Chapter 191: Completion

Chapter 191: Completion

Two months had passed since Noah first arrived on Karthis. During that time, the southern supply corridor had changed from one of the most vulnerable parts of Darius Kane’s invasion into a stable route that rarely required Noah’s direct attention.

Noah had not stopped attending his academy classes during the mission. Most days, he joined lectures through the academy’s virtual platforms from whatever command room or temporary office he happened to be using, then returned to military reports once the class ended.

The arrangement had been inconvenient at first.

There had been mornings when Noah listened to an instructor explain planetary development while a field commander waited outside with an urgent report. On other days, he completed academy work while convoys moved through sections of the corridor where Tigran sabotage groups were still active.

Over time, the interruptions became less frequent.

The goblin officers learned which problems required Noah’s attention and which could be handled locally. Noah still reviewed important decisions, opened portals whenever additional troops or equipment needed to move between Eldrath and Karthis, and followed the larger changes in the campaign, but he no longer needed to involve himself in every attack along the road.

That morning, Noah sat in the same administrative building at the main supply base where he had spent much of the mission’s later stages. A virtual lecture had ended less than half an hour earlier, and the academy interface had already disappeared from the table in front of him.

In its place lay the newest map of the invasion.

Noah studied it quietly.

The territory marked under Darius’s control now covered most of the region that had once been contested. The Tigran frontline had been pushed far beyond the area it occupied when Noah first arrived, and only a limited number of strong defensive positions remained between the ogres and the final objectives of their campaign.

The invasion was almost complete.

A goblin officer standing across from Noah waited while he finished examining the map. The officer had served along the corridor for most of the two-month deployment, and the uniform he wore showed the dust and wear of repeated travel between command positions.

Noah looked up.

"How many serious attacks did we have this week?"

The officer inclined his head before answering.

"Three, my Lord. None of them reached a major convoy."

"And the previous week?"

"Five, my Lord. Two damaged vehicles and one small cargo loss."

Noah leaned back slightly.

"That is a long way from where we started."

"Yes, my Lord."

The officer placed a short report on the table.

"Most hostile groups no longer remain near the road for long. Some observe the checkpoints and leave without attacking. Others strike isolated positions quickly and withdraw before the response forces can close around them."

Noah picked up the report.

"What about the larger sabotage groups?"

"Rare now, my Lord. The fighting has moved too far from much of the corridor, and the Tigrans seem to have fewer forces available for deep attacks."

Noah read the report once and set it aside.

The change had been gradual enough that he had not noticed a single moment when Eldrath’s large deployment stopped being necessary. Instead, the goblins had simply begun spending more time waiting than fighting.

Machine-gun teams that once shifted constantly between threatened sections now went days without firing.

RPG crews remained stationed near important positions, but most had not been called into action recently.

Airships still patrolled selected parts of the route, though their flights were shorter and less frequent because there were fewer pursuit operations.

The road was becoming quiet.

Noah looked toward the officer again.

"How many units have already returned to Eldrath?"

"A little under a quarter of the extra deployment, my Lord. Mostly reserve response groups, several airship crews, and heavy-weapon teams from the safest sections."

"And the corridor has remained stable?"

"Yes. We have not seen any increase in successful attacks since the reductions began."

Noah nodded.

He had started reducing the deployment carefully over the previous days. There was no reason to keep every soldier, vehicle, airship, and heavy weapon on Karthis when the threat that justified them had already weakened.

At the same time, he had refused to withdraw too quickly.

Enough goblins remained to protect the convoys and major logistics positions until the mission was formally ended. Noah had no intention of ruining two months of work because the final days happened to be quiet.

The officer glanced toward the map.

"My Lord, the forward distribution area reported another convoy arrival this morning. No losses."

"How many consecutive deliveries is that?"

"Twenty-six without a major interruption."

Noah smiled faintly.

"That would have sounded impossible during the first week."

The officer allowed himself a small smile as well.

"Yes, my Lord."

Noah looked over the map once more.

At the beginning of the mission, Tigran sabotage had forced Darius to spread ogres across hundreds of kilometers of road. Convoys required heavy escorts, warehouses needed guards, checkpoints consumed manpower, and every successful ambush weakened the front indirectly.

Now the situation had reversed.

