บท 147: Taking down the scouts
In the middle of the night, Five hurriedly returned to the dungeon and summoned his monsters for a quick meeting.
"I just talked to the Shamans and I have the information we need but let me tell you, it is not going to be easy. There are several scouts patrolling around the Musclewood Tribe. They are keeping their distance but they won't miss an Undead Army."
"Tell us the details first and then we will see if it is feasible," said Dreidus. The flames in his eye sockets shone in excitement.
"According to the Shaman, there are two tribes that are not far from here. The first one is the Black-footed Ferret Tribe. The village is at about 2.5 hours away on a horse. It's a small tribe who is allied with the Black Vulture Tribe. There has always been some tension between them and the Black Iron Tribe. Their Totem Spirit is a Golden Ferret. It is a level 48 Spirit who specializes in Earth Magic."
"The second choice looks less intimidating. It is the Gopher Tribe. It is also a medium tribe but just a few months ago was still considered a small tribe. The village is three hours away. The Totem Spirit is the Pocket Gopher, a level 43 Spirit who likes to hide. There is apparently a shelter hidden under the village in case of attacks."
"Is that it? Only these two villages?" asked Dreidus.
"Yes. The others are too far for you to reach before the end of the night. I think the barbarians also do not want us to waste our army on larger tribes. They don't want to lose their lifeline."
"Harriet. What do you think? You are the only one who can fight a Totem Spirit at the moment," said Dreidus as he looked at the Harpy Queen.
"It is fine. I am confident in my own strength but I won't be able to do it alone. There is a reason why Boss Monsters like me don't simply run rampant and attack small villages or cities. They often have defensive mechanisms. I don't know what kind of secrets the barbarians have but I know their Shamans must not be underestimated. I thought a lot about this recently and concluded that we must not let success get to our head. I am more confident in attacking the remaining dungeon than any barbarian village. That's what my instincts are telling me," said Harriet.
"I understand but it won't be easy to move an army with so many scouts. We will be noticed before we even leave the territory of the Musclewood Tribe. Will it be alright if we just send a group of liches and Defacers?" suggested Dreidus.
"As I said, I don't what defenses the barbarian villages have. I don't want to take risks because if you or I perish or is injured, the battle will be much more difficult afterward," said Harriet. She had been constantly scouting the area and witnessed the barbarians forming an army not very far from the Musclewwod territory. They would just need half a day to reach the dungeon. If they died, they won't be able to respawn before a whole day has passed.
In this scenario where they had the upper hand, it was indeed unwise to make a risky move which would not yield a lot of rewards.
Five listened to the two monsters discussing and added, "We took too long in making our decision and now, the whole territory is being constantly monitored. We lost the effect of surprise. We did not expect the barbarians to set up this scout line. In the end, it is our fault for not being proactive enough."
"What if we get rid of the scouts? I can easily kill them; they only patrol in small groups of two or three at most," said Harriet.
"It will be pointless. It will take a few hours for the Undead Army to reach one of the villages. From my experience, scouts need to report to others regularly or else, it would mean that they have been eliminated," answered Five. He faintly smiled as he continued:
"However, this does not mean your idea is bad. Since we cannot get a village, why don't we capture those scouts? There are about fifty scouts scattered all around, right?"
"The scouts are not weak. They are all above level 30. Aside from me and Harriet, the other monsters won't be able to deal with them without alarming the others. Even if I take action, there is a risk that they escape," commented Dreidus.
"Yes. But it is more feasible. It should only take me ten minutes to capture a scout team and bring them back here. Even if we just bring back a few, they should be useful to you, right?"
"If master agrees, I would like to go with this plan. Even if we just take down twenty scouts before they realize it, it should weaken the barbarians to some extent. Then, we can look into what to do with them but let's not lose too much time discussing or else, it might be too late again."
Five smiled. The monsters were learning. "Then, please go ahead. Try to bring them back alive here but if you can't there is no need to hesitate."
...
"Chief. We might have a problem..."
A barbarian suddenly rushed in the war tent. A large portion of the force of the ten tribes was currently staying at the Black Vulture Tribe. They were busy making preparations for the upcoming battle.
"What? Can't you see that we are having a meeting right now?" shouted Rhaell, the leader of the Rat Snake Tribe. He was irritated as he was unable to go to sleep. With all the other leaders still discussing their attack plan, he could not be the first one to leave.
