The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military

Iron stared blankly at the sky. Based on the unimpressive notifications from earlier, it seemed like his charm was quite appealing.

He could see lightning constantly pouring down from the cloudy sky. The sea water rose from the swirling tornadoes and the rough waves fluttered from the storm that poured rain on them. But the ship that he was in was completely safe from the tumultuous storm. Silence pervaded around them. It was as if they were in the eye of the storm with how silent it was.

And all of this was thanks to Iron’s unique ability ‘Bird Doctor’. It was only a half-complete divine beast ability limited to ‘birds’ but it seemed like it was more powerful because it was only focused on one species. His ability would also become greater the stronger his divine power became.

In the past, his divine power was too insignificant that his power level was halved. However, it seemed like he had already passed the threshold since he could express his power properly now. This was especially true after he signed a contract with Phoenix and Two Moons had regained its full power. Iron still did not feel much since his divine beasts were sealed but in fact his divine power was rapidly increasing by the day.

And because of his ability and his tremendous affinity with birds, he was able to reach the thunderbird.

“Amazing.”

Lintel looked around in awe. 

Lightning rained down while tornadoes and whirlpools rampaged all over the place but none of them affected the ship as they passed by safely.

In fact, the storm of lightning, tornadoes and whirlpools were so dangerous that even the main fleet and the White Whale’s ship had to hesitate and step back than risk it and enter the area. The only reason why there was less lightning on the White Whale’s side was because someone was taking care of it. 

“Was it this close?”

After leaving the stormy and chaotic area behind, Ghost Island appeared from afar and greeted them. ]

Ghost Island was already a gloomy place because of its moniker but the black fog that surrounded it and made it even more dreary and gloomy clearly showed the effects of the dimensional crack.

“I think there are already dimensional fishes.”

“I know. It’s worse than the one in Black Forest, right?”

Iron sighed and nodded his head when he heard Lintel’s words. 

“Yes. If it has expanded to that size already then the possibility of higher beings having crossed over is extremely high.”

“That’s the worst.”

Everyone turned to look at Ghost Island silently while Lintel smiled bitterly. Almost all of the troops from the Northeastern Army that came to the East had already experienced the dimensional crack in the Black Forest. They were all sick and tired of the void insects. So, when they saw the dimensional gate already expanded up to that point, they couldn’t help but tremble at the thought of dealing with countless void insects once again. 

“I don’t think we can handle this by ourselves?” 

Carl Gustav stared silently at Ghost Island after hearing Lintel’s question. 

Although there was only one ship, they still did not lack power since the ship had carried the elites of their region. However, they weren’t clear about the power of the opponent who completely opened the dimensional gate. 

“Let’s investigate first.” 

“I understand.” 

Everyone moved quickly after hearing Gustav’s orders. The Eastern Army also prepared smaller boats that would carry the expedition team. 

Just as they were about to start their investigation earnestly…

―Kkiiiiruuuk… kkiiiruuuk!

Iron frowned when he heard something from somewhere before staring at Ghost Island once again.

At first, he thought that he was having auditory hallucinations but that wasn’t the case at all. The sound became clearer the closer he got to Ghost Island. 

Is this because my divine power got stronger?

It seemed like it was now possible for him to hear the voice of the divine beast even though they haven’t signed a contract yet. 

“Hoo… Really, what kind of divine beast are you…”

The sound that the divine beast was making from afar was a cry of pain. The same happened to Phoenix back then but regardless of the species, he knew that it was still extremely painful for a divine beast to have their divine power forcibly extracted to open up a dimensional crack. The thunderbird’s voice that continued to talk to him was filled with groans of pain and wrath for the beings betrayed its belief and trust in them. 

“Wait a little bit. I’ll get you out of there soon.” 

When Iron spoke as if to coax the thunderbird, the cries of pain seemed to subside a bit. Then, contaminated energy began to pour into the place where Iron was. 

