How the Villain Lives

41. Who does?

Many insects were crying in the dark forest at sunset. At first glance, it was nothing unusual, but if you could see through the darkness and concealed in the leaves, you could see so many people moving at such a fast rate through the night.

They were all biting their mouths with special magic leaves to hide their magic, so that they could keep this much secrecy while moving with an enormous army. The warrior in charge of a squad composed entirely of dark elves raised his arms and sent a stop signal to confirm the destination.

The warrior, staring at the fortress, is silent and distant, as if satisfied with the men who stopped in an instant before the order was issued.

'... It's definitely sloppy.'

You can't build such a large or sophisticated defensive fortress or castle because of the geography of the forest. However, that part is supplemented by the superb archery and traps of the elves. Seeing from the outside, it looks like a hardwood plank, but the hundreds of lives of irresponsibly storming there will be lost in an instant.

"Commander, I don't have one either."

"I'm watching, too. You stupid bastards. Even though I knew the raid was going to happen tomorrow, I didn't expect to let the perimeter get this loose."

Just in case you want to sneak up, even one arrow won't fly. Optimized to defend the majority with a few, it was characteristic of the Elves' defensemen, but it also has limitations. If there are fewer numbers like this, it is impossible to defend without them.

They don't do this to themselves. Even if we know that there will be a big battle the day after, shouldn't we be on minimum guard? Regardless of whether his men received the longbow, the Warrior Leader began to point the bow at the demonstrator by releasing his magic power.

'It's a bit far, but it can still reach enough.'

Elves are not the only archers. Dark Elves are also a kind of people who would be thrilled if they were in the bow a second time. Convinced of being able to hit the elf standing on the wooden book, the warrior hermetically hermetically hermetizes his men and waits a moment. We have to wait for the signal. And a moment later, everyone was waiting for a signal.

Faaah!

A giant sphere of light that emerges from the sky.

It was very brief, but it was an oddly powerful signal that no one noticed in the forest was left with only the awkward moonlight. Scared that the light would disappear, the warrior shoots an arrow and hits the head of Gu Yeon who was on the cardboard and starts to run like a light.

It consisted solely of dark elves, so it was a clandestine ambush that made no sound. However, the first warrior who climbed on the tree broke his peace without his knowledge.

"... What is this?"

"Captain! It's completely empty here!"

"I have eyes, and I know that much. Don't tell me what's obvious."

What I thought was an elf was simply a doll made of zigzag. If you put on your armor and helmet in the middle of the night and stand close to the wood, no one will be mistaken. But this wasn't the point at the moment.

What the hell is going on here? Did you abandon this Node? '

Elongated men have crossed over and searched everywhere, but no battle has taken place anywhere. There was not a single elf left in this fortress. I couldn't understand that.

"Did you notice the ambush on this side?"

As the deputy shook his head, he muttered to himself.

"I don't think so. If you had actually noticed the ambush, you wouldn't have emptied the fort like this if you had made it stronger."

"But this place is actually empty."

'Did you give up this fortress?'

A curious thought. However, the warrior erased the thought of what he thought was worthless. This fortress is not just one. This fortress is a stronghold, where the path of fairies and the path of natural wisdom blend together to form a huge defensive line. The sound of giving this place means giving away the outermost defensive lines that surround the world's water.

Despite taking some time to search as thoroughly as possible in case of an incident, the warrior was forced to worry for a while. This is definitely an anomaly of something. In this situation, it is best to stop the movement and wait for the command above. But this is not the case right now.

'I put most of my power into this operation. There's no stopping us!'

Now this operation is like a sophisticated reversing machine. A minor anomaly in one area could cause a major problem for this huge operation. Eventually, the warrior thought about it for a while and then began to move forward again. Although it was easy to conquer the stronghold, which I thought was clearly the biggest challenge, there was a slight rumbling among the Dark Elves. And this didn't just happen here.

"It's completely empty here."

"Completely ruined. Well, there was no facility to use it properly, and all that was fine was the outside."

"What is it? Are you playing with this mission completed? Aren't you eating all day?"

"I don't think so. You can score points for every elf, but you don't have any elves."

"You have to have an elf to catch it or not. Where the hell did they all go?"

There was not a single elf in all the strongholds or defense ships that the Dark Elves raided. At first there was a bit of a commotion, but eventually they came all the way here and started to move forward a little bit because they couldn't retreat or stand still.

Faaah!

"Here we go."

After checking the herd of light that burst from afar, Arben pulls out Pragarah, takes a small breath, swings his sword as it is, and shoots the crescent-shaped sword. Intangible ambush with no sound, no magic! The Dark Elf, who was bordering on him in a rather stubborn manner, screamed, and his throat flew straight into the sky.

"Enemies...!"

Kwajik!

The other guards were also struck by the arrows of the flying elves following them and began to fall down like a leaf. It was a huge village that would not normally be easy to attack as Arben, but now it is collapsing in vain.

I took most of the power out for the raid, but knowing that they had to ambush me, I was forced to be psychologically distracted. But who do you think could ambush themselves in such a situation?

"Lucia!"

"Yes!"

When Lucia claps her hands, the golden energy begins to spread like a wave around her. The movement of the elves that touched the energy became faster and more powerful, and the dark elves, overwhelmed not only by numbers but also qualitatively, were forced to collapse in an instant.

