Chapter 111
Thud, thud, thud, thud…
A tremor rumbled from the east.
Over the soaring ridges of the Eastern Mountain Range.
Through countless valleys nestled between peaks.
Past rugged hills and nameless boulders beneath the ridgeline.
The unfamiliar, heavy tremor traveled along the ground, passing hunting grounds, mines, logging camps, roads, and vegetable plots at the foot of the mountains.
Finally, it reached the hooves, traveled up through the stirrups and saddle, beating against waists and chests alike.
“They’ve appeared.”
“Hmmm.”
Sir Valeradi Blanc, captain of the White Lancer Cavalry, nodded at his lieutenant’s words.
His green eyes turned toward the Eastern Mountain Range.
The towering mountains lying east of the Frontera Estate.
From there, the unfamiliar, weighty tremor was coming.
“Are they really mastodons?”
Suddenly, Sir Blanc recalled the previous evening.
Lloyd, the eldest son of Baron Arcos Frontera, had come to see him and said this.
‘Tomorrow or the day after, mastodons will invade our estate.’
So he asked,
How did he know that?
Lloyd simply smiled mysteriously and replied, ‘Isn’t it obvious?’
‘Obvious, he says. How can anyone predict something like that so easily?’
He didn’t understand.
As far as he knew, Lloyd hadn’t even sent any scouts to the Eastern Mountain Range.
He’d just supervised construction here for the past few days.
Yet he acted as if he had eyes with wings.
Honestly, it was hard to trust his prediction.
Even this morning, he’d felt the same.
As he ate breakfast and washed his face, he even chuckled to himself.
In his heart, he thought, ‘See? Nothing’s happening after all.’
But now?
He realized his doubts had been wrong.
By noon, as if on cue, a low, heavy tremor could be felt from the distant eastern mountains.
A unique tremor made by a massive herd moving all at once.
The roar of trees and rocks being smashed aside.
It was clearly a herd of mastodons, large herbivorous monsters of the wilderness.
‘Judging by the force of the tremor, they’ll show themselves any moment now.’
Creatures four meters tall, looking like a cross between a rhinoceros and an elephant.
Hundreds of them would soon be charging in.
‘That’s how mastodon herds move.’
Crack!
Sir Blanc gripped his lance tightly.
He calmly envisioned the upcoming battle.
‘The mastodon herd will come straight from the east, charging toward the barony. With our current strength, the most effective countermeasure is a head-on charge—force against force.’
He would lead the White Lancer Cavalry from the front.
He’d charge directly at the approaching mastodons.
He’d avoid their tusks and horns, driving his lance into their foreleg joints.
‘Stopping the lead mastodon is crucial. Once it falls and blocks the path, the whole herd’s formation will stall and become disordered. Their charge will naturally come to a halt.’
From there, he’d circle the immobilized herd, attacking with mounted archery and javelins.
Peeling them away layer by layer, like an onion.
Tightening the noose from the outside in.
They would annihilate the entire herd that way.
‘It’s possible. As long as the Frontera Estate’s infantry supports properly and maintains formation, we can do it.’
Based on his envisioned battle, Sir Blanc predicted the outcome.
‘The mastodon herd will be wiped out. As for our White Lancer Cavalry… at least twenty, maybe up to thirty casualties.’
Out of a total of 500, losing twenty to thirty men.
It would be a considerable loss.
But Sir Blanc kept his mouth shut.
‘It doesn’t matter. If that’s the result after doing our best, I’m satisfied. That is our honor.’
He was on the battlefield by order of the Queen.
It was their duty to protect the land from a monster horde.
Death in such a battle did not frighten him.
“Prepare to charge. Wait here until the signal, then execute a full assault.”
“Yes!”
The 500-strong White Lancer Cavalry, stationed in the center of the estate, responded vigorously.
They all raised their gleaming white lances to the sky in unison.
Then, suddenly,
A messenger came running breathlessly from the baron’s manor.
He delivered an unexpected order.
“Huff, huff, hah… Orders from the baron! The entire White Lancer Cavalry is to leave their current position and move to the southern border of the Marez reclamation site. Equip both lances and shovels and wait there.”
“What?”
Sir Blanc’s beard twitched.
“What’s the meaning of this? Wait in the south? Then the charge?”
“He said under no circumstances are we to execute a frontal charge.”
“Then how…?”
“Do you see the white rock on the eastern ridge?”
“I see it.”
“Lloyd Frontera is there.”
“Lloyd Frontera? What’s he doing there…?”
“He’ll be commanding the operation from there. You are to hold your designated position in the south, and when a blue flag is raised on that rock, slowly advance north.”
“Slowly? Against a mastodon herd? Not a full-speed charge?”
“Yes. Advance while kicking up as much dust as possible and make lots of noise by banging your lances and shovels together.”
“What in the world…”
Sir Blanc’s expression hardened.
It was a senseless order.
