Chapter 679: Reinforcements

“To save them or not? That really is a problem…”

“Stop joking around. Of course we must save them. The entire Mist Alliance is constructed upon a relationship of trust where allied countries assist each other in times of need. Do you really think that we can afford not to save them?”

“To be honest, I really don’t want to save them.”

Although I was saying such things, when the Shawen Free States sent us a request for reinforcements, East Mist unhesitatingly stopped all of its new year preparations and sent out its army to reinforce Shawen.

However, I was saying such words about not wanting to reinforce Shawen due to another piece of information other than the beast stampede.

“A Fire Elemental Plane Dimensional Door? This is such an obvious pitfall.”

The Elemental Planes were the easiest dimensions to connect to the mortal plane. Many mage towers would utilize elemental pools from an elemental plane. However, those small elemental pools could only be used to draw a small amount of elemental power or smaller elemental creatures.

Elemental magic had to obey the basic laws of the elements. All miracles would be the result of elemental power accumulation. Opening up a Dimensional Door to an elemental plane would naturally require a location filled with that element.

For instance, it would be much easier to open up a portal to the Water Elemental Plane in the ocean. The same would went for connecting to the Ice Elemental Plane on a snowy mountain, connecting to the Wind Elemental Plane in a place filled with thunder and tornadoes, connecting to the Earth Elemental Plane while underground, and… connecting to the Fire Elemental Plane inside a volcano!

The warm valley of the Shawen Free States had always been viewed as a miracle of nature, a result of the mountainous terrain around the area. But, no matter how much the fierce winds were reduced by the tall mountains, the low temperature all around the Northlands should have still affected the area. It would be inconceivable to have such a warm area without other reasons.

And as Shawen became more developed, with the discovery of hot springs, this “proved” something to everyone: this area actually had volcanic land underground.

Yes, the word proved, not informed. Shawen’s historical records actually noted that this place used to be filled with volcanos in the past. However, the people of Shawen wouldn’t actually admit this. That was because not only would courage be required to build your home on a volcano, it would even more be due to the helpless situation at the time.

Back in the day, it would already be quite fortunate for the exiled mixed-blood descendants to be able to find some place to live and develop. Not only that, this land was even fertile. That would seem like having a God’s protection. It would be far too much to worry about potential volcanic eruptions down the road.

According to other nearby countries’ historical records, it was indeed mentioned that there used to be an active volcanic district here around 700 years ago, along with a relatively famous red dragon family residing here.

Right when I learned that this entire matter was related to the Fire Elemental Plane, I had already started searching for volcanic districts on the Northlands’ old maps. I also learned a location’s name from the illusion face devils. When I combined the information I learned, I understood everything.

Perhaps Shawen was now a dormant volcano. However, for the Fire Elemental Lords, it would be quite simple to awaken a sleeping volcano. Not only could Fire Elemental Lords accomplish this, even red dragons and fire archmages had the same ability.

But of course, fire elemental creatures would be the most apt at doing it. Volcanoes would always be where the fire element had the greatest concentration anywhere in the mortal plane. Just as how Emordilorcan previously changed his underground Dimensional Door’s location into a cavernous maze, awakening a volcano and changing the magma and flames into one’s own nest would be basic instinct to a fire elemental creature.

In that case, I knew the necessary information and likely developments. The moment that the warm valley area of Shawen Free States was conquered, the sleeping volcanoes there would soon erupt. Tremendous numbers of fire elemental creatures would pour out of the volcanoes, and considering the current high Elemental Tide, it was likely that fire elementalization would occur in the nearby area.

If our attempt to reinforce Shawen failed, it was highly likely that we would get dragged into this matter. We would have to avoid the magma while fighting Fire Elemental Lords on their home territory. These damned elemental wars would have no end.

Elemental creatures would boast endless numbers. Killing them would do nothing but send them back to the Fire Elemental Plane—they would soon return. Plus, the fire elemental creatures would have the territorial advantage here. This type of battlefield was the type I hated the most as I would feel quite helpless. If there was any other possibility, I definitely wouldn’t want to enter this endless meat grinder of a battlefield.

“Alright, it seems that we do need to go. At this time, we need an expert… Where’s Elisa?”

“You only think of her when you need her? So heartless.”

