Episode 1078. Elio swung his sword at Cerberus, who was approaching Cerberus like a herd of dogs in
Glaches Fortress .
Jingeomgang, called Aura Blade, directly attacked the three-headed Cerberus.
Amidst the grotesque cries of the Cerberus, a terrifying rupture sounded.
Kekekeke -.
Kkuk kuk-.
Kwajajajak-!
The monsters were definitely stronger than the monsters.
There was also Cerberus, who was hit directly by the aura blade and had his body cut in two, but many Cerberus passed him by, bleeding profusely.
Elio knew that Rufus Company and Marquis Bernardo would struggle, but he could not go to help them.
It was because there were far more monsters in front of him than those that passed him.
As time passed, the situation got worse.
Monsters such as the dog-headed, bipedal monster Kovalos, the corpse-eating giant, the ghoul, the maddened hydra, the bloody carib, etc. came flooding in like a flood.
If Elio hadn’t crushed the main forces of the monsters in the lead, Marquis Bernardo’s army would have already been swept away.
Elio, who had been wielding a sword at monsters in an almost trance, slowly woke up.
The corpses of monsters and monsters formed a mountain.
The corpses petrified by the lava spewed by the hydra of madness were bizarre to look at.
There were good points.
A fence was built with the petrified corpses, and Marquis Bernardo’s army became that much safer.
Elio looked around when he had some time to spare.
They had to move several times to avoid the lava spewed by the maddened hydra, and each time more monsters rushed to Marquis Bernardo’s army.
Is that why?
The number of Marquis Bernardo’s army had been reduced by half.
Rufus Company was with the headquarters of Marquis Bernardo’s army when it retreated.
Elio jumped on top of the petrified ghoul’s head to grasp the situation in more detail.
The situation in other territories was more serious.
It seemed that the surviving soldiers couldn’t do anything about it.
‘It’s a big deal.’
The demons hadn’t even appeared yet, and it was shocking to hear that they had already lost close to 70% of their troops.
Woo-woo-woo-woo-.
From the headquarters of the Duke of Escatos, there was a sound of horns announcing the gathering.
It seems that the troops are extremely reduced, so they are trying to gather them in one place.
It was unreasonable to fight the demons with a small group of only 3 to 400 people.
Marquis Bernardo’s army broke through the monsters and joined the headquarters of the Escatos Kingdom.
Finally, the Kingdom of Escatos gathered in one place.
Duke Escatos called Baron Elio Lagoa to an emergency strategy meeting among the nobles.
A company commander attended the meeting of the generals, but no one took issue with it.
Duke Escatos said in a sad tone.
“There are only about a thousand survivors of our kingdom army. If you add Baylem and Raminov Kingdom, it will be more, but not less. It seems that you took the demon invasion too lightly. The fight against the demons hasn’t even started in earnest yet… but we’ve lost too many troops. At this rate, the fight against the demons… has no chance of winning. I would like to hear your thoughts on that.”
General Marquis Bernardo, who had been listening silently, asked as if to confirm.
“Does Marshal have retreat in mind?”
“According to Mage Sir Carlos’s detection magic, only one demon army is approaching. Although the monster’s offensive has weakened now, its power has not greatly diminished. I don’t know how many kingdom troops will be alive until we meet the demon army.”
I didn’t say anything, but it was a call to retreat.
Marquis Bernardo glanced at Baron Elio Lagoa.
“What do you think of Baron Elio?”
His enemies, Count Codrantes, deputy general of the Duke of Escatos, and Count Colin Strong, court mage Kalos, chief of staff Viscount Meto Robert, all paid attention to him.
“I am lacking in knowing and seeing [識見], so I will follow your opinion.”
The interpreter artifact expressed it a little strangely, but everyone nodded to see if it made sense.
Soon after, Marquis Bernardo got lucky.
“I don’t like it, but I think retreat is the right way to preserve the current forces even a little longer. If we continue to stand against the demons, there is a high risk of being annihilated.”
Then Count Codrantes said a word.
“That’s true, but if we retreat from Hirhera… the northern part will fall into the hands of the demons. I don’t think the demons will be satisfied with the North. If more demons cross the ice wall, the continent will soon perish.”
That was true, so no one disputed it.
A heavy silence fell upon the noble meeting.
Duke Escatos, who was watching the battle situation in front, hurriedly spoke.
“I’m not asking you to hand over Hiruhera. How about retreating to southern Hierhera? I remember seeing an old fort to the south from the Airship. How about buying some time there temporarily? The demons won’t move to another place unless we get rid of them.”
Then Count Codrantes nodded.
“If you’re referring to Glaches Fortress, I think it’s fine.”
As befits the owner of Herhera, Count Codrantes even told the name of the fortress.
The opinion of the nobles was gathered to ‘move to Glaches Fortress’.
They were content not to abandon Hirhera and retreat.
Duke Escatos sent messengers to the Royal Army of Baylem and Raminov.
Baylem and Raminov Kingdom did not object either.
After a while, the Royal Army of Escatos Baylam Raminof abandoned the garrison and retreated.
As if they had waited, the demons pushed into the garrison used by the allied forces of the kingdom.
Hirhera Garrison.
Moloch, the lord of Mokuvas, said while looking around the garrison filled with monsters, demons, and human corpses.
“Dragod. What’s the point of sending humans alive?”
Dragod, the leader of the fallen dragons, hurriedly lowered his head.
“Human resistance was formidable. We, the Dragonians, are chasing the humans along with Anakin, so things will be sorted out soon.”
