Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

Chapter 39: To the minotaur's kingdom (1)

Several days passed by peacefully as the Vanguards prepared for the next raid. Too peacefully, even, considering that they were in a race against time and against monsters.

"All soldiers, gather!" Owen's voice thundered in the courtyard, alerting everyone in hearing range.

The day they were preparing for had finally come. Soldiers gathered in front of Owen and the other 3 generals in just a matter of seconds. All of them donned their armor and wielded their weapons of choice, consisting of mostly spears and shields.

"We shall march towards the south, to the kingdom of the minotaurs! Soldiers, remember your formations and proceed with caution!" Owen bellowed with a determined face.

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers shouted and raised their weapons in response.

"For humanity!"

With one last cry of hope, everyone kicked their horses on the side, prompting them to start running towards Alistair's south gate.

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"Big bro, how long we reach kingdom?" Wolf looked up to Dmitri as he held the guy in question tightly, to not fall from their shared horse.

"Umm, it would probably take a little longer than the last time we went out, Wolf, haha!" Dmitri smiled cheerfully at the boy while holding the horse's leash.

"How long?" He asked again while he stroked the horse's mane gently.

"General Jeanne said it'll take around a day if we keep up this pace," Dmitri answered, "don't worry, Wolf! If you're hungry, I have some candies in my pocket! I also have your favourite chicken skewers in my bag, haha!"

"No, not Wolf," the boy said, "but horse. Horses don't like heat. Sun heat." He pointed upwards.

"Aw, Wolf, you're such a kind-hearted kid," Dmitri ruffled his hair affectionately, "don't worry, we always bring enough water and food for the horses, too!"

"Dmitri!" General Jeanne called out from her horse.

"Ah, yes?" He looked in her direction and saw that she was already closing the distance between their horses bit-by-bit, until they were riding next to each other.

"Here, take this." She tossed him a little red bracelet with a button on it.

"What's this?" He caught the bracelet with one hand and observed the shiny thing in his palm.

"Press the button when you feel like Wolf's life is in danger. It will alert me and send me your position. I will come immediately if you press this button." She showed her arm which had the same bracelet like the one she just gave him.

"Are you sure it's okay?" He hesitantly asked.

"Yeah. Don't tell a soul, though. This is not in our plan, but I don't want to risk letting a child die because of our incompetence." Jeanne answered, looking straight to the front with determination in her eyes.

Dmitri smiled upon hearing her answer, "thank you, general Jeanne. I couldn't agree more. After all, we're fighting for their sake, aren't we?"

Jeanne smiled back at him, "thank you for understanding."

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The night fell on them as they were riding their horses through the dark, damp forest. They weren't able to go fast due to the mud and the abundance of trees around them.

"Squad leaders, lanterns, please!" Owen commanded, and soon after, a yellow lantern was lit for every 5 soldiers by their squad leaders.

Each squad consisted of 5 people, and no two healers were put on the same squad. They were spaced out far enough to be able to scout the surroundings and give a signal if a monster was sighted, but close enough for their lanterns to be able to be seen by other squads nearby.

"General Emilio! To your left!" Jeanne shouted when she saw that one of the lanterns on the left was colored red instead of yellow.

"I know." The man himself just casually raised his right arm, and dozens of needles shot out from his arm.

'RAWR!'

A loud whimpering sound came from that way, followed by a heavy 'thud'.

"That kind of sounds like a bear?" Jeanne wondered as she rode her horse.

"Hey, you!" General Emilio called out to the squad leader who was holding the red lantern, "learn the signals properly! Red is for monsters, while blue is for wildlife or civilians!"

"S-sorry, sir!" The soldier quickly tapped his magical lantern until it changed color into yellow again now that the bear had died.

"Tch. What is the use of buying all these lanterns if the soldiers can't even use them properly." General Emilio frowned at the soldier.

"Hey, tap out!" Jeanne gave a command to the soldier earlier, and he immediately handed his lantern to another soldier in his squad.

"Maybe he's nervous. Not a lot of people have fought against a minotaur. It's probably best for him to hand over his squad leader position for now." Jeanne said as she tried to calm the fuming general down.

"We have no place for easily-agitated soldiers. I'll have their training regime changed after we come back." General Emilio stated with an expressionless face.

"Over there!" A soldier cried out, alerting everyone nearby including Jeanne and the twin generals.

Upon seeing a white lantern which was a sign for a minotaur sighting, general Enzo immediately abandoned his horse and shot upwards, with black wings spreading wide from his back.

"I see it." He mumbled to himself, took out a gun, and aimed it towards the minotaur that was charging at them.

'PEW!'

Instead of a bullet, a light green liquid shot at a tremendous speed towards the minotaur. Upon coming in contact with the said liquid, the minotaur's eyes melted and it screamed loudly for a second before another shot of liquid got into its mouth and burned its tongue and vocal cord, which robbed its ability to scream.

"Nice, general Enzo!" Owen stabbed his spear on the ground and dragged it as he rode, and from the crack he made, a bunch of earth golems emerged.

The golems approached the injured minotaur and immediately stormed it with attacks until it stopped moving.

"Everyone, halt! We move on to our second phase!" Owen commanded, and everyone obeyed instantly.

They pulled the leash on their horses and gathered around the dead minotaur's body.

"Wow, what was that gun?" Dmitri amusedly said as he helped Wolf down from the horse.

"Oh, you don't know the twins' magic?" Jeanne approached both of them and checked on Wolf for a bit, making sure the kid was unharmed.

"I've only heard a bit, like they're both Allagio-types. General Emilio can turn his hairs into a porcupine's quills, while general Enzo has some sort of vulture power?" Dmitri scratched his cheeks as he tried to remember what he knew.

"That's true, but the important thing to notice is that both of them have evolved their magic. General Emilio's hair doesn't break anymore when he turns them into quills, so it's kind of like infinite ammo," Jeanne started explaining, "while general Enzo can turn his back muscles and scapula bones into wings."

"I see... I wish my magic can evolve too, someday, haha!" He scratched his head, "what about the gun, though?"

"Right, I almost missed that one. That gun was specially made for general Enzo. You see, aside from wings, he can also convert his stomach into a vulture's stomach, producing very corrosive stomach acid," she continued, "and that gun can store that acid and fire it."

"Wow, very convenient... Must be a pain to cough up all those acid before, though..."

"No, he just--"

"Hey, stop chatting and get on with it." General Owen scolded the both of them before Jeanne could finish explaining.

"Sorry. You're right." Jeanne sighed.

"Yeah, sorry, sir..." Dmitri looked down, feeling a bit ashamed.

"Forgiven. Now, hurry up and cover yourselves with this minotaur's blood." Owen said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.