"If this pollen is a long-acting poison or has long-term adverse effects, It might be a mystery, so let's wait and not return to the city for a while."
Analysis was easy thanks to Shaman Dolgoon, a legendary being skilled in healing and herbal medicine.
It wasn't really poison.
It wasn't an egg of some kind of creature.
It wasn't even a medium for flow.
There was no harm to the body from consuming it.
Then what is it?
It was impossible to leave the army on the plains forever, so Ogolaot and Dolgoon stayed on the plains for several months before very cautiously returning, and even after returning, they were isolated for a certain period of time.
And it turns out there really is no problem.
In the middle of the attack, the enemy suddenly scattered evil spirits and put in bats for reconnaissance, but they were easily eliminated.
After a relatively leisurely fight, about a year later, the dimensional passage opened. The world of Ogolaot had changed significantly due to the terrain being modified to suit defense.
The shattered city seemed impossible to rebuild, so they dismantled it, transported the materials, and built a castle elsewhere. Thanks to Ogolaot's 『Creation of Heaven and Earth』, long-distance material transport was remarkably easy.
"I don't know why this smell won't go away."
This was said by every soldier and every civilian. Dolgoon also reported this.
Ogolaot is not a fool. Even if he were a fool, not all 46 of his subordinates would be.
There was no way it could have been a just a minor prank.
"Isn't this a brand?"
He used that expression because he was a ranch owner who managed his livestock by branding them.
Brands, marks, markings. Whatever you call them, they were stamped by 3,500 troops and buffalo. Just thinking about it made Ogolaot shiver.
"Even after a year, the smell doesn't go away, but rather, it remains strong, and no matter what you do, it can't be erased, and it's not particularly toxic either…"
"It seems like the olfactory markings are right. They were all marked on the soldiers and buffalo, and they were spread as they walked around the city."
Ogolaot's expression became very sad.
There are two main reasons why they have been able to stop the immense power of Vein's monsters, who have a total military power of over 700,000 points.
First, power cannot be projected during the dimensional gate stage. Second, even the beasts themselves cannot control them, so they rely on instinct. So, naturally, soldiers with intelligence can read their instinctive movements.
Something that could be suppressed.
But once branded, it's different. Soldiers and civilians hit by this pollen will be swept into the city, where monsters will swarm like a tidal wave.
It was a terrible thing to even think about.... Even at first glance, it was a horrific future.
So, how do they deal with this?
Ogolaot and the 46 gods all kept silent.
"Whatever. Tell me anything. Any idea is fine."
Ogolaot was urging them on like some kind of ill-tempered boss. If a reasonable manager were to urge them like that, their subordinates would be motivated to voice their opinions, but they remained silent.
"This... is there no way to deal with it?"
And this was the conclusion reached by the 47 gods.
There is no way to deal with it.
In short, the stigma has been applied, and a new strategy must be devised based on that premise.
— — —
At first glance, the use of flow in mysticism seems omnipotent. This is because, while long-distance communication in the physical world would require the invention of wireless telegraphy, using mysticism, it could be achieved even in the Stone Age.
However, there is a reason why the civilization that utilizes the flow is not the best, and why the spirits have not been able to conquer the entire universe.
[I created the plant you described. It has a distinctive fragrance and lasts for about three years.]
"Other than that, it's not harmful to any living creatures in the other world, right?"
[It's not even harmful to the dessert army.]
"Very good."
The pollen scattered by bees was clearly created by the plant spirit Nyaltartep.
But the reason the pollen still smelled after two years was entirely biological. It was just that the flower produced chemicals that were so toxic and long-lasting.
And this cannot be dealt with in a mystical way.
"No, they resolved curses and diseases that were more difficult to remove, so why can't they solve this?"
"The principle is different."
A curse created by mystery possesses "malice". Therefore, by breaking that malice, it loses its effect.
While natural diseases are not malicious, they still have definite pathogens, and a biological immune system exists to resist them. Creating a flow that attacks the pathogens or supports the immune system is the magic of healing.
"But this is just stinky pollen. It's harmless."
"The smell of this pollen will bring enemy troops to their city! Is this harmless?"
"That's true, but the malice isn't 'here'. And it's not alive, so you can't destroy it all. And it's not particularly poisonous, so you can't resist its smell."
To use a real-world analogy, it is possible to completely wash away the smell or cover it up with another smell.
But it's impossible to find and destroy each and every scent molecule. Not even a mystery can do it.
"So, what if they just collect all the smelly pollen and burn it?"
"Yes? No, no. That's ridiculous. It's not completely impossible, but it would take about the same amount of energy as counting every single grain of sand in a mountain.
This is the limit of mystery.
So, you just have to accept being branded with a smell.
— — —
"No, something like this...."
[It's not that it's mystical, so it might be okay if there's a way to cover it up with a strong smell or wash it off…]
Dolgoon's words were blurred.
The reason is simple: the Dessert Army's onslaught has severely damaged most plant species in the world.
In particular, because Ogolaot was a player who cultivated nature and left only the plants he wanted, the genetic diversity of herbs and such was extremely lacking, and he did not particularly specialize in plant mysteries.
Moreover, there was no such thing as a flower culture or perfume culture.
"It's ridiculous."
So in the end, he had no choice but to prepare.
Ogolaot thoroughly reshaped the world, building numerous tall towers that hadn't existed before. This was because the opposing world had so many flying creatures that he needed to secure air superiority.
