Legion of Darkness (11)

Reinforcements were pouring in. Even to Greta’s eyes, an enormous number of troops were gathering to stop him. Greta wasn’t afraid or worried about the increasing number of humans. Rather, he smiled with pleasure as he counted their numbers.

A demon soldier said to Greta:

“Greta-nim. I’m worried that the enemy numbers are growing too much.”

When the soldier said that, Greta exhaled steam from his body and replied:

“Put aside such trivial worries. Aren’t we getting reinforcements too?”

“Reinforcements? I haven’t heard any such news.”

As the demon soldier tilted his head, Greta nodded and said:

“They’ll think we’re coming. So they’ll call in more troops.”

---

“Th-the Demon King’s army seems to be making quite large-scale movements. We can’t confirm the details, but large amounts of dust are rising, and they’re moving towards Greta’s forces. I think it might be reinforcements.”

The news from the watchtower was enough to make both the commander and the hero anxious. The news of massive reinforcements coming to Greta’s troops, whose momentum hadn’t died down, wasn’t exactly welcome. A large army couldn’t be stopped by the porter’s group. As humans, there was a limit to the numbers they could handle.

The hero frowned while biting his nails.

“It’s strange…”

“What part are you referring to, Hero?”

The commander wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked the hero. The hero looked at the commander and said:

“Greta’s behavior… It’s too strange. Why is he acting like this? He doesn’t seem like the type to take pride in martial arts or enjoy one-on-one battles, so why did he give us time to recover and gather troops?”

“Wouldn’t it be to wait for their own reinforcements and also to maintain their armor? Forgive my presumption, but Greta might be confident he can win sufficiently even after clashing with you, Hero.”

The hero shook his head at the commander’s words.

“…Is that so? But could a demon who misses opportunities for such reasons have commanded respect in the demon world?”

“Who knows. We can’t understand the standards of those barbaric demons.”

The hero nodded at the commander’s words. Then he smiled lightly. In a way, the commander’s words had a point. In fact, even if Greta was plotting something, the hero had no choice. In the end, all the hero could do was fight against Greta and hold this position.

[Hero. We know you’re enduring hard. Our prepared strategy is complete. We have a secret plan to break his armor, so pour everything out.]

The hero held the note to his chest. With both hands pressing it tightly, he closed his eyes for a moment and prayed for luck in what was to come. Then he put the paper back in his pocket and said to the commander:

“Commander.”

“Yes, Hero.”

“Let’s go. To defeat that demon.”

“Yes.”

The commander watched the hero’s gallant back with concern, while at the same time feeling his heart swell with the fact that he was fighting alongside such a hero.

Mille trotted after the hero as he left the tent, and the commander lightly wiped away the tears flowing from his eyes. An adjutant close to the commander joked:

“You’re being sentimental, Commander. The soldiers might catch it.”

“…I have a child too. About the same age as the hero.”

The commander looked at the hero. The adjutant’s joking face stiffened, and he rolled his eyes. The handkerchief sticking out of the commander’s pocket had his daughter’s name written on it.

“The Empire people had families too. They would have had fathers, daughters, sons. If the grudge of one family can fill a graveyard with sad melodies, how much resentment and sorrow must there be in the mountain of corpses covering the entire Empire?”

The adjutant didn’t answer. The commander said:

“The hero’s back doesn’t just carry the future of our kingdom. He’s also shouldering the innocent resentment of the Empire people who were sacrificed first.”

“It must be heavy.”

The adjutant, unable to find words, floundered before barely managing to throw out a comment. The commander nodded and put the handkerchief in his pocket.

“If I die, my child will go to the battlefield and fight carrying my resentment and the kingdom’s future. Thinking about that while looking at the hero, I can’t help but tear up. If he had lived in a different place, a different world, he would have been happier than now.”

The adjutant opened his mouth watching the commander catch his breath.

“I often think I want to live in a different world too. A place where there are no demons tormenting us and people live peacefully. Where no one worries about fighting or the future.”

“But, would such a world exist?”

