The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 900: Tactical Decisions

Karl nodded in understanding. Sending three hundred thousand zombies somewhere to attack would be a logistical nightmare, even though they didnʼt need to eat or sleep. With only two nations bordering the Undead Kingdom of Bomgon, and two more immediately across the channel, the options were limited, but a ground invasion was not a foregone conclusion.

”Say, do you know if there is a reason for this surge in violence from the Undead? They donʼt appear to be overcrowded within their nation. In fact, with so few monsters, there is a lot of open space for them.

Did something happen that set them off? Like turning away the attack on Drodh City?” Karl asked.

”That could be part of it, but they have always been aggressively expansionist. I believe itʼs mostly the result of the Necromancers and their death cult.

The magic invades and corrupts their souls. It makes them hate all forms of life, and traps them somewhere between life and death, tethered to the netherworld by their own dark magic, until one day they become the Undead themselves.

Theyʼre a true nuisance, and theyʼve been driven out of almost everywhere in the world. Even the Dark Elves of the Underworld disdain them and treat them as slaves.

So, being on the border of their last remaining territory means suffering their attacks every time that they build up enough of a force to spread their influence a little further.”

The Commanderʼs tone was sombre and resigned. It wasnʼt something that anyone could change, and Drodh didnʼt have enough of a military force to completely wipe out the entire nation of Bomgon if that was even possible.

So many of the powerful undead had ways to resurrect themselves if their body was destroyed that the prospect of completely eliminating them was laughable.

Karl shrugged. ”Then I guess that all we can do is wait to see what happens. If there are no threats for the day, I was thinking of taking my team to the nearest village to trade with them.

There is always something in demand in a farming village, and we are a crafting guild.”

The big Demon smiled. ”Theyʼll be happy to see you. The trade caravans have been sparse the past few months. They donʼt want to take the risk to come this close to the border with all the unrest, while the villages closer to the coast are getting larger, and demanding more of their goods.”

While Karl talked to the Commander, the others packed up the tent, and then passed it to Delta and his team. They would appreciate the hammocks, and the tent could be assembled with Earth Magic poles, so there was no complex process involved.

The rest of the unit was clearly envious that not only were they getting a fancy new tent designed to set up in seconds, with a full unit worth of hammocks to keep them up off the ground, but it was Overlord Ranked monster silk, and even if the camp came under attack, it would be able to take a hit or two, and they wouldnʼt have to worry as much about being ambushed in their sleep.

Hawk continued his scouting passes as the campʼs defensive wall was retracted, and they prepared to go on patrol again.

Staying in one spot made it too easy for the enemy to avoid them or alter deployments to counter their numbers. So, they patrolled an erratic pattern, making their location less predictable, even though their territories were somewhat fixed.

The ladies all climbed up on Thorʼs back after he transformed back into his four legged behemoth form. Even Rae was riding with him today, while the rest of the beasts returned to their space, except Remi, who was in the [Tiny World] alchemy labs, making stock for the shop.

They were still close enough to access the Guild Bank, so she could transfer materials to the other Alchemists from her space, where most of them were growing. Plus, she could bring over potions they had put in stock, so they could treat themselves as a travelling branch of the shop when they visited.

Making their way to the village was simple enough, it was only half an hour away, with Thor walking and Karl jogging beside him.

Hawk was scouting the region, and didnʼt see anything, but Karl didnʼt want to get tangled in a mass of limbs if there was a sudden attack. But he knew that Thor would look after everyone, so there wasnʼt any risk to letting them all ride.

The village itself was like none that Karl had come across before. Not only was it surrounded by a high wall, but they had also dug a moat and filled it with sharp metal spikes and oil, a flaming barricade should an undead horde approach their home.

There were also endless fields in the kilometres surrounding the farms, but no farmhouses. There were outbuildings, storage sheds and so on, but not a single house to be seen.

Logically, they must all live in the villageʼs protective walls and only come out to work. But that seemed like a rather extreme living situation, even this close to the border.

But once they got through the gate, things began to make sense.

The Orcs didnʼt live in traditional family homes, the way that you would expect from the word ”Village”. Instead, there were a number of long barracks style houses, and dozens of other facilities within the walls, and everyone was going about their day as usual.

As usual, if it were a travelling Orc camp.

”Demon. What brings you here in this time of strife?” An aging Orc with a notepad hanging from his hip asked as Karl led the group into the village.

”We were assisting the regiment with some Undead, but there were no more close enough to be a threat for the day, so we thought we might come by and visit.

Weʼre a crafting guild, and weʼve got a small group of Dragon Clerics with us, if you should need anything.” Karl explained.

That got the Orcʼs attention, and he whistled for someone else to join them. A very large someone, Karl realized. The Clan Chief of the village was a monster of a man, even by Orcish standards.