The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military - Chapter 118

The demons appeared out of nowhere in the Northern Forest. Because of this unit specialized in battling monsters, the monster tribes in the eastern part of the Northern Forest were slaughtered one after another. Several monster tribes even united to fight them but they were badly beaten and broken.

―Kkii… Human… spare….

One of the goblins begged for mercy but Iron still ruthlessly cut its head off. The monsters who saw this scene from afar ran desperately with all their might.

“Don’t spare anyone. Kill all the monsters that you can kill.”

“Yes, sir!”

Even the monsters that were running away were mercilessly killed by the humans at his command. Their figures looked akin to a demon but what they were doing was still not putting any strain on the monsters’ side. This was because Iron had deliberately targeted and attacked the weak and lacking monsters.

In the monsters’ eyes, the human troops weren’t really that strong. After all, the monsters that they attacked were far too weak. They only targeted tribes with a few numbers, and habitats with no master-class monsters. Because of that, most of the monsters thought… ‘They’re like hyenas who only target the weak!’.

But when the number of tribes that they targeted increased from 10 to 20, word of mouth began to spread.

―Chwi… Chwik! They’re re… real demons!

―Those bastards are really good at killing us!

―They kept on researching ways to kill us everyday!

Rumors spread all throughout the forests as the survivors spoke of their experience.

In fact, everything was still vague. Even if the survivors were all trembling as they talked, none of the others showed pity on them. After all, the tribes that had been targeted had no master-class or even the 6th Stage lord-class monsters in their ranks. Then, didn’t that mean that the monsters that they dealt with were just at the level of a small monster unit?

In addition, this Demon Unit was not limited to an area and was only focused on rescuing the human units that had been spread out and isolated in the forest. So, none of the other monsters felt that the situation was serious. There were even monsters who believed that they would go away once they had rescued all of the other humans.

The problem came after all of the human units had been rescued. They settled down in the eastern side of the Northern Forest and began to completely wipe out the monsters in that zone.

News reached the troll lord, who was gathering the monsters in the northeastern region of the forest.

The isolated human units had withdrawn one by one.

The monster tribes that dissolved and disappeared. Which coincidentally were the monster tribes that it wanted to rally.

And a human unit that drove away the monsters that were spread all over the forest one by one.

Putting together all of the news that they had received, they realized that it would turn into a big problem if they left this human unit unattended. However, the troll lord was clear that this would be a war that it would fight against these humans alone, none of the other monster lords would agree to help it out. After all, its position would definitely narrow and weaken once they turned into a monster corps once he lacked enough troops.

From the southern part of the forest taken by the ogres, to the northern part taken by the dire wolves, to the western part taken by the orcs and up to the central part taken by the owners of the rock wall, the wyverns. These monsters would not lend him a hand especially since they were busy expanding their territories.

At the same time, it could not undermine its own power while the others were expanding their own power by gathering the monsters to their sides. So, the troll lord rolled its head hard to think of a plan.

1 Block and manipulate the information about the human army.

2 Spread false information as if we’re trying to create a stronger force by gathering monsters outside of the forest.

‘We will destroy the human army and gather monsters from outside to create our own monster corps!’

Just like that, the troll lord’s claims spread like wildfire to all the monsters in the forest.

The human troops were concentrated on the eastern side so the monsters on the other region weren’t aware of the exact situation.

―Chwik! Is this true?

―Grrrr… Maybe? I heard that all of the main forces had retreated and only the small fries had remained.

―Kkiik! I heard that too. I saw most of the guys that ran away from here go over to the plains!

The rumors gradually turned credible as the monsters all over the forest shared the information that they knew.

In fact, there were monsters that existed outside of the forest. Their number was even higher than the ones inside. And some of the monsters were able to share and exchange information with them which allowed them to get some news.

Since it was a rumor that was based on facts, the monsters occupying the forest had no choice but to react. After all, they couldn’t bear to see the troll lord have the largest number of troops.

There were even rumors that spread recently in the plains that the minotaurs had already created a large-scale troop. If that was true, then they couldn’t let the trolls do the same.

Eventually, the monsters from the forest gradually moved their troops to try and break through the human army and get out of the forest. Just like what the troll lord had planned.

‘Who gets the most monsters? That’s not yet decided!’

The leader of the monster corps would be decided based on their troops in the future. It was like the human army did not exist in the lords’ heads as they scrambled to fight for troops.

“The bastard has a good head on his shoulders.”

