Meanwhile, one of my body doubles was stealthily approaching the enemy’s main camp. Utilizing the sorcerer job’s specialty in status ailment attacks, I lowered the awareness of the surrounding enemies. Combining the assassin job class with abilities such as Perception Interference and Hiding, along with a magic item called the Cloak of the Hermit, I managed to hide my presence completely. This daring maneuver was all to get close to the next emperor, the enemy’s supreme commander.
I didn’t intend to kill him. If I did, the Empire would stop at nothing to annihilate the elves. They wouldn’t relent until every last one was dead, no matter the cost. That was something we absolutely had to avoid. If the Empire came at us with its full strength, we would be easily overwhelmed by sheer numbers. It would be far too difficult to fend them off.
I also wanted to maintain a good relationship with the elven chieftain. Letting him get killed was not an option. Some materials could only be harvested in this forest, and losing our base would be disastrous.
These were the thoughts that ran through my mind as I successfully positioned myself behind the next emperor, who was wearing an exceptionally ornate suit of armor. There were guards around, but none of them noticed me whispering to their commander.
I instructed him to retreat, slipped a small vial of red medicine—made from my blood and capable of curing the princess’s illness—into his breast pocket, and explained how to use it. Then I whispered a few other things, and when he confirmed his understanding with a silent nod, I swiftly departed.
Having completed my task, I communicated with Asue via the transmitter, asking her to build a large earthen wall to separate the two armies. We had already taken down nearly half of the enemy forces, so this would probably be enough.
Before the enemy could break through the earth wall, we quickly gathered our injured and dead comrades, as well as the remains of the chimera, and made a hasty retreat. Ideally, I would have liked to take the bodies of some of the more skilled enemy soldiers, too, but time was too short. I had already sampled a bit during the battle, so I had to be content with that. We had plenty of loot as it was.
Patience, patience.
We avoided the human army’s pursuit by sacrificing a large number of Black Skeletons.
Once we retreated to our base in the cave, we hurried to treat the injured. As we were focusing on the critically wounded, the elven army’s medical unit, which I had requested during our retreat, arrived. This significantly sped up the treatment process, and very few of our own died from delayed care.
Afterward, the elven reinforcements returned, leaving behind only about a hundred former slave soldiers whom we had brought back.
I didn’t see any need to kill these people if they weren’t a threat. So, to respect their wishes, I told them they were free to leave if they wanted, but if they decided to stay the night, they should ask someone about the rules here. With that said, I stepped outside the cave.
We’d experienced our first casualties, losing six hobgoblins, two hobgoblin mages, eight goblins, ten kobolds, and four male elves—thirty in total. It was our most chaotic battle yet, and against an exceptionally strong enemy. Considering that one of the Empire’s Heroes had even participated in the battle, the fact that we suffered only as many casualties as we did could be considered fortunate.
Thankfully, we managed to recover the bodies of everyone we lost. This was something I insisted on. We took out their internal organs to eat, then burned the rest of the remains as we had once done for the women captured by the older goblins. The number of bodies meant we needed a large amount of Yu Grass to burn them. The flames roared, and sparks flew. To keep the location of our base secret despite the large fire, we scattered the black smoke using Aeromaster.
Everyone gathered around. Some offered prayers, others cried, and some simply watched the flames with blank expressions. Personally, I didn’t feel sad. I shed no tears. Rather, I resolved to live greedily for those who had been consumed.
After ensuring the bodies were completely burned, I checked the condition of our worn-out weapons and armor and ate the chimera meat we had collected. It would be a waste not to use my Absorption ability within its efficacy time limit.
[Ability learned: Synthesis!]
[Ability learned: Chaos Wraith!]
Eating the chimera granted me two interesting abilities. Synthesis allows me to combine multiple items or abilities to create new ones. It seems versatile and useful. Chaos Wraith appears to enhance incorporeal monsters like ghosts by merging them together.
I was too tired to test them out today. After setting up a suitable sleeping area for the former slave soldiers, I relaxed in the hot spring and then lay down on my handmade bed in the bedroom.
If this war continues to go well, my contract with the elven chieftain will come to an end. When that time comes, I’ll prepare thoroughly before finally venturing beyond the forest.
Decision made, I drifted into a deep sleep.