The commander said with a laugh. The adjutant also chuckled and nodded, then put a cigarette in his mouth. He held out a thick cigarette to the commander and asked:

“Do you smoke?”

“Ah, give me one.”

The commander took a deep breath with the cigarette he received from the adjutant in his mouth. The unique complex weed smell from the cheap cigarette calmed his mind. The adjutant, sitting on a rock, placed his scabbard on his thigh and said:

“Look over there. That Greta fellow’s subordinates are already forming their ranks.”

Like bugs crawling, the units composed of ghouls and Greta’s personal subordinates were slowly taking formation. Following the commander’s pre-issued orders, the allied forces were also forming defensive lines.

The commander constantly checked the surrounding situation, gave orders with gestures and shouts, then said to the adjutant:

“Those bastards are disgustingly ugly.”

“I thought my younger sibling was the ugliest until I saw those guys.”

“Didn’t you say it was a younger sister?”

“That’s right. She’s hopeless for marriage. I heard rumors that the hero isn’t interested in women, maybe he has a taste for ugly women?”

“You rascal.”

When the commander held out his fist, the adjutant slipped away and then sat back on the rock. The time spent smoking was so short, but before a single cigarette was finished, they had completed their preparations.

In the center of the allied camp, the hero was walking out. Even from afar, his slender shoulders were raised to supplement his dignity with pauldrons, and his balanced steps still stumbled slightly, not having fully recovered from the aftereffects. The hero’s back, which had looked stronger than anything when pushing back Greta, now looked as fragile as a young girl.

The commander stubbed out his cigarette on the sole of his shoe. The adjutant threw his cigarette on the ground and spat.

The commander stretched and said:

“It’s too heavy a burden for the hero to carry alone.”

“We’ll help him, Commander.”

The commander patted the adjutant’s shoulder. The adjutant nodded and smiled, showing his teeth. As if their smiles and chat were nothing, with a roar that shook heaven and earth, a huge figure spewing smoke slowly began to reveal itself from within the dust.

---

“Greta-nim!”

“What is it!”

Greta was irritated by the adjutant calling his name just as he was about to rush outside. When he twisted his face and shouted, the adjutant, thinking he was angry at him, fell back startled.

Thanks to this, Greta wore an embarrassed expression as he helped him up again, and patted his shoulder while urging him to report.

“Speak quickly!”

“Young Master Bibs has returned…!”

“What?”

Greta raised his head. Piercing through the intense heat emitting from his body, Bibs was standing proudly. There was a certain intelligence on his face different from before. His will stood straight, and the eyes of someone who had made up his mind were visible on Bibs’s face.

Greta was a man who knew how to smile just by seeing that look. He didn’t ask Bibs why he had returned. He didn’t tell Bibs to go back either. Greta only said this instead:

“Have you finally understood me, Bibs? Why we must fight, what we must do.”

Bibs nodded and knelt before Greta.

“Yes, Father. I clearly understand what I must do. Enlightening them and leading them into a new era. I realized that, above all, it’s something I can’t achieve unless I step to the forefront of this battlefield and fight.”

Greta’s expression changed so dramatically that one couldn’t believe he was that ferocious general. The corners of his mouth stretched wide, opening his mouth, and he started laughing while exhaling.

“Hahahahaha!”

Greta’s laughter shook the battlefield. A single tear dropped from Greta’s eye and quickly evaporated. Thanks to that, no one knew he had cried. Greta, who had laughed roughly, showed his vicious teeth and said:

“Yes! You’ve finally understood! Now, Bibs! Put on your armor! From now on, you will run this glorious battlefield with me! See what this father is shouldering! Think again about what you must do from now on!”

A soldier brought armor for Bibs. It was identical to the armor worn by other demon soldiers, but different in that it had the family crest engraved on the chest. The armor seemed slightly worn, as if it had been stored for quite some time.

“Father.”

Greta turned his head once more. Bibs inserted a black lump into his father’s mechanical device.

“It’s a demon stone lump I found. I want to contribute to father’s fight even in this small way.”

Greta started laughing with an even brighter smile.

“Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!”

Bibs also put on his helmet with a faint smile on his lips.