NOVEL NEXT Chapter 528
Chapter 528. Leaving a Legacy
“Well, I can accept that—”
Sekihankus, with a troubled expression, chased after.
It’s true; I can accept it. But this isn’t yielding much in terms of battle achievements! Here I am, right in front of a commander’s head…!
Sassen and the others’ retreat was orderly to the point of admiration. They were moving their short legs at full speed, forming ranks and racing through the narrow passage without showing any signs of disarray.
Of course, as a clunky dwarf, their speed wasn’t something I couldn’t catch up to. However, they were triggering traps and tricks while falling back, which made it tough to keep up. On top of that, the warrior currently covering their rear was extraordinarily strong, leaving no openings even for Sekihankus.
Sekihankus desperately attempted to use magic to impede them, but half-hearted curses were deflected by their sturdy armor, and “Stone Manipulation” had poor effectiveness within the dwarven fortress, while “Hunting Domain” wasn’t suitable for chasing.
The release of power accumulated through “Acceptance” is limited—so I must choose my moments carefully.
“Damn it… Wait! I’m your sworn enemy who destroyed your national treasure! Are you not ashamed to run away with your tail between your legs like this!? I must do something more to set an example for my subordinates and the citizens!”
In an attempt to stop Sassen’s feet, Sekihankus shouted such things.
“Hah! Losing Grjolnir is certainly frustrating, but do not conflate our kingdom with some upstart Demon Lord Kingdom!”
Sassen spat these words without slowing his pace.
“The weight of history is different, different! We have as many national treasures as there have been kings!”
“Grr…!”
“And we are unlike the demon race! We can forge as many weapons as we need from now on!”
The demon race can create nothing—they can only destroy.
“Thus, we run! And survive!”
Persisting like a badger, that is the pride of the Feretoria Kingdom!
“By the way, what are you even? Didn’t you say you’d accept the retreat? You’re being quite persistent! Aren’t ‘men supposed to stick to their words’?!”
“Grrr… No! Even after accepting it, how I act is my own discretion!”
Sekihankus answered in desperation.
“Are you not embarrassed to twist reasoning like that?!”
“Exactly! It’s disgraceful!”
“Is your only pride that spear?!”
“Isn’t that a dwarf-made one?! Show us the jewels!”
At this moment, not only Sassen but also the surrounding warrior blacksmiths started hurling insults.
“Grrrr…!”
Sekihankus knew full well he was being unreasonable, and the moment he felt “defeated” was when he already lost. The proof is that the power of “Acceptance” didn’t respond at all. It’s because none other than Sekihankus was currently not able to “accept” this situation.
However, Sekihankus is a demon, not a devil.
If it were the “Demon of Acceptance” himself, they would have had to retreat dejectedly, bound by their power, but Sekihankus, even without using powers, was still a Marquis-class demon, and he had the option to “fight without using abilities.”
“What a persistent guy! Then take this!! Volcanic Warning—!”
Sassen threw something that looked like a bottle.
“Whoa!?”
Sekihankus instinctively took the hit. Rather than “dodging,” he had reflexively adopted “taking the hit.”
Sure enough, the bottle smashed into Sekihankus’s chest piece, bursting open and spewing out poisonous smoke.
“Gah, what the hell is this?! Ugohehgeh, cough!”
“That’s the poisonous smoke of the volcanic mountain! Cool your head with that! Freaking die if you can!”
“Damn it, you coward…! But I will accept this poison! I will accept it all, uoooh!!!”
With blood seeping from his eyes due to the poison gas, Sekihankus recklessly continued his chase, yet for the reasons mentioned earlier, the power of “Acceptance” couldn’t be summoned effectively to neutralize the poison as he’d hoped.
“There’s more where that came from!”
“Oi, here it comes!”
“I’ll give you a refill!”
With that, Sassen’s entourage started throwing bottles one after another. Wasn’t this a self-destructive plan, flooding a small area with poisonous gas!? Sekihankus questioned his sanity, but before he knew it, all the dwarves had cunningly covered their faces with masks. Likely some kind of gear against the poison gas—!
“Damn you—!”
“Hah hah hah! Farewell, demon commander! Accept our gratitude for your national treasure, we pray we never meet again!”
From behind their masks, Sassen shouted something profound, and then his figure suddenly vanished.
…No, wait, that’s an exit in the form of a pitfall!
