Ch.124Breakthrough (2)

“Heresy! General.”

“The northeastern region is completely tainted. There’s nothing we can do.”

The map was stained pitch black.

There was no fortress of faith that had stood unbroken for hundreds of years.

One by one, they fell, succumbing to the devil’s schemes.

Despite having fifty thousand troops stationed in the region, the Dark Cult was running rampant. It was already overwhelming just to chase after the Demon Regent who was rapidly breaking through to the interior, but now hell was unfolding everywhere due to heretics.

“We still have many troops. We can suppress this.”

The Holy Crusade’s Eastern Front Commander tried his best to maintain composure. Though it was a challenge no one could answer, he delivered his response regardless.

He had already received reports the previous day that the detachment sent to invade the east had been torn to pieces. It was a catastrophe caused by Durin’s destructive charge, which defied all common sense of this world.

But they had plenty of experience with frontlines collapsing due to a single powerful entity.

Not only in the thousand-year war against demons but also in the civil wars among angels, warrior commanders often ran wild, so they could respond with familiarity. They would gather all elite troops to block Durin’s path. The commander judged that if experienced veterans could withstand the powerful demonic energy, they could bring him down with concentrated fire from the priest corps.

After making his assessment, the Holy Crusade Commander asked his adjutants.

“Is the Holy Grail Praise Corps ready?”

“They can deploy at any time.”

“The three thousand Pure White Helmet Knights who will escort them are also standing by.”

“That should be enough. They can match the enemy’s charge.”

The number of demon legions that had invaded the eastern front was approximately three thousand. As always, the numerical advantage was on their side.

“Send the deployment signal immediately to stop their charge.”

“As you command.”

“The remaining reserves must be diverted to stabilize the region and guard the rear to prevent heretics from spreading further.”

“Then what about the collapsed eastern front?”

All eyes turned to one place at an adjutant’s question. The commander moistened his lips once before answering.

“I will relocate the command post and regroup them.”

“Are you planning to launch an offensive instead?”

“The Demon Regent might be targeting this place. Judging by how they’re digging into the inland, they’re likely planning a decapitation operation. We’ll use this thinking against them. Launch a surprise attack on the eastern continent.”

“I will grant independent command discretion to the remaining forces.”

“Dealing with heretics is not difficult, so I’ll leave that to them. Issue additional orders for them to hold their positions even after regional stabilization is complete. They’re no match for the Regent anyway.”

“As you command!”

The Holy Crusade had experienced one defeat, but it was only a small part. The whole was not shaken by a partial loss.

An army forged directly by the Archangel was preparing to face Durin.

The human realm was Heaven’s cherished garden. They didn’t think those who couldn’t overcome their disadvantage even in the demon realm could easily break through their elites. If they could buy even a little more time until Rupiel arrived, they could eliminate that damned demon.

“Let’s see how tough you really are. Try to stop me yourself.”

The commander gripped the sword at his waist firmly.

#

He rushed forward frantically.

Any delay would change the tide of battle.

The moment the numerically superior angels adapted to the breakthrough and slowed the advance, the demons’ defeat would be certain.

Durin was in such a position. One mistake could likely lead to the destruction of the demon realm. He was personally plugging the gap in their insufficient forces.

It was a treacherous path where a single misjudgment would sweep away the legion and bring doom.

It was the weight of fate that no ordinary person could bear. But he had endured until now.

Even when Istria, the Demon King who led the demon realm’s resurgence, fell.

Even when the incompetent Red Horn was installed as king by the old men of the Senate.

Even when the angels relentlessly invaded, not missing the demons’ period of decline.

He had endured it all. He remained standing until the end, using the lives of soldiers who believed in him as support.

Tens of thousands of souls constantly wailed, asking if their sacrifices had been righteous deaths. It had been an endless torment for someone conducting daily defensive battles in the demon realm, but not anymore.

He was now in the human realm.

