Chapter 105 - EPISODE 105 – DEPARTURE FOR THE FRONT (1) (1/2)

Terms used in this chapter:

Pitched battle – a battle in which both sides choose the fighting location and time.

The corrupted wild god’s appearance while Karaval was going on brought about a huge shock to the eastern tribes.

Although the number of witnesses were only a few people from the east, its impact was extraordinary because most of the witnesses were leaders of a tribe.

“We have to attack the west as soon as possible.”

When even Gentle Snow Breeze, who had a gentle personality among the wild gods, strongly insisted on attacking, the opinions of the eastern tribes easily became one.

“To begin with, this fight is not a defensive fight. We must strike the west and drive out the demon followers from the wild lands.”

And if it was a war that would happen anyway, it was better to fight in the west than in the east.

“After all, fights in the wild lands are all about pitched battles. So we don’t have to use our land as a battlefield.”

Naturally, there were supply problems, and it was common for the defending side to be in an advantageous position than the attacking side because they had the geographical advantage even if the pitched battle is held in a place without walls.

But the east had one more reason to attack the west.

“We must wake up the Golden Dragon King from his deep sleep by blowing up the contaminated dragon veins.”

It was an order directly entrusted by the Golden Dragon King to Jude and Cordelia, the guardians of the wild lands.

No one in the east doubted the words of the two since the wild gods, Gentle Snow Breeze and Violent Avalanche, affirmed that the two were guardians.

“We gather the powers of the east to strike the west.”

They made a decision.

The tribal chieftains who gathered to watch the Karaval hurriedly returned to their tribal lands, and full-scale preparations for the military expedition began.

And three days later.

Four days after the Karaval, the Great Storm tribe and Blade Song tribe gathered again in the land of Gentle Snow Breeze.

***

Meetings in the wild lands basically proceeded in the form of sitting in a circle on the floor as the participants exchanged opinions.

Therefore, the meeting hall organized by Gentle Snow Breeze was prepared in the form of everyone sitting in a circle with a large map placed on the center, and one special arrangement.

‘Four seats of honor.’

There were four large chairs behind the people seated in a circle.

It was none other than the seats of the wild gods.

“It’s been a long time.”

“It’s been a long time, brother.”

Gentle Snow Breeze warmly greeted Great Storm who sat in the seat of honor in the south. She was seated in the east, and Violent Avalanche was seated in the west.

And on the seat of honor in the north.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since the four of us gathered in one place.”

A handsome young man with a short black beard said with a bitter smile.

The wild god Blade Song.

He was in human form, but his large body and intense eyes seemed to reveal that he was a wolf.

“You still like colorful things.”

“Because I’m splendid.”

Great Storm frowned at the reply of Blade Song who chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as he showed off the colored tattoos on his naked upper body.

“Okay, sit down first. We have to begin our meeting. The children can’t talk if we’re talking amongst ourselves.”

“Oooh… Violent Avalanche. How did you become so cute? No, were you originally cute?”

“Yes, yes. I was originally cute, so sit down first.”

“Haha, as expected of a mature and experienced one.”

When his provocation did not work on Violent Avalanche, Blade Song chuckled again and sat at the seat of honor in the north.

“Let’s begin now.”

Violent Avalanche gestured with his eyes and spoke, and Gentle Snow Breezed lightly clapped her hands, prompting those who were waiting outside to enter the meeting hall.

“Red Gale of the Great Storm tribe greets the wild gods.”

“Nine Blades of the Blade Song tribe greets the wild gods.”

“Fine Snow of the Gentle Snow Breeze tribe greets the wild gods.”

As the chieftains courteously greeted them in turns and sat on their assigned places, the leading figures of each tribe also sat down.

And in the meantime, Jude and Cordelia also joined them.

‘Jude, Jude. That b*stard keeps looking at us.’

‘You do know that you shouldn’t be looking at him too, right?’

‘I know, but I want to look at him.’

‘…If you don’t look at him, I’ll do something amazing.’

‘You’ll be doing something amazing anyway.’

‘We’re on the same page, right?’

‘Uh…perhaps?’

After having a conversation with their eyes, Jude and Cordelia looked at the front again.

The gaze that Cordelia was talking about.

Jude could also feel it. Blade Song who sat on the opposite side was openly staring at Cordelia and him.

‘He must have found us interesting.’

Because the Golden Dragon King granted the status of guardians not to someone from the wild lands, but to a boy and girl from the Sälen Kingdom, which had been in conflict with the wild lands for many years.

Unlike the Great Storm tribe which was located in the south and had little direct confrontation with the Sälen Kingdom, the Blade Song tribe was always at the forefront of the fight against the kingdom.

Since their basic customs and way of life were different, it would had been stranger if Blade Song gazed at them nicely.

“Then, let’s begin the meeting.”

Clear Snow declared the opening of the meeting, and they began talking about the fundamental stuff.

“The allied forces will be gathered first in the east seven days from now. I’m thinking of departing for the front eight days later.”

If all the troops in the east were gathered, the numbers would exceed 50,000 and even reach 100,000, but that was if a total mobilization order was issued.

If they considered the troops for defense, the troops to maintain the supply line, and the movement speed of the tribes located in geographically distant locations, the number of troops that could gather at the first gathering was between 20,000 to 30,000.

“The 1st unit will advance to the west first, followed by the 2nd unit to support them.”

The basic strategy itself had few difficulties.

Because the existence of the great mountain range, which separated the east and west sides, limited the routes where they could be attacked in the first place.

‘The problem then, is the corrupted wild gods.’

Basically, the wild gods were supposed to stay in their sanctuary, but the chances of the Devil’s Eye leaving the corrupted wild gods with nothing to do was close to zero.

They would be actively deployed in the battlefield.

“We will stop the wild gods of the west.”

As Blade Song spoke with a frown, Great Storm also frowned and nodded his head.

Although it was uncomfortable for them to leave their sanctuaries, it was also a painful reality for them to fight their fellow wild gods.

‘Those are the basic points of the plan.’

The large army from the east would advance to the west, and the wild gods would join the main army and fight against the wild gods of the west.

Jude and Cordelia would have normally been assigned roles, but Jude had a bit of a different idea.

“Cordelia and I are going to move separately.”

Unlike the Great Storm tribe whom they had already exchanged their ideas, the Blade Song tribe cocked their heads and found it odd.

They questioned why the two would move separately and what they would do in the fight between two large armies.

“Explain.”

Cordelia frowned when Blade Song ordered them to talk as if he was their superior, but Jude got up from his seat and stepped forward before politely bowing as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“As you can see, there’s a large mountain range that’s lined up like a wall between the east and west.”

Therefore, the eastern army was planning to march their troops into the southern plains between two mountains.

“Instead of joining the main army, Cordelia and I will attempt to strike the defenseless tribes in the northwest beyond the Sky Roof mountain range.”

The west would also be watching the movement of the east, so they would also be dispatching not only troops, but also the wild gods to the southern plains.

Thus, their rear would naturally be empty, so Jude was saying that they would cross the mountain range and attack their rear.

“The goal of Cordelia and I is to blow up the contaminated dragon veins, so we do not need to confront the tribes in the rear. We just need to infiltrate and make the dragon vein runaway.”

The enemies would naturally strengthen their defenses if one dragon vein exploded, so it would be difficult to repeat, but if they could really infiltrate the rear beyond the Sky Roof mountain range, they could at least blow up two dragon veins.