Chapter 1332: The Cause of All Mankind

“My lord, my subordinates report that we have just taken Gust Castle. Those lowlifes are fleeing south!” The Junior Demon dropped to one knee and declared it loudly.

“Well done.” Totolock nodded. “I will report your contributions to the Sky Lord. Ignore the retreating troops for now — press east along the lowlifes’ defensive line until their army is in complete disarray.”

“Yes, sir!”

“This battle offers a chance for advancement. Seize it. Trade their blood for our honor.”

“As you command!”

After the Junior Demon departed, Totolock gave a cold laugh and turned to the map the human nobles had provided. “Lord Hackzord overthinks things. The lowlifes are exactly this and nothing more. Their traps might work once or twice, but not every time. Strength is what prevails in war. Even if their resistance has grown since four hundred years ago, it cannot close the gap between our races.”

“Our losses are not small either.” The tentacles at Siacis’s chin hissed softly. “Eight days. Nearly forty thousand warriors. Our front line strength is down thirty percent. If we continue at this pace, it may compromise what comes next.”

“So what?” Totolock’s tone was perfectly flat. “Have the lowlifes not always been stubbornest at the start before they fall apart? Only races strong enough to absorb losses achieve final victory. The western portion of Wolfheart is ours. How long can the remaining two cities hold when we begin pressing from every direction? They will lose the will to fight — exactly as they are losing it now.”

Siacis did not argue the point.

The strength of the humans’ resistance had exceeded his expectations. And yet, deep down, he still agreed. He had watched too many stalemates shatter — the way the surface of a frozen river can hold all winter and then crack in an hour, in a single sudden web of lines, because of one small flaw nobody noticed.

With humans it was always the same. Most intense at the beginning. Then the losses accumulated, the failures mounted, the confidence eroded. Internal conflict followed, and after that the will simply left them. His race had incurred heavier casualties at the start of many campaigns, and every time the arithmetic had eventually reversed.

Near the end of such wars, a human army would break at the sound of approaching feet.

This was not a matter of courage. Totolock had named it correctly: the intrinsic gap between the races.

Humans required sleep, food, warmth, shelter. In war these were nearly impossible to provide reliably. He had studied them closely in the past; now he did not even need to look to know what shape their situation was in. His race had used the Primal Demons as expendables to maintain relentless pressure across these eight days, and their numerical advantage had made anything approaching adequate rest for the enemy impossible. Human morale was likely near its fracture point. The comforts of food and sleep — out of reach.

And the news of Metalstone Ridge and Gust Castle would reach their entire army soon enough. Under both blows at once, how long could Sand City and Sedimentation Bay hold?

His race needed none of those things. The Red Mist handled food and rest alike. The crueler the war, the sharper the advantage became.

Siacis disagreed with Hackzord on many points — but on the final outcome he did not. Humans had fought well. Better than lowlifes implied; better than he might have credited them. Still. The victory at the end of this road belonged to the demons.

“I will carry the news of victory back to the Sky City,” Siacis said. “The subsequent operations I leave to you. Do not underestimate the humans. Use the strength we have now to take Wolfheart — at a moment like this we should not be adding pressure to our rear.”

Totolock exhaled a breath of hot gas. “Relax. If troops run short, I will fill the gap myself.”

After they reached safety, Jodel slept for over ten hours.

When he woke, his body felt hollowed out and his stomach was contorting with pain. His hand moved automatically toward the food pouch at his waist and found nothing; the clothes he was wearing were clean and unfamiliar. The rifle he usually kept within arm’s reach was gone.

Around him: a tent, perhaps a dozen empty wooden beds.

The field hospital, then. His teammates must have brought him here while he was still grimacing through the side effects of the Delaying Agent.

He thought about Farry.

To conceal what had happened to her, she had inflicted additional damage on her own arm — deliberately, while the wound was still fresh. Even if the injury wasn’t life-threatening, she would need a long time to heal from what she’d done to herself.

He lay with the ceiling of the tent above him and thought: half a year of fighting alongside someone. More than half a year, now. He had never suspected. His face felt warm in a way it hadn’t felt when they were running through Gust Castle.

Hunger pushed the thought aside. If he didn’t eat soon he was going to faint again.

Jodel got up slowly and dragged himself toward the tent entrance.

When he pulled back the curtain, the smell struck him first — meat, rich and warm, the kind of smell that in a different life would have come drifting from a cooking fire at dusk at the edge of the desert. Here it felt improbable. Nearly miraculous.

