Lord of Training - Chapter 53



Only Krnovel

53. There is one prey, but three hunters.

[Uses the High-Speed ​​Flight (lv.2) skill.]

Paaaaang!

Flying under the blazing sun.

It was so hot that I wanted to go back to the kingdom of Albion, where there was nothing but snow and ice.

Before starting a full-scale search, I took a walk around the area the saint had told me about.

It’s so dirty······.

Class D gates are found in sizes ranging from 15 to 40 meters.

And I thought it wouldn’t be hard to find the labyrinth gate, as it was emitting an intense red light.

but.

‘Damn, this isn’t going to be easy!’

Unfortunately, this place was a jungle, and the trees were so tall.

The trees were usually over tens of meters tall and dense, so searching from above was limited.

And for a moment, I was annoyed at how there were so many sinkholes, even though they weren’t even beehives.

It may be necessary to go deep into the sinkhole one by one.

Moreover, it was not easy to find the direction because the similar jungle continued endlessly.

‘Let’s go higher first!’

Paaaaang! Paaaaang!

It kept gaining altitude.

The idea was to find large geographic features like rivers and mountains to get a general idea of ​​the geography and determine the search area.

‘There is a ruined city to the north.’

I guess that was the capital of the Onesha Kingdom.

A city in a kingdom destroyed by orcs.

People from the Southern Continent also call it the City of Ghosts.

It was once a huge city with over a million people, but over time the city has been largely encroached by the jungle.

Still, there were a few large buildings visible, making it a suitable base.

Turning my head and looking east, I saw a large river winding from east to south, and on the opposite side to the west······.

performance?

There were several small puffs of smoke rising.

This was the sound of someone setting the fire.

‘what?’

Our men were on the southern bank of the river, so no.

They moved quickly towards the west.

Paaaaang! Paaaaang!

[High-speed flight skill level increased.]

[High-Speed ​​Flight (lv.2) -> High-Speed ​​Flight (lv.3)]

‘Oh! Finally!’

Flight skill level increased while moving.

Now that his high-speed flight has reached level 3, he is the fastest among the aerial magic knights who only have the standard flight skill. And now he can awaken another flight skill.

As expected, hard work never betrays!

During the two months leading up to this point, I devoted almost eight hours a day to flight training.

The results are now apparent.

‘Now all I have to do is awaken the high-speed flight skill of my subordinates······.’

Most of the battalion members already had level 3 low-speed flight skills.

With this level of flight training, they should have awakened other flight techniques long ago, but no one has awakened high-speed flight or other flight skills yet.

But I wasn’t disappointed.

The Labyrinth Gate recharges dimensional energy and mana quickly.

So, I planned to hold out there for as long as I could and awaken the high-speed flight skill.

‘Huh? What is it?’

As we were about to take off again, we saw something like a black dot high in the sky, where smoke was billowing out.

Looking here, I could see that the form was human.

That was definitely an aviation magic knight.

I quickly checked the position of the sun.

Then he took out his machine gun and flew towards the aerial magic knight.

[Use the Penetration (lv.3) skill.]

We approached as quietly as possible, flying at low speeds.

As the distance grew closer, the opposing magic knight turned his head as if he sensed presence.

“uh?”

“If you pick up the rifle or move even a little bit, your head will fly off.”

He found me late, but I was already within 10 meters.

At this distance, it was impossible to avoid it even with evasion techniques.

I could see my opponent swallowing dry saliva.

But the military uniform looked familiar.

“Arica Republic Army. What are you doing here?”

“I was watching the Lacrosse Empire.”

“what?”

I walked up to the guy, aimed my machine gun at his back, and glanced down.

It was the imperial army.

That was also a considerable number of troops.

“It looks like you’re not part of the Imperial Army either. Let’s put your guns away and talk.”

“It’s noisy. Why are you spying on the Imperial Army?”

“Well······.”

The guy started to speak but stopped.

“Are you guys and those guys also looking for the labyrinth gate?”

