Chapter 42: How to Cut Down a Monster
DM took deep breath, mentally, and pulled up the list of available creatures.
“…This is…”
He was shocked by the new creatures he could summon. The irony was, he couldn’t put them to use right now. He needed a large army, so LVL 11 creatures were not feasible for the time being. DM would even forgo summoning one of each just to check them out, although it took all of his willpower. If not for Vera being in such a precarious situation, he’d definitely do that.
Even without using new creatures, the level-up was helpful. His total available levels for summoned creatures had risen from 300 to 363, not including the army he already brought over from the Upper Gordu Dungeon previously. His own stats had increased as well, but he hoped that wouldn’t end up mattering. Either way, he still had some captive mages to absorb MP from if worst came to worst.
DM set to work summoning a second army. This army would be larger due to the Lower Gordu Dungeon’s higher level. He envisioned his creatures marching outside the dungeon in a formation with three parts: a central group and two wings. The army from the Upper Gordu consisted of lizardmen, goblins priests, goblins archers, and zombie mages. Since they were less plentiful, he’d put them in the middle, the central group, with the lizardmen at the front. The goblin priests would be well situated to heal allies in any direction.
For the wings, DM wanted to add some variety. On one side, he’d place several minotaurs at the head, with a large number of zombies and a few lesser demons following. Across from them, the other wing would consist of several kobold champions followed by a bunch of kobolds and perhaps two or three basilisks.
By placing the higher-level monsters to the front and sides, DM hoped to give the illusion of a more powerful army than he actually had access to. The large number of lower-level monsters towards the back and inside of the formation would inflate the headcount without really increasing the force’s lethality all that much. So long as this arrangement gave enemies pause, that was good enough.
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“I’d say it’s only a matter of time until they begin their assault.”
“Yes, Lord Davidson…”
“Hm?” The Lord pointed at the enemy army, causing his assembled attendants and advisors to turn their heads. “It looks like they’re sending someone to demand our surrender.”
“What will you do, my Lord?”
The Lord glanced through a spyglass and then lowered it. “They don’t seem particularly strong, hm? I’ll meet with them myself.”
“My Lord, you would trust these fiends?”
“Of course not. But how could I pass up this opportunity? Of course I’ll bring a guard with me.”
“Y—Yes, of course, my Lord. But what do you mean, opportunity?”
“Depending on who I choose to guard me, they may not appreciate it.”
“I’m not following…”
Lord Davidson laughed under his breath and looked behind him to see who was available.
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The lone horseman stopped a safe distance away from the main gate to the Twin Cities, not wanting some untrained conscript to accidently shoot him with an arrow or something stupid like that. Still, he was well inside the outer ring formed by his comrades from the Union, so the city’s representative wouldn’t hesitate to come out and meet him here, he figured.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, the gate opened and two rode through atop warhorses. The first appeared by all accounts to be the new Lord of this territory, Marquis Davidson. He didn’t have much of a reputation yet, unlike his predecessor. The Union considered him to be the biggest wildcard for this operation. That wasn’t the problem.
The second person, riding immediately behind the Lord, was a young girl. Bringing some young female squire wasn’t a big deal; the horseman hardly felt threatened. But as the pair galloped closer, he noticed that the girl wasn’t even a pure-blooded human. She had some type of animal ears, and though he couldn’t see it at this moment, she likely had a tail too. Was it a coincidence, or did the Lord intend to upset him right from the start? He’d find out soon enough.
He dismounted, and the other two did the same a short distance away. The girl didn’t seem particularly comfortable on a horse and nearly fell on her face dismounting.
They stood just a few meters apart. “Lord Davidson, I presume?”
“Indeed. No need to tell me who you are. I’m sure you’ll be returning to the Union soon.”
“I quite doubt that. But before we get down to business, I have to ask. What is that?” He pointed at Vulp, standing aside and slightly behind Lord Davidson.
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“My guard, of course. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t refer to her as that.”
“You’d truly begin these negotiations by insulting me?”
“Oh? I mean no such offense. And I don’t consider these to be negotiations. I’m simply having a chat with a neighbor.”
The horseman grimaced. “I can handle banter from a distinguished gentleman such as yourself, but that other thing I cannot abide. Send her away.”
“So you can attempt to cut me down and sow chaos in the Twin Cities? You think me a fool?”
“For dressing up a beast girl like a knight and bringing her to such a negotiation as a supposed guard? I do, as a matter of fact.”
“Foolishness can’t be corrected in just one conversation, I’m afraid.”
“Lord Davidson, to think you’d show me so little respect even while I have such a sizable army surrounding you. The word fool doesn’t even begin to describe you.”
“Show you… respect? Your ring of soldiers there is impressive enough, but what exactly did you do to earn my respect? Respect is not a baton better men hand to you so you may wave it in my face.”
