Episode 706
Chapter 179: The Inescapable Trap (5)
“…So this is the extent of the Empire’s losses?”
Kashimir’s voice trembled as he spoke, having just received the report from Jett.
Even Jett found the numbers in the report hard to believe.
About 30,000 military personnel dead, including knights and mages.
Civilian casualties were nearing 800,000, and over 50,000 commoners and nobles had been taken prisoner…
Jin and his comrades rubbed their foreheads as they reviewed the report.
The chaos army led by Dipus had invaded the territories of the temporary alliance just three days ago.
In only three days, so many innocent lives had been lost or dragged off to Huepester.
The figures on the report felt unreal, almost impossible to grasp.
“We only managed to hold them back this much thanks to the technology and equipment recently provided by Lord Kwaul and Sir Amela. Without that, Your Majesty, it would have been far worse,” Jett said gravely.
Three days ago.
It wasn’t just Dipus and Joshua who attacked the Luteero Magic Federation and the Empire.
Lionel, Stam, and the knights of the mysterious ‘Yeongmyo’ also launched an assault on Inse at the same time.
The same was true for the beastmen’s lands under Kinzelro’s domain.
Thanks to Orgal’s dimensional gate through the steel door, they fared somewhat better, but over 5,000 beastmen and the cold-spirited Jo were captured.
“Why weren’t we the only ones attacked…?” Rata wondered aloud.
As he said, only Tikan among the allies had escaped assault.
“Maybe it’s a ploy to break the temporary alliance’s unity,” someone suggested.
“Perhaps they hesitated to strike Tikan. Even when the Federation attacked Drakka’s stronghold, they only hovered nearby. If their goal is mass slaughter and hostage-taking to generate despair, this place isn’t suitable.”
Unlike the small island nation of Tikan, the other allied territories were vast.
That was why they couldn’t properly respond to the sudden invasion by the chaos army. They’d strike near Drakka’s base, then suddenly appear in the Milkun Kingdom, or attack near Yukayuka Market only to vanish to the opposite side of the Mitra Desert.
“…Or maybe they’re just sparing us for last, like a meal saved for the end,” Jin said quietly, drawing everyone’s attention.
“In the Empire, Ziphl, and Kinzelro alone, over 80,000 prisoners have been taken from the temporary alliance’s lands. Our Balmel Union will have no choice but to enter Huepester to rescue them. Perhaps Rosa intends to harvest despair by watching us suffer then. That’s the feeling I get.”
On the magical map created by Veradin, the spots of despair were growing larger.
This wasn’t just about the areas directly hit by the chaos army.
The general public’s fear, which had weighed heavily on the world since the Gliek War, had now spiraled out of control.
Refugees were flooding out from everywhere. Even the Drakka stronghold, once considered the safest place, was seeing civilians flee. The other regions were even worse.
Their destination was Tikan.
The terrified crowds refused to believe that Tikan was a safe haven.
“If Jin Gongja’s prediction is correct… the chaos gods and the Four Horsemen have laid an inescapable trap and are waiting for us,” Veradin said.
The world’s order was collapsing.
The alliance had to show the people that they had enough strength to resist the chaos gods.
They had to enter Huepester, rescue the captives, and eliminate the invaders.
If not, the fear and despair engulfing the world would only multiply—and all of it would be used to complete the chaos gods.
“Hey, isn’t that a Zephyrin?”
“And the lord of Ziphl came along too.”
Rata pointed out the window.
A steel gate had just formed in the distance, and Zephyrin and Veradin stepped through it, heading straight into the conference room.
Veradin’s face was calm as usual, but Zephyrin looked utterly exhausted.
She had been helping Orgal guard the entire beastmen territory and had just finished scouting near Ricalton before coming to Tikan.
“Ah, as soon as our lord regained some strength, you’ve been pushing him this hard… Jin Gyeong, you’re definitely going to hell when you die,” Zephyrin grumbled.
The Ricalton scouting was Jin’s idea. Orgal had the best mobility among the allies and the knowledge and power to handle unexpected situations, so naturally, he was the one to lead the reconnaissance.
“Why didn’t Orgal come himself?”
“Are you seriously asking that now? He’s exhausted from all the hard work, so he sent me instead. And to make sure Ziphl’s travel time wasn’t wasted, he even brought Lord Veradin along. You should be grateful.”
