Farming in a Parallel World and Becoming a God
Chapter 409 - 348: Return to Thacel_1

Chapter 409: Chapter 348: Return to Thacel_1

She was Nola, Zalanda’s top warrior, a Transcendent Barbarian who hailed from the Nort Militia. She was one of the very first to follow Zalanda, always charging at the forefront of every battle.

Her delicate mind did not match her imposing physique, and those who underestimated her because of her size usually ended up as new souls beneath her axe.

Her voice, surprisingly crisp and gentle, belied the defiance of her words, "City Lord, I heard you ordered our forces to retreat thirty kilometers, conceding half of the Is Plain to the Salatath Family?

Why do such a thing?

Those shameless wretches from the Salatath Family, when we agreed to join forces to clear the Is River banks, they made all sorts of excuses and didn’t send a single soldier.

Now, we have cleared the monsters along the Is River banks completely and without a trace.

And suddenly, they show up.

On what ground should we cede it to them?

Is it because they claim that with their heavy cavalry stationed there, they have deterred the creatures of Omuran Mountain Range and Mir Forest, preventing them from easily providing reinforcement, which led to our brilliant victory?

I spit on that, since when do these monster races have the camaraderie to come to each other’s aid?

I’ve seen shameless, but never this shameless; it’s astonishing they can make up such a reason.

We cannot yield, absolutely cannot yield, let there be war if necessary."

Nola’s words were filled with dissatisfaction

Not just towards Zalanda’s decision, but also towards the Salatath Family.

Only after Nola had finished speaking did Zalanda respond in a calm and unhurried tone, "The terrain of the Is Plain is flat and open, with no defensible position; the City of Salatath has the most famous Salatath Heavy Cavalry of Thacel. They need not send many, just three thousand heavy cavalrymen on the charge is enough—tell me, how can you defend against that? With the lives of your men?"

Nola’s mouth opened, but for a long while, she couldn’t utter a word.

Even if she was proficient in combat, she was still just one person—a person who could barely withstand the charge of a small unit of heavy cavalry.

The rest was up to the entire army.

In the open plains, those heavily armored heavy cavalrymen were an unsolvable threat.

Even battlefield heavy cannons and the Fireball Technique had only a modest effect against them.

She had personally witnessed the Salatath Heavy Cavalry charging through a barrage of fireballs.

A mere charge by a hundred Salatath Heavy Cavalry had routed a tribal force ten times their own size of orcs.

They were the cornerstone upon which Thacel was founded, the elite of the frontier forces.

Whether in terms of soldier quality or equipment, they were unmatched in Thacel.

On her end, there was no way to compare with them.

It was then that Zalanda revealed the reason for her decision, "Saladas’s demand that we withdraw thirty kilometers is not out of greed for that land, after all, there are hardly any inhabitants there, and uninhabited land is merely wasteland.

What they want is for us to create a military buffer zone, especially since we’ve been fighting a bit too far recently, advancing right up to the outskirts of their cities.

That’s the outward reason.

The inward reason is that our population has become too large, far exceeding Darama’s capacity, and we need to distribute our people, establish new satellite towns, for which our army needs to provide protection."

"So that’s how it is." Nola’s tense face relaxed immediately, and with a smile, she said, "As long as it’s not out of coercion, it’s fine to give them the thirty kilometers, after all, we can always reclaim it whenever we need."

After a slight pause, Nola’s gaze fell on the book beside Zalanda, and she couldn’t help asking, "Does this strategy have a name? Is it what that person’s book talked about?"

That person! That book! That letter!

These three names possessed special significance among Zalanda’s personal guard.

Usually, one mention was enough for everyone to know exactly what was being referred to.

And that book, in particular, was the Book of Strategy.

Just like its name implies, it’s a book on military strategy from another world.

Now, all the generals and captains in the army led by Zalanda had a copy in hand.

As for the insights gained from it, that varied from one person to another, with no consensus.

Many revered the book to the utmost.

Especially when among these people were those who had just secured a resounding victory, employing novel and ingenious tactics in battles many had foreseen as unwinnable, and afterward attributed their success to this very book.

The nature of the book then seemed to transform.

Nola’s question caught Zalanda off guard, but she shook her head and replied, "There’s no name; it’s just the most basic contingency strategy."

Nola glanced at Zalanda, and seeing that she was not visibly displeased, tentatively probed, "I heard that Gaven... that person caused quite a stir in the Valley. Do we need to send someone to verify the truth?"

Zalanda gave Nola a displeased look and said, "If you want to talk about Young Master Gaven, just say his name directly. Why follow their lead with this circumlocution, making it seem as if I cannot hear that name."

Nola chuckled sheepishly and replied, "Doesn’t it sound more poetic, more storied? It serves to highlight your extraordinary relationship with Young Master Gaven."

"Extraordinary relationship, how so? Do tell!" challenged Zalanda, with a lift of her firmly arched eyebrows.

"You’re the one asking me to say it."

"I’m asking you to anyway."

Putting on a gruff voice, Nola said, "’Before I return, don’t you marry anyone.’

"You’re asking for it!" Zalanda’s cloak fluttered without wind, the greatsword at her side buzzing as if about to leap from its sheath.

Nola, anticipating Zalanda’s reaction, had already grabbed her battle axe and dashed off with long strides, calling back, "I’m going to organize the troops, get ready to follow the main force and expand into satellite cities."

