Chapter 114: Claiming the North

“It’s good.”

After the Ogre died, the monsters did not move for a while.

A predator of the territory.

Usually, when a monster that is as good as the master of the land dies, the surrounding monsters become quiet for a moment.

They are testing the waters before a new predator arrives.

‘This is also instinct.’

And if the corpse of this former master is hung everywhere, that period becomes even longer than expected.

“Birence, I’m counting on you. Do not push yourself too hard.”

“Would someone with my personality push himself? I’ll be focused on defending one way or another.”

“Good. Then, let’s go.”

“Good luck to you!”

As I gave the order to place the Ogre’s corpse here and there on the newly built wall, I thought to myself.

‘I have to make the most of the time I’ve bought.’

I began to move to carry out something that only I could accomplish.

***

‘It’s going more smoothly than I thought.’

Subjugating monsters is a terrible war of attrition.

Every year in the winter, even if one heads out to the North through the cold to hunt monsters, the number of monsters remains the same the following year.

It is impossible to wipe them out completely.

Even if you clear one area, it is over once more monsters come down from further north and settle there.

However.

‘It’s not that there isn’t a way to reduce their numbers.’

One could establish a territory and make it so the monsters cannot increase their numbers.

‘A sort of territory expansion.’

It was possible to expand the territory further up beyond Premiere and Raylun.

And that place…

‘I’ll turn it into a permanent monster subjugation ground.’

“What would happen if I turned it into a place for traps to hunt monsters and simultaneously a source of income by harvesting their corpses?”

“It becomes a new breakthrough.”

Since there was a Dungeon Village, there was no reason a monster village couldn’t be built.

If the profit outweighed the cost of maintaining the monster fortress, it could be sustained indefinitely.

‘It’s funny that monster corpses will become a sort of local specialty… but it has to be at least this much for the next plan to be executed.’

I ran the numbers while forming the suppression force.

Since I concluded it was feasible, I moved the suppression force this far.

Since it was a type of territorial expansion, it was not an easy task.

—“Skreeeeech!”

First, I had to deal with the countless monsters that came rushing in.

I had to clean up the area around this fortress to some extent before I could build it.

“Phew.”

To do that, I stepped into the monster territory alone.

“Was the west the Lizardman Swamp?”

Based on the fortress, Goblins were to the north, Letmen to the south, and Lizardmen to the west.

Among them, the most powerful monsters were the Lizardmen.

The Lizardmen, who used the swamp as their home base, would return to the swamp to replenish their numbers whenever they lacked strength.

Whether an Ogre went on a rampage or a new predator arrived, the swamp was a good defensive position for them.

Since they could avoid the worst-case scenario of annihilation, their power was bound to be the strongest.

“Then shall I make use of this?”

I intended to use them.

“The Illusion Labyrinth Formation would be good here.”

I installed formations along the paths leading to our fortress.

My primary targets were the paths used by monsters that were difficult for humans to traverse.

Whirrrrr—

I had Mana stones brought from the Holy City.

With various magical materials, I had enough to form the arrays.

‘Humans shouldn’t get caught in it.

This part is difficult… should I supplement it with magic?’

If I mixed just a little bit of magic into the formation…

Flash!

“It’s finished.

As expected, it’s a good combination.”

The Illusion Labyrinth Formation, which was a rudimentary formation, became significantly stronger.

Unless it was a high-level monster with exceptionally strong resistance, a formation was created that would be difficult to even break through.

‘No matter how strong an Ogre is, it will be hard for it to come here.’

Even if they managed to break through, there was no way a monster could dismantle a complex formation.

I installed these formations throughout the area surrounding the fortress.

It took three more days just to install five of them.

“Good.

I can control it perfectly.”

Just by installing these formations, the paths the monsters could take toward the fortress were limited.

It meant there were only a few paths they could use to rush toward the fortress.

‘Defense becomes much easier if you know where and how they will attack.’

It didn’t matter if the formations didn’t necessarily kill the monsters.

Knowing which path the monsters would take made dealing with them much easier.

“And next…”

I had no intention of giving up on using the Lizardmen.

While installing the Illusion Labyrinth Formation, I simultaneously guided the formation to lead toward a single path.

The west.

It was the direction where the Lizardmen were.

‘Controlling a formation in detail is originally difficult. But…’

Whirrr—

Using Mana made it easier to lure monsters.

Especially…

‘Demonic Mana is good.’

Demonic Mana, which is similar to the innate Mana of monsters, is excellent for controlling them.

It wasn’t for nothing that Black Mages could handle monsters.

It was all thanks to Demonic Mana.

I took this Demonic Mana…

“Huuu…”

And imitated it while transforming my Internal Energy.

—”It’s amazing every time I see it.”

That method.

Even though I’ve lived a long time, it’s a way I don’t know.’

“…Quiet. I need to concentrate.”

—”Tch… let’s hurry up and make the contract.”

It was a pretty convincing imitation of Demonic Mana, enough for the Fire Spirit to be impressed.

I planted this Demonic Mana throughout the formation.

Sssss—

Demonic Mana is something that consumes its surroundings, pollutes them, and seeps deep down.

When I threw in a few low-grade Mana stones, the Demonic Mana maintained its own strength.

‘It will serve as a signpost.’

This was a kind of signpost.

