Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race-Chapter 127 - Milis on Fire

Tinaver City, in the Milis continent.

POV: Taes Dedoldia

It had been almost three years since our leader, Rygar Adoldia, had set off on his journey toward the Sword Sanctuary.

Three years since I last saw him, leaving behind only his unwavering determination and the responsibility to keep the flame of the Iron Legion burning.

Much had changed since then. The Iron Legion, once a regional group of warriors, had become a true large-scale military and organizational force.

The Great Forest, full of a variety of races and bestial peoples, also thrived under our protection, becoming a refuge for enslaved races.

New members joined the Legion every day, and in the past year, a decisive milestone occurred.

One of the first slaves we freed at Zant Port, back at the beginning of the Legion's creation, returned.

Petrov Jinkan.

Belonging to the demonic Jinkan tribe, a race with blue skin and black horns, known for its brute strength and extreme combat speed.

Thanks to that strength, he was captured as a slave when he was very young and used for all sorts of work that required brute force.

When he was freed by Rygar at the time, Petrov spent a few months with us, working and saving money before returning to his home, in the Demonic Continent.

But when he returned, he was not alone.

He brought with him his entire tribe; apparently, they were fleeing the persecution of a Demon King who dominated the province where they lived, his tribe being hunted and exterminated for treason.

With the arrival of the Jinkan tribe, the Iron Legion was, for the first time, hosting an entire demonic community.

And among them was Lerov Jinkan, Petrov's father and former leader of the Jinkan tribe.

Lerov was an imposing presence. Even without a formal title from one of the three styles, it quickly became clear that, in one-on-one combat, no one in the Legion could match him.

His skill and strength in battle were something extraordinary, even among our best warriors.

If it weren't for one detail, he would continue being the strongest in the Legion.

Recently, I managed to face him in a combat simulation. I wasn't alone. My constant companion, Freki, the Ebony Wolf, now in his adult form, was by my side.

Freki was a Rank A creature, with speed and strength comparable to young dragons. And I, even without using non-enchanted magic, could already be considered a North Saint, so there were few people I couldn't defeat if I put my mind to it.

Together, we managed to "defeat" Lerov. At least, that's what he said.

Since then, I began training under his guidance; in fact, many of us did. He was an excellent teacher, with his more than 200 years of combat experience.

Personally, I didn't think we truly defeated him. After all, Lerov wasn't fighting to the death and it was two against one, even though everyone seemed to recognize Freki as part of my fighting force.

But for all intents and purposes, he acknowledged my victory.

And that's how I came to be considered the strongest warrior in the Iron Legion... except, of course, for Rygar.

As the commander of this division of the Legion, I accepted the title without hesitation.

I needed to keep morale high, inspire the young ones, show that leadership was still strong even in the absence of our true leader.

I liked Lerov, but even so, he was a foreigner for now.

I wasn't the only one who had grown in these three years. Kilian did an impressive job in the Great Forest.

Even though we hadn't fought together for some time, I heard reports of his incredible growth. Linia, Pursena, and Lisena also evolved considerably.

Moreover, with the unification of the forest races under our banner, hidden talents began to emerge. From different bestial tribes.

People with immense potential, who had never received proper training, were now becoming fighters, healers, strategists.

Our strength grew day by day.

However, not everything was rosy. A persistent problem was haunting our operations: Milis.

While I was analyzing reports in my tent, one of my men appeared—it was Tovan, the deputy commander of the Legion's Intelligence Division.

"Commander!" he shouted, calling my attention.

"Speak."

"We were attacked again in Milis territory! Our forces were captured and killed... the slaves that accompanied the troop were also killed or captured."

I frowned. The attacks were becoming more frequent and brutal.

"Where are they taking the captives?"

"Hilhirt, sir. That's where they are being taken; a regular troop should take three days of travel, but we have evidence to believe that this is one of Milis' traps. If we send only regular warriors, we'll just be sending more people to die."

"And the other high-level force groups? Are they still on mission?"

The man hesitated.

"Yes... commander."

I closed my eyes for a moment, pondering. He was right—sending a small group would only increase the casualties.

The enemy wanted to provoke us, force us to retreat, after all, their comprehensive military strength was still much greater than ours, since we hadn't had much time since the Legion's creation.

"I will go personally. Inform Lerov, when he returns, not to leave the base without orders. Understood?"

"Yes, commander!"

I turned around and leapt out of the tent.

"FREKI!"

