The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 254
As the nature of the dungeon became clear, the strategy for clearing it also became apparent.
“Have each group spread out and destroy the stone pillars that look like monuments. You can only enter the center by destroying those. There’s a high possibility of enemy attacks during this, so be on high alert.”
Just like the monster bears that attacked at the first found stone pillar’s location, there will likely be enemies guarding these monuments.
Ash nods in agreement with my prediction.
“In other words, the likelihood of finding enemies is high where these stone pillars are located. Perhaps a search-focused approach would be better.”
“I’ll leave that decision to the leaders of each unit. And one more thing, before destroying the stone pillars, please meticulously copy the inscriptions on them. You won’t be able to read the text, so just copy it like drawing a picture. Once you’re ready, depart immediately!”
The personnel start determining their directions and moving swiftly.
I also lead my subordinates to search for the stone pillars.
As Ash said, it seemed finding the enemies was the key.
Eonia, who was moving while scanning the front, stands before me and shouts.
“Lord Ars! Stay behind me! Enemies!”
What appeared was a pack of wolf-like beasts.
The wolf that seemed to be their leader was larger than the monster bears from earlier, but even more impressive was that its fur was shining brilliantly in a golden color.
As its murderous gaze fixed upon us, I felt a chill down my spine.
‘This is a dangerous one!’
I quickly drew my weapon, trembling all over.
Meanwhile, someone else was experiencing tremors for a different reason.
Beato mutters in disbelief.
“The golden wolf that protected the elves’ sacred lands…! Could the ancient legend be true…!?”
“I understand what you want to say, but prepare for battle right now!”
“Wait a moment! It’s said that the golden wolf Prokin possessed transcendent intelligence! So if we could just talk…”
“That very intelligence is why it knows we’re intruders and wants to kill us!”
Judging by its killing intent, it didn’t seem like communication would work.
It gave attack orders to its wolf subordinates and then charged in with lightning speed.
Its target was Beato, who was panicking and defenseless.
“Tch!”
“Hah!”
Kang! Gaspar’s greatsword and my sword-spear blocked its large claws.
After pushing the beast back, I shouted.
“Gunther! Eo! Take care of the other small fry!”
That wasn’t easy. The wolves were quicker than expected. They could even dodge Eonia’s spear skillfully.
Ironically, Gunther’s performance was even better.
Gunther grabbed a wolf’s fur with his rough palm, then slammed it to the ground, killing it.
Even the wolves were hesitant before his tremendous strength.
Perhaps because of this, the golden wolf began to focus on Gunther.
‘This is dangerous…’
If our most balanced team was struggling like this, other teams might be in even more danger.
“Ars! I’ll hold this flashy guy’s leg! Take your shot in that moment!”
“…!”
Responding to Gaspar’s suggestion to turn the tide with an explosive magical spear, I back-tumbled to dodge the attacking small wolf and strongly struck its back.
The kick was so powerful that the wolf’s spine broke, killing it instantly.
Jumping about 6 meters, I enchanted my spear mid-air.
Pajijijik! The magical spear quickly taking shape.
Gaspar rushes to the golden wolf and performs a trick.
-Kuoooot!?
The golden wolf roars. Somehow, one of its hind legs was already tied with a rope.
Gaspar grins ominously.
“After all, you’re just a beast…!”
Kwak! Gaspar gripped the hand holding the rope. Magic flowed in, significantly strengthening the rope’s durability and temporarily immobilizing the beast.
“Ars! Shoot!”
“Heuup!”
Papang! The spear, bursting with power, flew towards the wolf’s hind leg fixed by the rope. They aimed specifically at the fixed area to reduce its chance of dodging.
Since it was a monster that walks on four legs, losing one leg would mean losing more than half its strength.
That was their calculation.
The wolf seemed to have made a similar calculation and faced the spear head-on to protect its leg.
“What…?”
I could only watch in astonishment.
Golden magical energy swirled and gathered in its mouth. It roared like blowing wind.
-Kuooooot!
The magical wave launched with that roar engulfed the flying spear.
My spear tried to pierce through the wave, but as the magical coating was stripped away by its breath, the light magic inside exploded.
Kwagwang! An enormous explosion that stole all sound. However, since the wolf forcibly caused the explosion at the midpoint, it didn’t cause significant damage.
“This can’t be…”
It was an attack that had boasted of being decisive. For the first time, an attack that had even broken a dragon’s barrier was now blocked.
“If it turns out this way, I would actually be at a disadvantage.
Because the wolf was grotesquely crushed and rolling on the floor due to this attack.
At that moment, Gaspar shouts.
“No! It was effective!”
“…!”
