Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 130

Creating a Human Empire with Subordinates 132

Human Ranch (12)

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“Huh?”

Kuiraou opened his mouth.

“Huh, huh?”

Stupid sounds escaped him.

He couldn’t process what was happening. The situation had shifted too quickly; his mind couldn’t keep up. Just moments before, he had been certain of victory, everything unfolding as he predicted. Now, in an instant, it had all been overturned.

The duel with the human from the west…

He never imagined he could lose to a mere human, to livestock. The resistance had been stronger than anticipated, but he believed he could crush them with a little more effort. What in the world had gone wrong?

Kuiraou couldn’t accept this reality.

“Aaaargh!”

A warrior screamed.

It was Kuiraou’s ten-thousand commander [a military rank indicating command over ten thousand soldiers].

Gehardt struck the commander’s head with the pommel of his sword. The warrior, second only to the war chief and known for hunting even his own kin, died instantly, his skull shattered.

The war chief was already dead, and now his second-in-command had fallen as well. What about the rest? All the warriors Kuiraou had confidently presented were being slaughtered.

Swish!

As their blood soaked into the dry earth, Kuiraou’s aide shouted urgently.

“Lord Kuiraou!”

Kuiraou remained stunned.

He simply stared at the carnage, eyes wide with disbelief.

“We must withdraw the warriors! At this rate, they will all die!”

Kuiraou snapped out of his daze at the near-roar.

“Withdraw! Withdraw the warriors!”

Thump! Thump!

The drums signaling retreat began to beat.

But it was too late, far too late.

By the time the drums sounded, only six Lizardmen remained standing. Moments before the reversal, there had been nearly a hundred on both sides, but now less than half that number survived.

Not a single human lay dead on the ground.

It was a complete and utter humiliation.

“Kuh… Uh, huh…!”

Thud.

All the Lizardmen who had participated as champions were dead.

The human soldiers cut down the Lizardmen who turned and fled.

“……”

The only race left standing in the open space was humans.

In the silence where even screams had died away, Kuiraou clenched his fist.

Crack…

A trap.

The word seared itself into his mind.

He realized now that the duel had been a trap.

“That damn monkey!”

The act of inducing a duel, claiming a full-scale battle would result in heavy losses for both sides, was a deception. The duel was a snare to eliminate Kuiraou’s strongest warriors.

Realizing this, rage boiled within him.

If Kuiraou were human, his face would have turned red and swollen, as if about to explode.

“To dare… to dare deceive me?”

He slammed his fist down.

The body of a worker in front of him was instantly crushed.

His body was torn open from head to navel.

“Heok!”

The workers who had been attending to him scrambled away from his side.

He trembled, consumed by rage, unaware of what he had done. He only glared at the human leader of the livestock, facing him in the distance.

The Emperor of the Human Empire, Edar.

Edar’s mouth curved into a shape.

“……!”

Kuiraou didn’t understand human expressions, being a Lizardman.

However, at this moment, he instinctively knew what Edar’s expression meant.

The expression Edar wore was one of ridicule.

Kuiraou could no longer contain himself.

“Kill!”

He roared.

“Tear that bug to pieces and kill him!”

Magic surged from his intense emotions, shaking the ground.

The wind howled, dark clouds gathered, and thunder rumbled.

“Are my words not enough! Kill him now!”

“Lord Kuiraou…”

His aide hesitated, approaching him cautiously.

Afraid of being killed like the worker moments before.

“We, we want to, but…”

Kuiraou turned his head sharply.

The aide flinched at the fierce gaze.

He cowered in fear and stammered.

“Want to but? But what!”

The aide closed his eyes tightly and spoke.

“Who will command…?”

Kuiraou’s movements stopped abruptly.

He froze, his mouth still open in a roar.

“What?”

“There are no warriors to take command.”

Who had he sent out as champions?

The strongest individuals, the elite, from Kuiraou’s army.

From the war chief to the thousand-man commanders [military rank indicating command over one thousand soldiers], he had sent out the core leaders who commanded his army. Where were they now?

They were sprawled out dead in that open space.

“Was this… the aim?”

Humans valued lineage as much as strength.

Therefore, the commander was not always the strongest.

Sometimes a weak lord would lead a strong knight.

But Lizardmen were different.

“He targeted my warriors, no… my commanders.”

Lizardmen were a race with inherent ranks from birth.

Whether they were born as a god incarnate, a warrior, or a worker. The ranks defined their roles, and within those roles, they competed for superiority through strength.

Workers could not become commanders, and the only class that could become commanders were warriors. And warriors followed warriors stronger than themselves. It was a pyramid where strength determined the hierarchy.

The warriors Kuiraou had sent out as champions were the top commanders, ranging from thousand-man commanders to ten-thousand-man commanders and the war chief. Those who had been slaughtered in the duel were precisely them.

“……”

If they fought in this situation?

They would only charge mindlessly like Orcs and Goblins.

Even if Kuiraou was simple-minded enough to be called foolish, he wasn’t that bad. If he were, he would have been pushed aside by Sumon Temana and Koahmik long ago.

“……”

Kuiraou silently closed his mouth.

The boiling rage subsided.

Clack, clack.

Then, Edar rode his horse forward.

“Will you accept the result, Kuiraou?”

His voice was clear, amplified by soul magic.

“…Result?”

Kuiraou let out a hollow laugh.

“The match is invalid. From the beginning, you had no intention of having a fair duel, and now you’re telling me to accept the result? Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Is that so.”

Thump!

