Chapter 33

The Battle of the Red Mountains (1)

Originally the sacred mountains where the fire dragon, Bel’Dakidun, resided, The Red Mountains was where he had led his Vermillion Dragon Army and protected humanity since the Age of Creation.

It was a natural barrier that blocked invasion from external forces and a blessing of nature that absorbed the abyss and worked to prevent the corruption from touching the civilized world.

“This kind of textbook explanation was effective until five years ago.”

In 1692, when the ‘Red Summer’ began, Mirngadia of the Heavenly Castle began work on fortifying the Red Mountains.

The stone wall built along the ridge of the mountain range was about 4,921 km long, and the natural beauty forming the northern slope of the range was organized by section.

Military facilities such as escalators and elevators operated by steam engines could be built in the places nature hadn’t touched.

“This allowed the fortresses on each peak to act as a line rather than a single point. literally became a fortress made by the heavens.”

The southern slope steeply cut into a valley and was reinforced with a natural moat, and the forest was cut down to open a field with a clear view.

“It is said that all of this was accomplished in just three years, so the place is called the Three-Year Mountain Fortress.”

The Three-Year Mountain Fortress would be where Kaisen Alter Aradamantel found himself for a year during the Red Summer as humanity’s last line of resistance.

It would also mark the end of the hero’s tragic adolescence.

* * *

At dawn the next day, Kaisen received orders from Mirngadia to deploy the Knights of the Iron Cross and headed to the central front.

After taking a steamship, they boarded the continental train, the ‘BART’, and crossed the Red Mountain Pass.

It was customary for trains traveling around the continent to be named after adventurers of great fame.

Bart was a friend of Dragon Sage Rain Ludwig and had made a name for himself in the battle to subdue the Lord of Spiders.

‘Friend.’

The word seemed to stab Kaisen’s heart like a knife. Would he be able to make friends in the future?

If he did, the world could take them as well, and there would be another hole in his heart…

Would he be able to endure it? It would probably be difficult.

Kaisen glanced at Isla, who was snoring with her head resting on his shoulder.

Isla muttered words like ‘Cassena’, ‘Freesbia’, ‘Aki’, and ‘Runelle’ in her sleep.

Like a child, she seemed to need a lot of sleep, but whenever it was time to eat, she woke at once.

Boiled eggs were served for teatime, and Isla put three eggs in her mouth before munching vigorously.

“You’re going to choke from eating so quickly,” Kaisen commented.

“A dragon won’t choke on eggs like these! I can eat 10!”

“Then I’d have nothing to eat.”

“I am a dragon! Even 10 eggs is a small amount! To grow up, I need to eat more than this! I’m already eating less! You know nothing!”

She always proudly shouted while spewing food. With both her cheeks filled, she looked more like a squirrel than a dragon, but out of concern for the pride of dragons everywhere, Kaisen did not say anything.

He didn’t even bother wiping away the food that splattered on his face, for Isla always picked up the pieces and ate them.

Again, he looked out the dewy-covered window.

Before they knew it, the train left the world covered in volcanic ash and was climbing up a mountain with a blue summer sky above.

The sea was no longer visible. Instead, mountain ranges rose up from the empty space left behind by the sea.

“The Red Mountains.” Looking at the mountain range that seemed to awaken from its cozy slumber with the dawn, Kaisen absentmindedly said its name.

Truly, it seemed divine. The mountain range, draped in red, had a supernatural majesty in the early morning sun.

Being a natural wall, it blocked the enemy forces and united humanity’s defense force.

* * *

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* * *

The artificial majesty of the Inferno Line was also bloody and terrifying, but that steely majesty paled compared to the mountains.

It was truly beautiful…

It was what lay between the abyss and human civilization. All while the people of the empire were fighting amongst themselves, unaware of the urgent threat to the world…

Kaisen only had 10 days to look out the window in amazement at everything in the world.

On the morning of the 10th day, the ‘BART’ stopped.

The sound emitted by the halting locomotive was like a military song announcing the start of a new battle.

“This station is on the outskirts of Golden Rose. Soldiers moving to the central front can get off here.” The conductor’s voice echoed through a brass tube.

There was a loud sound from the second and third-class carriages at the back, where officers were scolding soldiers and waking them.

The morning sunlight seeped through the exhaust fumes of the locomotive. It was their first morning in the mountains.

“Quickly take it! What do you think you’re doing?! Use your strength!”

The gunmen and engineers pulled various heavy equipment and giant artillery pieces from the cargo and seemed to be having a hard time.

“Okay, Isla, see you later.”

“Don’t cry because you miss me. If you really miss me that much, you can write a letter. I will write you a reply, for I am a merciful dragon.”

He separated from Isla on the train. Isla would lead the Dragon Hammer Corps.

The Knights of the Iron Cross were on the platform to greet him.

Teval of the Dragon Spear, a member of the Iron Cross hero party, was accompanied by three young knights.

The knights had gray crosses engraved in iron on their black uniforms. It was not flashy, but it was elegant and upright. They straightened their backs, showed dignity, and had no hesitation.

