LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 54: They're Coming (2)
Since the attacking side wouldn't have much use for barrier abilities anyway, he judged it better to show it to put them at ease.
Thanks to this, they wouldn't worry about Turan suddenly concealing himself to strike at their backs during battle.
While explaining, Turan noticed a faint look of relief cross Meisa's face.
He could roughly guess the reason.
During their time together at the Berk mansion, while seeming indifferent to most things, she had been full of pride and competitive spirit about magic, believing herself to be the best.
She had even tried corruption magic while pushing herself to the point of fainting.
She must have been startled thinking a rival she considered her equal had reached the level of recreating bloodline abilities through skill, then relieved to learn she wasn't falling behind.
Since people kept coming to see her, suggesting she had many duties as the subjugation force's leader, Turan left the room to avoid bothering her further and went to find Keorn.
He was sitting alone among magical lights so bright they were almost painful to look at.
"Sir."
"Ah, Turan. I heard the talk went well."
"Yes."
Unlike Meisa, he didn't ask how Turan had imitated barrier mage bloodline power.
It wouldn't be strange for anyone to overhear conversations here.
Therefore, instead of having any sensitive discussion, Turan simply repeated what he had heard earlier.
"They plan to attack in three hours, and will select one hundred twenty of the strongest knights among all nobles and knights."
"Good thinking. Based on last time's experience, any more than that would be useless. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go along."
"Were you ordered to standby?"
Though Keorn was old, he had no injuries and his magical power was excellent, making him someone who would definitely be included if selecting elites.
The old knight nodded glumly at Turan's question.
"It would have been nice to fight together, but I feel ashamed sending a young person to battle while this old man stays behind."
"I suppose Hero Keorn's dignity wouldn't survive dying to mere dark elves."
"That's right. Until now they let me fight in relatively safe places, but this battle won't allow for that."
Perhaps not being in the mood for jokes, Keorn only let out a deep sigh despite the mention of the play containing his name, instead of showing embarrassment.
"Then since you're staying here, could you watch Bize until I return?"
"Planning to leave her behind?"
"Yes. The terrain isn't good, and I'm worried she might get hurt by those magical devices the dwarves use."
The ravine where the enemies were hiding had strong turbulence above and winding terrain that made it difficult even for Arabion nobles to fly.
In such conditions, it would be dangerous if she was hit by their metal-shooting magical devices.
He could trust Keorn to take care of Bize.
"I'll guard her with my life. Return safely."
When Turan pulled out the pole Bize was perched on and handed it to Keorn, she clicked her beak as if protesting but didn't throw a tantrum.
Having listened to the meeting alongside them, she seemed to understand she could become a burden.
"Smart one."
[Come back quickly!]
When he stroked her head, touched by her understanding, Bize carved the words into the wooden wall.
==
"Move out."
At Meisa's brief command, twenty-six nobles and one hundred twenty knights began moving.
Their target was the dwarves' lair where the dark elves were hiding.
The most powerful nobles including Meisa, Kadram, and Turan formed the vanguard.
Relatively weaker nobles positioned in the center while knights surrounded the sides and rear in an extended formation.
It was the most efficient formation for breaking through narrow spaces.
After waiting for a few minutes in this formation before a huge rock, the rock split open with a crack, revealing an incredibly deep ravine.
Turan let out a small exclamation at the sight.
"To think I'd actually see this..."
Even the World Tour Journal's author must have only heard legends about this cave's existence rather than seeing it directly.
Moreover, even the Mimicker holy relic couldn't sense any magical power working on this rock's movement.
If the dark elves hadn't left traces while fleeing here, it probably would have remained undiscovered indefinitely.
Shortly after, Arabion's army entered the ravine in high tension.
The smell of blood and rotting corpses that hadn't been detectable until now suddenly wafted over.
Perhaps that splitting rock had some mysterious effect that had been concealing this.
Only faint traces of battle remained throughout the ravine - dried bloodstains and burn marks - but not a single corpse.
They probably took Arabion army's corpses to make into undead, while the dwarf and dark elf corpses were either eaten by their own kind or given proper burial.
While observing this, he sensed presences from both sides of the ravine through the holy relic's sense.
The other side seemed to be noticing their entry and deploying forces as well.
Turan concentrated his senses to observe the forms of dwarves approaching from hundreds of meters away.
'Quite... peculiar.'
Unlike the non-human Prince Arma whom he had seen with the holy relic before, the dwarves' magical structure was closer to the monsters he had seen in the underground labyrinth.
The only difference was that the flame in their heads felt bizarrely tangled.
Could dwarves also be creatures made by the gods?
While thinking this, another type of being was caught in Turan's senses.
They had a form similar to humans but with ears torn lengthwise up and down, and strange light flickered in their brain area.
'Those must be dark elves.'
Though he had met them before, this was his first time seeing them with the Mimicker holy relic's sense.
Only about twenty had light coming from their brains - that must be the characteristic of necromancers.
Meisa seemed to notice as well, narrowing her eyes and raising her hand to stop the army.
"They're coming. Prepare for battle!"
Turan smelled intense tension and fear from those around him.
Having suffered heavy losses from an ambush before, those memories must be vividly returning.
With metallic clicks, holes appeared on both sides of the ravine and dwarves crawled out.