A loud drumbeat echoed.

Behind Edar, the Imperial Army advanced.

The Lizardmen swallowed hard at the sight of the approaching army of 60,000, having completed their crossing and formed ranks.

An army with all the high-ranking commanders gone except for Kuiraou. Even the number of soldiers was less than half of the enemy’s. The thought that it would be difficult to win even against the humans, who were despised as livestock, was deeply ingrained in their minds.

“P, prepare for battle!”

Kuiraou’s army buzzed with commotion.

Their movements were disorganized, unlike the approaching enemy.

Kuiraou glared at Edar with bloodshot eyes.

“……”

Retreat or fight.

He hesitated between practicality and honor.

Thud!

Edar raised his right hand to stop the advance.

“I ask again. Do you accept the result?”

Gritting his teeth, blood trickled between them.

“Are you trying to intimidate me…!”

Kuiraou was the incarnation of a Lizardman god.

How high was the pride of one who was revered as a deity?

Yet, his lofty pride had been shattered twice.

Defeated in the initial battle, and caught in the trap of the duel.

Even if he fought now, it would not erase the humiliation.

“No, Lord Kuiraou!”

His aide stopped him as he was about to shout.

If he hadn’t intervened, Kuiraou would have declared war.

“Please endure!”

“Shut up!”

“Cough!”

Kuiraou grabbed his aide’s neck.

“How dare you command me?”

Gasping for breath, the aide continued.

“N, no! I’m not saying we shouldn’t fight…!”

Kuiraou slightly loosened his grip.

“I’m not saying we should retreat completely. Just for a moment. Just a day. Appoint new ten-thousand and thousand-man commanders and join Lord Koahmik’s army—”

He understood what his aide was suggesting.

To feign acceptance of the duel’s outcome, regroup the army, and strike the Imperial Army’s rear.

In the past, he would have killed anyone who suggested such a petty trick, declaring, ‘Would a god incarnate need to resort to such tactics?’ But was there any other choice now?

“You must have your revenge! Lord Kuiraou!”

After hesitating, Kuiraou threw his aide aside.

“Damn it!”

He bowed his head, trembling with anger.

That was his signal that he would accept the result.

To cede the human ranch in Sochitlak to the Empire.

Kuiraou answered, cutting off his words with humiliation.

And immediately sent a familiar [a magical creature or spirit bound to a witch or wizard to assist them] to Koahmik.

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“He lost?”

Koahmik’s eyes widened.

He was standing by the river, gazing at the opposite bank.

The familiar sent by Kuiraou’s shaman [a priest or priestess regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits], a crow, perched on his shoulder and squawked loudly.

– That bastard tricked me! He set a trap and killed all my warriors!

The staccato tone was completely different from Kuiraou’s. It was because the shaman’s skills were poor, and he couldn’t handle the familiar easily, causing the words to be cut off.

“How much damage did you take?”

– Thousand-man commanders! Ten-thousand-man commanders! Even the war chief! I, who had never yielded even to the bloodline, was pushed back by a monkey! I had to retreat!

Kuiraou vented his anger through the crow, conveying his situation without hiding anything.

Koahmik listened quietly to the near-lamenting story.

– I will attack again.

“Again? Didn’t you promise to hand over the humans?”

– It’s a lie. Just as that bastard tricked me, I tricked him too. He told me to stay here and wait until I gathered the humans. I will attack when he is off guard!

The crow took a breath and continued.

– You must join me too. Can you cross over?

Koahmik shook his head.

“Not today. I’m building rafts, but the quantity is not enough.”

– There is plenty of time. I will wait until the expeditionary force arrives. Make enough rafts so that we can cross at once. If you and I strike together, we can overwhelm him!

“I will.”

Just as Koahmik was about to send the crow back,

“Hmm?”

A messenger urgently approached him and whispered.

“…What?”

The crow tilted its head at his frozen expression.

– What’s wrong?

“The rear guard has appeared.”

– Rear guard? You mean humans?

Koahmik nodded heavily.

“The number is 30,000.”

– 30,000? That’s nothing.

The number of Imperial soldiers currently facing the river was 60,000.

The rear guard was half that number, but even so, it was small compared to the two god incarnates and the expeditionary force that would soon join them. Moreover, the advance party was facing the river, so how could they join up with the rear guard?

The crow mimicked Kuiraou’s sneering laugh.

It seemed to think that Koahmik was making unnecessary fuss.

“Nothing? He’s targeting my capital again!”

But the crow fell silent at the words that followed.

“He crossed the mountains again. He called for reinforcements in advance, intending to fight us. Knowing that I would aim for his rear, he’s aiming for my rear in reverse!”

The kingdom’s capital was defenseless.

Because Koahmik had led the entire army to cooperate with the Imperial Army. It was even more defenseless than when the Imperial Army’s advance party had arrived at the capital in a surprise attack.

“I have to go back.”

– Wait!

The crow cried.

– Are you telling me to face him alone!

“Then what? Are you telling me to abandon the capital like this?”

– If the rear guard attacked your city, it’s already too late even if you go back now! Rather, catch that bastard and hold him accountable!

Koahmik, who had turned around, paused.

As Kuiraou said, even if he sent an urgent message through the familiar, it was a very long distance from the border to the capital.

Perhaps it had already been occupied and plundered.

– Even if that’s not the case, what can the rear guard do if you catch that bastard?

“……”

Koahmik pondered for a moment and asked.

“When will you attack? What is the exact time?”

– Tomorrow morning. When the day breaks.