Chapter 175 - Attention!

──「True Blood Titan Serpent」──

[Description]

: The most special Skeleton Soldier in the world has absorbed a heart. Its blood became True Blood and influenced it even after the change. Its unique skills, enhanced by True Blood, became even stronger than in life.

*As ten Jin Skeleton Soldiers accepted one heart, its durability has been enhanced.

[Unique Skills]

: Tail Whip

: Vortex Constriction

: Poison Mist Breath

[Classification]

: Bone Sorcery / Beast Sorcery / Poison Demon Sorcery

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While riding the Magic Dragon, I checked the information on the snakes through the system.

As expected, the Undead Private Soldiers created through Jin Skeleton Soldiers had additional stats.

I had caught about five of these Titan Serpents and turned them all into private soldiers.

I hadn't learned Poison Demon Sorcery separately, but like Elmont's family sorcery, it had become one of my mainstays.

‘At this rate, it might be okay to look into the Poison Demon Sorcery side directly.’

At this point, I glanced back.

The Magic Dragon was flying more leisurely than usual due to carrying a passenger, but the passenger's expression was anything but.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes. I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine.”

If there was such a thing as a forced smile, that would be it.

His body, clinging tightly to the protruding scales with his feet hooked in, was trembling.

It was a posture that couldn't be called comfortable even as a lie, but he didn't seem to be in danger of falling.

“M-more importantly, are we really going to Wisdom?”

“If you're talking about Wisdom's main territory, then of course not. We're going to a place where Wisdom is, but which is not in the West.”

“I-is there such a place?”

“Yes. There are quite a few lands outside the Polar Night Wall that those guys have sneakily gotten their feet into.”

Monsters like the Titan Serpents were active outside the wall, but not throughout the entire continent.

Even outside, if you crossed a certain boundary line, ordinary nature appeared, and the territory of the demon worshipers also ended.

Wisdom had placed its hand right on that safety line.

“With the situation being unstable right now, they would have sent more manpower, so they couldn't have hidden themselves completely. We're going to destroy that.”

“W-we…”

A hollow laugh escaped Eddie's mouth as he muttered softly.

A bloodkin of Millesdusk who single-handedly slaughtered the monsters outside the Polar Night Wall and made them his own.

He even rode a Magic Dragon, moved freely, and knew information that even a veteran of the frontline didn't know.

He hadn't provided any help that would warrant being grouped together as 'we'. No matter how uneducated he was, he knew that one thing well.

“…Young Lord-nim.”

“What? Want me to let you down?”

“N-no. That's not it.”

“Then what is it? We'll be landing soon, so you don't have to worry too much.”

“Th-there's something I want to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

The Youngest Son answered briefly, his eyes constantly scanning the ground.

The Magic Dragon deliberately flew out from between the clouds without hiding, moving its wings grandly to induce a reaction from below.

He was waiting for the personnel sent from Wisdom to take the bait.

At that sight, Eddie hesitated a little before opening his mouth.

“If there are many people like you, Young Lord-nim, in both the East and the West, how should the lower-ranking people like us survive in the fights between the higher-ups?”

“……”

The bloodshot eyes that had been looking only at the ground turned to the back again.

A fear of a completely different color from the fear of heights was present on the soldier's face.

The Youngest Son, who knew the answers and solutions to many things, was slow to answer this time.

It might be a question he could never answer in his lifetime, but for now, he said this.

“Stay behind me.”

The bloodshot eyes looked forward again.

He stood on the Magic Dragon's head, holding its horns, and observed the ground below.

“My body is not as big as yours, so I can't protect many, but I will not give up at least those who are behind me.”

“Young Lord-nim…”

“So. That's about all I can promise.”

“…I understand. Thank you very much for your answer.”

A moment of silence flowed. However, it was not a meaningless, awkward silence.

“Found them.”

A smile spread across the Youngest Son's lips.

Anyone would be surprised and wary upon suddenly seeing a Magic Dragon. That would inevitably create a reaction.

At the same time, the Magic Dragon turned its head, opened its mouth, and finished aiming and loading.

“A-aren't you going to interrogate them or anything?”

“I know their purpose, and I know how they came. There's nothing to ask. There are only overflowing reasons to eliminate them.”

[Using Unique Skill 「Flame Thunder Breath」.]

Kuw-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a─!!

Bright yellow lightning mixed with the flames and laid waste to the area.

Anything that came in direct contact with the breath was erased from the world, and anything nearby melted down.

Even if not, the lightning bolts that spread out irregularly like a wave split the trees and the earth.

“……”

Only then did Eddie realize what he had ridden on.

It was a dragon, called a flying disaster, and a monster that the West was said to have dozens of as allies.

A moment when his confidence in surviving diminished even further.

“Eddie.”

“Yes, yes…!”

He quickly gathered his dazed mind and answered swiftly.

“When you have too many thoughts, your body slows down. If you don't know what the future holds, just look at the next minute. If you can't even do that, move with certainty for even a second.”

“I-I understand.”

“In that sense, we have to run.”

“Yes, yes?”

“There's a survivor from this. It seems a well-known guy from the West got caught by a stroke of luck. It'll be a sight to see if we take him as a prisoner.”

Grab─

A pale hand grabbed Eddie by the scruff of his neck. It was an abduction method learned from his teacher.

“Let's go.”

“Aaaargh…!!”

Two humans who jumped from the back of the Magic Dragon.

A single sorcerer watching them.

He was a middle-aged man whose neat robe had been turned to rags by the flame thunder, and his well-groomed beard was scorched black.

Beneath his sharp gray eyebrows, his eyes, burning with anger, met the bloodshot eyes exactly.

