Dungeon Defense (WN)

“Goblins, goblins are invading!”

“Stick to the fences! Fuck, don’t run away! Stick to the fences!”

“Sefar, you son of a bitch! Just think about running away and I’ll make sure your family gets it!”

The village was already in complete mayhem. Villagers were gathering behind the wooden fences, but since there were people shouting at the other villagers to stick to the fences, people trying to get as far away from the fences as possible, people screaming helplessly, and people picking up whatever they could in order to prepare for battle, these various types of people mixed together created the physical representation of mayhem.

We watched the village from a distance. The tiered fields around the village didn’t exactly make the scenery romantic, but it was still quite a pastoral sight. If there weren’t people desperately running through the fields and towards the village, that is.

I spoke leisurely.

“It is surprising to see that no one is trying to run away.”

“When it comes to relentlessness, no group is as relentless as the humans that live in the mountains. They are worlds apart from those cowards that live in the plains.”

Parsi acted conceited. I wonder if there’s bad blood between mountain people and flatland people. I smiled bitterly. If there are any outside differences, humans are the type of people to stick whatever reason they can to make their differences distinguishable.

“Those people are wanderers among the lower class.”

Laura informed me from my side. She brushed aside her blonde hair that was blowing in the wind, but the way she did it was so cool that I almost forgot that she was riding on a donkey. In other words, it looked funny. I’m definitely going to gift her an excellent steed later on.

“They were driven here to this monster-ridden mountain range in order to avoid the tax collectors and regional lords. They are resolved to protect what is theirs. The world has made it so that they would be unable to survive if they do not resolve themselves.”

“Do you feel guilty about attacking innocent people?”

“They are the ones who dared to point their swords at Your Highness first. This young lady was never taught how to feel sympathy for Your Highness’ enemies.”

She gave a reliable answer.

It was around this time that the goblins started to let out a cry even though I hadn’t ordered them to. It felt like a mob of monkies with slightly husky voices were chanting in unison while completely disregarding all intonations and rhythm. The goblins hopped around randomly, sang in a language I didn’t understand━it roughly sounded like ‘Kuruguruguruguru!’━and danced around as if they were flailing their limbs. One of them banged on a green leathered drum and managed to make the others somewhat follow a rhythm. This was the anthem of the goblins.

“A battle of spirit.”

“How interesting. Out of all the music I have listened to before, I prefer this one the most.”

“My apologies, Your Lordship, but is there a genre of music that you like particularly the most?”

“I dislike music.”

Laura chuckled.

The villagers on the other side of the fences raised their voices in retaliation. Their song was about protecting the abundant amount of corn that’s harvested on a mountain. All sorts of instruments were utilized, similar to that of an orchestra. Their musical talent was clearly a grade higher than the goblins’. Each time their lead chanter started off a line, the majority of the villagers would follow along. There were even a couple of people who picked up an instrument and followed the beat.

I came to a surprising realization. There was a gong among the instruments used by the villagers, and, if I have to be honest, I hate gongs the most out of all instruments. I always questioned what type of music gongs were ever invented for. Nonetheless, the mystery that I couldn’t solve back in my original world was finally solved here. I’m now certain that gongs are instruments that are meant to be used professionally in war! Despite the loud cries of both the goblins and humans, the gong managed to ring out and penetrate through all of that noise.

“Kill those damned bastards, kill them dead!”

“Hear hear!”

“Kill those damned bastards, kill them deeeead━!”

The hills near the vicinity of the village were soon filled with chanting and the sound of instruments. Honestly, it might be a stretch to even refer to this as music. No, this was just loud noises.

“How long do we have to wait for!?”

I shouted. My voice was almost buried under the noise.

“My apologies, Your Honor! Normally, there is a rule on anthems when human armies face each other! There is an implicit agreement on what must be done in order to win or lose! Nevertheless, it’s this humble one’s first time watching monsters and humans face off with their anthems, so I’m not sure!”

“Parsi!”

“It’s simple!”

Parsi responded as loudly as he could.

