Ch.103The Devil’s War (3)

“Secretary. The situation in the south is concerning.”

The Holy Army, which should have been advancing triumphantly, was in low spirits.

With the Archangel’s secretary personally descending, they should have been purifying the continent with fierce momentum. They should have been rebuilding the bastion of faith and making humans offer praises to the heavens, but the demons kept spreading terror.

“What are the casualties of the Southern Crusaders?”

“It’s uncontrollable. They say half of the forces have already been killed or wounded.”

“Even with the Demon King’s return, shouldn’t they have retreated in an orderly fashion? If they had properly established defensive lines along the mountain range, the enemy wouldn’t have attacked so recklessly… Is it a leadership issue?”

Anger boiled up inside Rupiel, but he restrained himself. Losing his temper wouldn’t change the situation, so the secretary calmly began assessing the battle conditions. Thanks to this, the hesitant officers were able to speak up.

“They seem to have deployed a more powerful unit as their vanguard than expected.”

“Who did they put at the forefront?”

“According to our intelligence, it’s someone called Chaphir, the captain of the Demon Castle’s cavalry.”

“…I know him well. They say he’s a great demon who rules as the sovereign of the northern demon realm.”

Rupiel understood immediately. This wasn’t an opponent they could simply hold off against. Rather, it was an order that could erase one’s faith. They had hoped for salvation, but instead were being urged to die—no wonder the holy knights couldn’t continue leading the charge into battle.

“I’ll focus on saving as many troops as possible. Dispatch two units of the Celestial Knights immediately to block their advance.”

“The demons number in the thousands. Two units won’t be enough, Secretary.”

One of the cavalry adjutants wore a worried expression. Sending such inadequate forces against elite troops naturally provoked immediate opposition. Rupiel quickly added an explanation.

“Victory isn’t necessary. Even if we give up territory, I’ll consider the mission accomplished if they reach an area where the Holy Army can safely protect them.”

“You mean…”

“Yes. I’ll move the army south. We must block the demons’ advance first.”

They had to move while the central region’s chaos hadn’t been completely settled. A restless atmosphere formed. Murmurs questioning whether this was too hasty could be heard. Nevertheless, Rupiel didn’t bend his resolve.

“Everyone knows where the central chaos comes from. It’s because the demons’ advance is faster than expected.”

The demon legions had moved one step ahead of the heavens. Unlike Rupiel, who had hastily assembled troops because the Archangel wouldn’t act, they had systematically occupied necessary territories. Although the Holy Knight Order was recognized as the world’s strongest force with divine blessing, they couldn’t block movements that came one breath faster.

Even stretching both hands with all their might, they could barely wrap around the center. The rest of the human armies were thoroughly trampled under demonic hooves.

“If only the Archangel had shown more interest in the human realm.”

The secretary gritted his teeth. What was the point of that lofty heavenly authority if it abandoned the human realm it was supposed to govern and acted so incompetently? No matter how much faith they had accumulated over a thousand years, it would dissipate after just a few wars. Unlike the times when they invested surplus resources in the demon realm, this time they needed to properly engage.

He had shouted toward the heavens many times, but they failed to recognize the severity of the situation. Greed had already blinded them.

“How incompetent, even as those demons move to find their forgotten mother.”

The reason they were striking from the south.

Rupiel wasn’t ignorant of their intentions. What the demons wanted wasn’t conquest of the human realm, but recovering their forgotten deity. All their actions in the south pointed to this. Instead of slaughtering human souls to gain power, they were molding a new form of faith.

All this troublesome work was for a path to the future.

“A future that must never come to pass.”

Even as he said this, he couldn’t help but squeeze his eyes shut.

To erase the central chaos, they needed to halt the demon realm’s offensive and stabilize the southern border battles. The Holy Army’s prestige had to stop them before they could plan their next move.

Meanwhile, they would be spreading their next demonic scheme.

“Damn it.”

Only harsh curses came out. Even a holy and righteous angel couldn’t help it in the face of such a harsh fate. For now, he needed to grasp his sword and solve the immediate problems.

#

Chaphir, the Northern Great Warrior, felt ecstasy in the heat of war that he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Behold the magnificent charge of the heavy demonic beast cavalry that shook the earth. The failure engraved by the Blade Wind War had become fertilizer, giving him caution.

He quickly identified battlefields they could certainly win and established attack patterns. Dividing between elite troops and conscripts, he watched the fleeing armies and pounced without delay when they became favorably separated from their main force.

“Kill them as painfully as possible!”

“They’re collaborators with the deceivers!”

“Haha! Let’s see how far their prayers reach!”

When the holy knights formed a defensive formation with their long spears imbued with divine power, he avoided them without pushing too hard. While they cowered in fear, the conscripts left behind became excellent prey.

“Ugh, aaaagh!”

“Sp-spears! Grab your spears first!”

