Chapter 79

The next day, the dragon extermination force led by Pujol Gijen finally reached the main nest of the dragon swarm.

The nest of the dragon swarm was a horizontal cave dug into a cliff deep in the dense forest. However, it was not a deep cave. It was merely a large, shallow indentation at the base of the cliff. Therefore, it was impossible to hide, but it provided some protection from rain and wind. Due to its location at the base of the cliff, no large trees grew there, only low, soft ferns. It was not a bad environment for the dragons to rest.

Such indentations at the base of cliffs are not uncommon, but one large enough to accommodate hundreds of dragons is indeed rare. The sight of hundreds of dragons sprawled out there was not just unusual; it was awe-inspiring.

The dragon extermination force led by General Pujol tried to approach as cautiously as possible, but it was difficult to sneak up on the highly sensitive dragons.

As a result, the battle between the main dragon swarm and the dragon extermination force had to take the form of an encounter, which was somewhat regrettable.

“Gyaa!!”

“Shield soldiers, maintain formation! Archers, fire! Don’t worry about friendly fire; it will only increase casualties! Shoot without hesitation!”

The aggression of the dragons, which had been attacked while their females and young were present, was on a different level from before. The only saving grace was that each dragon was generally smaller and less powerful compared to the fifty dragons they had faced in previous raids.

Although the soldiers had anticipated an encounter and maintained their formation before engaging, they were not entirely at ease psychologically.

“Understood, damn it, how many of these things are there!?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.”

The soldiers, cursing under their breath, sweated both from exertion and fear, using sturdy wooden shields to resist the pressure of the dragons. Even though the dragons were classified as medium-sized among carnivorous dragons, they were much larger than humans. It was nearly impossible for a single soldier, no matter how well-trained, to stop them head-on. Therefore, the shield soldiers on the front line held one shield between two of them to resist the advancing dragons.

Even so, the sheer strength would have favored the dragons, but coordination and attacks from the rear made the difference.

“Ggyaa!!”

“Guh, they’re coming!”

“Support from behind, hold your ground!”

“Damn it, you bastards, just die already!”

Those with free hands supported the two shield soldiers from behind, while the archers in the rear rained arrows on the approaching dragons. This allowed the front line to maintain a stalemate and gradually reduce the number of dragons.

The shield soldiers hindered the movement of the dragons, and the archers finished off the immobilized dragons. As long as this coordinated action was maintained, the soldiers could hold their own against the dragons. The problem was the stamina of the shield soldiers on the front line, but that was where the commander’s skill came into play, compensating with numbers.

“The pressure on the right flank is weakening. The Third Squadron, join the right flank now. The Second Squadron, fall back to the rear from the right flank. In conjunction with the changeover, the archer units should concentrate their fire on the right flank to support the changeover.”

“Understood!”

Following General Pujol’s orders, the entire force moved. The reason humans could compete with the dragon species, which had far superior physical abilities, was due to such intelligent actions.

The attacks of the dragon swarm, lacking overall coordination, were inconsistent. This allowed the soldiers to rotate and recover from fatigue or, conversely, to force the dragons to expend more energy by exploiting these inconsistencies.

Even though the area near the cliff was relatively open, it became more wooded as one moved away. It should have been difficult to grasp the entire battlefield, but there was no hesitation in General Pujol’s command.

Chabiel Gazier, standing beside the general like an adjutant, couldn’t help but look at him with admiration.

“Sir, how do you keep track of the entire army’s movements?”

Given the relatively favorable progress of the battle, General Pujol, who had some leeway, answered the question of the small next-generation border lord who looked up at him.

“Usually, it’s 70% vision, 20% hearing, and 10% intuition and smell. But in a battlefield with poor visibility like this, it’s 50% vision, 20% hearing, 10% other senses, and 20% prediction based on prior information. Well, I ordered the changeover because I could see that the number of dragons on the right flank was visibly fewer.”

“Huh? Visibly?”

Tilting his head, Chabiel stretched to look in the direction of the right flank, but all he could see were the branches of trees and the backs of his fellow soldiers.

Noticing the difference, General Pujol chuckled and said,

“Ah, you can’t see them, Chabiel. From here, I can see the heads of the dragons.”

Standing at less than 170 cm, Chabiel and the nearly 2-meter-tall General Pujol literally had different “views.”

“...I can’t see them.”

“...”

The small boy turned slightly, pouting, and the giant general, as if to comfort him, patted his head lightly without a word.

The battle was proceeding smoothly.

Of course, this was from the perspective of the commander overseeing the entire situation from the rear. The view of the shield soldiers on the front line, who were bracing themselves against the dragons’ attacks, had not changed since the start of the battle.

In front of them were countless dragons. In their ears was the deafening roar of the dragons. Their noses were already numb from the thick blood of the dragons.

