Ch.53Heavenly Demon War (1)

“We’ve pushed back all the native vanguard.”

“Since they’ve shown movement for a new offensive in the south, those angel bastards will respond to it.”

“Your Excellency. All preparations to break through the center are complete.”

Reports came in moment by moment. The Western Army commanders gathered under Durin’s command shouted in unison.

“We will show the results of our training. Please, give us the order to advance.”

The time had come to turn the tide of the stagnant war. The Western Army, which had consistently maintained a defensive posture and fought delaying actions, was finally ready to rise up.

The damned jungle fighting was coming to an end. They would kick the asses of the angels who were likely busy assessing the situation right now.

“Issue orders to all troops. Advance.”

“As you command!”

Buuuuuuuuuu-

With the resounding horn, the demons let out fierce cries. The days of just staring at battle maps while preparing for an offensive were now over.

“Kill them all!”

“We’ll wring their necks!”

Their fighting spirit burned more fiercely than ever before.

#

The central area of the swampland was much easier to advance through compared to other regions.

Unlike the green hell where guerrilla warfare was conducted in hundreds of small units, there were patches of relatively flat ground worthy of being called a battlefield.

The angels had deliberately left it empty, setting traps to make it a path for advancement.

Normally, they would have avoided it as much as possible and drawn the enemy into terrain favorable for guerrilla warfare, but now Durin was with them.

This was no ordinary attack force.

A vanguard totaling four thousand troops had gathered in front of the advance route. The unit, composed entirely of elite soldiers from the West, had been supplemented with central-style training and was now properly disciplined.

They would never yield even in direct confrontation with angels.

Of course, if touched by holy power, their skin would burn, but Durin planned to handle that himself. He spread powerful battle qi in all directions, something he hadn’t displayed since his battle with the Demon King.

Whoosh-

Grrrr-

The demons awakened as warriors in the demonic energy. Empowered by Durin’s aggressive aura, they looked ready to charge at any moment.

The sun of the demon realm was hanging on the horizon as dawn approached.

The still-dim sky indicated it was a time when angels would not yet have shaken off their drowsiness.

The ambiguous boundary between day and night.

The demons began to stretch.

“Your Excellency.”

“Now is the time.”

Charge!

With Verdia’s resounding cry, the Western Army began their assault.

Their objective was to remove all the angel army’s palisades occupying the central avenue. Though the defensive forces were considerable, the demons at the front were veterans who had fought against heaven for many years.

Boom!

Holy power traps that exploded here and there engulfed the demons, but the effect was minimal. The legion, having entered a state of frenzy after inhaling Durin’s battle qi, surged forward like a wave.

Ding-ding-ding-ding!

Urgent bell sounds rang out from the angel army’s palisades. They were hurriedly preparing for the sudden major offensive. Occasional golden arrows and holy magic struck the battle lines. Many of those charging with shields raised fell.

They tried to stop the charge with one powerful impact, but the defensive force was small in number. In response, spells and counterattacks from the demon army at various points prevented them from poking their heads out beyond the palisades.

The defense grew weaker. They began to cower.

This was the battlefield demons loved most. With heated shouts, the battle line split.

“Break it down!”

Beast demons advanced to breach the palisades that angels had plastered with defensive magic. Siege tactics learned through thousands of years of bloodshed unfolded on the field.

Charge, breakthrough, and slaughter.

Crack!

Crash-

The beast demons pounded the angels’ defensive line. Several white wings that had tried to resist to the end were knocked away, spraying blood. A red mist hung over the battlefield.

The demons couldn’t contain their excitement.

“All troops! Break through! Don’t let a single one escape, kill them all! Give no rest to those heavenly bastards!”

“Waaaaaaah!!”

At the cry of a non-commissioned officer at the front, the legion charged forward, swinging their weapons indiscriminately.

There was no one to block their path.

Even when demons fell to holy power, they stubbornly pushed forward. They crushed angel heads, advancing over corpses.

“Retreat! Fall back!”