Sekihankus quickly tried to follow him and dive in, but right in front of him, the lid slammed shut with a bang. A barrier illuminating with protective magic—a solid metal wall that seemed quite sturdy—
“Such a thing!”
Extracting the magical power stored in his soul vessel, he poured it into his spear and thrust it hard. Sekihankus pierced through the sturdy defensive spell with a single blow, breaking the wall.
However, right behind the broken wall, another barrier awaited. From behind it came a sound of “bang bang…” as multiple walls began to close in succession.
“…………”
They must have set up barriers multiple times over. Busting through them all looks like it’ll be quite tough… breathing with this poison gas is already dangerous…
“Grr… It seems I’ll have to rely on the Korvto Tribe after all.”
Having let such a big fish escape, Sekihankus pounded the wall with frustration.
“Well, there’s no choice but to “accept” these results.”
Having resigned himself to it, he recognized the reality as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Thus, his magical power grew a tiny bit.
“First, I should return to the surface—huh?”
He thought to calculate future plans as they had almost dominated this fortress when—
The fortress shook.
Did Panmoalus move a giant statue on the surface? he wondered, but… no.
The tremors grew larger and larger.
And the epicenter seemed to be… “below.”
“…Ah, I see now.”
Sekihankus understood. Why the dwarves were employing delaying tactics, drawing demons deep into the fortress…
“They caused it to collapse…!”
At the moment Sassen and the others escaped, they must have collapsed the tunnels they’d set beneath the fortress. Then, along with the fortress itself, they planned to entomb the demon army they had drawn in! Those who had quickly abandoned even the national treasure wouldn’t cling to just one fortress now.
“Looks like I’ve been played.”
The shaking became so severe that he could hardly stand. Chunks of stone and sand began to fall from the ceiling. With his hands on the walls, Sekihankus grimaced. It’s probably too late to escape now…
Besides Sekihankus, many demon warriors had intruded inside the fortress. He had seen them along the way a few times, and there were small storage areas and weapon racks everywhere in the fortress—certainly filled with traps—but once the traps were disarmed, dwarf-made weapons and items were left sitting there. Soldiers and demon warriors who came from impoverished backgrounds were eyeing them eagerly.
“So that was also bait…!”
To lure as many of the Demon Lord’s army in as possible.
If the fortress really collapses like this, how much damage will it cause…?
“Hmm. Well, I can’t help it.”
Sekihankus shrugged, accepting the situation.
“It’s my fault for not seeing through it.”
In the next moment, Sekihankus’s footing gave way and crumbled.
The fortress, reaching its structural limits, collapsed with a rumble, taking down numerous demon warriors and soldiers who had infiltrated its interior…
†††
“Well played. So it was indeed the plan from the start to deal a blow to us using the fortress itself.”
“With all those weapons prepared, they were all just pawns, huh?”
Meanwhile, above ground, Panmoalus and Spinethia, having quickly sensed the disturbance, were left unscathed by the fortress’s collapse.
However, many troops that had stepped into the fortress were trapped within, unable to escape in time.
“This seems like it’ll be quite a challenge.”
Having thankfully kept the giant statue, Panmoalus sighed as he removed debris one by one. The massive statue of Panmoalus could lift even large rubble, proving its worth even in this instance. …Provided he doesn’t accidentally crush anyone needing rescue with the statue’s fingertips.
“Waaaah! Father—! Brother—!”
“Someone help me—! We need medical assistance quickly!”
“It’s obvious they’re crushed! Give up and help elsewhere!!”
While the surrounding regular soldiers and smaller tribes of demons were panicking—
“Ah, ahh.”
“This is terrible.”
“Hey, come help us move this rubble!”
The Sauroe and Korvto tribes were comparatively calm.
There was a bit of breathing room between the disturbance and the collapse. The Sauroe Tribe was likely holding out with their “Hunting Domain” barrier, while the Korvto Tribe was likely utilizing “Stone Manipulation.”
It’s uncertain how many hours it might take to dig them out… but even if it took one or two days, they likely wouldn’t die that easily.
“It seems we owe a great debt to the Korvto Tribe.”
Spinethia said with a wry smile. In situations like this, it was indeed the Korvto Tribe that shined. The Sauroe Tribe’s “Hunting Domain” wouldn’t be much use in rescue operations.
“Ho ho. No worries, as long as you give me a bit more of the credit for the achievement, that’s all good.”
Panmoalus laughed heartily.