“I can’t leave a human behind me, so I’ll have to hurry.”
“Yes, I will finish it in three days.”
Dragod insisted that Moloch no longer questioned him.
Dragod and Moloch believed that in that amount of time they could end the human armies.
This is because most of the human army was wiped out with only demons and monsters.
The high-ranking monsters hadn’t even been fully solved yet, but they produced results to that extent.
If Dragonian and Anakin were put in there, it was obvious what the end of the human army would be like.
***
Glazes Star Fort south of Hirhera.
The survivors of the Escatos Baylem Raminof Kingdom army were finally able to enter the Glaches Fortress around sunset – overcoming the relentless pursuit of the monsters.
That night, the Duke of Escatos, Duke Herbert Liberato, and the Duke of Iskra Raminof gathered in the stone palace built in the center of Glazes Fortress.
All three of them were sword masters, but their faces showed signs of fatigue.
It was an exhausting day for the sword masters.
Duke Herbert Liberato of the Kingdom of Baylem muttered bitterly.
“If it wasn’t for this fort, I would have been in real trouble. I was nervous, knowing that I would have to either die or run away from the garrison.”
Then Duke Escatos said with a wry smile.
“They say it was built as a last-ditch bastion during the war with the Empire. It was built at the crossroads of northern and southern Hirhera, so there is nothing better than this.”
Then, Duke Iskra Raminov also helped out.
“The Empire has done a good job. Anyway, isn’t the future a problem? I don’t think we can stand against the demon legions with our forces… Can we hold out until reinforcements from other northern kingdoms and empires arrive?”
The tone of Duke Iskra Raminov, famous for his rough temper, was extremely soft.
It is because he witnessed the strength of the Escatos Kingdom army while being chased by the Demon Army.
Looking at the surviving troops alone, 1,000 Escatos survived in Raminof and 500 each in Baylam Kingdom.
Even if Duke Iskra Raminov was a ferocious person, he could not help but be humbled.
No one opened his mouth to his words.
Waiting for reinforcements from the Northern Kingdom and Empire was a thought close to delusion.
This is because monsters are surrounding the fortress right now.
It was clear that the fortress would disappear before the Northern Kingdoms and the Empire even discussed reinforcements.
Duke Iskra Raminov’s words rather highlighted the hopeless situation of Glaches Fortress.
Duke Herbert Liberato opened his mouth with a resigned face.
“I don’t know if I can survive tomorrow’s offensive by the demon army, putting aside the reinforcements.”
He thought that the fate of the Allied Forces had already been decided in Hirhera.
In fact, there was no hope for the Allied Forces at the Glaches Fortress.
There was no food or fire stone left in Glaches Fortress, which had been neglected for a long time.
The Allied Forces of the Three Kingdoms were in a situation where they would either die fighting monsters or starve to death.
Duke Escatos, thinking of something, looked at the two.
“What about the food and firestone reserves of the two kingdoms? How many days can you last? We have about 15 days worth.”
said Duke Herbert Liberato of Baylem.
“The supply corps managed to follow, so I think we can hold out for a week.”
They lost a lot of supply troops, but the loss of regular troops was bigger, so they had enough food and fire stones.
The gazes of Duke Escatos and Duke Herbert Liberato turned to Duke Iskra Raminof.
Duke Iskra Raminov opened his mouth with a confused face.
“Because of the loss of the supply unit… all the soldiers have individually. I think I can last for a day or so. We need the support of Escatos and Baylem.”
Meanwhile, Duke Iskra Raminof looked at Duke Escatos.
He is worried that he will ask them to give up Jade Lake under the pretext of helping.
However, Duke Escatos did not mention the Jade Lake.
“All right. Since the Kingdom of Baylem has a week’s supply, we will apply for a week’s supply to the Kingdom of Raminof. I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive a week or so. ha ha ha.”
The empty laughter of Duke Escatos echoed through the stone palace.
Rufus Company.
As Elio ignited the fire stone, the company members secretly gathered.
Elio tried to avoid eye contact with the company members as much as possible.
‘Stupid people. I told you to leave…’
In fact, he wanted all the members of Rufus’ company to run away.
It’s because it’s obvious that you’ll die if you stay in the garrison.
However, many company members remained, even though they clearly knew that they were going to die.
Even nearly half of them were killed, but the company atmosphere was not bad.
No one was joking, but everyone had a grave face at the death of a colleague.
Someone took out an energy ball, a combat ration, and ate it.
Then, one by one, they took out energy balls from their arms and began to eat them.
Elio, feeling hunger belatedly, took an energy ball from his bosom and bit it.
Eating energy balls, I looked around at the members of the company who had been struggling to turn a blind eye.
I was not in a good mood.
I felt more sorry for the members of Rufus Company than the thieves of Obong Sanchae, who had lived for a long time.
This is because, unlike the thieves of the green forest, they are forcibly conscripted people.
Those people left on their own feet to protect the North.
Honey was also mixed in the energy ball, but I don’t know why it tastes so bitter.
At that time, Fabian, who had been running around the fortress briskly, returned and squatted down next to Elio.
“Squadron commander. The two knights of Baylem are unharmed. But Sir Anna Logan made sure to convey her thanks to the company commander.”
“Who asked?”
“I know what you are curious about. Sir Anna Logan. It is said that he mastered swallow flying during the battle. Thanks to him, he was able to save himself and save many people.”
Elio’s face brightened a little.
It seemed that the energy ball, which had only been used, tasted faintly sweet.