I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 30

While Uunga was busy teaching people in his realm, Levon was preparing for the upcoming invasion.

Currently, his lizard-like Oracle was leading an army across a large savannah.

"Keep moving, you wimps~! We s~till have four fields~ until we break!"

In front of the red lizardman was a massive army easily sporting 50,000 men. The ground shook from the steps of such a gigantic horde and the dry grass covering the mostly barren landscape was flattened as they advanced.

By this point, they had been traveling for over a month with nothing but bags of food that were steadily turning shallow. Feeding such a massive army was no easy feat- if it weren't for a few villages nearby that graciously supplied them with food, there would have been trouble long ago.

Unfortunately for them, the last village on their journey had been ransacked days ago and there was nowhere near enough wild okra to satiate the enormous quantity of men. The Oracle looked at the thin backs of the lizardmen in front of him with discontent. 

"How much further until we reach the place?" the Oracle muttered.

A deep yet sharp voice resounded in his head in response.

"Quit your whining, Scar. You'll get there in six days if you cut through the swamp- eight if you go around it. I do not care what you do- just be ready in time for the start."

Levon stood in his domain watching over the march. He had a desk that was completely full of maps and scrolls which displayed parts of his realm in real-time. Still, he preferred simply watching the giant screen hanging on his domain's wall instead of sorting through all of them.

Despite his harsh attitude, the lizard was extremely satisfied with what his Oracle had achieved- mobilizing an army of over 50,000 men before any proper towns could be developed was an absurdly impressive feat.

In this primitive world, the lizardmen relied on their natural instincts. With the appearance of an incredibly strong figure in the form of an Oracle, the creatures naturally submitted after a few displays of strength. They had no idea where they were being forced to go after being ordered hundreds of miles away from their grassland, but not a single lizard present dared to question the Oracle or voice their discomfort. Those who had no longer walked among them.

As the Oracle was communicating with Levon, he spotted a smaller lizardman shift out of line and attempt to hide himself under some tall, dry grasses.

"Everyone s~stop!"

The army of 50,000 lizardmen immediately came to a halt with the shout from the Oracle.

Crunch. Crunch.

The dried grass crunched under the weight of the Scar's steps as he made his way to the side of the army. Every soldier that he passed tensed up- none even dared to let out a breath while in his sight.

The Oracle came to a halt once he towered over the cowering red figure lying in the brown grass.

"What do we have here?"

Crack!

"Gahhh!"

Scar stomped down onto the young lizard; its scales cracking under the weight of his foot.

"It s~seems we picked up a coward on our way!"

Thud!

With a hard kick, the lizard was sent flying before bouncing off the ground and skidding to a stop.

The Oracle slowly advanced on the collapsed lizardman, who was desperately trying to breathe while clasping its ribs with his mangled hand.

A shadow soon covered this pained body as a familiar red lizard with a black scar spanning from its mouth to its neck stood over him.

The fallen lizard was immediately grabbed by its head and lifted off the ground, forced to face the large army.

"P-please! I-"

"Quiet!"

"Argh!"

The Oracle snaped one of the lizardman's arms leaving it dangling at his side.

"Let this be a warning to the rest of you!" the Oracle brandished one of his claws at the neck of the lizard, "Fall out of line, and your head will roll."

"N-no! Do-"

Slice!

The body of the lizard fell to the ground with a thud, while the Oracle absently tossed the slain head over his shoulder and into the grass behind him.

Some lizards stared hopelessly at the scene, others looked away, and a few fought the urge to vomit at the sight. The sad reality is that this was a scene that had occurred more than a few times on their journey, yet it did not become any less intolerable along the way.

Scar made his way back behind the army- scanning the trembling creatures for any signs of disobedience.

"Keep moving," the lizard spat as he flicked his wrist sending drops of flood flinging off, "Don't s~slow me down."

The lizard Oracle was easily the strongest figure in Levon's realm, but he was still only one man and the journey so far had been filled with battles for control. What Levon just watched take place was simply one of many of these.

The ruler did not even flinch at the sight and simply sped up the passage of time instead. It may have been a barbaric display by his Oracle, but it was a necessary cruelty in his quest for domination. There could be no unity without fear and the loss of a few men was a worthwhile sacrifice for such purpose. 

Besides, fewer mouths to feed would not be too problematic.

Their food supply is getting dangerously thin... but it should be enough to last them until the gate opens. It wlll not be an issue once Scar can plunder those scaleless weaklings.

