Guardians of the Plains
The beings called the Guardians of the Plains were not guardians at all, according to the intelligence gathered by the secret police. They were merely slightly cleverer animals, nothing more than creatures possessing a few mystical abilities. In other words, they were excellent materials for chimeras. The reason these spirit beasts had stopped hunting the minority tribes was simple: they had become familiar presences. If a spider appears in your house, you might kill it on sight. But after ten or twenty years, it becomes bothersome. Unless it causes real harm, you eventually just leave it alone. That was how coexistence had begun.
Then Baliteron appeared. They invaded the southern plains, seeking to seize the land, and the native spirit beasts—the so-called guardians—fought back. They had not intended to help the minority tribes, but from the tribes’ perspective, they had been protected. In gratitude, the people began offering tributes, calling them guardians. That was how their relationship had been cemented.
The chief of Balibol claimed that if the minority tribes united, the guardians would step in to oppose them. It was only natural. From the perspective of a homeowner, a few spiders crawling around after decades was hardly worth noticing. But if they began gathering in large numbers with the intent to unite, it would clearly become inconvenient. The problem was that this history dated back a hundred years. The Baliteron of the past had been defeated by the guardians and driven north. They had been unable to invade again not because of a few strong animals, but simply because they had been divided. And that division was now coming to an end.
“If your tribes do not unite, you will remain their slaves forever.”
“I know that… but what exactly are you suggesting we do?”
“I will hunt the guardians.”
“What?”
“You know it as well as I do. If the minority tribes band together instead of relying on the guardians, they will become a far stronger force.”
Culture was a two-way street. Just as East Bali and West Teron had advanced, their technologies had gradually seeped into the minority tribes. If they all combined their strength, they could at least put up minimal resistance.
“There will be… resistance.”
“You know as well as I do that if we miss this moment, the same opportunity will never come again. Make your choice, Balibol.”
East Bali was expected to take one week to completely subjugate West Teron. If a solid power base could be established within that time, they would not be able to march south so easily. There was a clear difference between a few strong animals and an army of minority tribes that had absorbed their technology.
“Gather the other chiefs at once.”
The chief of Balibol closed his eyes. After a long sigh, he answered.
“From the beginning, did I ever truly have a choice?”
He did not. It was not that my logic was flawless, but physically, the chief of Balibol had no other options. I had invaded this place and captured five hundred Balibol warriors, holding them prisoner. A single gesture from me would mean the annihilation of Balibol. The fact that this man still held his head high and refused to use honorifics even in this situation was what was truly strange.
“If you hold the meeting and provide guides who know the guardians’ habitats, I will release your warriors.”
The chief reluctantly nodded. We had reached an agreement.
“Don’t worry. Your people will survive.”
I immediately formed hunting parties. The closest target from our current position was the ‘Blue Hawks That Split the Sea.’ They were simply large hawks. Their lengthy name came from the minority tribes who had named them. They were like wyverns, weren’t they? The hawks ruled over a massive lake at the center of the southern plains. They flew low over the water and could shoot high-pressure streams from underwater. I dispatched the Snail Knight and the sea-creature zombies. Underwater combat was my forces’ specialty. A guide who knew the hawks’ habitat arrived and was immediately taken by the zombies as they departed.
One problem solved.
Next came the ‘Golden Chickens That Crush the Earth.’ These were the largest among the guardians, chickens that could grow up to eight meters tall. Naturally, the one in charge of the chickens was Baengnae, who loved chicken.
“Heehee. Chicky-chicky.”
I warned her not to eat too many, since we needed to breed them on the farm to increase their numbers. I had assigned Nareun-i and Bangsil-i as supervisors, but whether that would be enough restraint was uncertain. Still, since we could always breed more, Baengnae eating a few would not cause any real trouble.
“Well then, I suppose I should head out as well.”
The final target was the ‘Red Pheasants That Swallow the Sky.’ The pheasants were the most troublesome because they lived the farthest away. The guide said that traveling on foot with a guide would take more than a week.
“Ah, greetings…”
After waiting a moment, the guide who would lead me to the pheasants approached. She was a female warrior with red feathers in her hair, carrying three weeks’ worth of rations on her back. I clicked my tongue at the sight.
“Is there no sturdy male guide available?”
The woman’s face flushed with anger and she clenched her teeth. Then she rolled up her sleeves and flexed her muscles.
“D-don’t underestimate me!”
“Well, you do look healthy enough…”
The guide seemed to think I was dismissing her training. That had not been my intention, but since she insisted she was fine, I decided to proceed as planned. I approached her, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her close.
“Eek?”
“From now on, just point the direction with your finger.”
I stripped off the pack she was carrying and tossed it aside, then leapt powerfully into the sky.
Whoaaaaah—
Once I had gained sufficient altitude, I spread my wings. Even though she prided herself on being a warrior, the guide remained conscious through the ascent.
“Hey, direction.”
“Ah.”
I began flying in the direction her fingertip indicated. We glided like that for roughly two hours. I made sure to extend my tentacles and hold her tightly so the wind pressure would not injure her.
Whooooosh—
As we neared the destination, I descended to the ground. The moment I set the female warrior down, she collapsed as if her strength had left her and fainted.
“Still, she held out until the end.”
I left her to recover and surveyed the surroundings. The terrain was a mountain range of layered rock. Looking up, I could see red dots flying in the distance. If this was their nest, those dots were the young. Roughly two-meter-tall red pheasants. There appeared to be around two hundred of them.
