Chapter 206: The Signal to Strike Back

Isamu stepped out of the cockpit, organizing his thoughts for the report as he headed towards Liliene.

The main points of the report were already clear, and since he was the only one present at the scene, he could easily make up the details if he wanted. However, being too careless might raise Yaliskov’s suspicions, which wouldn’t be ideal.

After meeting up with Liliene, they conferred briefly, then gave Yaliskov a heads-up before heading to Igor’s tent.

Since Liliene would handle the main report, Isamu was there to fill in any details if questions came up.

—

“General Igor, it’s Yaliskov. We have a report and a message from the magic giant golems out on the field.”

Yaliskov called out from outside the tent, and an arrogant voice replied from within.

“A report? Isn’t it too soon? Ah, right—the pilot of the ‘imitation’ is here, isn’t it? Very well, come in.”

“Excuse us.”

With permission granted, Isamu entered the tent with Yaliskov.

Igor sat deep in a chair near the center of the spacious tent, casually sprawled as though he owned the place. While he wasn’t without his armor—as befitting someone with his field experience—he had removed his boots and greaves, resting his feet on an ottoman, and leaned back comfortably.

Yaliskov’s face briefly showed a hint of disapproval at Igor’s posture, but he quickly masked it and gestured to Liliene to begin her report.

“First, regarding the group we thought was a caravan: it appears the carriages were actually disguised, belonging to a noble family from a neighboring country.”

“What?” 

Both Igor and Yaliskov reacted in unison.

“We successfully captured the carriages and their contents, which included food supplies, tents, and various armor and weaponry.”

Igor’s expression softened slightly upon hearing they had seized the cargo, but Liliene’s next words quickly darkened his mood again.

“However, we were unable to capture the knights acting as guards and seek your guidance on whether to pursue them.”

“They got away!? And there were multiple magic giant golems there! How did this happen!?” 

Igor pounded his fist on the table beside him in frustration.

“The guards were highly skilled in magic and created an escape route using wall spells. Moreover, the disguised carriages were only recognized after the battle ended, so securing the guards wasn’t prioritized.”

“Damn it!” 

Igor clicked his tongue bitterly at Liliene’s explanation.

The initial target was loot, so allowing the guards to escape—especially ones who weren’t worth much in ransom—wasn’t a serious blunder from the perspective of those seizing the goods.

“It’s likely they’re knights, but can all of them truly be skilled in magic? Wait… do you know which noble house they belong to?”

“They’re from the House of Felker, sir.”

“Felker! The territory of the Red Sage… The House of Felker is said to have nearly all magic knights. No wonder they managed to escape when given a single chance…”

Upon hearing the name, Yaliskov made a bitter expression, while Igor raised his voice at the mention.

“Felker’s house? Aren’t they the guardians of the border? Send out pursuers immediately! They may still be lurking ahead. Get the cavalry moving!”

“Please, General! Splitting our forces here is unwise. We should focus on the city assault!”

“Silence! What if they break through the southern line? If the Balsham House learns of this, they’ll attack with full force before we even finish fortifying!”

“Even so, we have enough time to capture the capital with the main force! If we move now and somehow fail to take Meraja, we’ll be in even bigger trouble—”

“Enough! If we hadn’t followed your advice to ignore the caravan, we wouldn’t even have known this! Are you willing to take responsibility if something goes wrong because of your negligence?”

“Guh… But still!”

“That’s it! I don’t care if you’re a strategist or whatever, but war doesn’t go according to some plan on a page! You lead the cavalry in pursuit—this is an order!”

Yaliskov’s protests went unheeded, and the directive was once again forced on him.

“In any case, the siege relies on the magic giant golems, and the reserve cavalry will arrive soon. Whether or not we have these cavalrymen won’t affect the city assault! Now, get going!”

“Understood…” 

Yaliskov, having come up through the ranks, seemed displeased with being lectured on strategy by Igor, who had achieved little in real battle. However, Igor wasn’t entirely wrong. 

If Igor had followed Yaliskov’s initial advice, it might have resulted in an even greater mess. Resigned, Yaliskov took his cavalry and set off in pursuit.

“All right, everyone, move out as soon as we’re ready!”

Now slightly calmer, Igor issued orders to the remaining magic giant golem units after Yaliskov left.

With the plan settled, Isamu returned to the cockpit and activated the magic giant golem. Using hand signals, he informed the first generation, who had been waiting, to pursue immediately, and that the cavalry would soon follow.

