Chapter 160: Return to the Empire
The journey from the central front back to the eastern front, where the Empire was located, went smoothly, with no particular issues. Some of us led the way, followed by a carriage carrying that man; he was protected by Imperial soldiers. The rest of the demons were at the rear, guarding the wagon that was pulled by Shuu and Apao. This formation had brought us back this far.
When I was summoned by the Imperial soldiers to rejoin my comrades, preparations for our return were already complete. We immediately set out for the Empire, for one reason alone. This is because the man received an order from his home country to return quickly.
These orders had apparently arrived that morning, and even if the fortress siege had continued, we were instructed to return promptly. It seemed to be an emergency order and had the battle been delayed by even a single day, master and the others would have been left to face that golden-armored soldier alone. I don’t mean to boast, but I couldn’t imagine their victory without me being there. It was fortunate for the central front that things had turned out the way they did.
However, this news was unfortunate for the man who was our superior. This was because he had apparently enjoyed the victory celebration a bit too much and had gotten himself drunk, just like I did. He was awakened by an envoy from the Empire and then forced to march onward.
Even before the march began, he was far from his best due to excessive drinking, and the forced march from the central front had completely wrecked his physical condition. He was still so weakened that he didn’t even have the energy to curse at us. It goes without saying that everyone, including myself, was secretly happy about this.
“Daa…uu!”
“Hey now, that’s a no-no.”
I was guarding the rear as well; someone reached out to my tail. It was Tuhru’s son, Lawqum, who was being held by her. Currently, we have prioritized injured individuals on the wagon, which left no space for the younger ones. As a result, Tuhru had no choice but to carry Lawqum while marching.
However, for Lawqum, this was a complete treat, as he could enjoy the outside scenery. He laughed with delight and watched birds in the sky and creatures running alongside the road.
Now, it seemed he was quite intrigued by my tail, poking and grabbing at the swaying tail. Since I had concealed the poisonous stinger, there was no danger involved. But, as expected of Tuhru’s son, his grip was surprisingly strong for a child. When he clamped onto it with both hands, my exoskeleton made a faint creaking sound.
Perhaps it was the sound of creaking that caught Tuhru’s attention as she hurriedly tried to stop Lawqum from playing with my swaying tail. However, it seemed he had taken a liking to the game of catching my tail with both hands, as he completely ignored his mother’s voice. He repeatedly let go and then grabbed the tip of my tail.
“Such a mischievous little one… takes after his father, doesn’t he? I’m sorry, Captain.”
“Don’t worry about it. A healthy child is a good thing.”
“He’s recognizing the value of Big Brother’s tail at such a young age. quite talented.”
Tuhru apologized with a hint of regret, but I didn’t mind at all. At the same time, for some reason, Lappy seemed quite proud. She also liked my tail, but was it really that great?
As I pondered this question, Tuhru chuckled softly, as if her guilt had faded away. However, when she looked at Sharl beside her, and the baby girl cradled in her arms, she sighed heavily.
“I wish our son could be even half as calm as little Reese…”
“Hehehe. Babies are supposed to be lively; it’s just right that way, Tuhru. In fact, this girl is so quiet that I’m a bit worried.”
“Suu suu…”
After saying this, Sharl gently rocked her sleeping daughter in her arms. On the evening we began our return to the Empire, Sharl had gone into labor suddenly. The women were busy with the birth, and the men, in order to make every effort to ensure secrecy, heightened their vigilance while using sound-suppressing spiritual arts.
The safely-born girl was named Reese by her father, Tigar. Leo seemed to be very fond of his younger sister and was often seeking to be by her side when he had the chance. Seeing this, Tigar took him under his wing and led him away, so he wasn’t nearby at the moment.
By the way, the young ones capable of fighting, including Lappy, were gathered in the rear with me. As long as there were a few adult demons, myself included, we could protect the children who couldn’t fight unless the enemy was highly skilled.
This was already Imperial territory, and furthermore, we were far from the front lines, so there shouldn’t be much danger… or so I thought. Apparently, there was some danger, as a group was currently approaching from the nearby woods.
“Tuhru and Sharl, stick close to the wagon. Lappy, gather the younger ones and assign them to protect the wagon. Mika, did you notice them?”
“Of course I did. Tigar’s group at the front should be aware too.”
“I suppose so. Zald is over there. Knowing that shrewd fellow, he might launch an attack while pretending to be the one under attack… They’re coming.”
While Mika and I were talking, a group of men, emanating fierce shouts, emerged from the woods along the highway and attacked us. Regardless of our shabby appearances, the carriage we were protecting bore the Imperial insignia. To assail such a carriage, they must have been confident bandits with some skill.
As expected, the assailants from the woods were not mere bandits. Despite the noticeable wear and dirt on their attire, they undeniably donned Imperial military gear. Were these perhaps deserters? Well, if they were attacking, we would have no mercy in defending.
“Enemy attack!”
“Demons, intercept them!”
The Imperial soldiers, seemingly unaware of the assailants’ presence until the very last moment, hastily ordered us to counter the attackers. In contrast, we had long prepared for battle and immediately transitioned into combat stances.
I drew my two swords from their sheaths and encased my entire body in my exoskeleton before charging towards the enemy. The enemy was shocked when they saw me, probably not expecting me to be a demon.
