The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (120)
Translator: ChubbyCheeks
41 The Demon Unit! (3)
The troll lord seemed to not want to drag time at all. It immediately casted its sorcery and covered its entire body with red lightning that extended towards its axe.
Thud!
“Lightning… what a pity, that doesn’t work on me.”
Iron watched the electrifying lightning dance around the troll’s body.
The troll lord’s veins twitched in anger as it increased its battle qi. It seemed like it wanted to show that it was not just its sorcery that was strong but even its battle qi.
It wrapped its battle qi around its axe and swung it towards Iron. However, Iron also blocked this strike easily.
“If you don’t do it properly then you will die right away?”
The troll lord’s eyebrows twitched upon hearing Iron’s warning.
There were five lords and there were only four 6th Stage humans blocking the monster corps. The reason why it came here was to catch the rats. But it seemed like this rat had quite the unusual skills.
The rat was even powerful enough to make itself turn nervous. The troll lord instinctively realized that it could only win this battle if it defeated the human standing in front of it.
―Oooooh!
Perhaps it felt like the human in front of it had extraordinary skills that it unleashed its full power. The image created from battle qi, just like what the orc champion showed before, was created. However, it was not the same distorted image but a clear image that was characteristic to those of the 6th Stage. It was even covered with red lightning and black fog that began to spread in the surroundings. By combining its sorcery and battle qi, the troll lord was able to break through the walls of a lord in its own way.
“Hoo…”
The troll lord exhaled a long breath as its eyes turned bloodshot before swinging its axe towards Iron.
At the same time, Iron also gathered his strength as his entire body was dyed black. His sword moved the moment his entire body was covered in his steel mana.
Slash!
The troll lord couldn’t help but take a step back when it saw some of the axe lights that it fired off getting cut down before sending out its red lightning.
However, Iron just ignored it as he rushed recklessly towards the troll lord. It was a reckless and mindless charge just like the charge of an orc lord.
The type that the troll lord detested the most were those who relied blindly on their brute strength as they rushed forward. And this human that it thought was a clever rat was imitating the orc lord.
―Human!
The troll lord swung its gigantic axe covered with battle qi and lightning.
However, contrary to what it expected, Iron bounced off. It seemed like he had immediately given up on fighting close-distance as he widened the gap between them.
Due to the nature of Iron’s abilities, the power of lightning was reduced. However, scratches slowly showed in Iron’s steel mana when the troll lord used its battle qi.
So, Iron repeatedly widened the distance between them whenever the troll lord approached him. This led to a long-term battle.
Feeling annoyed, Iron shot rays of light from his eyes.
―Keok!
The troll lord looked at Iron in shock after it received a hole on the side of its stomach.
The attack was so unexpected that it could not even use its battle qi to respond to it. But since it was a troll, its injury was already regenerating at a fast speed. However, such an injury could prove to be fatal especially in a battle between high-leveled individuals.
As soon as Iron took charge of the momentum, he continuously pushed forward. The troll lord had no choice but to be pushed back as its body got riddled with wounds.
“This is boring. You’re much worse than that orc champion.”
Just when Iron was going to finish off the troll lord with a bland and bored look in his face.
Fwooosh!
Iron blocked an arrow that flew in from afar through his incredible reflexes.
“Keuk!”
Iron frowned as he looked at the arrow that he had parried. It was an arrow that he had seen somewhere before. Iron stared at the arrow before rolling around the floor hurriedly. Then, arrows flew in succession as they got embedded on the ground where Iron was just earlier.
Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!
“Dark elf?”
Iron gritted his teeth when he realized where the arrows came from before looking at the troll lord. When he saw the bastard trying to run away after recovering to some extent, he gritted his teeth harder as he gathered divine power in his eyes.
Shing!
Two beams of light flew after the troll lord but two arrows charged with mana blocked his attack. Iron couldn’t help but blurt out curses when he saw that happening.
“Owl! Stop that bastard!”
Owl appeared in its small form at Iron’s urgent call and fired beams of light from its eyes and shot them towards the dark elves that were shooting the arrows from a distance.
Iron, on the other hand, chased the escaping troll lord.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Iron slashed the troll lord’s shoulder as he shouted. Some of the other trolls rushed forward to save their lord but Iron just attacked like crazy and cut them off one by one. After cutting them off, he was finally able to catch up with the troll lord.
