Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 287

Magic is Learned in Vain – Episode 288 (288/502)

# 288

Territory Invasion (1)

“Is everyone here?”

Baron Somaek asked, looking at his nearly one thousand subordinates.

“Yes, strategist.”

The knights lowered their heads, their eyes fierce.

A total of 3,000 troops.

Among them, the unit assigned to Baron Somaek numbered 500 men.

The advance party and vanguard.

It’s impossible to move 3,000 soldiers recklessly without any information, even for a well-trained elite army.

Marquis Porse’s forces were on par with the Royal Capital Defense Legion, known as the kingdom’s finest.

They had been trained for a long time and had plenty of combat experience.

A battle that must be won. Marquis Porse was filled with the determination never to lose. He remembered how happy he was to become a Frontier Count.

At most, the territory’s forces would number five hundred.

Doesn’t the lion give his all when hunting a rabbit? Marquis Porse was planning to crush the territory in one fell swoop, capturing and destroying everything.

No surrender would be accepted.

Baron Somaek smiled with satisfaction as he looked at his brave subordinates.

The advance party consisted of 500 men.

Among them, 30 knights could use Mana Blade [a technique to imbue weapons with magical energy].

Five Warlocks, close-combat battle mages with good stamina.

Five rear support-type ranged mages.

Thirty well-trained Rangers.

Ten healers.

One hundred fifty light infantrymen who could launch surprise attacks with quick movements, and the rest were heavy infantrymen, the most expensive to maintain.

It was an excessive force to be called a vanguard.

Leading such a unit as *just* the vanguard!

Baron Somaek didn’t even consider the possibility of defeat. A force that couldn’t lose even if it wanted to. If such a thing were to happen, he would have to bite his tongue and die as the commander.

“Good. Have the Rangers arrived?”

Baron Somaek asked the knight who was acting as his adjutant.

“Yes.”

“How far is it from here to Count Legion’s territory?”

“About 10 kilometers. If we march quietly, we’ll arrive in two and a half hours.”

“Good, approach quietly. There’s no need to go noisily on purpose.”

There was no need to unnecessarily expose the allied forces’ position.

Baron Somaek did not underestimate Count Legion. He was the one who had been secretly hiding the Crown Prince without anyone knowing.

He was promoted from Baron to Count in one fell swoop.

A very ambitious man.

He couldn’t believe that such a man wouldn’t have any defenses in his territory.

He could tell just by the fact that not a single one of the informants he had sent in had returned alive.

“They say there’s a huge wall at the entrance to Count Legion’s territory. A scale that’s hard to believe.”

“A huge wall?”

“Yes. They said it’s unbelievable that there’s such a large fortress-level wall in a place like this.”

“Is that so? Just how big is it…….”

“According to the Rangers who went on reconnaissance… it’s similar to the famous fortress of the Empire’s Malcom Mountains, the Fortress of Despair.”

“Huh! Is that even possible?”

Baron Somaek looked at his adjutant as if he was dumbfounded.

The Fortress of Despair!

One of the three major fortresses on the continent!

The strongest defense facility of mankind, which has never allowed enemy invasion in the past 1,000 years. But this remote territory is comparable to that place?

It was an unbelievable story.

“Haha! There must have been a misunderstanding.”

“Right? How could such a ridiculous thing happen?”

“That’s right. There must have been some kind of mistake.”

“I see.”

Baron Somaek nodded.

But still, Count Legion… He’s quite the sly fox. If the scout said that, he must have built a pretty big wall, so he must be a very ambitious man.

For such an ambitious man to have been hiding for so long.

But he’s a fool.

It would have been better if he had joined our Gongwang faction [likely a political or noble faction]. He boarded the wrong ship.

“What’s the troop size?”

“The wall itself doesn’t seem to be that big. The number of guards on and around it is only fifteen. So it’s estimated that the total troop strength won’t exceed 200. They said it’s an absurdly small number of troops compared to the wall.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, judging from that, it’s expected that the wall was not built by them directly, but rather repaired from something that was built in the past.”

“That’s right. This is the Dusselruf Mountains, so a wall is essential to prevent monster attacks.”

“That’s right.”

“Then there’s no need to worry.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Let’s start the march. The hardship ends today. Plunder to your heart’s content! Burn it all to your heart’s content!”

At Baron Somaek’s words, the soldiers shouted, revealing their desires to the fullest.

It was then.

Wheeeeeeeek-

A loud tearing sound was heard above their heads.

It was the sound of the sky tearing apart. The sound was getting closer and closer.