It seemed that shooting the breath wasn’t easy for him either, as he visibly appeared exhausted.
Gaspar claimed this was an opportunity and demanded passage.
I tried to help with just one sword, but a spear flew towards me.
“Lord Ars! Please use this!”
It was Eonia who threw her own spear.
Her spear was a bit too long for me to use, but now wasn’t the time to be picky.
“Ars! Be careful, they’re targeting you!”
Gunther grabs a wolf trying to approach me and throws it away while shouting a warning.
It seemed that if I were to grab the spear again, the pack leader would consider it dangerous, and four wolves simultaneously charged.
“Heuup!”
Ting! They were instantly shot down by Eo, who drew her bow.
I gripped the spear and aimed at the golden wolf’s head.
“Okay, I’ve taken care of it!”
That moment.
Sswaek! An arrow flying from the side, targeting my temple.
I momentarily thought Eo might have misfired. Because it felt too similar to the arrows she was shooting.
“Kuk!”
Unable to deflect it with a weapon since my defenses were breached, I could only generate a magic shield to dodge.
But even that was too late, and pik! The arrowhead grazed my forehead as I pulled back.
Due to the resulting bleeding covering my eyes, I instantly fell into a non-combat state.
“Ars!? You bastard-!”
Eonia screamed and then erupted with terrifying murderous intent.
She exploded with rage, shooting multiple arrows in the direction the arrow came from. The archer who shot at me seemed overwhelmed by her momentum and quickly concealed their presence.
-Kuoooot!
The golden wolf issued a retreat order. It seemed they judged that too many subordinates had been lost to Gunther and Eonia.
As soon as the order was given, the wolves swiftly disappeared.
Gaspar irritatedly threw away the severed rope and spoke to me.
“Ars, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. The wound isn’t deep.”
“When that happens, don’t try to avoid it forcibly. Just accept it. Then the teleportation scroll will be activated. It’s good it only grazed your forehead; if it had touched your eye, you would have gone blind.”
“I just moved instinctively without thinking that far.”
At that moment, Eo rushed over.
Her face looked like she was about to cry, and she stomped her feet.
“The, the wound! Are you okay? You must receive treatment from Meissen immediately! I’ll fire a signal flare and summon everyone to this location!”
“I’m fine. It’s not a wound worth making a fuss over.”
“No! The arrow might have been poisoned!”
Eo ended up firing the signal flare.
During this time, Gaspar found a stone tablet nearby.
“Gunther, try pulling out this tree.”
“Yah!”
With an incredible cracking sound, Gunther uproots an entire large tree. Beato was speechless at that unbelievable strength.
After Gunther pulled out the tree, a stone tablet was revealed behind it.
Beato, catching my gaze, nodded and began translating.
* * *
Various teams gathered in response to the sudden signal flare.
Even so, each team had apparently destroyed one stone tablet, true to my vassals.
While Meissen treated my forehead, I listened to Beato’s explanation of the tablet transcripts.
“It seems this wasn’t originally an elven forest. It was just an ordinary mountainous and swampy area.”
“Then why were these golden wolves guarding it?”
“Just listen carefully. It seems Olkin was moved by the noble character of an elven couple living here and bestowed blessings and revelations upon them and their child.”
“Revelations…?”
A word familiar to me recently.
“Anyway, not long after that blessing, elves from the holy land came here. They intended to crown this blessed couple as monarchs. But according to the content of the tablet Elena found, this couple refused to become monarchs. This is the content of the stone tablets we’ve collected so far.”
A story of an elven couple recognized by dragon Olkin.
“Could it be…”
The context of the story was becoming clear.
However, it seemed too coincidental for me right now, as if someone had intentionally guided this narrative, making it difficult to accept readily.
At that moment, Meissen exhales a relieved sigh.
“Treatment is complete. Because it was a sharp cut, it shouldn’t even leave a scar.”
“Thank you.”
As we prepared to restart our journey, I decided to first rescue Eo.
“Ugh…”
Eonia was being thoroughly scolded by Yumir, crouching down.
As Gaspar said, it was a close call where blindness could have occurred if the arrow had touched the eye, so Yumir seemed angry.
“Enough, Yumir. Eonia must have done her best.”
Master Ilya was trying to restrain Yumir, saying a wound or two is like a badge of honor.
“Master is right. I’m fine, so stop.”
“But young master…!”
“If you’re that worried, then Yumir, you can come with me.”
“I will do so.”
Yumir accepts without objection. It seems she was slightly dissatisfied that she wasn’t originally under my command.
I decided to reorganize the team at this opportunity.
Since the enemy’s strength exceeded expectations, I decided to combine the two teams and move together.