We’ll need to drive them into a hunt.
If these were the young, they might flee the moment they were attacked. Pursuit would be easy on land or water, but if they scattered in all directions through the sky, it would become troublesome. I summoned a single giant seagull zombie. It was one I had obtained after defeating the Squid Princess. The five-meter seagull bowed gracefully the moment it appeared, removing its goggles.
“I greet the King.”
“Do you see them up there?”
The creature looked up, observed the situation briefly, then smiled as if no further explanation was needed.
“Three squadrons should be sufficient. If Your Majesty remains here, I will bring them to you immediately.”
I summoned twenty-six additional three-meter seagulls. Wearing the black goggles provided by the Equator, they rose smoothly from the ground. At the lead seagull’s signal, the unit took to the air behind him. They spread out and used formation flying to keep the young pheasants from escaping a designated airspace, gradually forcing the flock downward until they drew closer to me. Until every last one of them had fully entered my domain.
“Excellent.”
I expanded my domain and used the pheasants as mediums to summon zombies. On their heads, wings, and legs. Countless zombies appeared, tangling the pheasants’ flight and sending them plummeting to the ground.
Thud— Thud— Thud— Thud—
A rain of red pheasants fell. Having completed its mission, the lead seagull performed a formal aerial turn before landing before me. But I tilted my head back and pointed at the sky.
“Not yet.”
There, the adult pheasants—having realized their young were under attack—were rushing back. Roughly six meters in size. Larger than the currently summoned seagulls.
“This is my oversight. I will bring them at once.”
The lead seagull took to the sky again. But there was no real battle. The title ‘Red Pheasants That Swallow the Sky’ was another name the minority tribes had arbitrarily given them. They had earned it because they could exhale breaths infused with wind. In aerial combat, controlling the wind would certainly be a massive advantage. However, the seagulls adjusted their flight patterns in real time to match the changing winds, moving unaffected. Moreover, the goggles they wore were a recently developed special item. Their effect was ‘paralysis through observation.’ Of course, the paralysis was minimal, but in high-speed aerial combat, even a brief pause was fatal.
Obtaining materials and testing equipment at the same time. Two birds with one stone.
The battle lasted less than ten minutes. Over ten adult pheasants were dragged in with broken wings.
“Good work. One final task. Their nests should be nearby. Bring back all the eggs as well.”
I placed the pheasants into a portable jar. The portable jar was something Patel had created in collaboration with the dolphins, modeled after the Filth Jar. It had been developed during attempts to compensate for the Filth Jar’s declining performance. Its effects were identical to the Filth Jar, but its capacity was much smaller.
“Ugh…”
A short while later, the guide regained consciousness. The moment she opened her eyes, she bolted upright.
“Hah! We need to hide right away! This entire area is the domain of the red pheasants. If they spot us, we could be attacked!”
“I already caught them all.”
“What?”
“I mean the adults, the young, and even the eggs in the nests have all been secured. While you were sleeping soundly.”
The guide stared blankly at the sky.
“Huh… there are no pheasants left.”
Though it sounded as if she had waited a long time, I had only just finished the work moments ago. The entire process had taken about thirty minutes.
The round trip took more time than anything else.
It could not be helped. As my technology and manpower improved, high-grade materials had become more important.
“Let’s head back.”
I approached and grabbed the guide by the waist. She made a miserable face, already knowing what was about to happen.
“You know what to do, right?”
“Yeees…”
We soared into the sky. We would arrive before dinner.
When we returned, the other parties had already come back. Like the guide who had accompanied me, the other guides who had followed the different groups stood in a daze, their minds blank. I seated my own guide among them.
“At least you didn’t faint this time. Your body still seems a bit weak—train harder.”
As a reward for the guides, I distributed boxes of nutritious snacks made in the Equator. One week’s worth per person. If they ate diligently and exercised consistently, they would see dramatic improvements in muscle strength. I stored the portable jars containing the guardians that the zombies had brought back. My business here was finished.
“By the way, how is the meeting progressing?”
At my question, one of the secret police reported the situation.
“Thanks to the flying creatures you provided, the messengers reached all the minority tribes quickly. We contacted a total of thirty-two tribes. Eighteen responded positively, eight gave no reply, and six expressed negative intentions.”
“The six who refused must be the tribes that fanatically worship the guardians. I’ve already captured them anyway.”
In truth, it was not something I needed to concern myself with. What mattered was that the grand council for unification had begun. Because I intended to leak information to East Bali that the southern plains were achieving unity. Currently, two-thirds of East Bali’s forces were pouring their offensive into West Teron. Then where was the remaining one-third? At the Yuseok Mine. That was a significant obstacle to my plan of seizing the mine. So I planned to make use of the south. East Bali, confident of victory, could not withdraw their forces from West Teron to march south. Yet if they left the southern unification unchecked, it would become a considerable nuisance in the future. East Bali had only one option left: to pull troops from the Yuseok Mine and send them south. The southern tribes had nothing to feel wronged about. If they had remained idle, they would have become slaves under a unified Baliteron anyway. Ah, of course, there was compensation. If they successfully repelled East Bali’s forces, I intended to grant the minority tribes the right to migrate to the Equator. What a merciful operation this was. A path to a future where everyone could be satisfied.
“Well then, let us wish the minority tribes good fortune in battle.”
I left the southern plains, which would soon become a battlefield.