Baron Somaek and his subordinates naturally raised their heads and looked at the sky where the tearing sound was coming from.

And-

Their eyes began to fill with astonishment.

That monster that had plunged the Holy Capital Poman into terror.

Wasn’t the Bone Dragon approaching, flapping its huge wings?

“Why, why, why is the Bone Dragon here?”

Baron Somaek was too surprised to speak.

“This is the Dusselruf Mountains.”

The adjutant’s words contained everything. The Dusselruf Mountains are home to all kinds of monsters that humans don’t know about.

Even if there was a Bone Dragon… it wouldn’t be a strange area.

“No way… shouldn’t the Bone Dragon not exist in the world…?”

No one could answer that question.

Whatever they thought, it was clear that the Bone Dragon had appeared, and the Bone Dragon was rushing straight at them.

“Damn it, it’s coming here! Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Baron Somaek shouted.

At his shout, the soldiers hurriedly took out their bows and strung them. The light infantrymen loaded their quarrels [a type of short, heavy bolt for crossbows]. But everyone’s face was full of embarrassment.

It didn’t seem like they could catch the Bone Dragon with these iron arrows.

“Mages, start the bombardment!”

At the same time, dozens of fireballs flew into the air.

Quite powerful, dozens of streaks of fire and wind magic that would strongly burn those streaks of fire were spewed from all directions.

But all of that…….

It was just a pitiful force.

The streaks of fire, which lightly burst from the Bone Dragon’s pier, exploded without even reaching the Bone Dragon.

Bone Dragon – in fact, it was stronger than before.

The epitome of Bide’s technology, and the concentration of Mammon and Shuttle’s magical power, it was no exaggeration to say that this Bone Dragon *was* that.

It even included Mark’s future technology.

Absolute magic defense, and an advanced form of the magic stone that Mammon had been researching for 250 years was invested. Mammon injected a huge magic stone into the Bone Dragon’s heart in various combinations, and in the center of it, he absorbed a little of the Black Dragon’s energy from Legion’s magic power.

In other words, the Bone Dragon’s magic power now was difficult to compare to its magic power in life, but it was already almost half of what it was back then.

Not only that.

Shuttle implanted numerous magic stones throughout the Bone Dragon’s body as designed.

In fact, this was Yi Yi Jei [likely a reference to using an enemy’s strength against them]. In other words, it was based on the plan to defeat the barbarians with barbarians…….

‘Damn Bone Dragon! How dare you not listen to me.’

At the same time, Shuttle was squatting in the corner of the wall, shedding tears.

The Bone Dragon, created by pouring in his soul, was enough to make Shuttle age 10 years in the meantime.

The reason for all of this was to kill Legion!

Each magic stone was enchanted with large and small magics, and the Bone Dragon could directly operate at least 100 kinds of magic.

The plan was to pour it all on Legion, that damn master…….

The Bone Dragon had come to like Legion.

How could he like a mere human more than himself, a necromancer?

-Kkkkkkkkkruk (If you attack Legion-nim one more time, I will devour you.)!

Shuttle was hurt by those words and hadn’t eaten for four days.

Kukukukukung!

The Bone Dragon, who was flying happily in the sky, narrowed his brow at the sudden explosion (there was actually no skin on his brow to wrinkle, but that’s how the Bone Dragon felt right now.)

Numerous humans below were looking at him and quacking like ducks.

It was a group that felt hostile.

Once again, a magical attack flew from them. More than a dozen spells collided with the Bone Dragon’s barrier and exploded.

Originally, the Bone Dragon is a transcendent monster that moves only with destructive instincts.

If he hadn’t been equipped with some of the artificial intelligence, his instincts would have exploded at the same time as his birth and destroyed a city in half a day.

But thanks to artificial intelligence, the Bone Dragon gained cognitive ability.

However, the Bone Dragon’s personality was not good enough to be hit and live.

How dare you attack me? Even a tiny human?

Suddenly, the anger from before his death surged up. Ah, no, I have to kill those bastards.

The Bone Dragon’s anger exploded.

-Krrr (On the Ice Bolt)!

A shimmering light appeared in front of the Bone Dragon, and hundreds of ice arrows were created and fired forward as they were.

It poured down like a meteor on Baron Somaek and his soldiers.

Kukukukukukung!

The wide basin was instantly devastated. A huge glacier was created, and sharp fragments of ice flew in all directions.

Startled birds flapped their wings and flew away.

Numerous monsters and wild animals were startled and ran away.

For them, it was more difficult to endure the Bone Dragon’s malicious murderous intent than the sudden glacier.

