I Kidnapped the Hero's Women-Chapter 278: War for Survival (2)

[Don't worry. I have no intention of harming you. I just brought these here to prove my power.]

"···."

Thud, thud.

The growling monsters fell to their seats one by one.

The faces of the Northern Duke and the soldiers who had been facing each other with their weapons drawn looked bewildered.

'This side is only the elite troops anyway. If we make a surprise attack, we'll be able to slaughter that group of monsters and capture them···.'

The power gap was clearly tilted towards this side.

Instead of talking while facing each other like this, it would be much more advantageous to kill all the monsters and capture and interrogate them.

However, we still don't know the identity of our opponent or what additional abilities they have.

It would be unwise to clash right away.

The Northern Duke glanced back and signaled for them to put their weapons away.

"Then, let's start with the full name. I am the Grand Duke in charge of the northern region of the empire. State your affiliation and position."

[A scientist of no consequence. I forgot his name a long time ago. I think I lost a significant portion of my memory due to the shock.]

"Scientist?"

[Yes. What you call magic was science in our time. I am a remnant of a civilization from 40,000 years ago. I am the legacy of an old generation that built a civilization far superior to yours.]

"···!?"

Flutter.

The scientist lifted the sledgehammer.

A skeletal, mechanical body was revealed.

What on earth is that?

A wind-up doll?

Or a machine that moves with magic?

Either way, it is something that is absolutely impossible to implement with current magic.

It was too distant to be real since it was a civilization from 40,000 years ago.

For now, I had no choice but to judge that it had some credibility.

"So what do you want from us?"

[Simple. Excavate that ruin... time capsule. To open the time capsule, you have to take it out to the ground, but my strength is not enough, so I need your help.]

"What will the price be?"

[The opening of the time capsule itself will be a great blessing to you. It will accelerate the development of civilization to a level that you can hardly even imagine. The world will develop to the point where your current life feels like that of a primitive savage. All you ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) have to do is wake up my comrades who are sleeping in the time capsule.]

"Haven't you already destroyed yourself once? How can you trust such a race?"

[···.]

The ancient man was silent.

I understand that it has only been 3,000 years since these savages began recording history.

How do you know that we destroyed ourselves 40,000 years ago?

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It was an unexpected turn of events.

[It was an inevitable result, since resources were limited. On the other hand, this era can enjoy much more land and resources, so such unfortunate events will not occur anymore.]

"Just because the land has expanded, limited resources do not become infinite. Is there a guarantee that we will not exhaust the resources again and repeat meaningless fights?"

[Humans are animals that learn from mistakes, right? Those who sleep in the time capsule are a chosen, excellent race. I guarantee that they will never make the mistake of destroying themselves again.]

"···."

The corners of the Northern Duke's eyes widened.

The words themselves sounded plausible.

But it was hard to believe.

Was it because of the emotionless machine voice?

'No. From the tone of voice, I can sense the superiority ideology that looks down on us. That person no longer thinks of us as the same human race.'

The doubt was quickly resolved.

The Northern Duke concluded that this person could never be trusted.

"We will decide on resuming the excavation after a later meeting."

[No. Resume now.]

"I can't help it. It's an order from above."

[If you resume excavation right now, I'll make you 'no one's above'. This is your chance to become a privileged class in the new world.]

"···."

Why are you suddenly acting impatient when I try to postpone a decision?

Unlike how you've been trying to negotiate calmly until now, you're suddenly demanding that I betray my country?

Is there a reason why you have to open the time capsule in a hurry?

You've waited for 40,000 years, so why can't you wait even for a moment···?

'Isn't it because its lifespan is running out···?'

Perhaps that machine that you're talking about is destined to run out of energy and enter eternal sleep.

A fairly plausible hypothesis comes to mind.

The Northern Grand Duke is convinced that he must leave this place immediately.

"We're all returning to the fortress city."

[Are you rejecting my offer? You will regret it.]

"What are you doing! We will withdraw!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

[···.]

The Northern Duke and the soldiers turned around and faced Ester.

The ancient man remained silent, just quietly watching her back.

The Northern Duke felt a slight chill as he did not call her back or try to persuade her again.

"Why are you withdrawing, Your Majesty? Wouldn't it be better to attack him now?"