“Demons are coming! Run!”

They pressed the advantage gained in the first offensive.

The elite legion created cracks in the defensive line and infiltrated the rear areas.

They intended to completely erase the connections between fortresses to prevent them from forming solid bonds, thoroughly destroying communication and supply lines.

Holy knights surrounded by divine power might call themselves invincible and powerful, but that meant nothing if they wouldn’t fight head-on.

“I wonder how long they can hold out.”

Durin asked Azakiel.

If you don’t want to be picked off one by one, show your head soon.

#

Fortresses fell one after another. Though it was a fierce battlefield, the blades dulled by familiarity as both sides sharpened their edges against each other finally pierced angel throats. The offensive of thousands centered around Durin began to clean up the central avenue corner by corner.

Even holy power, normally poison to demons, was useless.

The demon realm was a space where heaven’s light couldn’t properly reach. With limited power available and attacks coming from all directions, the angels had no choice.

Moreover, Durin wasn’t at the front.

Since they needed to conserve at least minimal strength to face him, the angels, at an absolute numerical disadvantage, had no choice but to retreat. They were thoroughly outmaneuvered by the mass tactics using beast demons.

The existing forces could have easily repelled natives, but this was a frontal offensive by a legion, qualitatively different.

Of course, the drawback was that if they failed here, the demons would have nowhere to retreat.

That’s why Durin mobilized all available forces to minimize losses.

“The spell battalion has arrived. If the first offensive force provides coordinates, we’ll begin bombardment immediately.”

“We must target supply bases and communication lines. We cannot allow the angels to move organically.”

In the rugged terrain, the angels had adopted a strategy of expanding their front line by establishing fortresses in a territory-claiming manner.

They shared the pressure of offensives through close cooperation between fortresses and avoided going out into battlefields where angels struggled to fight.

“Begin bombardment!”

The sorcerers sent by Rudmila fired huge chunks of demonic energy. Though they couldn’t burn down the fortresses themselves as the high sorcerer had shown, they could devour palisades.

BOOM!!

Black streaks were drawn across the sky. Death mist was scattered far away in the enemy camp. Angel corpses unseen by the eye would be evaporating on the spot.

Just as allied demons were dying, burning from the holy power fired in response.

“Deploy defensive spells! Quickly extinguish the fires at the encampment!”

“Bring soil! Just cover it!”

“Isn’t that too makeshift…?”

“Then will you cover it with your body?! Stop talking and bring it quickly!”

The curtain of war had properly risen.

Both sides did their best to kill each other. At the front, they thrust spears and axes at each other, cutting throats, while the rear was turned upside down by mutual bombardment.

There was no safe place. The fighting was so intense that even the jungle filled with poisonous energy could not resist.

The sky began to be buried in ashen dust.

Soon the red sun would be obscured, and a dim light would shine upon the corpses.

“Verdia.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“We’re going to strike at their heart. Prepare.”

“As you command!”

The first battle to be fought in the green hell before the main force arrived.

They had to decorate it with victory to think about what came next.

No one contemplated defeat.

No one.

#

RUMBLE!!

Steel military boots shook the earth. A massive horde appeared on the battlefield filled with corpses.

The sound of artillery fire echoing everywhere pounded their hearts.

Thump- Thump- Thump-

In the first offensive, one warlord who ruled two regions was annihilated. They would be recorded in the law as glorious vanguards of war.

Thump- Thump- Thump-

The battle made of blood and screams had opened the way.

The avenue that had been blocked by fortresses revealed a door to the angels’ soft flesh.

The enemy was there.

Those who had targeted the demon realm would be cowering and trembling.

Even if that wasn’t actually the case, that’s what the demons believed.

They weren’t afraid because Regent Durin was with them.

Even if an archangel spread its wings, they would throw themselves fervently into the holy power.

His significance was beyond that of the Demon King.

The final hope and the commander who would open the future.

Having overcome the pain of perilous times, they would now show the power of the demon realm that had escaped from illness.

“All troops. Advance forward.”