Hero without Blood or Tear - Chapter 72

Chapter 72: The Old Medusa (2)

Ultimately, Rhinefelden was over taken by the demon queen Amunde. To celebrate her victory, Amunde, the demon queen, marched her troops from besieging the Sisterhood of Walpurgis to Rhinefelden.

The scenes in the city were truly devastating. So many people were dead and their bodies were floating on the river. Unsightly water type demons were grotesquely devouring the corpses.

Pudedeeeud. Pudeeeud.

The sound of crunching bones reverberated endlessly. The only place that currently retained some form of normalcy was the city hall which was at the top of the hill. In front of that city hall, there were a few tens of people kneeling down on their knees.

They were nearly out of their minds as they were encircled by a countless number of the water demons.

“Aaaah… E-ahaa!”

It was truly sad to see them wailing as they shivered in fear. An old medusa was commenting on that scene which she was observing.

“Ho… The so called the mayor is not even worth a piece of trash. You’re 200 Florins. It is not the price of you, but the price of what you’re wearing.”

This terrifying looking old medusa was none other than Amunde, the water demon queen.

She was a monster with the form of a snake, making up her lower body, and her hair was covered with many serpents. She was an old, boney, sad looking monster, but unlike her physique, strong magic force could be felt from her. And some unexplainable dignity was engulfing her like a uniform. She certainly had the presence of a demon queen.

“Please, spare, spare me!”

The captured mayor begged for his life even with his pants wet with urine. However, Amunde, the demon queen, twitched her snake scale covered cheeks. It was as if she was laughing, but showing displeasure at the same time.

“There is a value in your clothes, so I’ll set them aside. However, you have no value beyond being a chunk of meat, so you will be fed to the alligators.”

“Please! Be merciful! Kraaahk!”

Snap!

In an instant, the demon queen Amunde’s hand snapped the mayor’s neck. Her feeble, dry looking hand’s evil force was beyond amazing.

“Let me see. Who will be next?”

The captured people tried their best to not meet the demon queen Amunde’s eyes, but that was no use. The demon queen Amunde ridiculed the victims and repeatedly snapped their necks. And each time she did that, the water type demons laughed out loud.

But then, there came a loud scream and shouting in the midst of the water type demons.

“Krrrrrah! Human bastard!”

“Stop him! How dare you, low life! Kreeeung!”

At this unexpected commotion, the demon queen Amunde’s eyes sparkled.

“O-ho?”

The one that suddenly appeared was an unknown monster hunter. Armed with bow and arrow, he was very highly skilled. He instantly penetrated through the water demons by wielding his sword and shooting arrows.

The underlings of the demon queen Amunde tried their best to stop him from getting close to their master, but he was passing through them with awesome evasive skill. And finally, by bypassing the wall formed by the demons, he fired an arrow at the demon queen Amunde.

“Die! Demon queen!”

Ting!

The sound of releasing the bow was crisp. Amunde, the demon queen, also looked ahead at that same moment.

Flash.

There was a brief flash of light. And everything ended with that. In an instant, the hero who was penetrating so bravely by himself, turned into a solid stone. Even the arrow levitated, still in the air, after turning into a stone, as well.

Ssssss.

Moving by using her grotesque lower body, the demon queen Amunde approached the hunter. She gently rubbed the arrow which remained still in the air as she passed it.

“Krrr-hhhhhh.”

She laughed as if to say that she liked the petrified hunter. It was a rare moment for her as she hardly laughed.

“You’re better than 100 soldiers. No one in this city was able to attack me. Your bravery is at the tops. Its value is 10,000 Florins. Now, live forever as a stone.”

After stroking the hunter as if to admire it, she issued an order.

“Move this hunter with respect. I’ll add him to my trophy list. I’ll keep him as the trophy for conquering Rhinefelden!”

The demon queen Amunde believed that everything was going as she had planned.

The demon king Pajemut’s forces were locked in the battle against Roelin’s troops. The Sisterhood of Walpurgis was completely besieged. And she has convinced the Orc commander Kukushrak on the west side of the Rhine River to betray his master Pajamut.

‘Only one thing remained.’

That was to take care of Count Wittenweier who has built a force on the east side of the Rhine River.

‘Count Wittenweier was close enough to Walpurgis, such that he she would lend her support. He will certainly send in reinforcements. I’ll have my underlings destroy Wittenweier when that happens.’

Everything which has taken place so far was the result of her long planned strategic scheme. The mobilization, together with the demon king Pajemut, for the purpose of attacking Roelin, was the first step. Even the demon king Pajemut was a pawn in her greater chess game.

“This is really a plan worth 3 million Florins.”

