Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 92

퓨쳐나이트 92화

Having received their orders, they secretly left the Solar System, following the Red Mars.

Aboard the Zvezda, which was at least twice the size of the Red Mars and equipped with far more powerful armaments.

However, when they awoke from their sleep capsules, the world had changed.

While they were asleep, a full-scale war had erupted between the Federation and Imperial forces.

With no significant power difference between the two sides, they unscrupulously fired even antimatter missiles, the forbidden weapon, turning each other’s homes into scorched earth.

It was the most intense war in the history of the Solar System, and humanity, not hesitating to use even forbidden weapons, destroyed itself in the Solar System as punishment for its sins.

Having learned all this through the computer, the Zvezda crew sharpened their swords of revenge and searched every corner of Neo Earth for the Red Mars.

But the Red Mars was nowhere to be found.

Of course, there was a possibility that it had crashed somewhere in space due to the destruction droid prepared as insurance.

However, they did not rule out the possibility that it was hidden somewhere.

They scoured the entire continent of Arkandor with high-resolution spy satellites.

But still, the Red Mars was nowhere to be found.

Eventually, they concluded that the Federation’s hyperdimensional navigation system was unstable, or that the Red Mars had failed to reach Neo Earth due to the work of the destruction droid.

With no immediate enemy in sight and nowhere to return, they turned their attention to Neo Earth.

And they nurtured ambition.

The ambition to communize this new planet, and the ambition to become the rulers of this planet.

They had enough power to do so.

29. Total War

The night before the total war.

Duke Sachsen quietly summoned Kang Chan.

“Did you call for me?”

Duke Sachsen, buried in documents, looked up and greeted Kang Chan, who had come to see him.

“Ah, you’re here! Come this way. Bring some tea here.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Duke Sachsen always seemed to have a cup of coffee in his mouth, and a strong coffee scent always surrounded him.

A maid poured coffee into an antique cup and brought it to Duke Sachsen and Kang Chan.

Duke Sachsen offered Kang Chan the tea.

“Please, have some.”

“Thank you. But why did you want to see me?”

“Ah, it’s nothing much, but does Kang Chan happen to have a Gigantes [A large, humanoid war machine]?”

When he suddenly brought up the Gigantes, Kang Chan cautiously asked back.

“Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

“You are a Sword Master belonging to our Hellainer Knights; wouldn’t it be strange if you didn’t have a Gigantes when even the guards have one? So, I was thinking of assigning a Flotou to Kang Chan if you need one. The Flotou produced by our Visman Empire is the best Gigantes on the continent, so I’m sure Kang Chan will be very pleased with it.”

Duke Sachsen deliberately emphasized that Kang Chan belonged to the Hellainer Knights and tried to win Kang Chan’s favor with the best-performing Gigantes that any knight would yearn to own.

However, Kang Chan did not show much interest in the bait he threw.

This was because he already had the Elven Knight, albeit on loan, and the Red Rabbit, which was under repair.

“I appreciate your kindness, but I already have a Gigantes.”

“Ah? Is that so? I knew Kang Chan would have a Gigantes.”

Duke Sachsen wore a slightly disappointed expression but soon changed his expression and asked again.

“Then what model are you using?”

“Well, that’s…”

Kang Chan hesitated for a moment and decided to keep the Elven Knight a secret for the time being.

“That’s a secret.”

The reason for keeping the fact that he had the Elven Knight a secret was because he didn’t want to reveal his identity yet, but Sachsen misinterpreted Kang Chan’s intention.

‘I was going to find out the author’s real nationality this time… but it failed. But what kind of Gigantes does the author have? A Sword Master wouldn’t have a low-performance Gigantes, would he? Could it be an ancient giant?’

The ancient giants, the relics of the past magic era that became the basis of the Gigantes.

They were the ultimate weapons, boasting tremendous destructive power that people called them weapons given by God.

Only a very small number of such ancient giants remained and were passed down to the present day, and the countries that possessed them treated their performance as national secrets, making them mysterious beings.

‘Well, I’ll find out when the battle breaks out…’

With that regretful thought, Duke Sachsen had to send Kang Chan back.

The morning of the total war dawned, and a heavy air pressed down on the vast Helion Plains.

Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom!

The sound of drums, heightening the tension, echoed across the battlefield, and the faces of the soldiers engaged in the war for the survival of their race were filled with extreme tension.

Some were already so frightened that they were wetting their pants.

But no one teased him for being a coward.

Looking at the enemies filling the horizon in front of them, it was praiseworthy enough to be called courageous for not running away.

The combined forces of both sides gathered on the vast Helion Plains numbered approximately 2 million.

A force filling the horizon.

The force filling the horizon was an enormous army unprecedented in the history of the Arkandor continent.

Duke Sachsen, standing in front of the great army, gave a flattering speech as commander-in-chief to boost the morale of his troops.

However, no matter how loud his voice was, it was far from enough for all the soldiers gathered here to hear, so it did not seem to have much effect.

As Duke Sachsen’s speech ended, the battle readiness trumpet sounded from the Allied camp.

