Book 6-8.2
"This … is not as easy as I thought it would be."
Runa looked at the map and traced their path as he clicked his tongue.
Yulian looked toward it with a concerned expression as well. As Runa mentioned, they were moving too slowly.
They left with 50,000 warriors to subdue the Monster's Desert ten days ago.
But Pareia's warriors had not even reached the vicinity of the Monster's Desert. The number of monsters increased and their spawn rate became faster as they approached closer to the Monster's Desert. These monsters were preventing them from moving forward.
"At this rate, our path back to the oasis may get cut off."
"Hmm~!"
Yulian let out a small groan. If something like that happened, it would become extremely troublesome.
"We need to immediately let Edwin know. There should be no issues moving through the north, but there is no harm in being cautious."
"Now that I think about it, we will need to send a large amount of warriors to the caravan as well."
"I will tell him to lessen the size for a while."
"Good. And shouldn't we increase the number of warriors for this subjugation?"
Seeing Yulian speak after thinking things over, Runa shook his head.
"We cannot move anymore warriors right now. We need warriors protecting the oases just in case, and we cannot remove any of the warriors we have in place for the essential tasks. I am already worried enough about these 50,000 warriors. You know how we cannot destroy the ratio between men and women."
"Hasn't it gotten much better?"
"Just in numbers. But it only seems that way because of the citizens who have come from the continent. Pareia is a warrior nation and will continue to treat our warriors in high regard. In order to do that, we need warriors who have received our desert's bloodline."
Yulian started to shake his head at Runa's stern tone as if it gave him a headache.
"But at this rate, the warriors will be exhausted even before we arrive at the Monster's Desert."
"There is nothing we can do. All we can do is strengthen our defenses at the oases and have the warriors outside take care of the monsters while waiting for time to pass. Pareia will only get stronger as time goes on."
"Is that our only method?"
Runa thought for a moment before answering.
"To be honest, it happened so suddenly that even I do not have anything prepared. In order to create a plan, you need to have information about the enemy, but while I know a bit about the average monsters, a monster strong enough for Shopping to run away from is out of my expectations……"
"I understand. My heart dropped when I heard Grace's story. It would have been extremely terrible if master had not been there."
Runa also nodded his head and responded.
"Monsters are strong and we do not know anything about them. The warriors will naturally get faster at handling the monsters as they continue to fight against them. After a while, we won't have such slow progression like this one. You can be at ease, Glow."
Yulian patted Runa's shoulder to say he understood before looking forward. He could see another large group of monsters coming toward them.
"Prepare for battle."
Yulian instantly shouted and moved his pirma forward to take the vanguard.
"What kind of monster is it this time, Glow?"
Once Shubeon asked from behind Yulian, Yulian did not even turn to look at him as he responded.
"It looks like a pirma but the body is about twice as large. THe face is that of a wild animal and the tail is a scorpion's tail."
"Ugh, we're getting some really odd monsters as we get closer and closer to the Monster's Desert."
As Shubeon complained, Yulian started to smile.
"In the end, it is just a monster. There are quite a lot of them and they are large, so a lot of warriors may get injured if we do not divide them up properly. We will take the lead this time. Take good care of your hoobaes."
"I question whether those punks will do well. I feel like they are being put into battle too soon."
Haisha asked with concern after being told to take care of the second generation Red Storm warriors.
"No, it is safe to say that there will not be any wars from here on. Now that our enemy has changed to the monsters, this type of real-life experiences will be better than simulations. The monsters we are facing are still not as dangerous as the monsters of the old Monster's Desert."
Haisha still seemed to be concerned after Yulian's answer and looked around at the Red Storm II warriors. There were one or two Red Storm II warriors partnered with each Red Storm warrior. This was their first real battle.
The 50,000 warriors that were part of this subjugation were all veteran warriors. They all had at least three war experiences under their belt, so Haisha thought they might be just as good as these Red Storm II warriors.
It was a problem of abilities, as well as the courage to face death. He recalled how they all felt chills because they were scared and anxious in their first battle. All he remembered from their first battle was how they just stared at the Glow's back and chased after him without thinking about anything else.
"Make sure to sternly warn them. If they randomly start to run in the middle of battle, even I cannot guarantee I will be able to save them."
