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West’s Frontlines in Crisis (1)

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The solid and sturdy Western frontline.

Unlike the North who had the image of being the strongest, the Western Army had the image of being the sturdiest in the Empire. The army that stayed in place despite countless howls and cries. That was the Western Army.

And that Western frontline is breached?

Everyone was shocked by the news.

“I can’t believe that the West has been breached! What the hell is going on?!”

The communications officer immediately relayed what he had heard after hearing Crimson’s outburst.

“An internal attack had broken their frontline.”

“Internal?”

“Yes, sir. The Western front seemed to fail to hold out when monsters came down on them from the Center.”

“How the hell… tell me more about it!”

The communications officer shook his head in apology at Crimson’s words.

“I’m sorry, sir. We don’t know much details since the information was urgently sent by the Western Command.”

“Contact the West right now…”

“We’ve tried to do that but we can’t contact anyone. We tried to find other ways to contact them but… the Command is not responding at all.”

Crimson gritted his teeth at the words of the communications officer.

“Is it confirmed that the monsters truly came from the Center?”

“…The communication that we received clearly stated that sir.”

Crimson held his head as he collapsed back into his chair after hearing the communications officer’s confirmation.

Earth-shattering silence enveloped the entire conference hall.

News about the Western front being breached soon began to spread all throughout the Command.

Perhaps it was because the news was too shocking that everyone focused on the West to learn about the situation in detail. Because of this, they were able to gather a lot of information. They were finally able to infer the current situation in the West by gathering the information that they had all collected.

Just when everyone was having a meeting trying to find out what to do about the situation in the West…

“New information! The… The South is also facing a crisis from the sudden appearance of mysterious creatures! The Southern Army is urgently gathering all of its troops to fight but they’re still in a difficult situation.”

“Did those mysterious creatures come from the Center?”

“Th… That’s right!”

The communications officer immediately answered Crimson’s question.

Silence immediately covered the entire conference hall. No one here was so tactless that they wouldn’t understand the reason why Crimson asked such a question.

‘Is the Center crazy?’

This thought flashed in the heads of everyone present in the conference hall.

The West and South were already at war and in a difficult situation but the Center willingly let out the monsters that they were dealing with and sent them to those regions.

“Investigate the North and the East.”

The communications officer immediately went outside at Crimson’s orders.

Even though the communications officer had already gone out to find out more information, none of the officers stood up to leave. All of them waited for the news in an uncomfortable silence.

After a long time, the officer returned to the conference hall.

“Some monsters flocked to the East but it was not as big as the amount that were sent to the South and the West.”

“The North?”

“There are no monsters in the North.”

Crimson let out a short burst of laughter at the communications officer’s words.

‘You’re aiming for the weak spots?’

This was the same idea that was running through the heads of the officers in the hall.

It seemed like the beings were aiming for the Empire’s weak spots. But strangely enough, none went to the North. The Northern Army was already reduced by more than half after the Great Northern War. That was why if they were aiming for a weak spot, then they should have clearly targeted the North.

‘Are they only aiming for places where there are wars?’

It was understandable since they aimed for places that wouldn’t be able to create a double front or places where they couldn’t care less about their rear, but their opponents were none other than the monsters. No matter how intelligent they were, they still needed to understand and know how to use the information in their hands to make the best judgement in every situation. In other words, those who were fighting a war against the Center had already reached a level where they knew how to collect and analyze the information about the humans.

There had been no problems so far since the Center had blocked them and Ghosts had been supporting each region. It also seemed reasonable to have such a conclusion since they aimed for those places shortly after the Ghosts had been recalled.

‘Was it because they’re in a hurry… or…’

This thought flashed in Crimson’s head as he waited for more news.

He needed to gather more information first before deciding if they should go send support or not. He also had to see whether they could see an end to the situations in the West and the South.

While the Command was flustered by the sudden turn of events, Iron was busy rolling his troops.

“Keoheok!”

“Sa… Save…”

“Stop exaggerating!”

Hundreds of soldiers were in a formation as they tried to pressure Iron while the knights moved to dig into the gaps in his movements.