***

I seriously thought out what the demon king Amunde’s plan might be. And I was able to come to a conclusion with some level of certainty.

“Pappenheim.”

“Yes, My lord.”

“Do you know that each demon king has their own unique color in strategic warfare?”

“Yes, my lord. Harfheim and Pajemut specialize in ambush and betrayal. Did they not use these two methods to defeat Phillip?”

“Right. You’re truly accurate.”

And so, I asked him what the demon queen Amunde’s strategic warfare characteristics were. After thinking for a moment, Pappenheim shook his head.

“I am not sure as I lack experience.”

“If you have not studied on a particular demon king, you wouldn’t know. Pappenheim, it is clear what the water demon queen Amunde’s characteristic is. It is none other than ascertaining coconspirators.”

That old monster has been defeating many demon kings and human feudal lords through schemes. They were all her co-partners at the beginning.

“The demon queen Amunde will never fight alone. She only mobilizes after she secures partners.”

“What you are implying, my lord, then is that she has a partner this time around, too. Are you referring to the demon king Pajemut?”

The demon queen Amunde was attacking Roelin after forming an alliance with the demon king Pajemut. That battle has been moving slowly.

“Pajemut is stuck in the rock and the hard place, unable to do anything as he was watching Roelin.”

That was the most likely scenario, but there wasn’t any clear evidence that the demon king Pajemut has fallen for one of the demon queen Amunde’s tricks. At any rate, the demon king Pajemut was in a predicament. His forces were at a standstill against Roelin’s troops at Inns Brook.

“Then you are saying that the demon queen Amunde has found a new cooperator in order to attack this southwest region?”

“Correct. Think about it. Pappenheim. Who is the influential one in the southwest right now?”

“That’s you, my lord, demon king Pajemut, and Orc commander Kukushrak, one of Pajemut’s generals.”

However, I have not been contacted. Then there was only one answer.

“It is Kukushrak, the Orc general.”

“It must be. Here, think now. Pappenheim. What does the Orc general Kukushrak want? He is loyal, but he is not void of greed for power.”

It wasn’t difficult to guess. If the demon race was to become stronger, there would be only one thing that he wanted in the long run.

“To become a demon king?”

“Right. I’m certain that the demon queen Amunde has promised to promote Kukushrak to the position of a demon king. In return, she probably asked for his cooperation. Of course, based on her character, she would just use him up and toss him to the side, anyway.”

This scheme probably wasn’t concocted over one night. She most likely lured Kukushrak from a long time ago. That was, by promising to give him the land, upper west of the Rhine River, as well as a position of a demon king.

I still haven’t fully analyzed the demon queen Amunde’s scheme, yet. However, everything will be uncovered eventually.

It was just that she was in hand in hand with Kukushrak, the Orc general. Unless I had another life in a different time, I wouldn’t be able to make that conclusion with surety.

“MY lord, if we move hastily, we may fall into the enemy’s trap.”

“Right. We do not know what their scheming plan is, yet.”

However, I had a gut feeling what it might be, based on my past experience. It was because I remembered how I had been robbed by the demon queen Amunde.

“Pappenheim. Go and immediately confiscate every fishing net there is in Wittenweier. And gather all the fishermen, too.”

“Yes, My lord!”

“And, tell General Tilly to prepare 1 cavalry squadron, 2 infantry regiments for mobilization. They will be on the move after three days.”

After Pappenheim has departed, I paced around the room as I was anxious. In fact, the present time was the most dangerous moment. I didn’t, not expect to be in such a situation as soon as I had become the Count of Wittenweier.

Still, I decided to slow down and address the situation in an orderly fashion. First, the Sisterhood of Walpurgis would be able to withstand for at least six months. The place was just a Sisterhood in the name only, as it was the most heavily fortified fortress within the entire empire.

It will never be overtaken so easily. It wasn’t a coincidence that the Walpurgis Sisterhood was at the very strategic position, and was able to effectively hold off the demon king Amunde’s forces in the south and the demon king Pajemut’s forces in the west. So, I’ve let Margarita take care of the battles which she was fighting.

I decided to mobilize on my own, for myself, in order to attack the demon queen Amunde. After waiting for the nightfall, I resurrected 100 day walkers at once, by using the floating corpses.

“O, you soldiers who came as death warriors, make a camp before your master!”

My commanding spell has certainly reached its plateau. Not even one human, inside of the empire, will be able to command 100 day walkers of vampires.

It was truly fitting of the authority which had been endowed by the great man of darkness who crouched at the grave. I dispatched them as spies to everywhere.

“By crossing the Rhine River, be sure to closely watch over the general Orc’s forces. Given the opportunity, they will immediately cross the river and attack us.”

