SWNOVELXO Chapter 522
Chapter 522. The Intentions of Other Races
“Advance, advance—!”
“Hey, quickly seize the ground’s control!”
“I’m doing it now! [Stone Manipulation Spell]!”
Behind the ever-expanding stone walls, the warriors of the Korvto Tribe kneel, raising the ground beneath them, compacting dirt, reshaping rocks, and creating new stone walls and roofs, gradually establishing a stronghold and pushing forward.
Of course, arrows from mechanical crossbows rain down, but the thick stone walls reinforced by the [Stone Manipulation Spell] bear no scratches whatsoever.
Their strategy is similar to that of the Sauroe tribe, advancing while deploying ‘defensive positions.’ However, unlike barriers that vanish like smoke when mana is depleted, stone walls, once formed, last for half a century with ease.
The advancing Beastman soldiers and Night Elf soldiers also benefit from using safe pathways to launch their attacks, making the tactics of the Korvto Tribe superior.
“Well, unlike those guys, the Sauroe tribe can attack unilaterally over their barriers and allow their allies to come and go at will. Plus, this land is under the Dwarves’ control.”
Sekihankus taps the ground with his toes.
“The magical essence and wishes of our ancestors are deeply infused into this land. Even with so many of the Korvto Tribe here, seizing control of the territory isn’t something easily achieved.”
From Sekihankus’s toes, stone spears begin to extend. However, they move slowly, as if entangled in spider silk.
“I see, that’s why the Korvto Tribe seems less vigorous than usual.”
The members of the Sauroe tribe, including Spinethia, nod in agreement. Sekihankus has Korvto blood and is an elite skilled in both [Hunting Domain] and [Stone Manipulation Spell]. His explanation reflected his deep understanding of the [Stone Manipulation Spell].
“Both sides have their strengths. They have theirs, we have ours.”
With a relaxed demeanor, Sekihankus speaks, and Spinethia nods in agreement, but suddenly grimaces.
She holds her stomach.
Gurrrrroooon… a sound as if the end of the world is upon them.
“…Koshigin!”
“Y-yes, just a moment—!”
From the rear, a cat Beastman with a ridiculously large backpack leaps through the tunnel created by the Sauroe tribe.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Your Highness!”
Spinethia gobbles down the rolled cake presented to her in practically one bite.
“You’re late! What were you fooling around for?”
“I wasn’t fooling around! I’m a carnivore! If anyone’s wasting time, it’s you, Your Highness!”
“Shut it! I’ll pluck and eat your fur! Next time, notice my hunger before it starts rumbling!”
“Eek, please spare me! And don’t say such unreasonable things, those Dwarven arrows are coming at us like crazy!”
What in the world is that!? Koshigin exclaimed in a voice that bordered on a scream. Upon hearing that, Spinethia turned to look behind her, only to find that the lightly armored Beastman soldiers, unlike the magic-resistant Demon race, had already suffered significant casualties due to the barrage of arrows.
Still, their fighting spirit remained unshaken, charging bravely towards the Dwarven fortress.
“The Beastman soldiers are quite fired up, aren’t they?”
Receiving a second helping of peach tart from Koshigin, Spinethia tilted her head with curiosity. The Beastman soldiers continued their charge with an intensity rivaling that of the lesser Demon race, even suffering great losses from the mechanical crossbow onslaught.
“That over there is one of your Chuck tribe guys, right? Seems like they’re taking quite a beating… Didn’t we declare that it wasn’t necessary for other races to risk themselves in this fortress assault?”
“Well, um, I did hear that, of course…”
Koshigin blinked a few times, then clenched his fist with a serious face.
“…After all, everyone was moved by Your Highness’s speech! This battle, where His Majesty expects great results, we can’t just sit back and watch the Demon soldiers shine! As the representative of the Chuck tribe and, no, the entire Koshigin race, I want to contribute to His Majesty, to you, and to the Demon army!”
The loyal declaration from Koshigin seemed to please the members of the Sauroe tribe as well. Spinethia, said to be “moved by the speech,” replied with a hint of delight, “Oh really?”
