Hero without Blood or Tear
Chapter 73: The Old Medusa (3)

Amunde, the water demon king.

The Lake Boden, which was the originating source of the Rhine River, was the base for her and her followers. Of course, her area of influence was much wider. Besides Lake Boden which was under her direct control, the water demons of Lake Neuchatel and Lake Leman, which were located on the southwest side of Lake Boden, also followed her, too.

The demon queen Amunde’s influence was on the south side of the Walpurgis’ Sisterhood. As a result, Walpurgis Sisterhood was a thorn in the demon queen Amunde’s eyes. So, Amunde would most likely try to eliminate her, at this time.

To accomplish that, Amunde would try to eliminate me, also. If I was to mobilize to help Walpurgis, her plan would go awry.

“I can see spinning your head. You bitch.”

As she had played me many times, I could easily guess that she would use water demon’s specialty. Most likely, she would order her forces to approach along the coastline, and launch a surprise attack against the supporter.

They said that there were more than 1000 troops, so many have been sent. A strong water demon could easily take care of three or four humans, at once. Furthermore, the large alligator ones were powerful enough to devour ogres such that at least 20-30 soldiers have to engage them.

So, it wasn’t possible to undermine their forces just because there were only 1000 of them. Their destructive power was sufficient to deliver a fatal blow to Wittenweier. So, if everything went their way, their strategy would have worked perfectly.

“That is, if and only if I wasn’t around.”

I surveyed them using a monocular. I could see the water demons traveling down, along the coastline of the river. It was as if pools of fish were approaching.

“Alright. Bastards.”

I slowly began to focus on my powers. As I wasn’t about to use my powers in a rushed battle field, I planned to execute is as perfectly as I could. Then soon, dark clouds gathered in the sky.

Krrrruuung!

As the clouds collided, great sounds reverberated. A strong wind followed. The grass in the fields swayed relentlessly, as did my cape.

The waves raged. Nonetheless, the water demons in the water did not sense it.

Pazzz! Paz!

The lightning panned out along the dark clouds, like spider webs. It felt like the air in the area has changed. Only then the water demons that were traveling down the river seemed to have recognized that something has changed.

A number of them, traveling at the front, raised their heads out of the water as they flowed down with the stream. Having heads, looking similar to the iguanas, along with webbed feet, and gills, they considered water to be their natural habitat.

It was when the one that was at the very front was about to sound an alarm.

The bastard disappeared under the water as if he had been sucked under. And the splashing of water followed. It was the result of the bastard, struggling to stay afloat.

However, that was only the beginning. A strange sound reverberated. And as if watching a pool of fish wiggling desperately, the river was covered with splashes of water.

Keeack! Chweeehk! Krrreuk!

The water demons which were bravely floating down along the river became desperate as they were caught in the net. Their struggle to escape was futile, as they were pushed further into the net by the next wave of the water demons, traveling down the river.

I did not let go of this opportunity.

“Whoever wins is the just one!”

A moment of flashing! There was a bright white flash of light, and taking that as the background, a black bolt of lightning struck the middle of the water.

Kwaang!

The result of that was horrendous. The water demons, which were inside the effective area of the lightning, have exploded in to 6 pieces. And the energetic spraying of the water in the area has stopped immediately.

The water demons became stiff as if they were tree trunks, and they floated around on the surface of the river. It was as if they were fish which got killed by electricity.

A long line of black blood floated down the river. However, that wasn’t the end of it. There were about 1000 enemies which had invaded along the coastline. It wasn’t possible to get all of them with this single strike. I dropped a series of black lightning.

Kwaang! Kwang! Kwang!

Being trapped in the river, the water demons were struck by the lightning without any counter measures. There were a countless number of dead water demons everywhere. There were so many that they almost covered up the entire surface of the river.

<Congratulations! You’ve entered the 2^nd level of the black lighting proficiency! You are able to drop two lightning rods in a single attempt!>

The effectiveness grew by two folds, all of a sudden. What used to be only one lightning rod was now two series of lightning rods, at once.

Kwaang! Kwaang!

Even more water demons began to die. Even in that chaotic situation, some of them have managed to escape toward the shore. And when they found me, standing alone on the top of the hill, they yelled.

“Kill him! Kill that sorcerer!”

“We have to take revenge for our brothers! We’ll truly rip you to death!”

Their eyes filled with blood, they truly appeared like vengeful ghosts. Some of them did not have wholesome physical bodies, yet they rushed, filled with rage.

“Great show of bravery.”

I’d love to take you on, but I still have a lot to do. So, I clapped and sent a signal. Then there came a loud scream.

“Will follow your order!”

