The Runic Alchemist

Chapter 197: Forest Clearance Mission 6

Laying waste to yet another group of soldiers occupying a medium-sized village, Damian and his unit set up camp nearby for the day. They were in no rush, and once a week, they took a day off to maintain their weapons, armor, and have some rest. Finding a village on such days was always fortunate. They waited for all the captains to catch up in an arc as they moved forward.

Such a large group, combined with their thorough search of every nook and cranny of the forest, took time. This was necessary, though. The worst mistake they could make was to overlook a hiding place, allowing enemies to slip past them, rendering their efforts futile.

Damian didn't know how the war was progressing or whether Vidalia and the others had survived. However, there was no way to contact them, and regardless of the outcome, their mission to clear the way to Pyron remained unchanged.

Some soldiers, who didn't have much to do with food preparation or fighting, were tasked by Damian with helping the villagers rebuild. The rest were free to do as they pleased, as long as they didn't trouble the locals. Most visited the taverns, and occasionally, a village big enough would have prostitutes.

The soldiers had money, were young, and the ever-present fear of death drove them to indulge in such activities. Damian turned a blind eye, as long as no complaints reached him.

"Look after them. I'll be leaving now," Damian said off-handedly, mounting his horse.

Sam, Einar, and Yovan nodded as he nudged the horse forward. It was time to do another run for the activation of the mimicry spell. He didn't have many scrolls left and would be lucky if it lasted another week.

Damian had hoped they'd find some useful materials from Ashenvale's forces, but alas, nothing worthwhile came from those miserable lot except for money and booze and weapons, tons of weapons that lay in their spatial storages.

Damian rode through the forest in one direction for a while until he sensed the presence of a second-rank captain responsible for covering his side. It was the blonde young lady, one of the few young captains. Though new to her spellsword powers, she had yet to master them fully. Damian locked onto her mana signature and followed it at a reasonable pace.

Catching people off guard had become one of his few guilty pleasures. He slowly approached her camp, receiving nods and greetings from soldiers as he passed by. She was busy eating stew with her companions.

"Oh, Maximus! Creeping up on us again, huh?" the blonde captain said, putting down her bowl and standing up cheerfully.

He had once caught her bathing in a river, and she hadn't let him live it down since. Still, it was a fair trade for the memory he gained in return.

"Come on, get your man. I've got things to do," Damian replied, dismounting his horse.

"Yes, yes, the ever-so-busy, great captain," she mocked but nonetheless called for one of her high-level first-rankers. Damian used the scroll with the mimicry spell on him, transferring the spell's authority to the man. Job done, Damian got back on his horse, with the blonde captain holding the reins.

"There's a medium-sized village where we're staying for the day, I can get you something you might need for the next visit.. You know the direction. Do you have anything to report?" Damian asked.

"We just passed a small village yesterday, nothing major. No, we have enough supplies. But can you get word to Royce that I need more people? We had ten casualties this past week. Our numbers are low. We can handle small groups, but sometimes they're just too many..."

Damian nodded and galloped away. This was the situation everywhere. Every captain had lost soldiers, tens of them each week, leaving their numbers critically low. Damian briefly considered abandoning the strategy of spreading out and gathering their forces, but doing so would slow their progress significantly. Still, they might not have a choice if things continued this way.

After visiting her, Damian reached another captain to renew their mimicry spell and gather a report, and then another. Nothing of importance was reported, but most of them needed more troops. Damian himself had lost around 50 soldiers over the past few weeks, but that was on the lower side compared to others. Most captains were now commanding barely over 150 men.

Royce was stationed at the third position from Damian on another side. He had already visited eight captains, knowing their locations and their needs, which he would report to Royce in detail. He planned to visit Royce after checking in with the last three captains.

When he arrived at Royce's camp on his return journey, he found the man deep in thought, his face serious as he sat at a temporary wood style table in the open, tapping it repeatedly while gazing up at the evening sky. Enjoy more content from m-v l'-NovelBin.net

"What's going on?" Damian asked, sitting across from him, the chairs were also made by him.

"The missing monsters... We found them," Royce replied, locking eyes with him.

Oh, This should be interesting.

"I sent four of my best scouts at the start, each in different directions, and the one I sent farthest has finally returned. He says he saw the monsters. They were all gathered together, mindlessly roaming behind a mountain range. Just as we feared—they're being controlled by someone."

At least they had an answer now. It was better than discovering the monsters creeping behind their army at the Dreaded Lands' entrance or, worse, hearing weeks later that they'd destroyed everything in their path and were heading directly for Pyron.

"How big?" Damian asked.

"The numbers are just a guess, but somewhere between 600 and 1,000. The numbers aren't the worst part, though. The ranks of these monsters and beasts range from unranked all the way to king-level."

Goddamn, those were lots of ugly guys waiting for them.

"You said they were roaming at the foot of the mountain, not moving in one direction?" Damian pressed, finding the choice of words interesting.

"Exactly. They're gathering more. I think they're preparing to attack Pyron's walls. If we spook them, they'll rain down on the villages we've barely managed to save. But if we leave them be, they'll just keep growing in numbers. We don't have the men or resources to take such a big risk.

And that's just dealing with the monsters. There are over 1,000 Ashenvale soldiers camped near the horde, either protecting it or simply watching over it. The one controlling the monsters must be with them."