Iron was taking the role of a large monster or a high-leveled monster that was equivalent to it. But the problem was, he was still continuing on grinding them relentlessly in this training. Even though he deliberately chose a blunt iron sword, this consideration was meaningless as long as he had his mana.

“Stop him!”

“Hang in there! If you don’t, we’ll end up rolling until midnight!”

The knights quickly jumped forward to stop Iron as they shouted at the soldiers. All of them used their mana swords to attack Iron but Iron was not someone that they could attack easily.

Bang!

Iron easily parried the dozens of mana swords that came at him as he flew towards the knight at the center. Then, Ariel, who suddenly appeared, aimed at Iron at high speed. The Galactic Meteor Swordsmanship, known for being the extremely swift swordsmanship, aimed to hit and tear Iron’s back. However, the difference between their stages was extremely vast.

Clang!

“Keup!”

Ariel was just right around the corner of the 5th Stage but Iron was already in the 6th Stage. Even if she had attacked him from behind, she had no choice but to lose with the huge difference in their level.

“Next.”

Iron, with a come hither gesture, spoke after smashing a knight order squad and a company of troops.

Then, Cardro’s aerial assault unit’s squadron appeared.

Everyone slowly began to set a siege against Iron as if their lives depended on it. They had repeated battles like this everyday and were slowly being able to develop some sense in fighting against high-leveled monsters. However, they still felt like dying.

Iron did not go easy on them whenever he hit them so they felt like they were going to break something with each hit. However, even if they did their best to avoid getting hit, they couldn’t win against him since the difference in their skills are too big.

In addition, their training time was not short. Their biggest problem was Baepsae, who was perched on Iron’s head. After their training, Baepsae would immediately use its power of healing and vitality and tend to their wounds even before the medics arrived.

In other words! Their hell-like training continued day after day.

“Commander!”

“Huh?”

Iron, who was about to start training, turned his head at the call of an officer.

There, he saw an officer from Command looking at him. He handed a towel to the sweaty officer and received the letter from him.

“Crazy shits!”

The letter that he received contained information on the reason why the Western frontlines had been breached and the sudden changes in the situation of the Empire.

1 The Western front lines had been breached.

2 The cause seems to be the monsters from the Center.

3 This very same reason caused great damage to the South.

4 Although the East received some damage, it is incomparable to the damage in the South and the West. The strange thing is none of them came to the North.

5 Something big seems to have happened in the Center. We might need to prepare for an emergency.

The letter, which was personally written by the Commander, briefly summarized the situation like that. However, no matter how much he looked at it, the contents seemed to be unusual.

Iron closed his eyes for a moment to think about the letter that he had just read.

Everyone present looked at him nervously.

“The training ends here!”

Iron’s eyes looked brutal the moment he opened his eyes and looked at his troops.

“I’m afraid it’s time for us to move.”

Everyone turned tense when they heard Iron’s words. Some of the veterans had relaxed expressions but the rest were so nervous that cold sweat even began to pour on their backs. This was an inevitable scenario especially since his unit was mostly composed of rookies.

Seeing the soldiers act like this, Iron showed them the letter in his hands.

“The Commander gave us the order himself. We will go to the Western front.”

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“The Western front has been breached and the cause is the strange monsters that came from the Center.”

Iron gritted his teeth as he spoke.

His anger couldn’t help but flare whenever the thought of the Center doing something this crazy to the West, who was already having a hard time dealing with the birdmen, flashed through his head.

Everyone gulped dryly when they saw the brutal momentum that Iron was currently releasing.

“We will move as soon as we collect the bare minimum information. Keep in mind that the enemies that we will deal with are the enemies from the Center. Remember that and get ready.”

Iron sent off the officer from Command and began his preparations to go to the West after giving his orders.

Then…

Ariel approached Iron.

“Brigade Commander.”

“Since it’s just the two of us, you can let go of the formalities.”

Iron told her to speak comfortably after seeing Ariel trying to speak carefully around him.

“Ahem, ahem…”

Ariel cleared her throat for a moment after hearing Iron’s words.

“About… what you said earlier. Did the Western front collapse because of the monsters coming from the Center?”

“That’s right.”

Iron just nodded lightly when Ariel asked him with disbelief on her face.

“Then, does that mean there’s a problem in the Center?”