“Will do. When I get back, I’ll thank Orgal for you.”
Jin’s sincere thanks made Zephyrin blink in surprise. She had expected a sarcastic retort about how they all had to solve this burden together anyway.
“The sun will rise in the west next,” she muttered.
“Any results from the Ricalton scouting?”
“Well, as you predicted, all the prisoners were gathered in Ricalton.”
“How are the prisoners being treated?”
“Typical stuff. Whippings, being dragged somewhere. Our lord said it seems like they’re being tortured one by one.”
“Torture…”
“Not all at once. The chaos forces would bring groups of thirty to a hundred prisoners into a building. After a couple of hours, they’d bring in the next group.”
“So they’re increasing despair by torturing and killing thirty to a hundred people at a time?”
“Not sure about the killing part. But when Lord Veradin heard this, he seemed to have figured something out.”
Zephyrin finished speaking, and Veradin unfolded the map.
In Tikan, the residual power of the Sun God seemed unstable and faint compared to what they saw in Drakka.
“Everyone, look closely at Ricalton.”
Veradin pointed to Ricalton.
“Jin, I’ve been observing the map since that day, focusing especially on Ricalton… and as you can see, the spots of despair are actually shrinking.”
Jin and Veradin had expected the despair spots in Ricalton to grow darker and larger after the incident.
But Veradin’s initial observation showed the opposite: the spots faded whenever prisoners arrived in Ricalton.
“But this phenomenon changes daily. The spots shrink during the day, then grow again the next, each time darker than before. Do you know what that means?”
“They’re giving hope, then crushing it again.”
“Exactly. The Garden of Swords is probably taking thirty to a hundred prisoners every few hours to perform some kind of mental manipulation. First, they give hope, then they break it. This maximizes the despair they can extract from the prisoners.”
“Zephyrin, is Ricalton the only place you and Orgal found that’s used for this torture?”
“Yes, no prisoners were taken anywhere else.”
“My map also shows no sudden increase in chaos forces anywhere but Ricalton. There’s a general rise overall, but nothing specific.”
“That makes it clear. We need to gather the entire alliance’s forces and head to Ricalton as soon as possible.”
“Agreed. But when exactly do you mean by ‘as soon as possible’?”
“Within two days. No, if possible, even tomorrow.”
Veradin and Zephyrin shrugged simultaneously at Jin’s answer.
“Two days, or even tomorrow? That’s too soon. Shouldn’t we observe a bit longer? We need to prepare for traps. Even if it’s an obvious trap we’re bound to fall into.”
“I agree, Jin Gyeong. The chaos army has stopped attacking Inse for now, but who knows when they’ll strike again.”
“Of course, we can’t just wait forever since we can’t predict their large-scale teleportation attacks on Inse. But I think it’s best to watch the situation for at least two weeks.”
Jin shook his head as he looked at the two.
“No, the reason the chaos gods stopped their invasion just before you arrived was confirmed. While you were scouting and checking the map, we weren’t idle either…”
At the top floor of Ricalton Castle.
Ilina was pressing down on Dipus’s upper body with her hands, sweating profusely, as if trying to forcibly stop the bleeding.
[Damn it! If even you are like this, what am I supposed to do? Joshua alone failing is more than enough.]
Ilina’s angry voice drew a snort from Dipus.
[Don’t blame me, prophet. If you had known about this fire beforehand, none of this would have happened.]
The fire.
The eternal flame clinging to Dipus’s body still burned, consuming his flesh.
Ilina had come here three days ago from the Garden of Swords to extinguish it.
But even she couldn’t put out the fire.
[And yet, you’ve been wasting days trying to put it out.]
[Listen, Dipus Runkandel. It’s impossible to extinguish this fire unless the lord himself intervenes directly…]
Rosa was currently unable to move, absorbing despair.
[Hah, enough. Fighting you would only insult the lord. Anyway, the fire is finally calming down, so it should be resolved soon. The invasion stopped because of this… so be more careful next time. The despair meant for the lord has lessened than expected.]
[A parasite clinging to your mother keeps crawling all the way to the top. Do you even know that Hister checked the dimensional gate left in the Duchy of Shaw earlier?]
At Dipus’s words, Ilina’s eyes widened.
[What do you mean…?]
[Hister must have found out why we stopped the invasion and left. You had no idea about that… So maybe you should seriously reconsider whether you have the right to call Joshua incompetent.]