"Brother, I feel a little impatient than usual."

"You got it?"

Lucia, who has no knowledge of combat, reveals her condition like a tweezer. I wouldn't have realized that I was excited if I was alone, but I can keep my peace in any situation just by giving Lucia one word beside me. After expressing gratitude in his heart about her, Arben speaks out of the blood on his sword.

"I had to. I have no choice but to climb that close rope. If you make one mistake, it'll all be over."

"You didn't forget it was you who set up that little operation, did you?"

"… Phew."

By now, the Dark Elves will be panicking at the empty fortress. Ridiculous operation to get rid of the line of defense. But Arben actually planned that ridiculous operation. At the moment, the most scarce thing for the elves is the head water. It is easy to think that the easiest way to fill in a shortage of numbers is to attract users.

Arben, however, approached it from a completely different perspective.

"What did you say?"

"The current line of defense is so inefficient. It will be hard to keep the current arrangement intact."

"This defensive line is our absolute defensive line, which dates back decades and hundreds of years and has been infinitely improved and completed. Even Arben, I can't listen to that right now."

Arben smiles at Cristina's thorny words.

"I think I was wrong to say. This defence ship itself is very efficient. But in the present situation, it's incredibly inefficient."

"... What the hell does that mean?"

"For a long time now, the number of elves that have led to war has fallen considerably. Of course, even with this number, there's no big problem in building a defensive line. But it's just a phenomenon. We don't have enough power to go backwards."

"Isn't that why you decided to get support from the Lou Church? When they come..."

"They're a bunch, too. Obviously, the power of the subtitle is also important, but the overall number is too low. And fortunately, there's one way to replenish that number."

Cristina, who first heard Arben's opinion, was forced to oppose the danger. However, I felt that Arben's persistent persuasion and a few days later could be the most effective way to attack the Dark Elves and eventually I had to allow it.

Even Lucia, who didn't know about the strategy, stopped the operation. It was giving up the land.

'Having tried to protect an excessively large area, we have no choice but to consume that much manpower. You can get enough surplus troops just by knocking down the current defensive line and building a defensive network in the stronghold at the rear.'

Of course, if you look at the long term, this is a stupid operation that is not even worth considering. You will not be able to achieve maximum defense in terrain unfamiliar with the escalated defenses. However, even if we combine the advantages of their terrain with the benefits of reducing the range of defenses, we will not be able to survive overnight.

'This is a one-day operation.'

An ambush that pushed the defensive line backwards, the remaining users, and escorts the elite troops and Princess Cristina! It's not an ordinary ambush either. A kind of emptiness that takes place when the other person goes after their home country.

"Arben, the conquest is over!"

"Fine. As I said before, the Quarter will stay here and build a defensive line. If you have dark elves attacking you, stop them as much as you can, but if you don't mind, just back off."

"Are you just going?"

"You can't just go. When you go, burn down your space as much as you can or break it down so you can't use the facilities."

Use enemy facilities to defend and destroy them so that they won't be able to use them when running away later. Arben's operation was not just an empty house. It was an optimal route using the information obtained beforehand, a defensive deployment considering the counter-attack of unknown dark elves, and a tactic that included the finesse of destroying the enemy's Node.

'Even if we fail to eliminate the Dark Elves, the Dark Elves will lose the majority of their stronghold. It's sunrise.'

If you succeed in capturing the Dark Elves' stronghold, you will drive the opposing forces behind the constellation that has moved to ambush the current elves. At that time, the elves who have only been defending so far will be in the air. No matter how many Dark Elves I have, can I survive being attacked from the front to the back by losing even a Node?

Ghosts! '

A risky operation that can cause a lot of damage if it goes against any of the rules. However, due to this operation, Arben was finally able to drive out ghosts. Even a ghost wouldn't have expected this much. No, even if you know it, you can't stop yourself unless you already know the Node, Secret Base, Shortcut, etc.

"Can you smile this time?"

Every time we meet, even the ghost who laughed pretentiously will have nothing to do with it. And in anticipation of a battle with the ghost that would follow, Arben suppressed his excitement about the battle as much as possible.

A high-quality tuxedo specially crafted for custom crafting. The tuxedo I wore at first wasn't actually a very good garment for combat, but I paid for it, so I was able to get a robust garment without giving too much movement. Wear white gloves and a black cape after touching the sleeve or neck once or twice. And finally, I wear a mask that has now become completely familiar.

Even though I changed my clothes, I could feel more energy in my body.

"No, it's actually energetic, isn't it? Now that you have the right equipment, it would be natural to increase your stats. Let's see, and finally..."

A sack of swords and a book tied to the opposite side convey a slightly heavier feel to the left waist dance. I am armed and faithful. The current state of Sung-hoon, who took a light night's sleep, even ate meals, and relieved stress personally, is the best.

"So there's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

The appearance of the prison was quite different from that of Sung-hoon when he was first in prison. Bloody blood scattered all over the place and blood flowing to the floor without drying up. And then to the side that's a little bit further apart. There was no body, but it would be easy for anyone to know that something terrible had happened here. After a thorough examination, Sung-hoon applauded the prison landscape with a gratifying face.

"This is a sight to frown on, no matter who sees it. Now, shall I go do my job? Khh."