The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military - Chapter 102
Chapter 102 – East’s Hero (1)
Atlantis collapsed on the very same day the mermaids’ God died. The brilliant civilization of the mermaid race sunk deep into the sea of the Puerh Islands. However, the Sea Orb continued to purify the contaminated mana in the surrounding area by using the purified mana as its fuel. It was as if it was left with the one and only task of purification even after the God that laid slumbering inside it had disappeared. It still continued to produce purification power on its own, despite Iron leaving and backing away from it, as it swept away the contaminated mana in the entire Puerh Islands. Because of this, the tides of war had turned and became favorable for the Eastern Army. After all, the mermaids could not utilize the contaminated mana from the dimensional gate anymore.
After the sea’s anger subsided and the sadness and despair disappeared from the mermaids, the war between them and the humans once again resumed. Although the Sea Orb had been taken away and Atlantis had collapsed, the mermaids still fought to the end thanks to the existence of the dimensional gate and the Sea Army that had gathered in front of the gate. The Eastern Army and the Northeastern Army also fought with all their might in a united front to protect the Sea Orb.
These two camps fought against each other fiercely.
However, surprisingly enough, the mercenaries, adventurers and other-worlders also remained. The main reason why they stayed in the Puerh Islands was because Atlantis sank deep under the sea of the islands. They needed to stay in the islands and fight against the mermaids to take possession of the treasures of Atlantis. Among them, the group that advanced the most was White Whale Guild. They were extremely angry that all of their goals had been thwarted and cancelled by unfortunate circumstances so they combed Puerh Islands in search of valuable items.
The remnants of the civilization, like items and monster remains, had been corroded by contaminated mana. However, they were still of high value so selling them still helped their situation. There were also many things that they could use as long as they purified it. Because of the highly priced remnants of this old civilization of the sea, everyone’s eyes flipped and turned.
“This is mine!”
“Shut up! It’s mine!”
“That! That’s it!”
The Eastern Army and the mermaids fought fiercely in the sea while everyone else fought hard to take possession of the numerous treasures scattered in Puerh Islands and its seas.
Meanwhile, the situation of the Empire worsened by the day.
Of course, there was the war in the East against the mermaids. But the West’s war against the birdmen and the South’s war against the werebeasts were all flowing in favor of the enemies.
But the North was in the worst situation out of them all. This was because the dark elves had made a contaminated Forest Army and moved in earnest. Their army consisted of monster plants from beyond the dimensional gate to the ents that have fallen just like the dark elves. There were also devil trees, trents and fallen spirits in the forces that occupied the North.
As the dark elves, a great threat to the North, moved fiercely and earnestly, the Northern Army urgently requested the support of the Northeast. However, for the allied forces that were fighting against the mermaids, this was a difficult request. But when the situation of the war in the North, which was deteriorating fast, was delivered in real time to the Northeastern Army, Crimson could no longer ignore them. After all, the North had sent the Northeast their troops during their time of need. He also felt sorry that the elite soldiers of the Northeast have been concentrated in the East right now. In the end, the Northeast had no choice but to leave the united front to go and support the Northern Army. Even the Eastern Commander had no choice but to agree.
“We’re almost done but I’m still sorry for retreating so suddenly like this.”
“Not at all. You have helped us a lot so far. I should figure things out on my own anyway.”
Richard Burton smiled bitterly when Crimson apologized to him.
The absence of the Northeastern Army was obviously a big blow to them. However, it was not as if they could stop the war just because of this.
The converted airships were now dealing with the void insects and the fight in the islands were now being led by the mercenaries and the other-worlders so they had almost little to nothing to do with those now. All that was left was the naval war but that was a war that the Eastern Army had to deal with in the long-term so they had to solve it on their own.
But perhaps it was because Crimson was still apologetic that he left several units here in the East. At the very least, he had left them some of his elite troops until the mermaids had been completely removed from the Puerh Islands.
The troops that he left were…
Two Drake Units.
One Knight Order.
One Ranger Unit.
One Wizard Unit.
And one Ghost.
Richard Burton’s eyes widened when he saw the Northeast leaving some of their best troops here in the East.
“Are you going to leave this much troops here?”
“I feel sorry that I have to leave in the middle so isn’t it right for me to leave this much?”
Richard Burton smiled in gratitude when he heard Crimson’s words. Then, he saw the name of the Ghost that was going to be left in the East.
“…Lieutenant Colonel Iron Carter?”
Crimson smiled bitterly when he saw Richard blankly saying Iron’s name.
“Why is the Lieutenant Colonel staying here?”
“He wanted it himself.”
“What? The Lieutenant Colonel himself?”
“He said that he still had something left to finish here.”
Richard Burton did not understand what he meant. It seemed like he was wondering about what he wanted to finish here. But Crimson shook his head as if he also did not know the reason.
“Please take care of the troops that will remain here.”
“I’ll make sure to protect them and send them back to the Northeast.”
Richard Burton promised as he shook hands with Crimson.
While the two commanders were saying their goodbyes, the Ghosts were also saying their goodbye to Iron.