“You’re awake.” A nurse appeared at his side. “Didn’t they tell you? You can’t take Delaying Agents in succession like that. One more and you likely wouldn’t have seen daylight again. You’re starving, aren’t you? Come on — I’ll take you to the canteen.”

He followed her into a tent larger than the one he’d woken in, and stopped.

Seven or eight metal buckets of food were lined up along a long table, steam rising from every one. Steak. Soup. Vegetables. The soldiers in line passed their containers along and when a bucket ran below half, someone added more — food cooked on the spot, right here in the field.

This is extravagant beyond reason.

As a Mojin hunter who had spent years coordinating with other small clans on difficult terrain, Jodel knew what it cost to feed people in the field. Fresh food for an army at war — it was almost an absurdity. The First Army was short on men and ammunition alike. Why was their transport being used on this?

He said so, and the nurse smiled.

“The food didn’t come from Graycastle. It came from cities in the Kingdom of Dawn. And it wasn’t First Army supply lines that moved it — it was the people you saved.”

“The people… we saved?”

“Yes.” Her voice had gone gentle. “Everwinter refugees, Wolfheart refugees — some went on to Neverwinter, and some stayed because they wanted to do something. They brought this food here cart by cart. Some of them carried it on their shoulders.”

Jodel had nothing to say.

He had done evacuation work before. The refugees hadn’t been cooperative at first; there had been conflict among groups, small frictions that accumulated. He had grown privately impatient with them, written them off more than once as stubborn fools who wouldn’t recognize help when it stood in front of them. And those same people had pushed carts through uncertain roads to bring hot food to the front.

“It isn’t only the ones you saved,” the nurse said, and her tone had brightened. “The merchants in the Kingdom of Dawn have stood beside us too. Several donated horses. Others voluntarily lowered food prices — which is why there’s fresh meat and vegetables here tonight.”

She raised her head and smiled at him. “Doesn’t it feel like the battle we’re fighting — the battle for all of humankind — is slowly being accepted? When I let myself think about that, I can’t help feeling it in my chest.” She pressed a fist lightly there. “Like something worth carrying.”