Most of those ogres had returned to combat formations weeks earlier.

Supplies reached the forward distribution area consistently.

Food, medicine, replacement armor, weapons, tools, and engineering materials arrived often enough that Darius’s frontline commanders no longer organized their attacks around shortages.

The corridor had done what Noah intended it to do.

A knock came from the door.

The goblin officer turned toward it while another soldier entered and bowed deeply.

"My Lord, Darius Kane has arrived."

Noah glanced toward the clock.

"He is early."

"Yes, my Lord. He said he would wait if necessary."

"No need. Bring him in."

The soldier bowed again and left.

The officer gathered the reports from the table.

"Should I remain, my Lord?"

"No. Continue the withdrawal schedule we already approved. Do not reduce any additional positions until I speak with Darius."

"As you command."

The officer bowed and departed through the side door.

Darius entered a few minutes later.

He looked much the same as he had during their earlier meetings, though the dust on his coat was heavier and the fatigue around his eyes was easier to see. The campaign had gone well, but two months of continuous warfare had clearly taken its toll even on the commanders who spent most of their time behind the immediate fighting.

Noah stood.

"You look worse than the last time you visited."

Darius gave him a tired smile.

"I was going to say the same thing about you."

"I attended a three-hour lecture this morning."

Darius stopped.

"You have been attending classes this entire time?"

"Of course."

"While managing this?"

"Yes."

Darius stared at him for a moment before shaking his head.

"I forget you are still a student."

"So do I sometimes."

That earned a short laugh from Darius.

He pulled out the chair opposite Noah and sat down without waiting for an invitation. Noah did the same.

Darius looked at the map between them.

"You already know how far the front has moved."

"I have the latest report."

"Then you know why I am here."

"I have a reasonable guess."

Darius leaned back.

"The invasion is nearly finished."

Noah nodded.

"That is what the map suggests."

"The Tigrans still hold several important positions, and I am not declaring victory before my ogres actually take them. But the campaign has reached the point where your full deployment is no longer necessary."

Noah looked at him.

"I agree."

Darius seemed mildly surprised by how quickly Noah answered.

"That easy?"

"I started withdrawing excess units several days ago." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Darius laughed quietly.

"Of course you did."

"The attacks have been decreasing for weeks. Keeping the entire force here would only waste manpower."

"That is exactly what I came to discuss."

Darius leaned forward and placed both forearms on the table.

"My frontline is far enough ahead now that most Tigran groups cannot reach the corridor easily. The few that still try are smaller, and my own rear forces can handle what remains."

"You are ready to take the route back."

"Yes."

Noah nodded once.

"Then we can begin the formal transfer today."

Darius looked toward the map.

"I expected more argument."

"Why would I argue?"

"You fought hard enough to take control of the corridor in the first place."

"Because your arrangement was failing at the time."

Darius raised an eyebrow.

"That is direct."

"It was also true."

Darius smiled.

"I know."

Noah rested one hand near the edge of the map.

"The situation is different now. Your invasion is almost finished, the Tigrans are farther away, and the road does not require the same density of checkpoints and response units."

"So we agree."

"We do."

For a moment, neither spoke.

Darius looked over the map again, then exhaled slowly.

"I should say this before everything starts moving."

Noah waited.

Darius tapped the corridor with one finger.

"When you first proposed taking responsibility for this entire route, I thought you were overestimating what the goblins could do."

"You made that clear too."

"I was not subtle."

"No."

Darius smiled briefly before continuing.

"I expected fewer convoy losses. That was the most I hoped for."

"And instead?"

"Instead, I got my rear troops back."

His expression became more serious.

"That changed the campaign."

Noah said nothing.

Darius continued.

"Once the goblins took over the checkpoints, warehouses, convoy escorts, and road security, I could move ogres back to the frontline. Then the supplies started arriving more consistently, so the same frontline could attack again without waiting days for the rear to catch up."

Noah nodded.

"That was the intention."

"I know."

Darius pointed toward the northern markings.

"My field commanders stopped asking whether the food would arrive. They stopped keeping extra soldiers behind just in case the convoy route failed. They started planning the next attack before the current one was finished."

"That is why the frontline accelerated."

"Yes."

Darius looked directly at him.

"You did what you came here to do."

