"About time. Ugh."
Seeing Damon reveal himself from the bushes, Katroy suddenly
pinched his nose.
"What the? Why are you covered in blood like that?"
Damon replied as if it were no big deal.
"I gave those orc bastards a beating. Took out around
fourteen hundred?"
Katroy put on an expression of incomprehension.
"You are a mage, right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't tell me you were swinging a sword around like the
others? There's no way you'd be drenched in blood like this
otherwise."
Damon frowned and clouted Katroy on the head.
"You're the one who chickened out of fighting those orc
brats, yet you talk a lot. Let's pull out now.
An orc search party will come charging in soon…."
As Damon turned his head, his eyes fell on Yuliana, and he
suddenly made a wicked expression.
'If I'd known this would happen, should I have taken that girl
with me? If she'd seen me flaying them alive with her own
eyes, she'd be a bit afraid of me at least….'
But it couldn't be helped. The root of the problem was that
he'd left her with Katroy because she'd obviously be a burden.
Meeting Damon's gaze as he stared at her, Yuliana made a
bewildered expression.
Because they have no mages, the orcs' means of communication
are left entirely to messengers. Therefore, compared to human
armies, it is inevitably extremely inefficient.
Gedenhide, having seen through this point, had used the
liches under his command to establish a basic magical
communication network. But because it was inevitably crude
compared to humans, news of Kruhe's supply unit's
annihilation only reached Gedenhide's ears after two nearby
orc tribes were additionally obliterated. Even then, it could
only be delivered because the surviving orc stragglers from
the disaster ran for their lives to the lich in charge of
communications.
Having received the ill tidings, Gedenhide sprang up in
shock.
"What?"
Since all the dragons were in slumber, Gedenhide was serving
as temporary commander-in-chief.
Thus the responsibility for whatever happened fell entirely
on him. For such an astounding event to occur in this
situation……. The lich who appeared in the crystal orb
continued tonelessly.
"According to the survivors, there were only about fifteen
humans. Through a preemptive strike by two humans presumed
to be mages, half of the one thousand four hundred strong
force met a miserable end."
"T-that kind of thing…."
Gedenhide was momentarily unable to collect himself. Even he
could not exert such destructive power. Of course, if he
kept his distance and unleashed wide-area magical attacks,
it wouldn't be impossible, but annihilating a massive orc
army right before his eyes with simple anti-personnel magic
was unthinkable even for Gedenhide.
It was common sense that none but a dragon could display such
might. But having thought of something, Gedenhide bit his
lip hard.
"There is one bastard capable of such a thing. It seems that
with the sea route blocked, that fellow called Damon has
crossed over personally."
If it was Damon's skill, achieving such a military feat was
entirely possible. Combining the reports of the orc
survivors left no room for doubt.
"The human mage fired countless white beams of light,
felling his comrades."
Of course, Gedenhide knew the true nature of the white beams
better than anyone.
"Magic Missile. There is no anti-personnel magic that
demonstrates such power in one-against-many close combat as
the Magic Missile that bastard deploys. Moreover,
considering that three wyverns scouting the eastern coast
were shot down not long ago, it must be certain. We must now
accept as fact that the bastard has crossed into Truvenia.
That aside, the problem is what his objective is…."
A bizarre radiance flickered in Gedenhide's eye sockets. The
fact that three slave villages had been raided was a
significant problem and clearly revealed the bastard's
objective.
"His objective is undoubtedly to sever the orcs' supply
line. If the slaves rise in revolt on a large scale, the
orc race, unable to be self-sufficient in food, will
inevitably be driven into difficulty…. But it won't
happen. I have already prepared countermeasures for
that…."
Gedenhide immediately scanned the map. Examining the
location where the supply unit had been annihilated
afterwards, it seemed Damon was advancing northwest with the
Thor Tribe as his axis. Having grasped the location,
Gedenhide immediately gave an order.
"Gather most of the supply units in the northwest. And have
them conscript warriors from the orc tribes along the route.
The supply units currently in operation number forty. If
it's a great army reaching twenty thousand, we should be able
to encircle them without difficulty. No matter how powerful
a mage is, there is a limit to fighting without rest. If we
endure the sacrifices and continuously commit warriors, even
he will eventually have no choice but to tire."
Gedenhide had hit upon the most effective method. What
remained in the orc tribes were warriors in excess, and if
they were committed endlessly, even Damon would be helpless.
He had surely brought numerous humans composed of elites, but
they would be insufficient to deal with orc warriors who
would swarm persistently no matter how many were killed.
Humans were bound to tire, and the fact that dragons feared
humans could be considered in the same vein.
At that moment, the subordinate lich's reply came from the
crystal orb.
"If the bastard raids a slave village again, how should we
prepare?"
Gedenhide's answer came without a moment's hesitation. He
already knew well the physical limitations of humans.
"Dispatch numerous elite warriors to the slave villages
along his path. If you have them take the women and children
of the village as hostages, the slaves will have no choice
but to fight alongside them. If the supply unit is
annihilated, order them to massacre every single human taken
hostage without exception."
"Understood."
"And dispatch pursuit teams to track the slaves who vanished
from the villages to the very end. You must capture and kill
every last escaped slave."
"Yes."
The image of the lich bowing its head respectfully soon
faded from the crystal orb. Gedenhide once again activated
communication magic. This time the connected location was
Berkis's lair. As soon as the lich temporarily in charge of
the lair's security appeared, Gedenhide gave orders without
hesitation.
"How many liches have revived?"
