Chapter 84: Sending A Message

Chapter 84: Sending A Message

Another day another wall, as I gazed at the wall I was also using the Hive mind to examine the information the flying scouts were sending in. From what I could tell, this town had about one thousand defenders. Previous intelligence indicates the bulk of the forces in this fortress town was moved towards the capital. Leaving just this skeleton force behind to buy time. These soldiers were bait and fodder. They were sacrificial lambs meant to buy time, the number of one thousand was no accident either. It was just enough soldiers to make the walls difficult to take using conventional forces and also enough to position defensive pockets within the city.

If I wanted to minimise civilian casualties I would need to have Cecilia send the humans to launch a conventional assault on the walls. A prolonged siege was out of the question since it just wasn’t worth it both in terms of tactical and humanitarian considerations. Because this town was just a town that had fortress-like characteristics and well... I simply didn’t care about human life that much.

Most wars of conquest often had to consider the humanitarian aspect. If the invading army was too brutal there will be problems when they annex the conquered territory. Partisans and resistance movements will start popping up that may very likely make the territory more trouble than it's worth.

Counterpoint: I don't care about any of those things.

I can sniff out any partisans and my Hive can project enough fear into the population that most of the resistance forces will be sold out by the local populace. Think about it, I can find them easily thanks to my hive being able to sense things from underground, the forest won’t work as places to hide. The only place they could hide is within the population centres. Then let’s say I when I do find a partisan group hiding in a basement or something, I have the hive emerge from the basement and chase those idiots out on the street before very graphically tearing them to pieces on the street. The fear that would inspire as the population would have no idea what made me realise that they were partisans. So the unknown and the mystery will sow terror and paranoia, making them more likely to sell the partisans out.

Think of them as sacrifices to appease the angry giant monster. Humans like to do that when they are desperate right?

The main reason for preventing too much damage was that the church might take issue with and then take the complaint to the angels when they show up. So thus it would be better if they just surrendered because my army has a tendency to cause significant collateral damage. Since when they unburrow they have a tendency to destroy the foundations of buildings if they decide to emerge in the middle of buildings. Not to mention their method of burrowing and unburrowing when they attack also weakens the soil around the buildings which is a problem.

This wasn’t hypothetical either, I tested this on an earlier town. It was quite the mess when the small town’s people started to take up arms with pitchforks and clubs. Well let’s just say I didn’t really ask for a surrender because I wanted to test out how my hive actually does in the cramped streets of a town or city. Well let’s just say I didn’t factor in the amount of soil destabilisation thousands of burrowing and unburrowing monsters can do to the foundations and structural integrity of buildings.

From that one can easily expect that a lot of the buildings were not standing after that test run. In theory I could reduce this by instructing the queens to only allow unburrowing within important buildings filled with enemies and stick to the streets as much as possible. Well I could test this theory here and it is also a test opportunity for assaulting walls. Granted these walls are a lot weaker than the ones at Tralis but a test was better than nothing. But honestly testing for any of these would be fine and not that necessary, it's just good to know.

“Do you think Mother Justina is gonna have more luck than the previous town?” I asked as I looked down at Cecilia.

“Hmmm... perhaps, that town we ran into was largely unfortified. It was essentially a village that turned into a town. They were not aware of how the military operated. This town however, is designed to be a staging area for invasion and also often holds a garrison of soldiers.

The mayor of this town will know what outright conflict means for them...” Cecilia said.

“But yet the fact that the previous town was not designed to hold out against an attack means that perhaps the full weight of reality has not set in.” I countered.

“And yet we allowed some to escape to spread word of what had happened. From what your scouts indicated, the town before us has prepared tactics to counter your burrowing Hive.” Cecilia said as she cast her gaze to the Praetorians who were standing guard beside us.

“Attempt to counter.” a voice said from behind us and I turned to see Nafas say as she eyed the city like a predator would its prey.

“They will naturally attempt some sort of resistance and adaptation.” I remarked in response.

“Yes they will attempt it, I assure you they will find little success. Whether in this insignificant town or their pathetic capital.” Nafas replied.

Nafas was the queen that showed the most promise amongst the lesser queens. She was essentially now on the same rank of Azatherine after being elevated above her peers. I had relaxed some control once I realised the queens had more individuality than I expected. I wanted to find out which of the queens were the standouts and Nafas was by far the best amongst her peers.

So now the chain of command was myself, then Legiana with the next rung down being Nafas and Azatherine. With Nafas being tasked with the ground forces and Azatherine being in command of the air forces.

This was our first war and her first campaign as the leader of my ground forces so I could sense Nafas felt she had a lot to prove. Contrary to what most others think, the members of the Hive were not mindless. They had individuality but it was just altered by the connection to the Hive mind. Which of course made them more dangerous because this means the commanders could do complex problem solving out in the field. I suspected this was made more dramatic because the baseline queens were cobbled together by humanoids. So they didn’t know how to make the queens in a manner that was as consistent as I can. But then again their increased intelligence and different personal experiences also means natural divergence over time.

“Relax Nafas, I am sure you will win this battle if it comes to bloodshed. I’m more interested in how you will win, there is a lot of information to collect during battles. There is no way you are losing to a thousand guards. I can take that city by myself.” I said with a grin.

“Actually why not?” Cecilia asked.

“Hmmm?” I replied.

“We already have stories of what the Hive can do, besides your war broods are scattered around Tralis already. Azatherine is already on the way to attack the forces of Beralis that are on the way to the port town of Emelis to take it back from the Wardens.

The stories of your Hive will spread easily enough, why not spread the rumour of your own individual power?” Cecilia suggested.

“You know that isn’t that bad of an idea...” I muttered as I cupped my chin.

My mind wandered to the map we were just looking at and it started to make more sense.