They weren’t stopping the mastodon herd head-on, nor were they to charge. Instead, they were told to advance slowly, creating dust and noise instead of a battle cry.
“Are you sure you received the order correctly?”
“Yes, sir. Absolutely. Oh, and Lloyd instructed me to deliver a personal message to you.”
“A personal message? What is it?”
“He said, ‘The six days of digging will finally see the light today.’”
“…”
Sir Blanc fell silent.
He was suddenly reminded of the digging they’d done for the past six days.
“…Understood. I will follow the order.”
“Thank you, sir. Then I’ll take my leave.”
The messenger bowed and left.
Sir Blanc led the White Lancer Cavalry south as ordered, scratching his head in doubt the whole way.
‘Will this plan really work?’
A memory surfaced.
Was it seven nights ago?
Lloyd had raised his shovel.
A fierce surge burst from it.
A storm of mana shot skyward, soaring dozens of meters high.
He’d never seen such a sight—not even from the aura of a Swordmaster.
Ever since losing that bet, he had eagerly taken up the shovel at Lloyd’s request.
He had his men do the same.
They’d all followed Lloyd’s instructions.
‘And for six days… we just dug.’
That’s all they did.
Dig where told.
Shovel where told.
Move dirt. Pile it up. Pack it down.
At first, he couldn’t guess what they were building.
After three days, the outline of a structure appeared.
‘It was a massive bas-relief to be installed on the ground.’
One hundred fifty meters wide.
One hundred meters tall.
A perfectly level foundation on a 15-degree slope, higher to the west.
They kept digging.
Moved volcanic ash atop the dirt base. Covered and packed it.
Scraped or thickened spots as Lloyd instructed.
Sometimes poured water to harden it.
Little by little, a huge shape took form.
It was the image of a gigantic carnivorous monster of the wilds—‘Megalania.’
‘So I confronted him about it.’
He said it was wrong.
How was this supposed to be a defensive measure?
He’d raised his concerns openly.
Lloyd’s response?
‘Stacking the same amount of dirt as a wall wouldn’t be as effective as this for defense. This time, I mean it… Or so he said.’
Of course, he couldn’t believe it.
How could a bas-relief etched in the ground stop a mastodon herd?
‘And now he’s telling us not to charge? What on earth is he thinking?’
Sir Blanc was troubled as they moved south.
The timing for a cavalry charge is not random.
Especially when the enemy is not human, but monsters.
Yet Lloyd was throwing away such a valuable opportunity, for reasons unknown.
‘Surely he doesn’t believe in some superstition…’
Sir Blanc bit his lip.
His anxious gaze turned to the white rock where Lloyd stood.
‘Will this method really work?’
♣
“Work? Of course it will.”
Lloyd grinned faintly.
He was certain that things would go just as he’d predicted.
Just as he’d accurately anticipated that the next monsters to invade the barony would be mastodons.
“You were completely sure about all this?”
“Yeah.”
Lloyd nodded.
Javier asked, “How were you so sure?”
“It’s simple. Because I’m smart.”
“……”
“Kidding. I did some research.”
“Research?”
“Yeah. This.”
Tap, tap.
Lloyd picked up an old book and brushed off the dust.
Javier read the leather cover: ‘Eastern Wilderness Monster Guide.’
“I found it in the manor’s study. It has a full list of eastern wilderness monsters and their habits. So I analyzed and used it as reference.”
“That’s what led to today’s plan?”
“Yeah.”
Lloyd nodded again.
The truth?
Not exactly.
To be honest, it was a lie.
He did refer to the book, but that wasn’t the only one.
‘Actually, there’s another very useful book: the novel Iron-Blooded Knight. Heh.’
The monster guide he displayed—
Truthfully, there was no way he could have come up with the plan using that alone.
But he had a reason for claiming he’d used it.
‘He needs to appear as if he has a logical, smart basis.’
Naturally.
A genius without evidence.
A know-it-all.
It would be a problem to seem that way.
If he acted like he knew everything here without any research or scouting, playing the part of a military mastermind who could predict the future—
He might get praised at first.
But later, it would change.
‘They’d become suspicious. People here aren’t fools.’
So Lloyd believed it was important to show at least a minimal basis that people here could understand.
‘It’s more comfortable to live without suspicion.’
A territory without suspicion.
A life full of trust.
With that as his motto, Lloyd skillfully wagged his tongue.
“I told you, right? This whole thing is due to the monster domino effect. So after the Locusts, the next monsters to attack here are obvious. The ones that swarm, are mobile, are low on the food chain, and tough enough to cross the eastern mountains.”
“Mastodons, then.”
“Exactly.”
That was as far as he’d referenced the ‘Eastern Wilderness Monster Guide.’
The rest of the preparation and strategy?
‘Of course, I referred to Iron-Blooded Knight.’
He wasn’t a genius.
Nor was he a true military mastermind.
He just had slightly more information than the people here.
‘Anyway, there was a brief mention of orc hunting customs in Iron-Blooded Knight that helped a lot.’
