In the early morning darkness, we moved stealthily through the forest. To prioritize mobility, our group was small: thirty-six, including myself atop Jiro the Hind Bear, and others on their respective familiars. The rest stayed back at the base so they wouldn’t get in the way.
We were advancing at such an early hour to launch a surprise attack on the human army’s encampment that my scouts had discovered. Their force numbered around eight hundred, significantly outmatching our seventy-three, even counting the familiars. A head-on confrontation would likely end in our defeat due to sheer numbers.
Even I knew it was premature to attack an unknown enemy force directly. We needed to maximize our chances of victory, so we decided to take advantage of the cover of night.
Continuous generation of Black Skeletons and zombies would ensure we didn’t lose by virtue of our numbers, and the ambient magic in the darkness would prevent any depletion of my internal magic reserves. If things went south, we could retreat quickly, hence the emphasis on mobility.
Without the ability to see in the dark, humans would find it challenging to pursue us deep into the monster-infested forest. But our surprise attack was so well prepared that it turned out we didn’t even need to retreat. Within an hour, we had totally annihilated our targets.
Here’s how it unfolded:
First, we silently approached under the cover of darkness. We discovered a semi-transparent flame barrier surrounding the area and spotted sentries patrolling within. Then we spread out around the barrier, positioning ourselves strategically.
Once everyone was in place, I shattered the barrier with an end-series magic spear. As the barrier cracked and crumbled, Asue erected a four-meter-high earthen wall around the human camp.
That was the signal for Dhami, Spellsei, and the rest of the mage squad to unleash their magic into the enemy ranks. The pre-planned area-effect spells wiped out hundreds of humans in an instant.
While generating about ten undead per second, I used my transformed left arm—a pseudo-ballista—to fire end-series magic spears. After a few dozen seconds of powerful, indiscriminate attacks that decimated the human grunts, a select few elites emerged from the largest tent in the center and managed to take down some zombies and regular skeletons.
The elites included a silver-haired lady knight in a red cape, a young male priest in white, a fierce red-haired swordswoman, and an experienced-looking, black-clad male mage. They began to rally their troops, so I sent a horde of Black Skeletons to surround the lady knight, focusing their attacks to immobilize her.
While the elites were occupied, we continued to eliminate the surrounding enemies. We captured women (unless they were excessively repulsive) as prisoners, and all proceeded smoothly.
Mounted on Jiro and accompanied by Saburo, I wielded my halberd in a final assault against the elite troops. Ogrekichi, heavily armed and accompanied by his own Hind Bear, fought alongside me. Spellsei, riding her Hind Bear, chanted spells. Dhami, her claymore Moonlight Drops in one hand, used her Enthralling Evil Eye and cast charms left and right. Asue, smiling while swinging her giant war pick, and Bloodsato, the crimson knight with thirty blood blades swirling around her, joined the fray.
I faced the main threats personally—the Lady Knight and her close allies—while my comrades dealt with the remaining soldiers. We took the Lady Knight and any other valuable individuals prisoner, and the battle concluded.
Looking back, it was a brutal battle. It might as well be called a one-sided massacre.
Anyway, putting that aside…
The undead had shouldered all our losses, so while we had injuries among our actual forces, there were no deaths. The enemy, on the other hand, was completely wiped out except for some women and a few other promising individuals.
Since we had surrounded them with earthen walls, there probably weren’t any stragglers, but just to be safe, I scattered the fastest Black Skeleton Assassins around the area. Sunlight would purify them eventually, but as a precaution, they would be helpful.
The results of this surprise attack were an immense quantity of experience, numerous captives, and a large haul of weapons and provisions. The acquisition of magic items and women for breeding was particularly significant.
I ate the bodies of the exceptional individuals on the spot to ensure I could secure their abilities before their freshness decreased.
[Ability learned: Brave Heart!]
[Ability learned: Leg Sweep!]
[Ability learned: Army Command!]
[Job unlocked: Commander!]
[Job unlocked: Heavy Sword Wielder!]
[Job unlocked: Minstrel!]
[Ability learned: Speed Reading!]
[Job unlocked: Strategist!]
[Ability learned: Blacksmithing!]
[Ability learned: Evasion Rate Up!]
[Ability learned: Great Spin Slash!]
[Ability learned: Cross Slash!]
[Ability learned: Hard Qigong!]
[Ability learned: Light Qigong!]
[Job unlocked: Lancer!]
[Job unlocked: Slave!]
[Job unlocked: Farmer!]
[Job unlocked: Monk!]
[Ability learned: One-sided Sense of Justice!]
[Ability learned: Pure Faith!]
[Ability learned: Foolishly Blind Faith!]
[Ability learned: Chained Soul!]
[Job unlocked: Heavy Warrior!]
[Job unlocked: Light Warrior!]
I was quite pleased with the results.
Afterward, I brought back the poisoned and sleeping prisoners along with the spoils of war, administered drugs as I had with the elves before, and threw them in the dungeon. Unlike the handsome elf men, the human men weren’t so visually appealing, so I intended to use them as both sources of information and slaves. I immediately fitted them with collars of enslavement and tossed them all into the same cell together. This time, I showed mercy by not simply killing them. They would work until they dropped dead.
As for the women, I wondered how many days they would be able to withstand their carnal desires.
I reported our gains to the elf chieftain via our communication device. At first, he was astonished and incredulous, but after verifying the facts, he came over personally, guards in tow, along with five barrels of elf wine to express his gratitude.
I wondered if it was appropriate for someone of his rank to come to such a place, but apparently, news that we had annihilated an enemy army had reached the human forces, causing their advance to stall. So, with a nod of mutual understanding, we toasted to our victory.
The elf chieftain, busy as he was, didn’t stay long after the drinking party began—though he enjoyed the snacks the chef sisters had prepared so much that he happily took some with him as a gift when he left.
The revelry continued late into the evening.
At some point, curious about the state of the prisoners, I visited the dungeon to find that every single one of them had already reached their limit. It seemed that humans, being more in tune with their instincts than elves, showed the effects of the aphrodisiac more prominently and quickly.
Even the brave and valiant Lady Knight, who had fought so fiercely, responded sensually to just a gentle touch of my fingertip, displaying a remarkable level of debauchery.
A noblewoman, you say? Well, how interesting. But that doesn’t matter to me now. After all, I’m not a man—I’m an ogre.
Human matters were irrelevant to a monster.
I also found it amusing to see how the male prisoners’ bodies responded, despite the frustrated expressions on their faces. I loaned them out to the female goblins and kobolds who had requested them, though naturally, I was the first to have my way with the Lady Knight.
Today was filled with a variety of different screams.