“Are you Kaisen?”

“Yes.”

“Ha! Because of you, I ended up losing three gold coins to these guys.”

Kaisen’s first meeting with Teval was not very friendly. He looked at Kaisen with a gaze that showed he could not tolerate a man who was taller than him.

His stocky physique and grim face of scars were characteristic of someone who had been through a long war.

“Teval, we won.”

As the young knights grinned, Teval frowned and flicked three golden dragon coins from his arms.

“These guys bet a gold coin that you would be taller than me. Ha! There really is a male Fake Warrior.”

“Do you want me to apologize?”

“Fuck apologies! Listen carefully, rookie Fake Warrior… I am the strongest spearman. Even if I’m not a Fake Warrior, I’m still the strongest. Don’t even think about looking down on me,” Teval said while leaning the legendary Keel Spear that gave him the title of ‘hero’ on his shoulder.

It was a unique spear made entirely from the collarbone of a dragon, the sharpest and hardest part type of dragon bone.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was more like a greatsword than a spear, or rather a pillar… Its length and width were as large as Teval’s form.

“What are you doing? The leader told us to bring him, not to threaten him unnecessarily.” There was an archer who put a stop to Teval’s fierce competitive spirit.

She was a woman with a small physique that made Kaisen think she might be a dwarf. The woman had an extremely cold expression under her green-colored hair and only had one eye.

The bow on her back gave off pure white light. Serwebon, a white bow with a status equivalent to that of Keel.

Both were the weapons of Dragon Sage Rain Ludwig’s companions, Bart and Rem, and they had great history.

In the case of the spear, it was wielded by the strongest Diamond-grade mercenary known as the Dragon Slayer. In Serwebon’s case, it was wielded by the legendary Kies, who conquered the land during the period of turmoil.

“Welcome to the Red Mountains, I’m Mern, and that fool’s name is Teval.”

They greeted each other with a simple handshake.

All the way to the Red Mountains Garrison, Teval and Mern bickered over every little issue.

The mountain path had been converted into escalators, so the stairs moved automatically with the power of steam engines.

“Is it true?” one of the knights asked.

“I heard that you single-handedly destroyed a Hai-khun-tark.”

“The rumor spread throughout the mountains. They call you the Uruk Slayer.”

“I heard it was your first time in battle, but you are really amazing, warrior.”

Uruk Slayer…

Kaisen couldn’t join in their respectful laughter. Wasn’t that nickname originally born out of teasing, not respect.

“Oh, my, Our Uruk Slayer is here!”

“That punk, he might really become an Uruk Slayer.”

“Hahahahaha!”

The laughter was the same, but the emotions contained within were different.

In order to share those old feelings, he must first share those old memories, but there was no longer anyone he could do that with.

Teval turned around and shook his head.

“It would be best not to show off too much. It looks like you have a lot of skill, but you are not the strongest Fake Warrior. Our leader is truly the strongest, and she is the top Fake Warrior.”

The elite Knights of the Iron Cross had been fighting fierce battles on the central front.

It was a heavy cavalry unit composed only of young and mature knights from the empire, and its reputation for breakthrough power using lances was feared.

The hero who led the group was Loveris Alter Schirpin. She was the proxy wielder of Schirpin, the holy sword with more nobility and history than Aradamantel.

If the holy swords were ranked, Schirpin would definitely take 1st place.

After Sharon was discharged from the military, she took over as the 1st Seat of the Fake Warriors and led the fierce battles on the central front to victory three times.

When Kaisen first met Loveris at the commander’s barracks, he thought he had the wrong person.

She seemed more like a scholar than a warrior. She was sitting at a simple table in the barracks, wearing old colored glasses and scribbling in a notebook with a fountain pen.

Silence…

She made him realize that people could have a silent aura…

Her serious but calm expression gave off a scholarly feeling, and the sternness of the white hair falling down to her shoulders and the glasses amplified the feeling.

“Are you Kaisen?”

Yes, that was Kaisen’s first meeting with his next teacher, Loveris Alter Schirpin.

At the time, Loveris spoke without even looking up from her notebook. “I read all of your information from the marshal’s report. You’re extremely skilled.”

She frowned slightly as the mountain blew, making peach blossom petals and the pages of her notebook flutter.

“What my unit needs is not another warrior but a soldier. Unauthorized actions will not be tolerated. Do you understand?”

She would be the teacher to guide him during his adolescence and his early stages as a fake hero.

Loveris’s neat white hair fluttered in the peach-scented mountain wind. The golden dragon head pin in her hair was the same as Kamila’s.

“Understood.”

In those colors and the hairpin, the shadow of his old teacher flickered. It was a sad, tragic shadow filled with the memory of souls using up their light to lift the collapsing world.

“Let’s end the official greetings here.”

Maybe that meeting where peach blossoms were in full bloom was fated to have the same ending.

“I heard that you jumped into a suicidal fight and saved Senior Kamila and Senior Sharon. I like not only your skills but also your attitude.”

“Kaisen Alter Aradamantel, welcome to the strongest unit on the central front.”

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