一Monstrous bastard!
“That’s a compliment, right?”
Iron swung his sword with a bright smile as the troll lord looked at him in exhaustion.
But the trolls were not the only ones disturbing Iron. Several dark elves had suddenly appeared and began to attack Iron.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Iron gritted his teeth as he watched the dark elves hold their scythes and double swords as they blocked him from getting to the troll lord.
Fortunately, none of them were at the 6th Stage. But the problem was that the dark elves were well-versed in synchronized attacks. Their synchronization was so excellent that it proved to be too difficult for him to break through in a short period of time. He knew that the troll lord would most likely escape if this continued on.
“Iron Carter.”
“You know my name?”
“The most dangerous person that can disrupt our plans.”
Iron calmed down as he sharpened his momentum after hearing the words of the dark elf.
“You’re the one who interfered with our plans several times. I will kill you no matter what damage I suffer here.”
A strange flute sound came from afar at the words of the dark elf.
There, he saw goblins riding dire wolves from afar. The same goblins and dire wolves that attacked the Lion Castle Fortress.
He thought that he wouldn’t see dire wolves and goblins in the forest but it seemed like they were truly able to gather monsters from somewhere else.
“So you’re also the ones responsible for what happened in Lion Castle Fortress?”
The dark elf did not answer Iron’s question. However, Iron grit his teeth in anger. He knew that the elf’s silence was affirmative.
Before he knew it, the troll lord had recovered and took the lead as it laughed at him. It knew that Iron would die at this rate.
“Start the hunt.”
At the words of the dark elf, the troll lord shouted and rushed forward first.
The dark elves’ arrows and hidden weapons flew towards Iron and kept him in check to make sure that the troll lord would be given the chance to kill him and win. He could endure and hold out but if his current situation persisted then he would not be able to secure victory.
Seeing the direwolves running from afar, he knew that it would spell the humans’ defeat.
The only silver lining was the fact that the dark elves were completely focusing on him. Knowing the fact that the dark elves would not focus on killing the inexperienced knights and rangers gave him enough leeway to fight on his full strength.
Fire broke out in an instant as the huge Phoenix appeared in the sky and attacked the backs of the approaching dark elves. Owl also rapidly grew in size as it emitted beams of light from its huge eyes.
“Let’s fight seriously now.”
Plenty of elves appeared as if they expected Iron’s strength to be this much. However, once Baepsae came out and helped Iron recover his stamina and vitality, it became difficult for them to stop Iron the way they wanted to.
The dark elves who thought that their numbers were enough to deal with Iron were flustered when they saw Iron was stronger than they had expected.
Iron’s power and force seemed to have become stronger than when he fought in the Lion Castle Fortress.
Aside from the increase in force after entering the 6th Stage, it seemed like his divine beasts were also showing greater power compared to the time that they appeared in the Lion Castle Fortress. Their power was so overwhelming that they felt like they were facing a master at the very least.
The goblins and direwolves stopped in their tracks from the two divine beasts’ offensive. Meanwhile, Iron took on and endured the attacks of the dark elves and the troll lord alone.
“De… Demon! Don’t come here!”
The troll lord couldn’t help but shriek when it saw Iron’s vicious glare as he persistently parried and broke through the dark elves’ offensive to attack it. However, despite its shrieks, Iron held on to the troll lord. He was determined to defeat the troll lord even if he had to endure and receive injuries from all over his body.
Iron was able to make this choice thanks to Baepsae. Because of the vitality that overflowed from his body, he was able to participate in this battle while healing in real time like the trolls and fighting like a berserker.
Maybe it was because of Iron’s monstrous and reaper-like battle? He was able to successfully stab the troll lord’s neck.
“Keureuk… Keok! Keok!”
Iron cut off the troll lord’s neck as he watched it vomit blood. In the end, he was still able to kill the troll lord. After dealing with the troll lord, he looked around with his body covered in blood.
Even the cold-blooded dark elf assassins couldn’t help but flinch when they heard Iron’s shout that was filled with killing intent.
“Don’t leave a single bastard behind. Kill them all!”
Hearing Iron’s shout that was boosted by mana, the knights and the rangers’ morale increased. Iron’s shout meant that the troll lord was dead.