That one struck a nerve. “You…” The horseman took a moment to regain his composure. “Well, there won’t be any need to nag each other about respect when the source of the problem is eliminated.”
“What?”
The horseman stepped around the Lord’s side to get to Vulp who was still standing diagonally behind him. Three hands went to their swords, but the horseman didn’t draw yet. “I’ll consider the negotiations reset back to zero as soon as I take care of this nuisance.”
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When DM realized Vulp was being dragged into the negotiations between the Twin Cities and the Union, he ordered his monsters to quicken their pace. They were nearing the forest’s edge closest to the Twin Cities, but it would still be a few moments before either human army sighted them.
Of course, with Vulp being affected by DM’s infect ability, DM could spawn a tentacle at any time. He could easily intercede, but doing so in front of so many thousands of witnesses was not at all preferred. He’d much rather stick to his original plan involving the monster army.
DM’s sensing magic told him that Vulp wasn’t outmatched here, but even so, her taking action would cause new problems…
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Kat and Shiba each arrived at their meeting point near a relatively undefended portion of the Twin Cities defensive wall. Both wore cloaks which disguised their appearance, as DM had instructed them, but they stayed out of view.
“Do you have the rope?” Kat asked.
“Of course I do!” Shiba insisted. “What about you?”
“Right here.” She displayed a few pieces of gear that would help them climb. “It looks like we’re ready…”
“Now we just wait for DM’s signal.
“How is he going to—“
“We’ll find out soon!”
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Outside the walls, the horseman grasped his decorative sword hilt, clearly intending to strike Vulp in one smooth motion as he drew his sword. Given their height distance, he’d likely go straight for her neck. “Don’t worry Davidson, I’m under strict orders not to harm you.” He drew.
Vulp drew her sword at about the same time. Their targets were different, though. The horseman was aiming for Vulp’s neck, whereas Vulp was aiming directly for the man’s sword arm. Many a time had she cut off a monster’s approaching extremity to prevent its attack, and this barely felt any different. Given the horseman’s level, Vulp found it hard to believe he had much experience striking down armed opponents in fair combat. At best, he had executed defenseless people, like he seemed to think he was doing now.
With the sound of blade penetrating flesh and bone, the swordman’s lower arm, hilt still clutched in his fingers, flew off in a random direction. He wasn’t given time to scream. Muscle memory took over. When striking down a monster, the first blow was rarely lethal. After cutting them once, you seized the opportunity by following up with a more effective second strike. If you hesitated, the monster would execute a desperate and even more dangerous attack. That wasn’t the case here, but Vulp didn’t even consider the difference.
Fluidly transitioning into a second swing, she separated the horseman’s head from his body, just as he had tried to do to her. Even Lord Davidson appeared stunned at how that exchange went.
Vulp looked around at the soldiers watching them from afar, noting with her keen eyesight that most were slack jawed. She shook the blood from her sword and sheathed it, then turned to face the Lord of the Twin Cities, an awkward expression on her face.
“Vulp.”
“Y—Yes?”
“It’s time to put your recent horse-riding lessons to use. Get back to the gate now. Let’s go.”
As they mounted their horses, Vulp desperately urged hers to turn and face the other direction. While she wrestled with her confused horse, Lord Davidson pointed towards the Union’s soldiers.
“Wait, what are they doing?”
Vulp looked up and noticed the soldiers, who had been staring at them a moment ago, were now confused and seemingly distracted by another matter.
“Actually, no, let’s return and then worry about it.” Lord Davidson led Vulp back into the city with the gate closing again behind them. Dismounting, they rushed back up to their previous vantage point atop the wall.
“Report!” the Lord called as he ascended the last few stone steps.
“Sir! They are reorganizing!”
“Why?”
The aid handed the Lord his spyglass. “Look there!”
He stared in the direction of the nearest forest. “What in the world?”
A huge assembly of monsters marched toward the city. The minotaurs and unusually large kobolds led from the front on either side, but there were dozens and dozens of additional monsters of various types behind them. Monsters of differing species cooperating like this just didn’t happen, but that wasn’t the scariest thing about it.
The monsters were marching. They were actually matching their footfalls like a demonstration in a well-rehearsed military parade. Monsters worrying about such things didn’t make sense. It was still too soon to hear their approach, but the Lord could only imagine that it was incredibly intimidating from up close.
“They’re marching…?” the Lord mumbled as he absentmindedly handed the spyglass back to his aid. The aid pulled the spyglass back to his own eye and looked again.
“Not only that, my Lord. Look how they’re managing the significant height difference between those minotaur in the front and the goblins in the back.”
“What do you mean?”
“For every step the large monsters take, the medium-sized monsters take two, and the smallest monsters take three.”
“Wha?”
“I can’t imagine the effort it would take to train monsters to do that…”
Lord Davidson turned to Vulp, the only person nearby with experience in the Guild. “Have you seen anything like that before?”
Vulp shook her head violently.
“This must be that dungeon master…”