Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 122

“Move slowly!”

A goblin shouted.

“Shhh!”

Another goblin put a finger to its lips.

“My bad! Sorry!”

The goblin, realizing it had spoken too loudly, quickly shut its mouth.

The goblins were rolling an orc barrel that was almost as big as they were.

Thump, thump—

A dried-up stream bed, its bottom exposed.

Twenty goblins scurried busily across the stream bed.

“Found it!”

On one side of the stream bed was a hole slightly taller than a goblin.

The hole was the entrance to the underground sewer, and the exit was beyond the barrier in front of them.

Originally, the entrance should have been hidden by water in the stream. However, the stream had dried up more than a decade ago, leaving the entrance clearly visible.

“Entrance. Blocked.”

The goblin who found the entrance tilted its head.

A rusty grate blocked the entrance.

“I’ll open it.”

A slightly larger goblin grabbed the grate and shook it. It came off with a clunk.

It had rusted badly from lack of maintenance over the years.

It was surprising it was even attached.

“Going in!”

“Be careful!”

The goblins, even with their low intelligence, knew that what was inside the barrel was a very, very dangerous explosive, so they were terrified. They carefully rolled the barrel into the sewer.

Thump, thump—

“Easy!”

Inside the sewer, there were grates and various obstacles set up to prevent invasion. However, like the entrance, they were either not working due to lack of maintenance or easily broken.

“I can see outside!”

“Shhh! Stack the barrels and get out!”

Of course, even in this state, it wasn’t a major problem for defense.

The width of the sewer wasn’t large enough for orcs or goblins to invade on a large scale, and even if an invasion wasn’t detected in advance, there were many ways to block the sewer.

But what if it wasn’t an invasion through the sewer?

What if they blew up the sewer to collapse the ground?

Clunk.

The goblins stacked the orc barrels filled with gunpowder in the sewer.

“All done!”

“Light it!”

From the sewer exit to under the barrier.

The goblins rolled countless orc barrels, stacking them neatly, and lit a long fuse inserted into the last barrel.

Fzzzzz…

“Run away!”

“It’s gonna blow!”

Seeing the fuse burning quickly, the goblins screamed and quickly ran out to the stream bed.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

As they came out to the stream bed, a huge explosion struck the goblins’ backs.

“KIEEEEEEK!”

Some goblins, terrified as the smoke spewed out of the sewer and engulfed them, thrashed about with screams.

But soon they realized that nothing was happening and peeked out of the stream bed. What happened to the barrier?

“Failure?”

Disappointment clouded the goblins’ faces.

Despite the loud noise, the barrier seemed unharmed.

The ground where the explosion occurred was only bulging slightly.

“The barrier is fine!”

“We failed!”

“Doomed!”

At that moment, the ground suddenly gave way.

As the bulging ground collapsed, the barrier was pulled in as well.

The 30-meter-high barrier tilted backward with a roar.

Rumble——

Like a giant falling, the barrier collapsed.

The five elves who were dozing or chatting on the barrier were caught in the collapse. They were caught between the collapsing barrier before they could even escape, and were immediately crushed to death by the falling pile of stones.

“Huh…?”

“The barrier collapsed?”

The goblins stared blankly at the scene.

Forgetting to chatter, they could only gape at the sight of the giant that had blocked them for so long collapsing so futilely.

###

I severed the connection with the kite.

It was enough to see the barrier collapsing.

“It’s over.”

“You really succeeded?”

Zinork wore a dubious expression.

“How, how is this possible?”

“On the surface, it seems impregnable. But there are always weaknesses.”

“Weaknesses?”

“What do you think is the fundamental problem with the elves’ barrier?”

Zinork frowned, unable to answer.

I chuckled at the sight.

“It’s the length. The fundamental problem with the elves’ barrier is its length.”

Since the border with Pantonia was surrounded by a barrier.

How tightly could a length comparable to the Great Wall of China be guarded?

Moreover, the elves were not a race with a unified dynasty.

“The elves, like your orcs who are divided into tribes, and the lizardmen who are divided into three kingdoms, are a race with various countries such as empires and kingdoms in disarray. Accordingly, the barrier is also managed separately by several countries.”

It was fine when the Great Wall was built to prevent the recurrence of the Orcs’ Great Migration. Even though there were several countries, the construction was led by Gaumelga III, who defeated the Orcs, so there was unity.

However, after the construction was completed, the barrier was divided into five parts and managed, and as a result, the borders between countries were not maintained.

“The border between the empire and the kingdom. The reality is that they are just trying to read each other’s minds over who will manage it. Also, how many times have you attacked the barrier? There are several places on that long barrier that have never been attacked since its construction.”

“Is that where you aimed?”

“That’s right. The magic power scattered by the mages has regained its balance, moss has grown on the unmanaged walls, and an underground sewer has been built under the barrier, a very clear weakness.”

They avoided responsibility, believing that the other party would protect the barrier, a significant number of guards were drafted due to the war with Vlad, and military discipline fell into complacency due to the long peace.

With these three factors combined, how could the barrier withstand it?

“If the barrier’s defense system had been working properly in the first place, the sky would have been full of elf scouts from the moment you started gathering warriors. But look. What is in the sky?”

The sky was clear.

There were no clouds or birds.

“Even when you cross the barrier, they won’t notice your invasion.”

“······.”

The length of the collapsed barrier was not that long.

Only about ten meters?

Since the height of the barrier was high and the width was wide, a hill was created even after the collapse, creating a defensive structure similar in height to the barrier. But for orcs and goblins, hills were not an obstacle.

“How long are you going to hesitate? Are you waiting for a better opportunity than this? There is none. If you miss this opportunity now, you will never cross the barrier again, and you will be remembered as the most cowardly orc in history.”

Gnash…

Zinork glared at me, clenching his teeth.

Knowing that he was being played by my scheme, he couldn’t refuse.

I smiled and faced him.

“Are you perhaps going to refuse? Are you going to throw away this opportunity?”

“No! We will hunt elves!”

“Then go. It’s time to fulfill your long-cherished desire.”

Soon, 100,000 orcs and goblins rushed across the barrier into the land of the elves.

A week later, another 100,000 orcs and goblins crossed the barrier, and a week later, another 100,000 orcs and goblins crossed the barrier again.

After crossing six times like that, there were no more groups crossing the barrier.

‘With this, the orcs will not be able to covet the empire.’

Just as the Council was tied to Vlad.

The orcs and goblins were also tied to the elves.

All the obstacles blocking my expedition had disappeared.

I led the expeditionary force across the Nerup Plains to the east, to the land of the lizardmen. It was spring, two months after the defector Huana arrived in the empire.