“I don’t know yet.”

He couldn’t infer anything because the information that he had was limited. However, there was something that he was sure about, the forces of the Center that had been stopping these monsters had begun to pop out one by one.

‘That Shadow did not speak nonsense.’

Iron’s expression turned serious the moment this thought flashed in his head. It wasn’t just a threat. Perhaps the situation was truly dangerous even for the Shadow.

‘But even so…’

It was impossible for them to antagonize the World Tree. It was impossible for them to bring the North into another vicious cycle of wars. For the North, it was like they had brought them an option that they would never choose.

“One thing is for certain, something’s going on.”

“Uhm…”

Ariel was speechless at Iron’s words.

“It’s only going to get harder from this point on.”

“Harder than the Great Northern War?”

“Yes. If there really is a problem with the Center then… the regions wouldn’t be the problem at all. The entire Empire will be fraught with problems. And if that happens then…”

“The danger could even go beyond the Empire and affect the entire continent.”

Necessary evil.

That was exactly what Iron saw the Center as.

No matter how rotten they were, once the Center collapsed, the entire Empire would soon follow.

“So, why aren’t they asking for support?”

Iron sighed at Ariel’s question. He had thought about this problem when the Ghost had been recalled. And he had only made one conclusion.

“It’s most likely due to the Center’s weakness.”

“Weakness?”

“Yes. There’s a possibility that the ones who attacked the West and the South this time are related to the Central Government.”

Ariel tilted her head in confusion. It seemed like she couldn’t understand Iron’s words.

However, even if she was curious, it was difficult to answer her questions. He was not yet certain and it was very likely related to Shadow. However, if it was truly related to Shadow… then, it was highly likely that those who had been disturbing the Center were their ‘victims’.

“Ha… So annoying.”

Iron frowned when he suddenly felt annoyance rising in him. He couldn’t understand why he had to go and clean up the Center’s shit every damn time.

“Are… are you alright?”

Ariel carefully asked him when she saw him gritting his teeth in annoyance. This was the first time that she had seen him this annoyed so her voice was filled with questions.

The thought ‘Should I just explain everything to her?’ passed through Iron’s head but he still kept his mouth shut. Ariel might be a tight-lipped person but there would be problems if rumors started here for no reason at all so he swallowed his anger and kept his mouth shut.

“Go. We should do what we have to do first.”

“…Yes.”

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West’s Frontlines in Crisis (2)

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Iron’s Special Mobile Unit was finally about to move after a short training.

They were the only unit that was specialized and allowed to move outside of the Northeast’s jurisdiction.

Everyone was looking forward to their performance after hearing the news that they would be moving despite their troops consisting mostly of rookies. This could mostly be attributed to Iron’s huge contributions in the Great Northern War with just rookies under his command.

However, they were all still very worried.

[ The Western Frontlines’ Collapse. ]

All of the people were aware of this fact after reading the article in the newspaper.

With the release of this news, the Northern Army urgently began to gather troops and dispatch reinforcements. Even the Northern Territorial Lords moved and added some of their forces.

If the West had been breached, then the North would also be affected. That was why they were trying to send support. The Northeast would also send support and had decided to send Iron’s Special Mobile Unit first.

However, no news came from the other regions.

The reason for their silence was revealed later on and was mainly because they were also having a hard time on their own. The South was facing their own crisis while the East was still busy dealing with their own problems.

“They came from the Center?”

“This doesn’t even make sense?”

“What is the Center doing?”

The people of the Empire were furious. They were angry that the Center’s shit all flocked to the regions whose armies were already having difficulties and made their fronts collapse. But even if the masses demanded their explanations, the Central officers maintained their silence. They kept their mouths shut even after countless people flocked to the government office. As this fact became known, newspapers began reporting about a huge secret that the public was not aware of.

“It seems like they can’t explain.”

Iron smirked as he folded the newspaper neatly and placed it beside him.

Vwoong~ vwoong~

Accompanied by the sound of the airship’s mana stone, they finally finished their preparations and had begun heading to the West. They had prepared a huge airship to fly and move a brigade-level unit. The Drake Unit had also finished their preparations perfectly.

“You will turn 20 once you reach the Western frontlines… what a shame.”