― The Sea God finds you unpleasant after you have reached out to the thunderbird. In the future, the hostility aimed at you will double if you get into the Sea God’s realm.

― All of the contaminated mana on Ghost Island, a place that has turned into the Sea God’s territory, is trying to pollute and corrode you.

― The communication with the thunderbird has been forcefully cut off by the Sea God’s power. You have to move closer to the thunderbird to establish communication once again.

Iron staggered for a moment when the connection with the thunderbird had been forcefully cut off. 

Gustav hurriedly rushed to help him up. 

“Are you alright?” 

“…Yes, I’m fine.” 

Iron grabbed his throbbing head as he stared at Ghost Island and told Gustav that he was alright.

It seemed like the Sea God was jealous that Iron and the thunderbird had become closer. But what it did was just show its hideous side by grabbing his ankles. The thunderbird had already fallen for him and he only needed to do half the work to make the divine beast completely on his side. There wasn’t even a need to build a rapport and struggle to prove his worth like what he did with Two Moons back then. It was clear to him that the thunderbird would fall to his arms as soon as it synchronized with him just like what happened with Phoenix. 

“That’s quite ugly.”

Iron mumbled to himself as he straightened his posture.

“Is it because of the divine beast?”

“Yes. Something disconnected me with the divine beast.”

“Hmm…”

Gustav’s expression hardened when he heard Iron’s answer.

“Captain!”

Gustav hurriedly turned his head when he heard one of the soldiers call for him. He saw something black flying towards them.

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

“Prepare for battle!”

“Move, quickly!”

All of the troops began to prepare for battle as soon as they saw enemies approaching. One of the soldiers couldn’t help but mumble blankly after they had finished preparing their artillery and were all in position to fight against the enemies.

“Void insects?”

Void insects rushed towards the ship from the sky as soon as the soldier’s mumblings ended. Magic and bullets were fired out from the ship as soon as the void insects appeared in the sky. The problem was that their enemies weren’t only limited to the sky.

“They’re… they’re also in the sea!”

Something that looked eerily similar to void insects appeared in the sea. They looked exactly like void insects but they were swimming in the sea. 

The Northeastern Army was thrown in disarray when unexpected beings appeared in front of them. This was because they were extremely different from the void insects that they were familiar with. But their confusion did not last for long. They couldn’t afford to be in disarray when countless void insects covered the sea and the air to the point that everything looked black. 

“Wizards! Prepare a large-scale magic circle!”

Hearing the captain’s command, the wizards on board gathered together and prepared to launch a large-scale attack. 

Iron stared at Ghost Island quietly as they continuously fired their guns loaded with magic bullets towards the void insects.

 “If it’s to this extent…”

Iron’s face hardened after confirming that the void insects had undergone mutations. He bit his lips in thought and frustration. 

“How did this happen? The void insects have a variety and have become stronger?” 

“It’s because of the dimensional fish. They changed the environment suited for their dimension and affected the other void insects. The problem is not the void insects.”

Iron answered Lintel’s question solemnly.

“Then, what’s the problem?”

“Higher-ranked beings would cross over from the dimensional gate.”

“Higher-ranked beings?”

“Yes. The situation will turn for the worse once those beings, beings that even a master could not deal with alone, come over.”

They were beings that he wasn’t able to see in his previous life personally. However, once they crossed over, they could immediately create disasters. That was how frightening they were.

These beings were the main reason why the Empire eventually failed to respond to the dimensional crack as they continued to retreat and move the frontline. 

These summoned beings would not leave the special environment that the dimensional fish had created. However, that did not mean that they would remain in that place. The void insects would continuously increase and expand their territory while the dimensional fish would continue to change the environment of those territories. Once that happened, the area where these high-ranked summoned beings could move and work would gradually increase.

And this was the main reason why mankind continued to retreat. They couldn’t handle and stop the void insects that swarmed out of the dimensional cracks so this vicious cycle continuously repeated in his previous life. 

