Episode 120 – Fierce Battle (10)
“My, my arm! “My arm…!”
“Hey you bastard! Tour! wake up!”
Even though we have won, it does not cover all the sacrifices. Once the excitement, which subsides as easily as it burns, disappears, all that remains at the scene is devastation.
This is the same for all battlefields. It was a sight veterans had become accustomed to, even if it was unpleasant.
‘This, this is not war.’
But that only applied to Arin veterans. The royal wizard Rihar, who was neither a new recruit nor a young man, but had steadily accumulated some practical combat experience, was looking at this miserable battlefield in bewilderment like others who still lacked experience.
A soldier who did not look upon himself very kindly, but who nevertheless protected him only for the sake of his mission in a crisis situation. Rihar’s eyes trembled violently as he stood in front of the soldier’s corpse, which had been cut in half so vainly by the newly appeared mutant’s attack.
My first group battle with a bug. I have never felt this way when suppressing bandits, suppressing rebels, or even following Luke into war with the tribes of the plains.
It felt as if I had fought and endured in the face of a huge natural disaster, rather than fighting a war.
The problem was that this wasn’t the first and it wouldn’t be the last.
“No, not this!”
“Li, Lihar!”
Gritting his teeth, Lihar got up and started running. Shocked fellow wizards tried to catch him but failed.
The place where Lihar arrived after running like that was where Riena, who had joined Commander Lakum, was located.
Before they could be surprised, Rihar immediately knelt down in front of them.
“what. “What’s going on?”
An embarrassed Rakum flinched at the sight of him. That’s because Lihar’s eyes were unusual. To someone who didn’t know him, it would be like he went crazy after experiencing a terrible war.
“Please allow it. We must inform the kingdom of what is happening here!”
Lihar begged them to send him to report on these terrible events. They said that there was no need for expansion of the empire, unification of the grasslands, containment policies, or anything like that in the noisy and complex international situation right now.
The important thing now is to prevent bugs from popping out. He argued that for that purpose, everyone must join forces even now.
“No, so suddenly…”
“I know what you mean. But will your king believe you? What you saw and heard here. “Even those who live with us in this grassland don’t know what kind of monsters we are fighting.”
While Rakum was scratching his head, Riena quietly opened her mouth. Rihar flinched when he heard her words, but then shook his head.
“Whether you believe it or not is not important. First of all, we need to let people know so that they can at least raise awareness. “Only then will you think differently when you try to do something useless.”
Lihar already had a firm belief. If you think about it from the perspective that bugs must be stopped at all costs, Rihar was already as sincere as the other Arryns.
He firmly believed that the growth of bugs would lead to the destruction of the world.
“What should I do?”
“This man is a prisoner. “I can’t decide on my own.”
Rakum glanced at Riena, but she answered firmly. It is clear that if Lihar is released, it will become a political problem.
It was a decision that had to be made by Varun, the warchief, not by her, the warrior.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
And the news soon reached Varun.
“I’m glad we stopped it without major damage, but we’re not at a point where we can feel safe yet.”
“yes. Because there is no point in just defending. “We have to attack their nest.”
Varun, who was with Kun, the miners’ representative and who had accompanied them on a cooperation mission, was troubled when he received the message from Riena.
This is because Lihar’s request was not wrong. If the kingdom in the south hears this news and helps them, the Arin people will definitely receive great support in their fight against bugs.
‘But we are too small compared to the Southern Kingdom.’
What Varun was worried about was that if this fact became known to the outside world, they would be dragged around by outside forces because their size was too small.
Although he became a warchief with tens of thousands of tribe members under his command, this was at the level of a city in the Southern Kingdom. The difference in power between the existing forces and the Arin tribe, which I found out through Lihar and his party, was still incredibly large.
“We are only cooperating in exterminating the black monsters. Will there be any problems?”
“Our duty includes stopping the black monsters, but it also includes protecting the will of the guardian deity. “They who have pushed us back with numbers may take our guardian spirit away from us.”
“Well, like that!”
Hearing Varun shaking his head, Kun got scared and jumped up. Now, for them, their guardian spirit is literally a holy being that they absolutely cannot live without. The reason they willingly accepted the fight against bugs was because of the guardian spirit’s care.
Therefore, the first thing that the Arin people had to protect was the guardian deity they believed in and followed.
“Then is it impossible to join hands with them?”
“You never know. “If we can become a great tribe that is not inferior to them, or even a kingdom… it might be okay.”
Varun’s eyes sparkled as he smiled. What those eyes were looking at was this vast land.
This land where the grassland tribes live scattered is not small at all. Just looking at the area, it might have been bigger than the Southern Kingdom.
