176. Their Purpose
*
Five days had passed. Five days of barely scraping by, gathering what little food they could to survive the winter. Aeren sighed as she looked at the makeshift village, a patchwork of temporary lodgings.
Erik’s soldiers had turned Hazart Palan into ruins, or nearly flattened it. This was a move aimed at political and military gains. A warning to nearby clans and a tactic to cut off resources and supply routes to the scattered survivors of Hazart Palan.
But it was excessive. In clan wars, the clan’s capital, the food storage that ensures winter survival, is considered sacred. Starving clan warriors would raid other clans sporadically before winter ends, leading to the eventual collapse of nearby villages.
Moreover, the warning that they could burn down clan storages would only provoke resistance. The kind of warning that if defeated, the clan could be annihilated. This is a bad move that must be avoided to unite tribes without battle. If they wage war against all northern clans, no tribe would survive.
“Sigh…”
Their bad move should have been our opportunity, but looking at the shivering, starving warriors, that opportunity seemed distant. Aeren let out a deep sigh.
“Hey, Shieldmaiden. You’re going to collapse the ground with all that sighing.”
“Gunnar.”
“You seem really worried. It’s time to leave, so why are you sitting here like this?”
“The southerners haven’t returned yet.”
“That guy’s probably dead. And if we stay here, we’ll all follow him. Aeren. I didn’t bring our entire tribe here to starve to death while staring at the winter sea.”
Gunnar grumbled as he approached. Aeren brushed her hair back and looked at the distant, rolling sea. Still, that man hadn’t returned.
“If we leave, those warriors will all desert. It’s a force we can’t afford to lose. Staying a few more days won’t cause more significant losses. Anyway, wherever we go, if their main force pushes in, we won’t be able to stop them.”
Gunnar nodded at Aeren’s words and slowly approached her. He glanced around and whispered in a low voice.
“Let’s go to your lodge. I have something important to discuss.”
+
Gunnar sat down by the tactical map, campfire, and table in the middle of the lodge. Aeren closed the curtain and crossed her arms. Gunnar hesitated before speaking with difficulty.
“This is just a guess, but the situation is serious.”
“What is it?”
“Well, last night your warriors returned. I gave them some drinks and listened to their stories.”
It had been a day since the warriors who left with Fernandez returned. At that time, Aeren was struggling to gather the scattered warriors and villagers at the clan’s borders.
Exhausted, they only reported that Fernandez had gone deeper and left to rest, so Aeren hadn’t fully grasped the expedition’s details.
Gunnar slowly began to speak.
“It seems Erik’s goal isn’t unification.”
*
-Thud!
“Can you stop that?”
[I’m worried you might get lost!]
Fernandez sighed as he watched flowers pop up in the middle of the snow. Ever since their last conversation, this goddess had been trying to prove her usefulness at every plausible moment.
Honestly, it was annoying. The ability he wanted from her wasn’t to bloom flowers or act as a nature-friendly compass.
“I already know the way. I can read the stars.”
[Congratulations on having eyes!]
“Just get down and walk with your own feet, witch.”
[Thud!]
Now she was throwing a tantrum, making clear sounds with her own mouth. Soon, flowers popped up at his feet as if protesting.
[The warriors you sent back have rejoined the tribe. It seems the tribal chief is preparing to leave.]
“That’s not good. Erik’s goal isn’t a unification war. It would be better to stay put.”
[What do you mean?]
“It means they won’t send troops back to areas they’ve already passed. Their goal isn’t complete annihilation or domination of the enemy.”
[No, not that. What do you mean about Erik’s goal?]
“They polluted their own capital.”
Freya tilted her head and then suddenly slapped the back of Fernandez’s head. It didn’t hurt, but it was annoying. When Fernandez growled, she shouted in a bold tone.
[It’s a bad habit to skip steps in a conversation!]
“Thanks for the lecture. Fine. You should know too… Do you know why northerners only raise armies in the summer?”
[Because winter is cold. The sea is rough, making sailing difficult…]
“Half right. But there’s a bigger reason. Winter in the north is a decent hunting season. Animals preparing for winter are fat and defenseless. In spring, crops need to be grown, and in autumn, they need to be harvested. Summer? Except for fishing, there’s not much labor-intensive production.”
[…So?]
“They raised an army in winter. This is a surprise attack aimed solely at northern clans. Other clans are preparing for winter, fattening up, and defenseless. If you consider clans as beasts, war is an excessively calorie-consuming exercise. Building a supply chain to feed the tribe’s warriors, even if they win, they’d be exhausted after two or three wars.”
Fernandez stepped on the frozen snow with a crunch. Walking firmly, he spoke softly to the goddess on his back.
“Winning every war? Difficult but not impossible. But what remains after the war? Only the corpses of countless starved clans. A large-scale unification war? Starting by polluting their own capital? Now, do you see their goal?”
[Yes. This is…]
*
“Before Erik went crazy, I had some acquaintance with that old man. He was rough but cared for his clan. He wasn’t the type to gamble.”
“So?”
“So what? Their clan had fishermen, farmers, even blacksmiths and carpenters.”
Gunnar lifted the teapot warmed by the campfire. He poured tea into a cup…
“He literally conscripted all the men of the clan. If the goal was a unification war, he couldn’t have done that. That would be suicide. Even if he won the war, if the entire clan collapsed and couldn’t survive the winter, what would be the point?”
“…That’s true.”
