The Elf Leaderās Miscalculation
Authorās note: Po-no-jiās point of view.
Translation note: This is referring to Potimas
The war between the humans and demons has come to an end. The result, is more or less a draw. Both sides suffered enormous damage.
Several of the forts that form the cornerstone of the human territorial borders were taken, and the situation has become one where itās unclear when the demons will invade again. Not just that, but while the forts being taken was bad enough, the damage to the humans wasnāt limited to just that. The death of the Hero in particular, could be said to be the hardest blow for the humans. While I didnāt have much expectations of this Hero, I wonāt deny that I did have some faint hopes that maybe he could achieve something. Him and Ariel killing each other would be too much to ask for, as that would be the sort of dream a child who cannot face reality would have.
While the demons were able to successfully capture several forts, both at the places where they failed and where they succeeded, naturally they did not come away unscathed. Purely in terms of the number of casualties, there probably wasnāt much difference between them and the humans. So, from the perspective of the demons who have fewer numbers than the whole of humanity, the damage they took is great. Because they conscripted soldiers without considering the consequences, if they manage their losses poorly then it could even cast a shadow over the continued existence of the demons as a species. But then again, since she was well aware of that possibility, by pressing ahead with the unreasonable conscription of soldiers anyway, I guess you could say itās going as Ariel planned.
Yes, as planned. The war on this occasion has been entirely within the palm of Arielās hands. That ability of hers to cause all this damage to the humans and demons, and eradicate the one person who needed to be dealt with. Maybe it would better to call it completely magnificent. Or perhaps even artistic. At any rate, even I was lead around by the nose after all.
Since before the war began, I sensed that it was becoming hard for the elves within the demon territory to carry out their activities. While I had thought that Argnar had been spotted as being one of our collaborators, I still feel ashamed of having our movements entirely understood and being one-sidedly crushed. It was a surprise in itself that Ariel would have someone under her capable of conducting such information warfare. I had looked down on Arielās strength as purely being in her fighting ability.
Probably this Shiro or whatever individual, the one who has recently been serving beside her, is an expert in intelligence gathering. Although there is no reliable information due to all the interference, it seems there are rumours going around saying that the army that Shiro is commanding are specialised in such things. Where did she find a group with such skills? Because of them moving around behind the scenes, Iāve been at the limits of my irritation at not being able to shape events as I wish. The information warfare within the demon territories has been a complete loss. Itās already impossible to tell what information is fact and what is fake.
For this reason, after Ariel had departed for the war, at the time when I gained some information that one of the reincarnators, the girl vampire, was alone, I suspected that it might well be a trap. Being cautious, I intended to crush the trap itself, and intentionally answered the invitation. Thinking of the worst case, I used an old model body that it wouldnāt hurt to lose. Even though it was an old model, it was a body with plenty of combat ability.
It was crushed by that girl vampire with trivial ease. From the sensations I felt during the battle, I think that if she got serious she could be equivalent to a top ranking dragon, or perhaps her true power is even beyond that. Compared to the other reincarnators I know, her fighting strength is different by a whole order of magnitude. Clearly Ariel has trained her in the fundamentals of combat. Otherwise, I donāt see how some mere girl could possess such combat ability.
Furthermore, that same mere girl has since been appearing frequently in places all across the world over the last few days, making raids on elf positions. That one mere girl, just by herself, has destroyed elf positions across the world, and whittled away the personnel. To think that it wasnāt only elf positions in the demon territories that was smashed, but even ones in the human territories ā I can only describe it as a miscalculation. I donāt even have the slightest idea how they were located.
The combat ability of that girl vampire, is not something that ordinary elves can handle. To kill that, thereās probably no option except to deploy the anti-magic model Gloria. Or otherwise use the anti-god Gloria in the elf village. I certainly donāt intend to use that on some mere girl though.
Besides, thereās not just that girl vampire, but thereās probably some other troublesome individuals around. The one who deduced the location of the elf positions. The one with a high level in Space Magic, based on the fact that theyāre teleporting instantly around the world. At least, there is someone with those two abilities. I expect that this girl called Shiro is involved, but I donāt have any proof of that. The worst case scenario, would be that all those abilities are possessed by that girl vampire, but even though she is a reincarnator, it is hard to consider that a single person could have so many different abilities. Either way, even with what she has shown so far thereās no mistaking that she is a nuisance.
I regret not being able to kill her as a baby. Also, seeing the possibilities that reincarnators have, I have confidence that my choice wasnāt wrong. As I thought, reincarnators are the embodiment of possibilities. A strange existence that contradicts the common sense of this world. If I can have that, then Iā¦ā¦
If nothing else, this is surely a declaration of war from Ariel. If only she had kept quiet until her life span had ran out, she would have died an easy death. Does that mere girl seriously think she can beat me just because sheās gotten somewhat strong due to the assistance of the System? How ludicrous. Both now and in the past, the only ones I fear are the gods. And thereās now only one god left remaining on this planet. If I can finally get rid of Gyuriedistodiez, all that would be left is the practically dead Sariel.
If it comes to pass that Ariel invades the elf village, then sheāll be exterminated. Thereās many anti-Gyuriedistodiez weapons that have been developed. It may be going somewhat overboard to use them against that mere girl, but I can consider it to be some break-in testing before the main event.
ćPrepare a thorough inspection of every Gloria model. Make sure theyāre ready to be used at any time.ć
Now then, be prepared to receive recompense for doing whatever you like outside.
Sorry bud, that whitey is a god, okay.
āPo-no-jiā ā written ćć®å this is a rather unusual way to turn Potimasās name into a nickname. Shortening someoneās name to just one character (normally one kanji character for Japanese names) and adding ć®å (letter of) is something you might see in an old style yakuza story. Though it seems this style has had some broader use in the internet age and ćć®å seems to have some reference to Pokemon, for example. Anyway, just think of it as the author being playful with Potimasās name.
āGirl vampireā ā the term Shiro uses to refer to Sophia is åøč”ć£å (kyuuketsukko), short for åøč”鬼ć®å (kyuuketsuki no ko), which is a bit like saying āvamp-girlā or āvamp-childā. While Potimas refers to her as åøč”鬼ć®åØ (kyuuketsuki no musume) which is more literally āvampire girlā or āvampire young ladyā. To help distinguish the terms I used āgirl vampireā instead for Potimas.
āGloriaā ā this pretty much a direct phonetic translation. Whether thereās any deeper meaning is hard to say. The āanti-magic model Gloriaā is probably the type that Shiro faced just before her apotheosis.
The line at the end is from the author, lightly mocking Potimas.