The Triangle,
Central Province.
-
A few days after the incident, Arthur’s men left the village. It felt like there was still unease and distrust lingering as they departed.
On the road, no monsters had appeared along the track so far—unlike when they cleared the outer paths.
They arrived at the gateway to the central area, a deeper swamp compared to the damp roads they’ve been accustomed to.
Arthur dismounted and Tenha followed. The others stayed on their horses.
“It’s Impossible to move through this. No path at all. Look, it’s all water,” Tenha said, eyes sweeping the area.
“Yeah, no shit. But the Chief said there were supposed to be boats at the dock.”
From the back, Vorkin spotted a collapsed dock. He rode closer, still on his horse. “Captain, over here.”
Arthur and Tenha walked over to check—but the boats were wrecked, their husks scattered across the water.
Water splashed beyond the wrecked dock. Instinctively, they all turned.
“How? We build rafts?” Tenha snorted.
I need sugar.
“For ninety armored men? Yeah, sure—great plan,” Arthur muttered, motioning for something to chew.
Tenha passed him a few dried, sweet fruit cubes.
“So… our horses swim?” Tenha said, biting into one himself. “No way they’ll make that distance. And we all saw those ripples, right?”
They threw around ideas for minutes. But, nothing was workable, not for marching a full unit through monster-infested swampland without boats.
“Where are those local scouts? Get them over here.” Arthur asked.
With shouts in the distance, the scouts were finally called.
Arthur crossed his arms. “What do you think?”
One of the scouts stepped forward, eyes down. “We’re... deeply sorry, Captain. We thought the boats were still there.”
He gave a humorless chuckle. “Well, they’re not. So, unless you're planning on praying us across, start talking.”
The scouts huddled, whispering to each other. Seriously?
Arthur cleared his throat, loudly.
“There are... two other routes, officer,” one finally said. “One in the west, the other in the east, both a few miles out.”
“See? That wasn’t so hard. Why the hell did that take so long?”
“The path was already narrow back then,” another scout added, fidgeting. “We haven’t checked it in years. Could be worse now. Look what those monsters did to the dock.”
Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. Narrow trails, in a swamp, with ninety soldiers, In full armor. Now this is just fantastic.
“We’ll split the force,” Tenha said from behind.
Arthur turned to him. He didn’t like it, but didn’t hate it either.
“Sure. That’s half the problem,” Arthur said. “The other half’s still underwater. Whatever made those ripples.”
“How about bait and destroy?” Tenha offered. “Clear the area of as many beasts as possible from the land before we make our way to the narrow path.”
“Then during the crossing, use a loose formation of selang seling meele and ranged arcane weapons, seem to be the perfect time to make use of our mana.”
“Sure, that works.”
He glanced at the scouts. They looked pale. One opened his mouth, then closed it.
Arthur narrowed his eyes. “You don’t have to come with us. Just point us the way. Then turn back to the village.”
They nodded quickly, relieved.
Arthur barked to the rest, “You lot—follow Lieutenant Tenha east. Listen to him. I know things were rough back at the village, but this isn’t the time for blame. Watch each other’s backs. We regroup at the next village. Good luck everyone, Emperor’s blessing be with you.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Tenha gave him a nod. “See you, Arthur.”
He simply smiled and rode away, followed by tens of his men.
Eastern pathway,
Border to the Inner Swamp,
The Triangle,
Arthur stood where the path was supposed to be. But all he saw was muck and water.
The scout beside him scratched his head, clearly lost. “It should be around here, Captain…”
He didn’t bother replying.
His men waded in slowly. With lowered spears, they tapped at the submerged ground like blind men with canes.
Other soldiers prepared behind them with their weapons ready in case there was a sudden beast attack.
Minutes passed.
Then a shout from the far left, “Here! I think I found it!”
They followed the call. The path was found nearly seven hundred meters east of their original mark.
Arthur ordered it marked immediately.
They moved fast, setting flags, spacing out, and readying the three layer positions.
This would be their line. Their bait zone.
“Let’s see… what kind of beasts roam this part?”
Silence.
Of course. Not everyone is a monster geek like him.
Arthur exhaled through his nose. “Fine. I’ll go check.”
No arguments came from his men. Just a few exchanged glances, but none of them bothered to become volunteers.
He was the only one riding a mystical steed. Not even the capital’s warhorse could compete.
With a whistle, he summoned the beast again. The swamp air hummed as the creature phased in. Steam rose where its feet met water.
Arthur drew his greatsword. Lightning veins crackled along the metal, then ran down his arms, dancing over his armor.
“Hold position,” he said, mounting.
He charged in.
The drake barely made a sound, light as a shadow on the water.
Even when Arthur leaned too far left on a slick patch, the beast corrected itself towards the trail.
Then—a ripple showed.
One head broke the surface, green, bulbous, and dripping with ooze. Tentacle arms slithered up like mossy vines.
“Canabysts,” Arthur muttered. “And the aggressive kind, huh? Good. Saves me the trouble.”
He stopped just short of the bend. More heads emerged, dozens from different angles Surrounding him. By the Emperor. If we’d marched straight in, shoulder to shoulder? We’d be dragging bodies by now.
He raised his blade. Lightning flared and cracked. A searing arc split the lead Canabyst’s skull. It collapsed and drowned.
“Long time no talk, Captain.”
That female voice again.
He ignored it, and continued firing more lightning blasts. Stunned Canabysts flailed, but most kept coming.
That would be enough.
He rode back toward the formation, slow enough to make sure those green bastards didn’t lose his trail.
As he moved, more and more heads surfaced behind him. Damn, ladies, wait your turn.
Finally, he spotted the formation—tens of men lined up in three layers of lines, arcane bows and arrows ready.
At this point, Arthur didn’t even bother looking back. The wet, slapping sounds were enough. The Canabysts were still coming.
He accelerated, and the first volley of mana arrows launched overhead.
He hit solid ground. Behind him, the creatures screeched and withered under the barrage. Arthur casually added a couple of lazy lightning blasts.
In no time, the first wave was exterminated. The bodies floated—some still twitching—before sinking beneath the water.
“Damn shame,” someone called out. “Could’ve burned a few of ‘em. Smoke those freaks for real. We earned it after all this shit.”
The others laughed. Arthur did too.
“Fine, ignore me. You won’t be able to, soon.”
Arthur’s grin faded.
What the hell is happening with my mind? Must be swamp craze. It had to be.
They repeated the process a few more times, even drawing in other species. But with each wave, fewer and fewer came.
Finally. We can move after this.
After exterminating the last few monsters, they started marching. Arthur led in front to prevent his soldiers miss-stepping.
They rode slowly. Thank the Emperor, the trail was just wide enough for two horses side by side.
Everything was fine.
Until.
“Fine, keep ignoring me. How about I show you this!”
A vision slammed into Arthur’s mind.
A few men whose faces he recognized rode within the formation, whispering. Their voices were low, carrying spite against Arthur’s best friend, Tenha.
This was the perfect time. Arthur wasn’t there to stop them. They’d kill him.
The vision jumped.
Tenha’s column was marching—just like Arthur’s was.
Only they weren’t alone.
In the middle, they got ambushed by swamp serpents, giant ones.
Tenha and his men fought back, but they struggled, naturally. They didn’t have Arthur’s firepower and the trail wasn’t the perfect stage for fighting formation.
And behind him—those men lurked. They were still watching and waiting.
Cold sweat ran down Arthur’s forehead as he got back from the vision.
“What do you want?” he said low enough to make sure no one overheard.
“Hahaha, Finally, Captain. You’re going to make a very difficult choice my dear.”
Swamp serpents emerged from multiple directions.