"About ten have regained their vitality now."
Gedenhide gave the order without hesitation.
"I shall mobilize all the liches of the lair, including you,
for the search. Have them search extensively for places
where dark magical power is felt. He is an existence
possessing vast dark magical power. If we search intensively
only where dark magical power is emanating, we will be able
to locate him before long."
At those words, the lich in the crystal orb showed a troubled
expression.
"But what about Lord Berkis's protection…."
"Don't worry. If he is sane, he won't rashly attack Lord
Berkis's abode. Instead, conscript numerous warriors from
nearby orc tribes and deploy them for defense. You only need
to leave one lich for communication. If by any chance he
invades, buy time by mobilizing the Guardians and orc
warriors, and in the meantime, deploy all the liches via
teleportation."
Convinced by Gedenhide's explanation that fit together
perfectly, the lich bowed its head.
"Understood."
Gazing at the lich's figure disappearing from the crystal
orb, Gedenhide shook his head.
"Bastard. No matter what plan you have, it won't work. The
sea route is already completely blocked. If the dragons
awaken from their slumber in a year, the humans of Arcadia
will inevitably meet the same miserable end as Truvenia."
Gedenhide let out a bizarre laugh as if delighted.
At Gedenhide's command, numerous orc supply units began
moving northwest of where the Thor Tribe was located. They
moved while forcibly conscripting warriors from the tribes
along their route.
Because of this, the supply units were gradually increasing
in number.
But among them, not a single unit encountered Damon's party.
This was because Damon and the members of Kasim's mercenary
company began heading south immediately after raiding the
third slave village. Because they moved on foot without
riding a Bone Dragon or using teleportation magic, only
after ten days were they able to arrive at the northern end
of the Felusia Mountain Range.
"Let's rest for a bit."
At the order to rest, the members sat down here and there
with expressions saying they could finally breathe. Their
legs were trembling from the forced march. Then a worn-out
voice came from behind.
"Let me down."
It was Yuliana. Surprisingly, she was perched on Winslet's
shoulders. Of course, lacking the stamina to endure a forced
march, Damon had forcibly seated her atop Winslet.
Kasim approached with a bitter smile, lifted her in his
arms, and set her down. She glared at Damon once with a
murderous gaze, then silently began massaging her legs.
"Whew, you must have taken a beating from the cold."
Because she looked more energetic than expected, Kasim smiled
and spoke.
"Still, since you rode on Winslet's back, you must have been
much more comfortable than us."
"Stop saying that, Kasim. Do you know how much it shook?"
Yuliana, who had been grumbling, tilted her head.
"Well, he is headless, so I suppose he was just barely
rideable."
At that sight, Krancia clicked his tongue. He had only seen
her as a pretty little girl, yet she had ridden here on a
horrifying undead monster as if it were nothing……. If an
ordinary woman saw a Dullahan with his head tucked under his
arm, she would faint just from the sight.
But the remaining members appeared not to find it
particularly strange. They had already become inured to the
girl called Yuliana……. Damon leisurely looked around in
all directions, then pointed south.
"If you go quite a ways south along the mountain range,
there's that bastard Berkis's lair. Of course, it's probably
swarming with Guardians, right?"
As soon as Damon finished speaking, the members' faces
hardened with tension. Patterson jumped up with a fuss.
"D-don't tell me you're thinking of attacking that place?"
Damon smiled at the sight.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of attacking his lair…."
"Then why did you come this way?"
Damon glared fiercely at Patterson.
"I came because there's something to do. Why else would I
come?"
Krancia spoke with his eyes brimming with anticipation.
"Then is the real mission starting now?"
"That's right. Shrekheimer will explain the details."
As soon as Damon finished speaking, Shrekheimer stepped
forward.
He began his explanation in the peculiarly bizarre voice
unique to liches.
"You must all have been curious. However, please understand
that we have not told you until now in order to strictly
maintain secrecy. The mission we must carry out is
something that demands such strict confidentiality."
The members sat together with curiosity brimming in their
eyes. Just what mission could be so secretive that it had
been kept hidden until now? Shrekheimer's explanation began.
"Beyond the mountain range is a base where orcs who were
defeated in the First War of Races hid and lived. Probably
a large number of orcs still reside there. Behind it
stretches a forest of vast expanse. That place, which still
maintains its primordial form, is called the Elven Forest by
the world. It is also where numerous elves live."
The impatient Patterson couldn't hold back and opened his
mouth.
"Then is our mission to meet the elves? Surely you're not
thinking of forming an alliance with the elves to subjugate
the orcs together?"
Shrekheimer smiled and shook his head.
"Half correct. We absolutely must form an alliance with
those elves. But that is merely a step in the process.
Because beyond the Elven Forest lies an even greater secret."
"A secret, you say."
Shrekheimer's pupils glowed bizarrely.
"Beyond the Elven Forest, none other than a Dark Portal is
located. Our mission is precisely to reactivate it."
The group was shocked to the core at those words.
Dark Portal. It refers to a dimensional gate created by the
manifested Demon King in order to summon his subordinates
from the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm is impossibly distant
from the human world. The gate of dimensional travel
created personally by the Demon King to overcome that vast
space-time and dimensional gap is precisely the Dark Portal.
During the Dark War, countless monstrous beasts and demonkin
from the Demon Realm appeared in the human world through the
Dark Portal. And they brutally slaughtered innumerable
people, using their corpses to create undead soldiers. Those
atrocities continued until the moment Naidelhark was
defeated.