[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 60
"What do you mean by 'set up to fail'?"
Paynun made a troubled expression.
"It's difficult to explain the details. If you have no choice but to go on the mission, try to stay in the rear guard."
Paynun gave the cryptic warning and hurriedly disappeared.
'A subjugation mission that's set up to fail.'
Something smelled fishy.
Zeke returned to the barracks and pondered Paynun's warning.
Based on his experience, there were usually two possibilities in cases like this.
'Either there's corruption within the higher-ups of the subjugation force, or there's a deal with the subjugation target.'
The former was due to corruption stemming from conflicts of interest entangled in the upper echelons, such as military supply fraud.
They would intentionally fail the subjugation and then calculate the amount of damage as the amount of the budget they had embezzled beforehand. They could also be failing in order to embezzle military funds in various other ways.
The second case was collusion between the subjugation force and the subjugation target.
If the subjugation force stayed in the area for a long time and maintained power, they would have to return to the center once the subjugation target disappeared. So, they would intentionally leak information and prolong their stay.
'Even though Delfoa is a place where mages abuse their power, I don't remember there being any military corruption.'
If that was the case, the second possibility was more likely.
Zeke decided to wait and see the situation.
***
The next day, Zeke and his party moved to the area where the Black Yaksha was located, along with the Delfoa subjugation force.
The place where the Black Yaksha group was hiding was a mountain branching off from the Giant Mountain Range. The surrounding mountains were treacherous, and monsters appeared everywhere, making it a place rarely visited by people.
The Black Yaksha had built a fortress here and was committing all sorts of crimes.
Moreover, he had been staying here for three years, absorbing other mercenary groups and bandits, further increasing his forces.
When they arrived at the scene, the mage commander gave instructions to the knights.
"Groups 1 to 3, go up along the sides of the mountain. Groups 4 to 6, go straight ahead."
This meant that the knights and soldiers would be in charge of the dangerous areas, while the mages would slowly advance from the rear and attack from a distance.
A tactic for the mages from beginning to end.
Despite this, the Delfoa knights couldn't say a word.
Just then, Zeke, who had been listening quietly, raised his hand.
The mage commander's eyebrows twitched.
"What is it?"
Zeke said to the commander, "What should we do?"
The commander didn't like Zeke's subtly irritating tone.
He shouted in an annoyed tone,
"Didn't you hear me say yesterday to stay quietly in the rear?"
Zeke then said to the commander,
"I am a blue knight, and Diego and Aster behind me are purple knights. Since we came here for cooperative dispatch, I was asking if there was anything we could do to help."
The mage commander was momentarily taken aback by the young-looking Zeke's words that he was a blue knight.
The surrounding mages and knights also stirred.
As the atmosphere became disrupted, the commander decided to take a step back.
"...Jorge. Assign them a scouting mission."
Then he turned around and went back inside the carriage.
Jorge, the knight commander, approached Zeke and stammered,
"W-Would a scouting mission be alright?"
Zeke nodded.
Jorge told them about the path on the opposite side of the direction they were going.
It was a route that could get them up the mountain faster, although the terrain was rough.
Just then, Andrei approached Zeke and whispered,
"Why did you do that all of a sudden? There's no way Zeke would provoke the commander for no reason."
Zeke replied to Andrei,
"There's something suspicious about this mission."
"What do you mean?"
"I suspect there's collusion between the subjugation force and the Black Yaksha."
Andrei was startled by Zeke's words, but he soon regained his composure and nodded.
He said to Zeke and his party,
"From now on, we will carry out a scouting mission to the Black Yaksha's camp. We will go up in a single-file formation, with Zeke at the front and me at the rear. Zeke will be in command of the unit."
As soon as Andrei finished speaking, Zeke, Diego, and Aster immediately formed up and entered the mountain along the route.
The Delfoa knights could only stare with their mouths agape at their disciplined appearance as they disappeared.
