Volume 6, Chapter 19 – Exposed

Very soon, in accordance with Julius’s plan, Dawn’s border forces began to pull back in an orderly fashion.

At the same time that Dawn’s forces started to contract, Julius, Orgum, and a number of Dawn’s commanders all personally went out to direct the matter of shrinking the defensive line.

As they had agreed beforehand, while the main army was retreating, a small portion of the troops would be left behind to slow the enemy’s advance. While buying time, they also had to confuse the enemy as much as possible.

In fact, the plan Julius and Orgum had worked out was quite well concealed. In the eyes of the simple-minded and brawny Minotaurs, the Dawn forces defending the border showed no changes at all.

“Haa… from the looks of it now, our plan is already working. At the very least, the goal of confusing the enemy has been achieved.”

Personally commanding on the front line, Julius observed the Underground World army encamped in the distance, and the grave look on his face slowly relaxed.

“Don’t be too optimistic. After that last offensive they immediately started to rest. If nothing unexpected happens, in a while they’ll launch another attack.”

“And during the next attack, we absolutely cannot let the enemy notice that we’re pulling our forces back.”

Orgum was much more cautious. That said, he himself actually felt the probability of the enemy discovering their plan was not very high.

“The enemy forces facing our position are the most numerous. As far as this side goes, there are no problems right now. What about the rest of the line, has the enemy noticed our intentions anywhere?”

He had more or less confirmed that there was no need to worry about the plan on this side being seen through. But the defensive line as a whole had not actually finished contracting yet, and aside from the position where Julius currently was, there were still more than thirty positions along the line where the enemy was being held back.

According to Julius, the enemy forces facing his current position were the most numerous. Judging with the naked eye, the number of enemy troops resting in the distant camp was at least one hundred thousand.

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“Right now our defensive line is stretched far too thin, and shrinking the line to concentrate our forces is the best approach. If the enemy concentrates superior forces and crushes us one point at a time, the collapse of our line would be a matter of an instant.”

“Mm, that is true. Contracting the line is the best choice.”

Orgum fully agreed with what Julius had said.

……

At the same time, in the Minotaur camp within Julius’s field of view, a Dark Elf arrived.

Of course, this Dark Elf had not come alone. When she entered the camp, she brought with her a sizable Dark Elf mage unit.

“My lady.”

The moment the Dark Elf stepped into this crude camp, an Epic-tier Minotaur who commanded this entire Minotaur force here greeted her with deep respect.

Minotaurs were simple-minded and strong-limbed. Aside from making use of their charm to make Minotaurs obey, the only other method Dark Elves had was to use overwhelming strength to make them submit.

This Dark Elf had chosen the latter, using her own power to make all the Minotaurs of the Underground World gladly submit to her command.

At the sight of the Dark Elf’s arrival, the eyes of every Minotaur present shone with a fanatic worship of the strong.

“My lady, is there something you suddenly came here to order us to do?”

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“There is indeed one thing I want you to do.”

The Dark Elf who had walked into the camp did not waste words on pleasantries. As soon as she heard the Minotaur general’s question, she stated her purpose directly.

“Please speak, my lady.”

Unlike most Dark Elves, who usually appeared sinister and cunning, when it came to the strong, almost every Minotaur would swear allegiance without hesitation.

Of course, once the one they served was no longer strong, Minotaurs would very straightforwardly throw aside their former master and choose to serve an even stronger existence instead.

You could say that for the strong, a race like the Minotaurs was a power that could truly be held in hand.

“It is actually very straightforward.”

The corners of the Dark Elf’s lips lifted slightly, revealing an enchanting smile.

“Isn’t there a Dawn army blocking your path up ahead? What I want you to do is start attacking that place continuously from now on, without pause.”

“That’s…”

At her words, a trace of hesitation appeared on the Minotaur general’s face.

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“What is it, you find my orders unacceptable?”

“No… Lady Seles’ orders will be carried out without fail. You want us to launch an attack immediately, correct? I will personally command the army to begin the assault at once.”

The Minotaur general jolted, then, under Seles’s meaningful gaze, backed out in a fluster.

A few minutes later, the Minotaur soldiers who had been resting began to form up. As they assembled, the crude camp that had been noisy and chaotic grew quiet.

Watching the Minotaur army gathering and getting ready to attack, Seles narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Now, the real show is just about to begin.”

Soon after Seles ordered the Minotaur forces on her side to begin their attack, Julius, who had no idea the Minotaur army was about to move, was the first to notice that something was wrong in the distant camp.

“Wait… something’s off with the Minotaur camp that was just resting on the other side!”

“Mm? What’s off?”

Orgum was drawn over by Julius’ shout. At the same moment Julius cried out that something was wrong with the enemy in the distance, Orgum’s gaze also turned toward the far-off camp.

In the next second, he saw squads of fully armed Minotaur soldiers start marching out of the camp.

“Tsk… how can this be? Normally the intervals between Minotaur offensives are quite long. How did they withdraw just a moment ago and now they’re already coming again?”

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Seeing the Minotaur army push forward toward their position, Orgum could not help but suck in a breath of cold air.

“So, why is this happening?”

“The best thing has happened… if my guess is right… the reason the enemy suddenly moved out and launched an attack can only be that they have noticed our plan… there is no other possibility…”

Julius caught on at once.

But realizing it was one thing. After he realized what was happening, Julius did not feel good at all.

“What do we do next?”

Watching the Minotaur army in the distance begin their assault on this position, Orgum could not help asking for Julius’s view.

Julius took a deep breath.

“For now, all we can do is stall.”

“Stall them by force.”