Chapter 298.
"Wow, I had guessed it, but it’s become a complete plain.”
The battlefield, which was in full swing, was completely empty, and at a glance, the enemy was destroyed.
Fortunately, thanks to the Turtle Carrying a Mountain’s mana stone, the fortress managed to retain its shape.
"Caradoc, what"s the situation inside the fortress?" I asked Caradoc who was in the fortress. He replied in a difficult voice.
- Everyone is safe, Commander-in-Chief, but...
"Safe, but?"
- Yes. No matter how much the fortress was a s.h.i.+eld, it was a battle that turned the battlefield into a wasteland with the aftermath alone. Most of them fell over from the shockwaves.
"Everyone is still alive, right? That"s all that matters."
When I pa.s.sed over it casually, Caradoc smiled absurdly and asked,
- What happened to your fight with the great madosas? Did you win?
"Well, if you asked me if I won, I suppose I did win."
Although I won using various expedients.
"Since the battle is over, call up the soldiers and clean up the battlefield."
- Yes, I understand.
After giving Caradoc instructions, I stretched.
"Ootcha! Ahh, my mana circuit is falling asleep."
Up until I was cursed by the Curse Specialist and fought a dragon with three heads, I was overflowing with mana using mana from the magicians.
However, after I was trapped in the curse, all connections were cut off, so I overloaded my mana circuits fighting while continuously drinking mana recovery potions.
"So what’s your side going to do?" I asked.
The Curse Specialist answered calmly, "First, I’ll go inside and rest."
I smiled slightly at his att.i.tude of it being natural.
"Does that mean you"re going to be a prisoner?"
"If you can take me as a prisoner, try it. And I"m a lot older than you. Speak formally." He pointed.
I scratched the back of my head. No matter how I looked at it, I felt awkward using honorifics because he looked younger than me.
"Well, sure. But since we won the war, I’ll take your subordinates as prisoners."
The Curse Specialist nodded casually. "As you wish."
In response, the disciple opened his eyes wide and looked at me and his teacher alternately.
The Curse Specialist took the lead and headed to the fortress, and I curled my finger at the fl.u.s.tered disciple.
"Okay, let"s go, Mr. Prisoner."
As I went down towards the fortress, the Curse Specialist’s disciple, who had hesitated, soon followed as if he had given up.
-o-
When the Curse Specialist landed on the ground, the knights and magicians in the fortress were all on guard with weapons raised.
The Curse Specialist yawned as if he were tired. "I will stay here for a few days. Where are my subordinates and disciples?"
After landing on the ground behind him, I answered, "They’re inside the fortress. Lionel, guide him."
Lionel appeared out of my pocket s.p.a.ce, knelt and prostrated. "Yes, I understand, Master."
When Lionel went inside with the Curse Specialist and his disciple who came down late, the chief of staff approached me.
"Is it okay to bring him into the fortress so freely?"
“It"ll probably be okay. I won, so they"ll likely remain calm while they’re here."
The chief of staff was shocked by what I said. "You won? Against the great madosas?"
"Yes. I thought I was going to die fighting so much. If I had made a slight mistake, I would have died."
Of course, it was the same for the s.p.a.ce Specialist and the Curse Specialist.
Right then, the gate opened and the soldiers who had been cleaning up the battlefield returned.
"It seems you brought back the prisoners first."
The arrangement of the dead took a long time and you could not leave the prisoners unattended, so it was natural.
"Hey! So you were already inside!"
Unlike other enemy soldiers who were tied up, the s.p.a.ce Specialist walked in freely, looked at me, and waved.
"You look fine, unlike someone who fell from mana depletion?"
"Hahaha! I"m normally quite healthy! But seeing that you’re fine, it seems you’ve ended it with Communication Disorder. His Azhi Dahaka is a curse that is hard to shake off, you know.”
"I also had a very hard time catching it. But seeing that you came all the way here on your own, I guess you want to be a prisoner?” I playfully asked.
The s.p.a.ce Specialist snorted. "Ha! As if! I can"t leave my subordinates behind, so I"m just staying around! Treat me as a VIP!"
Those were quite some outrageous words. In any case, the s.p.a.ce Specialist was the head of the Magic Kingdom army who helped invade the empire. However, the status of being a great madosa made those outrageous words seem natural. The Curse Specialist was the same, but it seems all great madosas just did whatever they wanted.
"Well, that"s fine. We will treat you akin to “the most valued guest” of the state, s.p.a.ce Specialist. But please keep in mind that your subordinates are our prisoners," I said.
The s.p.a.ce Specialist pouted his lips discontentedly but soon nodded. "Yeah, I lost the war, so it can"t be helped! Take me to the best room! A better room than the one for Communication Disorder!”
"Hahaha, yes. Okay. Agravain."
"Did you call me, Master?"
I entrusted the guidance of the s.p.a.ce Specialist to Agravain, who came out of the pocket s.p.a.ce and politely bowed his head.
"Take him to the room next to the Curse Specialist."
"Yes, I understand."
The s.p.a.ce Specialist walked in large strides behind Agravain.
Watching their departing backs, I told the chief of staff, "Don"t touch him for no reason and treat him as a state guest. And later, get a huge ransom from the Magic Kingdom for him."
"Haha, state guest, all right. I only suggest the ransom to His Excellency Prime Minister. I"m not confident in receiving ransom for such a scary great madosa."
Well, receiving a ransom meant treating him as a prisoner, so he was probably afraid of future troubles.
"Well, that’s fine. Then, it"s fine to say that this war is over, right?” I asked.
The chief of staff nodded. "Yes, it should be considered over. Of the 300,000 enemy soldiers, the number of prisoners alone will be about 50,000 and the casualties will be two or three times higher. Less than 100,000 people likely managed to retreat properly.”
