Ch.138Chapter 138. Is This Right? (3)

“Waaaaaah!!”

As the black monsters began to retreat, cheers from the soldiers quickly filled the air.

Monster corpses were piled like mountains all around, with blood splattered everywhere. As far as the eye could see, most of the bodies were those of monsters.

‘Phew.’

I inwardly sighed while watching the cheering Crescen Empire soldiers.

Looking at the situation alone, it was clearly a great victory for the allied forces, but the “system” that only I could see didn’t seem to judge it that way.

<Devil ‘Satan’s’ Power: 84 / 100%>

‘We won like this, but 84% of his power remains?’

After the main quest to seal Satan began, I became able to see Satan’s status in real-time.

It was like a monster’s HP bar you might see in a game.

I intuitively understood that to seal Satan, I needed to reduce his power to 0%.

However, it was unexpected that even after killing so many monsters, more than 80% of his power still remained.

I wondered if perhaps the other fronts had fallen while only the Crescen Empire side had won, but that wasn’t the case either.

Both Yuria and Felipe had sent news of victory from their respective sectors.

This meant that despite dealing with so many monsters, there hadn’t been much damage to Satan’s overall power.

Perhaps he still had hidden monster legions somewhere.

“It’s been a while.”

“Ah.”

While I was lost in thought looking at the 84% figure, someone spoke to me from the side.

A middle-aged man who, like the other soldiers, was looking around with a pleased expression.

It was Lois Sinclair.

“Yes, it has been a while.”

I had met this man when I was “Ryu” and visited Elaine’s house, but it had been years since I met him as Ryuyeong.

Earlier we had just briefly exchanged greetings without having a proper conversation.

Lois looked at me with a slight smile before his expression hardened.

“The Black Shadow Corps’ performance was remarkable. I heard that if Phrysis hadn’t appeared at the right time on the Western Allied Forces’ side, the front line would have collapsed.”

“The timing was good.”

I felt awkward at Lois’s praise.

It didn’t seem like we were close enough to be having this kind of conversation.

“I also heard that the captain you sent to O’Neil played a significant role.”

“Well, we share the same goal.”

I still can’t get used to such direct compliments.

It’s embarrassing.

“…Anyway, good work. No one will be able to deny that the Black Shadow Corps deserves the most credit for this battle.”

“Come on, how long are you going to keep this up?”

“Hahaha.”

Just as Lois laughed heartily and was about to pat me on the back—

‘Hmm?’

The communication device that had been quiet in my pocket suddenly started ringing.

The caller was Erika.

“Erika?”

“Captain! I found where Satan is staying, but something seems suspicious!”

Erika’s voice was filled with excitement and urgency.

**

“It’s amazing to see such distinguished individuals all in one place.”

Yuria was the first to speak, with a slight smile.

As she spoke, the people gathered in the previously quiet conference room glanced at each other.

The process had been somewhat difficult, but the result was what Yuria wanted.

The formation of a continent-wide allied force, including Crescen and O’Neil.

Ordin from the O’Neil Kingdom, Lois from Crescen, and Hans, the commander-in-chief of the Western Allied Forces.

While there were many other powerful figures across the continent, only four were attending the meeting as “supreme commanders.”

The leaders of the three unintentionally formed battle fronts, plus Yuria, the captain of the Black Shadow Corps’ 4th Division.

“Will the Captain not be attending the meeting?”

Hans asked Yuria respectfully.

Having been indebted to Black Shadow Corps Captain Ryuyeong during the war with Flora, Hans had been hoping to see him.

However, Ryuyeong had said he had other urgent matters and would not be attending this meeting.

“He found an important clue about Satan. Maybe… if nothing happens and he returns, he might join the meeting.”

“Well, putting that aside.”

Ordin quickly changed the subject, as if he wasn’t particularly pleased with the conversation about Ryuyeong.

After the Kilvis incident, the image of the Black Shadow Corps had improved somewhat, but Ordin still wasn’t particularly welcoming toward Ryuyeong.

“We should merge our battle lines.”

Today’s meeting was naturally to discuss future response strategies.

Although they had effectively blocked the monsters’ southward advance on each front yesterday, there was no guarantee they could continue to do so.

Ordin’s main concern was that the monsters might not split into three forces as they had yesterday, but might instead unite and come down in one place.

Since a human commander was leading them, this was entirely possible.

“But if we do that, we’ll have to retreat too far back.”

