Chapter 47
The Sinking Forest.
Even in the northern winter, the interior of the Sinking Forest was mottled with green.
It was because trees layered with leaves similar to pine needles, which did not fall even in winter, grew densely.
Because of this, snow did not pile up inside the Sinking Forest, and things like green spores floated mystically.
"So this is the Sinking Forest. It's my first time seeing it with my own eyes. I can't believe this place was once just a simple cliff..."
Allen looked around with his one remaining eye. Whenever he shook his head while looking here and there, his blonde hair, gleaming in the sunlight, swayed gently.
"Hey, Allen. We didn't come to sightsee, so look around in moderation... If you fall into a pit, you're so small it'd be hard to save you."
"I don't expect such a thing. I'll manage on my own, so you worry about yourself, Aron. If we sink because our bodies are heavy, wouldn't you be more suited for it than me?"
Just as Aron was about to shoot back another remark—
"Quiet. We are not here to play."
Callias put an end to their bickering.
"Lord Callias. Over there..."
At that moment, Lini, who was up in a tree, called out to Callias.
"Over there. Orcs are in that direction."
"I see."
However, Callias looked at Emily, who was near Lini.
At his questioning gaze, Emily glanced at Lini and answered.
"It's blurry, but I can see something moving. Lini is probably right."
Only then did Callias nod. Lini's eyes glanced sideways at Emily.
The subtle bond between the two made Lini frown.
"Location."
"Northeast."
"Not bad."
When Callias looked at Brans, he took something out of his backpack as if he had been waiting for it.
It was a telescope.
Callias's figure vanished in an instant and shot up into the trees.
He climbed higher than where Lini was and observed the orcs through the telescope.
"As I thought."
Orcs aren't fools.
The magical beasts that entered the forest were not the ignorantly huge ones that had tried to break the walls. They must know it too.
Moving supplies with massive magical beasts is convenient, but it's bound to attract attention.
'Earth dragons.'
They had chosen the earth dragons and the Sinking Forest.
Earth dragons were reptilian magical beasts, bipedal dragons with highly developed leg muscles, making them fast and agile.
Each of them carried a large load on their back, which would likely be the supplies destined for the orc army.
'They intended to use the earth dragons to cross the Sinking Forest.'
A novel approach.
Because they had excellent balance and hopped around well, they were unaffected by the Sinking Forest's singularity.
It required utilizing a significant number of earth dragons, but it was a sure and safe way to cross the forest.
It was a method orcs, who could command magical beasts, would likely use.
'If they're using earth dragons, the probability of enemies ambushing here is low.'
For a moment, the earth dragon meat Callias had eaten at an inn in the North crossed his mind. But he soon erased the thought, came down from the tree, and gave orders.
"Prepare."
The waiting knights took something out of their cloth pouches and began to scatter it, as if they had been waiting for Callias's command.
It was golden, like some kind of powder, and the knights scattered it carefully, as if it were gold dust.
'What on earth is this...'
Orphin scattered the powder in the appropriate locations alongside the knights, but couldn't erase his puzzlement.
It was because this powder was made by grinding up an easily found herb. It was a grass called moringa, which grew well even in the barren northern soil and was treated as a weed.
A few days ago, Callias...
After finishing a meeting with the knights, he immediately ordered them to pull out moringa and grind it into powder. At the order to pull out weeds and make them into powder, all the knights harbored doubts but did not show it outwardly.
It was also because their trust in Callias had strengthened through the war in the North.
"My lord, everything is complete."
"Good work."
Checking the locations where the moringa had been scattered once again, Callias nodded.
'This should be enough.'
The sediment accumulated in the Sinking Forest was all caught on tree roots and piled up over a long period.
And most of the trees in the forest had unique properties; while there were countless ways to describe them, there was one peculiar point.
'Most people don't know this, but...'
For some reason, if moringa powder is scattered on the trees of the Sinking Forest, they begin to rot in 5 minutes, and in 10 minutes, their fibers slowly decompose and break.
A weed that is completely harmless to humans becomes the deadliest poison to the trees of the Sinking Forest.