Cardro spoke bitterly.

Just like he said, Iron was about to turn 20. Cardro, Ariel and Carl were all turning 20 soon too.

“It seems like we’ll arrive at the Western front exactly when my age changes.”

Everyone smiled bitterly when they saw Iron speaking bitterly too.

“Hoo… To be honest, my age changing to 20 doesn’t mean much. It doesn’t really matter, what’s important is information about our enemies.”

Everyone nodded heavily at Iron’s words.

‘Death Corps.’

Iron had asked for information from Command. The problem was the fact that the information kept on changing.

When he heard that an undead unit had appeared, he thought that this battlefield would be a bit easier than the others. However, new information came in. It seemed like the beings that they thought to be simple zombies actually sucked people’s blood while being able to use illusion techniques.

‘Then, vampires?’

But they weren’t those too.

He heard that they could also spit out poison and reattach their cut off limbs over and over again, just like a zombie. And if they drank blood, they would also be able to regenerate their cut off limbs. These bastards seemed to have the combined advantages of the undead and the vampires.

‘Then, are they chimeras?’

This thought flashed in his head. However, it was hard to conclude that they were chimeras especially when there were no traces of their bodies being combined together, the chimera’s major characteristic, nor did they have any time limit from the side-effects of joining different bodies together.

Since they still did not know where these bastards came from or what kind of beings they are, it had now become a huge problem.

“I’m having a headache.”

He had no choice but to move carefully since he had never experienced this in his previous life.

‘I’ve fought with a lot of undead but… if they are just similar to them then it doesn’t make sense for the West to struggle this much when fighting against them.’

The undead had appeared countless times in the Empire’s history so their characteristics were already described in detail. The armies were also fully armed with their basic information. The same was true for vampires. Vampires had vastly different powers depending on their blood. Generally, pure blooded vampires were stronger than those that weren’t of pure blood. And even though they had different attributes, their weaknesses were basically the same.

However, for them to be pushed back like this meant that the weaknesses that they were already aware of were not working properly.

“We found monsters one hour away from us.”

“Their size?”

Iron hurriedly got up from his seat and walked forward after hearing the sudden report.

“Amazing.”

“Is it the new monsters?”

“I don’t think so?”

The officer in charge of the airship hurriedly showed the mana ball to Iron. The reflection on the mana ball was truly only showing monsters. The problem was that they were urgently moving somewhere. It looked similar to a monster wave.

“They’re running away. Towards the North?”

“That seems to be the case.”

Iron looked at the mana ball seriously. Everyone looking at the mana ball were aware that there should be something more powerful that made these monsters run away.

‘The bastards harassing the Center?’

Dark clouds suddenly flocked from afar as black fog began to spread from the ground.

Iron stood up from his seat when he saw the green light shining from within the black fog.

“Go and get ready for battle.”

“Yes, sir!”

The officers immediately moved hurriedly after hearing Iron’s command.

Iron continued to look at the mana ball. He soon saw strange beings appearing from inside the black fog to catch the escaping monsters.

“Undead? No.”

Seeing their movements, one would simply conclude that they were the undead. But they were also using magic.

What was more shocking was the fact that it weren’t just the liches or the skeleton mages who used magic, all of these strange beings inside the black fog could use magic albeit only at a crude level. They were also able to restore their bodies that got cut off from the monsters’ counterattack by sucking the monsters’ blood. In other words, they had little to no chance of dying unless their cores were completely destroyed.

In addition, it seemed like they were able to revive some of the monsters since they had the undead’s characteristics. And by using that special characteristic, they were able to continuously raise their troops.

Just like what Iron had expected, they seemed to have both the characteristics of the vampires and the undead.

“Will holy power work?”

Both of the characteristics that he was able to personally identify were weak to holy power. The problem was that the Central Army was probably aware of it. But the fact that the unknown corps were able to breach their line and come all the way here meant that using holy power was not effective.

Therefore, he needed to have more accurate information before he could make his own judgement.

“Should I go and check it out personally?”

Iron muttered to himself as he approached the door of the airship.

“Open it.”

“Yes? But we’re too high…”

“It doesn’t matter. Open it.”