The non-commissioned officers shouted until their throats were raw. They tried desperately to form defensive formations against the demonic beasts’ charges, but the difference in caliber made proper combat impossible. Even huddling together with shields, they collapsed greatly with just one kick from a demonic beast.

CRASH!!

Even screams were buried. Bodies turned to minced flesh sprayed blood over the mounds of dirt. An indescribable fear along with a sense of helplessness spread across the battlefield.

“The Holy Knight Order is just retreating!”

“We’ve been abandoned. Abandoned!”

To make matters worse, brothers bound under the name of crusaders simply fled. Those who had been dragged to the battlefield as “comrades in faith” were busy running away when their lives were in danger.

Eventually, the crusader remnants, fallen into panic, quickly lost their will to fight, making a mockery of their “continental purification” cause. They raised white flags everywhere and threw down their weapons. They raised both hands and feet, hoping those demons would spare their lives.

The heated atmosphere simultaneously cooled down.

“Great Warrior! What shall we do with them?”

A soldier approached Chaphir, who was leading the Demon King’s army vanguard. Beyond his grinning expression were prisoners with death-like faces. As nomadic trophies, they should have had their heads cut off to become horse decorations.

“Send all the small fry to the rear.”

“What?”

“Orders from above. They want to use them as workers for rebuilding the order.”

Unlike a passionate nomad, Chaphir rationally followed the written orders.

“If we push further beyond this defense line, we’ll meet the Holy Army. Are you ready to fight against divine power right now?”

“Of course! How can we flee from angels? I’ll crush them and offer them as sacrifices to the Regent!”

“That’s exactly why we can’t. You should think about winning the war, not just seeking glory.”

When Chaphir responded irritably, the soldier backed away cautiously. The Great Warrior, watching this, waved his hand dismissively.

“If you’re done, go. We’ll reorganize our forces and target other crusader troops that haven’t escaped the defense line area yet. There are still thousands of prey.”

Looking around, there were still many wounded soldiers crawling away. Since they were gently carving up the festering crusaders, there was no need to hastily lead the army. Victory was foreordained, so the key was how well they moved according to the Regent’s intentions.

“And release the light cavalry to plunder all nearby settlements. This time also limited to around the defense line.”

He also fulfilled the role of spreading death, befitting a demon’s nature.

He would gradually provoke impatience in the Holy Army. The more humans died, the more disadvantageous it became for the other side, so it was simply about enjoying pleasure without responsibility.

“Hahah! Let’s aim for the next neck!”

Wheeeeee-

With the sound of a whistle, the cavalry moved like lightning. While the Holy Army slowly descended, they burned dozens of villages and erased three cities from the map. All resources were sent south to become the foundation for the order.

Nothing remained in the land they left behind.

#

“The Great Warrior seems to be enjoying himself thoroughly.”

“Well, even low-level demons are considered major threats in the human realm, so it makes sense they’d collapse like that when faced with the demon realm’s elite troops.”

On the road to the east.

The conversation continued between the warrior who had taken his first step as an apostle of death and the Western Queen Yoannina.

Joy poured in to the point of becoming numb from the victory reports arriving daily. The emotion flowed precisely from the Black Knight Order behind them. They couldn’t hide their smiles as they gauged how powerful the force they now belonged to was.

“Seeing them take this obvious fact like that still makes me sigh… but what can we do.”

Yoannina cast a look of disdain. The lizardmen soldiers guarding her did the same. Having brought many robust monster infantry that the western demon realm boasted of, they were quite dissatisfied with their position of cleaning up after humans.

“I wish we could have a battle that would turn the atmosphere around.”

“But that won’t happen in the east. I know that area well, and there’s no reason for conflict with demons there.”

The warrior spoke indifferently. It was truly contradictory to say such things on the path demons were advancing on, but Yoannina had nothing to say to a human directly blessed by the Goddess of Night.

“Well, I guess we’ll be cleaning up after them there too.”

“That’s probably highly likely.”

“What?”

Yoannina turned her head. A new emotion, not composure, appeared in the eyes of the demon who had lived for a thousand years.

“I’ll tell you just a little—the eastern continent isn’t a land where humans live. From appearance to culture, it’s a land where completely different species live.”

“Different species?”

“Yes. You’ll get a rough idea if you look at our companions following from behind.”

The warrior’s companions. Elves and dwarves.

Yoannina nodded as if she understood.

“So it’s a land where such beings live…”

As she answered, a sudden ominous feeling crossed her mind.

She slowly turned her head to look at the warrior.

“Then…”

“It seems they want to use it as a foundation to increase the order’s influence, while also gathering information about sacred artifacts.”

It meant they had one more young race to take care of. Yoannina let out a deep sigh at once.

“As if things weren’t difficult enough already.”

It was indeed the path to seize the only opportunity given by fate, but the difficulty was undeniable.

This too must be a sacrifice for duty.

The Western Queen examined the lacking troops once more and swallowed another sigh that was about to escape.