He remembered a passage from the novel.
When hunting mastodons, the orcs used a massive stone slab engraved with a Megalania’s image. The dull and cautious mastodons, seeing the Megalania, would suspect it might be real and, just in case, flee in the opposite direction.
They’d run first and make judgments later.
The orcs took advantage of that habit.
They’d set traps in the direction the mastodons fled.
“So the trap starts now. Watch closely.”
Lloyd nodded in one direction with his chin.
At that moment, the tremor grew louder and closer.
Hundreds of trees shook and fell.
Finally, the mastodon herd appeared.
* * *
“Quoooooo!”
Crash! Thud, thud, thud, thud—
Four meters tall.
Herbivorous monsters with rhino horns, elephant tusks, and bison heads—mastodons.
Hundreds of them charged down the eastern foothills.
They trampled hunting grounds and logging camps, then tore through vegetable fields.
The lead mastodon at the front, snorting with excitement, thought,
‘It’s nice to finally find a flat place after crossing the mountains.’
And unlike the wilderness, there were lush green meadows everywhere, which was even better.
He figured that if they feasted and played here for a while, they’d have nothing to worry about for the next mating season.
The lead mastodon glared at the barony with bloodshot eyes.
And then he saw it.
“…Quooook?”
In the very heart of human territory.
There was the image of its worst predator.
The terrifying beast that preyed on them—Megalania.
A mouth stretched like a crocodile.
Jutting, uneven teeth.
Scales like armor, impenetrable by horns.
Talons specialized for ripping open the bellies of prey.
The Megalania standing there was at least three times larger than any he’d ever seen.
And it was crouched, ready to pounce.
It was the Megalania’s distinctive, deadly hunting stance!
“Quoo, quook!”
The lead mastodon panicked.
Why was a Megalania in the middle of human land?
He couldn’t believe it.
But he had no choice but to believe.
The Megalania image, crafted from earth and volcanic ash, was so vivid and realistic. It looked like it could leap at him any moment and snap him in half.
He was terrified.
Maybe it was fake, but…
Just in case, the thought scared him.
He didn’t want to die.
In the end, the lead mastodon did what his kind always did: choose safety first.
“Quook! Ook!”
Crash!
The herd stopped their charge toward the west, where the Megalania loomed.
The entire herd, following from behind, did the same.
The mastodons lost their way and fell into confusion.
At that moment—
“Now! Raise the blue flag!”
Lloyd shouted.
Javier lifted the large banner.
The blue flag fluttering above the white rock was visible even from the southern edge of the Marez reclamation site, where Sir Blanc waited.
“…”
He never thought the plan would actually work.
‘To think that simple ground relief could really make the mastodons stop…’
He couldn’t believe it—even though he’d helped dig it himself.
‘Could it be because of the 15-degree slope facing east?’
Maybe it was the foundation’s incline, or the mastodons’ view as they descended the mountains.
Maybe those two angles made the Megalania image look even more lifelike to the mastodons.
That thought flashed through his mind.
But now wasn’t the time to be lost in thought.
Sir Blanc remembered the orders and shouted,
“Advance at a trot! Raise your shovels and lances!”
Clip-clop! Clip-clop!
The 500-strong White Lancer Cavalry moved out.
They advanced at a steady trot, raising dust as ordered.
They didn’t forget to bang their lances and shovels together in both hands.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Making a racket as they moved slowly north.
The mastodons responded in an unexpected way.
“Quooook!”
The lead mastodon bellowed.
He turned north and began to run away.
‘Is the threat working?’
It really was.
Sir Blanc didn’t realize it, but if he’d charged at full speed like he’d first intended, the mastodon herd would have reacted very differently. They’d have felt threatened and charged back even more savagely.
But now?
Moving slowly, creating dust and noise, they pressured the mastodons just enough.
It worked perfectly.
The terrifying image of the Megalania in the distance.
The dust and noise advancing steadily from the south.
It made the herbivorous mastodons flee.
‘Wait a minute. The direction they’re fleeing… there’s a huge trench running north-south. Could it be?’
Sir Blanc finally understood.
The mastodons were fleeing toward the area he and his men had dug like mad for six days.
Of course, they hadn’t dug with any particular plan in mind.
They’d just done as Lloyd instructed.
Dig where told.
Shovel where told.
They dug out the foundation for the Megalania relief.
But the result?
A wide, deep trench-like channel had formed, almost like a canal or moat.
‘And at both ends… it connects almost directly to the river flowing beside the Marez reclamation site… That means—could it be?’
A sudden realization flashed through his mind.
Puzzle pieces he’d ignored clicked into place.
Step by step, the true nature of the trap appeared.
Sir Blanc shivered.
He turned to look at the white rock at the eastern mountain’s base.
There, as if in answer to his revelation, a huge white flag fluttered.
At the same time, from the south, a colossal water balloon—or rather, a summoned beast—came rolling toward the mastodon herd.
“Hamang!”
It was the beginning of the water attack.