Chapter 1332 - The Cause of All

Mankind Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations “My lord, my subordinates have informed me that we have just subjugated Gust Castle, those lowlifes are now fleeing south!” a Junior Demon declared loudly while genuflecting. “Good job! I’ll report your contributions to the Sky Lord.” Totolock nodded in approval. “Don’t mind the escaping troops for now, keep cutting at the lowlifes’ line of defense towards the east until their army is in a complete disarray!” “Yes, sir!” “This battle will give you a chance to upgrade, you need to seize this opportunity and trade their blood for our honor!” “As you command!” After the Junior Demon left, Totolock gave a cold laugh and looked at the map provided by the human nobles. “Lord Hackzord is overthinking things, the lowlifes are this and nothing more. Their trap might work once or twice, but it can’t work every time. In the end, strength is what prevails in war. Even if their resistance has grown a lot stronger since four hundred years ago, it can’t make up for the overall gap between the two races.” “But our losses are not small either.” The tentacles on Siacis’s chin made hissing noises. “In eight days, we have lost almost forty thousand warriors, our front line troops are down thirty percent. If we keep fighting like this, our strength might be compromised subsequently.” “So what? Haven’t the lowlifes always been stubborn at first before they end up falling apart?” Totolock said indifferently. “Only strong races that can withstand losses can achieve final victory. The western side of Wolfheart is now in our hands, how much longer can the remaining two cities last? When we start attacking from all directions, they will very quickly lose the will to battle—just like now!” Siacis didn’t repudiate him. Although the strength of the humans’ resistance were beyond his expectations, he still agreed with Totolock’s view deep down. After all, he’d already seen too many stalemate situations collapse, like the seemingly solid surface of a frozen river suddenly shattering. And the cause was usually due to one small crack. The humans were always most intense in the beginning, but as their losses increased and failures accumulated, they gradually lost confidence. Internal conflict would emerge and, in the end, they would utterly lose the will to resist. At the start, his race had more losses than humans, but as long as they persisted unrelentingly and oppressed them, the situation would be reversed. Near the end, it wouldn’t be too much to say that the humans would flee at the mere sight of them. This wasn’t simply a problem of courage but as Totolock said, the intrinsic gap between the two races. Humans needed plenty of rest, they needed to eat, to have warm beds and shelters to shield them from the wind, and all these conditions were difficult to satisfy in a war. He had once closely observed the humans. Right now, he didn’t even need to take a look at their state with his own eyes to imagine how dire their situation was. By using the Primal Demons like expendables, his race had maintained days of relentless attacks. Adding on his race’s advantage in numbers, it was basically impossible for the humans to get enough rest. Their mental state was likely on the brink of collapse, and having sufficient food and rest was impossible. These unfavorable conditions would gradually eat away at the humans’ morale. The news regarding Metalstone Ridge and Gust Castle would spread through their army sooner or later. Under the combination of these two blows, how long could the Sand City and Sedimentation Bay last? Meanwhile his race didn’t need such things; both food and rest could be solved by the Red Mist. The more cruel the war was, the clearer the advantage they had over the humans became. Siacis concurred with Hackzord’s opinion, but he firmly believed that the final victory belonged to the demon race. Humans—not lowlifes, had already performed well enough. “I will bring the news of victory back with me to the Sky City and leave the subsequent attacks to you,” Siacis said. “Don’t underestimate the humans, use the power we currently have to capture the Kingdom of Wolfheart—At times like this we shouldn’t add any more pressure to our rear.” Totolock spewed out a breath of hot gas. “Relax, if our troops are not enough, I will fill in the blanks myself.” … After they retreated to a safe area, Jodel slept for over ten hours. When he woke up, he felt as if his body was drained of energy and his stomach was protesting in pain. He subconsciously felt at the bag around his waist for his food rations but discovered that the clothes he was wearing had been changed into new ones. His familiar rifle was also gone from beside his bed. There were around a dozen other wooden beds inside the tent, all of which were empty. Was this… the field hospital? His team mates had probably sent him here because when he fainted, his expression under the intense pain brought by the side effects of the Delaying Agent was too frightening. He wondered how Farry was right now. In order not to expose her identity, she inflicted more damage on the injury on her arm while enduring the agonizing pain to make it look completely different. Even if it didn’t threaten her life, it would need a very long time for her to recover. When he thought about how his battle partner, whom he lived and fought together with for over half of year, was actually a Divine Lady, Jodel felt his cheeks grow hot—He had not felt this way when he was retreating from the Gust Castle. But his agitation and nervousness was very quickly pushed away by his intense hunger. If he didn’t eat something soon he felt that he would faint again any time. Jodel slowly got up from the bed and dragged his feeble body in the direction of the tent’s exit. To his surprise, just when he pulled apart the curtain, the strong aroma of meat filled his nostrils. The smell was so captivating it was like it came from the heavens. “You’ve woken?” A nurse very quickly noticed him. “Didn’t the higher-ups tell you? You can’t eat Delaying Agents one after the other. If you had eaten one more, you probably wouldn’t have seen the light of the day again. You’re really hungry now aren’t you? I’ll bring you to the canteen.” After he followed the nurse and entered a huge tent, Jodel almost couldn’t believe his eyes. Seven or eight metal buckets filled with steaming food were lined up in a row along a long table, from steak to soup—it had it all. Everybody lined up in a queue and passed the long table one by one with containers in their hands. When over half of the food in a bucket had gone, someone would tip more inside—the food was unquestionably made on the spot by the services department. But… isn’t this too extravagant? As a past Mojin hunter who often teamed up with other small clans to hunt, he naturally knew how hard it was to provide fresh food for an entire group of people, let alone in times of war! The First Army was clearly short on both men and ammunition, how could they waste their precious transportation equipment on things like this? Jodel couldn’t help but voice his confusion and the nurse chuckled. “The food wasn’t sent from Graycastle, they came from the cities in the Kingdom of Dawn. And it wasn’t the First Army caravans that transported them but the people you saved.” “The people… we saved?” “Yeah.” The tone of the nurse’s voice was gentle and filled with warmth. “Not only are there escapees from Everwinter among them, there are also refugees from Wolfheart. A number of them went to Neverwinter and the remaining wished to stay and do something to help in fending off the demons. They sent this food over here bit by bit by pushing carts and even carrying it on their shoulders.” Jodel was suddenly at a loss for words. He had undertaken evacuation jobs before and honestly, the refugees weren’t very cooperative at the start. Often, there would be conflict among them. He had been secretly annoyed about it and even regarded them as incurable idiots. But now, it was precisely those ‘fools’ that brought them hot and freshly cooked food. “It’s not only the ones who were saved,” the nurse’s tone sounded cheerful, “the merchants in the Kingdom of Dawn have also stood on our side. Not only did they provide several horses, they even voluntarily lowered food prices, which is why everybody can enjoy fresh meat and vegetables here right now.” She raised her head, looked at Jodel and smiled. “Doesn’t this prove that the battle we’re fighting for all humankind is slowly being accepted by everyone? When I think of this, I feel invigorated!”