-Peeeeeng—!! Paang—!!
Another flare burst in the sky. The heavens turned crimson. Yu-jin and Ivan scanned their surroundings as they raced through the forest.
The forest had become a massive slaughterhouse.
-Aaaaargh—!!
-Block it!! Block iiiit!!
-Philip! Lord! Philip, breathe!!
All kinds of sounds were being collected by their sharp hearing. Screams, shouts, clashing noises, explosions, death throes, the monstrous roars of dragons and the crackling of flames burning through the forest, and...
Even the distinctive sound of people being burned alive.
It was a collection of sounds that felt oddly familiar. The sounds of a battlefield. To add a bit more sentiment, these were the sounds of defeat.
"Brother!! Over there!!"
Yu-jin shouted. Ivan changed his posture without even turning his head. He had already noticed. Up ahead, there was a group of people.
The bewildered group was climbing the mountain with confused expressions. They were heading toward Gil-Ber's camp.
"Sir!! What... what's happening?!"
"There's no time to—"
-Ping.
Reflexively, Ivan wrapped his nerves with mana. In this sensation where even the opening of Isabelle's mouth seemed to flow slowly, he quickly reached for his waist and drew his axe.
The Line-of-Fire Detection flashed violently. No, strictly speaking, this wasn't a line of fire.
He could distinguish it because he had experienced it before. This was a dragon's breath.
-Euduk!!
In that moment, he leaped using all the mana he could muster. Ivan's body slipped between the group like flowing water, shooting toward the forest on the opposite side.
-Kwaaaaa—!!
He grabbed Elfihera and threw her aside, then swung his axe in place. Fortunately, he timed it right. Ivan struck the dragon's breath with the axe blade and quickly threw the axe to the ground.
The steel-forged axe had melted down to its handle. A dragon's breath is a mixture of magical and physical force. He could deflect the magical ignition but not the physical force.
After bouncing backward to dissipate the remaining energy, Ivan faced forward and drew his pistol.
"Go ahead."
"U-Uncle! We can—!"
"Listen to me."
Yellow pupils floated in the air from the direction where the fireball had come. It was a feeling of one's body freezing involuntarily under intense killing intent.
This is the problem. All creatures modeled after dragons basically petrify lower life forms. It's not as impressive as true petrification, but it stimulates the realm of instinct to make movement sluggish.
They called it a dragon's presence. Even basilisks and wyverns could perform this technique. If it's a dragon, the original source...
One could resist by surrounding oneself with mana, but that only applies to transcendents. Not everyone in this forest is a transcendent. The Capital Defense Forces were exceptionally well-trained soldiers, but transcendents likely made up less than 5% of their ranks.
So, it was a slaughterhouse.
'More than 30% of the forest's forces must have been wiped out.'
The story that three thousand trained soldiers can hunt a single dragon is an assumption possible only when facing it head-on with a well-organized formation.
At this moment, the soldiers scattered throughout the forest are being ambushed in units of 100. Given that dragons are the ones ambushing, it would be fair to say the Capital Defense Forces were effectively annihilated.
In classical military science, the annihilation of an army corps means the loss of more than 20% of total forces. This hasn't changed much from pre-modern times to the present. When 20% is instantly lost, the remaining forces lose their ability to continue fighting.
The Eastern Knight Order and Gil-Ber alone must stop this situation.
And as recalled earlier, the maximum combat capability of the Eastern Knight Order led by Gil-Ber, even at its best, could take down at most about fourteen dragons "in a prepared situation" when "facing them head-on."
The flares that have shot up into the sky now number at least thirty.
"Come."
Ivan, armed with a dagger and pistol, muttered to the massive creature hissing in the darkness of the forest.
Dragons are intelligent creatures, so they can understand human language.
"Even your god couldn't kill me."
Dragons can communicate with humans. After all, wouldn't it be stranger if an intelligent being capable of using magic couldn't do so?
However, dragons never speak to humans. Just as people don't talk to their food. Those arrogant creatures consider it beneath their dignity.
Therefore, Ivan spoke deeply to the lizard that stared at him without answering.
"Try it."
-Buuuuuuu—!!
The horn sounded. Oskar jerked his head up and shouted.
"It's father's assembly call!! Not far away!"
The safest area after being ambushed is the front line directly defended by Gil-Ber. Gil-Ber was blowing the horn to gather the surviving forces.