What would happen if moringa powder were scattered on the roots of the Sinking Forest, which already had a fragile foundation?
'It would easily collapse from even a slight shock.'
In the original setting, this was discovered by a mid-ranking named character when the North began to collapse, and it was used as a stepping stone to turn the tide of the war, but...
'It can't be helped.'
It was a simpler way to starve the orcs to death, so there was nothing wrong with using it now.
Anyway, Callias had no intention of just watching the war that would take place later.
"Now all we have to do is wait."
If they just waited quietly, no matter how much they used earth dragons, the ground would cave in with a slight shock.
Callias smiled involuntarily at the trap, reminiscent of a sinkhole.
"My lord, but will it really happen like that?"
"Don't say such unlucky things, Brans. My plan is perfect. If they deviate from the expected route, we just reveal ourselves and drive the orcs in."
For that purpose, the knights were split to both sides and lying in ambush.
There were no gaps.
"They're coming."
It was then.
Tap, tap-tap.
The footsteps of the earth dragons could be heard.
Since they were also sensitive to smell, strong-scented herbs had already been rubbed between the knights' armor and clothes.
The figures of the orcs appeared at the forefront.
They surveyed the area, then sent a signal that it was safe and approached closer.
Behind them, numerous earth dragons were carrying loads.
'Yes, come a little closer. Just a little more.'
They just needed to come a little closer.
Just a little, just a little more.
Just as they were about to reach the location where the trap was laid—
Tap.
A new presence approached.
'...That bastard.'
A man wearing a hood pulled over his head stepped in front of the earth dragons and blocked their path.
'Could it be...'
Callias's eyes narrowed.
He was wearing a hood, but brilliant blonde hair resided beneath it.
And in his hand was a spear.
"Come out. You don't think I'd be unaware you're hiding like that, do you?"
The man wearing the hood had a fairly young voice.
The voice of a young man with considerable spirit and overflowing confidence.
And it was the owner of a voice very familiar to Callias.
The Bard's Blessing spontaneously inferred the man's voice and brought back memories.
The time he spent as a monk in the Order. A friend who was close to him and chose to do all sorts of trashy deeds.
Unlike other monks, he was a fellow scion of the Four Great Noble Families along with him, but his talent was extraordinary, making him receive different treatment.
At that moment, a breeze cutting through the forest blew off the man's hood and whipped his brilliant blonde hair.
"Luteon..."
Callias, who had been hiding in the bushes, slowly rose to his feet. He then slowly drew the Predator Sword hanging at his waist.
"Callias. Long time no see."
Luteon gripped the shaft of his spear with a face where joy and hatred intersected.
Seeing his spear, Callias gripped the Predator Sword even tighter.
"Luteon the Traitor."
Luteon the Traitor.
Hearing those words, Luteon revealed a twisted smile.
"I have my reasons for needing to bring down the North. So I have a favor to ask."
Luteon winked one eye as if asking a favor from an old friend.
"Just die for me."
And immediately, his figure vanished.
Callias was momentarily flustered by his disappeared figure, but soon had no choice but to clench his teeth tightly.
Clang!!
Luteon, who had appeared in front of him at some point, had explosively thrust his spear with a dark-red blade.
He barely blocked it, but it was unavoidable that Callias's body was pushed back.
However, there was no time to correct his posture.
Luteon's thrust targeted Callias's chest once more.
Tsk.
Just as he was about to generate sword aura to block the guy's attack, he smelled a pungent odor and forcefully spun his body.
And right at that moment.
Kwaang!!
An explosion like a bomb going off shook the entire forest.
Boom! Thud! Crash!!
Callias, who emerged from the smoke, rolled on the ground and only stopped after smashing a few trees.
His whole body went numb from the faintly transmitted shock.
"Ptooey, damn it."
Spitting out blood-tinged saliva, Callias stood up immediately.
It was only to this extent because he dodged right away instead of blocking; if he had blocked the guy's spear once more, he would have sustained a major injury.
'I benefited from the cloak.'