“That’s how my team A and Elena’s team B decided to act together.
“According to Eonia’s information, there were eight wedges maintaining the formation of the Kuravel Kingdom. If it’s similar here, three remain. So each of us will destroy one, then gather together to destroy the last one. The enemy’s resistance will be even stronger this time, so be fully prepared. Now, depart immediately!”
Time was getting tight. This operation had lower-level forces deployed in different directions as a diversionary tactic.
Since they couldn’t use the teleportation scroll due to numerical limitations and were fighting a bloody battle, we had to quickly clear the central area.
* * *
Although the enemy’s strength was stronger than expected, it seemed the same was true from their perspective.
Perhaps wary of our power, no battles occurred at the remaining stone tablets.
After destroying two stone tablets, we all gathered and headed towards the location of the last remaining tablet.
That direction was the central area.
“Wait, stop!”
“Hold on!”
Ash and Gaspar simultaneously issued warnings.
Only then could I feel the presence surrounding us.
“Tch, are they trying to encircle us.”
Ping! Tak! Eonia shot down arrows targeting my head, increasing the tension.
“How dare they! Targeting Sir Ars again!”
Eonia counterattacked in the direction of the arrow.
Puk! A human shadow falls from a tree in the distance.
Upon carefully approaching and checking, I saw an elf with an arrow piercing his heart.
“Is this an ancient elf…?”
Their appearance was slightly different from current elves. Their ears were more pointed and longer than pure-blooded elves today, and most notably, their skin had a bluish tint.
The dead ancient elf soon transformed into magic and disappeared.
“Be on guard! Prepare for arrows!”
Master Ilya preemptively established a defensive formation.
At that moment, Sophia approaches me with quick steps.
“Wade, we can’t just stand still. If we stop, external damage will grow exponentially.”
“I understand. You mean we should break through at a single point?”
Sophia nodded heavily.
“I think the Cradle is located where the last stone tablet is.”
By destroying seven stone tablets, the formation had mostly lost its power. The enemies’ attempt to surround us made this clear.
“Alright, I’ll give the signal.”
I signaled my followers with one tactical signal. They nodded and prepared.
Pajik! A magical sphere forming in my hand.
As I slowly raised it into the air, I could feel the enemies watching us focus their gaze on the sphere.
“Now!”
At my signal, my vassals covered their eyes.
Pang! The magical sphere exploded, scattering intense light from within.
This caused the surrounding group to be blinded and fall into confusion. We seized this opportunity to rush towards the central area where the last stone tablet was expected to be.
Slow-moving mages were carried by warriors. I lifted Beato, who was nearby.
As I carried her, her unique fruity fragrance tickled my nose.
“What are you doing! Put me down!”
“Stay still, this is all part of the operation!”
I had to firmly grip Beato’s waist to calm her struggling. It seems I might have accidentally grabbed her buttocks instead.
After finally breaking through the encirclement and securing safety, she tapped my back, demanding to be put down.
“Got it, got it, so stop hitting me.”
“You shameless…!”
Beato blushed with shame. She looked at Margarita and Pion, fellow elves and subordinates, hoping they’d say something, but they just shook their heads, as if they didn’t need to intervene.
“…?”
While I was confused, Ash patted my shoulder.
“I’ll commend that courage. Choosing hell to touch another lady’s buttocks – it’s admirable as a fellow man.”
“…Eek.”
Carefully turning my head, I saw four people staring at me with cold eyes.
But they didn’t seem angry. Rather, they seemed pleased to have found a good pretext.
Excluding Yumir, the other three sent meaningful smiles suggesting expectations for tonight.
I might not get to sleep early tonight.
“Ahem!”
I cleared my throat to disperse the atmosphere and issued the advance command.
After breaking through the encirclement, everything was swift.
After quickly understanding the terrain’s structure and heading to the central area, we finally encountered it.
“Is this… A house?”
A small wooden house was located in the central area.
“That might be the Cradle.”
Whatever it was, there would be clues inside that house.
Just as we were about to approach the house-
“…!?”
Ancient elves and mysterious beasts began appearing one by one, on guard.
The elves were armed with swords and shields, seemingly prepared for a full-scale battle, and the beasts were similarly ready.
There were golden wolves, deer with buffalo-like horns, and a huge toad with an ominous color that seemed to possess potent poison.
Nothing but dangerous-looking monsters.
However, now that all my vassals had gathered, we had sufficient strength to confront them.
“Everyone, battle stations!”
As soon as my command fell, the situation became critically tense.
But then Beato made an unexpected move.
She attempted communication using an incomprehensible ancient elven language.
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