Zeke, at the front, displayed the map, recorded the route Jorge had told them, and ran through the mountain path.
After running along the mountain path for a while, something appeared ahead.
Zeke signaled to the back to stop.
'Trolls.'
A group of monster trolls were devouring wild animals.
Zeke tried to slip past the trolls, but he saw a suspicious figure in the back.
He paused and focused his gaze on it.
It seemed to be a Black Yaksha patrol.
Zeke immediately threw daggers at the figure.
Swoosh!
Three daggers, imbued with the power of wind, flew swiftly and accurately pierced the legs of the Black Yaksha patrol.
"Aagh!"
The patrol's screams alerted the trolls that were devouring the wild animals.
"Roar!"
The trolls, smelling blood, ran towards the patrol.
"Graaagh!"
Just then, Zeke and his party, who had been hiding in the bushes, jumped out.
Slash!
Zeke beheaded the troll at the forefront, and Diego and Aster attacked the other trolls.
At the same time, Andrei cut down the troll charging at them.
Thud!
Zeke and his party, who had instantly killed all the trolls, quickly erased their traces.
Then they took the patrol, who had collapsed after being hit by the daggers, to a nearby cave.
Zeke began interrogating the Black Yaksha patrol with a dagger in his hand.
"Is the Black Yaksha inside the fortress now?"
"You bastards! Go to hell!"
Perhaps because they were mostly mercenaries and bandits, their language was rough.
But Zeke was a veteran at dealing with these kinds of guys.
Zeke deliberately separated the three and began to gently "massage" their fingers, one by one.
They soon started screaming and spilling everything.
After interrogating all three, he combined the information and filtered out the false information.
Andrei's jaw dropped as he watched Zeke's interrogation skills.
"If the Black Ops saw this, they'd want to scout you right away."
"I don't really want to go there, so please don't spread rumors."
Zeke, who had suffered because of the Draker Black Ops in his previous life, didn't want to get close to them.
After finding out everything they needed, they cleanly disposed of the patrol and continued up towards the fortress.
As they approached the fortress, they noticed quite a few patrols.
Moreover, the fortress was built with solid natural stones in a rugged terrain, making it seem unlikely to be easily breached.
'This doesn't seem like something that can be solved with knights as meat shields and ranged attacks.'
It seemed like they would need to bring in a siege unit or infiltrate with a spy unit to find a solution.
If it were Zeke alone, he could easily infiltrate and take out the Black Yaksha's head without a trace, but since he was on an official mission, he had to be cautious.
Zeke and his party decided not to go any further and went down to the rendezvous point with the Delfoa Knights.
However, no matter how long they waited, the Delfoa Knights were nowhere to be seen.
They waited a long time before the knights finally arrived at the rendezvous point.
"Huff... huff... Have you already arrived?"
Jorge was clearly exhausted even before the battle started.
If their commander was like this, the other knights were probably in no better shape.
Zeke asked Jorge,
"Where is the Mage Corps?"
Jorge wiped his sweat and said,
"They will start supporting fire from the rear after we clear the area around the fortress."
Zeke was surprised and asked,
"What do you mean? You're going to clear the fortress with these numbers? Are you saying you want to die?"
"Th-that's..."
Jorge, who had no command authority, was in a difficult situation.
Andrei said to Zeke,
"The situation is a bit unfavorable. The fortress is much stronger than we thought."
Zeke also nodded.
"It seems we have no choice but to wait until the Mage Corps arrives. We need a new tactic."
Just then, Diego pointed behind them.
"Something's flying!"
Zeke was the first to react to Diego's words.
He used his Dragon Eyes to enhance his vision and identify the object flying in the sky.
Zeke shouted in surprise,
"Everyone scatter!"
He wrapped his arms around Jorge and rolled to the side.
A giant iron ball fell from the sky with a heavy thud where Zeke and his party had been standing.
And immediately exploded.
KwaKwaKwaKwaang!
