Future Knight

Chapter 98

At the same time, the Dark Elves, who had already initiated their operation, were busily committing acts of terror within the allied forces’ formation.

Ring ring ring!

“Enemies!!”

“Everyone, get up! Open your eyes! Jackson!”

As the detection magic rang out loudly, hundreds of soldiers who had been lying in bed without even taking off their armor immediately woke up and went into emergency alert mode.

However, despite the loud alarm, no enemies were visible.

After several instances of this, the soldiers, now thoroughly exhausted, barely showed any signs of alertness when the alarm went off.

It was understandable, given that they had been fighting all day long, so there was no need to mention how tired they were.

However, the malicious Dark Elves had not allowed them to sleep peacefully since the first day.

It became a common sight to have ten soldiers standing guard in one spot.

This was because it was common for soldiers who went on guard duty to return as headless corpses.

Of course, this also meant a significant reduction in the soldiers’ sleep time.

“Fire! The food warehouse is on fire!”

When a fire broke out in the food warehouse, the soldiers hurriedly carried water buckets. Although no one needed to be told who was behind it, everyone already knew.

“How did they sneak in when we were guarding so tightly?”

“Damn bastards!”

Fortunately, the fire was discovered early and extinguished before it could spread widely, but there was no room for complacency.

In a more distant barracks, a terrifying act of terror occurred when a giant hornet hive, whose sting was said to be instantly fatal, flew into the barracks, killing 30 people and putting 10 into a coma.

Moreover, the hornet hive terror occurred simultaneously across the vast allied camp, forcing the soldiers to stay awake in extreme fear.

Their one and only wish was to sleep with their legs stretched out.

The terror from the Dark Elves not only threatened ordinary soldiers but also made the Sword Masters feel unsafe.

Although it was almost impossible to assassinate those who had reached the realm of superhumans, the Dark Elves loitered around them, agitating their sensitive nerves.

They were truly audacious assassins.

Their black hands did not stop at soldiers and Sword Masters but even reached the highly classified security documents containing operation details and troop deployment plans.

Fortunately, due to the tight security, they had no chance to steal any confidential documents, but they never gave up.

—

The command center’s situation room was in chaos.

“The 8th Regiment’s food warehouse is on fire.”

“Commander! A monstrous enemy has appeared in the 12th Regiment’s barracks, and they are requesting the deployment of the Gigantes.”

“Enemy Gigantes sighted in the Materia army camp!”

“Commander, there is a communication from your wife!”

Communications through the crystal ball were overflowing like a midsummer flood.

Because of this, the communication wizards had no time to rest, and the wizards receiving the situation reports were busy marking them on the huge situation board.

The expression on Duke Sachsen’s face showed no leisure as he watched the damage reports.

“Commander, your wife is asking to speak with you immediately…”

“Tell her I’m in the middle of an operation meeting!!”

“Ah, yes!”

When Duke Sachsen snapped, the wizard, startled, quickly returned to his position, and Duke Sachsen watched this with a worried look.

It was because his situation now was exactly the same as his own two weeks ago.

“You are too sharp, Supreme Commander.”

“Haa… I’m really about to lose my mind, Sir Daist.”

“Didn’t you already anticipate that it would come to this?”

“Sir Daist, you are truly remarkable. To endure such attacks for a month…”

“Don’t even mention it. Just thinking about it makes me jump out of bed at night.”

“It must have been incredibly difficult for you.”

As the weariness was already evident in Duke Sachsen’s voice, Daist admonished him.

“Supreme Commander! No matter what happens, you must not lose your judgment. Understand?”

Daist’s words, coming from experience, carried significant weight, and Duke Sachsen, knowing this well, forced a smile and said,

“I will keep that in mind, Sir Daist.”

“By the way, by now, the Black Wyvern unit led by that Kang Chan should have arrived at the enemy’s rear, right?”

“Yes. They took off ten minutes ago, so they should be arriving around this time.”

When Duke Sachsen pointed to a part of the map with his command baton, Daist nodded and said,

“Hmm, they must perform well.”

“They must. Right now, we have no one else to rely on but them…”

The two men stared at the map pointed to by the command baton in silence for a moment.

Then Duke Sachsen, as if something urgent had come to mind, said,

“Oh, and about that Kang Chan…”

“Yes.”

“It turns out that his true identity is the disciple of the Elven Sword Elradion.”

“No! Is that true?”

“I found out by chance through their conversation.”

Daist spoke with great surprise.

“It’s amazing that an Elf would teach swordsmanship to a human. The world is full of surprises.”

Duke Sachsen nodded in agreement with Daist’s words.

“Indeed. In all my years, I have never heard of an Elf teaching swordsmanship to another race. Didn’t you see his skills, Sir Daist?”

“I saw them up close. His skills are truly incredible. To defeat someone who wielded two daggers and roamed the continent freely hundreds of years ago, his abilities are extraordinary.”

Suddenly, something crossed Daist’s mind.

“Hmm? Two daggers?”

