Fwoosh—.The fierce flames burning the Black Moss habitat.Crosen and Malt watched the blazing Black Moss cocoons and the surrounding forest with shining eyes."Oh, it really does catch fire.""Remarkable, Lord Loen.""Think nothing of it."With the Azoth Sword stuck into the ground, I nodded.After using Transmutation, the mud that had been so soggy your feet sank deep into it had dried out completely and cracked like a drought-stricken field.Thanks to that, the humidity saturating the forest had dropped, and the effect that had been breaking down the mana particles of flame magic was also weakened.That was why the forest had caught fire so easily.I smiled as I looked up at the thick smoke billowing high into the sky.'Mud is just a mixture of water and earth in the end.'As long as it’s not chemically bonded, separating the two with Transmutation isn’t that hard.I sank the water component and raised the earth component, trapping the moisture scattered throughout the forest beneath the ground.If I were a more skilled alchemist, I might have been able to evaporate all the water in the mud, but that was still out of reach.Even this was only possible because I was using the power of a legendary artifact to push my mana.Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have enough mana to pull off a trick like this.Anyway, thanks to Transmutation, we could ignite the forest easily, and now there was no need to light every cocoon by hand—the fire was spreading across the entire forest.Malt let out a hearty laugh as he watched the burning woods."This’ll be the end of those damn Black Moss. If we burn the whole habitat this time, we won’t see their ugly faces for several months."Freya cautiously asked,"When you say several months… you mean they’ll appear again after that?""Yes. This place is an optimal spot for them to settle, but even if this habitat burns to nothing, another one will form somewhere else. As long as their leader, the Black Moss Queen, is alive."Black Moss Queen.Leader of the Black Moss. As long as it lived, another habitat would form somewhere after a while.Think of it like a queen bee or a queen ant."Black Moss Queen… is it a strong monster?"Ciel’s question was answered by Crosen this time."It’s strong, but more than that, it’s troublesome. Its swarm of Black Moss constantly protects it, and it sprays webs and poison all over, so getting close isn’t easy. If we fought it, we’d likely take considerable casualties.""I see. Then in a situation like this, how do you think it’ll act?"Right now, the fire was spreading across the entire habitat. How would it respond?Malt scratched his beard with an awkward look."Honestly, this is the first time something like this has happened, so it’s hard to predict. It could abandon the habitat and flee, or…"Listening to them, I pulled the Azoth Sword from the ground and stood up."It would be best if everyone prepared for battle.""Prepared for battle… sir?""Yeah. It’s coming."That Black Moss Queen was heading toward us, who had burned its habitat.Burning the cocoons alone, it might have tolerated. But burning the entire habitat clearly wasn’t something it could forgive.Sure, it could lay new eggs, but finding an environment this ideal again wouldn’t be easy.'Actually, this works out nicely.'Burning the habitat while the Black Moss Queen lived wouldn’t have much effect.Since it had come to us, we’d just kill it outright.Crosen and Malt didn’t argue; they accepted my words as they were."Everyone, prepare for combat! Respond to the enemy attack!"As Crosen shouted, I took out a yellow signal flare and was about to fire it.Boom—.But from beyond the forest, a red flare burst first.It looked like the Black Moss Queen was reacting faster than I’d expected.We all exchanged glances, then headed silently in the direction the flare had gone off.***Kieee—.Like bats bursting out of a cave, swarms of Black Moss poured out from deeper in the forest.Whupwhupwhup—.Their skin-crawling wingbeats echoed through the woods.The soldiers of the expedition were in hell from the sudden attack by a swarm of moths larger than eagles."Everyone, shields forward!""Close your eyes! If the poison gets in, you could go blind!"Thud-thud—!The Black Moss swarm threw their bodies against the soldiers’ shields.Even with the shields raised in front of them, it was hard to stay standing when those massive moths slammed into them.And since the poison dust they released was lethal to the eyes, the soldiers couldn’t even open their eyes properly, making it hard to gauge the situation."Dammit, why are they attacking all of a sudden…"They had burned Black Moss cocoons multiple times on a regular schedule, but this was the first time they’d run into a counterattack on this scale.Was this connected to the forest mud suddenly drying out, and the thick smoke rising in the distance?"Everyone, close up formation! It’s dangerous if you’re alone!"If you got swept up in that tidal wave of Black Moss, your life wouldn’t be guaranteed.Black Moss were moth-shaped, sure, but they were carnivorous monsters that ate living animals.Even fully armored, you wouldn’t be fine if their lower jaws got a hold of you."Get together, quick!"The expedition’s soldiers formed up in squads of five, raising shields in every direction around the central knight.Clack—.A five-man shield wall, bristling like a curled hedgehog.They were all veterans hardened by long years of combat, so even in this sudden situation, they responded well—but—Kieek—!Crunch—!There was no telling how long they could hold out like this.The Black Moss bit into steel shields and tried to chew their way through armor."Urgh."The soldiers, eyes closed, thrust their spears as best they could to knock the monsters away, while the knight in the center of the formation used sword aura to slice off