Chapter 136

Chapter 136:  Reinforcements Are the Sky

A few minutes ago, at the Rocky Isle where Kreveion had once lived.

Swaaahhh!

The cloudy sky poured down sheets of heavy rain.

Paaak! Paaak!

Two men, covered head to toe in mud, were digging furiously with their shovels.

At that moment, Hardin’s self-proclaimed loyal servant, Gadolph, scrunched his brow and spoke irritably.

“W-what do we do now, Sir Knight? Aren’t we completely trapped?”

“...W-why are you asking me that.”

“Well, because you’re the knight! Sir Knight!”

“I only followed the Young Master’s orders! You know that as well as I do!”

Pak! Papak!

One of the lower-ranking knights from the Jellyfish Unit who had come with them didn’t stop shoveling as he protested bitterly.

The reason the two of them were making such a mess here was because of…

 Gadolph, I have a special mission for you.

 A special… mission?

 Yes, it’s the most important part of this battle, so you must succeed no matter what.

 …Why me?

 Who else would I entrust it to if not you?

It was all because of the mission Hardin had given them just hours ago.

They hadn’t even been told exactly what it was for—just that they had to do it. Following orders blindly, both men were on the verge of losing their minds.

“……”

Still shoveling, Gadolph glanced toward the opposite side of the sea.

Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!

The ships of the Count of Tread’s fleet bombarded merrily at the rocky zone, surrounding it on all sides.

Inside, Daphne’s ships were trapped, unable to move, swaying helplessly as they were battered without end.

Seeing this, Gadolph’s face twisted with worry.

‘No way… is this really right?’

The only reason they were holding on at all was because the ship was armored so heavily that it was practically insane—but even then, limits existed.

The knights of the House, even the Young Master Hardin himself, were all aboard that ironclad ship.

But if that ship sank just like that?

‘Then my life’s over too!’

Pak! Pak!

As his shovel struck the earth, fragments of old memories surfaced.

 Gadolph, it’s better not to be so hung up on the Young Master.

 Eh, but he’s the one I serve, how could I not?

Every time he got tangled up with Hardin, he always felt those strange looks from the other servants and knights.

He endured them with forced smiles.

It wasn’t that he particularly liked Hardin. Nor did he feel any deep sense of belonging to this House.

It was simply that he had nowhere else to return to.

There was nothing else he could do. So he clenched his teeth and carried out his duty.

And the result of all that persistence was finally this.

That damned troublemaker… the Young Master who used to act like a brat had finally stretched his wings and turned into a new man! It was finally time for me to reap some benefit from that!

But if he fell apart this easily… then what on earth would happen to me?!

‘No, not like this. I can’t let it end like this!’

Puk! Puk! Puk!

Gadolph clenched his teeth hard, shoveling faster and faster.

Then it happened.

“Manghaaaar!”

Maybe he had lost his grip on reality.

The knight beside him rolled his eyes wildly, swinging his shovel in complete chaos.

“Sir Knight!”

“Uwoooohhh! Jeenzaaang!”

“Snap out of it, please!”

Slaaap!

“Argh! Why’d you hit me?!”

As the knight, who had come back to his senses, rubbed his cheek, Gadolph shouted with a serious expression.

“Because we already finished digging!”

“Ah… r-right.”

When the knight looked down in front of him, a fairly large pit had already formed.

As the knight lowered his shovel, Gadolph quickly untied the bundle he had placed beside him.

Inside were several small wooden boxes, each the size of a fist, glowing faintly with a red light.

To Gadolph, they were things whose nature and purpose he had no idea about.

 Once you finish digging, bury these at the bottom. And then…

 What even are these?

 You’ll know if you just do as I say.

He stopped thinking and simply moved his body according to Hardin’s orders.

‘The Young Master… must have a plan!’

Ruuumble!

They poured the boxes into the pit and covered them again with dirt.

“Haaahh, haaahhh… it’s… it’s done.”

The two of them brushed the dirt off their faces, catching their breath.

That was when it happened.

“They… they’re coming!”

At the knight’s shout, Gadolph turned his eyes in the direction he was pointing.

In the distance… beneath the pouring rain, the sea level was visibly rising.

The waters off the coast of Mudside.

It was unmistakably the tidal wave that had come once a month ever since they defeated Kreveion.

A savage, ferocious wave that seemed intent on swallowing everything whole.

At that moment, Hardin’s last words came back to him.

 When the wave comes, you must channel mana into this at the right timing.

Damn it… so you really meant that.

Gadolph swallowed hard, then smacked the knight’s back.

“Sir Knight! Now!”

“Y-yes!”

At once, the knight dropped to his knees.

“Hiiiyahhh!”

Srrrng!

He drew the sword at his waist, which shone with a blue light.

Then—

Swooosh!

He drove the blade with all his strength into the ground where the boxes had been buried.

And then—

Chiiiiiiiiii!