-Krrr (May you all sleep in ten thousand years of ice)!

The Bone Dragon landed on the ice, leisurely flapping its wings.

The Bone Dragon reflected in the eyes of Baron Somaek and his soldiers-

Was like-

A white glacier demon.

“Aaaaaaaaaaak!”

* * *

“Hoo…….”

My situation is miserable.

What on earth am I, who has lived for 300 years, doing?

Licensed real estate agent Elf Dapala was cleaning Pretea’s lair, looking back on his miserable situation.

“What sins did I commit in my past life to deserve this.”

The reason he was cleaning this place-

Was that he hadn’t properly managed it while Pretea was away…….

From Dapala’s point of view, it was absurd.

“No! Am I her servant, her slave? I’m not a butler, why do I have to manage her house? I’m a licensed real estate agent. A licensed real estate agent who has obtained a license certified by the entire Elven Council! I’m an elf who brokers the sale of houses. Isn’t that right?”

Of course, he couldn’t say that to Pretea. If he did, she might say, ‘Be my servant from today.’

Dapala was so angry that he threw the broom he was holding on the floor.

Don Dechman or whatever.

Just three people turned this huge lair into a mess.

They took all the money. No, then just take it. Why did you destroy everything?

It was confirmed that there was a huge battle here.

But it’s in a direction that the CCTV didn’t capture, so I can’t confirm what they did.

One thing is certain-

It was done by great powerhouses.

Looking at the lair being devastated, you can roughly guess how great they are.

He knows who they are.

Dapala, who has never been involved in the human world, knows about Don Dechman and Jack Nicher.

They seemed to be quite great people.

So they even robbed the lair of the ferocious Red Dragon Pretea.

Thanks to that, Pretea, who was furious, polymorphed [changed her shape] and jumped into the human world to catch Don Dechman.

It’s been quite a long time since she left home.

Judging from the fact that there’s still no contact, it seems like she hasn’t caught Don Dechman.

He’s not an ordinary human after all.

To be able to survive in Pretea’s hands until now!

That’s that… why do I have to repair the lair here for months?

Dapala was feeling a sense of identity confusion.

He lied to his family that he was on a business trip. His son smiled and said, ‘Dad, buy me a Carbot when you come!’

“Okay.”

He answered, but he was sad.

Carbot is a recently popular artificial intelligence Golem. It was also a character that was very popular with children.

What Carbot.

If I stay here, I’m going to become a Carbot.

There was only one person who helped him. He was the only one who answered back.

The other guardians were all fired. Only the Iron Golem, who happened to be on vacation, was not fired and was cleaning the lair with Dapala.

“Are the other guys still outside?”

Dapala asked the Iron Golem.

“Yeah.”

“They’re out of their minds. A sit-in in front of Pretea-nim’s lair.”

“Because they were forcibly fired.”

“Even so. Aren’t they scared? They must have received severance pay, right?”

“They only received 30 percent.”

“Really? Why?”

“They couldn’t protect the lair.”

“Ah, the owner is scary after all. Even so, how can you only give 30 percent of the severance pay.”

“It’s up to the owner. They can’t do anything about it because it’s 100 percent ownership.”

“…….”

Dapala felt a deep sense of frustration.

“So the fired people are going to keep doing that outside?”

“Yeah, they want a full refund of their severance pay. Or at least a job placement.”

“They’re crazy.”

Dapala shook his head. Dozens of fired guardians were holding pamphlets and protesting. They even set up a tent and ate and slept there.

-Awaken the evil employer Red Dragon Pretea!

-Guarantee our right to live!

-Are contract workers not guardians either!

That was what was written on the pamphlets.

In Dapala’s opinion – those guardians will all die when the Red Dragon Pretea returns. So he told them to go back several times, but it didn’t work.

Dapala could only sigh, praying for their fate.

It was then.

Krrrrrrrrrr.

Suddenly, the lair shook as if there was an earthquake.

The murals and beautiful sculptures on the ceiling, which had been barely completed, lost their balance and fell to the floor.

Kwajijijijijik!

They all break.

“Aaaaaaak!”

Dapala tore at his hair.

The broken sculptures and murals made him go crazy more than the earthquake. The one who has to make them again is none other than himself.

The Iron Golem, whose fingers are the size of cannonballs, can’t do such delicate work.

“What on earth is going on!”

Dapala felt like he was going crazy.

The vibration became more severe.

Soon-

Kukukukung!

The floor of the lair suddenly sank.

Startled, Dapala and the Iron Golem quickly stepped back.

Kukukukukukung!