“…”

“What is it all of a sudden?”

“Well… Something seems off. Elradion, his master, uses a longsword, so why does this Kang Chan use dual-wielding like the Dark Elves?”

Duke Sachsen also nodded with a look of agreement.

“Hmm, now that you mention it, that is strange.”

“Moreover, Kang Chan’s swordsmanship is very similar to Nemitz’s. I wonder why that is…”

Duke Sachsen didn’t want to doubt Kang Chan, who had led the allied forces to victory today, but there was always the possibility.

“Sir Daist, let’s keep today’s conversation between the two of us for now.”

“Understood, Supreme Commander. I will return to my tent now.”

“You’ve done well. Go and rest.”

As the seasoned Daist saluted and withdrew, Duke Sachsen was left alone, quietly lost in thought.

“A person who travels with a Dragon and has an Elf as a master…”

Already burdened with headaches, Duke Sachsen had yet another concern to ponder. He rubbed the back of his neck and instructed his subordinate to bring him coffee.

“One strong cup, no sugar.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Whenever he had a headache, he always drank black coffee. The bitterness of the black coffee helped alleviate his headaches.

After a while, as he drank the bitter black coffee that his subordinate had carefully prepared, Duke Sachsen temporarily forgot about Kang Chan and recalled the Ogre he had seen during the day.

“An Ogre who uses the Kalitz family’s swordsmanship… I must meet him personally.”

* * *

As the night darkened, the Wyverns, having arrived at the enemy camp, slowly reduced their speed and began to fly in formation upon reaching the target point.

『Report your readiness for the drop.』

When Kang Chan issued the command through the earphone containing the short-range communication crystal, the Black Wyvern crew prepared for the drop as they had been trained. After all the Wyverns reported their readiness, Kang Chan gave the command to drop.

『All Wyverns, drop preparation complete. Black Wyvern unit, drop!』

“Drop!”

Five Black Wyvern members unhooked their safety clips from the saddle and threw themselves into the sky. They vanished into the darkness, and soon after, the remaining Black Wyvern members followed suit. After all ten members had disappeared into the darkness, Kang Chan also leapt into the darkness after them.

Riding the fierce wind, Kang Chan saw the ten members successfully deploying their parachutes and slowly descending to the ground.

Those parachutes had been made by Erika, who had spent sleepless nights in tears during the hellish guerrilla training, and were dyed entirely black, just like their armor.

The members, using the parachutes for the first time, had been amazed and asked, “Is this magic too?”

The reason Kang Chan insisted on using parachutes to infiltrate the enemy camp, despite the advanced magic in this world, was simple.

Using magic to infiltrate the enemy camp posed a risk of being detected by the enemy’s detection magic.

This world had highly advanced detection magic, similar to Earth’s radar, which could detect the use of magic.

Therefore, using high-mana-consuming magic like teleportation or flight magic would be immediately detected by the detection magic, risking interception or encirclement by the enemy.

Additionally, descending directly to the ground on a giant Wyvern would be no different from announcing their arrival to the enemy. Thus, Kang Chan chose to use parachutes.

Parachutes were the quietest and most covert means of infiltrating the enemy camp.

Whoosh! Thud!

The Black Wyvern members descended one by one into the darkness, their all-black appearance making them indistinguishable from Earth’s special forces.

“Hurry up! Move quickly!”

Once on the ground, the members swiftly retrieved their parachutes, stuffed them into their bags, and hid them in the bushes.

After tidying up everything, the members gathered around Kang Chan, who pulled out a map under a light-blocking black cloth and pinpointed their current location and the direction to their first target.

They were to strike the targets provided by the Visman Empire’s intelligence department.

“Now, our current location is roughly…”

Using the position tracking device attached to his suit, Kang Chan pinpointed their location and used a compass and map to measure the distance and direction to the target. After turning off the light, he emerged from under the black cloth.

“Attention, everyone. We are currently about 5 kilometers from the enemy’s formation. Our first target, the food warehouse, is about 3 kilometers away. Move at full speed in stealth mode.”

The members tapped their helmets as a gesture of acknowledgment, donned their stealth cloaks, and infused them with mana.

Soon, the Black Wyvern members, dressed in all black, completely disappeared from sight, leaving no trace behind.

They began to move stealthily towards their first target like the wind.

The Black Wyvern members arrived at their first target and hid themselves in the bushes, using night vision goggles to observe the surroundings.

『The height of the barrier is about 2 meters, 20 guards at the entrance, 50 moving guards inside, and numerous workers transporting food, over.』

As expected, the security around the food warehouse was tight.

In warfare, food was a critical factor affecting the infantry’s combat sustainability and morale.

『Masera, infiltrate quietly and move to the back of the building, set up the magic bomb, over.』

All Black Wyvern members were carrying one magic bomb each, a total of ten bombs.

『Understood, over.』

Masera, who received the command, swiftly crossed the barrier with the agility of a high-level Sword Expert and moved stealthily to the back of the building in stealth mode.