The soldier hurriedly opened the door at Iron’s orders. Then, Iron free-falled from the airship.

“Owl!”

― Hooooot!

Two Moons appeared at Iron’s call. It quickly picked him up as they began to glide slowly.

Thump!

His heart began to thump wildly the moment he jumped off the airship and approached the unknown corps. At the same time, his stigmata ached and emitted light as it immediately released his holy power. It was as if it saw something that shouldn’t exist as it expressed strong dissatisfaction through every fiber of his being towards these unknown beings.

The same was true for Two Moons, a divine beast.

― Hooooot!

Two Moons’ eagerness to slaughter and extinguish them immediately rang in his head.

“Hold on. I have to check something.”

Iron appeased Two Moons who was just about ready to sweep them away immediately and released his holy power immediately.

The black fog was immediately purified as the sanctuary that appeared in the North plenty of times had been created here as well. Because of that, the beings hiding in the black fog appeared one after the other.

The beings were all covered with black energy while their eyes emitted green light.

“So, you’re resisting?”

He thought that they would have already been purified and turned to dust with his holy power but it seemed like they still survived. The only thing that disappeared was the black fog. This meant that holy power did not work on them.

“Hmm… Is it because of the flow of the holy power?”

Iron mumbled to himself as he released a stronger holy power.

Then, some of the bastards on the outskirts finally reacted.

Iron frowned after seeing that some of the weaker ones had broken down after the black fog surrounding their bodies had suddenly disappeared.

Holy power does work.

However, it had no overwhelming advantage on them unlike on the undead or the vampires.

“Resistance to holy power…”

So, to celebrate his brigade’s first victory, he ordered his men to set up a temporary camp and told them to take a break.

While the troops were celebrating their victory, Iron went ahead and found the ones that they had captured and left alive.

“Hoo… Is it my time to have some fun now?”

Iron smiled as he pulled a knife out.

“Shall we start with the heart? I wonder how weak you can get once I take out the core in your heart… I’m very curious.”

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West’s Frontlines in Crisis (3)

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While everyone was resting, Iron busied himself and began all kinds of experiments on these strange creatures to find out their weaknesses.

He was able to identify how high their regenerative power was by removing the core and injecting holy power in their bodies. He was also able to find out how strong the core was and check the power contained inside with the help of some wizards.

He also tried to find out how they experimented on them and looked through the traces of the procedures in some of these creatures.

“What a pity.”

However, there was a limit to what he could find while they were still out here in the field.

Iron suddenly started missing his previous life.

Although he was not as strong and was not as trusted by everyone as he was now, the conditions back then were still leagues better in terms of experimenting. He had a laboratory and an experimental site built in Leonhardt’s Castle where he could experiment on the monsters that they had captured alive every day and identify their weaknesses.

One might think that this was a cruel practice. Some even said that they should at least give these lives a comfortable rest in the end. But that was only a story that should be mentioned when humanity’s survival was already guaranteed. It was extremely strange for them to pay attention to such matters when they were currently at a time where there were hundreds and thousands of humans that were being pushed back and dying day by day.

They were able to identify the monsters’ weaknesses through their countless experiments and their behaviors and patterns through their countless battles. From their findings, they wre able to create tactics tailored to defeat these monsters and create a defensive line that prevented the North’s complete collapse.

And Iron intended to repeat this process here as well.

‘Unknown creatures? It will be enough as long as we find out things about them one by one.’

In his previous life, he had encountered plenty of monsters for the first time. Humanity was able to grow and survive only after identifying their weaknesses through experiments and killing them one by one. It was enough as long as he could replicate the process in his present life.

He was able to identify their weaknesses through the surviving creatures so he went out in search of the bodies to find out more. However, nothing truly came out that outstanding in his eyes. Most of the bodies seemed to have been revived from the dead through the unity of their body and the death energy in the form of the beads which turned them into creatures that were neither vampires nor undead.

“Hoo… This is quite vague.”

Iron scratched the flesh of the beings that tried to kill him through a blood explosion in frustration. However, he would not be able to find out anything with just some pieces of flesh.

In the end, all he could do was to inform his unit about the weaknesses that he roughly found out and told them to move out as soon as everything had been prepared and fixed.

