The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 898: Environmentally Friendly

Once the Undead were truly dead, the work of cleaning them up to prevent the spread of plagues or even the Zombie Virus to the surrounding ecosystem began.

The worst thing that you could do, in the minds of the soldiers, was to fight a Zombie in running water. The moment that you began to damage it, the undead creature would leak infected fluids into the water, and there was no telling what life form downstream might ingest that in enough concentration that it would turn them and begin an outbreak.

Towns along the rivers had detection magic to ensure that nothing of the sort, or any other magical toxin, would make its way through their territories, but a zombie monster could spread the plague just as easily as a zombie farmer or dockworker.

Fortunately, they were Demons, and they had plenty of fire magic to help them fully sanitize the area and eliminate the possibility of the virus spreading, as well as thorough sanitation procedures in place to ensure that none of the disease was passed on.

That was made easier by Lotus, who had her four new totems spread out in a ring around her, expanding the effect of her [Tree of Life] formʼs healing aura.

All they had to do was stand nearby for a while after they had cleaned themselves, and the effect would kill the zombie virus, even if it was already starting to take root in their system.

But with barriers up and fire magic at the ready, most of the soldiers didnʼt actually come into contact with the blood, and could just burn it off themselves if they did.

Once they were finished, Delta marshalled his troops and brought them to the Command Group, who were preparing to set camp for the evening and send out scouts.

Karl nodded politely to the groupʼs leaders. ”We will remain in the area for a while, in case there are more attacks coming. Would you like me to have the Thunderbird scout? Hawk has excellent eyesight, even from thousands of metres in the air, and wonʼt have any trouble tracking the movement of other enemy forces in the region.”

”We will take any and all help you can offer. Will you be staying with the unit? Or somewhere nearby?” The Commander asked hopefully.

Karl looked around the open grasslands. ”Iʼm not certain. We usually prefer an elevated position, to let the Blood Destruction Spider make us a fort, but we can settle at ground level if necessary.”

The Demon nodded in understanding. Sleeping on the ground wasnʼt anyoneʼs favourite hobby. However, it was safer to have everyone together, and close enough that they could all be behind a communal barrier to keep out any uninvited guests during the evening hours.

Realistically, Karl didnʼt need to pick a tree to build a fort in. He had the [Tiny World] and an entire underground city worth of tunnels there, plus the recreation of the Guild House, with a comfortable bed, silk sheets and fresh air.

That somewhat defeated the purpose of staying with the Demon Army, though. They wanted the connection that being on the line would give them, so retreating to a separate space would be counterproductive.

Well, for most of them. Remi was already in the alchemy lab of the [Tiny World] and working on the potions that she had missed out on making while they travelled.

Once the area was fully cleared, and Hawk had reported that there was nothing within a twenty kilometre search radius, the army began to plan their evening camp location.

One of the junior officers gestured off into the distance. ”Why donʼt we move east to the village? Theyʼll be happy to get the sales of bulk goods to the army, and the presence of a whole unit will give them some peace of mind.

Things have been tense along the border with all these attacks, and public relations are important.”

The Commander thought about it, then shook his head.

”Itʼs too close to the attack. They will only worry that weʼre hiding a threat. They must already know about the battle, and they will have seen the aftermath in the distance.

If we go there now, theyʼll think that they are the next target.

Set up a perimeter wall with the Earth Demons and make a fort. We will camp a kilometre toward the border, away from the aftermath of the battle.” The Commander decided.

”Leave some space for us. I will have my team set up a large tent for the evening. Then we will scout again in the morning.” Karl insisted.

The Commander gestured to the junior officers, and within minutes, the Demons were building a large perimeter wall in the distance.

Rae quickly joined them to make a proper tent for her people, with [Earth Barrier] posts to hang the hammocks from, and double layered silk cloth, with a sticky inner layer to catch any sneaky sorts who might try to creep in to spy them.

She didnʼt really think that any of the Drodh Army soldiers would be stupid enough to try to intrude on them, but a girl could dream. Just the potential of catching an attempted peeping tom was enough reason for her to put in the extra work.

Thor transformed back into humanoid form, and Hawk returned to his space for the evening, but Cara decided to stay out and make the most of the hammock that Rae had made for her.

Anyone who saw how happy she was, laying on her back, feet in the air, gently rocking herself in a hammock, would find it hard to argue with the strategy. But she was secretly hoping that if she was nearby and not in her space, she might be the first one to notice if someone tried to sneak into the tent.

Once everyone was inside, the army unit set patrols around the outside of the stone barrier wall, and Karl noticed that there were no active defensive measures in place, just the one stone wall. Once it was created, it didnʼt give off an aura of magic at all, and that gave the whole unit a rather low-key presence.

Much like a powerful monster pack, they simply existed in the plains. In a way, it was both more and less secure than Karlʼs usual preparations. There was no barrier active, but its absence made it less likely that anything would notice their presence in the first place.