Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel - Chapter 726
Chapter 726: Terminal (5)
The carriage rattled as it entered the main street of the Royal Capital of Karnon. The path, usually as well-maintained as a modern road, was altogether different this time around. The ground was littered with huge divots from battle damage, along with rolling fragments of wood and stone.
Of course, the damage in the capital was nothing compared to the real battlefields the other districts had become. Karnon found itself in such a state solely because its streets had to transport heavy support goods and construction equipment up and down their lengths, and there was no one left to maintain them. The capital would be fixed up to pristine condition as soon as the war was over.
The same could not be said for the other districts. Or rather…
I can’t say the same for District Seven.
I had yet to see it for myself and had only heard about it secondhand, yet I already knew. District Seven, the place I practically called my home base, was a complete and utter mess.
Let’s think about it later…
I felt a little bitter at the thought of all the funds and effort I poured into District Seven, but dealing with all those losses could wait until after we first dealt with the situation at hand.
“Where are you heading?”
At the knight captain’s question, I replied, “District Five.”
Soon after we arrived at the military platform of Karnon, we moved to District Five—the place that could be said to be the front lines of this war.
“Nia Rafdonia!”
As we passed the soldiers who froze stiff at the sight of Astarota’s insignia and stepped outside, I heard an explosion from a fair bit away.
Boom!
Despite the blast, the soldiers bustling about the platform looked pretty relaxed.
Well, maybe “relaxed” wasn’t the right way to put it. Their eyes all looked dead, to the point where it wouldn’t be odd if any one of them collapsed at any moment. They were all busy trying to do their jobs, and that alone told me about the current state of things better than any verbal explanation could have.
Boom!
So, it was the norm around here.
“Where are you going?” the knight captain asked.
“I’m going to take a look around the place.”
Sometimes, even a thousand words weren’t enough to capture the full picture.
The first thing I did was walk around the area and take in the sight of the battlefield that District Five had become. Whenever I had a question, I turned to Astarota for answers.
“But it seems it’s pretty safe around here,” I commented to him. “From what I can tell, the explosions are all far from here.”
“This is a strategically important location, so the camp here would’ve been erected with far more safeguards in place compared to other areas.”
“Ah, because of the military platform?”
“Correct.”
I mean, I would’ve tried to protect the military platform to the best of my ability anyway if I were the commander. The platform’s presence guaranteed us supplies and reinforcements from all of the other districts that Noark hadn’t taken over.
And in the worst-case scenario, we can use it to escape.
In any case, as I carried on with my look around the area like a noble who had come out for a leisurely stroll, people began to recognize me and murmur to each other.
“I-it’s Baron Yandel…”
“I heard that he went missing after the building collapsed…”
“But if the baron is here…it could be a sign that the situation is about to change.”
“How can we know what those higher-ups are thinking? We just need to do our jobs.”
Um. Maybe I should’ve covered my face a little.
But the people who knew me would recognize me either way…
Anyway, I continued to take in the sights until we at last arrived at the outermost region of the camp.
Martha Brothers’ Weapon Shop.
Erwen had introduced me to this place after my first adventure, when I was looking to sell off my equipment.
Unsurprisingly, the normally bustling shop was currently closed and unlit, as was the rest of the street. The wide road of District Five that had served its teeming population was barricaded high, with soldiers standing guard atop the barriers.
So it’s Noarkan land from that point onward?
From what I’d heard, the Noarkan offensive was doing pretty well—well enough that this barricade line was constantly being pushed back.
“Do you intend to venture outside?” inquired the knight captain.
“I’m considering it.”
After finishing up my inspection, I finally checked the sewers. I’d heard that the Noarkans collapsed them so we couldn’t use the tunnel system as pathways anymore, but I decided I needed to confirm it with my two eyes at least once.
This is unusable.
As reported, I couldn’t go down far into the sewer entrance due to all the rubble blocking the stairs, though there could be a way through the place if I moved the rubble away.
But it’ll take too long.
Hmm, then in the end, did I have to charge through the middle of the battlefield if I wanted to get to my allies?
“Astarota,” I called, “what’s the situation in District Four?”
