26. The Army Arrives

One month later.

"This is so boring!" The man was covered in golden armor from neck to toe. He carried the golden helmet as he lazily rode his equally armored horse.

"Your Highness, we should be careful. We are still in the desolate land. A moment of carelessness would have cost us our lives."

Thomas, the fifth prince of the Gunder Empire, waved his hand like his explanation didn't amuse him.

"What desolated land? The empire's border is barely a couple of days away from here. It would insult those beasts even to call this a desolate land. Tell me, How many beasts have you seen in the last couple of weeks?"

That was what worried Guntur most. He was one of the guardian knights deployed to the border during the last beast war. He was aware of how fearsome these beasts of fallen light could be.

And that is what worried him most. It was well known that the beasts, like goblins and kobolds, were instinct-driven. No matter how often they were killed, they would grow like weeds. 

Yet they didn't meet a single big group of beasts. It had been almost eight months since the war. Their number should have recovered by now. Yet all they met were a few goblins and kobolds. 

"What is confusing is that there are no humans either. Weren't those criminals and the disgusting half-ling supposed to live in the place near the border?"

"There were signs of fighting in all the settlements we have visited. It was like they had been killed or enslaved." That was the only reason Guntur could think of. 

"Do you know what I think has happened?" Thomas excitedly provided his theory: "I think those things who were hunting humans and halflings are also killing the beast."

It was hard for Guntur to believe him because he could not fathom what kind of monster could prey on both humans and the beast of fallen light. 

"My lord, my lord…" The scout came riding his horse, which the guard of the fifth prince quickly stopped. The scout jumped off the horse and went onto his knees before them. "We have found something."

"Something!?"

"A forest!" The Scout wasn't sure how to explain it. "There are many trees."

"What are you talking about?" Guntur frowned.

"There were more than 50 trees in the area. It is not the trees that could be seen in the desolate land. My keen senses told me the trees were giving off light mana. I think it is the same kind of holy tree that the church recently transported from Olmo to the Shinok."

"Have you gone mad?" Guntur couldn't help but massage his forehead.

"Look around you. Do you think the land tainted with dark mana for centuries could even sprout trees that contain light mana?"

"I know your majesty." The scout dared not look up but continued, "That is why I would like to ask for a mage to accompany me so we can confirm the…"

"Why do I need to lend you a mage? Won't I be enough?"

"You majesty, you mustn't." Guntur was the first one to refuse. "If what the scout says is true, then it might be something we have never seen before."

"Don't worry." Thomas smiled at him, adding, "You will come too."

The place the scout led them was about a few kilometers away. While the rest of the army slowly followed them at average speed, they moved faster.

"Ah! That is like an oasis in the middle of the desert." 

It was as the scout had said. The barren landscape did not precisely have any big trees at all, but the ones that did were few and far between. 

"Other than the patches of blood-rain and iron-wood trees, there were few forests on the outskirts of the desolate land. However, none of them has such lush green leaves."

"Is that why you said it had light mana?" Guntur gave the scout a confused look.

The scout shook his head. But before he could answer, Agnes, the mage of the imperial guard unit, stepped forward and added, "He might not be wrong."

"Agnes!?" Thomas looked at her.

"They are a special kind of tree. There is only one place on the continent where you can see them in abundance."

"Where?"

"At Shinok."

"Oh!"

"I think you have misunderstood something, Your Majesty. You can't find these trees even in Kipling Forest."

"Not even the elf forest? Isn't that the location where the world tree blessed the earth?"

"That is what I am talking about. These trees can only be seen in the sacred land of Shinok, where there is an abundance of mana."

"Are you trying to say that these trees need light mana to grow?"

Agnes shook her head, adding, "Not just light mana. They need holy light to grow."

"Holy light!?"

"It is the pure form of the light mana that only the top brass of the church can wield."

Thomas thought for a moment before a smile appeared on his face. "Guntur, we will put our base here."

"Your Highness!?"

"If what Agnes had said is true, then we have no reason to worry. If the primordial light blesses those trees, doesn't that mean that is the best place to put up a camp?"

"Your Highness might not be wrong, but…" Agnes couldn't say for sure.

"I can understand. Guntur, take the best knights with you. Check out the forest. If you see any creature, simply kill them."

"As you wish, your majesty." Guntur didn't waste any time and rode with half of the imperial guard squad while the rest were left behind to protect the imperial prince.

"There is one thing I couldn't understand, Agnes. Why does a tree even grow here? Even if it is on the outskirts, this is still where darkness is most dominant. Those things shouldn't be growing here."

"The only reason I can think of is that a cardinal or a crusader fought here. A priest might have been here too."

"Why would they…" Thomas paused, thinking, "Could the rumor be true."

