Chapter 213: Bring Some Popcorn, Jinseo (3) They fought, ate, ate again before even an hour had passed since the last meal, then charged at the Dark Dragon Evelyn again the moment they had digested it....
The offensive of the dragon subjugation force, which had begun in the morning, continued past lunch and even after dinner.
However, even with Dragon's Blessing, there was still no way they could fight without sleep, so when 10 p.m. arrived, 700 of the 1,000 troops went to sleep.
To help them sleep deeply, Jinseo arranged their final meal before bed around foods that made people sleepy, including lettuce wraps.
Thanks to that, the moment they went inside the four-person tents Jinseo had brought in large quantities from Korea and lay down, they fell fast asleep.
The mages deployed magical barriers over the entire camp so the sleeping soldiers would not wake, completely blocking all outside noise and light.
As the sounds of snoring, sleep talking, and teeth grinding echoed out from the tents and the night deepened, the dragon subjugation force's assault on the Dark Dragon Evelyn did not stop.
That was because, aside from those who had fallen asleep, the remaining 300 troops had been assigned to the night shift and were still fighting in the darkness.
"Ah... I'm sleepy."
"I took a nap in advance, but I'm still tired. Yaaawn...."
"Hayward, I came out for the night shift like you said, but can we really fight all night? I stuffed down ten portions of pork belly wrapped in lettuce without thinking, and now I'm so sleepy."
The forty thieves kept yawning as they watched the soldiers fighting fiercely around the Dark Dragon Evelyn.
They were men counted among the most skilled members of the thief guilds scattered across the continent, and throughout the day's battle, they had contributed quite a lot.
But in the face of the drowsiness crashing over them, they could not hold out and began nodding off where they stood.
"Just trust me. You all took them out, right?"
At Hayward's words, the thieves pulled something out from the hip pouches tied at their waists and gripped it in their hands.
It was high-caffeine canned coffee that Jinseo had personally selected.
"One shot, all at once!"
Click.
Gulp, gulp.
Hayward and the forty thieves drained the canned coffee in one go without leaving behind a single drop.
"It's a drink with a sweet taste and a bitter taste at the same time. This is way tastier than I expected."
"After drinking this brown beverage, I don't know why, but it feels like strength is welling up inside me. But I'm this sleepy, so how am I supposed to fight... huh? I'm not sleepy anymore?"
"Wow! Hayward was right! My sleepiness vanished completely!"
"So that's why the soldiers fighting up front are still so energetic. It was because they were drinking this stuff!"
Even though they had only drunk a single can of coffee, the eyes of the thieves, who had been utterly soaked in fatigue, began to shine brightly.
Having completely shaken off the burden of having to fight not only during the day but at night as well, they quickly drew their daggers and started juggling them with both hands.
Crunch.
Hayward wiped the coffee from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, then casually crushed the empty coffee can he was holding.
"You like it that much?"
"Of course! If I'd known coffee was this kind of drink, I would've started drinking it ages ago!"
"Can't we buy this in bulk somehow? Do we ask the food truck?"
"It is good. At least... for now."
The thieves grinned, enchanted by the effect of the canned coffee, but Hayward, who had already experienced the terrible aftereffects that came after drinking it several times, could not be as unconditionally happy as they were.
"Ah, whatever. Let's just fight first! Before that, everyone, take out what Lady Charlotte gave you!"
Hayward pulled a small glass bottle from his clothes, opened the stopper, and generously sprinkled the green liquid inside over the blades of his daggers.
The other thieves followed suit and began coating their daggers as well.
"Ugh... this poison is no joke."
Hayward whipped his head to the side and frowned at the smell of poison spreading in every direction.
"It seems like the effectiveness will definitely be good, but this is way too toxic!"
"If it smells this strong even while we're under Dragon's Blessing, then under normal circumstances, an ordinary human would probably die just from smelling it, wouldn't they?"
The poison the thieves had spread on their daggers was the poison of an ancient magical beast that Charlotte had stored in her lair. It was so toxic that it was far too dangerous for lesser creatures other than Charlotte to use.
But now, under Dragon's Blessing, they did not have to worry about dying from poison, so even human thieves could use it freely.
"All right! Let's go!"
Papapapak!
The throwing daggers the thieves hurled at the same time rained down into the Dark Dragon Evelyn's left shoulder.
Sssizzle.
As the poison coating the daggers pierced through her scales and burrowed into the skin beneath, the Dark Dragon Evelyn furrowed her brow.
"It stings...."
Even the poison of an ancient magical beast was not enough to inflict a fatal blow on Evelyn, who was a dragon.
However, the lingering pain caused by the poison was more than enough to disturb her composure.
From a human perspective, getting bitten by a mosquito was little more than an itch, but once you were bitten, anger naturally flared all the same.
"So annoying...."
Boom! Boom! Bang! Boom!
The Dark Dragon Evelyn repeatedly slammed all four legs into the ground, aiming for the thieves.
But Hayward and the other thieves dodged at ease and slashed at her feet with their daggers.
"Is it just me... or does the Dark Dragon look slower than when we fought her during the day?"
"Maybe it's because she's tired? Even if she's a dragon, she still has to sleep, right?"
"Is that so?"
Though puzzled, the thieves easily evaded the Dark Dragon Evelyn's repeated attacks.
For the sake of the soldiers who had to fight even in the dark of night, the mages had installed magical lamps all over the area, making it difficult for the thieves to use one of their specialties, hiding in darkness and launching surprise attacks.
