Chapter 58 – Loser (8)
“Hobgoblins…those bastards finally…”
Ludras’ defeat, the ensuing collapse of the territory, and the mass generation of refugees.
All these events occurred step by step and, as expected, news spread quickly.
The lords who had struggled hard inevitably fell into panic. The once-thought invincible local overlord, who everyone expected to lead the combined forces into battle, ended up fighting alone and succumbing to ruin.
They now understand what we, and what I am capable of.
They fear and realize that we, who consumed and grew stronger on Ludras’ domain, have amassed an overwhelming army that will soon sweep them away.
“Their morale will break, but the lords can’t run. This land, these powers—they’re everything to them. To abandon it all and flee would reduce them to the same plight as the Hobgoblin refugees now flooding in.”
“But isn’t survival more important?”
“Not necessarily.”
Cruiger, himself having been driven from his territory by a player and now seeking to reclaim it, believed that the lords would make desperate stands.
While I asked if he was sure, the truth was that I agreed with him. Even in the worst possible scenario, these lords would still fight. It was the fate of lords of the Demon Realm.
After everyone runs away and the land is left empty, consolidating power there and growing slowly is one option—but fighting head-on isn’t an issue either.
Subduing them by brute force and then proudly collecting the spoils would work just fine.
“Then…should we really retreat?”
“Given the might of Ludras’ former forces concentrated fully now, it’s incomparable to before. Focused here, even with the lords resisting, the situation’s too dire. I’ve told Cruiger to lead the mercenaries in retreat.”
We couldn’t just run openly—it would look bad. So I instructed them to cover some sort of escort or guard duties as an excuse to naturally withdraw from the front lines to the rear.
Once they return from the rear, the frontlines will have crumbled, and the area will descend into lawlessness.
Sending mercenaries to die in such a zone serves no purpose. Afterward, they can simply move to other regions and lie low.
“I’ll do as you wish.”
Always listening to me, Cruiger didn’t ignore my order this time either.
Among the lesser underlings, some might rebel, consumed by the urge to claim glory, but such individuals are nothing but useless stragglers who don’t contribute to our strategy.
“At most a week?”
Reinforcements are already joining the frontlines. With no rest, immediate combat will follow, so the time left isn’t extensive.
Frankly, I’m sure they won’t last longer than expected against my soldiers.
Even now, the large combatants are hurtling toward the frontlines.
“Is that…that colossal monstrosity…!”
True to my prediction, those witnessing the giant combatants for the first time at the frontlines were horrified. People who had merely heard rumors about them through the refugees were now visibly shaken—not just physically, but mentally.
*
“In this aspect, effort must be given. If my mere existence can break their fighting spirit, why wouldn’t I leverage it?”
The Queen gleefully smirked upon seeing how the large combatants’ appearance caused the other demon forces, previously led by Ludras and his hobgoblins, to collapse like straw bundles, without putting up a proper fight.
The monstrous creatures, whose sizes rivaled those of large dump trucks, thundered across the battlefields, far beyond what a mere cavalryman could compare to.
For her, who valued efficiency above all, breaking the enemy’s morale with sheer presence was always preferable.
The terrifying forms and sizes that overwhelmed opponents would serve as valuable references when she created new soldiers.
“But the large combatants have limitations in certain areas.”
“Can’t be helped. We’ll either enhance them or create new types of soldiers.”
Of course, even colossal combatants had their weaknesses.
Unlike Ludras’ territory, which was predominantly vast plains, the battlefield where the allied forces fought was filled with ravines and mountains, challenging terrains that wouldn’t accommodate the beasts.
Setting up fortresses and engaging in siege warfare would render the large combatants useless.
Given their gigantic forms, they weren’t omnipotent. Though aware of this critique from Syla, the Queen herself didn’t overlook it.
Nonetheless, their current overwhelming strength still trumped those limitations.
“Retreat quickly! How do we stop those monsters?”
With the ground trembling and hulking creatures wielding giant horns charging like bulls, countless legions were overwhelmed. The demon soldiers, who had been barely holding on until now, abandoned everything and fled for their lives.
Especially those stationed on open plains without significant defenses—whether natural or man-made—fared the worst.
Realizing that none could face such monsters, they fled in a frantic bid to survive, regardless of race or affiliation.
‘This way, I can focus all my strength on conquering the fortresses. The war has already ended. Unless an external enemy intervenes, the unification that Ludras failed to achieve will be accomplished by me.’
Having easily driven the enemies on flatlands away, she could now allocate her saved resources toward conquering forts in rugged terrains.
Elite forces led by Syla and Rozalyn would be dispatched to besiege such places, and, surrounded with no reinforcements, the defenders were either wiped out in battles or while fleeing, caught in a hellish choice between two bad options.
“Lord, the monsters are advancing into our territory!”
“Thus the moment we feared has arrived…”
Among the lords forming the alliance, the first to be targeted was Viscount Ikon of the Gargoyles, whose domain lay closest to the frontlines.
Ikon, who had turned entire cave networks of a massive mountain range into his fortress, sighed heavily upon hearing his hurriedly arrived subordinate.
His stronghold was located in the rugged mountains; any force except the Gargoyles would need to prepare for significant losses and resource consumption to attempt an invasion.
But for the incoming legions, such terrain presented no obstacle. The aerial combatants, specifically designed and modified to counter gargoyles, now filled the skies and headed his way.
“They’re monsters who can adapt their bodies to fight anywhere and anytime. Hoping for a stroke of luck is meaningless.”
Even Ikon, speaking with a dim voice, faced this impossible two-way decision.
“Lord, perhaps we should retreat to preserve our strength and bide our time…”
“Even if we retreat and become subordinates to another, how will we recover our strength and territory? Look at them—they ravage the lands they conquer and turn them into nests!”
And amidst these choices, Ikon had already made his decision: to resist till the end like Ludras, rather than flee like Rozalyn.
“Prepare for an all-out war! Clearly, no reinforcements will come our way. The only reason we’ve managed to hold on is due to their focus elsewhere on the frontlines.”
Thus, Ikon prepared his forces for complete mobilization. Many gargoyles armed themselves and took to the skies to counter the invaders.
As Ikon said, the legions were concentrating so much of their forces on the frontlines that this was their only advantage.
All of the forces mobilized against them were aerial combatants, and Ikon himself concluded that if he couldn’t even withstand this, he deserved no right to survival.
“The price for troubling us will be paid in the nutrients derived from their corpses.”
A queen possessing the body of an aerial combatant smiled upon witnessing this stance by the gargoyles.
In her constant process of modifications, she had devised a new soldier: the Bomb焰鬼, a flying artillery monster.
Huge. Unlike other flying combatants resembling gigantic beasts, this one was like a massive floating clam, as big as an elephant.
And without any wings, it hovered in the air. By mimicking and refining the structure of small mana beasts capable of floating using internal gases, she could enhance its size beyond limits.
In exchange for losing mobility, it gained its monstrous size, and the role this massive entity performed was artillery bombardment.
Compressing and releasing mana from its internal organs, the Bomb焰鬼 functioned like a bomber, spraying concentrated energy in all directions.
“What in the world is…?”
For the gargoyles prepared for fierce aerial skirmishes, this unforeseen weapon changed the aerial battle’s dynamics entirely.