Iron’s troops had now fully transformed into the Demon Unit, just like what the monsters called them, after receiving Baepsae’s power of healing and vitality. All of them slashed and stabbed crazily as they killed the monsters that were stationed in this command post without any care for their wounds and stamina.
Realizing that their plan had failed, the dark elves tried to run away. However, they each died under Iron’s hands one after the other.
Their death led to the complete devastation of the monster corps’ rear.
“War is a battle of momentum!”
These were words that great commanders often said.
It was said that no matter how many troops there were, as long as the momentum had collapsed, they would also begin to collapse.
As proof of that, the monster corps’ battle line began to collapse despite them having the higher number and the upperhand the moment their momentum collapsed from the complete devastation of their rear. And since their battle line had collapsed, the addition of the goblins and the direwolves would not be able to help them turn the tides no matter what.
一Kiiik! De… Demons! The demons are chasing us!
一Chwik! Es… escape!
As they all avoided the tireless demons, the monster corps’ battle line continued to collapse. In the end, they all began to disperse into the forest and the plains to avoid these horrendous demons.
When the rear collapsed like that, the lords had decided that any more battles would be difficult in the future so they immediately ordered their respective troops for a retreat as they dispersed back to their own territories.
The commanders of each unit approached Iron’s unit one by one upon seeing all of the monsters backing down.
“Our victory is all thanks to you!”
“I feel like the rumors have underestimated you!”
Oran Temphet and Kate Winstell, the two heads of the territorial forces, gave their praises.
“Junior. No, should I call you battalion commander now?”
“Hey! Why are you so serious? Can’t you see that it’s all thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Iron that we have won the war?”
Sky Renz and Jim Rogers bantered as they greeted Iron.
Despite their praises and happiness over their victory, Iron still did not relax.
“The war is not yet over. We have to end them completely before they can even get together again!”
The commanders leading their units’ faces crumpled upon hearing Iron’s words.
“Thanks to those punks from Lion Castle Fortress, we had to fight such a big battle. If we don’t want those bastards to stick together again, then we have to completely end them.”
“Uhmm… I agree.”
“Do as you please.”
With Oran Temphet and Kate Winstell’s agreement, Iron turned to look at the Northeast’s commanders.
The two were also of the same mind.
“The Commander said that he will entrust everything to Lieutenant Colonel Iron.”
Iron smiled when he heard Jim Rogers’ words.
Their army suffered a lot after an all-out war against the monster corps but after putting the injured in temporary positions, they were able to reorganize their troops and mobilize those that could move again.
This time, they hunted the monsters that fled all over the place with the intention of pulling the root off of the ground. And at the forefront of it all was Iron’s unit.
Under the command of the Demon Commander Iron and his Demon Unit, they exterminated all of the monsters that crossed the frontlines.
A few months later, all of the monster troops starting from Leonhardt’s territory to the frontline were all wiped out.
The dark elves pestered him several times but he was able to kill them and finally succeed in destroying all of the monsters and dark elves that positioned themselves to the south of the frontlines.
During the process, Iron’s unit was hailed as the Demon Unit not only by the monsters but even by the soldiers that fought with them. This was because they were all covered in blood during every battle as they took the lead in killing the monsters.
And the one leading them, Iron, was called…
‘Demon Commander.’
Was it because of the soldiers’ nickname for him? Iron was able to get an achievement the moment he killed the orc lord, the main pillar of the monster corps, and completed his goal.
一You have made a special achievement ‘Demon Commander’. The monster troops will experience a 30% decrease in morale whenever they meet with the troops that you lead in the future.
Along with the achievement notification, the sound of the notifications that he had not heard in a long time rang in his ears.
一 The dark elves have designated you as their most dangerous person. From now on, the dark elves will put you as their priority target.
一 ??? Forces are beginning to keep an eye on you after you have interfered with their work in the Northeast, East and the North. There is a possibility that you will be designated as their most dangerous target in the future.
一 A special quest has been created.
一 1. Survive from the ??? Forces.
一 2. Annihilate the dark elves and expose the ???? Forces.
一 ※ If you choose number 1, you will be linked to the main quest. If you choose number 2, the main quest ‘????? ?????’ will begin.