“I heard the fighting is more fierce there than in any other district. The de facto main force of Noark is stationed there. I heard the captain of Orcules continues to show himself there as well.”
Oh, so that bastard was over there?
He’s a bit of a tricky one.
I’d been able to pull somewhat of a fast one on him twenty years ago, but there was no way it would work on him now that he’d grown out of his moron stage.
And if the main force is there as well…
Alright, I just needed to stay far away from District Four.
With that decided, I asked, “Then what about District Eight?”
“It’s been quiet since the traitors occupied it. The imperial army has been trying to reclaim it for the past few days, but they were thwarted by key members of Orcules.”
“Key members?”
When I asked for more detail, familiar names began to pour out of Astarota’s mouth. Blood Knight, Black Claw, Wailing Witch, Corpse Collector, and a few more at that.
What the hell? I was wondering what he meant by key members…
Having fought them in the past when they also had the Lighthouse Keeper in their ranks, District Eight seemed pretty doable. It probably wouldn’t be as easy as I initially thought, though. I’d heard that there were a few rookies who debuted not long ago and so didn’t have nicknames yet.
“Then what about the path from District Five to District Seven?”
“Demon Eyes is commanding the front lines of District Five, and the 3rd Corps is stationed in District Seven to provide support.”
“The 3rd Corps?” I repeated, surprised. “You mean the corps that Eltora Tercerion is commanding?”
“Through information control, civilians believe that the 3rd Corps have been destroyed, but in truth, they have joined the traitors alongside the prime minister a few days ago.”
As the rest of the story went, most of the people within the 3rd Corps had apparently been coerced by Eltora Tercerion into switching sides, so internal conflicts could arise given the right circumstances.
Then the knight captain revealed, “We also have intel that suggests Eltora Tercerion didn’t know of this plan at first and refused to join the traitors when the incident occurred.”
“Huh? And he’s still over there?”
“The prime minister must have utilized a high-handed approach.”
Well. Thinking about it, that did make sense. The prime minister’s son was an evil spirit, after all. The marquess wasn’t his real father, so there was no way he would willingly jump into the flames with him.
Maybe this will become the key later…
I then took a quiet moment to collect my thoughts. What would be the best route to pass through District Seven and reach my allies in the barbarian holy land?
It didn’t take long for me to reach an answer.
“I need to go to District 9.”
Going through District Five would be the shortest way there in terms of physical distance, but it was also that much more dangerous. Even if I could ignore Demon Eyes who was commanding District Five, the place was still right next to District Four, where the main forces of Noark were located.
And the captain could appear at any moment.
Astarota shrugged at my decision. “If you want to go to District 9, you’ll need to go through District Eight.”
“Is there a problem with that?”
He smirked and said only this:
“Be wary of the Corpse Collector. He’s been quite active, almost like he’d been preparing for this war for a very long while.”
Uh… That sounds like a genuine piece of advice…
But it wasn’t needed at all.
I matched his smirk with one of my own. “Still, he’s just him in the end.”
Stat-wise, I had become strong enough that I couldn’t lose to a poison necromancer even if I wanted to.
***
Before I took the military lines to District 9, I asked Astarota for a few things that were important to my plan, and he willingly obliged me even though the requests were admittedly excessive.
With that, my preparations were complete.
I just need the signal now…
As I waited in front of the closed city gates, I noticed Raven standing around, looking visibly nervous.
“Raven, why do you look so worried?”
“How could I not be?” she countered. “I didn’t think you were going to be this reckless.”
It seemed that Raven had expected me to command the army and push through the enemy forces or something. But come on, that would take too long, right?
“Don’t worry,” I reassured. “Sometimes it’s easier to operate with a smaller group than risk a crowd of people moving all at once.”
She sighed. “Are you trying to console me?”
“If you’re really that worried, you could just stay behind and—”
“Whatever. I think I’ll be more worried if I don’t go with you. And it’s not like I don’t know anyone over there…”
No matter what she said, she was someone with close ties to us.
While I was still smirking to myself at the thought of it, Astarota approached us. He seemed happy about something.
“What” I asked. “Do you have something to say?”
“We had news come in—a message from the command in District Five. Your requests will be carried out tomorrow morning.”
“Isn’t that pretty late, though?”
