26. Chapter 26
“Destroy it!! Stack it up!! You can’t bring it anyway.”
Walm smashed the bag of stones he was carrying on his back to the ground.
As for the Squad Commander, he was dismantling a wheelbarrow with ores.
In addition to all that, repair materials for tunnels and buildings for the miners would be demolished and piled up on the road.
Other members of the squad were digging up the ground with a pickaxe and pouring in water from the waterway for the ores, making the ground like mud.
Due to the repeated fighting and acts of sabotage, the soldiers, including Walm, were dirty, as their bodies were covered with bodily excretions, sweat, and dust.
“Don’t let the pillars lie down, bury half and stand them up. That alone will be an obstacle.”
Until two days ago, Duwei’s squad had maintained a temporary defensive position with scrap metal and equipment, but the onslaught of a larger force than them continued and finally, they reached their limit.
The battalion tried to buy time one last time by artificially interrupting the route along the mountain road as they retreated. Repeating this again and again in a hurry. This might cost their lives after all.
The Liberitoa Trade Federation army, which would still have a magic user with earth magic, would surely repair the road in a short time and try to advance again.
The injured and supplies were preferably gathered at the rear staging area. The former border area of Myard, covered on one side by a powerful demon territory, acted as a bottleneck and served as a defensive area.
Walm didn’t stop working, even if he wanted to curse and rant. He knew that even a pile of obstacles, a lump of earth, could stop thousands of enemy soldiers and save their lives.
“Stop, stop the work! Liberitoa soldiers are coming!! It’s time to withdraw.”
Platoon Commander Kozul, along with several subordinates, announced the retreat to the surroundings. As soon as the order was given, the soldiers stooped the work, carried the luggage on their backs, and withdrew immediately.
Walm recognized some from other platoons among those retreating.
“Oi, what happened to the other guys?”
When Walm called out to one of them, the man responded as if screaming.
“They’ve been blown away! Those bastards have been throwing in a lot of magic attacks! The road hasn’t been fixed yet, but in half an hour they’ll be flooding here. We need to run away quickly!”
With these words, the soldier half ran down from the mine.
“Hey, hurry up. If you’re slow, you’re going to get stabbed in the ass.”
Shouted Jose, who was wearing armor.
When engaging in civil engineering work, the armor would only restrict movement and waste physical strength. That was why Walm looked the same today as he did when he was a farmer.
Walm wore the knee pads that were on the ground and wore the others in the order of the lower body. With the cervelliere on his head and a bag on his back, all but two rookies were ready.
Squad Commander Duwei, seeing Noor and Barito gathered in the squad about 10 seconds later, looked at them and said,
“There ain’t no idiots who get lost? A’right, it’s a goodbye with this damn mine. Let’s go.”
No one answered in objection. In response to the Squad Commander’s shout, the squad left the mine area all at once.
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As the spearhead of the Highserk Empire, the Jaff Cavalry Battalion, which continued to support the dangerous edge, made full use of its mobility and impact.
They hit the enemy’s salient points while repeatedly hitting the sides, gaining valuable time, but the damage wasn’t insignificant.
Jaff, commanding the cavalry, divided the battalion into platoon units and devoted himself to delaying the opponent with harassment attacks. When the enemy was caught in the trap laid by the platoon-size troops, the troops would regroup into a company-sized force to deal greater damage.
But today their plan threatened to fail. Numerically, the soldiers of Craist Kingdom and Ferrius Kingdom had lost more troops.
The problem was that even in the Highserk Empire army, where the cavalry commanded by Jaff was considered a strong force, two platoons of valuable elite soldiers who prided themselves on their incomparable skills were lost.
“… Are they visitors from another world of the present generation?”
The Craist Kingdom was known for its visitors and many drifting objects from another world. Jaff was also informed of the rumors about the visitors, but now he knew, that it was more than just a rumor.
At a distance of several hundred meters, a torrent of bright light emerged, blowing away the man and horse along with the ground. The luminous sight might be beautiful from a distance, but in the near vicinity, a hell was formed.
Fire, ice, wind, earth, and all sorts of magic chased after the leaving cavalry. No magic-users in his cavalry battalion who only had one or two attributes could withstand the four attributes.
“It’s enough to threaten from a long distance. The magic users and the archer shall support the cavalry pulling away. Don’t get closer than necessary.”
Following Jaff’s instruction, the soldiers launched an attack all at once. It was magic and arrows landing at a great distance, but it was enough to create a space that prevented pursuit.
That should be more than enough, but in the middle of the attack, an earth wall was immediately created and the incoming attack was intercepted by the magic of the light attribute.
In the end, they had only gained about 10 seconds, but it was enough time for the Jaff Cavalry Battalion to escape. A poorly resigned Ferrius soldier shot an arrow, but no cavalry fell.
“The remaining platoon has already been pulled to the meeting point. Commander, you don’t need to take a risk…”
One of the staff officers accompanying Jaff complained from horseback. Jaff was one of the three best front-line commanders in the Highserk Army, but every staff officer knew that he had a habit of going too far at the frontline.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to take it. It’s a waste of soldiers.”
Jaff just saw another boy with a powerful light attribute and a girl with a wide variety of magic. Both would be barely old enough to join the Highserk Empire army as young soldiers.
“If I don’t see that kind of threat firsthand, I can’t give command correctly.”
Jaff began to assess the enemy’s strength.
Judging by their firepower, each of them could land the same damage as two magic-user platoons. That was how strong their mana was. Their physical abilities and magical barrier must be pretty strong, too.
“I don’t think their hand-to-hand combat is first-class, but the worst should be considered.”
According to Jaff’s calculation, the only way to kill them was to rush a few cavalry platoons as sacrifices. The problem was the surroundings.
“So, the Order of Reharzen is babysitting those children huh?”
It wouldn’t be so easy to break through the Order of Reharzen while facing a fierce fire. Due to the decentralized deployment of his troops, Jaff’s troop strength was less than the company’s size.
It was a regrettable opponent to miss, but its very existence was also fishing bait. Jaff, who had fished non-stop until now, would gladly avoid being fished instead.
“The battlefield isn’t here. Our Commander, Commander Berger has set up a stage suitable for it in Myard. He would be disappointed if I couldn’t be present there.”
The Jaff Cavalry Battalion wouldn’t be the only ones to attend the fun party. The elite Liguria Infantry Battalion would also participate.
Jaff didn’t have to go ahead and dance with them alone now.
“Let’s have them come a long way. And, we have to tell them that they don’t have to worry about returning.”
The staff officer, who seemed to be worried, after hearing Jaff’s words, opened his mouth as if relieved.
“Haha, it’s like what you said, Commander… Well, it’s about time we hit the limit. Let’s withdraw.”
After making sure all his subordinates had successfully withdrawn, Jaff steered his horse to the meeting point.
Magic attacks from the distance began to land near Jaff, but none was an effective strike.
TN: Join my discord channel if you want.
I wonder if the other hero’s died, and were reborn, or if they were transported.