Chapter 600: Shardmaws

Proofread By Thomas F

Ina Knox

‘Go, handle it. I will entertain these people,’ he said. Making me relieved.

I barely got the news. It should be contained until I know what is really happening. Given the state of the city, any adverse news could cause panic.

A moment later, I walked out of the party along with General Azalea, other officers, and officials.

We didn’t go to the office but to a control room while Colonel Trask had gone to the mine to take control of the situation.

“What do we know?” I asked.

“Monsters have appeared in Varus mine,” informed General Azalea. “We had done a sweep a week ago. How can monsters appear so quickly?” I asked.

The mines are the monster problem—especially the old ones like Varus.

It is the oldest and the biggest active mine of Panar. We need to do the sweeps every month and post men from the army in every section to deal with any monsters that might appear.

“We did, and it was thorough,” she replied. I could feel some self-blame in her voice. She shouldn’t have felt that way; she had done a thorough job, but we will need to find out how we missed it.

“Do we know what kind of monsters these are and their numbers?” I asked. “Not yet,” replied General Azalea.

Hearing that, I thought for a moment.

“Start the evacuation,” I ordered, looking Osward.

“Governor, we should first find out about the danger. It might be just one or two monsters,” advised Maknok. He is a mine adviser.

He is right, and I might have done that. If it had been other mines, but nasty things have come out of that mine.

Though it had been decades, something threatening had happened, and I didn’t want to take the risks. People’s lives were at stake.

Protecting them will be worth the loss, even if the danger is nothing serious.

“It might be, but we can’t take the risk,” I replied.

“Send the medical carriages to the mine and ask the Church of Dusk to send some priests there with them,” I ordered.

I could tell many of the officials thought it was excessive. However, nobody had expressed it. They might have if it had been any other day.

Today, they are not that willing. Master Silver is here, and they are being cautious. They didn’t have to be so reserved. I would appreciate them speaking out even if I didn’t agree with it.

Minutes passed, and soon it was half an hour. We are waiting for the news.

Till now, there is none.

I wanted to go to the mine myself, but it wouldn’t be wise until I knew more about it. Even Lt General Azalea is staying put.

If this is a significant change. It might be a ploy from the undead, so it’s better that we remain as cautious as possible.

Click!

Another twenty minutes passed, and the door opened. Master Silver walked in, and we all moved to get up.

He waved us down.

“Anything?” he asked. To that, I shook my head. I have been keeping him informed about what is happening. He knows everything that I know.

He didn’t say anything and sat down with worry in his eyes.

Osward informed me, “The medical carriages and the priests had reached the mine. ” This relieved me, but I still wanted to know what was happening.

Soon, an hour passed, and there was no information.

Sup!

We were all waiting when Osward sucked a deep breath, and the expressions of the mage behind General Azalea changed drastically.

“Its Shardmaws!” informed Osward, making the expression of everyone change immediately.

Instantly, Lord Silver and General Azalea got up.

“General, you stay. We can’t have the city unprotected,” commanded Master Silver. General wanted to object but nodded a moment later.

She understands the reason; she needs to be ready to deal with any trouble that might come.

He was out of the door in an instant.

“Shardmaws are among the most dangerous mine monsters,” said Maknok, and the man looked scared.

“They shouldn’t be here. There was no record of them,” added General Aazlea. I nodded at that.

I have read through the record and know all the monsters that roamed these mines by heart, but Shardmaws are not mentioned in it.

They are lizard-like mine monsters that live in groups. Because of their robust defenses, they are extremely dangerous and hard to kill.

I ordered, “Alert all the hospitals to be ready. Ask them to send more medical carriages. ” Then I turned to General Azalea.

“General, I am activating. Taurus protocol,” I informed her. “Accepted,” she replied and turned to the man behind her, who nodded.

It is my authority to activate the protocol, but I will need her acceptance since she is the general with the responsibility to defend against external threats.

Taurus Protocol is for the threats arising from the mines.