I heard a bunch of lumbers colliding with one another from the backside, and then I saw long spears rising up into the air. They were the troops which were hiding behind me, on the hill.

“Forward!”

The leader of the long spear regiment yelled. Then in a formation, the long spear troops pointed their spears down the hill. Seeing this, the water demons that were rushing bravely hesitated.

However, it didn’t end with that. The musket troops came forward, after the long spearmen. As they have been preparing for this moment in advance, they fired at once, even before the water demons had a chance to yell anything.

Tatatata-Taangtatta!

With the concurrent explosion of the dark, gray gun powders, smoke rose up, and filled the area like fog. Looking ahead, after the blowing wind cleared up the smoke, I saw about half of the water demons lying, dead on the ground. Those that survived didn’t look too well, either. Enraged, they rushed forward, only to die shivering after getting pierced by the long spears.

“Whoaaaaa!”

With the unilateral fight, everyone was energized.

“Alright! I’ll continue to leave it to you!”

While the troops engaged the enemies as they came out of the water, I kept firing down the lightning rods.

Kwaang! Kwang!

<Congratulations! You’ve entered the 3rd level of the black lighting proficiency! You are able to drop three lightning rods in a single attempt!>

The proficiency level has gone up instantly as I was taking down so many enemies. Now, there came down three lightning rods. And so, the situation was quickly coming to a conclusion.

The loud sounds of the enemies were no longer hearable. There was only the loud sound of water.

“….It’s finished.”

Massaging my shoulders, I looked down the river bank. The dead bodies weren’t even flowing down the river, as they were tangled in with the net. It was truly a horrendous sight.

One thousand water demons equated to 3-4 thousand human troops, yet they were destroyed in an instant. Almost none of them survived. The few surviving ones, which wiggled, were brutally killed by the troops.

“Pappenheim.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Bring back about 20 dead bodies which are fairly intact. Find and bring back the ones that look like high ranking officers.”

“You want to make them undead?”

“Right. Will use them as my spies.”

I planned to send them back to the demon queen’s camp and have them bring back intel.

“The water demon queen would recognize them immediately.”

“Still, they will bring back this and that intel until then. I see it as a win.”

“Yes. My lord.” Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ NʘvᴇlFirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

After parting my way with Pappenheim, I went to the city, first. As I opened up the status window to take a peek on the way back, I found that I’ve already leveled up, having earned so much experience.

“Hhhh, truly, the gods help the good man.”

I’ve annihilated the enemy, raised the lightning proficiency, and even leveled up. It was a very productive day.

***

Having set a perfect trap, the demon queen Amunde was waiting for Count Wittenweier. She has already received intel from the reconnaissance team. That the Count Wittenweier had mobilized in a dark armor suit.

“You’re voluntarily walking into the dragon’s lair.”

Once again, she reaffirmed that everything was under her control. She wasn’t too happy though. That was because that was the way it was supposed to be. The foolish Count Wittenweier will be just left to be exterminated by the entrapment.

On top of that, that was not the end of it. She even had one thousand elite water demons down the stream in secret. Along with Kukushirak, the orc general, they were going to attack and overtake Wittenweier.

Even if the Count Wittenweier was to survive the trap, there would no longer be a city for him to return to. With such a clear outcome, she even felt bored.

The human bastards are so foolish.

“I did not think that there was no other opponent besides Walpurgis Sisterhood, anyway. No expectation means, no disappointment.”

The demon queen Amunde was talking to the petrified person who was next to her. He was the monster hunter who fought against Rhinefelden, some time ago.

“Since you’re worth 10,000 Florins, I’ll keep you as a trophy once I return to my under water castle.”

Being a greedy materialistic demon queen, she valued everything in the world with money. The monster hunter’s bravery and skill were worth 10,000 Florins. He was certainly worthy of taking up a space in her trophy hall.

“Um…”

At any rate, it was almost the time for the foolish one to come into her trap, but there were no news.

“There.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Where about is that Wittenweier fool?”

Bored, she asked as she thought about unexpected outcome. However, such event wouldn’t take place. It was because the humans are dumb.

“I’ll go and find out.”

As it has always been, an ordinary victory would be the outcome, as usual. However, when she heard the latest news, her hand stopped from stroking her prize.

“According to the reconnaissance team, the enemy turned around in the middle of their route toward here.”

“What?”

Amunde found it entertaining at the unexpected report. It was a strange thing. Why did the troops which were on the way to help Walpurgis Sisterhood just pretended to come only to go back?

“Hmmm…..”

Still, she had set up a perfect trap, so she didn’t feel good about dashing out.

“Watch their moves closely, first. They could come back.”

“Yes. Your highness.”