The further they entered the West from the North, the more bastards surrounded by black fog appeared. And every time, they fought overwhelming battles under the power of the sanctuary.

Baaaaaaang!

“Ha… these bastards are self-destructing bastards too.”

Iron frowned as he watched the bastards explode just like the commanders that he had first met.

The numbers of the bastards that they had met were not that large. However, even if they met groups of them several times, they were still unable to capture any of the commander-level ones.

This was because they would immediately self-destruct the moment they saw him with a shout of Apostle! to cause a crisis.

“I’m annoyed.”

“We’ll capture them alive.”

“That’s right. Please leave it to us.”

Iron shook his head at Ariel and Cardro’s words.

He wasn’t ignoring and setting them aside but with their skills, their lives were likely going to be in danger once they were hit by a blood explosion at a close distance.

“No.”

Ariel and Cardro ground their teeth at Iron’s answer. Despite being compatriots, Iron still did not place his trust in them. They felt frustrated that the gap between them was so wide that they couldn’t catch up to him now but at the very least they wanted to be in the same unit and be of help to him. However, all they did was to rely on their compatriot’s overwhelming performance.

Iron couldn’t help but sigh when he saw that his compatriot’s expressions were not good. They would be left frustrated if things ended like this so he needed to find some sort of method to have a tie with the situation. This was because they were now the main pillars of their troops and not just his compatriots.

“Go and make a stage.”

“Yes?”

“What do you mean…?”

The two looked at them with wide eyes when they heard his words.

“Go and make a stage for me and the commander-level bastards to fight. If I could focus on them, I believe I would somehow be able to spare one and capture them alive.”

His words brought life back to their eyes once again.

“Ariel, don’t let other creatures clump and stick around me.”

“I will do that.”

Ariel looked reliable as she responded to Iron’s words.

“Cardro, stay on the rear and work with the rangers to break down the bastards’ formation as much as possible. That way, me and the other knights will be able to reach the commanders at a comfortable pace.”

“Yes.”

“Tell them to do what they usually do. There are still a lot of inexperienced soldiers in our ranks so telling them to do something difficult for no reason at all will bring casualties.”

Ariel and Cardro bowed their heads apologetically when they heard Iron’s words. Each and every day that they spent fighting together made them realize how much Iron was suffering because of their immaturity.

However, Iron was thinking differently. To him, they were still young. They were only less than 20 years old but they were already participating in numerous battles, and if they continued to work under his command, they would be able to learn and grow well.

He could wait for them because he trusted in them. After all, he could see how much they were growing day by day. Although they continued to reveal their inexperience and unfamiliarity due to the sudden turn of events, they were still coping quite well.

“You’re doing well. If you continue to grow like this, then you will be able to reach the target that I want you to achieve in a year.”

But their faces could not brighten despite Iron’s words. His words meant that they were still a burden.

Iron no longer spoke after seeing their expressions. Instead, he urged his unit to move and find the monsters quickly. The best training was fighting. The intense physical and mental memories that they would gain once they survived would be a greater fertilizer for their growth than training.

There were many places where they could fight during these chaotic times. Especially here in the West, since their frontline had collapsed, the region was overflowing with places where they could fight.

As if to prove this, Iron’s unit was able to meet with a group of monsters as well as another group of the unknown troops. Each time, they saved people in crisis and annihilated the enemy.

“Is it another failure?”

Iron looked bitterly at the commanders that self-destructed once again. Even though he tried to capture them several times, all of his attempts had failed. Ariel and the other leaders all looked apologetic but Iron believed that it was his fault and not theirs.

“It’s my mistake, straighten your faces.”

However, even if Iron said this, their faces did not straighten. Perhaps it was because they felt that he was just saying this for no reason at all. Seeing this, Iron spoke again.

“We’ll succeed next time. I already got the hang of it.”

Iron smiled, encouraged them and prepared to move again.

These unknown beings were creating a stir in the West. They had already gained the moniker ‘Death Corps’, an army that never died and brought forth the epitome of fear. However, in front of Iron’s unit that could use overwhelming holy power, they were just easy prey.

If I can’t do it once, do it twice. If I still can’t do it twice then do it thrice.