This would also be the worst case scenario that would happen to them if they failed to stop this process from happening to the dimensional crack. 

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

After Iron’s explanation, the entire Ghost Island began to vibrate as if it was waiting for them. Even the ship that dealt with the void insects trembled. 

“By any chance… Is that the higher-ranked being that you’re talking about?” 

“…Yes.” 

Iron’s words were heavy as he replied to Gustav’s question. 

The morale of the soldiers began to drop as the worst case scenario that Iron had said unfolded in front of them. 

Huge tentacles appeared all over the Ghost Island. Each tentacle was as big as several Kraken tentacles combined.

Everyone’s will to resist disappeared upon the appearance of a being that was several times larger than the Kraken, a sea catastrophe. 

“It will be difficult even for a master.” 

Iron remained silent at Gustav’s words. 

It was a giant octopus that far exceeded the size of a huge kraken. In addition, it had more mana than a kraken thanks to the contaminated mana in the island. The being was colossal enough to cover the entirety of the Ghost Island with just its tentacles. No matter how strong a master was, their strength would only be enough to deal with a few of that being’s tentacles. That was just how incredibly powerful this being was.

“How can a being like that hide in Ghost Island?” 

Gustav mumbled blankly. He was shocked to see such a huge octopus suddenly appearing in front of him. 

“It was on the other side of the area created by the dimensional fish.”

Iron sighed as he answered. This was the reason why he tried so hard to block the dimensional gate as soon as possible in the Black Forest. 

It was not a problem for the dimensional fish to come over. The problem was the unique environment that they could create. In addition, the dimensional gate that was fixed in this special and unique environment couldn’t be destroyed. It was only possible if an apostle-level saint or god himself came over and blasted away the contaminated mana all at once. If the contaminated mana was not blasted away, then it was impossible to destroy the dimensional gate. And even if that was possible, they still had to conquer that being for the most part before they could succeed.

― Chthulhu’s ‘Apostle’ Thulhupus has appeared. The contaminated mana is temporarily reduced.

― Due to the Thunderbird’s resistance, Thulhupus’ abilities are reduced by 50%.

― The Sea God’s influence has been reduced.

As soon as it appeared, it greedily sucked the contaminated mana in the surrounding area.

In order to maintain its huge size, it sucked up a huge amount of contaminated mana. Thanks to that, the black fog in the area had rapidly decreased. The problem was its movements had started to accelerate. Perhaps, it was also because of the huge amount of contaminated mana that it had consumed. 

Thulhupus was not fully and perfectly summoned thanks to the intervention of the thunderbird but it was able to forcefully move after sucking up all of the contaminated mana nearby. 

After eating its fill of the contaminated mana, the extremely large octopus moved to eat some dessert. And just in time, an extremely appropriate dessert caught its eyes. It was none other than the ship where Iron and the troops that were dealing with the void insects were on. Seeing that it was only a small and puny ship, the large octopus knew that nothing would go wrong. However, despite its size, it was still more than enough to whet its appetite.

“I’m going crazy.” 

Gustav murmured to himself as he lost his will to fight after seeing Thulupus’ huge tentacles going their way. 

They were in a situation where they felt that everything was too far away. They couldn’t even care about the void insects nearby.

Just when everyone was blankly staring in despair at Thulhupus’ huge tentacle covering the sky above them, Iron’s body began to shine brightly.

― Cthulhu’s apostle has been summoned due to excessive conditions. The justification for the intervention of the gods of the opposing camp has been established.

― The gods will give you their blessings. However! It is only possible for people who have achievements as a Hero.

― You are the only one to have achievements as a Hero in the vicinity. God has sent you a box of blessings that can help you overcome and break through your current crisis.

― ※ Caution 1: You will faint for a long time as an aftermath of opening the box since you still haven’t reached the appropriate status yet.

― ※ Caution 2: The power in the box is random.

― Do you want to open the box? ( Yes / No )