Jackson seemed disturbed as he looked out the window. It was a month after Jinpok had taken the army towards the mountain range.
“Todd.”
“Yes, sir. Have you decided?”
“Yeah. I am constantly surprised by the Emperor’s foresight. Everyone, including me, didn’t believe what he warned was coming… But look at it now. We were all wrong.”
“Don’t blame yourself, sir. You have been his most loyal advisor. It was you who controlled the opposing factions so that they would not cause problems for the Emperor.”
Todd consoled him as Jackson grinned.
“Haha, I know. The Emperor is fully aware of that too. That is why he trusts me with the Empire while he’s gone.”
Jackson smiled and thought, ‘If there’s a God in this world, then it is the Emperor.’
All the people in the continent was now praising Emperor Joonbum’s actions against this crisis. The Emperor was at the forefront of the battle, fighting against the monsters while risking his life. A lot of people volunteered to join the fight, and even the young ones wanted to join, although they were turned down because they were underage according to Khalodian law.
“We will tell all countries that Khalodian Empire will focus on protecting what is ours. Warn them that monsters will come down from the mountain range so that they can be prepared. We will pull back our forces from wars against the other kingdoms.”
Todd then asked, “I hope the Emperor will not be too mad about this decision.”
“He won’t like it, but there’s no choice. He will understand.”
“Is that so, sir?”
“Emperor Joonbum is a very generous man. He loves people and does not discriminate. But when it is needed, he is a man who can be colder than anyone else.”
Todd nodded and left the room. As he disappeared, Jackson sighed and looked out the window again.
“Is now the end of fall?”
*
A horn was blown again.
“KILL IT! DAMMIT!”
A soldier shouted as the wooden fence was broken into pieces. A giant wooden club struck the almost-torn fence, and the next strike shattered it into pieces. Then monsters about eight feet tall with weird red-colored skin came through the broken fence.
“FIRE!”
Arrows were fired upon the monsters, penetrating their bodies. However, some withstood the arrows and jumped at the human soldiers holding the line.
“AAAARGH!”
A monster caught a soldier and began digging its dark nails into the soldier’s armor-clad body, trying to tear through the armor. Before it could succeed, a sword sliced off the monster’s head, killing it.
“Hey, you okay?!”
“DAMMIT!!! I almost got killed there!”
The soldier quickly jumped back. The armor he had on was scratched but intact. Thanks to the armor provided by the Magnos, most of the soldiers were unharmed. However, there were some who were dragged away, never to be seen again.
Joonbum glanced at the countless soldiers now battling against the monsters and turned towards Jinpok.
“HAHAHA! These aren’t that dangerous.”
He was slicing huge monsters in to two with one swing of his axe. The red monsters were powerful, but they didn’t pose any danger to Jinpok.
“Hey! Be careful!”
Jinpok grabbed the neck of a monster that was trying to ambush a soldier nearby. His steel gauntlet crushed its neckbone, killing it immediately.
It was a sight to behold.
