Dungeon Defense (WN)

Chapter 105: The One Who Curses Digs Two Graves (1)

Chapter 105: The One Who Curses Digs Two Graves (1)

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The year 1506 of the Imperial Calendar. The 30th day of the 3rd month, 9 o’clock in the morning.

The elite soldiers led by Barbatos defeated the imperial forces that were being commanded by Margrave Fritz von Rosenberg. The Demon Lord army successfully captured Pratzen Heights.

Barbatos turned her troops as soon as she finished reorganizing them. She deployed all of them to the right wing where General Zepar and I were defending desperately. The 20,000 imperial soldiers that were overwhelming the Demon Lord army’s right wing were now surrounded on both ends.

– The Crown Prince has been taken prisoner! The margrave has fallen!

The commanding officers of the imperial army clearly began to panic once they were told that the generals that were at the top of their command had been wiped out. The desire to retreat to minimize their losses and the desire to fight till the very end collided. The former suggestion came from the officers from the main army while the latter suggestion came from the officers that served the margrave.

The right wing of the Demon Lord army had been fighting fervently since the middle of the night, so their original military might of 4,000 had been reduced to 1,500. Barbatos’ unit had also been reduced to 2,500 soldiers. On the other hand, the imperial army still had a healthy number of 20,000 men.

While the imperial army was struggling to come to a decision, Barbatos utilized her <Bone Monarch> for the first time in this battle. An immense amount of mana is required to move a bone dragon, so the mage unit had to use up all of their energy to provide mana as fuel. Regardless, the dragon proved extremely effective.

Once the 20-meter bone dragon descended on the battlefield, the imperial army was consumed by fear. Their formation collapsed for an instant. General Zepar and Commander Barbatos didn’t let that opportunity go by as they sent in their troops.

Even with 50 mages pouring mana into it, the <Bone Monarch> could only rampage for 10 minutes. However, 10 minutes was more than enough to turn the tide of battle.

The imperial army didn’t stand a chance against the Demon Lord army’s coordination as they fell apart. Despite their faction disputes, every commanding officer of the imperial army was still valiant. They fought back against the wave of monsters until their last breaths.

Kolovrate, Kutusov, Kienmayer, Langeron……brave generals whose names were rather renowned in <Dungeon Attack> died one by one. This was enough to accomplish half of my goal. The Habsburg Empire will now undergo a severe shortage of talented individuals.

Even if Elizabeth, the Third Imperial Princess, gains more authority from this, if she doesn’t have talented individuals to support her materially and morally, then there’s nothing to fear. The third imperial princess may be the biggest munchkin in the game, but it’s impossible for her to manage a country by herself. The human world has definitely been weakened.

With this, the Demon Lord army’s center and right wing were victorious. The left wing reported their victory soon after. In the first place, the left wing led by Beleth had the most troops with 8,000 soldiers. He claimed that it was an easy victory.

It was around when the sun shined down upon the hills and plains of Austerlitz.

The battle came to a complete end.

The Demon Lord army reaped an additional bonus by pursuing the retreating soldiers of the imperial army. Normally, most casualties don’t happen on the battlefield, but during pursuits. Well, the elite soldiers of the empire were unusually brave, so we suffered a lot of casualties on the battlefield as well……. Why did they fight so desperately? I don’t get it.

The Demon Lord army gathered in one place and we praised each other’s achievements. All 19 of the Demon Lords that participated in the battle survived. During the final charge, General Zepar had stepped forward too much and took an arrow to the shoulder, but that was the biggest injury that anyone suffered.

“Seriously, you can’t hold back your instincts to charge.”

Barbatos clicked her tongue. General Zepar seemed ashamed as he shrunk back. Brother Beleth was amused by that sight as he laughed heartily.

As the Crescent Alliance 6th legion’s general staff, I organized the results of the battle.