A howl echoed throughout the base. In seconds, a huge ebony-furred wolf emerged among the trees. Its eyes glowed like embers, and its steps made the ground tremble slightly.

I leaped onto its back, and it shot through the forest like a black lightning bolt, toward the heart of danger.

Our biggest problem was Milis. Our initial conflicts with the kingdom had only worsened over the years.

The only faction still trying to mediate the situation was the Pope's, but let's be honest... our "expansion" throughout the region was not exactly well received by the royal family or the Milis nobles.

Especially after we received a tribe of the demonic race into the Legion, many accused us of planning a war, and they accused us of cooperating with the demonic races for that purpose.

The Temple Order considered us heretics and hunted us as if we were beasts, while we fiercely resisted their attempts at oppression.

The conflict intensified every day, like embers blown by a hot wind.

The Instruction Order, initially considered our best chance for an alliance, eventually distanced itself after the Joylore family incident, and even the Church Order, which remained neutral for quite some time, began showing signs of unease.

There wasn't much that could be done about it—our activities were, in fact, aggressive in relation to these established powers.

We spread members of the Iron Legion throughout the Milis territory, infiltrated strategic regions, and even established forward bases in the Kingdom of the Dragon King and on the Demonic Continent.

For a while, these actions were easy to maintain.

But then, everything changed with the emergence of the Memory Miko. By looking into someone's eyes, she is able to see a person's "surface memories," memories that someone holds in mind.

This also extends to being able to see memories related to that subject, and the longer she looks into someone's eyes, the more memories of that person she sees.

She allied with the Cardinal's faction—our main opponent. Cardinal Leblanc seized this opportunity as a divine gift, using it as living proof that God was on their side.

Rumors arose that a priest, supposedly close to him, was receiving dreams sent directly by God.

This further inflamed the faith of the believers and greatly expanded the power of the Cardinal's faction.

With the growing support of the nobility and the covert interest of the royal family, the situation became a pressure cooker ready to explode.

The Iron Legion came to be seen as a threat to the stability and faith of the Kingdom of Milis. The confrontations intensified.

Missions were ambushed. Warriors were captured or killed. The siege was slowly tightening.

It was then, a few months ago, that she appeared: Verdia Solarion.

The master of my leader... and one of the most incredible people I've ever met.

She had decided to leave the Great Forest, but when she learned of the situation, she sought me out personally.

Her experienced eyes and calm presence carried an authority that I did not dare question.

Her words were simple, yet laden with wisdom: she told me that if the situation continued as it was, a war would be inevitable.

She advised us to prepare in advance, to gather supplies, strengthen our posts, and establish evacuation routes for the Great Forest.

The Legion had great potential and was already very strong, but we still needed time.

Time to grow, consolidate our forces, train our warriors, and establish diplomacy. If a war broke out now, all our trade, meticulously built over the years—especially by Peikak—would suffer an almost fatal blow.

Verdia also mentioned that she would set out on a journey to the Demonic Continent, in order to contact an old friend—someone who, according to her, could help us if the worst were to happen.

Meanwhile, we began to take action. We doubled our patrols.

We established hidden stockpiles of supplies. And most importantly, we reinforced our presence in the Great Forest. Our resources came from there, and losing the forest would be like losing the heart of the Legion.

But no matter how many decisions I made, no matter how much I pretended to be calm, a part of me couldn't shake one thought. "If only Rygar were here... With him by our side, maybe this situation would have already been resolved."

His presence inspired courage. His strength instilled confidence. And his ideas were always revolutionary—a kind of insight that could change the course of history with just a few words.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Now, I needed to do that in his place. Even if it was difficult.

If he were here, everything would be easier. But he was not.

And until he returned... I was the Commander.

And I could not falter.

---

Recently, the Iron Legion had reached an important milestone with the creation of a strategic maritime route that connected the territory of the Hobbits directly to the Kingdom of the Dragon King, according to Rygar's orders.

The route was still in a testing phase, but it was already a promising start.

This new transport line represented a significant change for the Legion, as it would allow us to bypass the vast lands of the Kingdom of Milis.

This maritime route, once fully operational, would open a safer and more direct way to reach our allies, the Kingdom of the Dragon King, and the Central Continent.

In addition to strengthening our position in the Great Forest.

Besides these major problems that the Legion was facing, there were also some dangerous setbacks that could not be ignored.

The rest of the mercenary group Tesmpestade from Tirainia, who had ambushed Rygar, had come to Milis.

In our attempt to neutralize them, I could not go because I was on another mission. So, we designated Weys, one of our most skilled warriors, to eliminate the threat.