This was the reason Caradoc urged me to fight first. There"s no way they’d be fine when the two great madosas and I were fighting with all our power.
"If you hold this fortress like this, the enemies will surrender on their own."
"Then I"ll send a messenger to the main force. Toi send half of the main force coming here back to the Demon Territory."
According to my aunt before the war, this war was designed to avert the eyes of the empire.
Then, where are they avoiding the eyes of the empire?
It"s the Demon Territory.
The empire regularly patrolled the Demon Territory as they border it. However, with this war, they withdrew the forces from there.
"Hmm, all right. But I don"t know if General Orphina, the deciding authority, will accept it.”
"Yes. I"ll send someone to persuade her personally."
If it’s Milpia, she should be able to persuade Orphina on her own since this is for my aunt.
"Okay."
"Then, I have to check the core of the fortress first, so I"ll go up to the spire. Please tell my uncle to come over there," I said.
I wanted to immediately lie in bed and sleep with my legs stretched out, but I needed to check how much mana was left in the great demon’s mana stone. Considering the aftermath of the battle, it had probably almost bottomed out.
The chief of staff replied with a sigh. "That’s... When you started to fight in the sky, the enemy Hunter Tribe members suddenly jumped into the fortress and after a b.l.o.o.d.y battle, the injured are being treated now.”
"Uncle? Did he get hurt badly?”
It was hard to believe my uncle was hurt enough to receive treatment.
"He suffered a penetrating wound in his abdomen, but they told me not to worry saying that it wasn"t a big injury for the Crows.”
I frowned. "No way. Injuries are all the same. How many people came at once that my uncle got such an injury?"
"25 great warriors of the Hunter Tribe. And there was a magician wearing a strange mask.”
"A magician wearing a mask?"
If it were a magician, there’s no way I wouldn"t have detected it. In addition, to think that a magician moved freely in my domain. That couldn’t be true unless the magician was at least a great madosa.
"Yes, it was a woman wearing a red mask."
"Red mask?"
When it came to a magician wearing a red mask, only Scorpio came to mind. But she had been definitely cut by Ma.r.s.en"s heart sword and died. There was no way in this world that there was a monster that could survive being cut by the heart sword. Heart sword was an extreme level that was equivalent to a great madosa in terms of magicians. Probably.
"Will you go to the Head Commander-nim?"
"No, there is an urgent matter!"
Feeling uncomfortable, I refused the chief of staff’s suggestion and flew over the spire.
Bang!
When I roughly opened the window of the spire and entered, I couldn"t see the mana stone that const.i.tuted the core that was supposed to be in the magic circle.
"Ahahahaha!"
In such a ridiculous situation, I couldn"t help but laugh. Then soon, I became angry.
"Haha, which ****** was it!? This ********, I’ll **** you up!”
I got momentarily excited and poured out curses. ****!
I can"t believe I"ve been robbed! I was speechless.
Just wait till you get caught, no matter which **** it is, I’ll **** him up!
"Phew, first, I’ll just charge the prime minister for the price of the mana stone."
First, I calmed down and searched for the location of the mana stone. I wanted to fall down and sleep right away, but I couldn"t leave the precious mana stone alone.
"Everyone gather!"
At my cry, 12 knights gathered in front of me from the pocket s.p.a.ce. Not only the two knights who were guiding the s.p.a.ce Specialist and Curse Specialist, but also Percival, who had remained in the capital, knelt in front of me and bowed their heads.
"Some ****** stole my mana stone. Capture and torture.”
How dare you desire my belongings? I’ll make you regret it.
"Master, I dare say that Master needs to rest." Gwalchavad advised.
I touched his shoulder. "That"s true. If I was exhausted alone, I should do that. But you"re here."
"Master!"
Gwalchavad looked up at me with emotion.
"In that sense, you’ll be the vanguard. I"ll give you 5,000 dragon tooth soldiers. Catch the thief b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
"Do you mean you"re going to use the dragon tooth soldiers? Didn"t you say you wouldn"t use it because you might be mistaken for a black magician?" Caradoc said.
I smirked.
Dragon tooth soldiers were a type of top-notch undead made with necromancy as the base. Of course, I made it based on alchemy, not necromancy, but they were essentially skeletons nonetheless. Only a very small portion of great madosas and madosas could see the alchemic content, and in the eyes of others, it was inevitable that it’d appear that I was commanding an undead army.
"I’ll just be misunderstood".
The mana stone was more valuable than being misunderstood. If there was anyone pointing their fingers at me, I’ll just kindly break their fingers so they can’t point at me. Forever!
"And there"s also the mask."”
I took out a white half-mask from my pocket s.p.a.ce and wore it.
"Tristan, I"ll give you 3,000 dragon tooth soldiers. Search."
"Okay, Master."
Tristan nodded and I took a map out of my pocket s.p.a.ce.
"I"ll give you an approximate position. The reception magic cast on the mana stone is responding here.”
"Does the reception magic work? The person who broke through the commander-in-chief"s security magic didn"t even cancel that much?” Caradoc asked.
I smiled widely. "Yeah. This is openly provoking me. They know that I"m almost out of mana.”
"Then isn"t it a trap?!”
I frowned and smiled at Caradoc"s dissuasion.
"I know. That"s why I"m going to break them with all my might. It"s been a while since I"ve been this angry. Uhuhuhu.”
At my laughter, the faces of my knights hardened.
"Everyone, get ready to each lead 2,000 dragon tooth soldiers."
I flicked my fingers to open my pocket s.p.a.ce, and tens of thousands of dragon tooth soldiers walked out with their strides in sync.