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Battle of Austerlitz

Date: Imperial Calendar, Year 1506, Month 3, Day 30Location: Northern region of the Habsburg Empire, Bruno of Moravia, Austerlitz

«Crescent Alliance 6th legion»

Key figures:Rank 8 BarbatosRank 13 BelethRank 16 Zepar16 other Demon Lords

Military strength:16,325 monsters

Casualties:8,031 monsters

«Habsburg’s United Expeditionary Force»

Key figures:Crown Prince Rudolf von Habsburg(Captured)Margrave Fritz von Rosenberg(Deceased)Baron Ferdinand von Wallenstein(Deceased)Baron Mikhail von Kolovrate(Deceased)Earl John von Kutusov(Deceased)

Military strength: Margrave’s army, approximately 10,000 (Roughly 1,500 cavalrymen)Main army, approximately 20,000 (1,000 royal cavalrymen)Landsknecht mercenaries, approximately 20,000

Casualties:Approximately 45,000 imperial soldiers

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The imperial army met its end with complete annihilation.

The 6th legion of the Crescent Alliance lost more than half of their total troops, so we were basically almost annihilated as well, but Barbatos’ unit was immediately revived by her magic. Thanks to this, our 6th legion still has a military strength of 10,000.

I realized once more how impressive Barbatos is. No matter how many casualties her army experiences, if she just uses her black magic constantly for one or two weeks, she’ll be able to restore her troops! This is why Demon Lords with single digit ranks are overpowered. Sheesh.

Once half of the 6th legion ended up being taken up by Barbatos’ army alone, the other Demon Lords felt pressured.

All of them led their respective units and scoured the mountains and forests in order to find monster tribes. They recruited the native monsters here through persuasion or force. Like this, the Demon Lords replenished their numbers.

However, we subjugated the monster tribes in the margrave’s territory. This was for the sake of replenishing provisions and gaining the people’s support. Now that the situation has completely changed, we managed to draft a type of militia.

Oh, we also don’t have to worry about provisions for a while. There were 40,000 corpses from the imperial army in Austerlitz. They were all smoked and stored.

I would have to fight with my inner human whenever I passed by the food storage and got a whiff of the appetizing smell from the smoked meat. Seriously, it smells way too appetizing…….

Once the drafted soldiers from the monster tribes got a taste of the smoked human meat, they immediately swore their loyalty to us Demon Lords. The monsters in this area apparently never dared to attack the human villages nearby because there were a lot of elite soldiers in the area. It had been so long since they last had a taste of human flesh that a new world opened up to them all of a sudden as soon as they enlisted (it’s written as enlisted but read as forced conscription). ……Once word got around, the monster tribes that tried to avoid getting drafted by us came back to enlist voluntarily.

2 weeks after the battle at Austerlitz.

Our 6th legion of the Crescent Alliance was able to bolster the number of our troops back up to 18,000. Our military strength was higher now than before the battle!

I couldn’t help but be bewildered. Laura felt the same way. She shook her head from side to side as she muttered.

“……This truly goes beyond common sense. I have realized now that compared to humans, Demon Lords can manage their armies much easier.”

On the other hand, what did I do? I used 500 gold to buy a goblin even though other Demon Lords are able to replenish their soldiers this easily! Of course, they are only working under a temporary contract, so they have to be released after a while, but still…….

“Haah.”

Whatever. What’s done is done. I’ll keep this information in mind for next time.

* * *

Urgent news arrived in the 6th legion while we were in the middle of training our newly conscripted soldiers.

“Eeh? Apparently, a coup d’état has occurred in the Habsburg Empire.”

Barbatos hummed as she read the contents of the report that was written on a scroll. On a side note, she was currently laying down on a sofa naked. She suddenly wanted to receive a massage, so she hired me as her exclusive masseur for the day. What a wicked loli.

“It says that Elizabeth von Habsburg started the coup. She seized the Imperial city and took control of their government within a day. She must be quite a capable person.”

“She’s only 17-years-old.”

“Hm. Is she a genius or being used by the people around her? Uu, hnn. Hey, your hand is moving indecently.”