He had achieved what even Demon King Istria had not dared attempt. He had pushed back the angels by defeating them again and again. He wielded his sword on the land they thought they had secured.

Every day, he wrote new myths.

Blood shed by ancestors in the human realm for the people banished to the demon world.

Durin’s new support had become stronger than before. He could still hear whispers in his ears. The laments of the dead. The will of demons who had vanished into souls the moment they obtained the goddess’s power was conveyed to him.

-Overcome this, my son.

The nobility of those who had solemnly fulfilled their duty to protect.

Sacrifices far more valuable than holy power gave Durin strength.

-Death is not worthless.

-I chose death for this day.

-Infinite glory shall be yours.

“Charge unit! Target the next city!”

Durin roared. Though they had been running for three days and nights without rest, vitality surged through his body. Death had opened the way. The walls and gates built by humans were useless.

Durin’s charge unit, surrendered to the flow of frenzied momentum, trampled all obstacles. No knight’s spear tip could pierce them. Everything that collided with them broke.

“We go to capture and kill the angels!”

“Kill them!”

“Rupiel! Remember that name! The name of the sacrifice whose head we will present to our ancestors!”

Fighting spirit.

The instinct possessed by demons. The will of those who desperately wanted to survive burned in their bodies.

The pain of having chosen to fight to preserve their lives was no more.

“We shall be victorious! Erase their glory with death!”

“Chaaaaarge!”

Their descendants raced toward the future without tiring.

#

“Their movement speed is too fast.”

“At this rate, we won’t be able to secure the chokepoint.”

The Eastern Holy Crusade’s determination to fight to the death proved futile. The demons’ speed was simply too fast to catch.

Clearly, numerous fortresses existed in Durin’s path. Even if they mobilized all siege engines and priest corps to destroy them, it would take at least three days.

“They’re completely bypassing the castles.”

“They’re charging straight ahead without using the main roads. Even when there are mountain paths, they’re focusing on breaking through.”

Breakthrough.

It was literally a charge with no way back.

They had expected Durin to open a path for troops to pour in and completely collapse the east, but the situation was entirely different. The rise of heretics, which they had considered merely preliminary skirmishes and rear arson, was holding back the fifty thousand troops. As those shouting the name of the Goddess of Death increased throughout the cities, the devout holy knights couldn’t simply pass them by.

They remained in those areas until all heretics were captured and killed.

This was where the fatal mistake began. While Durin was advancing a thousand li per day, the detachment meant to stop him was progressing sluggishly. Obstacles kept appearing. For the sake of the Regent, they devoted themselves to interference without sparing their lives. Though they beheaded many Dark Cult knights and displayed their heads on poles, the situation didn’t calm down at all.

These were, after all, demon-side holy knights in their own right.

Instead, they began stirring up trouble everywhere, seeing it as an opportunity for martyrdom. The Holy Crusade couldn’t regain its composure due to the haphazardly emerging battlefields. Even the elite holy knights became indecisive between advancing and suppression.

In the end, they were stretched thin, just as the demons had intended.

By the time the commander leading the blocking force realized the demons’ objective, he understood it was already too late.

“They’re targeting Secretary Rupiel.”

They seemed to be plotting the shortest route from east to south and charging straight along it. They didn’t waste strength on minor battles. They didn’t stop, solely focused on decapitating the head.

The dismay fell to the commander.

Though he had brought out his army to face the demons, they were thoroughly ignoring him. Leading the priest corps, he couldn’t catch up quickly.

They were ultimately placed at a crossroads.

The first option was to follow through to the end, even if late, to confront the demons who would be battling Rupiel.

The second was to salvage the situation before the eastern front completely collapsed under the wave of heresy.

Both were critical matters, but the commander had to choose just one path.

The demon legion was still in the World Tree Forest. The moment they saw an opening, they would immediately move to erase what remaining strength the Holy Crusade had.

“Damn it.”

He found himself trapped in a vexing dilemma.