"He is a monster. There is no way to know what kind of magic he is hiding. Furthermore, the opponent seems to be pressed for time, so if we fight, it would be advantageous for us to build a wall and focus on defense to buy time."

"I understand. We will hurry even further to the fortress city."

The negotiations broke down.

Now, we had no choice but to assume armed conflict.

Since we did not know how much force the other side had, we decided that it would be right to withdraw for now and engage in a defensive battle.

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"Go, Your Majesty! The sound of signal fires and horns···!"

"This···!"

Smoke rose from afar.

A sharp horn sound rang out.

It was a signal that the fortress city was under attack.

What appeared after a hasty run was.

Countless monsters attacking the castle walls.

There were so many that they were climbing the walls by creating a mountain of corpses.

On top of that, there were flying monsters flying over the walls.

"All the monsters in the entire Demon Realm are gathered here···."

The amount was dozens of times greater than the usual monster explosion.

The reason the monsters had dried up until now was because that person had gathered and stockpiled monsters···!

There was no way the castle walls could withstand such an attack.

The defense forces would also be annihilated.

Now, it was not just the fortress city that was the problem, but the existence of the empire that had to be worried.

[Didn't I say that? You'll regret it.]

"···!"

[Resume the excavation work immediately. Then the attack will stop.]

At that moment, the unpleasant voice of the ancient man covering his head with a giant was heard again.

The Northern Duke met his sons' eyes.

No one said a word, but they could clearly see what each other was thinking.

'We'll surprise him.'

There was only one way to stop this attack.

Subdue that ancient man and smash him to pieces.

At that moment, the Northern Duke and his sons naturally reached for their weapons, pretending not to be.

[Don't even think about opposing me. It'll only increase the number of useless sacrifices.]

"···What!?"

At that moment, bang!

A red flash of light flashed from the ancient man's outstretched hand.

The flash of light extended straight ahead, covering the wall in an instant and creating a large hole.

Monsters rushed into the hole.

The Northern Duke's face turned pale as he looked out at that vain sight.

'We can never win.'

At least with the power we have here, we can't win.

Even that old, rusty machine had a fighting power that overwhelmed the elite soldiers.

Then there was only one thing to do.

'We have no choice but to fight here until we die.'

We have to buy some time before that guy makes another hole in the wall.

The moment the Northern Duke and the soldiers all drew their weapons with one mind and one purpose.

The ground rumbled, and even the mud that rose up behind the ancient man joined in.

"Cut off that arm that flashes! I won't allow death until then!"

[Kyaaaaah! Don't bother my attached humans!]

The mud's huge body, the soldiers' spears, and the magician's attacks rushed toward the ancient man.

It was the moment when the ancient man let out a sound similar to a sigh.

"My legs!?"

"Ugh! My body won't listen to me!"

Pass.

The magical fire that was flying while crushing the rock died down.

The Northern Duke and the soldiers who had gritted their teeth and jumped in all lost all their strength and rolled around on the ground.

The Northern Duke's mind went blank at the strange sensation he had never felt before.

When he raised his trembling head, what he saw was.

A faint, tentacle-like illusion behind the ancient man.

The moment he saw it, he knew.

'Black magic···!'

The ancient man uses black magic.

Black magic that is powerful enough to incapacitate all of us.

When he looked around, all the troops were lying on the ground.

The Great Spirit, Mud Mud, had run away and disappeared.

[If you don't like it, then there's nothing we can do. The only thing we have left is manpower. We just have to find more obedient humans and order them to dig.]

"Keuh-euk···!"

At that moment, the breath caught in my throat, and painful groans erupted here and there.

The output of the black magic had reached its critical point, squeezing the mana out of the human body.

I’m going to die without a fight.

I’m going to die like this without even touching the tip of that abominable bastard’s hair.

The moment the Northern Duke sighed and his eyes gradually closed.

"If you sleep here, your mouth will fall off. Please wake up, Your Majesty."

[What on earth are you···?]

Suddenly, his vision became clearer and his breathing became smoother.

A familiar voice.

The Northern Duke turned around with a smile and saw Aslan Vermont approaching with a sinister smile.

Behind him, a vivid haze like a giant tentacle that seemed to cover the entire sky was rippling.