“Yes, sir! My lord.”

“And you, go to Rhinefelden and be on close watch of the demon queen Amunde’s forces. And, closely examine the besiegement around the Walpurgis Sisterhood, and report back to me.”

“Yes, sir! My lord.”

“And the rest of you. Your mission is the most important one. You have a reconnaissance mission by hiding on the island of Rhine River.”

I mobilized everyone by giving them specific orders. Now, they would collect substantial amount of intel and report back.

On the next day, Pappenheim brought back an enormous quantity of fishing nets. And also having brought every single fisherman, the place was crowded with people.

“We’ve come upon hearing your commands, my lord.”

Not sure what they were so happy about, but they were so enthusiastic. These pigs are happy, not knowing that I was about to use them like slaves. However, since I’m a respectful lord, I should speak carefully.

“Thanks for coming on a short notice. I’ll compensate you for the collected fishing nets. Your efforts for today will also be compensated, so I ask for your enthusiasm.”

“Of course. My lord. We’ve heard that the demon king has invaded. We’ll do our best, so please do not be too concerned.”

“That is very helpful. Your enthusiasm is very good, but make sure to not get hurt.”

“Oh, my lord!”

Thinking grateful, the fishermen bowed in great respect. Ha, they were certainly easy peasants. I led the fishermen to the Rhine River. The width of the Rhine River was rather narrow. The distance was short enough for a soldier to cross the river by swimming.

In fact, if there was an island in between the either shores of the river, the width of the river narrowed even further, making one to doubt whether this was truly a river or not. After choosing an appropriate area, I ordered them to cast a lot of the nets.

“Place them such that they will be sturdy. 2 layers or 3 layers even. Make sure that it does not show. Also, cast additional set of nets at appropriate gaps, so that they would get caught up there even after they go past the 1^st ones.”

“Do you plan to catch all the fish in the river? My lord?”

“It’s not fish, but I’m planning to catch a whole bunch of similar things.”

“I’m not sure what you mean, but will do what you say, my lord.”

As they have been fishing in the river all their lives, they have rather skillfully cast the nets. After directing them all day on the river, I was met with Tilly when I returned.

“My lord. The forces which you’ve indicated are ready to mobilize, even tomorrow.”

“I said three days later, but they are prepped, already?”

“Of course. A military has to be ready all the time.”

Certainly, it was General Tilly. As such a person was directing my military, I certainly had complete faith in him.

“Please take charge of the forces mobilization, general.”

“Did you not say that you’ll be going together?”

“That’s how it will be announced to the public. I’ll lend you my armor suit, so do wear it when you go.”

That was, Tilly was going to the battle field, wearing my uniform.

“As there is a curse on the armor suit, I’ll show you how to offset it. The holy men of the city will help you.”

“More importantly, I assume that this mobilization is not simply to rescue the Sisterhood of Walpurgis?”

“That’s right. In fact, your troops will not engage in a battle. It is just meant to lure the enemy.”

“I’d like to understand your strategy.”

I explained the details of the current situation and my strategy to Tilly. Then he could not close his mouth in amazement.

“My lord, you always surprise me. How do you know the great details about the grotesque water demon queen? It’s as if you’ve read her moves in advance. I truly cannot stop admiring your knowledge.”

General Tilly, this was all because I’ve learned by the getting robbed multiple times by that disgusting demon queen, in the past.

“Having received your praise, there is no greater compliment.”

“That’s undeserved humility, my lord. You are a military genius as I’ve always thought you were, my lord.

“Thank you. Then please do as planned.”

On the next day, Tilly marched out following the state road, muddied by the monsoon rain. They were awe-inspiring, but it was no use. It was because as the road was so muddy and hard to navigate, they almost gave up trying to pull the cannons after less than 100 meters.

At any rate, it wouldn’t be that important since his mobilization was only for luring. Tilly’s troops sang battle songs, and played military music loudly as they marched. It was as if we were telling the whole world that we’re on our way to engage our enemy soon.

It was the next day after they had left in that fashion. An urgent message arrived via the magic crystal ball. It was from the day walkers that hid on one of the islands.

“My lord! It has become so as you’ve said. A lot of the enemy troops are traveling quickly down the river!”

“How many are they?”

“They can easily be over one thousand! Every one of them is the grotesque water demons!”

“Got it.”

As soon as I received that message, I went over to a hill, by the Rhine River, which has been previously selected. When I went up on the hill, I was able to see the installed fishing nets in one glance.

Pazzzz!

Then as if to respond to my thoughts, black lightning burst from my hand. I felt unusually good, and powerful. After summoning internal energy, I stood tall on the top of the hill.

“You bastards. I’ll show you the power of justice.”

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