Chapter 57. The Dark General
The “Dark General” Sequence was in the operations room, at the far end of Gije Fortress.
“…” He closed his eyes, rested his hands on the armrests, and drowsily pondered his life, his fallen comrades, and the fate of the demons. Sequence was an old man. Especially old among the demons, who lived as long as the elves. To be more specific, he was only surpassed in longevity by Thunder Sonia. His life had been marked by battle. Starting as a young man who knew nothing, going through the era of “Resourceful General Sequence,” witnessing the rise of Demon King Gediguz, receiving the title of “Dark General” for his achievements on numerous battlefields, leading the retreat in the defeat of the Lemium Highlands, and continuing to fight without dying, even though he had lost every battle since then.
How many years had passed since they told him he was too old, that he could no longer fight, and that it was time to make way for the next generation? Sequence stayed on the front lines and continued to live. His comrades died one after another. He had many wives, but they all died. He also had many daughters, but only one remained. After the war, he had three left, but one died in the chaos of the post-war period, another left the country, and just yesterday, he received news that the other one was likely dead. The one remaining might also be dead, as nothing was known about her.
His family had disappeared. In contrast, Sequence had no strength or time left. He could only use the little brain power he had left in this operations room. They would gather every few days to contemplate the future of the demons, for which no solution was in sight.
Isn’t it ironic? That’s what Sequence thought. When Gediguz said he was going to build a fortress here, Sequence was the one who opposed it the most. What was the point of building a fortress in a place like this? He told him that he was wasting their limited resources.
He didn’t regret his opposition to Gediguz at the time, and he didn’t believe he was wrong in anything he had said. But without the fortress here, the surviving demons would have been lost in their escape and would have been annihilated. Yes, it was also Sequence who decided for them to flee to this fortress at the moment of their defeat. He thought that there would be no pursuit here, and even if there were, they would be able to endure it.
Gediguz didn’t build this fortress with that in mind. Sequence knew that. That’s why it seemed ironic to him. He had always said it was unnecessary, but now he had to rely on this fortress more than any of the demons.
And yet, to this day, Sequence still wondered: Where would the demons’ future be? It had been three years since the war ended. No, it had already been four. The demons had been trapped in this land for four years.
The snowy fields had more animals than one would imagine, so they didn’t have problems with food. They weren’t abundant by any means, but it saved them from starvation, although there were a few who died of hunger. If they could survive, they could manage here.
If it weren’t for it.
The champion of the skies. The most powerful creature on the continent: A dragon.
This area was its territory. Therefore, the demons couldn’t venture out during the day and had to remain in their fortress without lights and without protection. At night, they crawled like rats in search of food to survive. Noble demons, like rats…
People were also somewhat calm at first.
“Did they lock us in this place with only this?”
“They were confident enough not to enslave all the survivors and also give them land.”
“They should regret not exterminating us.”
“Foolish humans. They let their guard down with victory in sight.”
Some even looked down on the winners. In any case, Sequence was also one of them. It’s not that he underestimated humans, but he thought it would be possible to recover from this. Demon bodies were strong and resistant to the cold, they could go several days without eating, and their magical abilities were among the best of all races. As a superior race, they were capable of thriving in this deadly snowy field. After cultivating the land for about a decade, raising livestock, and working to increase their strength, it would be possible to fill the snowfields with demons.
But then there was the dragon.
Dragons were undoubtedly the most powerful creatures. They were not opponents that could be defeated with half-hearted efforts. That was the common understanding of all creatures in the continent of Vastonia.
However, in the Lemium Highlands, a dragon had been defeated. When the dragon appeared in the Lemium Highlands, its majesty and overwhelming firepower terrified them. Everyone looked up in awe, saying, “What are we going to do about that thing?”.
However, once it was defeated, they could say that it was a trivial opponent. It even seemed weaker than they had expected.
After forcing it to descend to the surface, a lone orc warrior delivered the final blow. Orcs were a race far inferior to demons. If an orc could do it, there was no reason they couldn’t. They weren’t as strong as they were in the Battle of the Lemium Highlands, and there would be casualties. But they would defeat it, and this snowfield would be theirs. That was the decision of the demons.
Only after organizing an attack force and launching a battle against the dragon they did realize their arrogance.
In the first battle, the attack force was annihilated. The commander was Limendia, one of Sequence’s daughters.
Furthermore, the dragon took an unexpected action. It flew towards Gije Fortress and retaliated.
It was hell.
The dragon’s fire breath easily pierced through the magical barrier and turned the once powerful demons into charcoal in an instant. The demons’ magic rarely reached the dragon, and when it did, it was repelled by its scales.
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