“Shut up. Do you really think that she has as much free time as you do, Harloys? Of course I wouldn’t bother her if there’s nothing important. Forget it, I’ll try contacting her and hope that she can make it in time, or at least give me some information…”

A while back, Elisa, Adam, and their party had acted together to temporarily block off the Dimensional Door allowing the demon wave to enter. According to our plan, right before I tossed out my Ice Aeon spell, they would go hide in the Chaos Abyss to avoid being hurt by friendly fire as well as deal with various other affairs.

Most of their party were of the fire element. Fire and ice were counters to each other, and a fire element individual would take double damage from an ice attack. It definitely wouldn’t be pleasant for any of them to take an Ice Aeon forbidden spell attack. Forbidden spells wouldn’t be able to separate enemies from allies. Ice Aeon would attack indiscriminately. If Elisa or Little Red, who were both purely of fire element, accidentally took an Ice Aeon attack, they might be seriously injured, or worse, directly die by my own attack.

The end result had been acceptable. Little Red, who was capable of flying swiftly, caught up to us and informed me that everyone was safe. Little Red hadn’t returned to the Chaos Abyss with them, instead eating as many Dusk Fruits as she could to raise her age so that she could improve her combat strength as much as possible before the next major battle.

For us, visiting the Chaos Abyss would be like taking a vacation, but as Little Red was the Underground Dragon Queen, she would have very few opportunities for vacation, especially since Dragon City was filled with arrogant dragons. She would absolutely need to return on a periodic basis to enforce her authority there.

Actually, Little Red had a subordinate who was fully capable of taking over her role as Dragon Queen. Yep, that would be her mother, the former Dragon Queen Molly. However, when considering Molly’s past acts, not a single one of us could trust her.

Anyways, getting back on topic, East Mist’s army swiftly gathered to prepare and reinforce Shawen. However, a little situation occurred.

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Considering how the mountains were currently still covered in snow, it would be far too slow to rely on infantry. I also secretly considered how there was the threat of volcanic eruptions and the ability to escape would be important, so I gave up on all heavy infantry and other slower troop types, choosing instead only winter hunt knights.

Winter hunt knights weren’t a special troop type. They were simply the knights of the various Northlands countries who had gathered for the winter hunt. All the knights had already been gathered, and they were organized quite swiftly. Since the various nobles and domain lords were also participating in this year’s winter hunt, there were plenty of nobles’ knights and guards among the summoned warriors, with plenty of high-level knights and warriors that were above average in power.

In just a short half a day, Diffindor managed to gather approximately 50,000 elite knights. If their steeds were also counted as combat strength, there would be more than 1000 among them who could be called “grandmaster”. There would also be several thousand knights at Legend rank who would have considerable combat strength when combined together.

Moreover, since they were able to participate in the winter hunt, that meant their steeds wouldn’t possibly be ordinary donkeys or horses which would shiver in the cold. Military-use Iron Horses, magic beast steeds, tundra horses which had thick black and white fur, and so on were their steeds. There were hundreds or even thousands of different varieties. Plus, since there were family flags of various colors along with personal flags, the colorful arrangement of flags and armor made the gathered army appear quite disorganized.

When looking at this scene from high up in the sky, the entirely snow-white plains seemed like a cake that had been casually cut open by this ragtag army of assorted colors. Everywhere that they passed, birds and beasts would scatter to avoid them. This organized knight army had astonishing momentum.

However, the aerial forces were far weaker in comparison. There was only the New Borealis proceeding forward seemingly slowly by itself, with only a few mid-sized airships escorting it. There were far fewer aerial forces here compared to the battle at the Moonwheel Capital.

The originally powerful Borealis Squadron had all been separated. Several airships were still guarding the elven caravan, while the others were still being restocked and repaired. Summoning and preparing another large airship would take far more than one or two days. Only the New Borealis which was stationed in Diffindor could be deployed immediately.

When considering the upcoming battle, aerial superiority would be incredibly important. However, the New Borealis was not anywhere close to being in good condition, as it had just finished a long-distance foray. The only part worth celebrating was that since Diffindor was the home base of the Aurora Knights, the Aurora Knights answered the summons as always when the Mist royalty called for help. We had two squadrons of Aurora Knights with us, totaling 200, which would be more than enough aerial forces for any national-level battle.

We also spent some money to hire six black dragons and four red dragons to come along with us. They would also be powerful assistance.