But the mission was a failure. The two most dangerous mages and the old man managed to escape to Milishion, and only the mage of the demonic race was captured, almost dead.

From this capture, we obtained crucial information about them: the identities of the mages were Rudeus Greyrat and Sylphiette, known by the Legion's Fittoa Survivor Search Group due to the teleportation incident.

Basically, they were among the people prioritized in the search for Fittoa survivors.

The situation became even more complicated when we learned that Laws himself, one of our most loyal warriors, had died in the fight against these two mages.

But the one who had killed him was one of our own, probably because they believed he was helping the opponents.

From what we learned from Weys, the warrior who had thrown the blade at Laws was one of those killed by the ice magic of the silver-haired mage, Sylphiette, leaving us without the ability to confront him and ask his reasons.

No one else could give us an answer, which only worsened our frustration.

The boss had ordered us to look for the mage with the Stone Helmet and the mage with Silver Hair, and imprison or kill them directly, probably without knowing their true identities.

He did not know how they had lost contact—and they had even become enemies—but he was there to be seen.

It was now clear that Rudeus was the brother of the Leader's disciple, Aisha Greyrat, and Sylphiette was Laws' daughter.

Despite all that, the fact is that they killed several of our comrades, and Laws was already dead.

The fact that they ambushed Rygar in an assassination attempt only increased the gravity of the situation. Because of that, we continued following the orders to capture or kill.

But we could not do anything about them now. They were in Milishion, a city that was practically a fortress, completely impenetrable for us, the Iron Legion.

Milis, moreover, seemed to have become particularly aggressive in recent weeks, with the Temple Order showing even more relentlessness, trying to annihilate any member of the Legion present in its territory.

It was then that the lack of manpower became evident.

The Legion, even with its great growth, was not fully prepared to deal with Milis, which had thousands of years of accumulated military might.

Even young Rufus, at only 9 years old, was being sent on missions.

The need for reinforcements was constant, and tensions grew more with each day.

We found ourselves forced to allocate our high-level combat forces to several missions at once, weakening our position on the most important fronts.

And that was why I often went to some places personally.

Usually, this journey I was undertaking would take several days for ordinary warriors, but riding on Freki, after several hours of high-speed travel, I finally reached my destination.

After arriving and investigating, the impression was as I suspected: it was a trap.

Even so, I continued; common traps lose their meaning in the face of absolute strength.

After following the clues and going to where our members were supposedly imprisoned, I came across an expected scene.

Before me, a well-prepared troop of the Order of the Temple was positioned, and leading them was a renowned warrior in Milis, a Water Saint.

The terrain was set up to encircle us, but, as usual, that did not scare me.

Freki and I were unbeatable below the Saint level, both due to our extremely rapid mobility and the versatility of non-enchanted magic.

I wasted no time with introductions.

I got straight to the point: I tried to negotiate with the troop's leader, offering freedom for my captured men and for the slaves who had been taken, so that there would be no carnage.

But he remained firm in his position, calling me a demon, and claiming that since I commanded a monster to fight on my behalf, I was one too.

The same religious nonsense as always. When words failed, I made the decision everyone expected of me.

Freki and I launched the attack. The confrontation was brutal. The warriors of the Order of the Temple were quickly crushed.

Their forces were not prepared for the destructive power and mobility of a Rank A wolf being directed in full combat, much less for non-enchanted magic.

There was no mercy. It was a clear message to anyone who wished to challenge us: the Legion would not easily back down.

At the end of the battle, only silence remained; there were a few survivors among our warriors and the slaves, which was good.

The roar of the fight still resonated in the air as I observed the remnants of the enemy troop.

This was becoming more and more common: with each encounter, violence became more necessary.

If we let the enemies escape, they would return with greater force to kill our men and retaliate. There was no longer any room for hesitation.

The Legion was preparing for war, and war was about to begin. Every battle, every strike we exchanged, made us stronger, but the cost was increasingly high.

Verdia had spoken the truth, and now it was impossible to deny: we were about to enter into a conflict of unimaginable proportions.

---

I took the group back after healing them; this took a few days since I was no longer running incessantly with Freki.

When I returned, I received another piece of unpleasant news: during the time I was away, Rudeus Greyrat, Sylphiette, and Hector, along with some knights from Milis, attacked our prison and rescued several of the prisoners.

Reinforcements arrived quickly and recaptured many of them—and even killed many enemies—but several escaped, including the mage of the demonic race, Vidette.

-----

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