Chapter 51: Once a Glorious Race, Now Nothing But a Husk
[Sophia's POV]
In the second layer settlement, the morning sun barely started to rise, but the monkeys who had corks in their ears infused with sand received a rather ridiculous order from me, the order was to retreat inside the volcano, seal it off with a giant rock that I would be producing using my magic and do not exit or even peak a hole on the "door" until further notice.
"M-my lady... It's not like I am doubting your brilliant mind, but after the preparations we did...?"
Well, preparations they say, but it is just really setting up a hole with food in designated places to replenish their stamina, as well as me forcing the spies of this place who have horrible scouting ability to scout the advance of the enemy by swimming in a giant pit full of charcoal, I would not count that as preparations for war, if it is, then we will be having many traps around the volcano already.
But, like how it was already obvious, wars in the warring state periods of any country, or even the era of the Philippine revolution are different from the wars in this world, mainly because of the existence of magic and individuals who can destroy an army alone.
Well, think about it, what kind of general will make their soldiers only have one meal a day, right? That's how different the warring methods between the two worlds are.
As such, extensive scouting preparations about an army and not about a single individual is new to them, so they think that knowing the number, weapons, muscle constitution, and more of the enemy and not sleeping for days to properly scout the opposition are extensive preparations, but the truth is, it's just the basics.
_I said that, but the ogre folks know they should get far away from rivers when camping._
I was thinking of something like that as I replied, my tone was serious, making them immediately notice that I was not taking questions as a response to my order.
"You will understand once you do, make your movement in haste, I want all soldiers hauled inside the volcano before the first ray of the sun is visible to the world, am I understood?"
The monkeys, understanding the meaning of my stern voice immediately obliged, The clamoring of their weapons being abruptly picked up can be heard, they became so agitated because they heard the rare serious tone of yours truly that they even ran immediately into the front of their shabby looking camp before destroying it and then running towards the settlement.
_Man, they did not even bother to answer._
I thought so as I went out of the entrance of the volcano settlement and walked to its side, Sand then started to climb in my body, starting from my feet, a large amount of sand crawled like that of a snake until it finally reached my face, the sands then entered my ears as I envisioned a 3d model of the inner workings of the ear.
[What the hell is this? I feel useless for the first time in my short life.]
What are you talking about? High school students should have at least memorized the anatomy of the five senses at some point in their lives, you know?
[But, can they remember it to such a perfect degree?]
... Well, that is none of my concern, anyway, Help me maneuver the sands, I can't do it perfectly because I can't actually see it and am only imagining my insides and the 3D model inside my head as the same anatomy.
[Well, it seems like you know the general location of the things that need to be clogged but do not know the exact location, huh? Man, what a relief, I thought my only use for this story was comic relief.]
Stop going meta and help me already.
We conversed as such as me and [Guide] joint hands to make my ears go out of service today.
[That should do it.]
Yes, it should, I cannot seem to hear anything even the hurried run of the army of monkeys that are already closing in, they did arrive before the first ray of the sun was seen, aren't they a dedicated bunch, anyway, that means my super earplugs is a success.
Well, Ellie seems to have a way to deal with the bats, how commendable.
[If you just said it to her in the first place...]
Do you know what boosting self-esteem is? What's the point of leaving her to command alone the defense of one of my settlements if I make her my mailman?
We conversed as such as the monkeys bowed at me, I just nodded and then immediately lined them up at the entrance, I made it so that they would be lined up properly and would not feel restricted, after all, even though the main corridor is wide that even a whole band of soldiers can enter side by side without a hindrance, it is still a closed space, so I made their lines longer and then instructed Saru and Wokung to lead two groups of soldiers that I already cut in half early on and make them move in a way that will make them spread out and prevent lining up.
Making them move in a line will provide immediate information to be hindered.
"Well then, I shall take my leave."
After about 30 minutes of arrangement, I finally finished, I immediately went outside, made a rock as big as the entrance, and clogged the entrance with it, Of course, I already commanded Wokung to destroy the boulder the moment the signal went off.
I then started to run at my full speed, and I can say that I was quite shocked, I don't know but maybe because I have been using magic pretty much all of my life in this forest, but I did not realize how fast I can get, I am currently weaving through the forest like someone who uses the body flicker jutsu.
_Well, I have to use this speed more often._
I continued to rush around the forest, not caring about my ridiculous look because of my super earplugs, I then started to remember the final messages of Eleanor before she once again busied herself in commanding the defense of the first layer settlement.
_Start the war after the signal went off, huh?_
If her signal is what I think it is, then it is a two-edged blade that will not discriminate between foes and allies when released, that's why, I and Ellie made our heavy gunners go out of sight until the said alarm started, so right now the big shots of the enemy are the only one present outside, and all of the stars in the second layer are not allowed to go out of the volcano as you can see earlier.
