Chapter 62 The Invisible Enemy Of God
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Babellion, 100th floor, Castle.
Charles wiped his sticky body with a wet towel after his affair and headed straight to his office.
The 3 women he had shared the night with also cleaned themselves up and sprayed something like perfume to cover the smell. As a result, a unique scent filled the air, a mix of strong perfumes.
When he opened the office door, the lights were on, and the messenger who had been waiting as ordered turned to Charles and knelt down.
Charles raised a hand to stop him and walked straight to his desk, looking at the standing messenger. He found the extra details annoying right now and got straight to the point.
”I heard Goldgang was injured. Is he at the fortress?”
”Yes. I’ve been told he is recovering at Es-Cara Fortress.”
Charles let out a big sigh at the messenger’s reply.
”…The longer this takes, the angrier I get. He deserves to be punished.”
Even when he first heard about it in the bedroom, the more time passed, the more Charles’s feelings boiled. It wasn’t just anger at Goldgang; it was also frustration at him and anger towards whoever was opposing them.
”My lord.”
”I know.”
He nodded at the reprimand. His irritation showed, and Esmeralda flinched slightly.
Charles’s mind was not at peace. He was far from satisfied.
For Charles, the defeat or loss of his subordinates is not a crime. It’s impossible to win every battle. That applies to Charles himself, and it would be ridiculous to force his subordinates to do what he cannot.
So, if losing can help someone grow, he may feel regret, but he has no desire to scold them.
However, this time, the defeat of Goldgang could have been avoided. He lost because he lets his guard down and separated from Morloi, and then he was defeated by an enemy that needed Morloi’s support. This is a mistake caused by overconfidence, nothing more.
Charles understands this well. It’s pointless to direct his anger at Goldgang, who is not here.
He took a deep breath again, trying to calm his turbulent feelings. As a ruler, managing anger is essential. Even if he can’t accept it, he forced himself to switch his mindset.
”Goldgang is certainly not the type that can negate weakness… but he is level 200. Only beings of a similar level can deal with that. The report must be true.”
He glared at the words “Old Suals Fortress” marked on the map of the Western Region spread out on his desk.
”Messenger. Tell the lord everything you know.”
”Yes, sir!”
At Satsuki’s command, the messenger began to speak.
”When we arrived on-site with Morloi-sama, Goldgang-sama was enchanted and crouching on the ground. Morloi-sama dispelled this, and when it was time to fight, the enemy showed no intention to engage and flew away.”
The messenger was a soldier who had gone to the Old Suals Fortress with Morloi and had actually encountered the enemy there. His memories are the most important information that Charles is seeking right now.
”Flying… which direction is that?”
”South.”
”…So it’s the southern direction.”
As Esmeralda rolled the word “south” on her tongue, she looked down at the map.
”…So the enemy is likely outside the country.”
”Of course. They are not in this feudal kingdom. Shiki has been focusing on enemy reconnaissance.”
”Then it must be from the Carnad Mountains or beyond.”
The old Suals Fortress is directly south of Es-Cara Fortress. To the south of that is the Carnad Mountains, which also serve as the border with the neighboring Melcina Kingdom.
”I vaguely remember… there was a mention of coming from beyond the mountains in the enemy’s words.”
”…Oh.”
Esmeralda narrowed her eyes.
”So? You must have seen the enemy, right? What kind of monster was it?”
”The enemy was a humanoid monster with an owl’s head. It was either a half-human half-owl (Owlman) or a high-level demon (Archdemon)… I couldn’t get more details.”
”It sounds like an enemy that would fly away.”
”What about the enemy’s abilities?”
”I believe he was a monster that fought using illusion-type sorcery, like the one used on Goldgang-sama, and inflicted status ailments. He also avoided attacks from Goldgang-sama and Morloi-sama by turning into a black mist. He likely used sorcery to create clones.”
Charles silently nodded at the messenger’s words.
The monsters mentioned as possibilities are both versatile, excelling in both physical and sorcery abilities, and it’s not uncommon for monsters to specialize in one or the other.
He can’t tell exactly what kind of skill setup it is just from the talk, but it seems to be a debuffer build with many debuff skills like dark sorcery and assassin types.