My war broods are already poised to destroy all the Tralis reserve forces on the way to reinforce the capital. The Tralis government is already panicking, they are recalling everything they have to reinforce the capital. The northern border and western border had already been abandoned with troops rushing towards the capital. The surrounding Volerian states have already moved in to try and capitalise on the situation.

Cecilia sent the Wardens to attempt an amphibious assault on the port town of Emelis which they had already taken. This was a bait as if the Wardens are allowed to hold that town, the garrison in the Berylis fortress would be surrounded and cut off, effectively dividing the Tralis territory in two. So almost all the Beralis occupation forces were on the way to take back Emelis and my phoenixes were bearing down right on top of them. With those forces taken out the Princess Emeline can retake her ancestral seat and then Beralis will fall under our control in one fell swoop. This means the Beralis army remnants will turn to our side and the east will be secure.

I landed heavily on the ground in front of the group and I eyed the trembling group. The adventurers were terrified but they had their weapons up with a shaky resolve in their eyes.

“I think that’s enough, put down your weapons and give...” I began but I was interrupted by a random soldier screaming as he charged out of the alley next to me with a sword raised. I let out a bestial growl as I slashed at him. My blade carved deep gashes into the surrounding stone walls of the buildings and the soldier was cut in two. The pieces of his body went flying back into that alley rolling across the ground leaving behind a trail of organs spilling from the corpse.

“Up...” I said as I turned back around to look at the trembling group.

“And what let your beasts devour this whole town? This is our home!” the warrior from the adventurer group shouted in as steady a voice as he could manage.

“If I wanted to kill all of you I would have already...” I began but this time I heard a window on my left open.

“GO TO HELL MONSTER!” I heard male voice shout. I turned to see a teenage boy throw a bottle with a lit fuse at the mouth of the bottle. The bottle smashed against the side of my face and it burst into flame. So now the left side of my face was on fire but honestly I was getting quite annoyed... one might even say I am getting... irked...

“I am SPEAKING!” I roared as I rammed one of my hands through the wall into the house and grabbed the teenager. The stone wall gave away like a stack of cards and I closed my hand around his squirming body. I yanked him out of the house as he screamed in terror. Then I saw what must have been the mother appear at the hole in the wall screaming as she outstretched her arm at the teenager. She was screaming his name as tears ran down her cheek, but I was already quite annoyed. Here I was trying to be merciful and this idiot throws this petrol bomb thing at me. Ungrateful little insects...

“UNHAND HIM!” the ranger shouted as she drew her bow and it began to glow.

“Do not...” I hissed as I turned to look at the ranger but the arrow flew out anyway and struck me in the side of the face.

“Ok... fine...” I said as I swung my arm to the left and threw the teenager against a nearby stone wall splattering his body across it.

I heard the mother scream but I was done being nice. They want to fight? Fine...

I let out a roar as I charged the group. I saw their eyes widen in fear and the mage fired another spell at me, this time a lightning bolt. The bolt struck me in the chest and crackled out across my body but fizzled out harmlessly against my armour.

The soldiers panicked as they tried to scatter but the adventurers held their ground. I opened my mouth to shoot a jet of fire to clear out the surrounding chaff. The mage and priest in response put up a barrier. My fire engulfed the group and when the fire dissipated the barrier was cracked and flickering. In response I fired a barrage of spines right as I finished closing the distance.

The first spine bounced off but the barrier cracked and shattered. The warrior moved forward with his shield but the spine slammed right through his shield and ended up impaling him. He was thrown off his feet before landing hard on the ground.

The other spines ended up cutting most of the other adventurers down. The ranger had his right arm sliced off and was impaled by two more spines that were the size of great swords. The other warrior was cut down too. The rogue vanished in a puff of smoke. I immediately turned around and grabbed her mid air. It would have been more effective if she didn’t shout [Assassinate] as she vanished. That gold rank team I fought previously had a rogue that used the same skill and I learned from past events.

The rogue yelped in panic as I grabbed her and she immediately shouted [Shadow Retreat] but all she got was a crackle of arcane energy that ended up electrocuting her.

“You think something as old as me wouldn’t have inbuilt ether jamming? The creatures nowadays have gotten so weak...” I said with a grin as the gasping and smoking rogue looked up at me in terror as she realised she was trapped in my grasp.

I closed my fist around her and she popped like an overripe fruit. I turned around to see the rest of the adventurer team dead or dying with the exception of the priestess who was standing there in shock as she gazed at the bodies of her dead comrades.

I dropped the pulped remains of the rogue as I approached her and she looked up at me. She screamed as she dropped her gold staff and started running in the opposite direction. In a flash I had darted forward and snatched her up with the same bloody hand that had crushed the rogue. She started screaming and crying hysterically as she looked down at the blood and pulped flesh on my hand that was staining her white robes red. She was gibbering incoherently, calling for her mother and saying something about never wanting to be here in the first place.

“You never wanted to be here?” I asked curiously and the Priestess calmed slightly as she looked up at me in terror.

“I thought this was your home?” I asked again as I breathed on her and her face went green as the smell of my breath washed over her.

“It was theirs... the rest of the party was from Voler. I’m from the capital Tralis...” the priestess half sobbed in response.

“Peeerfect...” I replied with a grin.

“What?” the priestess stammered.

“I’ll tell you what is going to happen now. Most of the garrison was on the walls so they are now ash, there are a handful of soldiers still huddled around this town. So I’m going to hold you just like this as you watch me clean up the rest of the soldiers. Then you are going to run off to Tralis...” I said.

The Priestess’s mouth opened for a moment as she gapped at me.

I smiled at her reaction and I spoke my command.

You are going to run back to the capital after all this is over...

And you are going to tell them exactly what has happened here...