“Hoo… This tiring and endless sea war is finally over.”
Lintel stared at the sea after sighing in relief.
All of them had felt refreshed for the first few hours when they arrived at sea. But they immediately felt sick and tired of it after experiencing all of the disasters and catastrophes while sailing. They only felt like they wanted to step on land as soon as possible. There was also a fortress built on the rocky area but they all missed the land. The real land that did not smell like the sea. Even if the land was still a battlefield, they felt like it would be better for them to fight there than here.
“How long do you think will you be staying here?”
“It won’t take long.”
Iron stared at the dimensional gate from afar at Lintel’s question.
It was difficult to break down the perfectly completed dimensional gate. In addition, if they made a wrong move with a gate that huge, they risked having a bigger disaster with a huge dimensional crack. So, it was necessary for them to drive out the mermaids and slowly reduce the dimensional gate until it was small enough before destroying it and turning it back into a dimensional crack.
Of course, Iron had no intention of staying in the East until that very moment. His final goal in this place was to watch the downfall of the mermaids with his own eyes. Once he confirmed this, he would go back to the Northeast.
“Don’t overdo it.”
Carl Gustav spoke as he patted Iron on the shoulders. Everyone nodded their heads. They all knew that their youngest always overdid things.
“Don’t get hurt in the East and come back safely.”
“That’s right. If you roll around with your body recklessly just because you’re young, you might end up getting sore here and there later on in life.”
“Be careful. Look at the captain. He always says his knees ache when it rains.”
“You’ll get sharp pains and will get sore everywhere as you get older. So, you have to take care of yourself early on.”
The Ghosts cheered Iron on while leaving him with words of their own. Of course, Gustav punished them fiercely later after they talked badly about him. But for now, the Ghosts said their goodbyes as they felt regret for their temporary separation.
Except for the elite troops that would be left behind, all of the forces in the Northeast returned. Of course, the troops had to be quickly reorganized once they got back to the Northeast to be sent to the North but everyone was at the very least cheering at the fact that they were now back in land and had gotten out of the sea.
They had realized how terrible the sea was through the mermaids so they would just have to grit their teeths for a while and do their best on land.
“All of them are gone.”
Iron looked in the direction where some of the fleets and the airships carrying the supplies to command were docked together with the Drake Units.
After becoming a Ghost, he felt sad and a bit disappointed that his colleagues had left. However, it was also important for him to finish his promise to the poor little God. Something was still left in his heart that made him stay here. And it was telling him that there was not much time left before what he was waiting for would happen.
After Atlantis collapsed and the Sea Orb was filled with purification power, the mermaids’ appearance started to change. Their beautiful appearance slowly turned hideous just like a monster that has been contaminated and polluted by contaminated mana.
The more hideous they became, the more contaminated mana they could use. However, they were also being rejected by the creatures of the sea. No sea creature came close to them except for the sea monsters that they had under their control.
The creatures that were once loved by the sea were now the sea’s ‘enemy’.
“What a pity.”
It was not a good experience to watch the process of these beautiful creatures turning into hideous monsters after becoming obsessed and living only for their anger and revenge.
After deciding to stay in the East, Iron pushed the mermaids back by participating in all kinds of battles. He brought death upon them as he watched them turn into their hideous appearance. Perhaps it was because he made a promise with the mermaid’s God that he felt uncomfortable seeing these mermaids turn into monsters.
As an Imperial, a soldier and a person who wanted to return to the modern world, the mermaids were clearly his ‘enemies’. But he was bringing ‘rest’ to the mermaids, who were turning into these monsters, not because they were his enemies but because of the remaining compassion in the corner of his heart. He hoped that they would be free of this revenge and to leave this place and go where their God was.
Was it because of Iron’s hopes and wishes? The mermaids continued to be pushed back until they were pushed to the ends of Puerh Islands. But maybe it was because they had realized that the dimensional gate would be in danger once the mermaids disappeared completely that a huge creature once again appeared from the dimensional gate. It was a creature that looked similar to a gigantic shark with black water winding around its body while swimming in the air. The megalodon would look like a baby if placed next to it.
And this gigantic creature went for the Sea Orb that was emitting purification power. The Eastern Commander and the entirety of the Eastern Army had to stick together to prevent it from moving forward.
Maybe the mermaid’s God had arranged it? In the end, the ones that went to finish off the mermaids were the elite troops of the Northeast. They cut down countless contaminated mermaids until they reached the place where the head of the mermaid race was.
The head of the mermaid race was located inside a cave. He was now weak after being polluted and discarded by the Sea God beyond the dimension to the point that he could not exert any strength nor use the mermaid items that could exert a magic master-level power.
“Divine… beast… contrac… tor…”
The head of the mermaid race rasped as he looked at Iron. There was no resentment or anger in his eyes as he looked at the biggest contributor to their defeat. His eyes were empty. Just like the eyes of someone who was waiting for their death.
Iron looked bitterly at this polluted and abandoned being as he opened his mouth.
“Traitor who abandoned your God… Just as I promised with your God, I came here to witness the mermaids’ downfall with my very eyes.”
