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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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The monsters arrived earlier than expected.
However, the dwarves were prepared.
Thanks to their training and prioritizing the construction of defensive towers and weapons, they were able to hold their ground.
“Light the signal fire!”
It was a race against time.
If they could hold out until reinforcements arrived from the capital, they could repel the monsters with minimal casualties.
‘We have to hold them back!’
If the border fell, the nearby village and the city just 15 minutes away would be devastated. The scale of the disaster would be catastrophic.
Dagran mobilized all available resources and launched a desperate defense.
Oil, fire, crossbows, boulders, trap spells, explosives.
He used everything at his disposal.
As a result, they were able to hold off the initial wave of tens of thousands of monsters.
None breached the wall he had built.
“Gurgle… Croak…”
But their success was short-lived.
The tide turned when an “Ekayan,” a monster that thrived on the darkest energies of the Shadow Forest, appeared.
It was a mutated variant, combined with a demonic spirit – a nightmarish creation of demonic experimentation.
-Splash!
The Ekayan spewed acid, its range exceeding 10 meters.
“Aaaaagh! Gaaaaah!!!”
But the acid wasn’t the Ekayan’s most terrifying weapon.
It was the infectious parasites within the acid, which burrowed into the flesh of their victims, turning them into zombies.
Within three minutes of infection, the parasites took control, driving their hosts into a frenzy of aggression, biting and infecting others to spread the infestation.
“Aaaaagh! W-Why?!”
This new threat caused chaos within the walls.
A dwarf, being treated for acid burns, suddenly attacked the medic, who then attacked other soldiers, rapidly spreading the parasitic infection.
“Retreat!”
The wall was breached.
Ordinary people, untrained in mana manipulation, were defenseless against the parasites.
“I have to go!”
Reina, resting in her nearby quarters, sat up. The screams had reached her.
“No! You must rest, my lady…!”
Her servants tried to stop her.
Reina was four months pregnant, and Dagran, deeply concerned for her and their child, had insisted she stay put, promising to handle the situation himself.
“But… the screams…”
Reina was torn.
She was worried about her unborn child, but also about her husband, who was fighting on the front lines.
Meanwhile, Dagran made a difficult decision.
He ordered the infected soldiers to be killed. There was no other way to contain the outbreak.
“Fire the flamethrowers… at the infected.”
Dagran retreated to the second line of defense, ordering his troops to incinerate the infected, who were now attacking alongside the monsters.
Among the infected were his friends and trusted subordinates.
His heart broke, but knowing the catastrophic consequences of a breach, he had to make the sacrifice.
“Kyaaaaa─!”
But the true horror was yet to come. The mutated Ekayan began to gather the infected, reabsorbing the parasites.
The backs of the infected heads burst open, releasing swarms of parasites that were sucked into the Ekayan’s gaping maw.
The monster grew larger and its acid attacks intensified.
The acid was now far more potent.
“…We must prepare to die.”
This demonic creation was unstoppable.
To stop it, they had to be willing to die. The number of infected was rising, and with it, the monster’s power also grew.
They had to kill it, even if it meant their own deaths.
“Gather all the explosives.”
Dagran devised a plan.
He would bury tons of explosives and lure the Ekayan into the blast zone.
It would cause massive collateral damage, collapsing the surrounding area, but there was no other choice.
“Issue the evacuation order. And retreat all troops to the third line of defense.”
Prepared to die, Dagran ordered a full retreat.
He gave a short, impassioned speech, urging his troops to fight to the death, knowing that if the monsters broke through, the parasitic infection would lead to countless deaths, potentially reaching their wives and children.
“We will obey.”
“Let’s go out with a bang.”
“Kheh… To die in a massive explosion… That’s quite romantic.”
The dwarves, inspired by Dagran’s resolve, joined him.
Dagran, the rising leader, the creator of the holy sword, was respected by most dwarves.
They prepared for their final stand with their hearts set ablaze.
“Shit, we’re screwed.”
But Croto, Egua, and Arzier had no intention of dying.
“Evacuate all women and children!”
Dagran issued the evacuation order.
He had prepared safe underground tunnels for such emergencies.
Upon hearing the order, Croto rushed to Dagran, begging to be included in the evacuation.
He argued that he was an Imperial citizen.
“…Aren’t you knights?”
But Dagran refused.