But thanks to the effect of the coffee, the thieves had become far more nimble, and they were able to fight easily even without hiding themselves.
Thus, empowered by coffee, the thieves launched a fierce offensive, while the other soldiers attacked as well, drawing the Dark Dragon Evelyn's attention so the thieves could strike more smoothly.
The day-and-night battle against the Dark Dragon Evelyn entered its third day.
Fighting and eating had become a tiresome repetition, but the 1,000 members of the dragon subjugation force kept fighting the Dark Dragon Evelyn without a single deserter while devouring food without restraint.
All 1,000 of them gave it their all, and among them, the one who tormented the Dark Dragon Evelyn the most was the assault captain, Craid.
"This is...."
Craid suddenly made an awkward expression and hurriedly retreated.
"My stomach... became hungry sooner than expected."
He had wanted to spend as little time eating as possible and stay in battle, so he had entered the fight carrying a backpack stuffed full of foods he could eat one-handed.
But perhaps because he had become too immersed in battle—
The backpack he had thought would still be about half full was now completely empty.
"Your Highness Angelica! I'm afraid I must go eat!"
"Understood! Leave this to me and go fill your stomach properly!"
When he hastily withdrew to eat, the position of assault captain naturally passed to Angelica, the centaur princess.
"Owl! Come here!"
Piiii.
Angelica blew the small whistle hanging around her neck with all her strength.
Hearing the whistle while diligently dropping Choco-X Pies from the sky, Owl dived sharply and landed lightly on her left shoulder.
Flaaash.
After synchronizing with Owl and gaining the ability to fly, Angelica began to rise with a beat of her wings.
"Everyone, assault formation!"
Hearing her shout, the centaur knights hurriedly pulled back, then spread out in a giant circular formation centered around the Dark Dragon Evelyn.
"Charge!"
Clatter-clatter, clatter-clatter.
The centaur knights began running with their lances in hand, and hearing the pounding of their hooves, the soldiers quickly moved aside and opened a path.
As fifty centaur warriors charged in from all directions, the Dark Dragon Evelyn raised her massive tail high.
Boom!
The Dark Dragon Evelyn slammed down her tail, and the ground shook violently from the impact.
A few of the charging centaur knights lost their footing and fell forward, and toward the other knights who kept charging past those fallen comrades, the Dark Dragon Evelyn turned her body and swept her tail around.
"Haaat!"
Avoiding the Dark Dragon Evelyn's right foreleg as it swung out, Angelica dived straight down toward her face.
Kwaaang.
The moment Angelica's cone-shaped aura, formed around the tip of her lance, struck the Dark Dragon Evelyn, a thunderous roar spread across the battlefield.
"Ghk...."
Pierced hard between the brows by the lance, the Dark Dragon Evelyn groaned and turned her head aside, and a smile rose to Angelica's lips as she soared into the sky again.
"This time... it worked."
As Angelica slowly descended to the ground with a beat of her wings, the centaur knights who had finished their lance-charge attack gathered before her.
"The results?"
"Out of fifty, thirty succeeded in landing their attacks!"
"The success rate rose a great deal compared to before. But this is still not enough. Our goal is to exceed ninety percent!"
"Yes!"
"Then return with the soldiers and—"
Boom!
Craid, who had leaped from far away, landed beside Angelica with gimbap in his mouth.
"Craid? You already finished eating?"
"Yes, I only ate about twenty servings and came back."
He chewed up the gimbap in his mouth and thumped the backpack strapped to his back.
The backpack, filled to the brim with food, looked ready to burst at any moment.
"And, Your Highness Angelica, I bring good news."
"Good news?"
"I have just heard that the food truck finished cooking 1,000 servings of fried hardtack."
"Gasp! I-is that true?"
"Yes, I confirmed it clearly with my own eyes. And I heard they coated the outside with chocolate."
"With chocolate too?"
Angelica swallowed at the thought of the taste of the fried hardtack she had eaten before.
"What? Fried hardtack?"
"And they coated it with chocolate too?"
"I can endure anything else, but not that!"
The centaur knights began chattering excitedly, and word that the fried hardtack had been prepared spread even to the soldiers still fighting.
Jinseo had served fried hardtack as a snack a few times before, and the soldiers still had not forgotten the distinctive savory, crispy taste they had eaten back then.
But right now, they were in a situation where as much food as possible had to be served as quickly as possible, so hardtack had simply been issued as is, without frying it.
However, so the soldiers would not grow tired of eating the same things, Jinseo ignored efficiency and went through the trouble of frying it for the sake of flavor.
The soldiers were so eager to enjoy that effort at once that they looked ready to throw down their weapons and rush the food truck.
"Everyone, calm down! I shall personally airlift that fried hardtack here, so each of you maintain your position on the front line!"
"Yes!"
Angelica flew toward the food truck even faster than when she attacked the Dark Dragon Evelyn, and until she returned, the soldiers' assault to buy time became fiercer than ever.
About thirty minutes later.
Angelica flew above the soldiers' heads together with dozens of bird spirits.
"All right! Catch! This is the fried hardtack you wanted so badly! I also packed milk with it so you won't choke!"
With Angelica's voice ringing out from the sky, black plastic bags filled with fried hardtack and cartons of milk rained down from above.
"It's fried hardtack! It finally came! It came!"
"Strawberry milk came too!"
"Mine's chocolate milk! Thank you for the meal!"
A thunderous cheer burst from the soldiers clutching the chocolate-coated fried hardtack in their hands, and the morale of the dragon subjugation force shot through the roof.
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