Chapter 187

Imperial Capital's South Gate.

Standing beside a carriage laden with goods, I looked back at the enormous city.

"Time to say bye-bye to this city."

After inhabiting this body, my world had been confined to Crossroad.

Monsters, dungeons, and villages were all there was. But coming here changed that perception.

This world is vast.

So vast that I couldn't fathom it.

And the monster frontlines, that's where this whole world was protected.

'Shall I return to the days of strategizing?'

A brief outing had been enjoyable, but indeed, I shouldn't forget my true calling.

Thinking of the subordinates waiting for me in the southernmost part of the continent, I climbed onto the carriage.

Ten soldiers assigned as my escorts, two knights, and Elize also mounted their horses and carriages.

"Alright, let's depar—"

I was about to say 'depart', but then it happened.

Clatter! Clatter!

From inside the Imperial Capital's gate, I saw a woman frantically galloping on a horse. I was slightly startled at first, then soon smiled.

It was Serenade.

"Huff! Huff...!"

Serenade, who had stopped beside the carriage, bent over, panting. Sweat beads were forming at the tip of her delicate chin. How hurriedly she must have come.

I opened the carriage door, stepped out, and looked at Serenade, bowing slightly.

"Serenade. Have you come to say goodbye?"

"Huff, huff... Your Highness."

Catching her breath, Serenade muttered,

"I'm your business partner, aren't I?"

It was an unexpected remark, but I quickly acknowledged it.

"And a dance partner too."

"I was your fiancée."

"We were comrades who fought together at this party."

With an invigorated expression, Serenade smiled.

"I won't give up on you, Your Highness."

Her smile was lovely, so I just looked into her face without speaking.

"I was always on edge, fearing being abandoned by Your Highness. But, yes. I've already been abandoned, so there's nothing to worry about anymore. Whatever I do from now on, I'll only grow closer to you."

Serenade took a step closer to me. Her upward silver gaze didn't waver.

"Even if you push me away again and again, I will keep approaching you, Your Highness. And I will become so amazing that you'll have no choice but to look at me."

"..."

"If Your Highness were to go to the end of this world, I would follow you to the end of the world. I'll follow you forever, harboring this black-hearted devotion in my chest."

Her audacious shout was endearing, and I grinned broadly.

Having shouted so proudly, Serenade's face turned bright red as her words came to an end, and she bowed her head.

"I... just wanted to tell you that..."

Covering my mouth, chuckling, I took Serenade's hand and lightly kissed her hand.

Startled, Serenade's shoulders jumped, and I gave her a smile.

"I'll wait. At the end of the world."

"..."

"See you again, Serenade."

After squeezing her slender hand once more, I turned and climbed onto the carriage.

'...Holy moly.'

How did such cheesy actions and words automatically spring forth? Was it a habit ingrained in this body of Ash?

The carriage had set off. Serenade stood modestly at the southern gate of the Imperial Capital, continuously waving her hand.

I waved back through the window.

We were destined to meet again. There was much to be done with Silver Winter's Merchant Guild in the future.

The road quickly grew distant. When Serenade was out of sight, Elize, who had been driving the horse right next to my carriage, muttered,

"But weren't you two breaking up?"

"It's just a fresh start."

"Seems like something a playboy would say when dumping someone..."

"That's not true. This Prince is sincere."

Elize let out a soft sigh.

"I just wish for Miss Serenade to be happy."

"Me too."

Truly. I wished for her happiness.

And so, I set out to protect the world once again.

***

"It will take about three weeks by carriage to reach Crossroad."

A few hours into our journey, our party took a brief rest at the first station.

The knight guarding me informed me of the general schedule. I clicked my tongue.

"That's incredibly far."

"The roads are not well maintained as you head south. Until the mid-continent, you can travel like we are now, changing horses at stations. But once we enter the Margrave's territory, we won't have such luxuries."

So, our current party was moving at quite a fast pace.

We needed to travel as quickly as possible where the roads were good and stations were prepared.

'It's been over ten days since we left Crossroad. And an additional three weeks from this point?'

That meant leaving the front lines for more than a month.

I believed Lucas could handle it, and there were support troops led by Reina.

The frontline operations would likely go smoothly, but...

'I still feel uneasy...'

After a long time, I opened the system window and looked at the information for the next stage enemy.

My party members had gathered the information themselves during their autonomous exploration.

[Enemy Information - STAGE 7]

- Lv.32 Giant Salamander : 10 units

- Lv.24 Salamander: 410 units

- Starting in: 10 days

The next stage was a Salamander legion.

Fire-breathing lizards.

They couldn't be taken down easily with our kill-zone strategy as they could burn wooden fences, but compared to the recent battles with gargoyles, vampires, and wyverns, they were much more manageable.

'Ten days from now.'

It was confirmed that the defense would take place without me.

I let out a heavy sigh.

Could our kids handle it?

***

Ten days later.

Southern Front, Crossroad. Atop the ramparts.

"..."

Lucas swallowed hard, watching the flames ripple across the field beyond the walls.

Thump- Thump- Thump-

The monsters attacking this time were a Salamander legion.

Among them, the boss monsters, Giant Salamanders, each as big as a large house.