In Babellion, the 4th army leader, Papeltico, is like that. He’s not purely focused on debuffs, but he creates situations that break down enemies using status effects.
”It hurts that we let the enemy escape. Even if we couldn’t tie him up, we could have learned something if there were bodies left behind.”
”But one thing is certain. They have the intention to oppose us.”
”That’s true.”
The organization that the owl monster belongs to is definitely an enemy of Babellion. They don’t know what kind of enemy they are, but that fact doesn’t change.
Many players who were close to Charles have left the game, but not all the dungeon masters besides Charles have retired. There are a few new players who became dungeon masters after the peak, and there are even overseas servers.
And he wasn’t close to all of them, so it wouldn’t feel strange if they became enemies.
”…In any case, we can’t fight an invisible enemy. First, we need to find out their true identity. It’s uncomfortable to be recognized unilaterally. Let’s find their dirty tail and catch it.”
That said, the situation where he doesn’t even know the enemy’s identity is very tough. The enemy will keep coming up with plans to take down Babellion, but he can’t capture their leader or breach their castle.
And Babellion’s proud Intelligence Department isn’t very helpful either. Shiki’s ability is only for detection, not for searching.
Shiki focuses on identifying what kind of enemies are in a specified area, and also acts as a spy against specific enemies.
However, there is obviously a limit to the number of clones he can create, and those clones are not all-powerful. Finding a specific individual or key location somewhere in this world is nearly impossible as an ability.
That said, he can’t just give up because it’s hard. The enemy is targeting Babellion. This is not a coincidence; they definitely have bad intentions towards Babellion.
If a clear enemy has appeared, then the resources for intelligence activities must be directed almost entirely towards identifying them. It’s quite annoying in a situation where he wants to make the rule of the feudal kingdom absolute, but it can’t be helped.
Even while using his skills, he is asked to do a difficult job like searching for a needle in a haystack, but the Intelligence Department must work hard on this.
Or he could rely on just one clue. That is, the enemy flew to the southern sky and said they crossed the mountains.
Charles looks at the map on the table.
To the south of the old Suals Fortress is the Carnad Mountain Range. Alfred had said that the Goblins lurking in the fortress likely came from the Carnad Mountains. Looking back, the enemy might have lured a swarm of Goblins, but it is certain that this Carnad Mountain Range is a key point.
”…May I ask one thing?”
”You want to say it’s puzzling, right? I was thinking the same thing.”
Esmeralda nods as she hears Charles’s words, which partially interrupt her.
”First of all, I don’t understand the intention behind this attack. We had no idea they even existed. If that’s the case, the enemy could have taken better actions, I thought.”
What Esmeralda said really stuck with Charles.
The fact that the enemy recognizes Babellion while they are completely unaware is a huge advantage for them. Babellion is showing a defenseless side. The enemy can gather information, take their time to plan, and launch a surprise attack at the most effective moment.
”Yeah. This attack is way too sloppy.”
In terms of the attack, it might have been successful. Goldgang wasn’t defeated, but he did suffer a loss and had to recover.
But if you ask whether they made the most of their advantage, the answer is no.
”I can’t tell how much of this is the enemy’s plan. But even if placing Goblins at the old Suals Fortress was part of their strategy, it doesn’t guarantee that Goldgang will come, and doing that would be pointless. Even if they could defeat Goldgang, I would just revive them.”
That would just be a declaration of war. The cost of reviving a level 200 subordinate is high, but that’s all there is to it. It’s hard to say they dealt a significant blow to Babellion.
”If I were the enemy, I would burn down the royal capital.”
”That’s an effective move.”
To deal a certain blow, they would attack the royal capital of the feudal kingdom. It would be an irreparable damage for Babellion, and at the same time, most of what they had carefully planned since their transport would be wasted.
”The story about them flying south is also suspicious. If they have a base in the south, that would be way too foolish.”
It felt like they were trying to lure out Babellion, like a tail being deliberately waved around. If they were guiding Babellion south, it was natural to think there was a trap waiting.
”If they’re lying in ambush, we should just crush them head-on. That’s the only way forward.”
”You’re right, Minister of the Left (Faelrith the Dragon). We don’t know who the enemy is or where they’re hiding… We need any information, even if it’s about a trap.”