"You impudent girl," Zalanda muttered, but a genuine smile crept onto her lips.

Many things and people were constantly changing, but some seemed to stay the same from beginning to end.

Still, Nola’s parting words stirred Zalanda’s heart, and she instinctively touched her chest where the letter was, her gaze shifting to another sand table nearby.

That was a sand table completely unrelated to Thacel.

The map clearly marked the names of locations like Komeer, Rocklands, Blackwell, Valley, Battle Valley, and the Three Rivers Region, among others.

In this world, the most feared thing is a person with intent.

As long as they are determined, there is nothing they cannot achieve.

Zalanda was undoubtedly such a person.

She had a crystal clear understanding of Gaven’s movements, especially after he began to stand out.

After all, from the very beginning, Gaven had no intention of hiding his name, disguising his identity.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Looking at the Rocklands and the Three Rivers Region, two vastly different territories distant from each other, Zalanda’s eyes were filled with an irrepressible doubt.

When she first received news about Gaven, Zalanda believed she had a precise grasp of his intentions, which were simply to take advantage of the primitive collective society of the gnolls, which was easy to manage, to make a surprise move to control the entire Rocklands, thereby achieving his goal of becoming a noble in Komeer.

But then, news came unexpectedly last month that he had appeared in the Valley and gained a new territory there, beginning to gather Thacel refugees.

This move left Zalanda puzzled.

Not only were the two places far apart, inconvenient to connect or share resources.

But also because the geographical conditions and population arrangements of the two places were worlds apart.

In the new territory, it was almost no different for Gaven than starting from scratch.

Zalanda really wanted to immediately drag that little bastard over and ask him why.

But there were too many things here binding her, preventing her from leaving.

Zalanda couldn’t help but stroke the bronze book by her side and whispered softly, "Little bastard, your big sister has opened a dream of her own, but this dream, it’s so heavy on your big sister’s back, will you really come back when your big sister needs you?"

"Yes, I will! See, I’ve come back, haven’t I?" A voice rose from behind Zalanda.

Clang!

The two-handed greatsword by Zalanda’s side sprang from its sheath on its own, enveloped in crimson flames as it landed in Zalanda’s hands and slashed toward the direction of the voice without hesitation.

The crimson flames turned into a sword shadow that shot out.

The figure in the darkness shifted slightly, changing position, and the fiery sword shadow missed its mark.

But Zalanda had already pounced to the figure’s new location, her body suddenly inflating to twice its size, and the greatsword in her hand also expanded correspondingly. If Nola appeared in front of her again, she would be dwarfed in comparison.

A first-level spell: Enlarge.

Not only would one’s height increase twofold, but also the body weight would go up eightfold.

The strength would also receive a bonus of two points.

This was one of the most commonly used support spells on the battlefield.

Its effect is immediate and noticeable.

A greatsword doubled in size with a slash would definitely not carry the same power as before.

Boom!

The large two-handed greatsword directly struck the round shield raised by the figure.

Like bowling, it sent him flying out.

"Big sister, Zalanda big sister, stop hitting me, it’s me, it’s me, Gaven Nort." Gaven got up from the ground in a distressed state while loudly declaring his identity.

He didn’t expect Zalanda to react so violently, attacking without a word.

Thinking back, she’s now the lord of a city, and moreover, a city lord with enemies everywhere—assassinations and the like were probably not uncommon.

If it were him, his reaction probably wouldn’t be much different from hers.

It just never occurred to him that the defense of her City Lord Mansion was so weak, allowing him to easily penetrate her proximity with Energy Dragon Wings, Fairy Step, and Shadow Cloak.

Gaven completely forgot that each of these abilities, on their own, was beyond the reach of ordinary people, not to mention the combination of all three.

After declaring his identity, what Gaven received was not a warm embrace of a long-awaited reunion, but another whack from the greatsword.

Great.

The person she was slashing at was you, Gaven, it was you, the disloyal lover who left home.

This time Gaven fully understood the situation.

He hadn’t used any tricks to cover his face just now. If she didn’t recognize him at first, how could she not see clearly the second time?

In the past six months, Zalanda had clearly made significant strides, her power stepping into the realm of the Transcendent and no longer solely following the path of the warrior, having taken up the role of a mage as well.

Not daring to take her lightly, Gaven quickly summoned his Combat Armor and also cast Enlarge on himself.

He wasn’t the only one who knew spells.

He also cast the Bionic Art, Bear’s Fortitude, on himself.

Without drawing out Death Roar, he simply lifted the shield with both hands, allowing Zalanda to continue chopping away, just passively defending.

When Zalanda swung the third sword.

Nola had already returned, kicking open the door and bellowing, "Assassin, capture the assassin..."

But upon seeing Gaven clearly, the huge axe in her hand froze in midair, and the bellowing got stuck in her throat.

The man truly needed no mentioning; she had just spoken of him, and like a ghost, he had appeared.

But how did he get in?

The City Lord Mansion was fortified inside and out, not just with guards but also with various non-magic and magic traps.

No, she would have to interrogate him thoroughly later and further enhance the defense of the City Lord Mansion.

Seeing Gaven only defending without attacking, Nola’s eyes roamed before she Picked up her great axe, positioned like a guardian deity at the doorway, and said to the arriving Guard Commander, "It was just a false alarm, you can leave now."