I did that on purpose. We’re busy reorganizing our forces today. She stubbornly dragged me here just to receive a massage……. I won’t be able to vent my annoyance if I don’t retaliate a little like this.

I earnestly rubbed olive oil all over Barbatos’ body. Her marble-like white skin glistened brightly due to the slick oil.

“Ah……hnn. I can’t talk like this, brat.”

I snorted.

“Says you. You called me here to have sex anyway.”

“Oh? You noticed?”

“I’ve had sex with you dozens of times now. The scenarios are obvious, you know?”

Barbatos cackled.

“This kid who used to be awkward in bed like a virgin has grown up to be an athlete, huh? It’s a rather bitter feeling since it feels like my shy little brother has grown up to become a playboy.”

“Little brother? Me? You mean older brother.”

“I may look like this, but I’m 2,000 years old, little Dantalian.”

Mm. She’s right if you consider her actual age, but wouldn’t I have to call her grandma and not sister?

Of course, I didn’t ask this out loud. What sort of girl would want their sex partner to refer to them as grandma? I’m a very considerate man.

The massage naturally transitioned into sex. We came about thirty times each. The good thing about being a Demon Lord was the fact that I could experience climax after climax despite being a man. I was told that it’s because half of my body is made of mana, but I’m a complete dunce when it comes to magical logic, so I don’t get it exactly. Well, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

After about two hours, we caught our breaths on the sofa. I was on the bottom while Barbatos was sandwiched on top of me. My member was still inside of her, but the both of us felt too lazy to pull it out so we just laid there.

Barbatos spoke with her face buried in my chest.

“Haa……huu……. So, is this our chance to attack Habsburg?”

“No. We must stay put at all costs.”

Barbatos lifted her head and looked up at me.

“Why?”

Her pupils were sparkling. This expression of hers was so cute that I unconsciously found myself patting her head.

Barbatos let out a snort, but it must have not felt bad as she was smiling. This comfy moment lasted for a while.

“It’s because the Empire is in chaos right now because of the coup.”

“Shouldn’t we attack them since they’re in chaos?”

“No. According to my informants, the third imperial princess has gathered republicans in large numbers in order to get supporters from the middle and working classes. This means she has lost that much support from the nobles. The middle and working class don’t support the imperial princess unconditionally either.”

The Habsburg Empire’s political system has become severely convoluted. The nobles and generals from the imperial army that once made up the Crown Prince’s Faction were removed due to the previous battle at Austerlitz. This is only natural since the leader of their faction, the crown prince, was taken as a prisoner.

The third imperial princess had led her royal guards and taken over the patriarchy in a matter of moments before the others could come to their senses. The emperor who was already only the ruler in name was sent to a separate royal villa and the 2nd imperial prince was put under strict supervision while he was sealed in his estate.

‘For the sake of protecting the imperial family from those that may use this period of chaos to their advantage.’ Elizabeth the Third Imperial Princess had claimed this, but there were few people who believed this to be the only reason.

The Imperial Princess’ Faction took over quickly. By personally holding multiple positions as the chief of military affairs, high command, and commander of the defense force, Elizabeth the Third Imperial Princess seized military command. She now stood at the pinnacle of Habsburg’s military administration, order, and the execution force.

The Imperial Princess’ Faction had won. This was certain. And yet, it was still too soon to say that they had won completely. Even if the aristocrats from the Crown Prince’s Faction were imprisoned, they still possess their own armies in their territories. Furthermore, the second imperial prince is also alive and well.

Our enemy is falling apart on their own due to internal discord. From an outside perspective, this might seem like the best possible opportunity.

Despite this, I gave Barbatos a clear response.

“If we go in now, we’ll lose.”

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Happy New Years everyone! I hope you guys had or are having a good holiday. New Years Resolutions? What are those? Do they taste good? I simply live the life I’ve always lived, but with more existential crisis. In any case, this chapter was done earlier, but my editor was busy cause of the holidays. Please understando.

I’ll see you guys on the next chapter.