Levon continued to think to himself as he watched the group march around the swamp and head toward the desert in the center of the invader buffer zone- where the gateway to Jacob's realm would open.

He expected them to be immediately met with a large force of humans upon crossing into the defending realm, yet there was not a hint of worry on his face.

Those weaklings with no scales or claws to speak of will not stand a chance against my army of lizardmen.

Of course, there was still the Oracle to worry about, but it was just a slightly stronger twerp in his eyes. It would be no match against Scar.

Still, despite all of this confidence, he still could not shake off a feeling of uneasiness whenever he thought about the invasion.

"That coward probably has something planned..." he muttered.

In the week leading up to the start of the competition, Levon, Ferguson, and Alishia had all met up to discuss strategies. It was a given that he would attack Jacob first, however when he brought up the topic, the ogre expressed words of caution.

'Do not underestimate that human,' Ferguson had told him, 'I have fallen to his tricks myself'

Levon was well aware of the spar that happened between Jacob and the giant ogre many months ago. Even though Jacob did come out on top, it was only due to a petty trick in his eyes. Ferguson would have easily beaten him had it been a battle of purely physical abilities, and the lizard was confident that the same would hold true if he had been fighting the human instead.

The problem was that wars are not settled by strength alone.

Ferguson's warning echoed again in his mind as Levon slowed the time back down to match his realm's.

... What kind of trap did that guy lay?

It was far too late to even think of the possibilities- his army had already reached the requested spot and it would only be a few moments until the battle phase began.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

It had been less than a day since Scar's army had reached the two stone pillars described by his ruler. Carved on their surfaces were strange symbols unknown to the world. The lizards sprawled out on the sandy ground in the pillars' shadows and munched on the last of the okra rationed for their journey.

"It is time," a voice called out in the Oracle's head.

With a subtle nod, Scar stood over the men.

"Everyone line up!"

The 50,000 lizards immediately shot up and stood at Scar's orders. With only their claws as weapons, formations were pretty much useless. Still, he had the lizardmen stand in lines to keep addressing the soldiers practical and to make observing them easier.

"The time has finally come for battle!"

""Huaaa!""

Forced battle cries rang out through the troops at the Oracle's declaration.

"S~soon, our god will open a path to a land of filthy creatures. Let us s~slay them in his name!"

Right as the Oracle finished his speech, the symbols carved into the two pillars glowed red and the ground subtly shook. Anxious cries came from the soldiers at the unknown sight- those who tried to flee were immediately caught by Scar and cut down by his claws. With death as their only other alternative, the remaining soldiers stood still despite the rumbling.

A red haze soon developed between the two pillars which quickly deepened in color. It only took a few minutes before a vertical red rectangle connected the strange monuments.

"The path has opened!" Scar announced, pointing at the swirling red boundary, "It is time for battle- conquer this land for our god!"

...

No one moved.

"Now!" Scar shouted while brandishing his claws.

With hesitant steps, the army of 50,000 advanced toward the red abyss. The Oracle stood at their backs to make sure every single soldier entered.

Once the last lizard went through, Scar glanced up at the red portal in front of him.

The last nearly fifty years had all been leading up to this moment.

"... I can finally repay your grace, my god." 

His figure disappeared into the red haze.

The sand in the desert vanished beneath his feet as he crossed through the portal and a terrible chill soon brushed against his body.

"What is-"

It felt as though the world itself was pressing down on him. A sight of pure incomprehension greeted the Oracle as he exited the red haze. He took a step- only for his foot to sink into a frigid white powder that reached up to his ankles.

He looked upon his men- all shivering violently in a cold wasteland that stretched as far as the eye could see. An icy gust of wind bashed into the army causing many to cry out.

It was an unbearable cold, unlike anything these cold-blooded lizards had ever experienced before.

Reflexively, Scar attempted to breathe fire to create warmth, but it was immediately extinguished in the frosty air. None of his following attempts to make flames provided any effects.

"N-no... this~ can't be!" Scar cried out with fog forming from his breath, "What is this~!?"

The army turned toward the Oracle with a mixture of expressions. Some showed fear, others showed anger, many showed pain, and the rest stared blankly in hopelessness.

In this environment of pure wintery fury, it only took mere moments before the army of 50,000 strong began to break down.

"You!" One lizard shouted toward the Oracle, "You dragged us from our homes and made us march for over a month just to trap us in this wasteland!?"

"Quiet! You dare s~speak to me that way!?"

"I dare!" the bold lizard trudged toward the Oracle with shivering steps, "B-bring us back home! Get us out of this place!"