***
The Duke’s Eldest Son Escaped to the Military (120)
Translator: ChubbyCheeks
41 The Demon Unit! (3)
The troll lord seemed to not want to drag time at all. It immediately casted its sorcery and covered its entire body with red lightning that extended towards its axe.
Thud!
“Lightning… what a pity, that doesn’t work on me.”
Iron watched the electrifying lightning dance around the troll’s body.
The troll lord’s veins twitched in anger as it increased its battle qi. It seemed like it wanted to show that it was not just its sorcery that was strong but even its battle qi.
It wrapped its battle qi around its axe and swung it towards Iron. However, Iron also blocked this strike easily.
“If you don’t do it properly then you will die right away?”
The troll lord’s eyebrows twitched upon hearing Iron’s warning.
There were five lords and there were only four 6th Stage humans blocking the monster corps. The reason why it came here was to catch the rats. But it seemed like this rat had quite the unusual skills.
The rat was even powerful enough to make itself turn nervous. The troll lord instinctively realized that it could only win this battle if it defeated the human standing in front of it.
―Oooooh!
Perhaps it felt like the human in front of it had extraordinary skills that it unleashed its full power. The image created from battle qi, just like what the orc champion showed before, was created. However, it was not the same distorted image but a clear image that was characteristic to those of the 6th Stage. It was even covered with red lightning and black fog that began to spread in the surroundings. By combining its sorcery and battle qi, the troll lord was able to break through the walls of a lord in its own way.
“Hoo…”
The troll lord exhaled a long breath as its eyes turned bloodshot before swinging its axe towards Iron.
At the same time, Iron also gathered his strength as his entire body was dyed black. His sword moved the moment his entire body was covered in his steel mana.
Slash!
The troll lord couldn’t help but take a step back when it saw some of the axe lights that it fired off getting cut down before sending out its red lightning.
However, Iron just ignored it as he rushed recklessly towards the troll lord. It was a reckless and mindless charge just like the charge of an orc lord.
The type that the troll lord detested the most were those who relied blindly on their brute strength as they rushed forward. And this human that it thought was a clever rat was imitating the orc lord.
―Human!
The troll lord swung its gigantic axe covered with battle qi and lightning.
However, contrary to what it expected, Iron bounced off. It seemed like he had immediately given up on fighting close-distance as he widened the gap between them.
Due to the nature of Iron’s abilities, the power of lightning was reduced. However, scratches slowly showed in Iron’s steel mana when the troll lord used its battle qi.
So, Iron repeatedly widened the distance between them whenever the troll lord approached him. This led to a long-term battle.
Feeling annoyed, Iron shot rays of light from his eyes.
―Keok!
The troll lord looked at Iron in shock after it received a hole on the side of its stomach.
The attack was so unexpected that it could not even use its battle qi to respond to it. But since it was a troll, its injury was already regenerating at a fast speed. However, such an injury could prove to be fatal especially in a battle between high-leveled individuals.
As soon as Iron took charge of the momentum, he continuously pushed forward. The troll lord had no choice but to be pushed back as its body got riddled with wounds.
“This is boring. You’re much worse than that orc champion.”
Just when Iron was going to finish off the troll lord with a bland and bored look in his face.
Fwooosh!
Iron blocked an arrow that flew in from afar through his incredible reflexes.
“Keuk!”
Iron frowned as he looked at the arrow that he had parried. It was an arrow that he had seen somewhere before. Iron stared at the arrow before rolling around the floor hurriedly. Then, arrows flew in succession as they got embedded on the ground where Iron was just earlier.
Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh!
“Dark elf?”
Iron gritted his teeth when he realized where the arrows came from before looking at the troll lord. When he saw the bastard trying to run away after recovering to some extent, he gritted his teeth harder as he gathered divine power in his eyes.
Shing!
Two beams of light flew after the troll lord but two arrows charged with mana blocked his attack. Iron couldn’t help but blurt out curses when he saw that happening.
“Owl! Stop that bastard!”
Owl appeared in its small form at Iron’s urgent call and fired beams of light from its eyes and shot them towards the dark elves that were shooting the arrows from a distance.
Iron, on the other hand, chased the escaping troll lord.