(…Well, that’s not the only reason.)
While offering Spinethia more baked goods with a somewhat cold gaze, Koshigin observed the Demons.
Rumors had circulated that some kind of disturbance was affecting the Dark Portal, and that Demons could no longer contract with demons as they wished.
This rumor even reached low-ranking Beastman soldiers like Koshigin. The source of the Demon Lord Kingdom’s power was, after all, contracts with demons. There were whispers of concern about the future of the kingdom…
This war was no different. The all-out charge at the fortress, with zero strategy, must surely have the aim of showcasing the power of the Demons to the Demon Lord Kingdom.
(…But what of it?)
Despite the intentions of the Demons, the reactions of the Beastmen remained cold.
Can’t contract with demons anymore? The future of the Demon Lord Kingdom is in jeopardy?
So—if something were to happen, just how many years are we talking about?
A hundred years? Two hundred years? Or perhaps three hundred years, when the current generation has completely perished?
(We’d all be dead long before that!)
The lifespan of a Beastman is at most fifty years. Even if the Demon Lord Kingdom began to decline, that would be a tale far removed in the future, for their grandchildren’s grandchildren.
Worrying about the immediate basics of survival was far more pressing than the distant future of their descendants.
(I’m fortunate, I have the role of supplying Your Highness.)
Koshigin found himself in a good position. But many Beastmen did not share this fortune. Among the rapidly growing Beastman population, second and third sons who couldn’t succeed their families had no place to return to and had to fight desperately to earn achievements and carve out new territories.
(Plus, now that this autonomous district thing started, the Beastman’s share has dropped too.)
Until now, the Demon Lord Kingdom had wiped out the Human race and Dog-like Beastmen, allowing the Beastmen to settle freely in the abandoned towns of the Humans.
However, after the defeat of the Defteros war, the policy changed, allowing some cities to have self-governance by the original Human and Beastman inhabitants. As a result, the places available for the Demon’s settlement had almost been halved.
Moreover, there were the intentions of the Demons wanting to showcase their power. If it became the norm that the Demons rushed into battle first, saying things like, “Do we even need the Beastman or Ogre forces? We’ll handle everything!” they would lose all means of rising up!
(—If in the distant future, the Demon Lord Kingdom were to face dire straits, I need to establish my position now!)
That was the consensus among the Beastman race.
That’s why, even if they were told, “You don’t have to risk yourselves this time,” the Beastmen were desperately pushing forward to earn achievements in battle.
If it had been a “command” to never step ahead of the Demons, everyone would have obediently stayed back.
However, it all boiled down to a vague instruction of “You don’t need to risk yourselves.”
(I can see the underlying thought, that they want the Beastmen to absorb the unnecessary damages and reduce losses among the Demons…)
Ultimately, the lowly Beastmen of the Demon Lord Kingdom could only serve the Demons with their blood and lives.
They had no other choices.
So everyone was doing their best to do what they could to seize their future—
“Hey, that Beastman has quite the guts. He’s clinging to the wall.”
“…Oh no! Looks like he’s done for. He won’t make it.”
“Those Dwarven arrows should be running out soon?”
Walking leisurely with an overwhelming magical barrier deployed, the Demons continue on.
Before them, lowly inhabitants of the Demon Lord Kingdom, including Koshigin’s kin, continually lose their lives.
Within the invincible barrier, the chorus of screams and the hellish scene around are but a breeze—
“Your Highness, this cheesecake has baked splendidly!”
“It does look delicious…! Oh, what’s wrong, Koshigin? Your hands are trembling. Are you scared?”
“…Hehe, you caught me! It’s really scary when those crazy arrows rain down like cow pee!?”
“That’s disgusting! I’m eating here, you idiot!”
Koshigin, given a whack on the head by Spinethia, yelped, “Ow, that hurt!”
…If Spinethia, who approached the count level, had actually hit him seriously, Koshigin’s head would have exploded. The fact that it merely hurt was undeniably an expression of Spinethia’s affection for Koshigin…
†††
Meanwhile.
While the battlefield roared, there were those literally lounging high above it all.