So only my undeads Philo, Lyra, Bernardo, and Kabuto will be outside alongside me and Arachne, and oh, speaking of that spider woman, she is tasked to stop the bat queen from using her unique skill to mess up the defense of the second settlement and make more leeway for Bakunawa and the other leaders, that would also be detrimental for me because I will have to focus on restoring order other than killing the hero prospect serpent that I am certain was made into one just for the sake of my nourishment.
But still, I am quite curious about how Arachne will stop someone stronger than her, I tried to ask her but she said "You will see if you do." and just cut off the connection.
Well, it seems like she wants to be secretive, so I let her be.
Going back, strategy of Eleanor quite suited my strategy because I just had to adjust the timing of my killing the bat queen after the alarm was used, It is more useful because the bat will surely be startled and will not be able to react on time, if there are no distraction, even though I am quite sure that I am stronger than the bat queen, she have an advantage, she can fly and I can just float, so how can I stop her from shouting "There's 1 impostor among us, and she's Arachne!", right?
I'm sure even Bakunawa would hesitate to attack me if she knew I had that deep influence on the eyes of the forest.
As I was thinking of such things I finally saw it, the former base of the invasion army by yours truly, now The built facilities have been burnt down and only charcoal of their former majesty remains.
I then made a square on the wall and entered it.
"Let's wait for the bat."
I said so whilst I made the square go upwards like an elevator.
[3rd Person POV]
"Sure is breezy."
Arachne was spreading her arms in the air, feeling the breeze as if she was flying high in the sky, and alas, she was, she was currently in the back of the largest mammal in the forest, the queen of the bats, traversing the airspace without the hindrance of the trees.
The bat queen, however, cannot help but find the current behavior of Arachne strange.
_It's like there is no war._
No, Arachne was quite serious these past few days, laying a hundred thousand worth of eggs to attempt infiltrating the two settlements of Sophia, but because of the mysterious counterintelligence technique of the enemy, she cannot even go past inside the cave if she did, the spiders will immediately get noticed by the guards and will send teams to dispose of them before any information damage is done.
_She tried her best... Did she give up already? No, that can't be, she must have seen some kind of hope in this alliance, if there is not, then she would have switched sides already._
Like how Arachne knows the bat well, the bat also knows Arachne well, thus she knows how much importance she is giving to her safety and thus concludes that Arachne, or the Spider Queen as she was being called will surely betray anyone who cannot protect her and her interest.
That is also the reason that the alliance is somehow holding up, as long as the spider queen did not leave them, there is still hope.
Well, that's what they are thinking at least.
"Say batsy, how did your race get reduced to your current size?"
Arachne asked, causing the bat queen to make her head tilt toward her direction.
"... You already knew how it transpired, right?"
Arachne nodded, but then replied: "Aw come on, I am tired of feeling the air, you know, let's pass the time a little, okay?"
The bat cannot help but squint her eyes, what can the spider queen can gain from getting the few surviving individuals of her race to relive their trauma?
_Well, I am already over it, so I guess it's fine._
The Pink Bat thought so and then started to tell her tale.
Many years ago far before the five-pronged forest was put under a restriction by the owner of the forest, the Pink Bats flourished as a race that has the title "lords of the sky", This title got attached to their name given the fact that they drove all large avian creatures out of the forest, of course, their ego was bloated because of such title.
Originally, their pride is already as big as it can get, but because their lair is near the undead and the undead are not making any moves against them, it got to a point where their pride blinded them of their rationality.
_They must be cautious of us._
And the truth is like that, after all, no one is not cautious with illusion masters, right? Even the undead can get inflicted with one if enough power is used, thus they cannot help but think that they are the strongest.
However, they are not called the strongest, instead, the fire monkeys, known as the overlord of the volcano are the one that holds such a title, this wounded the pride of the pink-colored bats, especially their King, the leader of the lair at that time and the father of the current leader of the bats.
_How can some primates who cannot even fly be called the strongest!?_
_We will now accept this! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!_
These thoughts swirled for many years inside the head of the leader, but he still had the presence of mind to make his only child grow big before going for the war of supremacy, and when she was already coming of age, the pink bats started a full-scale war against the monkeys.
At that time, the forest was in chaos because the two strongest races were at it for an all-out brawl, the war would surely take a while and would raze the forest to the ground.
But no, on the very first day of the war, the monkey tribe leader, killed the leader of bats with his overly powerful body that is a result of training and gigantification, This event was seen by the child self of the queen of bats, she saw as all of her brethren was slaughtered and are just running away because the unprecedented death of their leader. They were still quite straightforward with their illusions at that time and had yet to innovate to the point of thinking to make a maddened army like now, so all of the monkeys focused on hurling their spears until only five of the children remained.
Maybe it was outside of order, but the queen of the bats heard some large bone-breaking sound instead of cries of victory.
_It must be that they disobeyed the don't kill children order of their leader._
The current bat queen thought, but either way, she finally decided that she would stop being stubborn and destroy their customs to restore their clan.
Meanwhile, Arachne received a message.
"Three minutes, three minutes is enough."
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LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT CHAPTER, YOU WILL ENJOY IT I PROMISE.