Chapter 136: The Central Army’s Collapse (1)

Iron hurriedly stood up and gathered the unit leaders together after hearing the communications officer’s report. 

‘The Central Army has collapsed.’ 

This was just the single line that was written in the report handed to him by the communications officer. However, the importance of this single sentence was far greater than any other documents that he had handled. 

“Is this… true?” 

“I think we need to gather more details to know about the entire situation but… it’s most likely true.” 

Iron replied with a sigh at Ariel’s question.

He had already looked into all the possibilities and angles thinking that the information could probably be false but no matter how much he inferred the information seemed to be true. 

He ordered his unit to halt and borrowed the magic communication network of the nearby territory and contacted the troops near the Central Army. And through this, he found out that several territories surrounding the Center had requested support. The sudden influx of the Death Corps was not only affecting the Center but also the nearby territories. This was a situation that would be very difficult to happen if the Central Army did not collapse.

“…Then, what will our unit do from this point on?” 

All of the leaders turned to look at Iron upon hearing Cardro’s question. 

Due to the sudden collapse of the Central Army, their Special Mobile Unit was suddenly left floating. If they would base it on importance, then they should prioritize the West. However, if an abnormality appeared in the capital, then they had to go to the Center without fail.

The only question was if they could make significant results with just their brigade-level troops alone. But the issue was too serious for them to leave the Center alone. Any commander in this situation would be left without being able to do this or that. 

“….We’ll abandon the Center.” 

“Yes?” 

“But…” 

All the officers present looked at Iron in shock after hearing the decision that he made after a long time. 

“Western Command is already right around the corner. It’s too late for us to turn around and go to the Center. Whether we get killed or eaten, we have to go to the West. And, communications officer…” 

“Yes, sir!” 

“Find out the situation in the capital.” 

“I understand!” 

The communications officer saluted and left the barracks after receiving Iron’s order. 

“Whether we send support to the Center or not, we will decide after arriving at Western Command. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, sir!” 

“With the situation at hand, we have to move quickly. Gather all the troops and tell them to get ready to move.” 

When Iron stood up from his seat, all of the officers also stood up and moved quickly. 

“The Central Army collapsed…” 

Iron’s brows were furrowed at this unexpected situation. 

It was extremely shocking to know that the strongest military force in the continent, the Central Army, had collapsed right after the Northern and Northeastern Army had been halved.

After all, the Central Army was able to hold out despite the North falling into a mess in his previous life. The mess in the North had affected the East and the West while the South faced terrorism but only the Central Army remained strong and healthy back then. They kept their strength and maintained their military forces for their own survival while sending as little support as they could to the other regions.

And that strong Central Army had now collapsed. That meant that there was a problem in the capital.

“If that wasn’t the case… then they deliberately threw them away…”

If the capital was safe and sound, then Iron’s guess would be correct

As far as Iron remembered, the Imperial Family were people who would remain and live despite making trashy and shitty decisions while throwing away the rest. If he combined the information that he had as well as the possibilities that he came up with, the story was not completely unlikely to happen. 

In that situation, would it be right for his troops to support the Center? However, it was still a source of headache since he couldn’t leave the Center alone either. 

While he was being troubled, all of his troops had gathered and were now ready to move.

“Brigade Leader! We’ve finished all the preparations!”

“Let’s move out.”

Hearing Ariel’s report, Iron nodded his head and boarded the airship as he ordered them to move. 

Not long after, the airship moved and flew straight towards the temporary Western Command. They found monsters along the way but they ignored them and went straight ahead. This just showed how urgent their situation was. 

As they advanced deeper to the West, they saw the ravaged terrain from the fierce battles that took place and were still taking place. There was also a front temporarily created to block the Death Corps and prevent enemies from the inside from entering their region. 

Iron stopped their advance after seeing that the situation of the war on this front was not in favor of the humans. It seemed like they were gradually being pushed back. 

“The situation is urgent but we can’t just pass by them either. Tell them to prepare for battle.”

The communications officer immediately passed Iron’s orders through the airship communication line. The Drake Unit also went into formation and escorted the landing airship. The airship threw out bombs as its entrance lowered down to the ground. The drake knights also began to intercept those who tried to attack the airship. 

Some of the members of the Death Corps that were pushing the frontlines back looked up at the sky and spewed out poison that targeted Iron’s brigade. Some even used magic to make the airship fall and crash. 

However, their attempts had been completely nullified by Iron’s troops’ attacks. 

Then, Cardro’s aerial assault unit also began their descent.

“Assault unit! Ready!” 

At Cardro’s orders, the frontlines immediately moved and created a place where the airship could descend. Many from the Death Corps tried to attack the descending airship but Cardro’s unit firmly blocked their attempts. The drake unit also kept them in check and attacked them to make sure that the airship could settle down safely on the ground. 

Thanks to their efforts, the airship landed safely and the brigade rushed off. Finally, Iron also got off and let out his sanctuary. 

“We don’t have time. Wipe them out.” 

“Yes, sir!” 

The brigade quickly moved to annihilate their enemies at Iron’s orders. 

The Death Corps began to disappear one by one as the attack of the troops specialized in dealing with the Death Corps were added to the attacks of the Western Army, which had been busy preventing them and being pushed back. 

The Western Army enveloped by the sanctuary looked blankly as Iron’s troops annihilated the Death Corps. 

Rumors had been circulating. However, just like the usual, they believed that those rumors were just an exaggeration. 

In fact, among the rumors that they had heard from the Center, they had heard that a hero had appeared. This rumor had been repeated several times, however no matter how much they had hoped that a hero would appear, only the numerous Death Corps had flocked to the West. 

Although this was the unit that was led by the North’s Hero, Iron, they still found it hard to believe that they could help them since he had only shown little to no contributions in terms of his commanding skills.