But Babellion had no information about the enemy. The moment the owl monster escaped during their first contact, Babellion was once again defenseless against the enemy. Even if they wanted to ready their swords and shields, it was like exposing their backs if they didn’t know where the enemy was.
So, should they just wait around, looking for the enemy to make contact?
Absolutely not────.
Knock, knock, knock. Someone knocked on the office door. Everyone in the room turned their gaze toward the door. It felt a bit like déjà vu… it was the same scene from an hour ago in the bedroom, but this time it wasn’t an unexpected visitor.
”Come in.”
They allowed the person to enter without questioning.
Right after that, the door swung open with a bang, and a small girl in a revealing outfit appeared. The girl with black and white mesh hair tied up and tiger ears jumped into the room and knelt in front of Charles as if she were doing a forward roll.
”I am Melissa, the leader of the Beastars. I have come at Your Majesty’s command!!”
Melissa flashed a toothy grin. The wild tube top she wore revealed a hint of her budding cleavage, which was a bit alluring, but there was no time to worry about that.
Charles prompted Melissa to stand up and got straight to the point without any preamble.
”Have you heard about the situation from the messenger?”
”No… I was just told to head to the castle due to an emergency and that the troops were being called up.”
Melissa replied, shaking her head.
Right after leaving the bedroom, Charles had sent a soldier from the Imperial Army to Melissa. The orders given were to call Melissa to the office and to prepare her special army, the “Beast Troop,” for deployment.
She had been woken up at home by the Imperial Army soldier and had rushed to the castle, barely taking the time to get ready.
”…So, are we going to use the ‘Beastars’?”
”I deemed it appropriate.”
Goldgang had been affected by a confusion status from the Owl Monster.
APOCALYPSE SAGA is a game where debuff skills are incredibly strong, to the point that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a debuff game.
Among them, Melissa has complete resistance to status effects. She was created to counter the “Three Calamity Dragons,” which were the elite forces of the former Dalkia Dragon Empire and directly under Faelrith.
”I understand that Melissa is strong against debuffs. But the ‘Beastars’ is a small elite army. It doesn’t seem optimal.”
”That’s not true. If we move a large army, the enemy will notice. Besides, the Army is a treasure trove of information. The levels of the soldiers and officers, their equipment… If we’re not careful, we might expose the overall strength of Babellion.”
”To add to the words of the Minister of the Right, this time the mountains will likely become the battlefield. Moving a large army is probably not a good idea.”
”I see. I understand.”
Melissa’s “Beastars” is a special unit made up only of high-level beastmen monsters. The mountainous area is like their backyard, and their excellent senses as beastmen give them a strong ability to search.
”I would like to do a large-scale hunt in the mountains, as the Minister of the Left suggested.”
Normally, they would want to search the mountains with an entire army, literally stripping it bare. In searches, having numbers is a huge advantage.
However, the current Babellion has become an organization that everyone, both inside and outside the country, is paying attention to.
If a large army moves, it would cause a stir not only in the feudal kingdom but also in neighboring countries. They also want to avoid letting others know that there is a significant external threat that requires moving a large army.
In that regard, it can be said that Melissa’s “Beastars” is well-suited for the task… Charles thought as he looked at the map.
”…Um… excuse me.”
Suddenly, a small voice interrupted.
When he looked up, he saw Melissa timidly raising her hand.
”I don’t really understand what’s going on, so I would appreciate it if you could tell me about it…”
Melissa, with her tail swaying in confusion, scratched her cheek awkwardly. She had been called to this meeting but was left in the dark about the important details.
Charles finally realizes this and turns his gaze to Esmeralda with a smile.
”Minister of the Right, please explain the details.”
”Understood.”
Finally, Esmeralda began to share the details of the situation. It wasn’t just a brief summary. Melissa, who was about to go defeat the enemy, needed to know everything. So, Esmeralda shared all the information that Babellion had.
There was a horde of Goblins living in the old Suals Fortress. Goldgang had gone to defeat them. They were ambushed by an unknown enemy and lost. And it was suspicious that the enemy had fled towards the southern direction, where the Carnad Mountains were located.