“Don’t complain. They need at least that much time to prepare.”
Hmm, I guess that was true.
“Well, anyway… By news, I assume there’s more you heard?” I prompted.
“Ah, I nearly forgot. Two of your four missing allies were discovered.”
My heart lurched. “Who are they?”
There were a total of four people who had been separated from the clan members in the holy land and were still unaccounted for: Sven Parav, Lilith Marrone, Auyen Rockrobe, and Amelia.
“Tell me.”
“Quite serious,” he remarked at my demand. “The two people are Auyen Rockrobe and Emily Raines.”
“Where are they right now?”
“In District Four.”
“District Four?”
“From the report we received from our secret agent, there was a battle in District Four, and those two were the ones who caused it.”
“So what happened to them?”
“We don’t know that. However, it seemed they were able to escape without much issue.”
I let out a sigh. How were they in District Four when they got separated in District Seven? Despite my intense curiosity, I was also very worried.
“Don’t worry so much,” the knight captain said, noticing my unease. “I know they’ll be able to at least take care of themselves.”
I took a deep breath. “That’s right.”
I decided it was best to not focus on them for the moment. It wasn’t like I could just barge into District Four. Ruminating on it would only cause me to get stuck on the worst-case scenarios. As always, ominous predictions were the seeds that would sprout into tragedy.
I told Raven the same. “Raven, he said it’ll start next morning, so go rest your eyes for the time being.”
Today would be the last day we would get to rest. Starting tomorrow morning, the days of suffering would be waiting.
I tried to rest too, but as the saying went, world-shaking events happened when you least expected them.
Crank, crank, crank.
A sound that should never have been heard began to rattle out from the distance.
Rattle, rattle.
It was the sound of the city gates opening.
“Wh-what? Why are the gates opening? They’re not invading us, right? I-if that happens, our plan will be messed up from the start…”
Nah, no way.
It couldn’t be that. It must have been a mistake on some soldier’s part.
The wall here hadn’t seen any battle yet, and the Noarkans who were heading for the capital wouldn’t have any reason to direct their forces this way either.
I took all those optimistic thoughts and immediately chucked them aside. There was no way things would work out that well for me.
“Get ready,” I said.
Splat.
Just then, something fell from the sky.
Not one, but multiple “somethings.”
Tat, ta-tat, tat!
They were too heavy to be raindrops.
Crunch!
“Aaagh!”
It was only after one fell right in front of me that I noticed what these somethings were.
“Human corpses…?” I muttered.
They were barely recognizable as corpses, almost like they had been pulled off a Corpse Golem, and the one that had fallen at my feet had come from over the high walls in front of me.
I instinctively jumped forward. “Raven, get back!”
Pshhhh!
The fallen corpses all exploded simultaneously, spraying poisonous chunks everywhere.
“We’re being attacked!” the soldiers standing on top of the wall shouted. The alarms set up along its length began to ring out loudly.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
As the soldiers began to hustle at the sound of the bells, I quietly checked over my gear and eyed the area below the half-open gates.
“Grrrrk!”
The gates had been raised just high enough to allow a single carriage to trundle through, and under those gates came a familiar corpse army.
“S-stop them!”
“Nia Rafdonia!”
The soldiers near the wall immediately responded to the threat, but it was nowhere near enough to stop the corpse army. The corpses weren’t the only things they needed to be wary of either.
Boom!
Meteors fell from the sky and decimated squads of soldiers where they landed.
“Grrrrk!”
The corpse army began to charge like a dam had been opened.
“M-Mr. Yandel?” stuttered Raven.
“You stay here. Astarota, take care of her.”
“Sure.”
After leaving Raven to the knight captain’s protection, I crushed the heads of the corpses with my hammer and made my way toward the gates. Through the now fully open gates, I caught sight of the person confidently striding in on a chimera.
“My, my, what’s this? You can’t do anything just because one little gate opened! Seems you let your guard down! Pshehe!”
So the brat still did that even when he was all by himself.
“I hereby declare that District 9 is under the control of Orcules from today onward!”
Huh?
“Uh?”
Why did you stop talking?
“Bjorn…Yandel…?”
Oh, it’s because you saw me.
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