The massive beasts, moving their bulky legs, approached the center of the field. The Giant Salamanders lowered themselves and shot fiery balls from the three holes in their backs.

Boom! Fwoosh!

They were like enormous living cannons.

And there were ten of them. The barrage of fireballs they launched simultaneously fell upon the walls.

The direct attack threatened to set the walls ablaze completely, but fortunately, there were means of defense on this side as well.

"Heugh!"

Support troops dispatched from the Imperial Capital, a five-member party of magic officers.

Reina Windwell, the leader, conjured a massive tornado, and the other party members assisted her.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The fireballs, blocked by the giant tornado, dispersed in mid-air.

Above their heads, fireballs and wind collided, scattering flames in all directions. The infantrymen screamed in terror.

Reina Windwell, who kept summoning the tornado, grew frustrated.

"Look here, Deputy Commander! How long do we have to keep blocking like this? Our magic power isn't infinite, you know!"

"..."

Lucas said nothing, his eyes fixed on the giant salamanders.

While defending this place, nearly all the monsters had engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

Even if there were creatures attacking from a distance, they were all within their range. It had been possible to counter with their firepower.

But the giant salamanders had a much longer range.

From beyond the reach of the cannons on the walls, they had been bombarding them with one-sided fireball attacks.

There were only three means of attacking them from the fortress walls.

Bang!

First was Damien's sniping.

Damien fired two shots from his magic rifle, [Black Queen], and knocked down two giant salamanders.

Since Ash had instructed him to fire only three shots before leaving, he saved the last one and continued sniping with other weapons. But the giant salamanders were tougher than he had thought.

With the other magic guns, they wouldn't go down easily.

Sssssss!

Second was Junior's magic.

The magic attributes that Junior could handle were three – lightning, wind, and water.

Among them, she fired water magic, which opposed fire.

Intense streams of water repeatedly struck the giant salamander, and it couldn't endure long, letting out a heavy scream as it fell.

That made three giant salamanders they had brought down.

"Haah, haah! Kuhluh, kuhluh!"

But.

Attacking a distant target with long-range magic was, of course, strenuous on the body. Junior coughed violently.

"..."

Reina Windwell looked at her with displeasure.

The last, third means was Reina herself. However, Reina was in charge of defense during this battle, blocking the enemy's fireballs.

It wasn't just the giant salamanders spewing fire.

Regular salamanders also approached, continuously spraying fire. Although the regular soldiers were eliminating them as soon as they appeared, the attacks didn't stop.

If they deployed Reina in the attack, the walls would become a sea of flames.

In the end, the only viable means of attack were two. Damien was running out of bullets for his magic gun, and Junior's condition was at rock bottom.

"...There's no choice."

Grinding his teeth, Lucas pressed his helmet onto his head.

"I'll go out and take care of the remaining five giant salamanders myself. Evangeline!"

"I've been waiting, sir!"

Evangeline grinned, gripping her spear and shield. She was wearing her sturdy golem armor.

"You mean to go out there, just the two of you, Deputy Commander? Are you in your right mind?"

Reina asked, astonished.

The area outside the castle walls was a sea of flames. Not only that, but more than a hundred regular salamanders remained.

Would two knights really dash out into such a place? Were they in their right minds?

"Do you have any better alternatives, Lady Reina?"

Lucas, coldly staring at Reina with his frosty eyes, unsheathed the large sword he had recently received from Ash - the Karma Eater.

"So our means of attack have diminished, but do you plan to continue being bombarded like this?"

"..."

"If the shells don't reach us, we must counterattack with our bodies. Is there any other way?"

Reina clicked her tongue, considering it typical of a muscle-brained knight.

But Lucas's words had some merit.

They couldn't just sit there forever, merely fending off fireballs.

'But to think that only the two of them would go out...'

Watching the two knights descending to the first floor and mounting their horses, Reina shook her head disapprovingly.

Whether it was a step of confidence or a youngster's recklessness would soon be revealed.

Lucas and Evangeline, each mounted on their horses, exchanged glances while waiting for the castle gate to open. Evangeline playfully grinned.

"It would be nice to have a few more stalwart melee warrior comrades."

"Indeed. Just three more would be perfect."

With five, they could form a party.

If they could form a melee party consisting of strong warriors, their utility would greatly increase in the future.

Suddenly, the memories of the fallen warriors from the past vampire defense battle flashed before their eyes.

If only a few more had survived then...

"..."

With his eyes tightly shut, Lucas expelled his distracting thoughts and shouted up to the castle walls.

"Damien! I entrust you with our cover!"

"Leave it to me!"

"Lilly! Place all the artifacts you can on us!"

"Activating them now!"

"Saintess Margarita! I request shield magic!"

"May the blessings of light...!"

"And, Junior!"

He sharply pointed at Junior, who was wiping the blood from her mouth.

"Rest!"

"..."

Junior's expression soured. Seeing this, Reina couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Kugugung-

The castle gate opened, and

"Charge! Let's go!"

"Yahoo-! It's a salamander hunt-!"

Lucas and Evangeline raced out of the castle gate like arrows.

In response, hundreds of monsters simultaneously spat flames at the two knights.