A signpost that lured monsters.

The signpost was pointing in one direction.

Right toward the swamp where they made their home.

—”Shhh.”

—”Shik.”

It was toward the Lizardmen.

‘Put in some effort.’

Lizardmen would even give their lives to protect their home base.

This was because the swamp was one of the few environments allowed to them.

What if monsters, having smelled the scent of Demonic Mana, wandered into the formation and rushed into that swamp?

—”Shraaaaak!”

—”Skree!”

Slash!

Crash!

A massacre where monsters clashed with each other was bound to be created.

“It’s done.”

The I-I-Je-I strategy.

The method of using barbarians to catch barbarians worked perfectly.

Installing formations and building a fortress was nothing more than securing the minimum safety measures.

‘It would be strange if expanding territory were easy in the first place.’

If one could build a fortress and expand territory with just a few tasks, the world would already belong to humans rather than monsters.

However, monsters are strong and cunning.

It is impossible to maintain a fortress with just that much.

Because of that, after finishing all the urgent tasks, I immediately returned to the fortress.

Then, I explained the plan I had established.

The plan to build a fortress, maintain it as a trap and a village for constantly catching monsters, and simultaneously use it as a means to expand the territory.

“So that was your plan? For a certain subjugation?”

“That’s right. Just doing this much will make monster subjugation easier for a few years. It means there will be breathing room in the North.”

“Ha… it’s amazing.”

Everyone who heard the plan expressed their amazement without exception.

“If you had just said it, I would have said it’s impossible… but it feels like it’s already halfway finished.”

“That’s incredible!”

“Ha… haha.”

Someone let out a hollow laugh, while others were full of praise, calling it great.

Every single one of them was filled with wonder.

I took them and made one more proposal.

Immediate gains were good, but there was still more to be done to go the distance.

“Low-level monsters will be easily handled this way. But the high-level ones are difficult.”

“That’s… true.”

“Fortunately, once you deal with a high-level one, that spot remains vacant for quite a while.”

“So, are you saying you’re going to hunt the high-level ones?”

“That’s right.”

I nodded at Gedren’s words.

Low-level creatures aren’t the only monsters.

If high-level ones run wild, the damage can be even greater.

The fortress we worked so hard to build could be destroyed before it’s even finished.

So, I had to deal with all the high-level ones around here before that happened.

“According to the Black Crow, there are three Ogres in this immediate vicinity.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“Pardon?”

It was as the Black Crow said.

There were three high-level Ogres here.

Originally, there were four, but one died in the last raid.

In addition, there was a family of five Trolls.

Among the Lizardmen, there were quite a few veteran-level ones.

‘I’ll exclude the Lizardmen since they’ll be busy blocking the monsters that come rushing in.’

Right now, the Lizardmen are busy fending off the attacks of the monsters that keep rushing at them.

Then what remains is dealing with the Trolls or Ogres.

An Ogre who died easily at my hands was still powerful enough that a hunting plan had to be made to deal with it.

Since I intended to catch these monsters, it was natural for everyone to be nervous.

However.

“Look at this.”

Whirrr— the moment I pulled ‘them’ out of my magic bag, everyone’s expressions were dyed with shock.

“H-How!”

“An Ogre!

Heavens.”

They were Ogre heads.

Three in total.

Excluding the one hanging on the castle wall, they were the heads of the masters of this territory.

Heads with jagged teeth full of pieces of corpses from eating countless monsters.

The moment I pulled them all out and set them down, the tent felt full.

At my subsequent words.

“Did… did you hunt them alone?”

“I took care of them while I was doing the magical processing around the fortress.”

Everyone’s shock grew even greater.

‘It would have been difficult if the Black Crow hadn’t put in the effort.’

I said it easily, but without information, it would have been impossible even for me to deal with the Ogres in such a short time.

However, because I had already identified their locations through the Crows…

‘It was a piece of cake.’

It was easy to drop the Ogres into the formations I had made beforehand and deal with them.

While the Ogre trapped in the formation was spreading its stench and falling into confusion…

—“Groar.”

The moment I approached stealthily with my Stealth Technique and slit its throat…

—“Guh!?”

Even the Ogre, the king of the mountain, soon had its breath cut short.

I dealt with all the Ogres and Trolls in that manner.

I had completely wiped out the high-level monsters around this fortress for now.

“Hang these throughout the fortress.

Even if low-level monsters come, their momentum will decrease.”

“Wouldn’t they just not attack at all?”

“Then we’ll have to adjust it.

We need them to keep attacking so we can keep collecting corpses, don’t we?”

“I’ll have to adjust it carefully then.”

“Indeed.”

Dealing with the Ogres and Trolls seemed to have secured immediate stability.

But the most important thing still remained.

“If you catch the middle bosses, the final boss remains.”

“Could it be…”

“To take over the territory, it’s not enough to just take the body.”

I said, tapping my head.

“You have to strike the head.

In human terms, you have to kill the Lord of the territory for the land to be secured.”

The Lord of this territory.

There was a creature that even treated Ogres as prey.

Only by dealing with him…

‘Could I say the safety of the fortress is firmly secured.’

To deal with that fellow, I began to gather the strength of the suppression force.

“Let’s get ready.

This will be quite a difficult hunt.”

I began secret preparations to capture the highlight of this subjugation.