Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires-Chapter 268: Tough Decision

At the start of the meeting, Elysia thought that the mood couldn't get any worse, but sadly she had been proven wrong.

Their situation had spiraled from bad to worse, then from worse to outright tragic in just a few days.

First came the devastating death toll in the capital. Then the Crimson Sun Empire seized the moment to launch an attack, and soon after, the Graveborn Empire joined the war against them.

It was, quite possibly, the worst outcome imaginable.

A few minutes of heavy silence passed in the room after the soldier delivered the grim report and left.

The reality of the situation was still sinking in. Before, they had been fighting a war that was difficult—but winnable. There had been hope.

Now… it was a losing battle.

"I admit," Ezzan spoke up, breaking the silence, "I'm the oldest among you. Some of you may doubt my judgment from time to time—and rightly so. But there's one thing I know with absolute certainty. I love this empire. I love our home. And I would rather see myself and my men die defending it than surrender and live as slaves or await execution"

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Was the old man getting sentimental because of his pride? He was an old man after all, and he didn't really have that much longer to live, so some might take it as he was ready to die knowing that he didn't have much time to live anyway.

"I agree with you." Bragan joined in, destroying any kind of doubt. He was the youngest at the table, with many years ahead of him—but it seemed he, too, would rather die standing than kneel in surrender.

"Why are you talking as if there was a chance in giving up in the first place?" Varik asked. "We are here for our people even if we disagree on some things, and even if we do some questionable things, that does not change the fact that all of us are here because we want what is best for the empire."

"This changes nothing." Elysia spoke up. "The state we're in—the emperor dead, our forces fractured—it was only a matter of time before our enemies took the opportunity to strike."

Without a word, Serenya rose and unfurled a large, detailed map across the war table. It depicted the entirety of the Draconian Empire—its borders with the Crimson Sun and Graveborn Empires, its cities, strongholds, and supply routes. Even enemy territory was mapped out in surprising detail.

To possess a map this accurate—one showing both their lands and the enemy's known positions—would have cost a fortune and taken years of intelligence gathering.

There was no need to lift the mood now. The war council began.

"This area is crucial." Varik spoke as he pointed at a certain mountain range that made about a third of the border with the Crimson Sun Empire.

"The only way to move past these mountains and attack the cities after it is to go past our city Drakmire Bastion. It would be our number one priority to keep that city standing. I suggest we relocate all the civilians there and shelter them in the neighboring cities, and replace them with as many soldiers as the city could hold. I even suggest that we send one of the people standing in this room here, for extra support."

"The neighboring citizens would suffer due to the massive reduction in the ores that they would receive, and we will use a considerably large force of our limited resources, but this is in our best interest."

It seemed that all of the people present agreed, that was until Elysia spoke up.

"That will not be necessary," she reassured.

Everyone looked at her in confusion. She didn't pay any attention to their stares as she continued.

"All the forces stationed there have been moved and the civilians will stay. They'll continue working, producing weapons and processing ore."

"And why is that, pray tell?" Tyran asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I've already sent someone," Elysia said. "A man I trust. I believe he'll hold that position, no matter what comes."

"Wait—one man?!" Tyran raised his voice as he asked the question.

"If you are vouching for him that is good, but why would you think that a single man would be able to hold a whole city by himself? As the war rages on, the Crimson Sun Empire would get more and more impatient and would sooner or later start to send their main forces. Maybe even they would send one or more members of their war council. How can you guarantee that the city would hold?"

Elysia gazed at Tyran's eyes unfazed. On a personal level, she might hate him, but the truth was that he brought valid points from time to time, like this instance… It's just that he didn't know about the true strength of the person that had been sent there.

"You remember," she said, "when I told you that the only reason I was able to kill the Demigod was because someone helped me? That without him, it would've been impossible?"

She paused, letting the silence settle.

"That man is now at Drakmire. I trust his abilities. Have faith."

Tyran went quiet. If what she said was true… then perhaps that city really would stand.

"In that case," Delira spoke up, standing on her toes to point at another part of the map, "I have a suggestion for where to reposition our forces next."

The talk continued for many hours, and by the end, they had come to an agreement.

The Draconian Empire would shrink.

They had too much land, making it hard to defend with their soldiers. As such, some of the cities would be abandoned, a large-scale evacuation would begin, moving the borders deeper into the empire.

It was a tough decision, but it had to be made. While during the evacuation many would die, this would create time for the soldiers that had been stationed at the newly created borders to solidify their defenses, giving them a better fighting chance.

At the end, about twenty percent of their land would be lost, but it wasn't all that bad considering that most of it was empty, unusable land.

So, as such, all of the cities that were near the borders would be abandoned, leaving them for the enemy to take—all with but a single exception.

Drakmire Bastion.

The city now under the protection of Zaroth.

*****

Sitting on the roof of the tallest building she could find, the jade beauty took the view as her beautiful grey hair danced in the wind.

She took a deep breath of the fresh air. There were hundreds of dead bodies on the ground below her, but Silver had killed the civilians and the few stationed guards so fast that the smell of blood had yet to reach her altitude.

"I was expecting more resistance," Silver muttered as she stood upon her two legs.

If anyone was watching her from the side—no matter if man or woman—they would have been mesmerized by the sight in front of their eyes.

Sadly for them, Silver had been thorough in making sure that the small city was obliterated before taking a few seconds to rest.

Silently, she jumped from the roof, landing on the ground without making any kind of noise.

"Well, I was planning to stop here, but seeing that there was so little resistance, then I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a bit deeper, would it?" she spoke to herself as she shot forward.

She was going deeper into the Draconian Empire territory.