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Chapter 18

The next day.

As for the war situation, Corps Commander Nehyor’s prediction was accurate.

Nothing happened near our camp or the center camp. 

Though, fighting did erupt around the Gob-gobs.

If we got ahead of ourselves and Lobos left the center to help them, there would be danger of a pincer attack. And so we couldn’t move.

And so the rest of us just continued to stare at the enemy.

“…How boring.”

It was a good thing that we didn’t have to fight. But today, I could actually see the enemy in the corner of my vision.

It seemed that they were there to prevent us from moving.

And so things remained quite tense for the entire day. Now, it was sundown.

Apparently, the Gob-gobs had stayed in formation and survived.

The enemy must have decided that they couldn’t keep pushing.

“And so I am quite sure that the enemy will retreat now. Thank you.”

Corps Commander Nehyor said as he appeared at the meeting. It was as if the battle was already finished.

“Is it really that simple?”

“Yes. After all, there will be no more movement on the battlefield.”

“Is that true?”

“We are at a point where the death of just one Commander will tip the scale. And since they have already suffered one unexpected defeat, they are being very cautious. Isn’t it great, Golan? You’ve rendered us an invaluable service.”

Apparently, the fact that I had defeated an enemy Commander played a big part in this. The enemy must be very shocked.

Especially since he was a Corps Commander class. He would have been one of the strongest among them.

Warfare in this world was not very organized. If a leader died, the subordinates often had no idea what to do.

After all, there were times when only the leader new the plan. But what was more important, was the Orb of Control.

Everyone in the Demon World was controlled by someone.

If there was a battle, a superior officer was always using the Orb of Control to raise their power.

And if that superior officer was dead… Then there was no way that mere soldiers could win. And so they would panic.

The reason that we were able to take their stronghold was because I had killed their Commander.

If not, sixty ogres would not have been enough to destroy a single stronghold.

Considering all of this, the number of Commanders that the enemy had would be important.

If they had too many, they would be weak, as the power would be distributed too thinly.

Four or five was optimal.

And since they had to protect the main army, they may have only sent one Commander out…

“Indeed. Having two of their Commanders killed would tip the scale immediately.”

From what I saw today, they weren’t going to rebuild any strongholds. The soldiers who escaped were in a temporary camp in the far back.

As it had been done in two days, it must have been a rush job.

Let’s just say that there was a Commander there, and we went in and I defeated that Commander.

The enemy would fear such a possibility and would be forced to position someone who was even stronger than the Taiga.

Of course, that meant fewer people protecting the other parts of the battlefield.

Such a weakness could be exploited, resulting in the death of another Commander. And unless the Corps Commander immediately promoted someone else, there would be no Commander.

What was important here, was as I just explained, there would be no point in doing this unless the new Commander was stronger than the last one.

Promoting someone weaker on the same battlefield would just result in another defeat.

Still, that would be difficult. It would be a gradual decline at best.

In other words, losing just one more Commander would ensure that it would be impossible for the enemy to recover.

That’s why Corps Commander Nehyor said the tide would change in our favor at once.

Ultimately, the fighting died down a little every day, and then the enemy finally retreated.

But as they showed every sign of fighting back, we couldn’t give chase.

I watched as the enemy tore down their camps and marched away. And I was happy to know that the battle was over.

“Now I can return to my village.”

I was happier about that than anything.

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  1. Offline
    + 20 -
    The rest of the chapter:

    We had reached the road home.

    Of course, not everyone took the same route. But we all walked towards our homelands.

    We ogres lived in six separate villages.

    There were exchanges between the villages, and we weren’t on bad terms.

    As for the village I was from, it was simply referred to as ‘past the river.’

    It didn’t have a name. Just ‘past the river.’

    Compared to the other five villages, it wasn’t the most convenient place to live. And there were not a lot of ogres living there.

    Just about two hundred.

    I was leading a group of ogres from the same village as we returned.

    “Welcome back, Golan. I knew you would make it.”

    “Yes. I doubted he would be able to help himself. It looks like I was right?”

    “You two…”

    Saifo and Beka had come out to greet me. They were sibling ogres.

    And they were twenty-one and nineteen respectively. Which made him four and her two years older than me.

    “I see. Yes, your mana has increased.”

    “It really has. Maybe it’s just a little below mine now? How funny!”

    “You’re a Commander now, but have less mana than us. Quite impressive, Golan. You never cease to keep us entertained.”

    “Is that all you have to say to me upon my return? You two idiots.”

    I had known them ever since I was a child.

    As their family had several other older brothers, they had not been sent to the battlefield.

    However, these siblings had some of the highest mana in the whole village.

    They loved to fight. It was practically an obsession. And I had been forced to fight them a number of…well, hundreds of times.

    Even when they lost, they would want a rematch immediately. To be frank, they were incredibly annoying.

    “Still, I’m surprised that you had it in you to even come out here and greet us.”

    “What do you mean, Golan? What a hurtful thing to say.”

    “Yeah. We couldn’t wait to have you back!”

    “Hmm… I have a bad feeling about this.”

    These meathead siblings were not very tolerant of me at all.

    While it sounded like we were having a friendly conversation now, when I was younger, the relationship was strictly of the kill or be killed sort.

    “Well, you aren’t exactly wrong.”

    “Wait a minute, loser. What did you just say?”

    “Oh, we were told to talk about it when no one is around.”

    “You… Who told you that?”

    I had a terrible feeling about this.

    “Uhh, that information is included?”

    “…Fine. Let’s go.”

    I took the loser siblings to a corner of the village square.

    The others that were with me had all gone off to their own families. So it was just us that was there.

    “…So? What did you do?”

    “You don’t have to say it like that. I didn’t do anything!”

    “And you, Beka?”

    “Not me. But you have a guest, Commander.”

    “A guest?”

    What did that mean?

    And why was I hearing this from them of all people?

    I looked back and forth between the loser siblings. But their expressions revealed nothing.
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