New recruits, when they were rotated to the rear, often collapsed as if they had fallen on their butts.

However, General Pujol, who was commanding the entire force from the rear, understood the situation of the new recruits and judged that there was no problem.

Indeed, the soldiers were quite exhausted, but the rate at which the dragons were being repelled was much higher. So far, there had been no confirmed casualties on their side, while nearly a third of the dragons had already been defeated. The battlefield had to be cleared several times due to the scattered bodies of over a hundred dead dragons.

As a result, the battle that had started in the open space near the cliff had now moved to a poorly visible area with scattered trees.

“Still, it’s not good to retreat any further. Ideally, I’d like them to come here.”

General Pujol, commanding from the rear, slowly surveyed the battlefield and muttered. The enraged dragons, whose nest had been attacked, had been following their retreat, but if the casualties increased any further, they would likely start to flee.

It was unrealistic to completely surround and exterminate the dragons that chose to flee in the dense forest. However, that wasn’t a big problem.

Originally, the dragon swarm was not a threat that required the mobilization of the national army. If they could defeat the exceptional existence that led the hundreds of dragons—the boss, the giant dragon—the swarm would not be able to maintain a threat to the country. The dragons, already reduced by more than a third, would scatter into small groups of less than ten after the confusion of losing their boss.

At that time, it was hoped that territorial disputes would lead to infighting among them.

Therefore, the priority was not to reduce the total number of dragons but to ensure the defeat of the giant dragon, the boss.

General Pujol, keeping his gaze forward, spoke to the veteran knight captain standing to his right.

“Has the giant dragon been sighted yet?”

“No, sir. There have been no reports of engagement or sightings.”

The giant dragon, the boss, was at least twice the size of a regular dragon. If it were present, it would be strange if no one had seen at least its shadow, even if it were holding back in the rear.

Furrowing his brow slightly at the words of the veteran knight, who was the deputy commander of the entire force, General Pujol muttered,

“That means the giant dragon is not here. It’s more likely that it has gone hunting with the fifty main dragons.”

They had launched a surprise attack on the main force while the boss and the main group were away from the nest. It sounded good, but since the primary target was the giant dragon, the boss, this was more of a “miss.”

“I don’t want to retreat any further, considering the future…”

Saying this, General Pujol glanced to the left.

If his prediction was not far off, the raiding force led by the giant dragon should be coming from that direction.

It wasn’t a complicated matter. The activity range of the dragon swarm had been somewhat predictable from previous reconnaissance. Since they had advanced cautiously from the salt road to this point, and had not encountered the raiding force during the advance, the remaining possibility was limited.

The only direction that remained a blind spot within the activity range of the dragon swarm, which they had not encountered during their advance, was the direction General Pujol was now looking at.

The raiding force led by the giant dragon was absent from the nest.

Considering this possibility, General Pujol had kept about eighty core members of the Dragon Bow Cavalry, who had not participated in the battle, as a reserve force under his direct command.

However, if the front line retreated any further, it would be difficult for General Pujol’s direct force to stop the boss dragons when they appeared at the expected location.

On the other hand, the front line was approaching its limit. The bodies of the defeated dragons were scattered everywhere, and the grass was wet with the blood flowing from them. The shield soldiers, supporting each other in a scrum, had not fallen yet, but it was only a matter of time.

After a moment’s thought, General Pujol reluctantly made a decision.

“Retreat the front line once more. Issue the order to the entire force.”

The veteran knight standing beside him reacted immediately to the general’s words.

“Yes, retreat the entire force! Archers, fall back first and form your ranks. Shield soldiers, hold your ground for a moment. Archers, fire on the signal. Shield soldiers, retreat together!”

Following the orders of the veteran knight, the entire force began to retreat in an orderly manner. Just then,

“Shgyaa!!?”

As if on cue, the raiding force led by the giant dragon, which had gone hunting, returned.

“Sir!”

Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, the young Chabiel Gazier let out a flustered cry. At the moment they were ordered to retreat, fifty new dragons appeared from the side. Even if the dragons had no such intention, it was as if they had been ambushed. It was understandable that Chabiel was flustered.

However, General Pujol saw this as a stroke of luck.

“Leave the overall command to Selhico. Follow me with the direct force! Lord Chabiel, come with me!”

In an instant, General Pujol delegated overall command to the deputy commander and charged towards the giant dragon.

“Yes, understood! Good luck!”

“Yes, sir!”

What General Pujol feared most was that the giant dragon would immediately flee. The boss of the swarm abandoning the females and young to flee was not a natural behavior for dragons, but large, experienced dragons sometimes made decisions based on acquired judgment rather than innate instincts, as the expert hunters had said.

If the core fifty dragons centered around the giant dragon were allowed to escape, it would be better to have some chaos and casualties on the front line.

In that sense, the return of the giant dragon at this moment was “fortunate,” as General Pujol judged. By showing a “weakness” by retreating, the cautious giant dragon chose to attack in this situation.