"What is it?" said chief of the Blue Eagle Tribe with a softer tone.
"We have lost contact with some of our scouts. We have just sent a few teams to investigate," answered the barbarian.
"You lost contact with the scouts? What exactly happened?" asked another barbarian leader.
"It is like that. We've sent scouts to surround the Musclewood territory and monitor their movement. We do not want them to take us by surprise like they did to destroy the two dungeons. The scouts were all given a pair of swallows to release every hour. We will then send the swallows back to confirm the situation."
"However, we waited for fifteen minutes and did not receive the swallows of three teams. Afterward, we saw the swallows sent to two other teams return. It means that the swallows were unable to find the scouts when they returned to the location they were released."
The war tent turned silent. They all understood what happened. "What are you waiting for? Send a group of men to look at the area where those scouts were stationed! No, wait. We should quickly send our men to the nearest village in case they planned to attack one of our villages. Show on the map where those missing scouts were."
"The Black-footed Ferret Tribe. The scouts you lost contact with were all in the direction of the Black-footed Ferret Tribe. Send birds quickly and ask for their situation. Tell them to be on guard!"
"What? My tribe? They are targeting my tribe? Hurry up and get your men to move. I don't care that they are tired from the trip. You all better move if you don't want my tribesmen and me to leave this alliance!" exclaimed an elder. He was the chieftain of the Black-footed Ferret Tribe.
"Old Braves, no need to worry. We will depart right now. They dare to attack us in the middle of the night? They have no sense of honor!"
The barbarians quickly departed. There was no time to lose. Even if they were tired, if one of their villages was attacked, the alliance might collapse; they could not afford to rest.
The barbarian chiefs led the cavalry but just forty minutes after their hasty departure, they received a couple of messages carried by the swallows.
"What? F*ck, they are playing with us! There are no signs of attack at the Black-footed Ferret Tribe but now, the scouts on the side of the Gopher Tribe! Quick, we are changing directions!" shouted a barbarian chief.
Mans, the representative of the Vicious Rhino Tribe looked at the panicked chiefs and sighed. "Send a message back and ask the scouts to retreat. It is possible that they are not aiming for the villages yet and only took out our scouts. Tell them to group up and tell the villages to be on guard. They must be ready to retreat at any time!"
"Do you think that they are just trying to alarm us? What if the Musclewood Tribe is just trying to tire us by making us rush to different villages?"
...
At the dungeon, Five followed Dreidus to a newly-built room. It was located on the same floor as the living quarters, at the very end of the corridor. It was very large but there were no decorations or windows. There was nothing but the plain indestructible material of the dungeon. This room was built to act as a prison!
"They are all here. We managed to bring back 23 scouts and 5 corpses," said Dreidus as he opened the metallic door.
"Wow." As soon as he entered, Five hear the constant grunts of the barbarians. They were all in bad shape, covered with bruises. Harriet and Dreidus clearly did not care about them and handled them as objects when they brought them back. As long as they were alive, they would serve their purpose.
"Very impressive but what should we do with them now? Lyra is still level 29 but she should level up soon. Will they be useful for Lyra?" asked Five.
"No. For a Banshee Queen to become a Wailing Lady, I need to use women as sacrifices. Right now, I will suggest turning them into Living Corpses. It is the most effective way to use their strength. It would be waste to use a level 32 barbarian to give a class to a level 15 Skeleton or even the level 22 Death Knight. Usually, we use weaklings who have no chance of leveling up for the rituals."
"Living Corpses? It sounds good to me. Killing them or keeping them imprison will also produce some DP. How many can you transform?" asked Five.
"Three. I can do Three per day without suffering from any backlash or five if I can allow myself to rest," answered Dreidus.
"Mmm. Turn three corpses into living corpses for now. The scouts still alive will generate DP for as long as they can. When they are no longer worth anything, we'll just kill them and turn them into our Undead."
Five coldly looked at the barbarians lying on the floors. In their semi-conscious state, they looked nothing like the valiant barbarians they once were. He was not disturbed by the scene in front of him; he had witnessed far worse than this.
'Well. Time to go to sleep. My sleep cycle is completely messed up from all these night meetings and operations...'
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