“Gua-ha-ha-ha! How delightful, delightful!”
One of the dragons flying in the sky, a dark dragon, roared with glee.
“These earthworms are desperately crawling about. It’s so satisfying to see pests die off one after another!”
To the dragon race, both Demons and Beastmen are equally mere insects crawling on the ground—earthworms. They despise them without distinction, but they particularly loathe the Demons who leverage the hatcheries as hostages and the Devil race that sparked the rise of the Demons.
“Gua-ha-ha! Another demon just blew up!”
The dark dragon, with excellent eyesight, watched a demon soldier being mercilessly peppered by Dwarven machines, unable to withstand the protective spell, and turned into a bloody mess. When these magical masses, which are like pseudo-lives, die in this world, their magic spirals out of control and explodes. It was utterly refreshing to see the surrounding Beastmen get blown away alongside them.
…By the way, reconnaissance of enemy lines and proclamations (spreading flyers) before battles had previously been the primary duty of the dragon race, but it had never been the case that reconnaissance missions were assigned after the battle had begun.
It’s likely they wanted to gather information using the dragons’ patrol flights, given the collapse of the Night Elf’s intelligence network…
“Hehe… It seems the commotion from the Dark Portal has been quite effective. The Demons are amusingly trying to demonstrate their martial prowess…”
The dark dragon, wings soaring through the night sky, bared its fangs in mockery.
“What foolishness.”
To be honest, the Dragon race was not impressed in the slightest by the brute force siege of the Demon race.
In fact, it was absurd to think that a fort of such a size couldn’t be taken.
If the Dragon race were to attack— they would take turns swooping in, unleashing dragon breath, and first demolishing all surface structures. Next, once the Dwarves had burrowed underground, they’d dig a small hole somewhere and pour breath through it.
And that would be that. To boast about having conquered such a fort would be mere vanity.
Furthermore, during such a senseless siege, the current generation of Demons, capable of contracting with ideal demons, was gradually being depleted.
“Isn’t that a splendid tale!? The longer they live, the more troublesome they become!”
Dragons easily live for five hundred years. Although they watch the disturbances of the Dark Portal, they cannot move recklessly as long as the current Demon Lord is alive.
“We are looking towards hundreds of years ahead, yet how foolish and ridiculous the earthworms are!”
“Stop! Don’t talk to me!”
The emerald-scaled dragon growled back sharply, sitting next to the dark dragon.
Although the dragons communicate through roars, and such conversations are exclusive to dragons…
“You’re going to be noticed!”
It’s obvious to anyone simply watching that they are talking about something.
—And atop the green dragon’s back, a messenger of the Izanis tribe was riding.
“…………”
The Izanis tribe pretended not to notice the exchange of roars among the dragons. However, the green dragon, bearing the messenger, could acutely sense that they were being scrutinized.
“Ku-ha-ha! What need is there to worry!?”
The dark dragon laughed away the green dragon’s concern.
“If asked, just say, ‘I was deeply impressed by the Demon army’s efforts!'”
—No matter how difficult it may be to read a dragon’s expression, the sneer in their eyes is impossible to hide.
“Regardless, the current Demon Lord Kingdom cannot function without us…! What can the Demons do, even if they suspect us?”
Both the Demons and the Dragons know very well that the Dragons are bluffing. Being hostage to the hatcheries, the fact that they’re willing to comply is absurd.
No matter how much they force them, they cannot bend the proud souls of the dragons.
And if they ramp up their pressure any further, they will earn the ire of the Dragons. Deliveries, messages, airborne surveillance—all are maintained by a minimum of trust…
“For now, they serve us quite well… though it does grind my gears! A hundred years from now, two hundred years from now, when the current generation has perished and the Demons have grown weak…!”
The dark dragon licked its fangs.
“I will crush the skulls of your descendants! That day can’t come soon enough! Ku-ha-ha-ha…!”
The chilling roar echoed through the night sky.
And despite the dark dragon’s intentions—or perhaps in line with them—the dwarven counterattacks on the ground intensified, and the Demon Lord’s army began to suffer heavier losses.