Haisha nodded his head at Yulian's concern and gathered the Red Storm II warriors to give them their order. He told them to just chase after the Glow and their sunbae warriors' back.
The formation for their attack was starting to be created.
With Yulian in the lead, the Red Storm warriors lined up in two rows behind him. Once everybody was in position, Yulian gave the order to charge.
"We don't know how tough their hides are, so strike with all of your strength at first and then control your strength based on the impact of your strongest strike. We will charge through at least three times to divide up the monsters so save up your stamina accordingly."
Once Yulian and the Red Storm started to charge forward, Runa started to change the formation of the warriors with the Greatest Warriors.
They may not know what kind of monster it may be, but it should not be able to charge toward them as strongly now that Yulian and the Red Storm charged forward.
The main unit got into a fan-shaped formation and waited for the monsters to arrive.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Thrint's shout echoed through the desert.
"Can you still call yourself the Red Storm? Hed back right away! Our Red Storm does not need cowards like you!"
What they had worried about happened during the first charge. Although Yulian and the Red Storm warriors defeated some monsters and created a wide path, one of the Red Storm II warriors hesitated for a moment and ended up falling off his pirma.
Thrint who was protecting the hoobae warriors from the back had swung his greatsword to kill a monster before starting to shout at the fallen warrior.
Once the pirmas stopped moving, hundreds of large monsters saw them and started to rush toward them. Seeing such a large herd of monsters chasing after them had made many other Red Storm II warriors afraid.
They might not have become so scared if they were fighting against humans, but their opponent were monsters, not humans.
Their loud roars and terrible smell.
"What are the rest of you doing? Hurry up and follow them!"
Once Thrint shouted again, the hoobae warriors started to chase behind the others while the ten Red Storm warriors in the rear were holding off the monsters that were approaching once more.
The warriors up front who had lost their speed were starting to find themselves in trouble.
Thrint's decision in that urgent situation was to get off their pirmas. In such terrain, a pirma that lost speed was more of a hindrance than help. It was better to fight on your feet in a situation like this.
The situation became better once the other warriors got off their steeds following Thrint's lead, but it did not change the fact that they were still in a dangerous situation.
"Damn bastards, I told you not to come if you're going to get scared like this. You're all dead when we get back."
One of the warriors started to shout before swinging his greatsword with all of his strength.
It might be possible for Yulian, but it would be suicide for their fellow Red Storm warriors to come back to them while fighting these monsters. It might be possible if there were a lower amount of monsters, but for a monster herd this size, it was better to go all the way through and come back with a second charge at full speed.
While the warriors that were stranded were struggling, Yulian and the other Red Storm warriors came back. And then, they all had no choice but to get off their pirmas and fight the monsters.
They needed to slow down their pirmas to save their stranded friends, and that was guaranteed to stop their charge. Knowing that was going to be the case, it was better to just get off the pirmas and fight the monsters. Thankfully, the two charges had caused significant amount of damage to the monsters, and with the monsters hesitating in fear of Yulian and the warriors, they felt like they just needed to do a bit more for the monsters to retreat.
"Defensive formation."
Yulian ordered the defensive formation and called Thrint over.
"You and I will act independently away from the formation. Monsters are bound to run away if they meet someone stronger than them. Make it as fast as possible and as cruel as possible."
"Yes, Glow."
The majority of the monsters were being handled by the Red Storm warriors in the defensive formation while Yulian and Thrint started to charge through one side. The reason Yulian selected Thrint was because Thrint's sword art was based on power.
In comparison, Haisha chose a defensive sword art while Shubeon choice one focused on timing and strategy. But Thrint's sword art was one where he would push forward to kill the enemy even if he got injured in the process.
The warriors' sword art style were changing based on their personalities.
The monsters' green blood poured out to the ground and pieces of monster body parts could be seen all over the area.
As the sweet taste of blood started to fill up Thrint's mouth, they heard a shout behind them.
Runa had brought the main unit forward after seeing the ownerless pirmas.
The monsters had not managed to kill anybody at this point, and seeing the large number of humans showing up from the rear, they started to retreat one by one.
The Red Storm warriors who were internally worried finally started to show signs of relief while Yulian was concerned about the path to the Monster's Desert that was getting harsher and harsher as they moved forward.