Chapter 290: Survive the Destruction! (3)

Translator: Pai_

An entire division had entered, but they failed.

From Iron's point of view, it was an incomprehensible result.

Could it be that the gates he cleared were particularly easy?

But for that to be the case, Iron had cleared a fair number of gates.

“Could it be?”

A thought flashed through Iron's mind.

“How much time was left on the failed gate?”

-...53 days.

At Iron’s question, Faulden immediately answered.

-Could it be...?

“Yes. The remaining time seems to indicate the level of the gate.”

-I’ll check right away.

Faulden immediately cut off the communication and moved.

In the meantime, Iron handled another urgent gate right away.

After finishing, Faulden, who had been waiting, spoke urgently.

-According to the two family heads’ direct confirmation, the Supreme Commander was correct.

“Why didn’t we know?”

-The level of the monsters coming out of the gates was similar.

At Faulden's words, Iron frowned.

“They used their heads.”

They deliberately sent out weaker ones to match the level.

If they had carelessly focused only on blocking them, the worst situation could have occurred.

“Still, it’s fortunate we realized it quickly.”

-That’s right. It’s a relief that their sacrifice wasn’t in vain.

At Faulden’s words, Iron nodded.

A division-level force had been sacrificed, but because of them, they had learned an important fact.

“First, check the gate with the most remaining time.”

-Yes!

Iron ordered him to report on the place assumed to be the strongest gate, and then began clearing out the surrounding monsters.

Even though the gate was destroyed, the monsters that had already emerged did not disappear, so he cleaned up all the corrupted monsters that were disturbing the Saintrea area.

While the thunderbird and Iron went all out slaughtering monsters, Faulden gave orders to his subordinates to check the countless gates scattered across the continent one by one.

After quite some time, Faulden finally made contact.

-It’s in the northwestern area of the desert region. The period is 666 days.

At Faulden’s report, Iron fell silent for a moment.

“...Did you say 666 days?”

-Yes. Of the gates currently visible on the map, the one with the most remaining days is 666 days.

Iron asked again with a disbelieving expression.

“The division-level force that was wiped out… was that one 53 days?”

-...Yes.

Iron and Faulden remained silent for a while.

Even the gate that wiped out a division-level force didn’t exceed 100 days, yet this one had a whole 666 days.

“Distribute this information to all commands immediately.”

-Understood!

“One more thing. Based on the division-level force that was sacrificed, assess the risk level of all gates. From now on, we’ll reorganize our operations using that as the standard.”

-Yes!

Faulden hurriedly gave orders in response to Iron’s command.

As he listened, Iron waited briefly before issuing another order.

“Summon all key commanders. I’m returning immediately.”

-Yes!

The military, which had been relaxed due to the seemingly low-level gates, began moving busily once again.

The only saving grace was that the capital displayed a timer for each gate.

Thanks to that, they could quickly judge which gates were dangerous and which weren’t.

“You’ve arrived!”

“The commanders?”

“They’re all assembled.”

In response to Iron’s order, all the commanders were waiting in the conference room via vision spheres.

Those waiting via vision spheres from each command stood up simultaneously and saluted Iron.

“Sorry for making you wait when you’re all busy. We don’t have time, so let’s start the meeting right away.”

With those words, Iron began the meeting using the materials Faulden had prepared.

Due to the urgency, the meeting ended in less than an hour.

The conclusions were three main points.

1. Do not touch any gate with more than 100 days remaining.

2. First, use all available forces to deal with the gates with shorter remaining times.

3. Clear all gates except the major ones within 100 days.

4. Each command should create a dedicated gate-clearing team.

Since Iron had provided the overall direction, it was now just a matter of applying it according to each command’s situation.

“The most important thing is that we must prevent a god from resurrecting through any gate.”

At Iron’s words, the commanders solemnly nodded.

The moment a god resurrects, things become a huge headache.

Knowing this, all commands would begin working on clearing the gates with the least amount of time remaining first.

“Any gate with more than 50 days left must be cleared with corps-level forces. If you're uneasy, it’s fine to deploy Master Levels.”

-Yes!

All the commanders responded to Iron's order.

“Good. Let’s first take care of all the minor things and then think about how to handle the high-risk gates. That’s all.”

With Iron’s final words, the meeting ended.

Since the highest-level military meeting was now over, the rest was up to the subordinates.

“Faulden.”

“Yes.”

“If anything important comes up like this again, call me immediately.”

“Are you going to clear the gates yourself?”

At Faulden’s question, Iron nodded.

There was no point in sitting idle at central command.

Now that time was of the essence, they had to clear as many gates as possible, as quickly as possible.

While handling all gates except the important ones, they needed to use the remaining time to plan how to deal with the major ones.

To do that, Iron decided to actively utilize himself, the two family heads, and the Master Levels.

“From now on, we’re initiating management of all gates on the continent.”

On Iron’s behalf, Faulden entered emergency mode to manage all the gates across the continent.

He looked at the map floating above the plaza to assess the status of the gates and informed Master Level powerhouses about the most urgent ones.

“A support request has come in from the West.”

“Contact Central Command and have them dispatch support.”

“Yes!”

“Two divisions in the southwest have had parts of their lines collapse.”

“Detach troops from the Capital Defense Force and send them.”

“Yes!”

Acting as the control tower in place of the Supreme Commander, Faulden pulled troops from the Central Army and Capital Defense Force to dispatch support to various regions while keeping his eyes on the situation board.

There were many monsters pouring out of the gates, but their level wasn’t high.

Thanks to that, the Empire’s front lines were narrowly holding without collapsing.

