Episode 39

When most of the territory’s residents fell into panic at the signs of Disaster occurring in Lartania, only two people saw it as an opportunity.

One was Kim Hyunwoo, who had spent over ten thousand hours in Arteil and had already caught the Disaster arriving in Lartania hundreds of times.

The other one was…

Swaying, swaying.

It was Merilda.

Having observed the Lartania territory all day, she was very well aware of the current situation of Lartania, and naturally, she was also clearly aware of the signs of Disaster.

After all, she had fought off Disasters hundreds of times with her master, easily overcoming them.

And the reason she saw this Disaster as an opportunity was because she perceived this moment as a chance to be forgiven by her master.

Right away, Merilda realized that the Lartania territory operated by her Master had no capacity to stop the Disaster.

But what if Merilda saved her Master in such a dire situation?

Swaying swaying!

Merilda smiled without realizing it.

After hearing (through eavesdropping) that Kim Hyunwoo didn’t think as poorly of her as she thought, Merilda had been wanting to ask her Master for forgiveness once more.

However, the reason she hadn’t gone out of her way to do so was simply because Merilda had no excuse to appear before her Master.

But if Merilda saved the Lord in this crisis?

If she could get praised by her Master and ask for forgiveness at the same time?

“…Hehe.”

Merilda smiled happily, imagining the familiar touch of someone petting her head.

For Merilda, who had been increasingly annoyed by the woman sticking close to the Lord recently, there couldn’t be a better scenario.

Therefore, Merilda decided to wait for the right moment.

‘…He-hehe??’

Giral, who was still guarding her back, opened his mouth once again upon seeing Merilda suddenly twirling her tail like a windmill and chuckling to herself.

The hero ‘Shrouded in Darkness’, Roman, who was affiliated with the Norba Kingdom and under the command of Duke Tesnoka’s intelligence department, was currently watching the Disaster from a hill in a vast prairie.

Thud!

Roman frowned upon seeing the Disaster – no, the monster – wearing sharp spiky armor and having a huge body that shook the earth and made the forest tremble with just one step, looking like a mix between a dragon and a crocodile.

‘…This situation has become troublesome.’

The reason Roman came here to check on the Disaster,

was, of course, because all the Lords within the vicinity reacted as soon as the disaster appeared, including the Tesnoka territory, which also belonged to a duke of the Norba Kingdom.

‘I expected it, but it’s Lartania after all.’

Roman frowned, predicting its first target as he observed the Disaster’s path of movement.

‘This is not good.’

Of course, from Roman’s perspective, the fact that Lartania was the first destination of the Disaster didn’t matter much.

The reason, of course, was that the Lartania territory had no relation to the Norba Kingdom, and though not known ten years ago, it was now just a very small territory that had recently emerged.

Yet, Roman frowned because considering that Lartania was the first target of the monster, it was highly likely that this monster would reach the territory operated by Duke Tesnoca.

The reason was, of course, because there wasn’t a single territory capable of stopping that monster.

“Lartania will obviously disappear, and the next territory, Harlancia, Calan Kingdom probably won’t bother reaching out. After all, it’s a place that doesn’t matter whether it exists or not.”

In the end, since it was the Duke’s territory that had to stop that monster, Roman was frowning.

“…It would probably be better to call the Guardian of Spirits or the Lord of the Sword in advance from the Kingdom. I need to report about this part.”

Roman made that decision and was about to turn around, but.

“…?”

Soon, his body naturally stopped.

The reason was-

‘Soldiers?’

-because soldiers were standing in front of a ridiculously huge Disaster.

‘No, not just the soldiers… Is that… the Lord of Lartania?’

Even more, Roman, who was looking at the Lord of Lartania and the hero with blue hair, known through information, standing behind those soldiers, soon wore a bizarre expression.

That’s because, from Roman’s perspective, it was utterly incomprehensible why they were doing that there.

‘…What are they trying to do?’

No, to be honest, Roman had a rough guess why they were out here.

He couldn’t not know.

After all, if the Lord, along with soldiers and heroes, and even a somewhat crude catapult, stood in front of that giant monster, there could only be one thing they were thinking of.

But the reason Roman was making a bizarre expression, even though he realized their intention, was-

‘With just that much, they intend to stop the disaster?’

-because no matter how he looked at it, the Lord’s preparations seemed far too inadequate.

After all, to Roman’s eyes, there were less than 300 soldiers and heroes visible.

Wondering if there were other reinforcements around, Roman expanded his search and looked around, but the only ones caught by his search in this vicinity were two people who seemed to have come to see the state of the Disaster, observing from beyond a cliff just like him.

This actually indicated that the Lord of Lartania had prepared only that many people to stop the Disaster, so Roman couldn’t help but chuckle to himself.

‘Are they insane?’

According to what Roman knew, the forces needed to stop a Disaster of Ghost (귀) class required at least over a thousand men at the bare minimum.

Even considering the minimum number, the soldiers had to be at least heavy infantry and cavalry, not ordinary soldiers, and a hero capable of inflicting proper damage on that monster was needed.

What about the soldiers and hero brought by the Lord of Lartania?

The soldiers of Lartania, although equipped with quite good quality gear for being hastily assembled in just three months, that was it. Their eyes were filled with anxiety.

The same was true for the hero next to the Lord.

Anyone could see that they didn’t seem to have come of their own volition.

“……”

Roman, as if he could see their future, contemplated advising them even now, but soon shook his head and abandoned that thought.

After all, it was already too late to advise them since the Disaster had gotten too close to where they were.