Originally, it was an explosion that wouldn't have been strange if it burned his entire back, but the Cloak of Twilight blocked some of the heat.
If he hadn't smelled the pungency similar to gunpowder, he wouldn't have recalled it.
"Explosion Spear, Ames."
A spear evaluated to possess formidable power, counted among the top even among Spirit-rank spears.
Ames.
The owner of the Explosion Spear Ames.
Luteon von Luidren.
Also known as Luteon the Traitor.
"I didn't expect you to show up."
He knew that the Empire and Crasion were entangled, but he hadn't anticipated Luteon appearing at all.
Originally, the guy's appearance was much later after the main quest started.
'Is this also my influence?'
But now was not the time to think about such things.
Right now.
"What are you thinking so deeply about, you scoundrel of Zerban!"
Kwang!!
He had to block Luteon's spear.
"Lord Callias!!"
Thud!
Callias, who dodged Luteon's spear once more, rolled on the ground.
"Don't interfere! You guys deal with the orcs! Take their supplies!"
"Who said I'd let you do that!"
A powerful magical artifact ranked within the top three among Spirit-rank spears. Furthermore, Luteon's own skills were absolutely not to be underestimated.
A genius with innate ability in swordsmanship since his days as a monk, he defected to the Empire and obtained a powerful spear and outstanding spearmanship.
The current Luteon was tough to handle.
It was because of the Explosion Spear Ames.
Ames, with its absurd unique ability, drove the opponent to death just by clashing with their sword once.
Explosion.
How could one deal with a spear imbued with that?
It was no different from fighting a bomb full of gunpowder!
Callias rolled on the ground once more from the ensuing Explosion Spear.
Kwang!
"Callias. For a noble among nobles, you rolling on the ground. You've changed a lot, haven't you?"
"Shut up, Luteon. You acting arrogant with a spear you gained by betraying Carpe and the Order looks even more pathetic."
The situation was not good.
There were too many variables.
Luteon appearing suddenly.
And along with Luteon's appearance, memories that were not my own within Callias's body flashed by like a spinning lantern.
The passing memories with Luteon made his head throb.
'Callias. I envy you.'
Luteon in the memories. His figure rushing fiercely towards me overlapped.
'You do as you please.'
His sorrowful eyes under the moonlight.
And his current eyes were no different from a completely different person.
"Callias!!"
The red blade of the Explosion Spear Ames, rushing like a madman, targeted Callias's neck once again.
'Dangerous.'
The current Callias had no way to deal with Luteon.
They possessed magical artifacts of the same Spirit-rank, but it was a half-baked sword versus a top-tier spear.
He couldn't be a match.
If he had Bernard's Lightning Clear Sword, it might be different, but it was impossible to deal with him with the Predator Sword Roas.
'But there is one.'
He couldn't fight him evenly.
But Callias had already created a variable that the guy didn't know about yet.
It was then.
"Where are you looking, Callias!"
Soon, a red light flashed, and just as another explosion was about to occur.
Callias dodged the Explosion Spear by a hand's span and tightly gripped the spear shaft with his hand, pulling the guy towards himself.
"You idiot!"
But Luteon's spear attempted to cause another explosion.
At this rate, Callias's hand would be caught in the explosion and blown off.
"Did you think I couldn't cause an explosion if you got close?"
Luteon's mouth twisted, and the Explosion Spear radiated a red light once more. Just as the explosion was about to happen again.
Rumble!
A massive tremor made Luteon's eyes widen like candle flames.
"What...!"
The ground he was stepping on began to collapse.
Luteon was greatly startled, and Callias pulled up the corners of his mouth with deep malice.
"Callias, you!!"
As the ground collapsed, they were swept up and fell down along with the earth dragons and orcs.
Luteon tried to flee, but Callias, who was holding onto the spear shaft while bleeding, absolutely refused to let go.
"Are you trying to die together!!"
At Luteon's shout, Callias answered with blood dripping from his mouth.
"My win, Luteon."
And with that, the figures of Callias and Luteon disappeared into the abyss-like depths.