“Huh. Judging from how much they know, they must be the Atlan Kingdom Army.”

“You have to come with me first.”

I dragged the guy to where our men were waiting.

***

Upon reaching the river, Phelps and his men emerged from the jungle.

“What is the interest?”

“Disarm them first, tie them up, and bring them into the jungle! There are Imperial troops here.”

“yes?”

The agents had bitter expressions on their faces.

Why is there no easy way······.

I was now sure.

It was clear that the Lacrosse Empire also had Awakeners who could sense dimensional energy, like Saint Veronica.

Even when our platoon searched for the labyrinth gate before, the Imperial Army was already searching before us.

And this time, they arrived before us. When we put that together, the possibility that there were dimensional energy detectors on the other side was much higher than the possibility that information was leaked from our side.

Then how did the Arica Republic Army know?

“We intercepted their radio transmissions, and we were convinced that the Imperial Regiment was being dispatched.”

“A unit of troops?”

“What we saw earlier was just a search battalion. The main force is stationed in the ruined city.”

The smooth pouring was suspicious.

“Tell me your name and rank.”

“I am Major Chester of the 8th Air Squadron, 4th Field Army, Republic of Arica.”

“Where is your unit?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“How large is the force?”

Major Chester kept his mouth shut.

I gathered the agents and trainees.

“Bad news. We’re not the only ones here looking for the Labyrinth Gate.”

I told them that the Arika Army and the Imperial Army were here.

“Fortunately, the Empire has a lot of troops, but it seems that there are no aerial magic units.”

Trainee number 2 raised his hand.

“what?”

“How can you be sure that there are no aerial magic knights in the Empire?”

Paolo Jorge was someone who had to ask questions to feel better.

“Because the Arika Aviation Magic Knight was leisurely watching the Imperial Army from above.”

“Ah! The enemy doesn’t have any aerial magic knights, so that’s why you were watching so calmly.”

“That’s right. I caught you while you were letting your guard down.”

“But aren’t we allies with the Republic of Arica? Can we just keep them like that?”

“We formed an alliance to deal with the Lacrosse Empire, but strictly speaking, it is not an alliance. And the alliance only applies to the central continent. This is the southern continent, and there is no one around. So we can’t trust anyone but ourselves.”

Paolo and the trainees nodded.

At that moment, Ensign Kalin, who had been monitoring the surroundings with his eagle eye skill from the tree, came down.

“A dozen or so aerial magic knights are coming this way.”

“okay?”

I looked at Major Chester, who was tied up and gagged in the corner.

I thought you were so relaxed, I thought a colleague would come.

Was it a skill? Or an artifact? I don’t know what it was, but I had to prepare to face the opponent.

“The trainees lie in ambush in the bushes, and the airborne magicians lie in ambush behind the trees. Never fire without my order!”

“yes!”

Everyone scattered.

I took Major Chester alone and moved towards the river.

There was a possibility that a battle might break out.

It’s 100 times better to have a clear view than to fight in the jungle.

and.

[Use Halo (lv.2) skill.]

Shhh!

[Halo (lv.2) – A double-layered circular defensive shield is created around the user’s body.

When receiving an external impact, a faint white glow appears around the shield. If receiving an internal impact or using another skill, the shield disappears. (Wind series)

Skill Execution Mana – 20

Skill Maintenance Mana – 2 (per second)]

The Halo skill is a higher-level skill than the Air Shield (lv. 3) skill, and was recently raised to level 2.

A noticeable change is that the shield is double layered.

So I tested it with my unit members, and it was able to stop Sergeant Sven’s bullets with the Penetration (lv. 2) skill and Sergeant Douglin’s bullets with the Flame (lv. 2) skill.

However, it could not stop the bullet of Special Agent John Cutter, who had the Flame (lv. 3) skill.

So, this meant that it could block level 2 strengthening, explosions, buffs, and even sniping spells.

‘I found it.’

The Arica Airlines magic knights who were flying in stopped for a moment when they saw me and Major Chester.

It seemed like he was getting a grasp of the situation.