Boo-woo-woo-woo-woo!!

“All troops, prepare for battle!”

“All troops! Battle ready! Gigantes, advance!”

“Kuaaak! Orc warriors! Fight with honor! Charge!”

“Kwoooooh!”

As Duke Sachsen and Urkanta gave their orders, the Allied forces, led by 250 Gigantes, charged towards the Green Elf camp.

The Green Elf archers simultaneously nocked their arrows and looked up at the sky as the Allied forces charged.

At the same time, numerous archers, led by Elves, drew their bows from the Allied camp.

“Archers, fire!”

“Fire all at once!”

A tremendous number of arrows crossed in the sky, and a rain of arrows poured down on both camps like a summer shower.

Many soldiers were hit by arrows and collapsed, but they could not stop their collision.

Meanwhile, the Gigantes, who had charged with the earth shaking, encountered 100,000 Troll Elves.

The Troll Elves’ counterattack was in no way inferior to the Gigantes’ majesty.

Rather, they surrounded the large Gigantes, making it impossible for them to move.

Although their size was only about half of the Gigantes’ 6 meters, at 3 meters, they surrounded the enemies by making full use of their tremendous healing power and overwhelming numbers like trolls.

From a distance, it looked like a queen ant surrounded by a swarm of small fire ants.

As time passed, Gigantes who lost their limbs and fell were constantly appearing, and the corpses of Troll Elves who were hit by huge axes and maces were piling up higher and higher.

The battle between the infantry was even more fierce.

The number of infantry on both sides was an enormous 2 million, so their battlefield spanned tens of kilometers in radius.

Screams and cries erupted constantly from all directions.

The battlefield, which had become a living hell, was filled with mountains of corpses of soldiers who had become lumps of meat, and the blood gushing from their bodies flowed like a river.

In the chaos of the vast battlefield, the command system had long been rendered meaningless.

The soldiers only rushed at the enemy in front of them in order to survive.

In such a chaotic situation, the dwarves, who were ambushing to surprise the enemy’s flank, were speechless at the sight before them.

“Damn it! Where’s the flank in this situation?”

The sight that unfolded before them, who had expected it to be the enemy’s flank and ambushed them, was a chaotic battle where they couldn’t even tell which was the front and which was the back.

“Oh well, I don’t know! Charge! Let’s show those guys the taste of the dwarves’ axes!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

As the dwarves charged into the chaotic battle, shouting rough shouts, the dwarf artillerymen supported them with their newly developed state-of-the-art mortars.

In the midst of the battle, the Black Wyvern members, who were waiting at the base camp because of the night operation, were busy stopping their captain.

“Captain, do you really have to go to battle?”

Hollis, the oldest of the members, said with a worried tone, and Kang Chan replied curtly.

“Yes.”

“You’ll be deployed for a night raid anyway, so there’s no need to overdo it from now…”

“That’s that, and this is this. All you have to do is to be fully prepared for tonight’s departure as I instructed.”

“No! We’ll follow you, Captain!”

“That’s right! We can’t just stay here and watch the fire across the river!”

“If you’re going, please take us with you, Captain.”

When all the members insisted on following Kang Chan, Kang Chan raised his voice.

“Everyone, be quiet! Don’t you know that the reason why I can go out to support our allies with peace of mind right now is because of you trustworthy people?”

Kang Chan’s loyal subordinates lowered their heads without saying anything more at his scolding, and Kang Chan said to soothe them.

“I believe you know better than anyone the importance of this operation entrusted to you. So, I want you to stay here and prepare for the operation tonight. That’s all.”

At Kang Chan’s words, the Black Wyvern members reluctantly replied.

“I understand…”

Kang Chan left those subordinates behind and headed to the battlefield with Loki.

“Let’s go, Loki!”

“I’ve been waiting for those words.”

As soon as Kang Chan went outside the barracks, he summoned the Elven Knight.

Then, a huge subspace door opened, and Kang Chan’s Elven Knight revealed its beautiful and magnificent appearance.

The Black Wyvern members exclaimed as they looked at the beautiful Gigantes they had never seen before.

“Beautiful… What country’s Gigantes is that?”

“I don’t know either. I’ve never seen a Gigantes with that kind of appearance before?”

However, unlike them, Jaizen was surprised in a different sense.

‘Where did he leave the monstrous ancient giant he used to ride and bring out the Elven Knight?’

Jaizen, who had seen the Red Rabbit in the Elf Forest in the past, wondered why he had suddenly summoned the Elven Knight. And he was very disappointed. If he had summoned the monstrous ancient giant with that power back then, it would have been of great help in today’s total war.

Without knowing Jaizen’s inner thoughts, Kang Chan boarded the Elven Knight that had appeared in front of him.

“It’s been a while.”

Since it was the first time he had summoned the Elven Knight since signing the contract, Kang Chan gladly stroked the Elven Knight’s cockpit.

Next to Kang Chan’s Elven Knight, Loki unbuckled his belt and released his magic. Soon, Loki slowly returned to his original form in a dazzling light.