The Youngest Son was certain then.

‘I know that guy.’

***

The basic duties of a legion commander. Inspection of gates 1 to 30.

Gates 1, 15, and 30 were the most important, but that didn't mean the supply depots in between could be skipped.

Legion Commander Emma, with the Gatekeeper in tow, meticulously inspected the situation at each gate.

From the condition of the supplies on a large scale to the health of the soldiers on a small scale.

It seemed to be a daily routine, as the soldiers were tense but not surprised.

“Do you do inspections every day?”

“Yes.”

“The soldiers need to rest too. Every time you show up, those guys' backs are so straight, they're going to become statues soon.”

“I've never said anything in particular.”

The Gatekeeper chuckled.

“You may not have. Even though you yourself didn't like the legion commander's visits when you were a soldier.”

“…How did you know that?”

“Is there any soldier who likes the legion commander's visits?”

The Gatekeeper cut off his words there and changed the subject. The final Gate 30 was already in sight.

“In what way are you going to torment the soldiers on duty there?”

“…I am not tormenting them. I am managing them so that the state of alert they ought to maintain does not slacken. I was the same when I was a soldier.”

“Old-timer.”

“……”

The Gatekeeper's attack was fatal.

The legion commander, who had shut her mouth tight, quietly steered Kelly towards Gate 30.

As they flew over the gate and landed quietly on the outskirts, something immediately caught their eye.

A dome-shaped building was built on top of the wall, and mirrors that looked like telescopes were arranged through it.

As the Gatekeeper's gaze lingered there, Emma said.

“That is the observation post. Using that giant telescope, we can get a rough idea of the threats approaching the wall or the situation at other walls.”

It was possible because the wall had few large curves.

But the problem erupted outside the wall.

Kurrrrrrrrrrrung─!!

At the sound of thunder from a clear sky, everyone's heads turned in that direction.

The ensuing lightning was not blue. It was ominously yellow and also red.

At least, the Gatekeeper knew the identity of that color early on.

“The observation post. We have to go to the observation post.”

“…Follow me.”

She, who understood the meaning of the Gatekeeper's words, ran straight to the observation post.

The clanking of her armor was noisy, but less so than the murmuring of the soldiers.

“Observer. Aim the 'Eye of the Polar Night' in the direction where the lightning struck.”

“Yes, understood!”

The giant telescope, called the Eye of the Polar Night, turned its head.

A few observers clung to it, skillfully finished the adjustments, and cleared the way.

“What is over there? That direction is not the territory of monsters, but a neutral zone.”

“It may be a neutral zone, but it's generally considered Millesdusk's land. From the perspective of the bloodkin, that is.”

“…No way.”

The Gatekeeper quietly brought his eye to the telescope.

Unlike a normal telescope, it wasn't something you could see just by putting your eye to it.

“Th-the way to use it is─”

“It's fine. Step back now.”

Emma stopped them and made the soldiers step away.

He had been feigning ignorance from the beginning, but this was a person who knew the duties of the wall in detail.

It wouldn't be surprising if he suddenly handled the Eye of the Polar Night as if it were his own.

So, Legion Commander Emma was convinced.

‘…This man called the Gatekeeper. He was definitely a soldier belonging to the Polar Night Wall. And to be under a bloodkin's command, he must be a formidable warrior.’

From his voice, he sounded quite old. Could he be someone who was treated as killed in action but was lucky enough to survive?

The Gatekeeper observed the situation with the Eye of the Polar Night, and Emma observed the Gatekeeper.

“Haa…”

Soon, a deep sigh escaped from his mouth. At the same time, he removed his eye, and Emma took the empty spot.

What did he see? What was at the end of this eye that made him sigh first?

His expression wasn't that of someone who saw something serious, but rather that of someone who got involved in a troublesome matter.

“What is that…”

Her mouth went dry at the scene visible through the Eye of the Polar Night. Her brow furrowed on its own as she tried to understand the situation.

“Am I, am I seeing this correctly right now?”

“You are.”

“Then…. Why is the Young Lord-nim giving a refugee a hard time?”

“That's not a refugee. That's a Wisdom who came to the neutral zone. His face is familiar.”

“…Do you know him? For a Wisdom, he looks severely like a beggar.”

“He's a collateral branch member from the Wisdom side. He was 4th-circle when I met him. Sein of the Ice Chain, was it? He's gotten quite old, I see.”

“Still, a collateral branch is a bloodkin, isn't it? Is a bloodkin being held captive by the Young Lord-nim right now?”

“He's a captive to us. To the Young Lord-nim, he's a toy.”

Just looking at Walter, who was fidgeting restlessly next to the Youngest Son, was enough to know.

He was making a man, who was older than the Family Head in terms of age, do push-ups with blue flames laid out beneath him.

Because the Magic Dragon was behind him, Sein of the Ice Chain couldn't do anything and just trembled his arms.

Since sorcerers wouldn't enjoy physical training, his body was shaking from just a few reps.

But the moment he collapsed, the blue flames beneath his stomach would burn his body hot.

The Youngest Son giggled next to such a Sein.

He was tormenting him as if he had some grudge.

“Let's go.”

“…To that place?”

“If you plan on letting the captured Wisdom collateral branch burn to death, stay here.”

“I'm going.”

Emma's expression instantly became serious.

She had to catch him and ask. Whether the reason they set foot here was truly for war.

In fact, the fact that a collateral branch member had come here was enough to be certain, but she felt she had to hear it with her own two ears to be satisfied.

She whistled for Kelly to land.

Without needing to say who would go first, the current and former legion commanders mounted and took off.