"I don't think you can call it a rumor anymore." Agnes shook her head, adding, "We have enough proof that this war was a retaliation from the creature of darkness."

"So, it is true that they had killed a witch?"

"Not just any witch. It was a witch of Torrefy. She was one of the strongest and oldest witches. Two of the warlords were under her. I heard that they even killed one of the warlords, too. The warlord of the mountain troll."

"I don't understand why they would even need to poke a sleeping giant."

"I heard that even a saint candidate and a crusader was also killed."

"In the war?"

Agnes shook her head, adding, "That was what happened at the place near Olmo."

"And we lost so many cities." Thomas sighed momentarily, asking, "Do you have any idea why they did it?"

"I am not sure about it, but there was some kind of prophecy."

"It was always like this. They would do whatever they wanted and blame everything on those prophecies and seers." 

"Your Highness, we have secured the forest." Guntur returned soon enough.

"Did you find anything?" 

"There is not a single beast in the forest. I didn't feel any dark mana in the forest, either. I think that place is safe to set up a camp." Guntur continued, before adding, "But…"

"What? Do you need some reward before you continue?"

"It is just that I thought something was on the other side of the forest. Something that was watching that place."

"Something?"

"I couldn't see, but it looked like a gnoll riding a dire wolf."

"A gnoll riding something other than a gnoll beast? That's unusual." Agnes asked, "What was it doing?"

"Nothing…" Its behavior confused Guntur, too. "It was at the top of the mound, a little far away from that place. It was just watching us. As soon as I felt our eyes had met, it turned around and left. I followed it. Although it was open land behind the mound, there was no sign of it. As if it had just vanished."

"Put a watch tower on every high point around this place. Keep at least four soldiers on guard at every tower. Remember, we are still in the desolate land."

"Watchtower? But we don't think we would have enough…"

Before Guntur could complete his words, Thomas pointed at the place, adding, "We can use those trees."

"Your Highness!" It was Agnes who had protested first. "Your Highness, do you know how valuable those trees are? Outside the trees from the Kipling Forest, those trees are the only ones that can conduct mana even better than some metals. And you want to use them as timber?"

"What is the problem with that? That is the only timber we can find in the area. I think the safety of my people comes before those trees." Thomas looked dumbfounded, failing to understand why Agnes asked such an obvious question.

"But…"

"Okay, when we return to meet the main unit after a couple of weeks, I will let you take those timbers with you."

"That is not what I am talking about." Agnes felt frustrated as she failed to convey her intentions. However, there was nothing she could do to change the mind of the imperial prince.

As soon as the soldiers caught up to them, the speed peaked. However, the problem was that the trees were too thick and robust. In the end, four indigo-level aura users had to work together for over an hour just to cut down a single tree.

Thomas wanted to cut them down using magic. However, the problem was that magic wasn't too practical against the tree, which is very efficient at channeling mana.

In the end, by the time they had trimmed down the trees, it was already the time of sunset. Luckily, most of them had already pitched their tent. After more than half a month on the road, they had no trouble settling. 

It was a calm night. Three sets of soldiers rotated to keep guard. It was a quiet night without any attacks.

"How is that even possible?" 

"It's a miracle."

"Miracles in this forsaken land?"

"Didn't you know it was a tree of light? Seeing it here is already a miracle."

"What are you doing here?" The sound of gossip outside Guntur's tent awoke him in the morning. When he noticed what they were talking about, it shocked him, too.

"To think it would grow like this in just one night!" Thomas came out of his tent as every soldier showed respect to him. He walked to the tree with a couple of feet of saplings sprouting out from the thick stem of the tree that had been cut yesterday.

"No wonder it is called a holy tree." Before he turned towards the soldiers beside him, one of the soldiers asked, "Have you seen Ben?"

"Didn't he sleep in your tent?"

"I thought he had left in the middle of the night but never returned."

Another soldier glanced at Guntur before whispering, "He might have gone to hunt some meat. He is such a meathead."

"What are you doing?" Guntur's shout sent them into a frenzy. "We need to cut down three more trees today. Don't waste daylight."

It was a busy day for the soldiers. Besides those given the guard duty, almost all 500 soldiers worked hard to construct six watch towers around the minor patch of forest in the desolated land.

With the basic security around the area, they thought they could have some good sleep.

Alas! Before they could even close their eyes, the soldier beat the drum from the top of one of the towers. 

"Mountain troll. Mountain troll."

Just as the patrolling soldiers gathered at the tower, the drum started ringing on the camp's other side.

"Wolves are coming, wolves are coming."

They couldn't get the chance to understand what was happening before the soldiers started to shout from the other towers, too.

"Gnolls are here."