the Black Moss clinging to the shields one by one.Each individual wasn’t that strong, but there were so many that, at this rate, they’d be overwhelmed.As everyone struggled under the unexpected Black Moss swarm—Kwoooooom—.With blue lightning, the mud on the ground surged upward, forming high walls.Whud—!Kieek—.The Black Moss swarm, rushing in like a tidal wave, suddenly smashed into the walls and crashed helplessly to the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) ground.Thump-thump—.Like moths drawn to flame, they slammed into the wall and dropped.Some of them changed course or flew over the wall to attack, but their numbers were far lower than before.Thump-thump—.With the sounds of Black Moss thudding against the far side of the wall, the soldiers and knights of the expedition finally got a chance to catch their breath."Hahh, hahh.""What the hell just happened, shit.""And what’s with this wall? Did Loen make it?"I approached them as they were escaping the Black Moss onslaught and catching their breath."Everyone, gather up.""……"At my order, there was no particular reaction. The soldiers just kept peeling Black Moss bits off their shields and wiping away poison.They didn’t bother grumbling out loud, but their attitude was basically, What mutt is barking back there? as they deliberately ignored me.I’d probably have done the same.Crosen, standing at my side, spoke up."Everyone, gather up. Lord Loen has something to say. Hakon, Lanmir.""…Everyone, move."When Crosen called out the names of the knights and asked them, the knights commanding each squad ordered their soldiers.Only then did the soldiers drag themselves over toward us.A quick headcount showed, thankfully, no missing personnel.As expected of elite troops, this level of attack hadn’t taken anyone out.A few soldiers were rubbing at their eyes, probably suffering from the Black Moss poison.I took antidote potions and health potions out of my subspace pouch and handed them over."Use these. They’ll help with detox and recovery."In a sense, it was like giving them the disease and then the cure, but it was better than nothing."Thanks."After nodding at the soldier who thanked me, I began to speak."The reason the Black Moss swarm attacked you just now is because I tried to burn down the entire forest that serves as their habitat.""……""Soon, their leader, the Black Moss Queen, will come here as well. We’ll subjugate the Queen right here and make sure the bastards don’t attack the soldiers on the wall for the next several years."If we burned the habitat and took down the Queen, the Black Moss wouldn’t be attacking the wall for at least a few years.'It’s not like taking down one Queen will erase all the others…'But Queens in other regions had no reason to abandon their own habitats and relocate all the way here, so at least the area near the wall would be safe."Everyone, prepare for battle."Just as I finished explaining and ordered them to fight—A soldier raised his hand and spoke to me."We only take orders from Duchess Aslan."A middle-aged man staring at me with hard eyes.It wasn’t just him; the other soldiers’ gazes were the same.Even the knights who were on relatively good terms with Aslan and had been willing to cut me some slack didn’t object here.'Honestly, I wouldn’t follow my orders either.'Some delinquent bastard nobody trusts suddenly says he’ll command the expedition and starts giving orders—who’d trust that and follow along?Sure, I’d built them a bathroom yesterday for their convenience and just now thrown up a wall to protect them from the swarm, but that and obeying my commands were two separate matters.And if you thought about it, this Black Moss attack had happened because of my actions, which only made it harder for them to follow me.But so what.'If they don’t like it, they can die here.'Whether they obeyed my orders or not, the Black Moss Queen’s attack was coming.Moving under my command was the best way to minimize casualties.I was the one with the leverage, not them. I folded my arms and said,"You don’t have a choice either way.""……?""What’s that supposed to mean?"As the soldiers tilted their heads—Kieeeee—!!A horrible shriek, like it was tearing the eardrums, rang through the entire forest.The air in the woods trembled, and the mana scattered all around resonated to the Black Moss Queen’s will.As the mana in the forest shuddered, the hair on my skin stood on end and a chill ran down my spine."Urgh."The regular soldiers, whose mana resistance was low, dropped to the ground, clapping their hands over their ears, and even the knights grimaced as they pulled mana up through their bodies.The scream grew closer and the mana’s resonance intensified.At that resonance, the Black Moss that had smacked into my wall and fallen began to twitch and wake up one by one.Shiver—.The unpleasant sound of the Black Moss’ wings vibrating.Crunch—.At the same time, something huge approached, smashing the forest trees aside.Kieeeee—!Boom—!Breaking through the spindly forest, the massive pitch-black shape appeared before our eyes.Goooooh—.Patterns glowed red on its wings, which were shrouded in heavy darkness, leaking ominous mana.Its long, drooping feelers like willow branches and its sharp, hook-shaped legs looked like they could rip human lives away without effort.Kieeeee—!!It was the queen of the Black Moss, the Black Moss Queen.She was not an opponent that even these long-hardened soldiers and knights of the expedition could easily defeat.The expedition wouldn’t be annihilated, but taking her down would inevitably cost a few lives.'Of course, that’s if I weren’t here.'I spoke to the soldiers, who had frozen up."Everyone, prepare for combat. We’re going to bring down the Black Moss Queen before Aslan gets here."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.