Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 108: The One Who Curses Digs Two Graves (4)

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Paimon decided to finally carry out her plan that day.

She had already established a line of communication with the imperial princess through magic orbs. They came to an agreement to march their troops before dawn so that it would be incredibly difficult to know which side had attacked first. This was for the sake of claiming that Barbatos had attacked first.

In truth, this was a stroke of luck for Paimon in the midst of misfortune. Scouts had to remain active late in the night and a single group of monsters reflected in the beastly eyes of a hardworking wolf rider. 

At first, he thought that a monster tribe was being relocated. Barbatos’ 6th legion was still receiving volunteers and there were rumors about how the auxiliaries were being paid in delicious human flesh.

‘Uugh, I’d love nothing more than to get a single bite out of some thigh meat.’

There’s no way that the 6th legion could be flourishing enough to give every volunteer soldier some thigh meat, but it was a mouth-watering proposal nonetheless.

The 1st legion which the wolf rider belonged to hadn’t fought against humans yet, so they didn’t have any human flesh. To make matters worse, Commander Paimon established a military law that strictly forbade them from pillaging human villages!

It was unknown as to what went on through the heads of people in high positions, but the monsters of the 1st legion would always have to go into a deep state of meditation whenever they went by human villages and towns. That isn’t human flesh, that isn’t human flesh, that isn’t human flesh……. The wolf cavalry’s godliness became wretchedly firm.

They made do with whatever they could get. The 1st legion marched while wiping out every single monster village in the area. Goblin and orc meat also tasted rather good.

The wolf rider earnestly tailed the monsters that he believed were most likely heading to Barbatos’ 6th legion. He wanted to hastily return to the main base and proudly report that he had discovered more food once he managed to pinpoint their destination.

‘Are they orcs or goblins? Their bodies are somewhat big, so they’re probably orcs. Kuku. Their ears are mi……Huh!?’

The dark elf instinctively hid himself in the darkness. He laid his body flat against the back of his wolf. Only his face continued to look forward, but his gaze was trembling greatly.

It wasn’t a small monster tribe. What he once thought was only a few dozen soon increased to a few hundred, no, a few thousand. Even though it was the dead of night, they were walking in ranks with banners fluttering above them.

“I-I-It’s a bunch of knights!?’

Scouts had to memorize the insignias of every important knight group on the continent before coming out here. The dark elf had an especially good grasp of the knights of the Teuton Kingdom since that was where the 1st legion was supposed to have gone to originally. The dark elf could see well in the dark, so he instantly recognized the banners being carried by the group. They belonged to the <Scarlet Spiked Shield Knights>. ―They were the Teuton Kingdom’s royal knights!

‘Fuck, let’s get out of here……no. Wait a second.’

Right as the dark elf was about to run away without looking back, he paused to think for a moment.

His curiosity and duty as a scout took priority over his fear of the knights. This wasn’t the Teuton Kingdom. They were in the northern region of the Habsburg Empire. Why would knights from the Teuton Kingdom, the very knights who should be protecting the throne room, be here?

No matter how much he thought about it, something seemed off. The dark elf wisely concluded that this might determine the fate of the upcoming battle. He quickly pulled out his writing utensil and wrote a report.

– Roughly 90 kilometers at the rear. An army from the Teuton Kingdom has been discovered. At least 1,000 soldiers. Holding the <Scarlet Spiked Shield Knights> insignia.

The dark elf rolled up the piece of paper and put it inside the case being held around the wolf’s neck. He ordered the wolf to return back to base while he secretly followed behind the knights. 

Thanks to the wolf rider’s quick actions, it took only 2 hours for the 1st legion to obtain the news about the sudden appearance of the Teuton Kingdom’s army.

Adding to this, through the wolf rider’s daring and speedy reconnaissance, he was able to also grasp that it wasn’t only the Teuton Kingdom, but the army of a Habsburg Empire margrave as well. So they had at least 9 different knight groups and 20,000 foot soldiers.

Once the wolf rider believed he had gathered enough information, he retreated as fast as possible. Thanks to this, the 1st legion was able to get an approximate grasp of the enemy’s military strength by the dawn of that day. The wolf rider was awarded a medal for his ‘wise decision-making skills and tremendous courage’ after it was revealed that his information was true. Naturally, the human thigh meat that he had constantly been craving was also given to him as a reward.

However, separate from the wolf rider’s personal fortune, the leading members of the 1st legion were in disarray. The very appearance of the Teuton Kingdom’s army was literally out of the blue.

The plan to attack before dawn was abruptly shelved. 28 Demon Lords including Paimon had to wake up from their deep slumber and gathered under the canopy of their main camp. Some of the Demon Lords weren’t able to even wash their faces, so they looked sloppy.

Paimon spoke in a serious tone.

“This is not normal. Why has an army from the Teuton Kingdom appeared at our rear? Adding to that, they even brought their knights.”

The other Demon Lords remained silent. There’s no way they would be able to answer this question. Nonetheless, there was an implicit fact that they all agreed upon. The Teuton Kingdom army definitely wasn’t going to be friendly towards them.

A Demon Lord spoke up cautiously.

“Maybe the Habsburg imperial princess called for reinforcements?”

“And kept it a secret from us?”

“Yes. In truth, it is difficult to believe that the imperial princess would place her complete trust in us. To the humans, be it the 1st legion or the 6th legion, we are all simply demons to them. She may have prepared this as a precaution in case we tried to betray her by allying with the 6th legion…….”