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Iron slashed the troll lord’s shoulder as he shouted. Some of the other trolls rushed forward to save their lord but Iron just attacked like crazy and cut them off one by one. After cutting them off, he was finally able to catch up with the troll lord.
一Monstrous bastard!
“That’s a compliment, right?”
Iron swung his sword with a bright smile as the troll lord looked at him in exhaustion.
But the trolls were not the only ones disturbing Iron. Several dark elves had suddenly appeared and began to attack Iron.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Iron gritted his teeth as he watched the dark elves hold their scythes and double swords as they blocked him from getting to the troll lord.
Fortunately, none of them were at the 6th Stage. But the problem was that the dark elves were well-versed in synchronized attacks. Their synchronization was so excellent that it proved to be too difficult for him to break through in a short period of time. He knew that the troll lord would most likely escape if this continued on.
“Iron Carter.”
“You know my name?”
“The most dangerous person that can disrupt our plans.”
Iron calmed down as he sharpened his momentum after hearing the words of the dark elf.
“You’re the one who interfered with our plans several times. I will kill you no matter what damage I suffer here.”
A strange flute sound came from afar at the words of the dark elf.
There, he saw goblins riding dire wolves from afar. The same goblins and dire wolves that attacked the Lion Castle Fortress.
He thought that he wouldn’t see dire wolves and goblins in the forest but it seemed like they were truly able to gather monsters from somewhere else.
“So you’re also the ones responsible for what happened in Lion Castle Fortress?”
The dark elf did not answer Iron’s question. However, Iron grit his teeth in anger. He knew that the elf’s silence was affirmative.
Before he knew it, the troll lord had recovered and took the lead as it laughed at him. It knew that Iron would die at this rate.
“Start the hunt.”
At the words of the dark elf, the troll lord shouted and rushed forward first.
The dark elves’ arrows and hidden weapons flew towards Iron and kept him in check to make sure that the troll lord would be given the chance to kill him and win. He could endure and hold out but if his current situation persisted then he would not be able to secure victory.
Seeing the direwolves running from afar, he knew that it would spell the humans’ defeat.
The only silver lining was the fact that the dark elves were completely focusing on him. Knowing the fact that the dark elves would not focus on killing the inexperienced knights and rangers gave him enough leeway to fight on his full strength.
Fire broke out in an instant as the huge Phoenix appeared in the sky and attacked the backs of the approaching dark elves. Owl also rapidly grew in size as it emitted beams of light from its huge eyes.
“Let’s fight seriously now.”
Plenty of elves appeared as if they expected Iron’s strength to be this much. However, once Baepsae came out and helped Iron recover his stamina and vitality, it became difficult for them to stop Iron the way they wanted to.
The dark elves who thought that their numbers were enough to deal with Iron were flustered when they saw Iron was stronger than they had expected.
Iron’s power and force seemed to have become stronger than when he fought in the Lion Castle Fortress.
Aside from the increase in force after entering the 6th Stage, it seemed like his divine beasts were also showing greater power compared to the time that they appeared in the Lion Castle Fortress. Their power was so overwhelming that they felt like they were facing a master at the very least.
The goblins and direwolves stopped in their tracks from the two divine beasts’ offensive. Meanwhile, Iron took on and endured the attacks of the dark elves and the troll lord alone.
“De… Demon! Don’t come here!”
The troll lord couldn’t help but shriek when it saw Iron’s vicious glare as he persistently parried and broke through the dark elves’ offensive to attack it. However, despite its shrieks, Iron held on to the troll lord. He was determined to defeat the troll lord even if he had to endure and receive injuries from all over his body.
Iron was able to make this choice thanks to Baepsae. Because of the vitality that overflowed from his body, he was able to participate in this battle while healing in real time like the trolls and fighting like a berserker.
Maybe it was because of Iron’s monstrous and reaper-like battle? He was able to successfully stab the troll lord’s neck.
“Keureuk… Keok! Keok!”
Iron cut off the troll lord’s neck as he watched it vomit blood. In the end, he was still able to kill the troll lord. After dealing with the troll lord, he looked around with his body covered in blood.
Even the cold-blooded dark elf assassins couldn’t help but flinch when they heard Iron’s shout that was filled with killing intent.
“Don’t leave a single bastard behind. Kill them all!”
Hearing Iron’s shout that was boosted by mana, the knights and the rangers’ morale increased. Iron’s shout meant that the troll lord was dead.