However, after seeing their skills in person, they could see that the rumors weren’t exaggerated but were even reduced to a large extent. 

“That’s…” 

“Iron’s brigade?” 

“Wow…” 

The Western troops were staring blankly. Even their officers were staring blankly too. 

“Sanctuary… I’ve only heard it in the rumors but it seems like it’s really no joke?” 

“Those hideous and terrible bastards are dying without a fight.” 

Seeing the incredible scenery in front of them, the Western Army was unable to focus and stay alert. Perhaps it was also because of the battles that crossed life and death that they had endured every day that all they could do was stop and stare in a daze. 

However, Iron did not say anything to them. After all, he could see that they had been squeezing themselves to their limits just from the traces on their faces. Instead of scolding them for just standing there and staring blankly, he asked Baepsae to use his powers and revitalize the troops in this wide area. 

He would only do this ‘instead’ once for them in this battle. Once he and his unit had left this battlefield, they would once again fight against the Death Corps and maintain the frontline. At the very least, he wanted them to rest well even if only for a short while. 

Perhaps it was because of his request that Baepsae also did its best and cheered up a bit more to heal and energize the soldiers. 

“Th… thank you.” 

The general approached to greet him and express his gratitude after seeing his Special Mobile Unit deal with the Death Corps quickly. He was actually the division commander in charge of maintaining this frontline. It seemed like he also fought directly on the frontline since his military uniform was worn out and his face was covered with dirt. 

“It’s nothing. I’m glad that we could be of help to the Western Army.” 

“Hoo… We can all take a bit of a breather because of you.” 

“I want to help you a bit more but the situation is a bit unusual so we have to go to Command right away.” 

“Ah… You should do that.” 

The division commander nodded his head as if he was already aware of the reason as he urged him to go quickly. 

“May fortune be with the Western Army…” 

“May the God of Luck favor the Special Mobile Unit…” 

Iron’s troops, who had the luck and fortune of the battlefield, immediately boarded their airship as soon as the battle was over.

No matter how easy it was for them to annihilate their enemies, a battle was still a battle and fatigue and exhaustion would still linger in their bodies. However, all of them had heard the news of the collapse of the Central Army so they boarded the airship silently and headed towards Western Command. 

On their way, they could see the West’s frontlines. Some of them had already collapsed while some were on the verge of collapsing. Every time they encountered this and the airship couldn’t descend, Iron would ride a drake himself, create a sanctuary and call in his divine beasts to help him clear the land where his troops could land. 

With several battles like this every day, the troops’ fatigue and exhaustion had reached its limit. 

“It’s the Western Command.” 

The Western Command, the Command temporarily rebuilt using one of the Western territories as a base, finally came into view.

They could see urgently deployed artillery and magic circles and magic bombs in the fortress as well as temporary bases for the airships and drake units. However, because they had been in urgent situations every day, everything looked precarious and unsteady that they felt extremely sorry for them. 

“I can’t believe that’s Western Command…” 

One of the officers couldn’t help but mumble in regret. The same was true for the others. All of them were feeling regret and pity for the Western Command, the place that was known to be the sturdiest and hardest fortress in the Empire, that had now been destroyed and hastily rebuilt in this place. 

― Bzzzz! Which army are you from?

“We’re the Special Mobile Unit sent by the Northeast for support.”

― Bzzz! Is it the unit that Brigadier General Iron is leading?

“That’s right.” 

The communication tool went silent for a while after Iron’s answer. Then, a voice was heard again.

― We welcome the support of the Special Mobile Unit. The Western Commander wants to see Brigadier General Iron right away.

“I will find him as soon as we land.

― I understand. Only the flagship carrying Brigadier General Iron will be able to enter the Command’s center. The rest will have to go to the eastern side.

The airships moved under the guidance of the communications officer while the airship carrying Iron slowly moved to the center of Command. 

“You should go to the eastern side too. I’ll go down alone.”

“Yes, sir.”

The officers on the airship saluted Iron as they received his orders. Iron opened the door and jumped down after receiving their salute. Then, Two Moons appeared and picked up Iron to help him descend. 

As he got off of Owl and landed on the landing area, a middle-aged man with four stars on his shoulders approached Iron. 

“Loyalty! I’m the Special Mobile Unit’s Commander, Brigadier General Iron.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m the West’s Commander, German Lunte Stadt.” 

The middle-aged man shook hands with Iron. The hand that reached out for a handshake was covered with bandage as is the rest of his body. 

“How…” 

Iron couldn’t help but tilt his head in shock and confusion after seeing a master like German get injured to the point that he needed to be covered in bandages. 

“It’s an injury that I had received when the Command had collapsed. Because it’s an injury caused by mana, this is already the limit of potions and healing magic.” 

German raised his bandaged arm slightly with a bitter look on his face. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard the news?” 

“I heard that the Central Army has collapsed.” 

“Hoo… I have something to say about that. Let’s go inside for now.” 

German used his crutches and headed towards Command with his limp. After hearing his subordinates’ nagging, he finally led him to a secluded place inside Command. 

“Hoo… I’ll be straightforward. What are you going to do?”

“…Yes?”

The Commander sighed and lit up a cigarette after seeing Iron’s widened eyes. 

“I’m asking if you’re going to help the Center or if you’re going to stay in the West and help us.”

“Ah… To be honest, I haven’t decided on what to do yet. I wanted to collect more information first before making a judgment. That’s why I came straight to Command.”

The Commander looked at him as if he did not expect this answer from Iron. In fact, he thought that Iron would immediately go to the Center and help them.

“Boy… You seem to know about something?”

The Western Commander looked at Iron. Iron also looked at him before telling him some of the things that he knew.

“Did the Capital Defense Corps intentionally abandon the Central Army?”