“They have started finding bodies. Pieces of them…,” informed Osward, and I simply closed my eyes.

I had been dreading this news, and it had happened. I hope it is contained in a single section, or would be terrible. Even a single section is awful.

It is the biggest mine and also employs the most people.

There are thousands of miners working on it at any given time. If those monsters let loose, there could be massive casualties.

I hope we responded swiftly enough. I believe we are acting in the moment—we received the news and took action, but we must continue to assess the situation.

That will be after this disaster is over.

…

Silver

I rode out of the gate with my guards and the soldiers.

They are the ones that came with me from the Greltheaven. They are strong and can fight in any environment.

I activated the Command Projection on the beasts. Commanding to gallop faster.

Learning to ride with the skills is much different than learning to ride without one. The finesse at which I could control the beast is impressive.

I have been learning horseback combat only for a few weeks, and it has improved my riding skills tremendously.

The mine isn’t far from the city, and we are moving as fast as possible. Our speed is enhanced with skills and spells, but it will be a few minutes before we reach the mine.

As I ride toward the mine, I receive updates, including the number of monsters that appear and how they behave and fight.

It didn’t make me feel good, given the number of people working in the mine.

I am committed to ensuring we get there in time.

Minutes passed, and finally, the mine came into view. There are buildings around it, but the soldiers have cordoned off the whole area right now.

Soon, we passed through the compound, and I saw the preparations.

There are soldiers, as well as medical carriages and healers. I saw more of them coming from the city.

She acted quickly. I would have waited for more information before taking such action.

I looked at the mouth of the cave and saw miners streaming out of it.

The mine is vast, with people in distant, deep sections. It will take another hour to evacuate them all.

“Lord Silver,” an orc with the uniform greeted me as I stopped. “Lt. Colonel Mazorn,” I replied and got off the beast before appearing beside a group of beasts waiting for us.

They are artus.

They are horse beasts with red coats and black starburst patterns. Unlike the horse beasts, we rode here. That would even scare the stallions on earth; these ones are small.

They are shorter and leaner, able to see more clearly through dust and dark.

They are part of the mining beasts I bought. They are mine beasts but aren’t used to haul the load. They are enforcement types.

The beasts for the guards in the mine.

“Let’s move, Lt. Colonel Mazorn,” I said, my voice firm as we advanced toward the cave’s dark maw. Every step felt heavier, the air thick with anticipation.

Within seconds, we reached the entrance and slipped inside.

The cavern swallowed us whole. Its sheer size was staggering—vast enough that, at another time, I could have navigated it easily with my old horses. But this place was deceptive. Deeper in, the space expanded further, revealing a labyrinth of smaller caves, each twisting into shadow.

And within those shadows, these beasts would prove invaluable.

‘Fast!’ I said as I activated Command Projection on the beast. We moved to where Colonel Trask was with his men. He had found the tracks of the monsters and was now tracking them.

Another cart passed by us with scared people in it.

Seeing them fine. It relieved my heart because what Trask had found had chilled my heart.

Minutes passed, and we got deeper and deeper into the mines. Coming across dense fauna and even a massive lake. This mine is old.

It had many such lakes and thick fauna across many parts of it.

It costs a lot to maintain such a mine, and if it did not have a lot of material to mine, it would have closed a long time ago.

According to our estimate. We could mine it for at least centuries; that’s how much crystal this mine has.

“The monsters had attacked Colonel Trask; he is saying they come in large numbers and need reinforcement immediately,” informed Lt Colonel Mazorn.

Immediately, I felt the skills roaring in full power and spells covering the beats.

“How many?” I asked as we sped up. Over two hundred,” replied the man, making my expression worse.

I could hear the curses behind me while my expression turned serious.

The lieutenant colonel left with fifty men, but that is far from enough to deal with the monsters. I had only brought three squads, a total of thirty-six plus the lieutenant colonel, but all of them were above Lv..20.

“Call for reinforcement,” I ordered.

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