanders stepped out and commanded the soldiers .

But they were also in a rush .

‘Damn! To get caught in a trap!’

They had lowered their guard at the consecutive victories .

Aaron looked at the huge fire and shook his head .

‘Is this hell…… . ’

It was even painful to breathe because of the hot heat .

Aaron blamed his impatience .

The supply storage of Istel kingdom .

He had plentily expected the enemy to be prepared .

And because of that, he led half of his force .

However, as it was enemy territory, it was more suitable to attack quickly and retreat .

‘I have to check it more carefully… . . ’

Strength was put in his hand .

Then, he saw Roan’s back .

He had a kind of pondering look .

‘He’s calm even in this situation . ’

He thought that it was really Roan like .

Then, Roan started to move .

And surprisingly enough, the place he was moving to was the burning entrance .

‘I can’t keep hiding my strength in this situation . ’

Roan took in a breath .

The lives of the soldiers and his life was in danger .

This wasn’t the moment to be hiding his strength .

‘Let’s do it . ’

He became determined .

For him, and for his comrades .

Roan moved towards the entrance .

‘If I pull all of my mana, I might be able to crush the trees . ’

You wouldn’t know if it were other people, but if it was Roan, he had plenty of possibilities .

For now, he used Brent’s ring to not feel any heat .

If it was for a short moment, it was possible to approach the fire .

‘On top of that, the mana i’m learning is Flamdor . It was the mana technique of the fire monarch Reid . ’

He could say that fire was the source of his strength .

Grip .

Roan gripped his spear tightly .

“Roan!”

“Roan! Where are you going!”

Aaron , Gale, and etc . called out to Roan to stop him .

Roan just turned his head to look at them .

A smile was on his face .

“Don’t be too surprised . ”

They were words you couldn’t understand .

Roan started to move again .

An amazing path of fire surged up in his surroundings .

‘Kuk . Even Brent’s ring has a limit . ’

It was weak, but he could feel the heat .

‘If I waste more time, my skin will get burnt . ’

Brent’s ring only made you not to feel any heat, it didn’t make the energy itself powerless .

If he slipped up, he could get a wound when he wasn’t paying attention .

Then .

Sweeee!

A sharp sound was heard in his ears .

Roan instinctively threw his body even before he saw it .

Puk!

An arrow was stuck in the place where he was standing .

Roan looked at the place where the arrow was fired with a calm expression .

Because of Kalian’s tear, he could see the face of the man on the cliff clearly .

‘He’s the bastard that chased me back then . ’

Vernon, who was on the cliff, was pointing his bow towards Roan .

‘I’m sorry, but I have no time to play with you . ’

Roan was calm even while looking at the arrow pointing at him .

“Harrison!”

A loud yell .

“Yes!”

Harrison, who was at the back of the soldiers, replied in a loud voice .

Roan made a sign with his left hand and pointed to the hill .

“Ah… . . ”

Harrison, who followed the cliff with his eyes, let out a low exclamation .

Although he couldn’t see it as clearly as Roan, he recognized Vernon at one glance .

‘That bastard dares to!’

Harrison shut his mouth and grabbed his bow .

He moved between the fire and knocked an arrow .

Jiiiiiiiiiiiing .

The bowstring became tense .

‘Hoo . Hoo . Hup . ’

His breath stopped .

At the same time, he let go of the fingers that were pulling the string .

Ting!

A clear sound .

Sweeeeee!

A sharp sound rang out .

One arrow pierced the fire and surged to the skies .

Roan looked at that and moved with a composed expression .

He didn’t look at the arrow anymore .

Because he trusted in Harrison’s ability .

‘Damn!’

Vernon, who was about to fire an arrow at Roan, fortunately didn’t miss Harrison inside the fire . He hurriedly pulled Teise’s arm and got on the floor .

When Vernon lowered half of his body .

Pat!

One arrow grazed his armour .

If he was a bit slower, he would have had his head pierced .

‘Damn! He’s the bastard that fired the arrow last time!’

His face reddened .

They were the bastards that made him have only one eye .

Those bastards were inside the fire .

‘I have to kill them with my own hands . ’

Vernon stepped back .

“Where are you going?”

Teise frowned .

Vernon replied shortly after turning back .

“Even in this situation, I will have to receive indemnization for my eye . ”

He started to climb down the hill following the back road .

Meanwhile, Roan stood in front of the trees .

“Whew . ”

He let out a long sigh and gripped his spear .

The spear shined by receiving bright light .

‘Hph . ’

One thread of mana surged up from his mana hole .

In that instant .

Flaaaaaaaame!

The fire that was burning the trees moved towards Roan .

It was a situation that may eat him at any moment .

“Roan!”

“It’s dangerous!”

Aaron and the soldiers, who were looking, yelled .

However Roan was rather calm .

No, he was actually a bit surprised .

‘This……’

His respiratory tract had heated up .

And it was also the same for his internal organs .

‘Ah……’

Vitality surged up .

Every time he breathed, an amazing amount of fire essence was sucked into his body .

The mana that was just a thread, that was like a raging billow, stirred in his body .

An amazing amount of strength was sent to the tip of his hands and feet .

‘I can do it . ’

It was a strength he hadn’t felt until now .

He gained confidence from this .

He looked at the pile of trees in front of him and lowered his stance .

The spear was gripped with both of his hands .

Mana spouted out through his two palms .

Spat .

The colour of Roan’s mana was usually close to a transparent white light .

But it was different now .

This time, it had a red color .

Although it was difficult to recognize as it was dim, a red color was certainly seen in the blade of the spear .

Roan stepped up with his left leg and twisted both of his wrists .

Pat!

The spear split the air and crossed over the fire .

‘Kuk!’

An amazing heat was felt .

However Roan didn’t stop .

He executed the Flamdor mana technique and put strength into his spear .

Finally, the spear landed on the tree .

Baaaaaaang!

An amazing explosion rang out everywhere .

At the same time, the flames that were surging up to the skies, covered Roan .

“No!!!”

“Roan!!!”

A sound close to a scream came out .

The screams of Aaron, Gale and the soldiers rang throughout the empty lot .

End