Lois responded to Ordin’s suggestion.

Yuria and Hans nodded in agreement with Lois’s words.

It was true.

If they didn’t maintain the current front line and moved further down, they would inevitably have to retreat to cities where civilians lived.

Additionally, it would give monsters more freedom to roam.

“Hmm. That’s true, but…”

“What about setting up warp points to quickly send reinforcements to each front?”

Hans carefully joined the conversation between the two.

“That’s a good idea, but I’m not sure how long it would take to complete such a large magic circle.”

Everyone nodded at Ordin’s words.

It was a difficult issue to resolve.

Each argument had sufficient grounds.

“Hmm. At times like this…”

“I’m thinking the same thing.”

“Hehe, me too.”

As no conclusion was being reached, Lois, Ordin, and Yuria exchanged glances as if they had the same thought.

“We need a commander-in-chief to control and command the entire allied forces.”

Hans spoke up, following the flow of the conversation.

Even for allied forces composed of soldiers from across the continent, an army needs a commander.

On the battlefield, where quick decision-making and situational judgment are needed, the presence of a final decision-maker was more important than one might think.

“…”

A brief silence fell over the conference room after Hans’s words.

Lois of Crescen, Ordin of O’Neil, and Hans of the Western Alliance.

These three people were thinking the same thing during the silence.

About who would be the most suitable commander-in-chief for this allied force.

“I suppose…”

Lois was the first to speak.

**

“That’s right.”

“Yeah. They were talking among themselves and then disappeared.”

“They didn’t say exactly where they were going? It seems impossible to track them.”

The place I arrived at after receiving Erika’s call was deep within the Northern Mountains.

Erika said she had clearly witnessed Satan and his subordinate Arte having a suspicious conversation here.

She also mentioned that Satan seemed to be heading somewhere other than the battlefield where they were currently engaged.

‘Where could he be going?’

I had no idea.

The reason I sent Erika to track Satan rather than to the front line was because something felt off.

Satan, the core of the so-called “Satan’s Army,” wasn’t showing himself.

It wasn’t my idea but Yuria’s, though I agreed with it.

For reasons I couldn’t understand, Satan hadn’t appeared at any of the three fronts.

It was behavior I simply couldn’t comprehend.

Honestly, the allied forces were able to achieve a great victory because Satan didn’t appear on any front.

If Satan had appeared anywhere, we definitely wouldn’t have been able to stop the monsters.

Beyond failing to stop them, we would have suffered great losses.

The abilities of Satan, whom I had directly confronted, were indeed very powerful, befitting a devil.

‘So tracking him to the end is difficult.’

It would have been great if Erika had found out where Satan was heading, but that would probably have been impossible for anyone.

“Anyway, it’s likely he won’t appear in the northern battle.”

“Yeah. At least Satan himself doesn’t seem to have any intention of showing up.”

“Hmm.”

I’m not sure if this is good news or bad.

At least it’s good news for the allied forces currently on the front lines.

‘I don’t know what he’s planning to do or where.’

If Satan were to appear elsewhere and cause trouble while most of the continent’s powerful figures were gathered in the north, that would be very bad news.

Especially since we couldn’t prepare for it in advance.

“Sigh.”

I couldn’t help but sigh.

Still, it was very good news that Erika had shed some light on Satan’s intentions.

If we could be certain that Satan wouldn’t appear on the northern battlefield, the allied forces would have many more options.

Beep-

“Oh, Yuria?”

“Captain, did things go well?”

“Well… sort of?”

Just then, Yuria contacted me.

Yuria, who had attended the commanders’ meeting in my place, sounded quite cheerful.

In truth, I didn’t really need to come all the way here after hearing Erika’s story.

The reason I came anyway was simply because I didn’t want to attend the meeting.

It would have been an uncomfortable situation just thinking about it.

It seemed Yuria had successfully concluded the meeting in my place.

“The meeting here went well too. There were various opinions…”

“Yeah. You handle it well, Yuria. Just let me know what’s important…”

“Ah. There is something important.”

“What is it?”

“We decided on a commander-in-chief for the allied forces. We voted, and it was unanimous.”

“Who? Uncle Lois?”

“No.”

“Then who?”

I heard Yuria’s soft laughter through the communication device.

Then came words from Yuria’s mouth that I didn’t want to believe.

“You, Captain. You were chosen as the commander-in-chief of the allied forces.”

“…Huh?”

What is this about?