A few days later, the earth dragon appeared.
　An earth-shaking sound could be heard.
　A thud, thud, thud, and a child-like sound came from a distance.

　Kobold, a boy soldier named Taro, a scout for the dog-man race, reports in a breathless voice.

　He wagged his tail as he reported to me.

'Master Ike, Master Ike, the enemy has arrived. As I expected, as I knew it, they are advancing, using the earth dragon as a shield.

That's right. By the way, how big was the enemy army?

That's about 8,000. Just an estimate.

I see. That's a big army.

'That's not all. The enemy forces included many sorcerers.

That's tricky.

　He grabbed his chin.
　The numbers were larger than I had expected.
　I regret that I should have called up more troops for this, I wondered.
　The Demon King, who was beside me, probably saw through his troubles, asked me this.

''We could call in the other legion leaders stationed in Arsenum now?

　The Demon King suggests that, but I refuse.

"Oh, you're a strong man. You said that the basic rule of warfare in front of the Elf Queen is to defeat the few with a large army.

'Well, basically, yes, but...'

What are you waiting for?　Don't hesitate. I'll talk to him.

..........

　For a moment, I was lost, but I told the Demon King about my strategic plan.

　The reason I wasn't sure if I should tell her was because I was embarrassed to talk about my strategy to the greatest strategist in the history of Japan.

　But it wasn't a bad idea to talk to her about the strategy he had in mind and prove it right. He opened his mouth heavy with that thought.

'To the Elven Queen, you kick the enemy out with an overwhelming force of troops. I've made a great observation that that's the trick to winning a war, but I won't be using that strategy this time.

Why?

'The reason is simple. We want to strike fear into the hearts of the enemy.

Oh, fear. That's the way demons think.

　I didn't continue to say that I'm human inside.

''Yes, I'm not proud of it, but I'm sure my name will be echoed not only in the Demon King's army, but also in the enemy's army and the Alliance of the Lords.

Indeed, the Unu have defeated the enemy army many times with their own widows. With the little men, he penetrated enemy territory and rescued the Dwarf King. With the widows, he saved the Elven Forest. With widows, he defeated the great generals of the League of Kings. With a small army, he defeated the last great general of Rosalia. To the enemy army, the name of the Eighth Legion will no longer be synonymous with fear.

'Perhaps. But none of them were won by straightforward methods. They were all won by subterfuge. No, I think it was an odd strategy. They were all won by the evil way, not by taking over the art of war.
How can that last forever?

Yeah, well,

Humility.

'I hope so. Anyway, at this point in time, the enemy forces are afraid of me. I want to take advantage of that.

What do you mean?

"This is the battle between the Earth Dragon and the League of Kings. We'll use strange tactics for this as well. And I don't want the enemy army to fight the Eighth Legion properly. I want to impress upon them.

"Hmm.

'After we win this battle, me, Luthrara and Uruk will begin building a castle in Azuchi. In the meantime, our enemies will come to this land to attack it. Again and again, relentlessly.

Yes, it would be intolerable for an enemy to have a castle built right in front of him.

'I will leave the north to Cephiro and the other legion leaders. As long as Rosalia's strongest stronghold is in place, it will not fall.

That's why they'll be coming after us relentlessly.

''So your strategy is to strike that first blow, to bounce off the ground dragon and its 8,000-strong army with a single unu, and instill fear in the enemy army?

''Yes, at this point, is my Eighth Legion actually the strongest? That doesn't matter. As long as I'm around here, the enemy army won't be able to attack us easily. All we have to do is create a situation where they can't easily attack as long as I'm around. And the fear doesn't have to last forever. It just needs to last for a year or so.

Well, you're a confident man.

'Or maybe it's vanity. How many great generals have died from that conceit since ancient times.

I am a prime example of this.

　The Demon King laughed self-deprecatingly and continued.

'Well, Unu's big talk, let me just stare at you from the side.

''I'll do my best to live up to your expectations. We'll manage to kill the Earth Dragon and drive away the enemy army as well.

No, I'm not worried about you. I'm more worried about Azuchi.

'Azuchi?　Is it?

　I was surprised by the unexpected words.