Iron’s troops had now fully transformed into the Demon Unit, just like what the monsters called them, after receiving Baepsae’s power of healing and vitality. All of them slashed and stabbed crazily as they killed the monsters that were stationed in this command post without any care for their wounds and stamina.
Realizing that their plan had failed, the dark elves tried to run away. However, they each died under Iron’s hands one after the other.
Their death led to the complete devastation of the monster corps’ rear.
“War is a battle of momentum!”
These were words that great commanders often said.
It was said that no matter how many troops there were, as long as the momentum had collapsed, they would also begin to collapse.
As proof of that, the monster corps’ battle line began to collapse despite them having the higher number and the upperhand the moment their momentum collapsed from the complete devastation of their rear. And since their battle line had collapsed, the addition of the goblins and the direwolves would not be able to help them turn the tides no matter what.
一Kiiik! De… Demons! The demons are chasing us!
一Chwik! Es… escape!
As they all avoided the tireless demons, the monster corps’ battle line continued to collapse. In the end, they all began to disperse into the forest and the plains to avoid these horrendous demons.
When the rear collapsed like that, the lords had decided that any more battles would be difficult in the future so they immediately ordered their respective troops for a retreat as they dispersed back to their own territories.
The commanders of each unit approached Iron’s unit one by one upon seeing all of the monsters backing down.
“Our victory is all thanks to you!”
“I feel like the rumors have underestimated you!”
Oran Temphet and Kate Winstell, the two heads of the territorial forces, gave their praises.
“Junior. No, should I call you battalion commander now?”
“Hey! Why are you so serious? Can’t you see that it’s all thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Iron that we have won the war?”
Sky Renz and Jim Rogers bantered as they greeted Iron.
Despite their praises and happiness over their victory, Iron still did not relax.
“The war is not yet over. We have to end them completely before they can even get together again!”
The commanders leading their units’ faces crumpled upon hearing Iron’s words.
“Thanks to those punks from Lion Castle Fortress, we had to fight such a big battle. If we don’t want those bastards to stick together again, then we have to completely end them.”
“Uhmm… I agree.”
“Do as you please.”
With Oran Temphet and Kate Winstell’s agreement, Iron turned to look at the Northeast’s commanders.
The two were also of the same mind.
“The Commander said that he will entrust everything to Lieutenant Colonel Iron.”
Iron smiled when he heard Jim Rogers’ words.
Their army suffered a lot after an all-out war against the monster corps but after putting the injured in temporary positions, they were able to reorganize their troops and mobilize those that could move again.
This time, they hunted the monsters that fled all over the place with the intention of pulling the root off of the ground. And at the forefront of it all was Iron’s unit.
Under the command of the Demon Commander Iron and his Demon Unit, they exterminated all of the monsters that crossed the frontlines.
A few months later, all of the monster troops starting from Leonhardt’s territory to the frontline were all wiped out.
The dark elves pestered him several times but he was able to kill them and finally succeed in destroying all of the monsters and dark elves that positioned themselves to the south of the frontlines.
During the process, Iron’s unit was hailed as the Demon Unit not only by the monsters but even by the soldiers that fought with them. This was because they were all covered in blood during every battle as they took the lead in killing the monsters.
And the one leading them, Iron, was called…
‘Demon Commander.’
Was it because of the soldiers’ nickname for him? Iron was able to get an achievement the moment he killed the orc lord, the main pillar of the monster corps, and completed his goal.
一You have made a special achievement ‘Demon Commander’. The monster troops will experience a 30% decrease in morale whenever they meet with the troops that you lead in the future.
Along with the achievement notification, the sound of the notifications that he had not heard in a long time rang in his ears.
一 The dark elves have designated you as their most dangerous person. From now on, the dark elves will put you as their priority target.
一 ??? Forces are beginning to keep an eye on you after you have interfered with their work in the Northeast, East and the North. There is a possibility that you will be designated as their most dangerous target in the future.
一 A special quest has been created.
一 1. Survive from the ??? Forces.
一 2. Annihilate the dark elves and expose the ???? Forces.
一 ※ If you choose number 1, you will be linked to the main quest. If you choose number 2, the main quest ‘????? ?????’ will begin.
***
