City of Desire

General Azalia

I looked at the body of that monster; it was one of the most difficult battles I had ever fought.

Lord Silver had told me about the monsters' Primal Resonance and how difficult it is to deal with. Still, I did not expect dealing with it would be so difficult despite the aura methods and artifact.

"Thank you," I said to the priest as he cast the healing spell on me before looking around.

My people had dealt with the monsters, but not all of them. There will be more of them in their lair, and we will have to clear that as soon as possible.

"General,"

I got up and was about to give the order to clear the nest when Mage Aldridge appeared beside me.

Seeing him without a scratch, I heaved a sigh of relief. He is the foremost scholar-mage we have in Dominion. If something had happened to him, Greltheaven wouldn't have liked it.

"I hope you will refrain from killing the monsters further," he said, and I turned to the old man.

"These are dangerous monsters; you have seen that with your own eyes," my eyes boring down on his. Despite the artifact and aura methods, I had to push myself beyond my limits to kill the monster.

The others didn't have much of an easier time either. It's why I want to finish them as soon as possible.

As we did with every other shardmaws we have come across.

"I understand that very well, but these yellow crystals growing on their bodies have magic suppression and absorption abilities." "They could be very useful, and I don't want us to destroy the source before we can find out more about it," he stated.

I could already feel the headache growing. agreeing means not killing the monsters and stopping them from killing. I would have to spend considerable resources on that.

It's not something I want to do.

"Fine," I agreed.

I do not want to do that, but as the old man says. It would be very useful, given how we live in a wasteland. We will need all the revenue streams we can get.

Especially the ones from these materials, which also provide influence.

"Thank you, General," he replied and walked away, while I turned to Jon.

"You heard the old man," I said, while he smiled. "It's quite a good opportunity. The city I used to live in has special snails that produce an anti-magic substance; there was a heavy demand for it."

I wanted to ask him how many he stole, but I kept myself from asking by just laughing.

"I will go scout the monster lair," he informed, and disappeared while I turned to my men. We have dealt with monsters, but it was not without cost.

I made the rounds with my men before stopping beside a young woman.

Her large sword and shield are lying beside her, along with her Armor and shoes. She is unconscious, but alive. Though her condition didn't look good.

"How is she?" I asked the cleric.

"Stable, but she pushed herself too hard; her condition was on the verge of collapse," replied the middle-aged priest, without turning away from her.

She did incredibly well; despite being an early Lv. 30, she had fought against late Grade IV shardmaws.

I couldn't compare with her fighting talent. Her talent and will are on par with Colonel Orok and Lord Silver. It is why we want to foster here.

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If we do that, she will be a terror, like Colonel Orok.

"Keep me updated on her progress," I said and walked toward the other injured. There are a lot of injuries this time, and four deaths, which is less than one would expect, given the strength of the monsters.

Well, we had fought with the elite units. Every single soldier had extensive experience.

If we had used regular soldiers, the casualties would have been much larger.

Soon, the carriages entered the cavern and took the injured. Many will need to be in the hospital for days. Potions and spells are good, but some injuries can only be healed in the hospital.

"I will be returning to the city, General," said Lt. General Jarvis.

Usually, one of us stays in the city, but the monsters were such that I had to bring him here, and that was a wise decision. Without him, there would have been more casualties.

I also got to see his full power in the battle.

I sparred with him, but only in battle are true abilities revealed. He is impressive; he was able to kill a Grade V monster despite being only Lv. 39.

It shouldn't surprise me; the man had experience and had fought many battles against the monsters in the baronies.

"Inform me, if there are any surprises," I replied. he nodded and walked away.

His presence here was secret; to the officers outside, he was still in the city, but nothing could be said. The enemy had sent the assassins once and could send them again.

There is no Lv. 40 powerhouse in the city, if Lv. 40 assassins' attack.

We need more Lv. 40's, I am the only one in the city. Jon is borrowed one, while Jarvis is very near. There are a couple like Colonel Orok with potential, but it's going to take time.

The time we do not have.

The Marchioness had already gathered two Lv. 40's while Count Viremont has at least four. With one of them being a very powerful and cruel noble.

They might gather more by the time they descend into the region with their armies. There is a good chance they will attack Panar or Gailhorn first in Dominion, before targeting Greltheaven.

I need more powerhouses.

My thoughts were interrupted by Jon as he appeared beside me. I didn't ask immediately and just waited until Mage Aldridge appeared. So, he wouldn't have to explain twice.

"How are things in the lair?" I asked. "There was one Lv. 40, I dealt with it, I kept the rest alive," he informed before giving the exact numbers of the monsters.

It is a good thing that he killed Lv. 40. It might be valuable, but it is too much of a risk not to handle it.

Shardmaws are not monsters that one could tame; they are too chaotic. I don't know how we are going to deal with them if they turn out to be useful.

We are going to need an expert.

"That is a large number," I said, massaging my head. "They are,"

"Any idea on how we are going to deal with it?" I asked. I mean, we will need to secure them, and that won't be easy given their strength and magic resistance.

"I tried my usual tranquilizers, but three didn't work, and the other two barely did."

"They have high magical resistance. We will need a specific poison. In the meantime, create a pen for them or seal the exit," said the old man.

I don't like it, nor would Governor or Lord Silver.

All of them want to keep digging forward until we reach whatever this place is hiding. It would be good or bad; we have to find and deal with it on our terms.

We didn't want a nasty surprise spring on us when we are not expecting it.

We already have enough of that.

"Temporarily, we will seal the exit, but soon, we will have to find a way to deal with it. Before that, Mage Aldridge, find whether they are really useful."

If they are not, we will simply kill the monsters and start digging. The old man nodded before turning to Jon.

"What else did you find?" he asked. "This," Jon threw a pale, whitish rock at the old man, and his expression turned bad. I could understand why.

Every time we found monsters, we also found Grade IV and VI crystals.

Here, we were expecting something rare, and a whitish rock was one of the things we expected we would not find. There were chances we would, and they are found in places like this

"Not every time, could we find a fortune," he muttered, shaking his head.

Lord Hardt will be disappointed, and I am as well, as rare crystals would have helped the army. Now we will have to bet on the monsters and hope that the yellow crystals that grow on them are very useful.

A few minutes later, Jon left while I discussed a few things with the old man.

Hours passed, and soon, it was evening. I am now in front of a large hole that monsters blasted through and came at us.

I looked at the people working on sealing a hole, using blue crystalline cement. It is special cement; we have brought it for things like this.

Usually, we use earth mages, but given the properties of Drelthar, that is not possible here. So, we are using this very expensive cement to block the cave.

The structure it creates is very hard to break. It could only be broken by a special alchemical solution.

"Will it really hold?" I asked. "Yes, it is more than strong enough to hold against any monster below Lv. 40; even mutated Shardmaws won't be able to break through," replied Mage Aldridge, sounding confident.

I nodded, but I am still going to keep the company of a soldier posted here.

Given the number of monsters on the other side, they could deal with them. If they burst through.

It took an hour and a half for it to finally finish.

"Alert me immediately if it breaks," I said to the Lt. Colonel, who will be commanding the company. "I will, General," he replied. I nodded and walked away with the others.

Equanimous General of Calm Heart Lv. 43

Bullwark Officer Lv. 34

[Skill Gained: Bulwark Arms]

Wildheart Officer Lv. 36

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