Iron grinned as he watched the monsters’ movements.

The trolls were as good as the goblins when it came to thinking. And since the bastard was the lord of such monsters, it seemed like it could use its brain better than anyone else in its group.

“I thought I could play around a bit more but there happened to be someone whose thoughts were churning.”

Iron looked at the report in disappointment.

He received real-time reports from the rangers about the monsters’ movements. And because of that, he was able to find out that the entire monster population in the forest was beginning to move. In addition, they also found out that some of the monsters were in contact with the monsters outside of the forest.

“Is it not some completely false information?”

At first, he thought that gathering the monsters outside of the forest was just the trolls spraying the bait. A bait that would attract the other monsters. He thought that the troll lord could only use its brain so much but it seemed like it was much smarter than his estimate.

‘Is it thinking of pressuring the human army with the monsters from the outside? What did they give them for the monsters from the outside to be willing to group with them…’

Iron’s expression as he pondered about this was serious.

However, there was a limit to how much he could infer with the limited amount of information that he had. What was important was the fact that they were creating a monster force through the monsters residing outside of the forest.

If they were compared to the monsters inside the forest, they were only at a smaller scale but it did not matter. The fact that the trolls were trying to attract the monsters from outside the forest to join their own force. That was the only thing that mattered.

With just this one fact, the monsters in the forest had gathered and the human troops that had temporarily positioned themselves on the outskirts of the forest were under pressure.

‘If I leave things as it is, a monster corps would be created much sooner than expected.’

Iron looked at the map gravely.

The corps would be weaker compared to a corps created by gathering large monsters over time. This mid-sized corps was weak enough that they could shrink them to a small-scale corps. However, there were also advantages for the monsters.

‘It would be hard to stop them with just the human army right now.’

Just like the troll lord had planned, they would sweep away the human army while gathering the monsters and heading to another group of monsters. And once they had joined together, they would be able to create a monster wave.

Iron couldn’t help but frown after thinking that far all the while recalling the events that happened in his past life.

He urgently called for the soldier outside with a frown deep on his face.

“Deliver this letter to the rangers and have them send it to Command.”

“Yes, sir!”

The soldier hurriedly went to the rangers’ captain and delivered Iron’s letter. Not long after, several rangers prepared to go out to the forest.

Iron, who saw them off with his eyes, focused on collecting information by dispatching his troops as much as possible from that day onwards.

After a week of doing that, a reply to the letter that he had sent outside finally came back.

“Call for the executives.”

“Yes, sir!”

A soldier went out and called for all of the key figures of his troops.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of the news. The monsters are gathering both inside and outside of the forest.”

Everyone’s expression hardened at Iron’s words.

All of them knew that the situation was not that good. So far, they were able to easily deal with monsters but right now, they did not know if they were going to risk their lives on the line.

“I’ll tell you this first. You don’t have to pay attention to the monsters outside the forest. The troops that we had rescued and had retreated are being reorganized. They will be coming so they will be the ones dealing with those monsters.”

All of the eyes of the executives shined at Iron’s words.

“Also, the Command will be coming to support us after receiving the report that I sent. They will also send people to kill the lords. Sky Renz, who reached the 6th Stage, of the Drake Knight Order as well as Jim Rogers, who recently just reached the 6th Stage, the commander of the Ranger Unit will be coming for support. This is the letter.”

“Oooh!”

All of their eyes sparkled as if they had seen hope in Iron’s words. They believed that there would be hope if the best troops in the North came forward as support.

“And the heads of the North’s prestigious families, Temphet and Winstell will also be coming. In other words! We don’t have to deal with the lord-class monsters as well as the monsters’ main forces.”

“Then, do we just need to hunt the monsters like the other ordinary troops?”

Iron shook his head at Nyx Cole’s question.

“No. If we leave them alone, they will turn into a monster corps. So, we have to stop them.”

Iron smiled as he continued to speak to the executives.

“Once they start dealing with the monsters from outside the forest, we will run behind and enter the forest.”

Everyone looked blankly at Iron in shock.

“B… but can we even do it by ourselves?”

“Why? Do you think it’s impossible?”

Iron smiled as he answered the first company commander’s question with another question.

“The soldiers are still not used to fighting against a lot of monsters.”

“So, I’ll be taking out all of the soldiers.”

Iron continued to smile as he answered the first company commander.

“This operation will be completely carried out by the knights and rangers. The company troops and the artillery unit will go to their temporary position and act as support.”