“I’ll keep it cheap for you.”
The giant statue of Panmoalus echoed the same laughter, heaving pieces of rubble as tall as itself.
†††
If it were any other faction, it would have taken months or years—perhaps even an eternity—to take down the frontline base of the Feretoria Kingdom, yet it fell in one night.
The Demon Lord’s army took out numerous dwarven guards and even captured a few prisoners, but conversely, they sustained a significant number of casualties from the dwarves’ mechanical arrows and catapults.
Particularly hard-hit were the beastmen soldiers, with fatalities reaching triple digits. While not all died instantly, many suffered and died without receiving treatment from “Teleportation” spells.
However, one could not say that the demons who received medical attention fared well either.
That’s because the arrows from the mechanical bows were poisoned. Even though injuries healed fully via “Teleportation,” many demon warriors began exhibiting symptoms like dizziness, chills, and breathing difficulties after a while (and similarly, beastmen soldiers exhibited the same symptoms), which were identified as poison by the night elf scholars.
—A heavy metallic composite poison with no known antidote.
Without the miracle of high-level detox, the only option is to rest and drink plenty of fluids in hopes of flushing the toxins out, leading the night elves who treated them to throw their hands up in frustration. (There was even an incident where a demon became furious upon being informed there was no clear treatment method and killed the responsible night elf.)
Demon warriors exhibiting severe poisoning symptoms had to be transported to the rear, many suffered after the war with lingering effects, some died from organ failure, while others committed suicide due to complications. (Of course, among beastmen soldiers, this also occurred.)
The dwarves typically took pride in their weapons, rarely resorting to methods as insidious as poison, but it seems that following the incident where Demon Lord’s Prince No. 7 Zilbagias fell victim to poison in the alliance, the dwarves also resorted to its use.
Meanwhile, the demon warriors—especially those from weaker tribes who couldn’t expect proper treatment—raged against the dwarves’ cowardly tactics, exacting revenge by torturing the captured fortress defenders, causing the majority of them to perish.
However, the greatest loss of life in this battle was undoubtedly the fortress’ self-destruction.
While many from the Sauroe and Korvto tribes survived unscathed, there were still a few casualties, and many others among the demon warriors and beastmen soldiers, lacking any effective means of survival, lost their lives.
The rescue operation lasted for two days, concluding when the last Korvto warrior was found.
…To be precise, there were still some buried alive, but the Korvto tribe, being the main rescuers, ceased operations once all the missing members of their tribe and the Sauroe tribe were located.
Other weaker tribes couldn’t afford to pay the Korvto tribe for the continuation of the rescue…
By the way, Sekihankus, who had been pursuing the dwarven prince and was buried alive in the fortress’s innermost depths, managed to crawl back to the surface a few hours after the collapse.
He withstood the impact of the collapse using “Hunting Domain” and dug his way out with “Stone Manipulation.”
While it was generally expected he would emerge unscathed, no one anticipated he would escape independently, leading to him receiving a wave of praise.
†††
Thus, the Demon Lord’s army overwhelmed the sturdy fortress of the dwarves by sheer force.
However, from the dwarven side, many of the defense forces, including the commanding prince Sassen, managed to escape before the fortress fell, minimizing human losses.
In contrast, while the main forces of the Sauroe and Korvto tribes faced little harm, other tribal warriors sustained numerous injuries and casualties, with the demon soldiers also suffering a loss of dozens, along with great damage to the beastmen soldiers and standard troops.
While one might claim it was a victory for the Demon Lord’s army just for toppling the fortress, viewing the casualty breakdown of both sides shows it was essentially a draw.
The demon race, having sufficiently demonstrated their might, decided to shift their focus to the conventional strategy against the dwarves.
In other words, to subdue the human territories and beastmen territories subordinated to the dwarven kingdom.
Human territories: Opusgardia, Tergarius. And beastmen territory: Purugesta.
To lay waste to those regions, the Demon Lord’s army began a gradual advance along the border.
—By the way, during the meeting held during the rescue operations, when representatives from other tribes sought an explanation (or, rather, an excuse) regarding the tremendous damage caused by the fortress collapse, Sekihankus cheerfully proclaimed,
“War is truly marvelous, filled with trials and upheavals! It’s indeed regrettable to have caused such immense damage, but let us accept it all! On to the next battle!”
He smiled, leaving others speechless, while gradually growing his magical power.
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Next time, we return to Zil’s perspective.
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