They took on the challenge of capturing the commander-level figures of the Death Corps and did it several times while being accompanied by that mindset.

― Krrk… A… Apostle… keuaaaaack!

Iron deliberately showed a gap in his movements to catch one of them at the risk of him getting hurt. The commander immediately tried to self-destruct the moment he injected holy power in its body and neutralized it. But Iron did not let him.

― Let’s die together!

“Shut up!”

After experiencing it quite a lot of times, he was well aware of their patterns now. He quickly tied the being that he neutralized so it couldn’t move and pressed it down with his holy power so it could not regain its strength and commit suicide while he annihilated the rest with the help of Two Moons.

“Finally…”

Iron’s eyes glowed as he looked at the commander that he had caught. He grinned when he saw that it had failed to overcome his powerful holy power and passed out.

In just a blink of an eye, the battlefield had been organized and a barracks was built for Iron.

― A… Apostle!

“Shouting is meaningless.”

― Ughhhhhh…

“You won’t be able to self-destruct. Of course, you also won’t be able to kill yourself.”

Iron smiled as he said those words.

― No matter how much you torture me, you won’t be able to pry anything from my mouth!

“Sure, whatever. I did not intend to pry a confession out of you anyway.”

Iron pulled out a dagger.

“First, let me find out what your body is made of. We have a lot of time.”

The being began to panic at Iron’s words.

“You’re a commander so there must be something that differentiates you from your subordinates, right?”

Then, he spinned the dagger.

The wizards entered Iron’s barracks one by one, ready to experiment with the commander-level creature.

“Well then! Shall we get started?”

The experiment on the commander-level creature began with Iron’s cruel laughter.

The first thing that they investigated were the ‘Contract Insignia’ that were painted on its body. Then, they checked the suture marks to see if it had undergone any other experiments and procedures. And by the end of it all, they found out that this was a vampire’s body.

The commander-level creature’s mentality broke when it saw that Iron found out its secret on his own without asking anything. Even if it mumbled like crazy and spewed out information, Iron did not believe anything that it said. He doubted the creature until the very end. After all, he had met countless beings that talked like this and recited false information in his previous life.

“What should we do with this guy?”

The wizard asked as he looked at the commander-level being, which had turned into rags after several days of experiments.

“Take it. There’s still a lot that we can find out.”

“Yes, sir!”

The wizards immediately went behind closed doors at Iron’s words.

Iron was able to find out the weaknesses of the Death Corps. He was also able to roughly guess their goals after experimenting on the commander-level being. He thought about how he should use this information.

‘It’s hard to trust in just one guy’s information.’

This thought flashed in Iron’s head as he moved once again to check the authenticity of the information.

He deliberately wandered to the places where the Death Corps could be found and caught a few commander-level beings on their way to Western Command. He gave support and helped the refugees by killing the Death Corps and capturing their commanders. Since the North had become the safest region in the continent, there were many refugees coming up, that was also the reason why plenty of Death Corps were in the area.

And the more they killed them, the more he understood their behavior patterns and weaknesses. Because of this, he was able to create and refine a unique tactic against them. And the more his unit learned and used it in practice, the better they became at dealing with the Death Corps.

“Is the information that you said true?”

After gathering all of the information that he had gathered from all of the commander-level beings, he was able to reach a conclusion. And that fact was something that couldn’t be known to the people here but even to the Empire.

Iron, who contemplated on what to do with this information, decided to head to Western Command for now.

Although the Western frontlines had collapsed, the remaining forces in the West still continued to fight fiercely at the temporary command that they had set up and was centered on the Western Commander.

After deciding on helping them, Iron ordered his troops to move quickly. He and his troops had been delayed since they deliberately sought the Death Corps, but they were now moving quickly. Although there were still many Death Corps that targeted the refugees, they couldn’t find all of them and kill them especially if there was an urgent situation that they needed to deal with. The best thing that they could do now was to join the Western Army and defeat the big shots first to prevent any further damage.

While they were moving quickly towards Western Command, the wide-eyed communications officer in the airship quickly approached Iron.

“Brigade Commander! There’s trouble!”

“What is it?”

Iron tilted his head when he saw the urgent look on the communication officer’s face.

“The Central Army… The Central Army has collapsed!”