Dragon's Roar Valley—a basin encircled by sheer mountain ridges, connected to the outside world by only a single narrow passage.
The name "Dragon's Roar" had nothing to do with dragons in reality. Rather, whenever strong winds from outside the valley poured into this narrow entrance, they produced a shrill whistling sound resembling the roar of a giant dragon, hence the name.
Perhaps because of this unique terrain, the mana within the valley was abnormally thin. Spells cast here had greatly reduced effects, with power less than half of what they would be outside.
This made the area easy to defend but hard to attack. Whether launching a strong assault from outside or breaking out from within, both were extremely difficult.
But for this very reason, it was also easily blockaded by external forces, making it far from an ideal stronghold.
Alama's reason for retreating here was simple: there were no better options.
After consecutive setbacks, this was the only nearby place where his defeated remnants could barely resist the demon army's offensive by relying on the terrain advantage.
If he retreated to other cities or fortresses, he would only be pursued and slaughtered all the way by Sigmund's cavalry until total annihilation.
However, this scene was precisely what Sigmund was delighted to see.
Alama couldn't bear to abandon his subordinates, but what Sigmund cared about was Alama himself!
After two crushing defeats, even if those remnants were released, they couldn't regroup in the short term, so Sigmund simply didn't care about their survival at all.
But Alama was different. This guy wasn't just his rival of decades; the two sides had already formed a grudge even earlier!
Sigmund wanted to personally slay this nemesis every moment!
And the best part was that these human soldiers he didn't care about at all could help him firmly pin down that Alama he dreamed of eliminating!
In actuality, according to Prince Visarius's orders, Sigmund should have led his army to prioritize encircling Three Mountains City, striving to annihilate both the kingdom's main force and the Sword Saint in one fell swoop, completely securing victory.
But when executing, Sigmund mixed in a bit of selfish motive.
During the march, he deliberately exposed a flaw, just to see if Alama would bite the bait.
Sure enough, Alama couldn't sit idly by while the demon army encircled Three Mountains City. Knowing it might be a trap, he still stubbornly launched harassing attacks and ultimately fell right into it!
After this battle, Alama's troops were like candles flickering in the wind, becoming a tempting fruit ready to be plucked at any time.
In this way, as the frontline commander, Sigmund had ample reason to justly postpone the plan to encircle Three Mountains City and prioritize dealing with Alama, this major threat close to his heart!
As long as he acted quickly enough and didn't delay too long, given yet another glorious military achievement, even Prince Visarius wouldn't say much about it afterward.
The reason he needed to go to such lengths was his fear that once Three Mountains City was actually captured, Alama—seeing the tide had turned—might just flee!
Whether running to the Elven Forest, the Dwarven Mountains, or the archipelago, once that happened, who knew when he'd get another chance to personally finish off this nemesis.
After all, even if the empire swallowed large swaths of human territory, it would need time to digest it and couldn't continuously wage war indefinitely.
Fortunately, everything was unfolding according to his script. Alama had indeed led his remnants into the burial ground Sigmund had chosen for him.
Dragon's Roar Valley was indeed easy to defend and hard to attack, but that premise was that the power gap between attacker and defender didn't exceed a certain limit.
With Alama's current exhausted, low-morale remnants, as long as he waited for Velariss to arrive leading those troll troops—slow in movement but thick-skinned—he had absolute confidence he could forcibly tear open this canyon defense line within one day and bury Alama here completely!
Of course, that greatsword inlaid with a sunstone in Alama's hands was indeed a significant trouble.
Once that thing appeared on the battlefield, it would continuously emit scorching power like midday sunlight. Not only would it make Sigmund feel weak and uncomfortable, it would also substantially weaken the strength of the many blood clan warriors in his army.
However, the Demon Empire's territory was vast, with numerous troop types—not just blood clan.
The trap that defeated Alama earlier had relied on those troops under Velariss's command that didn't fear sunlight.
In actuality, Sigmund had originally wanted to capture Alama alive.
He had wanted to wait until after the Empire achieved final victory, then capture Inanna and force Alama to witness with his own eyes his daughter being tortured to death!
Only that could vent the deep-seated hatred that had festered in his heart for years.
However, considering his mysterious roommate's origins, Sigmund was somewhat wary of unintended consequences. In the end, he could only play it safe and choose to kill Alama directly here.
Gazing from afar toward Dragon's Roar Valley, Sigmund let out a cold sneer.
He then turned around and began placating in his mind the roommate who was clamoring to seize control from him.
"This time was my fault. I accidentally drank it all in one go." Sigmund tried to reason. "Please don't cause trouble this time. Once I finish off these humans, I can use this military achievement to request that Book of Miracles you've had your eye on from His Majesty. How about that?"
Sigmund brought up their mutual interests. He was truly afraid his roommate would cause trouble at a time like this—after all, there was precedent.
"What about our credit for conquering Highfort?" The voice in his mind was full of dissatisfaction. "According to our agreement, you should have gotten me the book long ago!"
Our... Sigmund forcibly held back from exploding in anger, patiently explaining: "The war isn't over yet. How can I request rewards midway?"
"But you drank my half!"
"I'll compensate you afterward. For now, just—"
"You see me as a friend, sharing half of everything good to eat, and you actually ate my portion! Do you look down on me? And requesting the book is just you brushing me off, isn't it?!"
Seeing the other party on the verge of losing control, Sigmund decisively abandoned any attempt at reasoning and hurriedly stopped him: "Okay, okay, okay! Don't worry, don't worry! I'll arrange personnel to send a message right now, immediately going to request the Book of Miracles for you, alright? The next batch of fresh blood that arrives will all be yours to enjoy!"
Only after Sigmund hastily summoned his subordinates and, in front of his roommate, issued explicit orders to return to Highfort to send the message, did the voice in his mind gradually quiet down, turning into some unclear muttering.
Sigmund secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his hand to rub his thick brow, feeling that dealing with this roommate was more exhausting than dealing with ten Alamans.
...
One day later, the slower Velariss joined up with Sigmund, bringing the troll troops.
As for Elinor, still not fully recovered, she had been left behind at Highfort.
Before the battle began, Sigmund even had the rare leisure to attempt persuasion: "Alama! Are you planning to die together with all these people under your command?"
"Pfft—"
"If you surrender, I guarantee I'll only kill you alone. How about that?"
"Heh heh..."
Unfortunately, in this losing situation, Alama clearly didn't want to say much to him. And the inexplicable low laughter from his roommate in his mind made him completely lose interest in continuing the conversation.
Just then, a bat landed on Sigmund's plump hand, then dissolved, transforming into a wisp of shadow energy that finally condensed in his palm into an intelligence scroll bearing a magical seal.
Sigmund unrolled the scroll, his eyes quickly scanning it.
However, after finishing reading, Sigmund frowned.
The description in the intelligence report left him momentarily unable to comprehend.
What did it mean... that a large army composed of humans, Puchi, and storm elemental spirits mixed together was heading in this direction?
(End of Chapter)
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