The surrounding area was completely devastated by the massive explosion.
Jorge, who barely survived by rolling to the side, was utterly pale.
"O-Oh my god."
Zeke immediately got up and shouted at him,
"Commander Jorge! Get a hold of yourself! Check for survivors and retreat! There will be more coming!"
Jorge looked dazed even at Zeke's command.
Zeke slapped him across the face.
"Gasp!"
"Pull yourself together! Do you want to get all your men killed?!"
"N-No, sir!"
Jorge quickly got up and led the knights, who were disoriented by the explosion, to the rear.
Just as Zeke had said, more iron balls came flying.
KwaKwaKwaKwaang!
Along with the tremendous explosion, the surroundings were engulfed in flames.
Zeke unfolded Golin's shield to block the fragments.
"Diego! Aster! Over here!"
They came behind Zeke and moved to the side together.
And at that moment, the Black Yaksha group descended from above, wielding their weapons and charging.
"Kill them!"
Zeke and his party faced the Black Yaksha group that was rushing at them with weapons in hand.
Slash!
Every time Zeke swung Bahamut, two or three people were knocked down simultaneously.
"There are too many! Diego! Aster! Conserve your Aura!"
His experience leading troops in his previous life came flooding back.
In the chaotic battle, Diego and Aster moved according to Zeke's charismatic commands.
"Die!"
The Black Yaksha group, their eyes bloodshot, rushed towards Zeke and his party like madmen.
Zeke calmly cleared the surroundings.
'No matter how I look at it, these guys are in a strange state.'
He grabbed one of the charging men and threw him to the ground.
"Uwaaaagh!"
The man screaming like crazy was clearly not normal.
And upon closer inspection, he could understand the situation more accurately.
Zeke had seen many of these guys in his previous life.
'These bastards are all Soma addicts.'
The Soma distributed from the Southern cartels to the Central Continent had spread throughout the continent.
The biggest consumers of Soma were none other than mercenaries.
Although mages used it in moderation for a temporary increase in magical power, mercenaries had no such restraint.
Since they lived only for today, they would take more Soma than the allowed amount, or even consume the concentrated extract of processed Soma.
Zeke gritted his teeth as he looked at the messed up mercenary.
'In this state, it's difficult to subdue them with just the Knights.'
Ordinary mercenaries would usually be intimidated when faced with a group of well-equipped knights.
But those intoxicated by drugs would rush in like madmen without any regard for their own safety.
Even with their arms cut off and legs severed, they would attack like zombies, not distinguishing between friend or foe, simply killing anyone in sight.
It was a cruel tactic that saw subordinates as mere expendables.
Zeke gritted his teeth and glared at the fortress.
'Mission or not, should I just wipe them all out?'
It was then.
KwaKwaKwaKwaang!
A huge fireball flew from behind towards the Black Yaksha group.
"Kyaaagh!"
Fireballs, ice balls, and light missiles swept through the battlefield.
Zeke shouted to Diego and Aster,
"The Mage Corps has arrived! Fall back!"
Zeke led his party to the rear to avoid getting caught up in the magic.
The power of the Delfoa Battle Mage Corps was tremendous.
Mages lined up in a row, unleashing their memorized combat spells, and when they were done, other mages waiting behind would step forward and cast their spells, creating a continuous barrage of magic. They would devastate the battlefield with this continuous magic.
Even the drug-crazed mercenaries were no match for the Mage Corps' magic.
"Halt!"
At the commander's order, the Mage Corps stopped their advance and turned back.
Zeke looked puzzled as the Mage Corps suddenly stopped.
'What's going on?'
If they launched a full-scale attack when the mercenaries poured out of the fortress, the inside would be left empty.
It was a good opportunity to avoid a siege, so he didn't understand why they stopped the attack.
Just then, the Mage Corps commander approached Zeke.
Then he shouted at Zeke,
"You ruined this mission! Do you even know what you've done?!"
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]