Future Knight

Chapter 76

Terrifying Recruits

The 300,000-strong army that set out from the Eastern Kingdom to subdue the Green Elves hurried to prepare their camp as evening approached.

The vast plains where this immense allied force stayed were filled with soldiers in various uniforms, and from a distance, the sight resembled a swarm of ants.

Large cauldrons for cooking dinner began to boil everywhere.

The night sky, which had grown dark, was filled with the smoke from the campfires cooking meals for the 300,000-strong army.

Exhausted from the all-day forced march, the soldiers removed their thick armor and lay down in the grass to cool off.

They lined up in long queues to receive their dinner.

Despite being soldiers heading to war, they somehow looked rather peaceful.

While they were having their belated dinner, a trumpet sounded from somewhere.

*Toot-toooooooo!*

*Toot-tooooooo!*

“What’s that sound?”

“It’s not our kingdom’s trumpet, so just ignore it and eat.”

The soldiers, lacking tension, since they still had about fifteen more days to travel to reach the battlefield, paid no attention.

But they had no idea.

The war had already begun.

When the ground started to tremble, the soldiers began to panic.

“W-What’s happening?”

The soldiers who were eating quickly grabbed their discarded armor and weapons. However, the monsters that burst through the ground didn’t even give them time to flee.

*Roooaaaar!*

The Black Centipedes that had been lying in ambush underground sprang up one after another, and the screams of soldiers echoed from all directions.

“Help me!”

“Aaaah!”

The once peaceful allied camp turned into pandemonium in an instant.

The veteran commander of the allied forces, Daist, ran out of the command tent while eating.

“What’s going on? Gasp! What is that?”

He couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before his eyes.

Huge centipedes, unseen and unheard of before, were making terrible noises and massacring the soldiers.

There were nearly fifty of them by rough estimation.

Whenever the huge centipedes swarmed over the densely packed infantry, dozens to hundreds of soldiers died horrifically.

“Stay calm! Deploy the Gigantes immediately!”

“Deploy the allied Gigantes, immediately!”

As Daist ordered the urgent deployment of the Gigantes, fifty of Terbia’s latest Gigantes, the Oberon, were the first to break through the space and charge towards the monsters.

Following them, Gigantes from each allied nation began to appear on the battlefield one by one.

Maris’s Pluto, Baronsia’s Glakow, and the Silverline Republic’s Marconi joined the Oberon in charging towards the monsters.

However, by the time the hundred giant Gigantes arrived, tens of thousands had already been killed.

The monsters quickly disappeared underground without engaging in a decisive battle with the Gigantes.

“No! This can’t be!”

Daist widened his eyes at the monsters’ tactical movements.

These creatures were clearly moving under someone’s command.

“To think someone can control such terrifying monsters at will…”

He had heard via communication that the Green Elves and Dark Elves had joined forces. But he hadn’t anticipated the nightmarish nights that would follow.

The peaceful nights of rest were gone from that day onwards.

The allied army in the camp had to enter emergency combat mode at the slightest tremor underground.

It became common for comrades who went out for a toilet break at night to never return, forcing soldiers to relieve themselves in front of their comrades.

Many were killed in their sleep by Dark Elf assassins, and hundreds of soldiers died en masse from poisoning after drinking contaminated water, as the Dark Elves’ terror tactics were relentless.

The situation didn’t improve during the day.

Soldiers, weary from marching, often died frothing at the mouth after stepping on numerous poisoned needles scattered along the way.

Green Elves hiding in the forest frequently showered them with poisoned arrows before fleeing.

The 300,000-strong army from the Eastern Kingdom was slowly being drained by the relentless guerrilla warfare waged by the Green Elves and Dark Elves, night and day.

* * *

Fifteen days after joining the Kalina Trading Company, Kang Chan arrived at the Helion Kingdom and looked at the horrors of war.

The area was littered with countless corpses.

“I’ve returned to the battlefield…”

To him, the ghastly scenes of war were all too familiar.

Although the locations and backgrounds of the battles differed, the essence of the battlefield remained unchanged.

A place where life and death intersect.

A place where one can feel life and death on their skin. That place is the battlefield.

As Kang Chan silently gazed at the battlefield, Mew Kalina approached him and spoke.

“Kang Chan, from here on, it’s the Helion Kingdom.”

“It seems so.”

“Where will you go now?”

“As I mentioned, I will head to the battlefield.”

“I have connections with some high-ranking officials in the command center. Shall I introduce you to them?”

For her, who supplied weapons to the military, such a task was very easy.

She thought that if he joined the command center, he would grow into an extremely powerful figure with super special treatment.

Given that he was one of the fewer than ten Sword Masters on the entire continent, such treatment was only natural.

However, Kang Chan flatly refused her kindness.

“No, thank you.”

“Pardon?”

“I didn’t come here seeking a good position.”

“But your skills….”

