Immersing Oneself In Another Culture
As the battle raged on, the Void army kept going with their tactics. These were the same ones they used in the other worlds, after all. Why fixed what isn't broken? All the other Nations, especially the ones that didn't merge with the ones that had the other races backing them up.
Once the body count started to rise, and with more unknown factors yet to reveal themselves, the ones who were stubborn started to send out their scouts to accept the terms and conditions set by the major Nations. After all, if even the major Nations were struggling, one can only imagine the lesser ones.
This struggle, however, didn't apply to the
General Vizicsacsi felt as if all the bad luck in the world had befallen him. "First Princess Ines and now I'm going up against such a difficult enemy. Scout! Report!"
A Soldier-class with similar marks to that of a squad captain. The only difference was that the marks around his eyes were more refined. "Reporting to the General. After scanning the walls, we've found that even their regular soldiers are on par with our own Soldier-class. The biggest problem, however, are those Mages. Not only are there a lot of Human and Elven Mages, but there are also a surprising amount of High Elf Mages."
"Damn it! We've drawn the short stick indeed," General Vizicsacsi clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "How about traps? Have you spotted any?" He asked, after regaining his composure.
"There are some, General but..." The Scout hesitated a bit.
"But what?! SPEAK!"
"They have multiple people that can, at the very least, threaten you, General."
"This..." The scout's statement sent chills down Vizicsacsi's spine. "Of course," he muttered. "With how strong their defenses are, of course, they would have even more formidable men. How strong are they?" He asked. However, the scout's next words would cause him to reconsider everything they had planned.
"Unfathomable." The Scout replied. After seeing Vizicsacsi's reaction, he tried his best to make it sound better, "But of course, General, that's only due to my lack of capabilities. I can at least identify most of them, but there were three that I could not see through. It was a Man, a Woman, a Child. The others seem to look at them with gazes of respect. One can assume that, at the very least, they are high-ranking officials, possibly the leader of this Nation."
"There is no need to sugarcoat it. Whether he is the leader or not, the idea of activating traps with the Peasant-class militia and having us level (Level 70) General-class storm their base is no longer possible. Keep up the attack. Keep them busy and for crying out loud find the Princess!"
"Yes, General!" The men surrounding him proceeded to carry out his orders, while the scout withdrew to help with the search.
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As the Scout was in the middle of using his eye technique to scout for Princess Ines, he spotted the Princess' tracks. As soon as he saw where they were headed, his eyes widened in dread. "This! Princess Ines, she couldn't have... headed to the enemy Nation's base?" He felt himself lose all color in his face. It took him a few minutes recover before he finally dashed all the way back to base to report on his findings.
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Sometime later, Ines landed near the South-Western side of Panay Island. "Whew! Those people were scary, way too scary! Here I thought I would be able to easily walk past them, in the end, I had to go the long route." Ines proceeded to travel East, traversing the Mountains until she ended up in Iloilo City.
What greeted Ines houses much taller than the ones she saw on the way here. The owners of these houses had obviously spent a decent amount to upgrade them, adding more comfort for their family.
As soon as Ines reached the Plaza Jaro*, she received curious looks from the locals. They talked to each other in whispers, yet Ines could still hear them clearly.
"Who's that?"
"One of the foreigners? How come I've never seen her before?"
"Gwapa sa iya!"**
Ines who had an understanding of the English language understood most of the whispers. She had no knowledge of the local dialect, however. She could only assume from their expressions that they were complimenting her. This made the young Princess smile which made her even more enchanting. Ines was definitely very pretty, it's just that there were also a lot of attractive people within the royal family. Even the servants were outstanding. Thus, it was quite hard for even her to get compliments on her looks, it was mostly her unique attributes that she'd get compliments for.
After all, if one found out that the people around them were whispering good things, that person would most definitely be happy.
This made Ines feel better about her plan: Immersing oneself in another culture.
Truth be told, the Void never had any propaganda against the other worlds, including Earth. They never viewed the humans and the other races as vile. In fact, they viewed the myriad worlds as a paradise.
A new hope for their people. But everytime they would conquer a world, it would self-destruct. The only world not capable of doing so, was Earth. They would have been satisfied with the other worlds, truth be told, but having those worlds be destroyed, meant that the seal preventing them from enterting Earth.
It would continuously weaken up to the point where it was now and would only continue to weaken.
This made Ines more curious than ever. Questions constantly popped into her mind.
"Why can't we live among them?"
"Is it because we could possibly infect them?"
"I'm pure, but what about everybody else in the Void?"
"Is there truly no way?"
"Some parts of the Void are beautiful too, no? So why do we fight so hard for the other worlds?"
"Why has Father gotten more aggressive with trying to take Earth lately? Weren't they fine in the Void all these years?"
The more answers she received, the more questions would pop up.
Ines realized her importance now more than ever. As the only person from the Void with a hundred percent purity, she was the only candidate acceptable of being an Ambassador for her people. She would immerse herself in this new culture, learn from it in a more in-depth manner than the books she was made to read.
Was there truly a way besides warfare in these circumstances?
With Ines, a new dynamic has been introduced. This opened up possibilities that were not present before.
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"It seems we've made quite the harvest for everyone so far, Father," Maxene smiled. Initially she was overly worried, she cared about everyone, after all.
"Indeed. We should be thankful. We're progressing so fast mainly because of factors unique to us. I'm afraid the other Nations are definitely not faring as well," Luna patted Max on the head.
"This is merely the first wave, yet we've gained so much. What are they planning? They can't possibly just keep this up, can they? This is only making us stronger," Paco added.
"It's what they know, young Paco. This tactic has always worked for them. Back in our Elven Kingdom, we had Mages just like this, but our frontlines were lacking. As soon as they were able to break through, our Mages would get slaughtered. The other races had good frontliners, yet were lacking in Mages. As strong as they were, they would eventually get overwhelmed. Yet here, they don't even stand a chance. Elven and Human Mages and our vanguards are armed to the teeth. Not to mention the amount of Agimats we have," Elder Aran shared his insight.
Just the Agimats alone, if their Elven Kingdom had them, they would surely have put up a much better fight.
"They're keeping quite a bit in the back, far from our sight," Luna thought out loud. He was quite curious as to what else they should be expecting. There was definitely more than just these footmen.
"Let's find out, Father! I called Angry Bakunawa over, he should be here soon."
Soon, a Dragon-serpent twice as large as the previous Bakunawa appeared. Apparently, the new phase helped to further the growth of this ancient celestial eater.
The other mutant beasts experienced the same changes as well. While not everyone increased in size, they definitely experienced an increase in strength.
This was evident with how the Beast Nations were managing to somehow fight back against the Void armies despite their lack of resources.
"Lord Luna."
"Elder Jax?"
"The Beast Nations are putting up a hell of a fight. But..."
"I know. Even then, they won't last forever. Don't worry, I've already left the matter to Boni."
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"Gigigigigi! Putanginang*** Void! Punyeta!*** DIE DIE DIE!" The Roach Nation were making use of their huge numbers and newfound strength to fight back.
"General Freddy! Why aren't you speaking in English? Some of our fellow Roaches are foreigners!" Asked one of the General's men.
"Naubusan na ako ng Ingles!**** I'm not good with English!"
The Peasant and Soldier-class beings were good nutrition for them. The Cockroaches could eat them without getting infected.