“We just have to wait until one side stops dues to exhaustion!”

What a simple rule. If it weren’t for the fact that I had to listen to this damn ruckus, I would have praised the person who created this rule.

“And what if this drags on excessively!?”

“If it drags on, then it drags on! If you’re feeling bored, Your Honor, then how about dancing? The goblins are already going nuts!”

Sure enough, the goblins were dancing as a group now. No matter how much I looked at them, it felt like I was watching a bunch of warlocks holding a ceremony to summon a greater demon. You’re telling me to hop in the center of that and start shaking my hips? I’d rather die.

Fortunately, contrary to my concern, the fight of spirit quickly came to an end. There were no more than approximately 50 villagers. That was far too little to face against almost a hundred goblins. As time passed, the human voices got buried underneath the anthem of the goblins before, eventually, only the sound of a gong could be heard from their side. They had grown exhausted.

━ Kerururururu!

━ Kiruruk! Keru, kirururuk!

The goblins cheered in victory. These guys had also been shouting for a while now, but they didn’t look tired at all. Strangely, in war, people tend to completely forget about their exhaustion whenever they’re overflowing with motivation. On the other hand, if your spirit is beaten, then your strength diminishes drastically as the stress, exhaustion, and feeling of oppression washes over you. This was what was happening to the villagers right now.

Their civilian militia had been transferred to the adventurer party temporarily.

Their manpower was lacking compared to the monsters.

Even their morale dropped.

Victory after victory (勝兵先勝而後求戰). Armies that win go to war after establishing their victory beforehand. Even though a single drop of blood had not been shed yet, the victors had already been clearly decided.

“Your Lordship, it is time.”

“Indeed.”

“Would you like to say something before the battle?”

I turned around.

The massive army of goblins managed to enter my field of vision. I was able to see all of them in a single glance because the goblins were short. Green goblins filled the evergreen hills. They almost looked like a bunch of squirming caterpillars.

I tore a scroll that had an amplification spell on it. A transparent film appeared in front of my face. I activated my <Acting> skill before then shouting.

“Warriors!”

A hundred pairs of eyes turned to look at me. I paused for a moment before continuing my speech.

“I beseech you all to behold those fences!”

I stretched my hand out towards the village. The villagers were quietly listening to me as well.

“Those mountain people have arrogantly built those fences thinking that this land is theirs. After creating their village and piling up some wood, they have begun to act like the owners of this mountain range……Were humans the owners of this mountain range?”

━ Kerururuk!

━ Kiiruk! Kiiruruk!

The goblins started to hop around like aggravated monkeys once I asked them that question. The rage of beasts spread throughout the area. I could clearly understand their words since I was a Demon Lord.

“Goblins have lived here before those humans put down their fences. Goblins have lived here before those humans began to farm. Before those humans dared to step foot on this sacred mountain, goblins had already been here for thousands of years!”

━ Kirururururu!

“Very well then. Allow me to ask you, proud species of the mountain, this.”

I raised my arms up.

“Do you love this sacred mountain range!?”

━ Keruruk! Keruk! Keruruk!”

The goblins all responded at once as they stomped.

I shouted as loudly as I could.

“Are you the warriors that rule these mountains!?”

━ Keruk! Keruk! Keruruk!

“Will you punish those arrogant pigs that have invaded our great land!?”

The goblins cried out.

“That is right! Kill them!”

I made a firm fist.

“Do not forgive those pig bastards that have muddied our food! Strip their flesh! Tear their muscles! Sever their intestines and take their heads! Prove to them who the true owners of these mountains are! Make them realize that they are nothing more than boorish swine! Show them who the hunters━and the hunted are!”

I turned my back towards the massive group of goblins as I spoke.

At that moment, Laura tore a magic scroll. We had arranged to do this beforehand. The scroll she tore had a medium-scale teleportation spell on it. My golems appeared along with a bright flash of white light. A small earthquake shook the earth once they landed. The goblins cheered at the appearance of their reinforcement while the humans screamed in terror.