Since the dragons' target was Gil-Ber himself, it was fair to consider this a life-risking act. It was obvious that all dragons not engaged in combat would flock toward him.
Oskar gritted his teeth and led the group. The forest was thinning out. Exposed to such intense firepower, the forest had crumbled to ash before it could even burn properly.
Ashes were scattering. The smoke belched from the Bernini Mountains had turned the sky black. Under the dark sky where the moon was hidden, soldiers holding torches gathered as they fled.
Toward the mountain peak.
-Buuuuuuu—!!
Toward their master.
-Buuuuuuu—!!
Toward the Guardian Earl, the Iron Knight, the shield of this country.
"How many survived?!"
"A total of 81 knight initiates!! The Capital Defense Forces can maintain a total of 21 organized units!"
Grinding his molars, Gil-Ber lamented. Over a thousand troops had not returned in an instant.
"Fools..."
If there were forces that had descended the mountain and fled, he could at least assume there were more survivors. But the soldiers he had personally trained were gritting their teeth and gathering under his camp.
Though terrified and clearly defeated, no one had panicked and fled down the mountain. It would be fair to assume that all who hadn't returned were dead.
This is the burden of the Hero Party. The burden carried by a symbol of hope. The pressure that one who has become everyone's hope must feel throughout their life.
Even as their comrades burned to death in an instant, they chose to gather around him rather than flee in search of hope for survival.
"You must retreat, my lord... We will make a path."
"To where?"
"...Pardon?"
"Where would I go? To the eastern front? Or to Saint Matilenne?"
"Well, of course..."
"Then what of them?"
Gil-Ber nodded toward his soldiers.
"This is the strongest corps Tilles possesses. If I sacrifice them to survive, what comes next?"
"My lord, you are the only hope left for this country!"
"This country's hope should not be vested in an individual!"
The Guardian Earl protects the nation. Not the king, not the capital, not the people. He protects the 'state.'
He protects the system of the state. He must protect the concept of the state. He must protect the administrative system called the state that everyone can trust.
An individual's strength cannot sustain a country. Fear can only rule, not govern. A state is a collection of beliefs. The belief that it will never collapse.
Under that belief, people plow fields, tend sheep, and sell wheat. When each of these small units comes together like gears, it can be called a state.
Therefore, the Guardian Earl never flees. That is the meaning of this position that Gil-Ber has sworn to uphold.
"Those creatures are a trap prepared for me. If I fall for it, they will follow me. Wherever I go, that area will surely burn."
"My lord...!"
"Even if that weren't the case, even if those creatures simply stationed themselves in these mountains, what difference would it make? The eastern front would be isolated and wither away. There are no allies anywhere except the capital corps. Tilles will be split in half and perish!"
If they lose the Bernini Mountains and all areas within dragon flight range, they will lose all territories in the northeastern direction, including numerous pastures and farmlands.
Such a thing must not happen. They had never suffered such damage even in the war against the Demon King's army.
After losing half the country, after losing half the nation's growth engine, after throwing half the citizens into the maws of dragons and demons, is there a future?
There isn't. Tilles would be finished. Therefore.
"I must stop them here."
Gil-Ber looked down at the gathering soldiers and stretched out his hand. His adjutant, with a stiff face, handed him a helmet. He put it on firmly, then waved his hand again.
The military flag fluttered.
-Flutter—!
The sun burning demons, the dawn rising over the plains. The flag of the Eastern Knight Order.
The flag of Etakrih with crossed antlers, spears, and shields.
Two types of flags billowed like a barrier behind him. The Eastern Knight Order stood behind him, each gripping their flags and weapons.
"Father!!"
Gil-Ber secretly breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the approaching children. Thank goodness, they're alive.
"Father, I... we will fight too!"
"Your Excellency! Let us help as well!!"
"Ha."
He laughed softly as he saw the appearance of the approaching children. They looked just like themselves when they first set out on their journey.
A bit more inexperienced than we were. But that's natural. We had already matured fully when we set out. That's because we were an assassination squad organized to directly assassinate the Demon King.
But these ones, perhaps, more closely resembled a "Hero Party."
Young people who had set forth with hope and cause, ready to risk their lives to fight willingly even for countries and families not their own.
Young people prepared to race to even higher realms.
Yes, if there is hope for the United Kingdom, wouldn't it be that such young people still remain?
As a senior, let me say one thing.
"This is the burden of the previous generation."