“The monsters might ignore us if that’s the case.”

Ariel mentioned that their troops would be too small to be noticed.

Even if only a few of the large-scale monster troops remained, it was highly likely that they would not be able to cause enough damage to the monster corps. It seemed like he did not know what he was trying to do by leaving only the knights and the rangers to deal with them in such a situation.

“Have I ever shown my full strength here?”

The executives looked at Iron in confusion when he asked them this question.

There were rumors that he had reached the 6th Stage in the Lion Castle Fortress. As well as his supreme beasts that played a huge role in both the East and the Lion Castle Fortress. Iron’s real skills had never been demonstrated once in this forest.

“If you understand then I will take this as your agreement.”

Iron smiled as he pointed at the map.

“Of course, this operation will only succeed if we don’t get caught. Right?”

The troll lord still had its eyes on them. It was a monster that would use every bit of its energy to chase them out if they did not go out of the forest. So, what they needed to do was to stay in a safe area and hold out while sending out a decoy that would make it look like they had gone out of the forest.

“Here. The goblins’ territory is a good place to hide. It’s also close here.”

Iron pointed at the area where they had wiped out the goblins before as he spoke.

“The troops that will be coming with me will move out at night. Knights and rangers should get ready.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Ariel and Nyx answered Iron’s order with their heads bowed down.

“From now on, the unit will be reorganized. The elites will be chosen and placed in the first company. And the rest will go with the second company and the artillery unit and go outside of the forest.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. First, for the troops that will go outside of the forest. First company!”

“Yes, sir!”

The first company commander quickly replied to Iron’s call.

Iron looked at the company commander and pointed at the northern area that was already marked on the map.

“The first company will move to the north and exit the forest. Act like you’re buying time for the artillery unit to go out of the forest.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Even if it’s dangerous, you have to drag the time and buy enough time for the artillery unit to go outside. This is an important mission. Understand?”

“We’ll do our best.”

Hearing the repeated emphasis on the mission, the first company commander couldn’t help but reply in cold sweat.

Iron nodded lightly at his appearance.

“Alright. Knights, take off your armor and hand it over to the soldiers. Soldiers from your company with good builds will disguise themselves as knights.”

“I’ll relay your order right away.”

Ariel immediately replied to Iron’s orders.

“Knights should all change into light clothes and wait. Rangers, I don’t need to say anything anymore, right?”

“Yes, sir!”

Iron smiled after he explained everything to the key figures of his troops.

“The rest can leave. Only Captain Ariel and Captain Nyx stay.”

Iron then explained the operation in earnest when only the two people were left in his office.

“Our operation’s name is ‘thorn stuck in the mouth’.”

He tapped a needle on the map as he said the operation’s name.

Since they were starting a war with humans, the monsters would most definitely leave some troops behind. Iron smiled like the devil as he watched the needles that he stuck on the map on the areas where he expected them to remain.

“We are not here to deal with the main force. What we need to do is to thoroughly disturb the enemy’s supplies and rear troops which will result in confusion. The key is to hit them hard and leave quickly. That’s why we’re only leaving the best of the best in our unit.”

Ariel and Nyx gulped at Iron’s words. Even Ariel, who had been his colleague before, couldn’t help but gulp when she saw Iron deliberately instilling pressure on them.

He then continued to devise strategies by pointing out the path of the monsters’ and where their supplies might pass through.

“Our biggest goal is to make one of the monsters’ main forces come back in the forest to catch us. Just because we’re missing some of our troops doesn’t mean that we can’t let one of the main pillars of the corps come back. In fact, our chances of winning are higher.”

The two nodded heavily at Iron’s explanation.

“What do you think we should do to make a result with just our members?”

When the two were unable to answer Iron’s question, he said with a cold look.

“You have to be the devil. You have to be determined to show the monsters what hell is like.”

Cold sweat dropped on Nyx’s back at Iron’s words while Ariel’s heart swelled with anticipation. She couldn’t help but feel excited at the thought that this was her opportunity to grow and reach the next stage.

Iron couldn’t help but click his tongue when he saw her gaze.

‘A genius will always be a genius, huh?’

He shook his head after seeing Ariel thinking of such things despite the situation that they were in. Then, he spoke his orders in a serious and solemn voice.

“If you can’t follow me, then I will throw you away. If you want to live, you should grit your teeth and follow me closely. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. I’m looking forward to it. Let’s be the real ‘devils’.”