Ch.1262Wounded Victory

“Garmeric merged with a dragon?”

“Merged…? That’s an odd way to put it. Usually, we call it fusion.”

“Merged, fusion, it’s all the same thing.”

According to Ophelia, the Undead Duke Garmeric, who had reappeared after a long time, looked completely different from before.

His lower body was gone—probably blown away by my Sky Slash—and his remaining upper body had fused with a skeletal dragon.

To be precise, the dragon had been dead for a long time and was just remains, with Garmeric taking root in its skull and moving the corpse.

[Fascinating. A specter that parasitizes another’s body and steals it… Doesn’t that sound familiar?]

‘No, it’s different from us. How can parasitism and symbiosis be the same?’

[Ha, how shameless.]

‘That’s my charm.’

Honestly, it was an absurd story. Not Hersella’s idle joke, but the state of Garmeric that I was hearing about after so long.

As I recall, he was definitely a magic swordsman type who mixed magic and swordsmanship, but I wonder how he plans to swing a sword while attached to a dragon’s head.

Rather than attaching himself that way, it would be far more efficient to just get a prosthetic leg and let the dragon fight separately… Did he lack the resources or ability?

Or perhaps he judged that physical combat utilizing the dragon’s massive body would be more powerful than crude swordsmanship with a prosthetic leg.

I’ll have to fight him to know for sure… but it’s clear he’s become stronger than before.

Logically, if he had become weaker, he would have hidden away in some cave and lived quietly.

I don’t know exactly how much stronger he’s become, but he must believe he’s strong enough to seize control of Naraka, which is why he’s being so brazen.

The question is whether his strength surpasses mine… I won’t know until I face him directly.

From Ophelia’s perspective, both of us are beyond her common sense, so it would be difficult for her to make an objective comparison.

“Hey, Haschal? Are you listening?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. So what happened after that? What about that Hrungnir guy?”

“I think he was subdued… but I’m not certain.”

“Not certain?”

What’s that supposed to mean? Did you fall asleep while watching? If not…

“Well, as soon as that monster came down, all the homunculi I had deployed for reconnaissance died. Every single one of them.”

“Uh… were you discovered? Are you hiding from him now?”

“No, that’s… hmm… probably not. Rather than being detected and attacked, they all seemed to burst from the sheer pressure of his presence.”

“I see. That’s fortunate.”

It truly was fortunate. If she had been discovered, with her skills, she wouldn’t have been able to escape his gaze by any means.

In the worst case, she might have been captured by him, turned into an undead, and returned as an enemy scout.

If that had happened, I would have had to personally behead the strongest magician of my country that I had raised, while uttering some monologue like “the reunion with Ophelia was the worst.”

“Still, be as careful as possible on your way back. Make sure they don’t discover you.”

“Don’t worry. That’s why I’m currently digging tunnels underground to move. It’s damp, stuffy, and annoyingly slow, but it works.”

“That alone seems a bit risky… What if they detect you? Those undead seemed pretty good at digging too.”

“Of course I’ve cast several concealment spells. Life detection blocking, mana flow equalization, even simple noise suppression magic and heat source concealment techniques.”

As expected of Ophelia, who has always been good at preserving her own life, she had already taken every precaution without me having to advise her.

Whether those “precautions” would work against a being that’s more than a demigod is questionable… but the fact that she hasn’t been discovered yet suggests they’re somewhat effective.

Maybe she’s just been lucky… but as long as she returns safely, it doesn’t matter either way.

—-

Ophelia had been safely observing the hellish battlefield—where giants, werebeasts, and even undead participated—from a distance using homunculi with shared vision spells.

However, because the homunculi, the core of her overwhelming reconnaissance ability, were too weak to even withstand Garmeric’s presence, the outcome of that battle ultimately remained unknown.

What happened to Hrungnir in the end? How does Garmeric fight with his new body? How much has the total strength of the undead army increased?

Why did Garmeric’s undead army prioritize annihilating their allies over the werebeasts? What did they do and where did they go after everything ended?

None of these questions had been answered satisfactorily.

Well… there’s no need to be impatient. It’s just a matter of sooner or later—we’ll find out eventually.

“How many died in this battle?”

“Thanks to the protective spells, the Naga’s casualties weren’t severe, but the rock monkeys suffered substantial losses. It will take at least half a year to recover their forces…”

…Even if we found out, there’s nothing we can do about it right now anyway.

“You’re saying they won’t recover.”

“Well… that’s right. Essentially.”

The war against the vampires ended in our victory, but the fierce battle inflicted considerable damage on our forces as well.

The Naga who charged head-on had few casualties thanks to defensive spells and Caljarat’s efforts, but nearly 30% of the rock monkeys who attacked from the flank were killed or severely injured.

After hours of forced marching followed by the insane feat of climbing cliffs to assault the fortress, having only 30% casualties was actually an impressive achievement, but…

‘The damage is too great. They won’t be able to fight properly anymore.’

The positions of the fallen cannot be refilled, and the treatment and recovery of the wounded would take at least ten to fifteen days.

But if we wait for them to fully recover, the conflict in Naraka would be long over by then. And the victor would probably not be us.

In other words, our forces can no longer be replenished or recovered, and we must navigate future battlefields with only the remaining troops.

And the remaining strength of the rock monkeys was close to the minimum number needed to preserve their species and continue their lineage.

If their population decreases any further, even if our forces become the ultimate victors, the rock monkeys would likely face extinction in the process.

“Perhaps because of this, Lord Turankai has requested a redeployment of forces. He says the rock monkeys should withdraw to the rear for the time being and take charge of supply and base defense…”

“Ah, so he wants to retreat to a safe place and just make a token contribution?”

Turankai had already realized this much, which is why he conveyed to me that he wanted a safer rear deployment instead of the front lines from now on.

“If you wish to criticize, you could put it that way… but, well, it’s a fact that the rock monkeys have been our main force at the forefront until now, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

It was an absurd request to pull back the main force in the middle of a war, but in a way, it was also a reasonable one.

Turankai dreamed of the alliance conquering Naraka, but that ambition stemmed from his desire to see his species prosper.

He couldn’t be happy with the current situation where even the preservation of their species was in jeopardy.

It was also an undeniable truth that they alone had suffered disproportionate losses within the alliance.

“Given such sacrifices and contributions, we can’t simply dismiss their request as selfish behavior focused only on their own safety…”

“You’re saying they have legitimacy? That’s unexpected, Nigel. I didn’t think you’d defend them so actively.”

“I’m saying it’s a request with valid reasons. If they continue to suffer extreme losses and their lineage is cut off, from Lord Turankai’s perspective, it would be as if they were just used and discarded.”

That’s true.

As Nigel said, if the rock monkeys went extinct at this rate, it would be no different from me stabbing Turankai in the back.

It’s natural for them to resist. Not just the rock monkeys themselves, but the Naga would also view it unfavorably.

Using and discarding the rock monkeys who were essentially under our command would suggest that the Naga, in the same position, could be discarded just as easily.

“…Well, I understand what you’re saying. Tell Turankai I’ll consider it positively. If I permit it, he himself will have to remain at the front.”

In the end, this was a request I had to grant, even if reluctantly. We can’t afford division when the war isn’t even over yet.

And so, our military strength was ultimately halved despite achieving victory.

Since the outcome of the war depended on the achievements of heroes and demigods anyway, it was sufficient for the troops themselves to just hold out until the final decision without hindering me.