Free Web NovelChapter 315: North to South [1]
A month later, the Northern Continent had prepared what they needed to prepare. Finally, after all the efforts they put into the officials to make them talk and reveal the secrets of the Southern Continent, they got to know how to easily handle them. If not for one traitor, Ghon, who joined the ranks because of the undying fire in his heart to take everything down for the Northern Continent, thinking they didn’t deserve to be spared. The Northern Continent used this opportunity to use the information he had to their own advantage. And now, the Intelligence Department had finally reached a conclusion on how to easily handle the Southern Continent.
The Northern Continent also noticed the capabilities and potential he had, making him part of an exclusive group to consider. Now, under a battalion under Levitate, he was on a sail with the half of the army to take their operation to the Southern Continent and invade them.
The number of their people on board a huge ship, with the other battalions tailing each other, exceeded the number that attacked the Eastern Continent, and for Ghon, this was just the beginning. There should be fewer people spared by the Northern Continent. The despair he suffered and his fellow citizens should be shared by other continents as well. The selfishness was just strong in his heart, blazing in every second that couldn’t be put down any more.
Some of the Western Continent people who had now been under the Northern Continent were in this force as well, they were called converters, but Ghon didn’t consider himself a converter as he was not like them. They were afraid to suffer; thus, they were willing to kiss their enemies’ asses and lick their boots. However, for him, being with the Northern Continent army was different. He was with them to spread the suffering and make the other continents experience it as well.
In this army that was sailing to attack the Southern Continent, two brigades were on their path to the swamps of the Southern Continent. It was the brigade of Demon Sword and Levitate, two of the three remaining Supreme Generals of the Emperor. And with their lead, every soldier’s morale was on set.
Levitate acted as the strategist while Demon Sword was the general on the field, giving orders to each commander, whether from what brigade they were from. She was the authority. However, it was just the plan and what they talked about; nothing still happened since they still hadn’t arrived at their destination.
"Good lord... I can finally see the edge of the swamp of the Southern Continent. As expected, there were monsters lurking in their swamps. Our ships wouldn’t be able to pass through them. Hence, their expectation should happen: the soldiers should ride on their flying swords. But, that is nothing..." Demon Sword uttered as she was beside Levitate, who had been observing the swamp ahead.
Levitate’s eyes went to Demon Sword and rolled. He scoffed in ridicule and shook his head, making Demon Sword look annoyed. "You don’t have to talk like a smart person, Lady Demon Sword. That is unbefitting of you. It doesn’t suit you well."
"I know that you would say that, you bastard! Forget about it. I will leave everything to you. Make the strategy with what we got from that Ghon person who the Intelligence Department had. And make sure that we will win." With a beaming face, Demon Sword stated.
"How dare you underestimate our force?"
"Oh no! I am not underestimating our force; I am overestimating our enemy. To be a smart leader and a fighter, you should not underestimate your opponents. Then, you should overestimate them!" she proudly said.
Levitate’s eyebrows and the corner of his lips couldn’t help but twitch. It was awful to hear from Demon Sword. "I already said, you don’t have to act like a smart person. And where in the world did you hear that nonsense? A smart person assesses everything, and estimating is always part of it. Overestimating is unnecessary since you don’t know when the war will end. If you overestimate your opponents by using everything you’ve got and being restless, you won’t be able to fight for another round in the war. Keep that in mind." Levitate then shook his head.
"Hahaha! I don’t care! Let us just jump into the war! I am dying to see blood!"
"Calm down. Weak creatures are for our subordinates. How about we watch this splendid scene first and enjoy everything?"
***
The most anticipated thing had finally occurred. The army arrived at the swamp, and they felt their gazes at them as soon as they reached the tip of it. The swamp wasn’t that deep, and just as the first squad from a battalion climbed down from their ship, as soon as they reached shallowness, they were attacked by crocodile monsters. As a reaction to it, they lifted their weapons and rained their martial techniques at them, and within just a blink, they had slain almost twenty of them.
"Heh! This is just easy..."
The turn of events continued. As the squad advanced, they were attacked more by these types of monsters, but the more they fought, the more they noticed that these monsters were nothing compared to what they were expecting.
"I thought that these monsters were at least at the Warrior Spirit Realm, peak, or even at the Master’s stage. But how is this so easy? Did we perhaps overestimate them?" The soldiers started to question how they could just kill with ease, but what they didn’t know was that it was just the beginning. It wasn’t there to kill them, but to tire them.
Even though this squad was just a small fraction of the whole army, it was enough to tire out the whole army. For them to underestimate the Southern Continent, there would be a slight chance that they could be tired out because of the unexpected disappointment they would feel. Their guards would be down, and nothing they could do to stop it would happen.
Their guards would continue to fall as they became more convinced that the monsters were weak. And the more they felt it, the more irritated the slightly higher-ranking soldiers.
"No one will destroy the formation!" A battalion commander under Demon Sword shouted. They had an advantage, truth be told. They already knew the terrain, which was from Ghon, who recently joined the ranks. And because of it, they could easily control their formation. But, contrary to their expectations, the swamp’s thickness and the difficulty in moving the legs would destroy their formation.
There was no proper footing in this swamp, which was a disadvantage just in case of an ambush. However, they still hadn’t felt one.
The crocodile monsters kept on coming until half of the army reached the other end, which had the barrier. They were forced to stop at the end of the swamp, and facing it with vigilance had them. The battalion commander that held Ghon, who was also under Levitate, asked him.
"How can we pass through this barrier?"
"Wait..." For some reason, Ghon’s face was restless. He appeared bothered as if he hadn’t calmed down a little. Because of this concern, the battalion commander questioned him again.
"What is it?"
"There were no soldiers guarding each post. There should be one since they could be our path to enter the barrier."
"There could be a reason why there wasn’t a person here in this swamp. They could be preparing for the war, as the red sky showed above their sky. What do you think? You know them more."
Ghon sighed and shook his head as he slowly said, "Is it possible if I can have a talk with General Levitate? I want to share my insights with him."
The battalion commander didn’t waste any seconds and relayed the message to him. Fortunately, he was allowed, and the advancement was put on hold. They discussed the continuation of the operation.
"What is it, soldier Ghon?"
"General, I have some thoughts to share. I think it is impossible to enter the continent. Every soldier guarding their posts in the swamps has an access point to pass through the barrier. But, suspiciously, there was no one here. It is sending me some unwanted concerns... They might have prepared something like this."
"Then, the only way to enter the continent was through the barrier. Destroying it should be necessary, right? And since their monster defense failed, what protected them was the barrier, right?" Levitate asked, seeking Ghon’s thoughts, as he was the one who knew the Southern Continent well.
Ghon nodded. "Destroying the barrier would be the only way to enter."
"You are worried that they might have prepared something. You don’t have to worry; you don’t deserve to worry. Are you perhaps underestimating the power of the Northern Continent’s two Supreme General’s brigades?"
Just as he heard that emotionless notion from Levitate, Ghon’s body dropped to the ground in kowtow, as his eyes were wide in shock. He slammed his head on the wooden floor of the ship and then apologized for what he said. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"Please forgive me for the absurdity of my words. Of course, I am not underestimating the Supreme Generals. How could I?"
Levitate smirked, then shook his head. "Shut up and stand up. Get lost. We will destroy the barrier and build another one that will weaken everyone. Since they must be expecting their barrier to be destroyed, one thing to do was to perform something they wouldn’t expect. Their grand array formation is nothing."