However, the Wittenweier troops did not return even after waiting for the whole day. She felt into a deep thought. It has certainly been a very long time since such a wrong maneuver had been made.

‘Did he read my strategy? Just exactly what happened?’

She thought about being outplayed by her opponent, but she could not admit that due to her high sense of pride. However, more surprising news were waiting for her.

“Your highness! An emergency report just came in!”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the troops that went to Wittenweier!”

The demon queen Amunde naturally expected to hear that they have overtaken the city.

“That’s….”

“Stop hesitating and report.”

“That they are nearly annihilated.”

“What?”

She could not believe the report she was hearing. That was a sheer nonsense since the troops dispatched were the most elite soldiers. They were the same demons that fought with the queen for the past tens of years.

And yet, all annihilated?

“Is there an error in the report?”

“Only a few have returned. And their reports are consistent.”

It was quite serious. However, she did not lose her cool even when she heard that the entire troops have been annihilated. She gave high credence to effectiveness. She had no intention of getting enraged, and ruin everything.

Truly, it was a behavior which did not line up with human beings. That was why she was the demon queen and a monster at the same time. However, even she could not control the small serpents, on her hair, wiggling about ferociously.

“Where are you?”

When she asked after exiting the tent, one alligator human staggered forward. He was a high ranking officer who went down the coastline in order attack Witenweier. He knelt down as soon as he saw the demon queen Amunde.

“Your highness.”

“What happened?”

“Resentfully, most of the troops were killed!”

There was a ruckus when he was heard. However, the demon queen Amunde was calm, even in this moment.

“Report everything that has happened.”

“Somehow they knew of us coming, and there were so many nets set up along the river.”

“And?”

“Our troops were caught in the net and we were struggling. And the enemy was already prepositioned. And so we….”

The demon queen Amunde, who was listening quietly, felt something out of the order.

“Wait?”

The underling before her had been well known by her, too. But then the ambience was different. She felt somber and dark energy. It was the power which the demon queen Amunde knew well.

“You… Bastard?”

Her eyes narrowed. And at that moment, the alligator human rose up as if he was exploding, and launched an attack at Amunde.

“Kwaaaang!”

Everyone watching it screamed as they were shocked. It was because a loyal officer had suddenly turned on his lord.

However, the alligator human’s attack was not successful. The demon queen Amunde’s hand had already penetrated his chest area. Grabbing the alligator human’s heart, she pressed it until is exploded. However, the alligator human did not die even after that, and he kept moving his jaw.

“Kreeeung!”

“You! Bastard. Still!”

Ultimately, the demon queen Amunde had to incite magic. Only then the jaw of the alligator, which could devour an ogre, finally exploded in to pieces.

Puung!

Flash and blood splashed all over the area. And having lost his head, the alligator human fell on his back to the ground. And the demon queen Amunde looked at him in a ghastly stare.

“Hmm…”

She then took a small taste of the blood which has been splashed onto her face. Only then she was sure.

‘Undead. And it was created with such a skill that she could not recognize it at the first sight. But then how did my officer become and undead?’

Even though she was intelligent, she couldn’t figure this one out. She hurriedly searched the dead alligator human. And she found a rolled up letter.

As soon as she saw it, she somehow felt that it was addressed to her. So she opened it without any hesitation. A short message was written on it.

[Your plan was worth 10 Florins. You bitch.]

Having read that, she bit her lips unconsciously. For some reason, she felt her heart pounding. And she felt fire burning inside her, where it was always cold.

It was an unfamiliar feeling. Thinking about it for a moment, the demon queen Amunde suppressed her emotions as she realized what it was.

‘It’s rage…..’

Surprisingly, on the account of reading that simple sentence, the demon queen Amunde, who remained calm when she heard the report that her entire forces have been annihilated, felt her stomach turn.

She had estimated her plan to be worth about 300 million Florins. She thought that that was the appropriate estimate as it would be the beginning of the conquering the southwest of the empire.

However, the opponent has placed a value of only 10 Florins to the demon queen’s wisdom. It was the most, vilest insult.

Ssssss.

The demon queen Amunde looked down on her hand with a surprise, as it shook lightly.

‘Count Wittenweier. I will not forget this day you’ve enraged me for the first time in many hundreds of years. I’ll swear on my name and will pay you back.’

She was curious. She was wondering how much the man, who will become her newest trophy, was going to be worth. Currently, the most expensive trophy in her collection was a warrior over one hundred years ago. He was worth 524 million Florins.

“I’ll issue an order.”

“Yes! Your highness.”

“Kill everyone who returned from this battle. And be sure to burn the bodies.”

It was the late summer of 1614. That was the beginning of the battle of the wits between a demon queen and a newly endowed count.

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