‘They’re definitely not beginners.’

It was clear that these were an experienced unit.

One came straight at me, while the rest were aiming from above, at me and the surrounding jungle.

WHEEEEEE! BUCK!

A middle-aged man approached.

He was a peculiar man with a squint in his eyes that made it difficult to see the pupils, and a center parting. And he seemed to be brimming with confidence in his movements as if he had descended from the sky, so he must have been at least an elite-level aerial magic knight.

I stood there on purpose half-hidden by Major Chester’s body.

Sudden attacks are out of the question.

“Judging by your uniform, you don’t seem to be part of the Lacrosse Empire. Is that right?”

“I am a man who trembles at the thought of an empire.”

“But why did you capture our soldiers?”

“I caught it because it was flying around in the jungle where there was nothing.”

The man looked behind me carefully and said.

“Please call your commander.”

“I am the commander.”

The squinty-eyed man tilted his head at my answer.

He must have looked too young for a commander.

“I am Colonel Morgan Kevin. I am from the Republic of Arica. You are.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Alain Bombard. I am from the Kingdom of Atlan.”

“Atlanta? Lieutenant Colonel?”

Colonel Morgan looked slightly surprised.

I don’t know if I was surprised by Atlan or by the lieutenant colonel.

“Haha! There’s only one prey, but three hunters······.”

“We’ve come a long way, and there are so many hyenas······.”

I shook my head.

“Please release my subordinates first.”

“There’s still some research to be done. I don’t know if he’s your subordinate or not.”

“If you want to take me by force?”

Colonel Morgan asked with a smile.

“Then we have no choice but to stop it with force!”

I raised my hand slightly.

Chuck! Chew chew chew chew!

Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Forty trainees aimed their rifles from the bushes, while sixteen members of the Airborne Magic Battalion took to the air and took aim at the Arica Airborne Magic Knights.

Colonel Morgan opened his eyes wide.

Of course, since I was so squinty, there didn’t seem to be much of a difference.

“Haha! Aren’t there fewer troops than you thought?”

“Don’t you know how to count? Don’t you know that our troops outnumber yours?”

Even though the situation was unfavorable, Colonel Morgan still had some room to spare.

“These are our troops. There are more in the main force.”

“Wouldn’t our troops also be with the noble children?”

“Ah! I see. Don’t be like that. Tell me what you really want. We are allied forces that fought together, so there is no need to be aggressive. And we have a common enemy.”

“Then just give me some useful information.”

Colonel Morgan nodded.

“The Imperial Army has been here for about four days. The total force is about 2,000 men in one regiment, and the main force is in the ruined city. They also brought about 50 people who seem to be noble children, and there are no aerial magic knights, and the commander in chief is Brigadier General Kairen. Also, do not approach within 2km of the main force. There is a person with excellent detection magic. I almost got turned into a beehive when I got close. I think this much information is enough.”

I nodded.

And he untied Major Chester.

The major removed his gag and approached Colonel Morgan.

“sorry.”

“Okay. Stand back.”

Major Chester stepped back.

“Still, it’s fortunate that we can communicate. How about we start negotiations in earnest now? Let’s sign a non-aggression pact.”

“Are you saying we should write some paperwork?”

“Wouldn’t words suffice? Let’s just make a simple verbal promise among ourselves. Since there is the Lacrosse Empire Army, let’s not fight each other as a union.”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll make sure to pass this on to my superiors.”

“Then see you next time.”

The Arika Aviation Magic Knights soared high into the air.

And flew towards the northeast.

‘They flew to the northeast, so their base can’t be in the east.’

The north is where the Lacrosse Empire is located, so that’s not it, and the south is not it, since we’ve already looked at it.

All that remained was the west.

So Major Chester was watching the La Crosse search party searching to the west.

The fact that the Arica Airborne Magic Knights immediately followed the Major as soon as he disappeared was also evidence that the Arica Republic’s base was to the west.

“Come on! Everyone gather around!”

He gathered his subordinates and trainees.

End