Beyond the area they thought was the end, a wider plain had spread out, and beyond the land they thought was really the end, a different race called dwarves had been living in hiding for a long time.
‘This land is enough.’
Therefore, Varun gave up his greed for land. People weren’t a big problem either. The population of the grassland tribes quickly increased by subjugating their neighbors, and now there is no one in this area who can refuse the Arin tribe.
Newly born children, who had a low survival rate, never died from disease. It was thanks to the help of the guardian spirit who sacrificed points.
“By absorbing the defeated Garhan tribe, our size grew enormously. But Kun, aren’t you feeling a little anxious again? “I’m anxious about what if the enemies attack in greater numbers than this time, or if they come stronger.”
“Of course I’m anxious. Warchief, this land…”
“The will of this grassland cannot be united, so do you think it will be a waste of money to tell the outside world about the black monsters? “They look down on us as barbarians?”
Varun wanted war, or more precisely, growth by any means necessary. It was common in the grasslands for a tribe to win against an opposing tribe and take wealth and people.
“I don’t think it will be easy. “Our troops must be on guard in the north as well.”
“We have not yet absorbed some of the Garhan forces, so I think we can see some potential if we absorb them as well. And anyway, you need his permission for such an action.”
Although he took a step back, Varun’s thoughts did not change. Finally, early the next morning. In the middle of the battlefield where Garhan’s followers were massacred by Luke’s soldiers, Varun began to raise offerings to the sky and revealed his true feelings a little more honestly.
I want to increase my power, whether by waging a bigger war or engaging in exchanges.
As a result, there was no way the words I spoke all night long would not be recognized by beings off the screen.
***
‘Does Varun also want to expand?’
Whether I am ready or not, the time of choice comes.
From Noble mtl dot com
I realized Varun’s intention through his worries and sighed.
You might say this is obvious, but Varun wanted to expand. Maybe it was the insight of a leader who sees more and thinks more than me.
That’s why I didn’t object. Anyway, the most important thing is that the residents are beings who can see things I couldn’t see.
‘You can send Rihar.’
I didn’t really want to object to Lihar’s decision, which was pushed back for a while. It’s better if you have an ally when fighting monsters, and best of all, Rihar now has a completely green border.
It means that he has been transformed from the inside out into a trustworthy person.
If we let him go, it is obvious that Richard will do his best to explain and prove the reality we are facing.
“We have to attack too. “I’m busy.”
We will not stop there, but we must reorganize the forces of the northern fortress and unite to attack the nests of the bugs that attacked us this time.
When I think about this, the need for expansion keeps coming to mind.
In fact, my heart had already been tilted to one side for a long time. There is ample potential for growth, so we must be proactive.
-I think it’s right to expand it too.
“Is that so?”
-I think it’s an advantage that it’s easy to expand in that way.
Just in case, I asked Soyeon Lee for her opinion. Then, without hesitation, she stated that she needed to project her power more externally.
The residents she fosters are those who started out in a small village. Lee So-yeon said that they are also actively moving to expand their power, such as engaging in territorial warfare.
‘good. If I have to take it, I take it.’
It didn’t take long to make up my mind.
I planned to instruct the villagers to attack the surrounding areas and bring back more land and villagers.
“–, —!”
Besides, it wasn’t that difficult. Because the world wouldn’t leave us alone anyway.
First of all, we are watching them repair the damage from the war and reorganize. An urgent message came from the western territory where Varun was out.
A large force has once again moved towards the east where we are.
“I can see it, I can see it.”
In my eyes, I could see enemies entering the screen we had opened. Among them, there was a large man wearing shiny armor and a tiger skin who looked unusual even at first glance.
His name was Warchief Luke.
“—!”
Naturally, residents were on alert. There was still a long distance between them and the people who were slowly approaching, but Varun, who had not yet finished introducing the immigrants, was under pressure.
‘If they attack first, there is no reason to avoid them.’
Luke is the central loser who received support from the Southern Kingdom. If we defeat him, we will naturally be able to take control of the center.
“Ah, now I have to make a multiplayer game soon.”
I shook my head as I saw people rushing around and trying to take refuge in the village.
In the current situation, a village with tens of thousands of people was already at the level of a city. Rather than adding more people, I thought it would be better to build another village in a somewhat stable rear area that would become a base city that would spread out into the grasslands.
The entire grassland is not yet in our hands, but what makes this possible is the considerable amount of magical energy I have earned through this war.
So, using this, it was possible to spread defense towers in new areas.
“–…”
As I started building the defense tower, Varun’s eyes changed. They immediately recognized my intention and stopped moving the residents.
Instead, Varun mobilized miners and porters and began building new villages and forts in the area he had established as a base.