As the story continued, Melissa’s expression grew darker. Until a moment ago, she had sensed that something unusual was happening, but she was still confused about what it was.
However, when she learned that the unusual situation involved contact with hostile forces and that Goldgang had been defeated without a chance to fight back, her anger──or perhaps her battle spirit──made her tail fur stand on end.
”…What the hell is that? I’m shocked by Goldgang’s stupidity, but I can’t forgive him for picking a fight knowing what they’re capable of.”
Now fully aware, Melissa shouted at Esmeralda. Her sky-blue eyes were wide with anger, and her sharp claws extended out.
”As the Minister of the Right explained, we know nothing about the enemy. We don’t know who they are, how strong they are, or where their base (dungeon) is… Without information, we can’t fight.”
Just sitting back and doing nothing is unacceptable. That’s not how Babellion fights.
”However, the enemy dropped one piece of information. I can’t tell if it’s a real mistake or a trap set by the enemy. But either way, there’s a high chance that the enemy has something planned.”
If the enemy is wagging its tail in the south, then let’s go south and grab that tail.
”Even if we can’t see the enemy, this is war. It’s different from occupying the old capital. If we fall behind, we’ll be eaten alive. We must remain calm while fiercely defeating the enemy.”
The enemy, who has been one-sidedly recognizing Babellion, must be taking their time to come up with strategies. They are likely thinking of dozens of patterns for how Babellion might respond and preparing countermeasures to wait for Babellion.
The more cautious they are, the more the enemy will get what they want. They don’t have the luxury to come up with a crazy plan that goes beyond the enemy’s imagination, and it might not even be the decisive blow.
In that case, it’s better to confront the enemy in the way that Babellion can fight most easily. After all, it’s the enemy’s field; instead of taking a roundabout approach, we should fight in a way that allows Babellion to show its true power, turning it into Babellion’s field.
”If it’s a trap, then let’s eat the enemy along with the trap. We can just charge straight in without being too honest. Let’s drown the strategist in their own schemes.”
In other words, if they jump in knowing it’s a trap, then it becomes an ambush by Babellion. It might sound like a crazy idea, but turning that crazy idea into a proper strategy is the privilege of the strong.
”Can you do it?”
”Leave it to us!! We’ve been sharpening our fangs since we transported here, waiting for this moment. Not a single ant… no, not even a flea will escape!”
”That’s reassuring.”
Seeing Melissa confidently thump her chest, Charles nodded in satisfaction.
Then they packed in the important notes and detailed orders that needed to be shared for their deployment.
* * *
In the office where Melissa had just left, Charles was once again staring at the map.
The Carnad Mountains stretched to the south of the Western Region, and a battle was about to take place here. Beyond that, there seemed to be a country called the Fris Kingdom, but there was still no map of that neighboring country.
He thought about how he had just brought the Ravendora Empire under his control, and now he was facing the neighboring country, along with even stronger enemies. It felt like there was no end to this…
”I want to call Felshiol back from the capital. He is my brain. In a situation like this, I want him by my side.”
He muttered this while gazing at the map. Felshiol had gone to the capital to strengthen control over the feudal kingdom. It had only been a few days since he left, and he had probably done almost nothing, but the situation had changed since he was sent away.
”Is there anyone who can send an Army Commander to the capital? Sending Felshiol was probably a coincidence, but it would be better to keep some protection in the capital.”
”It’s not desirable to bring in the army. The people in the capital will feel anxious, and it will lead to unnecessary scrutiny.”
Sending Felshiol to the capital was meant to be temporary and was a coincidence, but now, after being attacked by the enemy, it took on a different meaning.
Having Felshiol in the capital, which was a key location for Babellion’s activities in this world, was reassuring. If he were to call Felshiol back, he wanted to send someone in his place, as Esmeralda suggested.
And if possible, he wanted to have that person take over the work that Felshiol was supposed to do in the capital.
Charles thought for a moment. Then a face came to mind, and he tilted his head while murmuring,
”…I have a suitable candidate. This is also not ideal, but…”
He said this as he named the person who would head to the capital in place of Felshiol.
And this decision would greatly affect the future of Babellion, but… Charles still didn’t know.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.