As Mew Kalina tried to persuade him, Kang Chan cut her off without mercy.

“I didn’t come here seeking honor or power.”

“Then what is it?”

“I seek only one thing….”

Suddenly, a suffocating silence filled the carriage.

A tremendous killing intent emanated from Kang Chan’s body.

Zikyon and Erika, knowing well what Kang Chan wanted, pretended not to notice by looking away.

“Revenge.”

“….”

Mew Kalina felt goosebumps all over her body at Kang Chan’s words, filled with such murderous intent.

Instinctively, she knew.

He didn’t desire a prestigious commander’s position.

What he wanted was their flesh conveyed through the sword and their blood wetting his blade.

She was curious about what had turned him into a bloodthirsty wolf, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask and kept her mouth shut.

The carriage quietly arrived at its destination, and the time for parting came, as always.

“Will we meet again?”

Despite Mew Kalina’s earnest question, Kang Chan shook his head and turned away.

“Probably not. Goodbye.”

Mew Kalina couldn’t help but cry at his cold departure.

But to him, she was just a passing acquaintance, so she couldn’t even resent him.

She could only fervently hope to meet him again someday.

“Hey! What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to volunteer.”

“Volunteer?”

Zikyon was shocked at Kang Chan’s intention to enlist as an infantryman, rejecting a comfortable direct route to the military command.

“You’re going to volunteer as an infantryman?”

“Yes.”

“Why would you choose to be an infantryman when you can take an easier path? With your skills, you could at least lead a knightly order, if not become a commander.”

“In such a position, I can’t kill as many of them as I want.”

In the military, the higher one rose, the more they were involved in tactical operations or ended up observing infantry battles from behind.

Kang Chan chose to be an infantryman, fighting on the front lines entangled with the enemy.

Only that way could he cut down as many Green Elves as possible with his own hands.

“Why are you so stubborn? Don’t you know that joining a strong knightly order would let you fight stronger enemies?”

Of course, Kang Chan knew this. But what he needed immediately was the blood of the Green Elves to wet his blade.

And he also had a bit of a plan.

“I have my own thoughts.”

“No, I oppose it!”

Zikyon flatly opposed.

For an Ancient Dragon like herself to join human infantry, it was unthinkable.

With her abilities, she should at least be on equal footing with the king or lead a knightly order to maintain her dignity.

“Hey, kids! You say something too! Do you want to become ground troops as well?”

“As long as Kang Chan is okay with it, I’m fine with anywhere.”

“Me too, of course.”

“You idiots!”

As Zikyon threatened Erika and Loki with a terrifying killing intent, Kang Chan placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke.

“I won’t force you, G. Zikyon. If you don’t want to, you can go back. I don’t want to burden my friend.”

G. Zikyon frowned as she watched Kang Chan put an odd emphasis on the word “friend.”

Realizing that she couldn’t break Kang Chan’s stubborn determination, G. Zikyon reluctantly surrendered.

“Fine! Fine! I’ll do it, alright?”

It was the moment when the first infantry dragon was born.

“Thank you. You are indeed my true friend.”

When Kang Chan slyly draped his arm around G. Zikyon’s shoulder, she pushed him away.

“Get lost! Don’t touch me!”

“Why are you acting like this when you like it?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Just watch your back on the battlefield.”

As G. Zikyon wickedly smiled and tapped Kang Chan on the back of the head, he laughed brightly for the first time in a while and put her in a headlock.

“What did you say? Try me if you dare!”

As Kang Chan and G. Zikyon played around, Erika and Loki laughed, holding their sides. In that mood, they headed to the recruitment barracks for the infantry.

While their cheerful enlistment was good, Kang Chan and his companions’ expressions soon turned cold.

It was because of the attitude of the interviewer.

“Three of you are of unknown origin, one is an elf, and you all want to be in the same unit?”

“That’s right.”

“Sorry, but unless you are a noble or commoner with a verified background, it’s impossible to enlist as regular infantry. However…”

“However?”

“You can enlist as conscripts…”

“Conscripts?”

Conscripts referred to the lowest tier of infantry, forcibly recruited from serfs.

“What? Conscripts?”

G. Zikyon’s scream echoed inside the barracks.

It was infuriating enough for a dragon to become regular infantry, but now conscripts?

G. Zikyon was on the verge of foaming at the mouth and collapsing.

Conscripts were the lowest rank in the military, with no further down to go.

G. Zikyon, enraged by the interviewer’s suggestion to become a conscript, was about to complain to Kang Chan, but the interviewer spoke first.

“Also, it’s impossible for all of you to be assigned to the same unit.”

“What?”

G. Zikyon’s face twisted even more at the news that they couldn’t be together.

“Why not?”

“Because women are excluded from combat infantry formations. Only men can enlist as combat soldiers. Women must apply for medical, cooking, or supply management roles.”