He said, "I'm no longer worried about the Unu losing a battle. The question is, will the castle be ready within a year? The question is, will it be able to be built within a year, and will it be able to help me spread the word? Or will it be a good place to live? That's what I'm more worried about.

There you are...

　I chuckle.

'Well, you can look forward to Cephiro and Lord Luthrara's urban design plans on that side.

You're not going to join us?

I'll at least interject, but I'm basically going to leave it up to the girls and Herr Günther.

'Ho, I was looking forward to seeing what kind of castle the greatest sorcerer in the Demon King's army would build.

A rice cake maker. I think it makes sense to leave the architecture to the architects.

　I'm a specialist in my field," he said, grasping his circular snake staff with a strong grip and displaying his power.

It's true that a truly effective leader is one who finds something competent and uses it to his or her advantage. Like me.

''I'll refrain from praising the Demon King here, as it would sound like bragging rights, but that's about it for the most part.

''Huh........I think Unu could be more arrogant. At least for that achievement.

''I'll wait until I have more accomplishments to show for it. If I can't get rid of the Earth Dragon this time, it won't be a laughing matter. It's a terrible travesty.''

　When I said that, the demon king also twisted his mouth.
　You are right.

　I decided to do my best to prevent the girl's smile in front of me from turning into a bitter or angry laugh.

　I call Giron and order him to come over.

　Giron, who came in a great hurry, he
Would you like to deploy the water mirror?
　He asked.

　Nodding with a chuckle, Jiron ordered his men to pull the water mirror.

　The enemy -, it was pointed vertically against the earth dragon, but it faced the front and faced the earth dragon.

　At that moment, the giant dragon, which had been spreading its large thighs and advancing, stopped moving.

　It was him, or rather her. She seems to be surprised at the first time she sees a monster with a body as big as hers. She seems to be puzzled.

　The previous momentum stopped its steps as if it were a lie.
　The moment he sees it, the Demon King praises it.

''I see, the great mirror made of that water is for this?

'Yes, because I'm sure that monster has never seen a creature as big as him,'

　The male earth dragon was said to be much smaller. To add to this, he had received information from Ferret that the female earth dragon was territorial and disliked the other females.

　So this strategy would succeed. The moment I got that information from her, I was sure of it.

''The movement of the ground dragons has been stopped, what do we do now?　Are you going to put that water mirror down for the rest of your life and turn it into a thousand-day hand?

　The Demon King asks a question. It's a natural question.

You have to have a good idea of what you want to do. I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do that. --I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that, or if I'm going to have the ground dragon defeat the enemy army.

　After saying that, I took charge.
　I contacted the air force of the 8th Legion through the magic of the 《Notes》.
　It's a task force made up of gargoyles, goblins on wyverns, and others.
　I've decided to ask them to play a part.
　The gargoyles jump out at my command, and the wyvern riders.
　Their actions were seamless, forming a formation that was comfortable for a tactician to watch.
　'Ho,' the Demon Lord exclaimed in admiration.

''That's quite an impressive formation. It looks like they've been training hard.''

'Warfare is mobility. It's better to have a mobile unit like them all together and operate. They can do everything: rear distraction, power reconnaissance, everything.

Hmm, that's good. I'll follow suit.

　They must be quite a splendid unit, since they could make the Demon King say that much.
　As I was bragging to myself, they fought a battle that exceeded my expectations.
　They headed straight for the true enemy that was waiting behind the Earth Dragon, the troops of the Lords Alliance.
　Naturally, the enemy was not stupid.

　If they found a flying squad, they would at least release their bows, but faster than that, they pierced through the enemy lines.

　It's not that the flying squadrons are attacking the enemy forces. They are not carrying roasting balls or bombs of any kind. The only thing the elves gave me was the crushed and powdered IZURUHA berries that they gave me, which I crushed into a powder that I poured over their heads.

　If that's all you do, you can escape faster than you can be shot with a bow, and you can escape with minimal, if not zero, damage.

　The powdered 'Yizuruha Fruit' itself has no toxic, hypnotic or paralyzing properties whatsoever. It just has a pheromone equivalent to that of a female earth dragon.