The {Volcano} terrain, which was not cultivated much in this world, was raised to a higher level with a bolder investment and several powerful mysteries derived from {Volcano} were learned.
The mysteries included creating toxic smoke or sulfurous gas to gain control of the airfield, or shooting explosive bullets to stop large groups of troops.
Editing terrain through 『Creation of Heaven and Earth』 gave great benefits to the integration and editing of the spiritual world and the spiritual land, so it wasn't that difficult to suck terrain experience points from places like pastures that weren't immediately needed and push them into volcanoes.
And the surrounding farmland was surrounded by cities, castle walls, natural mountain ranges, and rivers, transforming the entire world into a gigantic fortress city with farmland at its center.
In a normal world, such terrain editing would have left no divine power behind, but you know what? The true value of 『Creation of Heaven and Earth』 lay in places like this.
The ranch was placed outside, but areas where dimensional gates and passageways opened were placed outside, wastelands, uninhabited lands, etc. were also placed outside, and the walls and fortresses made of huge cities and mountain ranges on the outside, and the 'ground' itself was inflated to give height to the ground, so the effort required to build a huge wall was reduced by more than half.
A moat made of a "river" surrounds it. Behind it is an impassable "volcano". Inside the fortress are vast fields and towers ideal for dealing with enemies flying in from the air.
It was a nearly impenetrable structure. It was a land truly built with divine power. Even if Yogur-Thoth and Shuk-Rimuras charged in simultaneously, this fortress city would be impenetrable.
"Why do I have to care about marking or anything? Even if you brand them, you'll have to come here first to take me down, right?"
And finally, they entered the dimensional passage stage.
The first thing to do was, of course, to bring back Knight Commander Haina and his troops who had suffered for five years in this hellish world.
During the two years of the lull, Vein continued to send powerful Yokans and Puddings to hunt Haina, as if he no longer felt the need to keep her alive.
Although the supply resources required to keep them alive were enormous, they only managed to save about a thousand people after two years because the main camp was not attacked.
"Oh my. I really thought I was going to die."
"Come on. Come back quickly. You won't be able to rest so comfortably. From now on, it's a two-way gate. Still, you can rest for a few months."
If rest was not given, desertion will occur. Desertion from this world, in the form of suicide.
"By the way, what's that smell? It smells strange."
"Huh? Oh. This. It's nothing special. We were just buried in it while fighting some evil creatures from the enemy world."
In any case, Haina's return hinted at an imminent invasion by the Vein. The knights quickly joined Haina via teleportation using terrain editing, and then returned to the world using terrain editing, relieved to find that there had been no major problems.
And when Haina returned to the city, she saw
The eyes of a terrifyingly large creature floating distinctly in the high sky next to the sun.
"Uh?"
"Don't panic. It can't enter our city anyway. The dimensional passage 'absolutely' cannot be opened close to our world's main base."
That's right.
In particular, because they did not disperse but rather merged cities, incorporated farmland, and edited the terrain to form their own ironclad fortress cities, there was no way that there would be any famine caused by those evil creatures, or that those who dispersed would be massacred among themselves.
So, no matter how much they fly and crawl, they can't get inside here.
So, Yogur-Thoth used his power to widen the dimensional passage several times and opened several more. Of course, Ogolaot thought it was absurd. Are they planning a siege with those wild animals?
Moments later, a mad rush of worms, swarms of jelly-like creatures, and countless pollen and flower seeds blew through the dimensional passage. This must have been their own offensive strategy.
And then, Ogolaot, the subordinate gods, and their subordinates, who had anticipated a large-scale attack and were prepared for a clash, suddenly realized something.
"Uh."
The blind spot of an ironclad defense strategy.
He only realized now not because he's stupid. He was just too caught up in the "marking" thing.
Thinking that if he was not careful, the scattered civilians and troops would be hunted by the wild animals that were swarming in, he used the power of terrain editing to force them together and attempted to establish an ironclad defense.
But the sense of smell is a mechanism that is as effective at disengaging from a target as it is at tracking it.
They don't come. They don't even approach. They don't come to the fortress city, they just circle around it.
It's as if they are avoiding approaching something that smells.
"AAAAAAAH! All troops, deploy! Stop the evil spirits pouring in now!"
It was as if they had forced the entirety of civilization into a narrow corner.
That won't do. Instead, they should have been prepared to push them away with force.
No matter how large the fortress city is built, the world of Ogolaot is fundamentally primitive.
It was originally terrain.
Even if natural barriers such as mountain ranges and rivers were formed, they would only amount to about 400 kilometers squared at most.
And the world's area is about 4000 kilometers squared, so they had to expand it a bit to raise cattle at this point.
If the Dessert Army invades, occupies nine-tenths of the world, and terraforms it into a Dessert Desert, there's no chance of victory. Their cramped fortress city will be surrounded by the Dessert Army, who have taken over the entire grassland, and they'll eventually wither away.
He hurriedly opened the road and dispatched a force of over 10,000 buffalo cavalry that had been trained.
Against them, regardless of species, there were approximately 430,000 Sweet Tooth, 10,000 martial monsters, and 8,000 magic monsters. There were so many jelly-like creatures, but nearly a million of them were writhing and moving across.
They need to completely replace this with their 10,000 cavalry.
If they fail, they will become extinct.
— — — — —