He couldn’t risk sending those despicable men with his pregnant wife.
They might harbor resentment and harm her.
“Damn it! I’m an Imperial knight! Why should I protect your kingdom?!”
“…You swore an oath when you came here. Your duty is to protect us. Fight to the end.”
“……”
Dagran was adamant.
He threatened to imprison them according to dwarven military law if they disobeyed.
Imprisonment meant certain death, so Croto and his companions pretended to comply.
“Enemy sighted!”
After Dagran’s short speech, the monsters, having breached the second line of defense, began to swarm in.
The dwarves, following Dagran’s orders, held the line while others piled up explosives and prepared the spell array.
“Evacuation order! Everyone, evacuate!”
At that moment, the civilians were ordered to retreat to the underground tunnels.
“W-Where’s Dagran? Where’s my husband?”
The news was devastating for Reina.
The situation was dire enough to warrant evacuation, but her husband was nowhere to be seen.
A soldier, fighting back tears, said,
“Lord Dagran… decided to stay behind.”
“…What?”
Reina couldn’t accept it.
She grabbed her holy sword and rushed outside, ignoring her servants’ pleas.
“No… Dagran… My Dagran… I can’t live without you─ Ugh!”
A wave of morning sickness hit her.
She vomited onto the snow. She looked down at her four-month pregnant belly which was already slightly swollen.
“My lady! No! You can’t fight in your condition!”
Tears streamed down her face. She looked at the besieged defense line, desperate to join the fight, but her unborn child held her back.
“Lady Reina. Please protect the evacuees! Most of them are women and children. Lord Dagran… asked you… to be their knight, not his.”
The soldier handed her a letter, hastily scribbled by Dagran.
It was a message of love and apology, urging her to survive and find happiness.
“U-Ugh… Waaaaah…”
Reina sobbed, clutching the crumpled letter with her heart pounding.
But she quickly composed herself, stood up, and quietly said,
“I… can’t tarnish my husband’s honor…”
Dagran had lived a life of shame for being branded a liar.
She couldn’t let his sacrifice be in vain.
Meanwhile, Dagran gave the order to detonate the explosives.
He had lured the Ekayan into the blast zone.
“Activate the spell array!”
…But nothing happened.
The explosives were in place, but there was no explosion.
Croto and his companions had used the chaos to kill the dwarf in charge of the spell array and disable it.
“Shit! Run!”
While Dagran’s troops were in disarray, Croto and his men fled, even blocking the escape route behind them.
“The spell array! It’s not wor…”
The monsters were closing in.
The Ekayan, absorbing more parasites, continued to grow.
So, Dagran had to improvise.
Since the spell array was disabled, he threw lit bombs onto the explosives.
-BOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion rocked the area.
But it was nothing compared to the power of the spell array.
The ground shook, and a section of the third defense line collapsed, but that was all.
“Kyaaaaa-!”
The Ekayan survived.
The plan to destroy the monster and the surrounding area had failed.
“Protect your families! Protect your families!”
The defense line was broken.
The monsters were heading towards the families.
Dagran and the surviving dwarves desperately ran towards the underground tunnels.
But Croto and his men had reached the tunnels first.
While Reina was gathering the evacuees, they had sprinted ahead, killed the guards, and opened the tunnel doors.
“Close it! Close it, damn it!”
They destroyed the external control panel, preventing anyone from opening the doors from outside, and closed the doors from within, trapping themselves and the evacuees inside before the dwarves could reach them.
“Shit! Croto! It’s blocked!”
But there was a problem.
The tunnel was divided into sections with multiple entrances. Croto and his men were trapped between closed doors.
They couldn’t go back; the monsters were swarming outside.
“Lady Reina! The entrance!”
Reina arrived just then.
She saw the destroyed control panel and the dead guards, her teeth clenching.
She knew who was responsible.
“You bastards!”
A red haze of pure hatred and rage emanated from her.
The knights, who should have been defending the border, had killed the guards and shamelessly hidden in the tunnels, desecrating her husband’s noble sacrifice.
“Grrrrrr!!”
But she had no time for revenge.
The monsters had breached the defenses and were now reaching the tunnels.
“Piore!”
“Olbar!”
But it wasn’t just monsters.
The surviving dwarves, fighting to protect their families, were also converging on the tunnels.
And among them was Dagran.
“Dagran!”
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The ninja onions hard at work