Paimon brought her hand to her chin. That was plausible. There was also the possibility that after allying with the 1st legion and dealing with the 6th legion, the imperial princess could immediately betray them by forming an alliance with the Teuton Kingdom and attacking them from both sides.

But this was impossible.

Paimon didn’t like leaving room for betrayal. Ever since she was betrayed by her allies during the 2nd Crescent Alliance―the traitors in question claimed that it was out of their control and there was proof of it, but Paimon wasn’t so naïve that she would believe their words―she made sure to take every measure possible to prevent herself from being betrayed ever again.

This time, she had set up dozens of magical devices while cooperating with the imperial princess. Among them was a vow to never withhold information regarding military affairs. As long as a legendary Ten Circle mage doesn’t get involved, it would be impossible to break this vow.

“Then one thing is certain.”

Another Demon Lord had given them the information.

“They came here to strike the back of our heads.”

“But is it not strange? How did they know we would be here……?”

“……A mystery indeed.”

They couldn’t figure it out.

After the wolf rider arrived in the morning and gave his report about the enemy forces and the inclusion of a margrave’s army, they came to the conclusion that ‘this margrave must have brought in another nation’s army’. The identity of this margrave was Margrave Westphalia who protected the border between Habsburg and Teuton, different from Margrave Rosenberg who protected the fortresses on the Black Mountains.

In any case, the appearance of enemy forces behind them was an undeniable fact now. The 1st legion hastily set up defenses at their backline.

The situation was becoming erratic. Just yesterday, Imperial Princess Elizabeth’s imperial army and the 1st legion of the Crescent Alliance’s army had Barbatos’ 6th legion surrounded. Now the 6th legion and the Teuton Kingdom’s army had Paimon’s 1st legion surrounded.

Paimon did her best to obtain more information, but that wasn’t an easy task to do in only a few days. Nevertheless, it was also within those few days that they received a new piece of information.

“The Frankish imperial army has appeared!?”

– That is correct. I also do not understand what is happening.

The image of the Third Imperial Princess Elizabeth in the magic sphere was furrowing her brows. She had just relayed the information that 4,000 soldiers from the Frankish Empire had appeared this morning. They seemed to have gone around through the Teuton Kingdom’s borders and not theirs. 

– For now, we urgently dispatched an envoy. We will be able to figure out the situation once they arrive……However, considering that they did not notify us even after invading our land, they most likely do not have good intentions.

“Then……are you saying that they are hostile?”

– It would be best to at least be prepared.

The blue light from the magic sphere faded away.

The situation has become dire. Compared to the Teuton Kingdom’s 20,000 soldiers, the 4,000 soldiers from the Frankish Empire definitely weren’t that imposing, but the fact that the armies of several different nations had gathered in a single spot was a severe issue.

Some sort of large-scale alliance was being established. Paimon had a very foreboding feeling that some sort of scheme was unfolding in a place where she couldn’t see. It wasn’t an easy task to make the armies of multiple nations support one another. It would only be possible if numerous understandings and pretexts were to overlap.

No, what’s important is figuring out what their purpose is.

In order to wipe out Barbatos’ 6th legion? If that’s the case, then it’s weird that they aren’t trying to cooperate with Elizabeth the Third Imperial Princess. In the first place, it would only be right for the people of Habsburg to take care of a problem in their own land. This was a clear infringement of sovereignty. 

In order to wipe out her 1st legion? No, it has only been 4 days since the 1st legion arrived here. How could they have armed their troops and dispatched them here within that time frame? That’s impossible.

“…….”

Paimon fell into deep thought as she kept glancing at the map. The other Mountain Faction Demon Lords were also in a similar state. They either wandered about the encampment or were busy pressuring the scouts.

Most importantly, the military power of both sides has practically become equal.

30,000 soldiers from Paimon’s 1st legion and an additional 10,000 soldiers from the imperial princess’ army, so their side has a total of 40,000 soldiers.

On the other hand, the enemy they have to face is the 18,000 soldiers from Barbatos’ 6th legion, the 20,000 soldiers from the Teuton Kingdom, and the 4,000 soldiers from the Frankish Empire. In total, that’s a military power of 42,000. ……If you only consider their military strength, the alliance between the imperial princess and Paimon was at a disadvantage.

“Your Excellency!”

The leader of the reconnaissance group ran urgently into the war tent. Traditionally, scouting has always been done by dark elves and the one that had just ran under the canopy was also a dark elf. The look of shock was prominent on his face. Paimon had a terrible gut feeling once she saw that face.

“What is it?”

“Another army has appeared behind us.”

“Haah.”

Paimon rubbed her forehead. Her foreboding feelings were always right. What army was it this time? The Republic of Batavia? The Kingdom of Polish-Lithuania? Or did Teuton or Francia send reinforcements?

None of her guesses were correct.

“They are carrying the insignia of a headless bull. There is a mark of a headless bull on their banners!”

“……What?”

Even Paimon ended up letting out a flabbergasted sound. Her train of thought stopped for a moment. She slowly mulled over the words the dark elf before her had just uttered.

Eventually, Paimon’s mouth gradually opened wide as she began to comprehend what this meant.

“This is impossible!”

“It is true. A flag was also discovered. It was the flag of the Meadow Wolves.”

“No, but, that is not possible!”

She shouted almost to the point of screaming.

“Why―has Marbas’ 2nd legion come here!?”

The Crescent Alliance’s 2nd legion led by the head of the Neutral Faction, Marbas.

An army of 20,000 monsters had appeared behind them.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Nothing much to say again except that this came out sooner than I expected. I’ll see you guys on the next chapter.