“Gyaa!!”

The dragons, whose nest had been attacked and whose females and young had been killed, attacked the left flank of the retreating shield soldiers with unprecedented aggression. Even with only fifty dragons, if they were hit from the side while retreating, the front line could collapse.

“Direct force, stop them!”

General Pujol, who had rushed from the rear at full speed, threw his short spear with his right hand, striking the side of the leading dragon.

“Gyaa!?”

The short spear, thrown with General Pujol’s immense strength, was no joke. The dragon, hit in the side, rolled over, taking several others with it. The speed of the dragon charge inevitably slowed. In that brief moment, General Pujol’s direct force successfully slid into the gap between the front line and the dragons, protecting the side of the front line.

“It’s going to be a melee. Everyone, do your best!”

“Yes, sir!”

Even General Pujol, who had rushed to the rescue at full speed, had no choice but to give such an order. The formation was already broken. Inevitably, the eighty cavalry of the Dragon Bow Cavalry, led by General Pujol, and the fifty dragons led by the giant dragon, entered a chaotic melee.

In the dense forest with trees, engaging in a melee with dragons would mean certain death for ordinary soldiers, but the cavalry of the Dragon Bow Cavalry were not ordinary soldiers. Even if they dismounted from their dragon mounts and fought with spears and swords instead of their dragon bows, they were still elite soldiers.

“Gah!”

“I’ll take care of this side!”

“Gii!?”

“Tch, still moving?”

“Goo!”

“The finishing blow!”

The elite soldiers of the Dragon Bow Cavalry slaughtered the dragons without hesitation, even in the chaos. Originally, each of these elite soldiers was capable of winning a one-on-one melee with a dragon. With a numerical advantage of eighty to fifty, and despite the terrain favoring the dragons, they were not about to lose easily.

In that sense, Chabiel was in the most difficult situation.

“Damn!”

“Shgyaa!”

Chabiel, holding a short spear with both hands, was facing a dragon but was being pushed back. Although he was skilled with a bow, he was not adept at melee combat with a spear or sword. He had sufficient martial talent, but his small stature and lack of physical strength made him a weak warrior.

“Lord Chabiel, don’t overexert yourself. Just protecting yourself is fulfilling your role on the battlefield.”

“I know!”

While swinging his sword, the knight Josep, who was concerned for Chabiel, received a sharp response. Chabiel was not angry or in a bad mood; he simply had no room for anything else.

On the other hand, General Pujol was cutting through the swarm of dragons without hesitation, heading straight for the giant dragon, the boss.

“Hmph.”

The curved sword in General Pujol’s right hand easily sliced through the thick skin of the attacking dragons, while the bronze round shield in his left hand deflected their claws and fangs effortlessly.

Cutting through and knocking down the swarm of dragons, General Pujol approached the giant dragon, the boss.

“So, this is the source of all the trouble. Indeed, this is quite a monster.”

Having engaged the giant dragon, General Pujol looked up at it and muttered with a slightly exasperated tone.

In fact, the giant dragon was much larger than the standard for its species. While a regular dragon would be about the same eye level as the nearly two-meter-tall General Pujol, even he had to look up to meet the giant dragon’s gaze.

“Graaa!”

The giant dragon, which had always held back in the rear and never engaged in battle, had no choice but to attack when General Pujol approached so closely.

It raised its ridiculously large, clawed front leg and brought it down on General Pujol’s head.

“Gii, gii!”

A simple downward strike, but the height and mass alone made it a formidable attack.

“Tch!”

General Pujol, who was usually agile despite his large build, had no room to maneuver in the chaos and stood firmly, deflecting the giant dragon’s claws with his curved sword and round shield.

“Shgyaa! Gii, gii, gaa!”

“Guh!”

The giant dragon, attacking relentlessly, and General Pujol, defending steadfastly.

While enduring the attacks, General Pujol called out loudly.

“Lord Chabiel! As you can see, I’m struggling to defend myself. I need your support!”

Hearing the general’s loud call for help, Chabiel Gazier, who had just defeated a dragon in front of him, turned his gaze to General Pujol’s back with a startled expression.

“Understood! Immediately!”

Chabiel pulled his short spear from the throat of the dragon he had just killed and was about to charge.

But he was stopped by Knight Josep, who grabbed his shoulder from behind.

“Lord Chabiel, it’s dangerous.”

The serious tone of his words instantly cooled Chabiel’s excitement.

“Right.”

General Pujol was in the middle of the dragon swarm. Although the density of the dragons had thinned due to the favorable progress of the battle, if Chabiel tried to break through the enemy lines as General Pujol had, he would likely risk his life unnecessarily.

Therefore, he had to support from this position.

Reflexively, Chabiel reached back with his left hand, but his beloved bow was not there.