The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 931: Waiting for Bomgon

For the next two days, Karl and the others relaxed in the fort, or in the Tiny World, where the two Totem Ranked dragons were still sunning themselves, and most likely avoiding responsibilities, as outsiders were unlikely to discover them while they were inside.

Fortunately, it did not appear that anyone was actively looking for them. Or for anyone else in the group, for that matter.

The undead armies werenʼt attacking, they had retreated to a city over a hundred kilometres from the border, and the army was more concerned with properly purging the last of the undead and any infected items from the city.

The death toll of the attack had been catastrophic, and the port city of Bagaandormen could hardly be called a city anymore.

Demons werenʼt truly helpless, even the ones that werenʼt soldiers. But with so many undead literally dropped on their homes, over half of the city had died during the attack, and many more were infected with various undead curses and viruses.

The Drodh Army had declared it a quarantine zone, so even Lotus could only stand near the wall in healing tree form to help the residents, she could not go inside to let them get the full radius of her aura.

But after a few days, the situation appeared to be mostly under control, and only a few lingering undead or survivors were being found under rubble.

”What do the most recent reports among the clerics say, Priestess?” Karl asked Delilah as the red dragon transformed back to human for lunch on the fourth day after the battle.

”A whole lot of nothing. The undead armies have retreated further than usual this time, and theyʼre not launching any attacks along the border at all. If anything, the attempt to expand the borders might have ended.

There doesnʼt seem to have been a good reason why, as theyʼve still got plenty of troops left, but Lord Bomgon likes to test the waters now and then, so he might just be changing his target to the border along the Unzatharb side.

The two share a border nearly the same length as Bomgon and Drodh, but a bit more mountainous than the rolling hills around us.” She replied casually as she inspected the lunch buffet.

”Well, at least that makes it decidedly not our problem. But trying to understand why the Undead are so insistent on expanding the blight is beyond me.” Karl agreed.

Joel, the white dragon, currently in the form of an old man, smiled at Karlʼs admission.

”Itʼs really quite simple. They thrive on unholy energy of a particular variety. The blight radiates it, and the larger the area of the blight, the stronger the energy is. Much like moving from a lower mana continent to the Dragon Isles, this is something that helps their growth.

The Undead might not be fully functional in the brain capacity department most of the time, but the ones who did retain most of their mental faculties understand well enough that they need territory if theyʼre going to create an undead horde strong enough to keep themselves from becoming a nomadic threat on other nationsʼ territories.”

That was a valid concern. Nobody really cared for the Undead, and none called them true allies. A few species, like the Vampires, had managed to get along well enough with others to integrate, but the chances that the Necromancers would accept such a setup, or that zombies and skeletons would ever be capable of it, was laughable.

”So there really isnʼt much chance that theyʼre going to stop trying to expand? I would imagine thatʼs frustrating for everyone living near the border.” Karl sighed.

The white dragon shrugged. ”They work on a much longer timeline than most, so a major push tends to be more of a once in a decade situation than an every year issue. It makes it less dangerous to live near the border, or the whole border region would likely be a militarized zone.

Now, with so many lost here in the city, they might wish to turn it into a military fort, but normally the villages live fairly normal lives. But the rural villagers are mostly Orcs, and the Orcs enjoy the fights more than most species, so they donʼt retreat.

Unfortunately, I cannot continue to relax here forever. There are threats to the other islands as well, and I have been called.

I do hope to see you all again soon. But under better circumstances.”

Priestess Delilah brushed her robes clean. ”I should also move along. The threat here has faded, so it will be some time before the undead attack this border again. If you want to keep hunting them, that is your choice. But you can head home for a break.”

Karl turned to the others for their opinion, and received no objections.

”Alright, we will all head out. Rae, please take down the fort, unless you intend to leave it for the locals.”

Definitely not, Rae decided. This was a great fort, completely unsuited to being left for a bunch of random demons with no creativity. They would never appreciate the pure brilliance of her designs.

But Rae didnʼt want to just return to the boredom of Drodh City.

”Why donʼt we all go play in the Dwarf lands? I know that the problem is too many Totem Ranked monsters, but there have to be others that are a problem, right? Everyone can help clear the extras.

Or they can go shopping while we clear out the Bara Dungeon. That would be good too.” She suggested.

”You ran out of new and fun things to do at home, didnʼt you?” Karl asked.

Rae nodded emphatically, and the ladies did their best not to laugh.

”But youʼre also stronger now. We should test your combat capabilities before you have to face off against another Totem Ranked something. That way, you can be sure of what you can do with this extra vitality and mana.” Rae added.

That was actually an excellent point. Testing under controlled conditions would be much safer than finding his limits while in an actual battle.