　Now, let's imagine here.
　A ground dragon that hates females other than itself, the water mirror in front of it, and the scent of other female dragons in the vicinity.
　The female dragon must be very confused at this first time.
　She must be very frustrated.

　Regardless of gender, it was the creature's destiny to lash out if it was forced into such a situation. It was a habit.

　In fact, she, the earth dragon, did exactly what I wanted her to do.
　Move the water mirror, the enemy army was there. The Alliance of Various Kings.
　The Earth Dragon ignored them. They pounced on the water mirror as if they didn't even recognize its existence.

　The water mirror was instantly quadrupled, but not only that, many of the humans underneath it were also trampled by the earth dragon.

　Seeing that, the tension must have been released.
　Or perhaps the fear they had been holding onto erupted.
　The warlords of the 8,000 Lords Alliance gave one order after another.


''Unleash the projectile!''
"Shoot the ballista!
Unleash the spell!


　Hearing their orders, the soldiers and sorcerers attacked the terrestrial dragon one after another.

　Rocks slammed into the ground dragon, large arrows pierced it, and huge fireballs rained down on the ground dragon's skin.

　The ground dragon let out a look of anguish and a roar at the same time.


''Whoa!''


　It's a gut-wrenching sound. It's pathetic for a species with good hearing, like the anemones. They are trying their best to cover their ears.

　Even more pathetic than them were the armies of the League of Lords who attacked them.

　They had tried to use the power of the Earth Dragon, but they had underestimated its reputation.
　The Earth Dragon couldn't be defeated by anything more than ballista, stone throwing, and magic.

　Of course, they could inflict wounds, but that instead ignited the earth dragon's anger.
　It reminded me of the words of Ferret, the Elf Queen.


''--The earth dragon is a mild-mannered dragon. Normally, it wouldn't get angry if we waltzed on its head.


　But instead of waltzing, let alone the League of Kings, they seemed to have tap-danced. They played a rhapsody in their ears.

　And that, too, in front of a dragon that was up in arms about the breeding season.
　They would pay for their ludicrous behavior with their own flesh and blood.
　The earth dragon stood up on its hind legs.
　It blocks the sun with its massive body.

　For a moment, the armies of the Zhuangluo Alliance must have had the illusion that day had turned into night, but it was only for a short time.

　The earth dragon stood up and slammed its paws down on the army of the Zhouwang Alliance.


　''Boom!


　The paws were swung down with a sound of, "Hey!
　They fell mercilessly on the soldiers of the League of Lords.
　I wonder if more than a hundred lives were lost with that blow.
　The vibration could be felt at our feet.
　My chief of staff, Giron, asked me.

''Excellent. Do you wish to continue to come around behind the enemy forces?

　It was a typical suggestion for a chief of staff, but I dismiss it.

'No, let's just sit on the sidelines. We don't want to get bitten by a snake by poking around in the bushes.

It's not a snake, though, it's a dragon.

　I nod lightly, yes. However, that decision was correct.

　If he moved the Eighth Legion now, the Earth Dragon would recognize the Demon King's army as the enemy. I wanted to avoid that.

　It would be most grateful if the enemy army would return, or if the enemy army would defeat the ground dragon, or if they would both fall....

　Just as they were hoping for this, the battle between the Lords Alliance and the Earth Dragon seemed to have been settled.

　After five stone throwers, seven ballista, and about a quarter of their troops were destroyed, the enemy army seemed to have given up on any further fighting. They began to prepare for a retreat.

'Well, I guess it's time for us to go?

　I muttered to myself.
　Giron asks back.

'What? You're moving troops here?　If you do that, you'll give the soldiers of the Lords Alliance a chance to escape.

That's okay.

What do you mean?

''This plan not only has the objective of exterminating the Earth Dragon, but also to strike fear into the Lords Alliance. If the enemy army is wiped out, there will be no one to tell the Lords Alliance about the strength of the Eighth Legion.

　I scowled at that.
　Giron's mouth was wide open.
　But when he quickly regained his expression, he said.

''I guess. Let's show them how strong we, the Eighth Legion, are!

　I looked and saw that all the generals except Jiron had gathered there.
　I instructed them and we decided to take down the earth dragon.