Aeren crossed her arms and thought. Cold and hunger don’t discriminate. Just as they were shivering in the wilderness, the enemy’s army would also be enduring this winter.
Especially if the entire clan was like this…
“Your subordinates, drunk and rambling, said that Hazart Kazal was completely destroyed. Demons were roaming, buildings were shattered, and shamans were playing dirty tricks with human corpses. That bastard Erik destroyed his own city and drove his people into the wilderness this winter.”
“If unification wasn’t the goal…”
“Exactly. Even if he succeeded in unification, his army would just be wandering mercenaries. They could never settle.”
Gunnar paused, sipping his tea, as if afraid of what he had to say next. For Aeren, who had known Gunnar for a long time, this was somewhat surprising. Gunnar was a fearless and always confident warrior.
Soon, he reluctantly finished his thought.
“So, his goal is the destruction of the North itself.”
*
[Ragnarok.]
“Yes. Destruction. Total and absolute destruction. That must be Erik’s goal.”
[But… it’s ridiculous to say this, but why? How does that help the demons or him? What good is a desolate, ruined North with no one to rule? How does that benefit the demons?]
She was right. Ultimately, unless they could conquer the southern continent below, the destruction of the northern continent wouldn’t be a significant event on a global scale.
The North isn’t the entirety of the material world. If the demons truly desired the destruction of the material world, the North should have been a target for domination, not annihilation. It could have been a useful tool against the southern civilized societies.
Even if the North were to fall and all life there extinguished, what the demons would gain wouldn’t justify the effort. Summoning a single demon into the material world requires immense effort, not just from mages.
So, when demons tear through the veil into the material world, they aim to harvest as many souls as possible to offset their losses. The Inquisition Office calls these incidents “demon events” and deploys their strongest forces to stop them.
If a demon event were to occur across the entire northern continent, it would be like mutual destruction. Burning each other’s oxygen, leading to mutual annihilation. A classic case of mutually assured destruction.
“Their tactical objective has changed.”
In his previous life, Erik unified the North, gathered all the northern clan warriors, and marched south. That was a predictable and straightforward strategy, likely influenced by Sadarkelisa’s plan to conquer the southern continent and orchestrate a large-scale demon event.
The reason her goal changed in this life. Fernandez had a few hypotheses about this.
“Because Mumto died.”
The position of the Great Demon, unchanged for thousands of years. Even if he was the youngest, even if he was once human, the news of a divine being being slain by mortals in the material world must have struck a nerve with Sadarkelisa.
And another reason.
“Plus, the elves are stirring.”
Given that Orion was Sadarkelisa’s subordinate and that he allied with Franzrit in the City of the Awakened Dragon, it’s clear that Sadarkelisa was preparing to conquer the South by allying with vampire nobles.
Her plan was simple. Secure the North, preserve her forces, then ally with the vampires ruling the northern seas and invade the South.
But Franzrit fell. The chaos in the southern continent was stabilizing rapidly, the Eastern Kingdom Alliance was growing swiftly, and the Empire and Sultan had entered a temporary truce, building the capacity to repel the northern warriors.
Given more time, the defenses of the civilized world would only grow stronger. Time was not on Sadarkelisa’s side in this world.
This is why she grew impatient. She couldn’t afford to leisurely unify the North and preserve her forces.
“Sadarkelisa’s goal, the Great Demons’ goal, is the civilized world itself. But the southern continent’s stabilization is progressing faster than they anticipated.”
[But that doesn’t mean they have to resort to self-destructive moves.]
“Right. It means they need to devise a different strategy.”
Fernandez spoke as he climbed the ridge of the snowy mountain. A bud burst open amidst the coniferous forest. Mistletoe clinging to the trees was blooming.
“Souls are a form of currency for demons. Summoning a demon requires a vast number of souls and sacrifices. If a continental-scale massacre were to occur, with rivers of blood, despair, and screams pooling together, enough currency would accumulate…”
Fernandez stepped to the edge of the ridge and looked down. In the distance, he saw a campfire. Warriors moving about.
They had arrived at Hazart Palan.
“Even a Great Demon could be summoned.”
The Dark Mage, who had once summoned a Great Demon, declared.
“And that’s our opportunity.”
Even if enough sacrifices are gathered to summon a Great Demon, they don’t easily descend into the material world. Failure and death in the material world are significant burdens for demons, and the losses incurred could lead to their position being usurped by lesser demons.
Unless they’re like Tyban, who has nothing to lose. If they’re like Sadarkelisa, plotting from the shadows and crafting perfect strategies, they would never easily descend into the material world.
But if they’re forced to step forward themselves, the story changes. The only way to kill a Great Demon is to face their true form, and to do that, you must first weaken their power.
Before a Great Demon descending into the material world regains their full strength, while they’re still weak, inflict as much damage as possible.
And open the path to their sealed resting place.
This moment, this opportunity, is what Fernandez has been working towards. Saving Phaeirn, reviving the Dane Kingdom, solidifying the Eastern Kingdom Alliance, and organizing the Great Wilderness—it was all for this.
Even if it’s not Sadarkelisa, make the remaining Great Demons grow impatient. So they attempt risks they would never normally take.
So their flesh weakens, retreats. Until finally, his blade pierces their throat.
[You… are a terrifying one.]
He doesn’t take one step at a time. Fernandez descended the snowy ridge, hearing the trembling voice of the goddess behind him, and smiled.
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