“We’re barely hanging on thanks to their misjudgment.”

Muttering this, Faulden thought of the Corrupted Beings.

Since they were focusing all their efforts on resurrecting a god inside the gates, the external chaos was lessened.

Of course, because of that, the process of clearing the gates became extremely tight, but for Faulden, this was preferable.

There were quite a few gates with dangerously low remaining time until clear, but at least from a commander’s standpoint, it allowed for a predictable scenario.

However, the Corrupted Beings were not ones to be underestimated.

“A support request has come in urgently from the North!”

“The North?”

At the subordinate’s report, Faulden tilted his head in confusion.

It was unexpected for a support request to come from the North, which possessed one of the most elite forces in the Empire.

Thanks to their cooperation with the Ancient Species, the North had built the most stable military power.

“What’s the reason?”

“They say the level of monsters suddenly rising from the gates has increased.”

At the report, Faulden furrowed his brow.

“Check the other regions immediately.”

“Yes!”

Faulden hastily issued the order, then poured mana into the communication orb directly connected to Iron.

-What’s going on?

“A support request has come in from the North.”

-The North?

Iron's voice, like Faulden’s, was filled with surprise.

“All the gates in the North are suddenly releasing high-level monsters.”

At Faulden’s report, Iron was silent for a moment.

-Did they realize we’ve figured it out?

“That seems to be the case.”

-What about the other regions?

“We’re checking now.”

After Faulden’s reply, Iron paused briefly before giving an order.

-We’ll need to change the plan.

“That’s what it looks like.”

-Reroute dangerous areas to a stronghold defense approach and start the assault from the high-risk gates using the gate attack teams as the core.

“Understood.”

Following Iron’s order, they began executing the contingency plan prepared in advance.

When the order was issued to focus on attacking the gates with the gate-specialized assault units that included Master Levels and to switch dangerous areas to stronghold defense, the entire Empire immediately launched into action.

-Beeeeep~ Phase 2 operation initiated. All forces in the North are to assemble at the strongholds! I repeat, all forces in the North are...

As the order to assemble at the strongholds was delivered across the northern regions, numerous forces began to gather at the designated points.

“How far has Phase 2 progressed?”

“Over 80 percent has been completed. Fortunately, casualties are minimal.”

At the words of Jaiden Wicks, the Northern Commander, the adjutant beside him quickly handed over a portable status board and explained.

“Good. We're moving on to the next phase.”

“I’ll assemble everyone.”

The adjutant said that while saluting, then quickly left.

The Phantom Soldiers, the North’s elite special forces trained for this very moment, were summoned.

Together with the Phantom Knights, the North’s top knight order, they formed the gate assault unit and assembled.

“Is everyone here?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. No matter what happens while I’m gone, maintain the line.”

At Jaiden Wicks’s words, the adjutant silently saluted.

Looking at him with a reliable expression, Jaiden Wicks nodded and moved out.

The gate assault unit of the North, personally led by the Master, began its movement.

While the gate assault unit was on the move, the Northern Army poured all its strength into defending against the monsters pouring out around the strongholds.

Kwaang! Kwaang!

“Don’t retreat! We absolutely must hold this position!”

At one of the northern strongholds, a commander shouted as he personally cut down a corrupted monster.

The defensive line collapsed quickly under the sudden attack of massive monsters, but fortunately, they had safely retreated to the fortress, and they were now holding out from there.

To support them, reinforcements were gathered and dispatched from central command.

The problem was that it wasn’t just the Northern Army facing a crisis.

“Reports from the South say the level of monsters is rapidly increasing.”

“We’ve received contact from the desert region. The monsters have suddenly...”

Reports toward Faulden began pouring in from all directions.

The only relief was that the Eastern Army was swiftly subduing the situation with the help of the Merfolk, and the Western Army was entering a period of stability thanks to Iron’s support.

“This is insane. It seems we don’t have any more forces to dispatch.”

“That’s correct! Central Command says that if they send any more troops, they won’t be able to guarantee safety in this region.”

“Ha... Tell them to hold out for now! We’ll draft new troops if we have to and send reinforcements...”

As Faulden was sweating and struggling to handle the flood of support requests, a report came in.

“Contact from the 8th Northern Corps. The frontline is stabilizing.”

“What? Suddenly? Wasn’t that area the most urgent?”

At Faulden’s words, the communication officer smiled and replied.

“They say a Divine Beast appeared and wiped them out.”

“What?”

As Faulden dumbly asked again, the communication officer replied with an excited expression.

“The Supreme Commander’s owl Divine Beast swept away the corrupted monsters. Thanks to that, they bought time to reorganize their lines and are now stabilizing.”

“Then... the reinforcements we were going to send there, send them to the South instead...”

Just as Faulden said that, the communication officer in charge of the South approached.

“Contact from the 17th Southern Corps. Their line hasn’t collapsed and they’re stabilizing as well.”

“That side too? Don’t tell me a Divine Beast appeared there as well?”

“I’m not sure... but whirlwinds suddenly appeared and are sweeping away the monsters!”

At the communication officer’s words, Faulden immediately thought of Hræsvelgr, one of Iron’s Divine Beasts.

Just then, a report came in from the desert region as well.

The Special Defense Forces, who had reported an emergency earlier, were now saying that their front line was stabilizing.

“Is it the Phoenix over there?”

“That seems to be the case.”

At the communication officer’s answer, Faulden let out a hollow laugh.

“He may be my hyung... but he’s a real monster.”

Muttering to himself, Faulden silently gave thanks to Iron’s monstrous Divine Beasts.

***

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