‘…Sending soldiers and heroes to their death.’

Thus, Roman looked at the place where the Lord of Lartania was with a mix of pity and disdain.

“…?”

As the Disaster approached to a certain extent, the Lord briefly finished some speech, and the soldiers began to move.

“…They must have been well trained. Although there’s anxiety in their eyes, their actions are quick.”

Upon receiving the Lord’s command, the soldiers, except for a few, quickly divided into two squads and spread out to both sides in an instant.

The remaining five soldiers, seemingly riding pack animals, threw something at the Disaster moving straight towards the territory.

And then.

Bang!

“...!?”

As soon as they threw it, what touched the body of the Disaster exploded with a blue light.

‘A bomb…?’

Such a thought crossed Roman’s mind, but he soon shook his head.

That was because, as far as Roman knew, there were no bombs of that form.

However, before Roman could ponder the something that suddenly threw blue flames.

-[Agonized shriek!!!!!!]

The Disaster, letting out a monstrous scream that echoed across the entire grassland, began moving its sluggish body towards the soldiers who had thrown something similar to a bomb just before.

Due to the recent monstrous scream, the soldiers, leaving behind their horses caught in a howling state, immediately started running towards one place.

‘…Could it be, they intend to lure it away from Lartania’s territory? …But they should know that luring the Disaster is meaningless?’

Roman had his doubts seeing this.

Kwaaaang-!!!

Soon, his doubts were cleared as he saw the Disaster’s huge front paws fall into a massive pit, and Roman realized the Lord had prepared a trap.

‘It was a trap.’

The disaster, having fallen into a pit so deep that its huge front paws sank more than halfway, seemed bewildered and slowly moved to escape from the trap but couldn’t easily get out.

Kuuuung-!

Roman slightly admired seeing the Disaster trip and fall due to the pit, but that was all.

He still had no idea what the Lord intended to do next.

Even if they managed to bring down the disaster, Magdaora was large and slow in movement but absolutely not foolish.

That means, even if they brought it down this way, it would only take some time before Magdaora naturally got up again, and it would escape from the pit they had dug.

Moreover, Magdaora’s weakness was its belly, but with Magdaora lying down like that, the belly was covered, so Roman had a face full of questions.

Just then, the hero who had been standing next to the Lord as if waiting, sprang towards the Disaster.

Without hesitation, they headed towards Magdaora’s jaw joint and struck down with an axe.

Kaaang-!

A rough crashing sound.

Seeing that, Roman made a ‘tsk’ expression.

That’s because Magdaora’s only weakness was its belly, and though its jaw joint was weak, it was impossible for a hero, not even named twice, to penetrate the skin and attack.

So, Roman had a sour expression, but…

Gududdudduk-!

“…!”

The moment Elena’s hand axe penetrated Magdaora’s jaw joint, he involuntarily widened his eyes.

Before Roman could completely erase his surprised expression, Elena, who swung her axe wildly, completely destroyed Magdaora’s left jaw.

-[Agonized shriek!!!!!!!!]

As soon as Magdaora let out a monstrous scream and pulled its left leg, which had fallen into the pit, out-!

“Pull!!!!!!”

The soldiers on both sides, as if they had been waiting, pulled so the floating leg couldn’t leave the pit.

Kung-Kudduddudduk!

Trying to escape the trap, Magdaora failed due to the soldiers and fell forward once again.

At the same time, Elena, who immediately moved to the opposite side and started hacking away wildly, quickly skinned the Disaster this time.

Kwadeuk-! Kwaduddudduk! Kwaduddudduk!!!

She completely destroyed the jaw joint on the opposite side of Magdaora, which was like a dragon’s head.

-[Agonized shriek!!!!!!]

Once again, Magdaora let out a scream and raised its head.

Chjeo-eok-!

Magdaora’s mouth, with its jaw joint shattered, was wide open.

And at that moment, Roman could see.

The catapult that was somehow already loaded behind Kim Hyunwoo, and the identity of the object placed on the catapult.

‘That’s a power engine from a processing plant, isn’t it?’

The object placed on the catapult was a power engine operated by Magic Stones, used in processing plants, so Roman looked at the power engine with a puzzled expression.

“…!!”

He couldn’t help but be surprised soon after.

Because inside the power engine, which didn’t look that great at a glance on the catapult Kim Hyunwoo had set up, was crammed full with a tremendous amount of Magic Stones.

“Crazy-”

Only then did Roman realize the identity of the bomb the soldiers had thrown before.

What they had thrown was a deliberately overheated small power engine from a wood processing plant.

And the moment Roman realized that.

Tung-!

The huge power engine, filled to the brim with Magic Stones from a stone processing plant, whether it was already activated or not, emitted a blue light and flew in a beautiful parabola, landing precisely inside Magdaora’s mouth.

Soon, the power engine that passed through Magdaora’s throat.

Kwaaaaaaaaang-!!!!

Caused a massive explosion, blowing up Magdaora’s head.

And then.

Roman, soon gaping as Magdaora’s head burst open and it collapsed, looked at the soldiers who seemed to have been waiting to cheer.

“…This, this is unbelievable.”

Turning his gaze, he dumbfoundedly watched the Lord of Lartania, who managed to deal with a Disaster that would have caused thousands of casualties, with less than 300 soldiers and only one hero.

…On the opposite side from Roman, Merilda as well.

“…Eh?”

Dumbfounded.

“My chance…?”

She murmured emptily, with a face like she was about to cry.