The Oracle spat into the snow and threateningly displayed his claws-.

"No one goes back! I do not care how cold it is- we must take this land for our god!" Scar declared while standing with the portal to his back.

"Take it from who!? No one can survive in this place! Do you see anyone here!?"

The angry lizardman took another step toward the portal- completely ignoring the intimidation brought by the Oracle. 

"Our god commanded us to-"

"To what? Die!?" the lizardman interrupted the Oracle and screamed loudly for the rest of the troops to hear, "Whether it's from you or from the cold we will die either way! I may as well leave a scratch on the moron who brought us here!"

Whether it was due to them getting courage from this lizard's words or because of the inevitability of the outcome, the 50,000 soldiers all turned toward the Oracle.

"Screw it!"

"I won't die lying down!"

"He can't stop all of us!"

The giant crowd slowly advanced closer to the Oracle guarding the giant portal with fiery glares that contrasted vividly against the freezing environment.

"G-get back! All of you! We need to repay our-" Scar desperately called out while waving his claws.

"Everyone charge!"

"Make a run for it!"

"Tear off his scales!"

The snow around the portal was soon dyed red.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

"THAT CHEAP COWARD!"

Levon slammed his fists down onto his desk and threw his scrolls across his domain.

"WHAT KIND OF BULL-"

Levon's rampage lasted several minutes with nonstop profanities and several punches. If the chair and desk hadn't been indestructible, they would have been reduced to rubble by the end of it.

While trembling with anger, the lizard glared at the chaos being displayed on the screen.

Since his Oracle was outside of his own domain, Levon was only able to see through Scar's eyes rather than have a movable view like he usually had access to.

All of the work that he and his Oracle had done to gather an unstoppable force had been for nothing- it had been no match for the winter wasteland that greeted them on the other side of the portal.

The 50,000-member strong army was being shredded apart by his own Oracle in front of his eyes.

Ferguson's words once again echoed through his mind.

Slam!

His fist hit the desk again.

The lizardmen's movements were extremely sluggish because of the cold; their body temperature was rapidly decreasing with no semblance of protection from the freezing environment.

It was in part due to this that the army was slain so easily by the Oracle whose body could withstand the cold to a reasonable degree thanks to his divinity.

Despite the carnage, Levon did not bother to order Scar to stop the killing. He knew that even if Scar let them through the portal, they would almost certainly starve to death long before reaching any settlements.

Fire burned in the lizard's eyes- had the ruler been at the battlefield, the snow would have surely melted.

That scaleless wimp did not even have the balls to fight me head-on!

Levon clenched his fist with pure rage as his army rapidly shrank in size.

"It does not matter. I only need one man to rip apart your weak lifeforms, anyway," he growled.

After an hour passed, the only thing displayed on the screen were corpses. Half were torn apart while the rest had frozen before they had the chance to die at his hands.

Steam filled the Oracle's eyes from his heavy breathing. 

"...I am s~sorry, my god. I have failed you." Scar muttered while gazing at the carnage below his feet.

"You have not failed me yet," the deep yet sharp voice he had grown so familiar with denied his apology.

"...What do you mean? I have killed them all, my god!"

"So what? Who cares if they are dead- 50,000 of them combined could barely even leave a wound on you! If the very beings made in my image could not defeat you- how could any of the weaklings in this pitiful world do so?" The voice paused before continuing, "I saved- I selected you for a reason. I picked one who could bring glory to my name. Unless you are saying that I made a mistake in who I chose?"

"No- you are right. I apologize, I lost s~sight, my god- I will prove your choice correct!"

"Good. Tear this wretched world apart just as you did your comrades! Dye the land in the blood of those who do not call my name!"

While he was not destroying his domain, Levon had spent the past hour trying to figure out how to approach this.

With a bit of hesitation, he decided to direct his Oracle to the north.

I never thought that annoying sheep would say something so useful.

During one of the geography lectures, the sheep instructor mentioned the cold phenomenon that occurs around the poles of a realm. With this in mind, there could only be two options on how to escape this frozen wasteland; either by going north or by going south.

Levon had no way of knowing which pole the portal was located near, however, so he had to take a gamble.

Even if he guessed wrong, it would only delay the inevitable. His Oracle was strong enough to withstand the cold and he still had one last bag of okra that he hoarded to supply him on the journey.

"Just you wait, human," Levon muttered as he watched his Oracle travel deeper into the white frost, "I will make you pay for this humiliation with your life!"

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