I then gave my final command.

“All soldiers! Advance!”

━ Khrwuaaaah!

━Kiirurururuk!

A roar that was far superior to all of the singing that had happened earlier echoed throughout the area. The golems took the lead. The wooden fences broke apart like matchsticks once the golems swung their bulky fists.

“R-Run away!”

“We’ll die if our frontline gets pushed back! We’ll die if our frontline gets pushed back━!”

“Fuck! There’s no way we can block them!”

“No! Stick to the fences! It doesn’t matter whether you live or die as long as you stick to the fences, you fucking idiots!”

That one move completely destroyed the villagers’ formation. My golems, which had an average level of 7, weren’t foes that somewhat sturdy mountain villagers could possibly handle with ease.

If it was just the goblins, then they could have defended for a while by sticking their spears between the gaps in the fences. However, they had never considered the possibility of defending against golems. Once the golems destroyed the fences like battering rams, goblins poured into the newly formed openings like water.

It was over like that. A portion of the villagers ran away without turning back. The ones who had remained to fight till the very end lost their will to fight once they saw the others flee. Rather, the runners and archers bumped into each other, causing even more havoc. Goblins and golems rushed in as well which added salt to their wounds.

“Don’t ki━guah!”

“Uaah, uaaaah!”

I had no mercy in my hands. I gave the goblins permission to pillage. To goblins, pillaging meant tearing the flesh off of humans. A slaughter that didn’t discriminate between young men, women, the elderly, and children was carried out.

I slowly walked through the massacre. Laura and Parsi were standing at my sides as bodyguards. Parsi occasionally looked terrified and appalled, but it seems he had some courage since he managed to not fall behind. I still couldn’t believe it from his outer appearance, but Parsi is 15 years old.

“Secure their granary. Group 1, go that way, and group 4, go this way.”

Laura readily gave the golems orders as she walked. Since I had acknowledged her operational authority, the golems obeyed her without any complaints. Referentially, Laura’s expression hadn’t changed since the beginning of the battle. Unbelievably, she’s 15 years old.

‘As I thought, were people mature even when they were young during the medieval ages?’

I was mentally moved by the people of this era.

Honestly, the very fact that the villagers fought back against the monsters that had an overwhelming advantage in terms of numbers was surprising. I had delayed the appearance of my golems because I was worried that a worrying battle would start where the villagers tried to run away as soon as they saw the goblins. Humans are more tenacious than I expected. Of course, there were people who abandoned their family, comrades, everyone in order to save their own necks, but they were an extremely small minority.

“O Great Being! I beg of you, please spare this child at the very least!”

A woman got through the wall of goblins and groveled before me. She had left behind her right arm somewhere while her left arm was holding an infant.

I stopped walked.

“This child……this child has done no wrong! Please……!”

“Laura.”

There was no need for me to give her an explanation.

Laura pulled out her long sword that was on her waist and pierced the woman through her chest in an instant. The blade penetrated through the woman’s soft chest and came out her back. Laura pulled out her sword in one smooth movement. Blood was splattered on the floor. She collapsed to the ground and kept pleading for mercy until her final breath.

I disregarded the woman’s corpse and the infant in her arms as I continued forward.

Parsi came up right next to me.

“Uhm, did you have to go out of your way to kill that one?”

“No, I did not.”

Watching heaps of humans be slaughtered was definitely a sad sight. It’d be fine to even call it a tragedy. The maternal instincts of a woman who desperately made her way through the goblins despite having lost an arm pained my heart especially.

Nevertheless, putting aside my personal feelings, this is a battle between monsters and humans. As I am the leader of these monsters, I can’t allow others to see me be sympathetic towards humans.

I spoke with purely only a political intent.

“Nonetheless, there was no reason for me to go out of my way to spare her.”

***

TL note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I’m sorry. I actually had this chapter finished and edited like 2 days ago, but I somehow forgot about it as I worked on the next chapter. A real feels bad. I’ll try not to forget next time. Ehehe.