Ch.265Civil War (1)

Colland, the largest city in the Barony of Colland, was originally a fortress city built in the middle of a dangerous, unexplored territory.

It was a city where adventurers and soldiers stayed to establish the foundation for pioneering, as well as protecting residents from hostile creatures that attempted to invade from the surrounding areas.

Of course, as time passed and the surrounding regions were developed, and as the city itself expanded, the previous appearance of the fortress city disappeared.

However, even after being developed, the city in the still-dangerous Barony of Colland was equipped with sturdy defensive facilities and various weapons mounted on its walls to repel the diverse monsters that occasionally appeared.

Yet what I now saw before my eyes, and what the soldiers and knights were seeing, was far from that majestic fortress city.

‘Already… has the corruption progressed this far?’

The first sign was the flags hanging on the walls—those that once symbolized our family and the Barony of Colland had been clearly overlaid with green and purple flags marked with the emblem of ‘Gluttony,’ stained with something resembling bodily fluids.

The stone walls, built layer upon layer with magic, were smeared with blood and scattered with flesh in places, with some sections completely fused with the wall, covering parts of it in masses of flesh.

Particularly disturbing were these fleshy walls, which had mouths with sharp teeth growing densely on them, while eyeballs sprouted in some places, and sharp spine-like protrusions emerged from various parts of the wall.

Additionally, throughout the walls, there were decorative items made from human byproducts like flesh and skulls, displayed almost boastfully, or totems that bestowed magical power.

Especially along the walls, sharp metal spike-like structures had grown densely like prison bars, and naturally, dismembered and rotting corpses were displayed on them as a warning.

The human skull lanterns burning with black hellfire served as evidence that these beings made no attempt to hide their truly demonic nature.

But beyond all these bizarre sights, the most fundamental reason we felt something was terribly wrong was—

“Oh, they’re coming!!!”

“Demons! The demons have appeared!!!”

It was the twisted demons occupying the positions where normal soldiers should have been standing guard on these grotesquely distorted walls—the regular soldiers were nowhere to be seen.

The ‘Gluttony’ demon legion consisted of intelligent lesser demons, mainly of three types.

First were the fly humanoid demons. With a body structure not much different from humans and standing about 2 meters tall, they shared most characteristics of typical lesser humanoid demons, except for their fly-like features.

Instead of a long demon tail, they had something resembling a fly’s abdomen, with fly wings sprouting from their backs. Their entire bodies were covered in a chitinous shell, giving them considerable defensive capabilities.

As such, they typically served as regular soldiers in the demon legion.

Being demons, even at their low level, they could handle basic black magic, and their physical abilities were quite powerful, making them versatile overall.

Some individuals evolved with developed specific abilities, taking on roles as mid-level commanders, or specialized units like demon fly cavalry or mages.

The second type was the spider demons, who served as their cavalry. With their lower bodies replaced by spider forms similar to arachnids, they boasted exceptional mobility over rough terrain and impressive specs.

With their height and superior mobility, they often crawled along the walls, and some even carried cavalry spears made of clearly unusual materials.

Finally, the third type was the bull demons, resembling the mythical minotaur with a bull’s head.

With their massive 3-meter frames, heavy mass, and bulging muscles, they likely served as the main tanks of the legion.

While they didn’t appear particularly intelligent on the surface, it would be dangerous to underestimate them.

Besides these infantry demons, countless other enemy demons existed among them.

These were mostly non-intelligent, beast-form demons, typically resembling spiders, flies, maggots, or occasionally bulls.

As a result, their military force had a tactical range and foundation incomparable to ordinary armies….

‘…Aren’t those things coming toward us?’

I suddenly noticed that from the moment they recognized our presence, they had been charging toward us like animals in heat.

※ ※ ※

Although the engagement began quite spontaneously, this attack could be evaluated as precisely targeting a vulnerability in Baron Alzar’s army.

Many hadn’t even received their equipment yet, let alone formed battle formations, as they were still en route to the battlefield. Laborers were chaotically mixed among soldiers when suddenly thousands of demons charged from beyond.

It was truly deadly—thousands of mindless demon beasts suddenly rushing in while they couldn’t form defensive formations and not many even properly held weapons.

Of course, with mid-level fighters interspersed throughout the ranks as a precaution, repelling them might be successful, but the number of casualties afterward would be unbearable.

Fortunately for our forces, though unfortunately for the demons, hundreds of formal priests were currently mixed in with the army in the form of a “mercenary group.”

And thanks to their combative nature, they were positioned at the front of the procession.

“””Demons!!!”””

“””””””””Kill them! Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”””””””””

“Raise your spears! Raise your shields! Guard your hearts with faith!”

“”””””””””Woo! Woo! Woo!””””””””””

The followers of the war god Chronima, mentally armed with faith, naturally formed defensive formations with shields and halberds, while priests positioned themselves behind, channeling power derived from their faith.

As sacred powers manifested everywhere, forming holy barriers, the church bishops (mid-level priests) exerted their power to banish those evil demons from the earth.

-Faaaaa-aaa-aaah!!!

In an instant, hundreds of lesser mindless demons lost their form, fading away and completely losing their material existence. Sacred power remained in their place, suppressing the approach of others as much as possible.

Particularly, the holy knight who spread a curtain of light at the front could easily handle hundreds of demons alone, and as time passed, the number of demons rushing in as if possessed only increased.

While they fought valiantly, buying precious time, the knights—protectors of humanity despite their different allegiances—arrived on the battlefield mounted on their warhorses.

These knights rode warhorses perfected through over a thousand years of breeding various magical beasts, armored in magical plates, with long and heavy lances tucked at their sides.

Knights—mighty warriors considered equal to an entire armed military unit, capable of potentially destroying the world with their superhuman strength.

Upon quickly arriving at the front line and assessing the situation, they charged without hesitation into the midst of the oncoming demon horde, and with just that, the mindless ‘Gluttony’ demons completely disintegrated, losing their collective power.

-Kwaaaang!!!

Their collision was comparable to an explosive blast, and the impact observed on the battlefield exceeded even that.

Demons touched by lance tips were literally torn apart and scattered, while those caught in the charge path were flung away, never to move again.

As seemingly endless waves of demons poured in from somewhere to bury the knights, those who had completed their fierce lance charge, breaking their wooden lances in the process, did not hesitate.

Discarding their lances, they immediately drew their weapons and engaged in combat, while their warhorses, sharing their masters’ aura, bit with their teeth and crushed with their hooves.

In this atmosphere, new enemies entered the battlefield.

An aerial cavalry mounted on the backs of giant fly demons—the demon fly cavalry.

As their forces, numbering at least several hundred, approached, confusion spread among the soldiers trying to hastily form defensive formations—

“—Hihihing!!!”

With a holy horse’s neigh echoing in all directions, a being seemingly wrapped in sanctity revealed itself from the sky.