Noah accepted the statement without trying to dismiss it.

"Eldrath secured the corridor."

"And the result was larger than the corridor."

"That part belonged to your ogres."

"They could not have pushed at the same pace without what happened behind them."

Noah gave a small nod.

"That is fair."

Darius laughed.

"That may be the closest I will get to hearing you take credit."

"I am not trying to avoid credit."

"You are very good at making it sound that way."

Noah smiled.

"Then I will say it clearly. Eldrath performed well."

"That is better."

Darius stood and looked once more at the map.

"We can start the transfer from the safest southern sections and work north."

"That matches what I had in mind."

"My units can take over convoy security and the main logistics sites. We do not need the same number of checkpoints anymore."

"No."

"And your people remain until replacements arrive."

"Yes. I am not leaving empty positions between transfers."

Darius nodded.

"Agreed."

The handover began before midday.

Noah did not personally travel to every checkpoint. There was no need to repeat the first transfer in reverse when the officers on both sides already understood the process.

Instead, sections reported in as ogre replacements arrived.

Goblin troops handed over warehouses, transport yards, bridge positions, and remaining convoy-security duties. Once each location confirmed the replacement force was present, Noah approved the withdrawal of the Eldrathi unit assigned there.

Then he opened the portal.

The first returning formations crossed into Eldrath with their vehicles and equipment.

Trucks rolled through carrying radios, machine guns, ammunition, medical supplies, and packed field equipment. Airship crews returned separately after their aircraft were prepared for transit, while infantry units waited in organized groups for their turn.

Noah remained near the portal as the withdrawal continued.

Some of the goblins had spent almost the entire two months on Karthis.

They passed Noah with straight backs and disciplined steps, and every officer who recognized him bowed before crossing.

"My Lord."

Noah acknowledged them with a nod.

"You have done well. Return home."

The officer’s expression tightened with pride.

"Yes, my Lord."

More units followed.

The deployment that had once spread across more than four hundred kilometers steadily disappeared from Karthis.

By late afternoon, only the final northern sections remained under Eldrathi responsibility.

Darius returned after checking the progress of his own replacements.

"My officers say the transfers are going smoothly."

"So do mine."

"How much longer?"

"Not long."

Darius looked toward the portal where another column of goblin vehicles was disappearing into Eldrath.

"It is strange seeing them leave."

"You wanted them gone two months ago."

"I wanted control of my logistics back."

"You have it."

"That is not what I meant."

Noah looked at him.

Darius smiled faintly.

"I got used to having them here."

"That sounds dangerous."

"Do not make me regret saying it."

Noah laughed quietly.

A goblin officer approached from the northern side of the base and bowed.

"My Lord, the final logistics position has been transferred. Darius Kane’s forces have assumed responsibility for the remaining convoy route."

Noah looked toward Darius.

Darius nodded.

"My people confirmed it as well."

The officer continued.

"The last Eldrathi unit is ready to withdraw."

Noah gave the order.

"Send them through."

"As you command, my Lord."

The officer bowed and left.

Noah watched as the final soldiers approached the portal.

There was no ceremony.

There did not need to be one.

The last group crossed with its vehicles and equipment, leaving only Noah and a small command staff behind.

A moment later, the mission interface appeared before Noah.

The message was simple.

Mission Complete: Secure the Southern Karthis Supply Corridor.

Base Reward: 600 Mission Points.

Noah looked at the notification without opening the detailed evaluation.

The final bonus calculation could wait.

The important part was already clear.

The mission was over.

Two months after arriving on Karthis, Eldrath had finished the task it had been given.

Darius glanced toward the fading interface.

"So that makes it official."

"Yes."

"You are leaving now?"

"There is nothing left for me to manage here."

Darius nodded slowly.

"Fair enough."

He extended a hand.

Noah looked at it, then shook it.

Darius smiled.

"If I ever end up with another supply road full of Tigrans, I know who to call."

Noah released his hand.

"Try not to create another one."

"I will make no promises."

Noah turned toward the portal.

Behind him, Darius’s ogres had already resumed control of the main supply base and the remaining corridor positions. Far beyond them, the invasion continued toward its final objectives.

Noah stepped through the portal after the last members of his command staff.

The Karthis mission had lasted two months.

It was finished.