## Chapter 2582 – 2582. The Ascent Of Light

The soldiers charged towards the remaining, still-living monster troops, swinging their weapons. The monster troops, having lost their will to fight, offered little resistance. Few monsters fought to the bitter end; most tried to flee.

I focused on the fleeing remnants of the monster army, dropping lightning bolts. With the Eye of Lightning, not a single one escaped.

Pretending to be dead? Even without my orders, the soldiers, as if accustomed to it, searched the corpses of the monster troops and finished them off. And then they looted the bodies. No, it was the collection of spoils. The armor and weapons of the monster troops were also helpful to us. If lucky, we could obtain low-grade magical artifacts or low-grade elixirs. To me now, they were just junk.

The soldiers gathered the spoils in one place. From the lowliest grunts to the officers, everyone was watching me. No one dared to steal the spoils. Meanwhile, I was looking around from atop the ruined castle wall.

“Lightning General, I greet you. I am On Gae-jeong, the Captain. While you were away, I managed Jibang Fortress on your behalf.”

A middle-aged man with a stern face and demeanor, as if saying, “I am a soldier,” approached and spoke. He and the officers around him bowed to me.

“I am Lightning General Seong Yu-jin. You have done well.”

“General, how shall we handle the spoils? The soldiers desire them.”

“Heavenly Jade, superior magical artifacts, high-grade elixirs, unique items, and pretty women are mine.”

“We will handle the spoils as you command, General.”

With the Eye of Lightning, the soldiers couldn’t deceive me with the spoils. I had already identified all the spoils here. There were 31 Heavenly Jades. There was nothing else that caught my eye. If anyone dared to steal my things, I would kill them without hesitation.

Captain On continued his report.

“Thanks to your timely arrival, General, the damage to the soldiers is minimal, unlike the ruined Jibang Fortress. This victory is all thanks to you, Lightning General. However, we cannot be complacent. This Jibang Fortress is one of the front lines that is always at war with monsters. We don’t know when the monster army will descend again. For that time, we must rebuild the walls and barriers of Jibang Fortress. General, please request support from the Imperial Palace and mobilize the soldiers and people of the Northern Army to rebuild Jibang Fortress.”

“I am here. The monster army has been annihilated once, so they won’t recklessly attack. They will need time too.”

I spoke with conviction. How many times had I fought against rebels? I could roughly predict how the enemies would come out.

There was only one case where the enemies would attack again in the near future. That was when the leader of the enemies led the army himself. But even that wasn’t easy, and I was actually welcoming it. It would make things easier.

“The rebuilding of Jibang Fortress will be postponed. Except for some soldiers who will organize and guard the spoils, all soldiers will advance to the cities and villages of the enemies. We were attacked, so we must repay them. Revenge is natural.”

“General! Please reconsider the plan! If we leave, Jibang Fortress will be empty! If a separate unit of the monster army attacks this place… the powerless people could be massacred!”

I reached out my hand towards Captain On. The power of levitation, using the magnetic force of lightning and my inner strength, activated, pulling Captain On towards me. My hand grabbed Captain On’s neck. I glared at him once.

“Captain On, I have already made my decision. The people? I already know that the people here are criminals or descendants of criminals. It doesn’t matter if they die. The population will be replenished anyway. Captain On, I warn you, if you ever contradict me again with such useless matters… I will cut off your head immediately. Do you understand?”

“…Yes, General. I apologize for overstepping my bounds.”

I released my hand from Captain On’s neck. He still had some sense. If he didn’t, I would have killed him right away.

“However, General, there is a practical problem. The monster cities and villages of the Kaleidoscope are protected by magic. Unless you are a skilled sorcerer, you cannot even find the location of the monster cities. It is impossible to see with the naked eye, and if you enter recklessly, you may fall into traps or be cursed by the sorcerers. This is not my speculation but a confirmed fact. There are records of it.”

“That’s fine. Whether it’s a trap or anything else, I can see it all. Now, gather the soldiers.”

“Yes, General.”

The officers moved to gather the soldiers. I looked around at the soldiers with the Eye of Lightning. The number of soldiers came into view at a glance. A total of 2,370. That was the number of healthy soldiers, excluding those who were to guard the spoils of Jibang Fortress and the wounded.

It was less than I expected, but all of them were soldiers above the minimum level of the Initial Realm, equipped with armor. They were the elite of the elite.

“Is this all?”

“These are all the soldiers we can mobilize right now. If you issue an order to the entire Northern Army, General… we can mobilize at least 300,000 soldiers.”

300,000. It was very small considering the size of the Empire. But the soldiers of the Northern Army were all above the minimum level of the Initial Realm. It was an army made up only of the elite of the elite.

“It would take forever just to gather them. We will advance as we are. But before that…”

I pointed to one of the soldiers lined up. The soldier approached me nervously.

“There is a thief in my army.”

“N-No! I didn’t intend to steal it!”

The startled soldier quickly took out one Heavenly Jade from his pocket. I swung the Hundred Battles Spear, beheading the soldier and retrieving the Heavenly Jade.

