I, the Villain, Want to Save Myself, But the Yandere Heroines Disagree-Chapter 12 - Man-made Disaster (1/3)

Balu rode his mount, fleeing eastward all the way. After an unknown amount of time, he finally stopped.

The beastman warriors around him, who were initially tens of thousands scattered, were now no more than a handful.

Even though he intended to gather the soldiers, after such a disastrous defeat, his influence was no longer as strong as before.

Except for the soldiers of his own clan who were still willing to follow him, even the beastman clans that had been incorporated into his army before were now completely ignoring him.

When fleeing, they only cared about their own escape, completely unwilling to obey orders.

And the outcome of such behavior was obvious.

Except for the three thousand beastmen gathered around Balu, the other scattered fleeing beastmen were successively surrounded and annihilated by other human armies on their return journey. By the time the beastmen completely exited the human-controlled area, three days had already passed.

During these three days, apart from simple water replenishment, the beastman soldiers could be said to have eaten nothing while fleeing. Even the giant wolf under Balu couldn’t endure and collapsed halfway, leaving Balu with only his own two legs to travel, just like the other beastman warriors.

“Chieftain Balu.” At night, in Balu’s temporary camp, a beastman soldier found Balu, his eyes desolate.

“What’s wrong?” Balu looked at the other party, not understanding the purpose of his visit.

“You may not know me. I am fifty years old this year,” he said, sighing.

“Fifty?” Balu was immediately respectful upon hearing this. Subsequently, he scrutinized this warrior for a long time.

For an ordinary beastman, reaching over forty years old was equivalent to entering old age, and their combat ability would rapidly decline. In other words, a beastman warrior who might originally have had Tier 3 human strength, after the age of forty, might only have Tier 1 combat strength.

Balu was only slightly over thirty years old now, already considered quite old in the beastman tribes.

And looking at the other party, at the age of fifty, his mental state was still very good. As for his combat ability, the fact that he could participate in this expedition proved that his combat ability was definitely not weak.

“Please sit, old sir,” Balu said this, offering his seat to him.

Beastmen always respected the strong. The fact that the other party could still have the strength to serve in the army at fifty years old meant that he was definitely even more formidable when he was young.

“Alright, thank you,” the old beastman said this, sitting beside Balu. “Chieftain Balu, was our attack this time considered a failure?”

Hearing the other party’s words, Balu’s mood became somber.

“I suppose so,” he nodded.

“Because of me, everyone suffered so many casualties and losses for nothing. I am very sorry.”

“I understand this isn’t your fault, Chieftain Balu,” the old beastman said this, waving his hand.

“Although I am old, I am not senile. I have participated in three wars, and the result has always been the same,” he sighed.

“The first time I participated in a war, the chieftain at the time told us that we were fighting for the future of our race, that we must reclaim the land that rightfully belonged to us, take back everything we had lost from the hands of humans, and make humans pay for their evil deeds.”

The old beastman said this, his expression showing reminiscence.

“In that war, the human side resisted fiercely, but we still broke through their defenses and gained a large amount of land.”

“But the good times didn’t last long. The chieftain who had spoken of uniting the beastmen suddenly turned against us, annexing several smaller tribes. Afterward, everyone started following the chieftain’s example. The beastmen fell into chaos internally, and the humans were thus able to drive us back.”

“The previous war was arguably the most successful of the three wars I have experienced. We penetrated deep into the human Empire and plundered wealth that we could not have even imagined from them. Even though we were ultimately defeated by the humans, we had already transported enough grain back to last us for several years.”

“However, beastmen did not become better because of this war. On the contrary, because of the abundant grain, after returning to the desert, we fought fiercely among ourselves over these resources. The good comrades who fought side by side in the war against humans instantly became enemies.”

Listening to the old beastman’s words, Balu also felt deeply moved.

He had also participated in the previous war. At that time, he was not yet a chieftain, only a high-ranking officer. He also participated in the subsequent beastman civil war. It was through that civil war that he learned the importance of uniting the beastmen.

But before the emergence of an absolutely powerful force, beastmen had always harbored their own intentions. There were simply too many tribes with ulterior motives.

After receiving secret assistance from the human side, Balu’s own tribe indeed grew stronger, becoming the only large tribe among the beastmen. He also successfully “united” all the beastmen through this. But the reality proved that when things were going smoothly, beastmen might indeed be united, but once they suffered failure, everyone wanted to make others take the fall for them, and conflicts and rifts thus also arose.

“So, Chieftain Balu,” the old beastman looked up at the silver moon in the sky, “are our true enemies, the beastmen, really humans? Or are we ourselves?”

“...” Balu was silent upon hearing this.

“We beastmen can endure the harsh environment of the desert, and even develop our own civilization within it.”

“However, whenever we want to truly unite and do something, in the end, it always collapses from within.”

“You are right,” Balu sighed.

To deal with humans, Balu had carefully studied humans through the limited literature available to beastmen. But the real problem lay within the beastmen themselves.

“Chieftain, this is the truth that I, an old man, have only understood after fifty years. I am telling you this not to make you give up opposing humans,” the old beastman said this, patting Balu on the shoulder.

“The difficulties we face were indeed created by humans, but at the same time, only by truly uniting can we stand against humans.”

“I understand,” Balu nodded upon hearing this.

The problem beastmen currently faced was the excessive conflict caused by disagreements in various decisions within this loose tribal alliance, which prevented the beastmen from unleashing their potential for war. Only by uniting, establishing a beastman kingdom, and creating a centralized rule, could the beastmen’s potential for war be fully realized.

Only this way could the beastmen avoid ultimately losing all the gains they achieved after each confrontation with humans.

With this thought in mind, Balu prepared to start his plan to unify the beastmen tribes after returning.