“Gyah!”
“Geeh!”
“…Yeah, it’s a fine sword still.”
In the battle against Zahhi, my white sword had been shattered into pieces. However, by the following day, it was already in a usable condition once more. Naturally, it was the Popi-race people, who supported me from the shadows, that had repaired it. I was truly indebted to them. Recently, I had been offering them whatever food I could in return for their kindness.
During one of these exchanges, I noticed that the sword Zahhi had created, which I had brought back from the battlefield as a replacement, had disappeared. Presumably, they had not repaired the broken white sword but rather…they reshaped a new sword using the fragments of Zahhi’s sword and the broken white one.
The performance of this new sword was evidently superior to the previous one. Despite its increased length and width, it felt no heavier when held, and its balance when swung remained unchanged. Furthermore, it had returned to a state where it could employ the spiritual circuits that Hatakeyama had inscribed. This just goes to show how remarkable the Popi race is at manipulating materials at will.
“This damn monster!”
“I’ll avenge my comrades!”
“It’s no use.”
After cutting down two of the enemies with my white sword in my right hand, an enraged enemy attempted to thrust a spear into my back from behind. Though I doubted it would penetrate my exoskeleton, I still blocked the attack with my black sword in my left hand. The moment the enemy’s spear collided with the sword, the tip of the spear shattered.
The black sword was crafted from the pincers I had as a scorpion. Therefore, I thought it would be difficult to strengthen it later, but the Popi people managed to strengthen it as well. The spiritual circuits etched onto the surface of the black sword had transformed, and according to Mika’s analysis, it had gained the ability to reflect all the impact from a new collision with the enemy.
As seen, this effect allowed me to shatter the enemy’s weapons and armor with a single strike. Just blocking an attack would often cause the enemy’s weapon to break, and even renowned pieces of equipment could be destroyed with a swing from my end.
The white sword’s sharpness and the black sword’s strength had both become more pronounced compared to before. I felt like the weapons’ characteristics had grown stronger. Whether to wield this magnificent weapon for protection or destruction was entirely up to me. To repay the kindness of the Popi people, let’s definitely put them to good use.
“Goaaaaaaaaaah!!”
“Garrrrrrrglll!”
Others had also assumed combat stances and were engaged in battle. Particularly, Tigar and Leo displayed a fierce fighting style. Tigar gathered enemies with his lightning-clad greatsword before mowing them down in one fell swoop, while Leo expertly sliced through foes with well-trained sword techniques while emitting waves of heat from his mane. Perhaps because they were father and son, they coordinated seamlessly to annihilate their enemies together without even needing to exchange words.
The reason the two of them were giving it their all was probably because Reese was there. It was likely to protect their daughter and younger sister… but the two were being a bit too enthusiastic. The enemy was clearly in complete fear.
“Eek!”
“R-Run away!”
The morale of the enemy, who seemed to be deserters, crumbled, and they turned their backs and fled. The fact that they didn’t discard their weapons might have been a remnant of their training.
If the enemy was fleeing, then our safety was assured. It would be easier for me if we could just let them go, but… now, what should we do?
“Pursue them! Capture them alive if possible!”
The one who shouted this loudly, almost as if he wasn’t in his best shape yet, was that man. Just as I thought. Rather than reporting that they had been attacked and repelled, it would be more convincing to bring back the criminals alive as evidence. I already expected that this ambitious man would give such an order.
If it was an order, we couldn’t disobey. We pursued those who were fleeing with their backs turned to us. There was no way they could escape from us in combat mode, and eventually, they were captured one by one.
“Ugh! Uu, What… I can’t move…”
“It hurts! Ugh, my leg!”
Capturing them without killing them was difficult, but in my case, I could use my poisonous stinger on the tip of my tail. It was easy to paralyze them and render them immobile by piercing through the gaps in their armor from their vulnerable rear.
As for those who were knocked down by others skilled in archery and spiritual arts, Asumi instructed her people to pick them up and carry them. Although they had lower intelligence due to being synthesized with various beasts, simple tasks like capturing and dragging were within their capabilities.
“Is this the last of them?”
“Yeah, we’ve captured every one of them here.”
“There might be someone left hiding in a hideout somewhere.”
The deserters who had attacked us and then tried to flee had all been apprehended without exception. Zald was right; there might be someone left to watch over their hideout, but we needed to return as soon as possible. The higher-ups of the empire probably wouldn’t expect us to track the bandits down all the way to their hideout.
As we dragged the last person back, we decided to resume our march without searching for the hideout. Even so, to be attacked not by a wild beast but by a deserter from the Empire at such a place… Perhaps the Empire’s situation was even more unstable than I had thought. With these thoughts in mind, we continued our journey towards the imperial capital.
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TN: For people that forgot, Asumi is a Khan race and there are other Khan race people in the mc’s squad. They have lower intelligence because of the multi-creature synthesis method.
TN: I actually reached chap 160 in translations…btw I have read till chap 300 and the story really does not disappoint or get boring, (well for me at least).
TN: This is not for me to say, but if you liked the story till now, may you leave a good rating on NU??(That’s if you want). I’d really appreciate it and it keeps me working every day.
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