White smoke spurted up between the soil, and a red glow began to leak out.

The moment they saw it, both men instinctively knew.

Something extraordinary was happening.

“R-run!”

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

Taah!

The two of them spun around and scrambled up the slope of the Rocky Isle.

Only after they had put a good distance between themselves and the stone tower did they stop and turn their heads.

Kwaaaaaaaaang!

“Insane.”

“Haaaahhh…”

In that instant, a deafening roar shook the air as a blood-red explosion erupted.

The blast devoured the stone tower with a force that made the pouring rain seem like nothing more than an itch.

Crack! Craaash! Ruuumble!

The enormous stone tower collapsed, breaking into hundreds of giant boulders that were sucked into the sea.

And just then…

Shwaaaaaaaah!

The raging tidal wave that had been charging in swept past the Rocky Isle.

“It’s… it’s getting bigger!”

“H-huh…?”

The shock of the tower’s collapse fed the monstrous wave, making it swell even more.

Before they knew it, the tidal wave rolling past the Rocky Isle had grown to at least twice its previous size.

Kwaaaaahhh!

It roared onward, as though determined to smash everything to pieces.

Toward the Graveyard of Ships, where Daphne’s fleet and Tread’s fleet were locked in a standoff.

The closer the wave surged to the fleets, the paler Gadolph and the knight’s faces became.

And only a few minutes later—

Kwaaaaaaaang!

“Young Master!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”

What kind of plan was this supposed to be?!

The tidal wave… had begun to swallow the entire area around the Graveyard of Ships.

---

At that same moment, near the Graveyard of Ships.

The sailors aboard the Count of Tread’s ships screamed in terror.

“Uwaaaaaah! Save us!”

“Daaamn it!”

Seawater poured madly across the deck as the ship shook violently, threatening to overturn at any second.

“Ghhhaaahh!”

“I-I’m falling!”

Men lost their balance and tumbled into the sea, others cracked their heads against the railing and collapsed unconscious.

The deck became smeared with blood from countless misfortunes, only for the waves to crash over it again and again, washing it clean in a vicious cycle.

It was nothing short of hell unleashed upon the sea.

Then suddenly—

“Hiiiieeek!”

Because the ship was tilting sharply, one soldier slipped and began to fall.

‘If I go down like this, I’m dead!’

Flailing desperately, he reached out in a last attempt to live.

Tuk!

He grabbed hold of something—and when he lifted his head to look…

“Let go.”

A cold voice came from above.

“L-Lord!”

Count Vernian of Tread clung to a rope with one hand, staring down at the soldier with a blank expression.

“Please save me! If I fall into the sea now, I’ll surely die—”

But Vernian shook his head and muttered.

“Tch… you do have quite a talent for wasting breath.”

“…What?”

In that instant, Vernian’s eyes flared blue.

Shwaaahh!

With a single horizontal sweep of his free hand—

“Khahk!”

A fountain of blood spurted from the soldier’s throat, his strength leaving him as he collapsed onto the deck.

Thunk! Thud! Splaaash!

His body rolled across the deck before tumbling into the sea below.

The ship still shook as if it might capsize at any moment, carried swiftly forward by the tidal wave.

Count Vernian of Tread caught his breath lightly, then turned his head to scan the surroundings.

“...Hmmm.”

Around him, the Tread fleet’s warships were being swept toward the shore.

A couple had already capsized and were on the verge of sinking. Others had crashed into each other, their sails and hulls shattered.

It was damage that anyone could see was by no means small.

And in contrast—

“Hiiiieeek!”

“S-save meeee!”

“Wahaha! Hold tight, you bastards!”

Thuuud! Thuuuump!

Daphne’s ironclads rocked violently and were shoved forward by the wave, but not a single one had sunk or been destroyed.

Their hulls had been plastered thick with iron plating, and their sheer weight lessened the effect of the tidal wave.

‘...So this was the picture they intended to draw from the start?’

There was something intriguing about it.

Vernian licked his lips, his mouth trembling faintly.

He had already known that tidal waves regularly struck the seas off Daphne’s coast.

That was why he had timed his attack to avoid them. Even if one came, he believed Tread’s fleet could endure it.

But… this wave had arrived far earlier than expected.

And it was massive—far beyond what his fleet could withstand.

It was certain that the explosion on the Rocky Isle had triggered this.

‘Those bastards dared to play tricks…’

Wrinkles formed on Vernian’s forehead as his body tensed, anger boiling to the point it felt like blood was rushing backward in his veins.

He was still stewing in rage when—

“My Lord! Are you unharmed?”

“Pattinson…”

Clutching a rope as well, Commander Pattinson called out. Vernian ground his teeth and spat back.

“Does this look unharmed to you?”

“...Forgive me.”

His face flushed red, like a furious demon.

Perhaps overwhelmed by his lord’s intensity, Pattinson shrank back, stealing nervous glances at him before asking cautiously.