Isamu himself began to move northward along the highway, accompanied by Drexler and Marcela’s units.

Incidentally, the first-generation golem that had been immobilized by Samuel’s Chain Lightning attack had its pilot unharmed. The defensive magic stone’s power had been depleted, but after swapping it with a spare, the golem resumed operation. Hearing this, Isamu was relieved to know that even under intense strain, the pilots’ lives were relatively secure.

Thirty minutes after Yaliskov departed with the pursuit unit, the fully prepared troops began their march, leaving a few men as communication links with the rear.

Not wanting to wait any longer for the cavalry, they decided to attack the city before the situation became any more volatile. Given their numbers, a swift assault could easily neutralize the city’s defenses, as demonstrated during the capture of Kapolfi and in previous drills. The cavalry was originally scheduled to enter and secure the city after breaching its defenses, so the strategy remained largely unchanged.

The legion of giants progressed along the slightly cleared path, where the caravan-attack magic golems and pursuing cavalry had passed before, and reached the highway after forty minutes.

Under the orange glow of the setting sun, Igor, atop his horse, called out the order to advance.

“From here, we’ll head north and take down Meraja in one swift strike!”

“Yeah!!”

“With this many magic giant golems, there’s nothing to fear! Go wild! Let’s move out!”

“Yeah!!”

As Igor swung down his raised sword, the giants began to charge forward.

On the way, three of the second-generation units, who had been hiding in the forest rather than joining the main pursuit, merged with the group, and they all continued north.

About an hour from sighting Meraja, the right side of the road changed from forest to a steep cliff. From this area, rugged mountains stretched eastward toward the Kingdom of Stahlen.

After going along the cliffside for a while, the lead pilot of the first-generation units spotted several fallen trees on the left side ahead. Since this forest was known to house large monsters, it seemed likely to be their doing.

Fortunately, the trees didn’t block the road, so the lead unit signaled caution to the followers and continued down the path.

But just as they were passing by the fallen trees…

**Boom!!**

“What the!?”

With a loud noise, the ground beneath the lead unit of the first generation suddenly collapsed.

“Whoa?!”

One by one, the second row of units also lost footing as the ground beneath them gave way in a chain reaction. Three of the first-generation units were caught in the collapse and sank up to their waists in the ground.

“What’s going on?!”

The units in the third row tried to stop, but unable to fully halt, they crashed into the immobilized units ahead and tumbled over them.

Several more units collided in a chain reaction, finally bringing the whole army to a halt.

“What are you doing!?”

Igor, who had been riding up from the rear on horseback, shouted angrily as he moved to the front.

“What’s happening here!?”

“Sir! The ground beneath the lead units suddenly collapsed, causing several units to get stuck!”

“Collapsed?! How could this happen on a main road—? Hmm?”

Arriving at the scene, yelling in frustration, Igor noticed something strange.

The hole covered about 80% of the road width and was more than five meters deep. The shape was oddly clean for a naturally formed pit. Moreover, the hole was filled with mud, which was unnatural. If it had turned to mud due to groundwater or heavy rain, it should have been visible on the ground.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Upon closer inspection, pieces of wood and metal were partially visible in the mud.

“Sir! Over here!”

One of the guards investigating the area handed Igor a small plank-like object that had been caught on the edge of the hole.

“What is this? Hmm? This is a magic circle!? Why would there be a magic circle here…?”

“Sir! It seems we’ve fallen into a trap of sorts. There are traces that the hole was covered with wooden and metal panels.”

“A trap? It does look man-made, but why here, right in the middle of the road…? No, more importantly, what’s the damage?”

“The lead unit and the one right behind it suffered significant damage from the fall and the subsequent collisions. The two units that collided with them are buried in mud up to their waists and immobilized. The others have minor armor damage but are otherwise fine.”

“Damn it! Four units out of commission? What’s going on here…?”

“…What are your orders?”

“Meraja is right in front of us. We’ll press on with the remaining units! Nightfall is near. There’s unlikely to be any traffic on this road. Leave the recovery of the units to the following cavalry and Yaliskov!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Clear away those obstructing trees and move forward, quickly!”

“Yes, sir! Hey, you guys, clear the trees with a few units!”

“Roger!”

Following Igor’s orders, four first-generation units began to clear the trees blocking the road.

“Pretty big… Hey, help me with this side. One unit can’t balance it.”

“Got it!”

Though possible to lift, the length of the trees required two units to carry the topmost tree together.

Then…

**Boom!!**

With another loud explosion, the tree they were lifting suddenly blew up.

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