Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 450 - 441: Sigmund’s Selfish Motive

Dragon Howl Valley is a basin surrounded by steep mountains, connected to the outside world by only a narrow passage.

The name "Dragon Howl" doesn’t actually have anything to do with dragons. It’s because whenever strong winds from outside funnel through the narrow entrance, they create a piercing howl resembling the roar of a giant dragon, thus the name.

Perhaps due to this unique terrain, the magic power within the valley is exceptionally thin, causing spells to be significantly less effective, with their power reduced to less than half of what they would be outside.

This makes the valley easy to defend and difficult to attack; whether attacking from outside or breaking out from within, both are extremely challenging.

However, for the same reason, it can also be easily sealed off by external forces and is not an ideal place to hold out.

Alama’s reason for retreating here was simple: there were no better choices.

After successive setbacks, this was the only nearby place where his remaining troops could barely rely on the terrain to fend off the Demon Race’s offensive.

If they retreated to other cities or fortresses, they would only be pursued relentlessly by Sigmund’s cavalry until their complete annihilation.

However, this scenario was precisely what Sigmund was eager to see.

Alama couldn’t bear to abandon his soldiers, but Sigmund was only concerned with Alama himself!

After two crushing defeats, even if those remaining troops were let go, they wouldn’t be able to regroup in a short time, so Sigmund didn’t care about their fates at all.

But Alama was different. This guy was not only an enemy Sigmund had been facing for decades, but their enmity went even further back!

Sigmund always wanted to personally execute this sworn enemy!

And the best part was, these human soldiers whom he didn’t care about in the slightest could help him trap the Alama he dreamed of eliminating!

In fact, according to Prince Visarus’s orders, Sigmund was supposed to prioritize besieging Three Mountains City with his forces, to annihilate the Kingdom’s main force, along with the Sword Saint, thus securing absolute victory.

But when carrying out this plan, Sigmund added a personal touch.

During the march, he deliberately left an opening, just to see if Alama would take the bait.

Sure enough, Alama couldn’t sit by and watch the Demon Race surround Three Mountains City. Knowing it might be a trap, he still steeled himself to launch harassment, and finally fell right into it!

After this battle, Alama’s troops were on the brink of destruction, an enticing prize ripe for the taking.

Thus, as the frontline commander, Sigmund had ample reason to legitimately delay the plan to besiege Three Mountains City, in order to first deal with this thorn in his side, Alama!

As long as he acted quickly enough without taking too long, even Prince Visarus wouldn’t criticize him too much afterward for adding another glorious victory to his record.

The reason for such elaborate planning was his fear that once Three Mountains City was truly captured, Alama—seeing that all was lost—might escape!

Whether he fled to the Elf Forest, the Dwarf Mountains, or the Archipelago, trying to end this thorn in his side personally would then be a matter of uncertain time.

After all, even if the Empire swallowed vast territories of the humans, it would take time to digest them, and it couldn’t wage endless wars.

Fortunately, everything was going according to his script. Alama indeed led his shattered forces into the final resting place Sigmund had chosen for him.

Although Dragon Howl Valley is easy to defend and hard to attack, that premise rests on the power balance between the attackers and defenders not exceeding a certain limit.

Given Alama’s current exhausted, morale-lacking troops, as long as Virelis led her slow-moving yet tough-skinned Giant Demon troops here, he was absolutely confident that he could tear open the valley’s defenses within a day and bury Alama here completely!

Of course, that two-handed greatsword embedded with a Sunstone in Alama’s possession was indeed quite a hassle.

If that thing appeared on the battlefield, it would continuously emit scorching power like the noonday sun, causing Sigmund to feel weak and unwell, and significantly weakening many blood race warriors in the army.

However, the Demon Empire is vast, with many types of troops, not just the blood race.

The previous victory over Alama was precisely because of those troops under Virelis that weren’t afraid of sunlight.

In reality, Sigmund originally wanted to capture Alama alive.

His plan was to capture Inanna once the Empire achieved final victory, forcing Alama to watch his daughter tortured to death with his own eyes!

Only in this way could he vent the years of deep-seated hatred weighing on his heart.

However, considering the mysterious source of his roommate, Sigmund was somewhat cautious, and ultimately decided to play it safe by choosing to kill Alama directly here.

He cast a long glance in the direction of Dragon Howl Valley, letting out a cold laugh.

He then turned around and began internally appeasing his roommate, who was clamoring to take control.

"It was my fault this time; I accidentally drank it all," Sigmund attempted to reason, "Please don’t cause trouble this time. Once these humans are dealt with, I plan to use this victory to ask His Majesty for that Book of Miracles you fancy. What say you?"

Sigmund brought up their shared interests, truly fearing his roommate would cause trouble now, as it had happened before.

"And what about our credit for capturing High Castle Fortress?" The voice in his mind was full of discontent. "According to our agreement, you should’ve given me the book long ago!"

We... Sigmund repressed his urge to burst out in anger, patiently explaining, "The war isn’t over yet, how can we demand rewards halfway through?"

"But you drank my half!"

"I’ll make up for it afterward, but for now, just..."

"I considered you a friend, sharing half of everything good I have. Yet you still took my share! Do you look down on me? Asking for the book too was just an excuse, right?!"

Seeing the other about to lose control, Sigmund decisively abandoned any attempts to reason, quickly stopping him: "Alright, alright! Don’t rush, you don’t need to rush! I’ll arrange for someone to send a message right away to get you the Book of Miracles, okay? You can have the entire next batch of blood all to yourself too!"

As Sigmund hastily summoned a subordinate and issued a clear order before his roommate to send a message back to High Castle Fortress, the voice in his mind gradually calmed down, turning into a series of unintelligible mutterings.

Sigmund sighed in relief, raising a hand to pinch the thick space between his brows, finding dealing with his roommate more exhausting than facing ten Alamas.

...

A day later, Virelis, lagging slightly behind, arrived with her Giant Demon troops to join Sigmund.

As for Eleanor, still not fully recovered, she was left at High Castle Fortress.

Prior to the battle, Sigmund found a rare moment of leisure to persuade surrender: "Alama! Are you planning to die here with your men?"

*Puff—*

"If you surrender, I promise to only kill you, how about that?"

*Heh heh...*

Unfortunately, Alama clearly had no interest in talking with him under these circumstances, and his roommate’s inexplicable low laughter in his head completely squashed his desire to say more.

The bat body then disintegrated, turning into a wisp of shadow energy, eventually condensing into an intelligence scroll with a magic seal in his palm.

Sigmund unfurled the scroll, quickly scanning its contents with his eyes.

However, after reading it, Sigmund frowned.

The description in the intelligence made it difficult for him to understand for a moment.

What did it mean... an army composed of humans, Puki, and storm elemental spirits was heading in this direction?