“What should we do? If you’ll give the order…”

“We proceed as planned.”

“You mean… to head straight for Mudside?”

“Yes. Even if a rat manages to bite once, the cat doesn’t stop hunting.”

At those words, Pattinson glanced around.

‘Indeed, the damage is great…’

Sailors, soldiers, even the warships themselves.

Losses already amounted to well over several million gold.

But—

‘We still have enough strength left to crush Daphne.’

Losing this much hardly mattered.

The core of this expedition was the Anvil Knight Order.

Most of the knights were still intact, and even those who had fallen into the sea would not find it difficult to ride the wave ashore.

As long as the strength of the knight order remained, the outcome would not change.

Count Vernian narrowed his eyes, his voice trembling as he spoke.

“We land at the point where the wave reaches. There, we wait. When those aboard the ironclads arrive, we crush them… and then charge straight into Mudside.”

“Understood.”

“Carry it out.”

Pattinson nodded sharply.

“Yes! I’ll spread the same order to the other ships.”

As Vernian gave a small nod, Commander Pattinson let out a heavy snort and readjusted his grip on the rope with both hands.

Then he bent his knees.

“Hhhhuup!”

Boooom!

He kicked off the deck and shot across to the other side.

His movement was like a lightning strike.

His body flew through the air and landed on another of the Tread fleet’s ships far in the distance.

It seemed his intent was to deliver Count Vernian’s orders in that brute-force manner.

“Huuuuhhh…”

Watching that, Vernian exhaled and turned his head.

His gaze fixed on the five Daphne ironclads being swept forward by the wave, the wave-patterned banners fluttering atop them.

“You won’t die cleanly.”

You damned rats.

Count Vernian’s face twisted hideously as he swallowed his rage.

---

Swaaahhh!

Amidst the pounding rain, atop the watchtower of Mudside’s defensive line—

“Huuuuhhh…”

Viscount Cobalt, Third Young Master Malion, Former Commander Mulgybson, and the rest of Daphne’s side stared into the distance with faces full of bewilderment.

“M-Malion. What in the world is happening?”

“I-I have no idea either.”

They had used the ironclads as a diversion, and it had bought them some time.

But Princess Medeia’s reinforcements had never arrived.

Instead, what came was a tidal wave several times greater than the one that had once engulfed Mudside.

Kwaaaaaaaahhh!

They could see it swallowing Tread’s fleet and Daphne’s ironclads, crashing furiously toward the coast.

Several Tread ships had already capsized, while others had shattered sails and broken hulls, rendered useless.

‘Was this Hardin’s design?’

‘Such an outrageous scheme…’

At that moment, Malion adjusted his glasses and shouted.

“That wave… it looks like it’s heading straight for the tidal flats?!”

“The tidal flats? The tidal flats…”

Viscount Cobalt furrowed his brow.

At this rate, most of the ships—including the ironclads—would crash into the tidal flats one after another.

And if that happened…

‘Then without a doubt, the battle will take place atop the tidal flats.’

The problem was that the Count of Tread’s forces still overwhelmingly outnumbered them.

If it came to that, the soldiers aboard the ironclads would surely be slaughtered.

Naturally, their side would have no choice but to send reinforcements.

‘But with these forces… can we even manage it?’

At that moment, his reason as the head of a house pressed down on him.

If he abandoned the defensive line and led his forces into the tidal flats, it would be no different from throwing away the advantage of the defensive battle and walking straight into hell.

But to stand idle…

‘Hardin…’

Viscount Cobalt’s heart as a father, and his duty as the head of a noble house, clashed endlessly, painting trembling lines of conflict across his face.

“Father!”

“My Lord, give the order!”

Malion and Mulgybson stared at him intently, pressing him for a decision.

The wrinkles on Cobalt’s forehead deepened further—when suddenly…

“M-My Lorddddd!”

A desperate scream rose from below, echoing through the air.

Everyone turned their heads toward it.

“Gadolph?”

There he was, Gadolph, completely disheveled, waving both arms frantically.

Cobalt grit his teeth and leapt down from the watchtower.

“What is it?”

“You must… you must head for the tidal flats immediately!”

“Why?”

“The Young Master… he told me to deliver this. If you send reinforcements to the tidal flats, then without fail… everyone will make it out safely.”

“Hardin said that?”

“Yes! Without a doubt!”

“……”

Cobalt’s face hardened sharply.

A moment of hesitation.

Then, clenching his fist tightly, he spun around and shouted.

“All forces, follow me! We march for the tidal flats at once!”

“W-what…? The tidal flats?”

“S-suddenly? Why…?”

The conscripts and squad leaders, even Mulgybson and Malion who had descended from the tower, all stared wide-eyed in shock.

“There’s no time to explain! Move!”

Viscount Cobalt’s urgent cry rang out once more.

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