Unlike most other opponents, the beast stampede was still part of the food chain, and since dragons were at the top of the food chain, they could use draconic might and roars to suppress the beasts and scatter any smaller beast groups. Additionally, if we had to face fire elemental creatures like I anticipated, red dragons with their excellent fire resistance and black dragons with their excellent magic resistance would be some of the best aerial troops around.

The only regrettable part was that the only dragons we could hire were young dragons and adult dragons. It was still impossible to hire any Immemorial Dragons or those even more powerful. Little Red would still need to improve her authority.

“…That’s why I came along with you.”

A seemingly young black-haired girl was currently chomping down on a disgusting Dusk Fruit. Over the past two weeks, she was now famous as the “Masked Dragon Queen” who had been constantly robbing other dragons of their Justice Points. Yes, that’s right, Masked Dragon Queen, as Little Red’s new physical appearance and draconic might were far too easy to recognize even if she masked herself. However, none of the dragon victims would dare to personally complain to the Dragon Queen about being robbed. Plus, none of the dragons were robbed of too much, so they could only let it go… though I personally felt that it was all because the dragons had gotten too accustomed to being robbed by each other.

She was currently sitting on a windowsill and observing the snow outside. However, I kept feeling like it was really strange. Shouldn’t she be in Dragon City right now, frustrated with countless official matters requiring her attention?

Although I was indeed quite happy to see Little Red before the upcoming battle, I kept feeling like something was off.

“Don’t tell me that you felt like you couldn’t deal with all the official matters, so you simply gave up and ran away… Why aren’t you saying anything? Hey, hey, hey! Could it really be that you secretly ran away from your work? You’re the Dragon Queen, the big boss of Dragon City, the ruler of the Underground! Can’t you stop behaving like a naughty child who didn’t do her summer homework, so she decided to skip classes entirely?”

“…Aren’t you exactly the same? You’re still so weak right now, can you really even fight? If we’re going to use everyone to the best of their abilities, the most appropriate task for you right now is probably to deal with governmental work behind the lines. Oh, right, I can be your bodyguard. Yep, from now on, I’m your bodyguard! Remember to pay me on a daily basis!”

I felt rather helpless about the shameless Dragon Queen who was saying such ridiculous things in front of me, but with a super red dragon like her around, she would obviously have a tremendous advantage against fire elemental creatures, so I had no intention of sending her back.

“Alright, just do as you like. However, there won’t be any money for you. Still, if our luck is bad, you red dragons will indeed receive the best payment of all.”

Little Red had a look of surprise. She was just babbling without taking things serious earlier. Could it be that this battle to reinforce Shawen really did have some benefits for the red dragons?

“Volcanos! If live volcanos really do appear, you red dragons can move here in large numbers… Silly cat, why are you biting me! Cough, cough, I was just making an analogy, don’t take me seriously! Reyne, we’ll definitely win!”

Behind me, Reyne and the others were glaring at me in displeasure. If Shawen really became a live volcano district again, that would be equivalent to Shawen Free States’ destruction. It seemed that I had indeed been wrong to say something so jinxing before battle.

But hey, I wasn’t just making things up. As fire element dragons, the red dragons loved heat and hated the cold. Most red dragons would be unaccustomed to residing in the Northlands. Meanwhile, volcanos were red dragons’ favorite nesting grounds. If there really was a live volcano district in the Northlands, it would be possible to construct a new Dragon City here, and maybe even invite some powerful Immemorial Red Dragons here to be our mercenaries.

“…I was just joking. Why glare at me like that?”

“…Don’t you know yourself just how great your jinxing success rate is? If I recall correctly, it’s 100%. It seems that the Shawen Free States are truly finished. It will all be Roland’s fault.”

“Ptui! Silly cat, stop making up rubbish that will tarnish my reputation! Then let me prophesize right now that we’re going to be ambushed by the enemy. Do you really think such a prophecy would—”

“Report! A large number of beasts has suddenly appeared ahead of us! General Leid is asking what we should do. Should we go around the beasts, or attack them?”

“Roland…”

“…I understand! From now on, I’ll shut up… Actually, it’s not all my fault, since the devils have been watching us…”

“Report, the power of Chaos has been detected in the skies to the southwest! Judging from the magical radar’s reaction, it seems that high-level aerial devils have arrived!”

“…Today’s weather is really nice, so I’m going to take a nap. Remember to wake me up when the fighting is over…”