“Keep one thing in mind. Obey my orders. Anyone who ignores my orders, regardless of rank, will be executed.”

After giving a warning to the soldiers, I used the Cloud Command to put the soldiers on the clouds.

I didn’t like putting these guys on my clouds… but there was no other way. If I ordered the soldiers to run using light footwork, it would be too late. And the soldiers would be exhausted from running.

‘The monsters don’t know that their monster army has been annihilated yet. Now is the perfect time for a surprise attack. And I have to kill as many monsters as possible before the effects of the Wall-Breaking Pill wear off. It would be even better if I could kill the Six-Horned Demon King.’

The clouds carrying the soldiers raced through the sky.

The Kaleidoscope.

The area of the monsters that the Empire, which dominated the continent, had not yet completely conquered. Most of the monsters on the continent lived in this Kaleidoscope.

‘If the Emperor himself stepped in, he could conquer this Kaleidoscope easily. But the Emperor didn’t do that.’

Therefore, the Emperor deliberately left the monsters alone. Was it because monsters also naturally appeared and could not be completely exterminated? Of course, that could be one reason. But in my view, it seemed to be for maintaining and training the Empire’s army.

‘From the perspective of controlling a nation, it becomes quite convenient if there is an external enemy.’

There were other continents in this world that were not ruled by the Jin Empire. But they were terribly far away. Without the Kaleidoscope, the Empire would have no enemies and be isolated. It was not good in many ways.

‘The Emperor’s real enemies are the Underworld and the Immortal Realm. For that, the training of the army is essential. The monsters of the Kaleidoscope are the human enemies for that.’

The Kaleidoscope was vast, and the monsters had formed various factions. The Six-Horned Demon King I was aiming for was just one of the monster factions. Even if I killed the Six-Horned Demon King, the Kaleidoscope would not be purified.

I saw a monster passing by. I threw a Vajra Lightning, killing every monster I saw. It would be troublesome if they went to the cities or villages and spread the news of our advance.

‘The Eye of Lightning is a great help at times like this.’

We arrived at a village. It was a village where 375 monsters lived. It was hidden and protected by magic, but it couldn’t deceive the Eye of Lightning.

‘The center of the magic is the pillar erected in the center of the village.’

The surface of the pillar, which emitted an ominous aura, was engraved with magical words. The Eye of Lightning instantly translated the magical words it saw for the first time.

〈In the name of Habaek, I will twist the energy of heaven and earth to protect this village.〉

I knew Habaek. He was an immortal who governed the Yellow Sea in the west of the Kaleidoscope. Of course, all immortals were in the Immortal Realm, so Habaek was not in the Yellow Sea. That was just magic that borrowed a little of the power of the Yellow Sea.

I raised my left hand. The Vajra Lightning spun in front of my left hand.

Crack, crackle!

Golden lightning flashed around the Vajra Lightning. As I flicked my left hand, the Vajra Lightning fell as golden lightning. The magic protecting the monster village could not stop the Vajra Lightning, which had anti-demon power. The Vajra Lightning shattered the magic pillar in an instant.

The magic that had been protecting the monster village disappeared.

“I’ll give you one hour. Kill them all and loot everything.”

“Yes! General!”

The soldiers on the clouds jumped down to the village with big smiles.

Monsters were basically stronger than humans. Some monsters knew how to use innate magic. But the Northern Army was the elite of the elite. Ordinary monsters were no match for them. A massacre unfolded in the village.

The soldiers of the Northern Army, who were always tormented by monsters, had no mercy. From young monsters to old monsters, they killed anything that was a monster.

I sat crouched on the cloud, watching the massacre with popcorn, looking down at the village. The soldiers also diligently collected the byproducts of the monsters, which could be used as materials for magical artifacts or elixirs.

“General! There’s a beauty here!”

The soldiers, who had made a good haul from looting, approached with smiles.

“A beauty?”

What the soldiers were holding was a snake monster. She was in a terrible state, having been beaten by the soldiers for resisting. She had scales on her face, and her breasts were not even an A cup. Her hips were not great either. Her features were passable, but… she was not at all what one would call a beauty.

“Are you guys blind? What beauty is that?”

“Isn’t she beautiful enough for a monster?”

“Beauty, my ass.”

“If the General doesn’t like her… can we take this one? We’ll take care of her!”

“You’re turned on by that thing? I don’t understand… well, it’s not like you’re gay, so I’ll respect your tastes. Do whatever you want.”

“Oh! The General’s grace is as vast as the sea! Thank you!”

It was then that the snake woman raised her head, her snake eyes flashing, and shouted.

“You! Are you the general of these ruffians! Your arrogance is only temporary! The Six-Horned Demon King will capture you and tear you apart alive!”

“Your spirit is impressive. You’ve impressed me, so I must repay you. Pluck out this snake woman’s eyes and cut off her tongue.”

“Yes, General! Come here, you crazy bitch! How dare you speak to the General like that!”

The soldiers dragged the snake woman away, plucked out her eyes, and cut off her tongue.

After that, we raided six more monster villages nearby and headed towards the monster city.