Ch.59The End of War (1)

The front line had collapsed.

The troops that had marched out so confidently were being devoured by the enemy.

Angels fleeing in terror greater than their faith.

Demons riding the momentum, awakening to slaughter.

The outcome was obvious. The angels had no strength left to withstand the advancing army.

The divine power that had helped their defense ran dry the moment the archangel died. Without the commander who had shown true caliber in this place untouched by celestial light, there was no hope.

Garrison Commander Rakael gritted his teeth.

“Heaven has no interest in this place.”

They would be focusing their attention on the Demon King who had flown to the human realm.

In truth, he had already been aware of this. The demon realm garrison had been filled with angels born here rather than from above. They had managed to hold out without reinforcements thanks to the defensible terrain.

Despite their shortcomings, they had been able to threaten the demons.

After all, the demons too had been withering away.

But the situation had reversed.

The previous Demon King, called the worst of them all, had fled after ten years, and other high-ranking demons who had been bound by law began to flex their power, rapidly increasing their forces. During the pre-attack council, they had gathered an army of one hundred thousand, was it? He had been shocked when he received that report.

They weren’t truly weak when they had been pushed back by angels.

Rather, they were strong enough to endure the period of decline with their entire being.

That’s why the angels had misjudged.

They thought it was just the desperate struggling of the doomed and lost interest.

The result was the scene unfolding before them now.

They couldn’t defend the wall. Everything was crumbling under the onslaught of demonic energy.

“AAAAARGH!”

“Move! Get out of the way!”

Holy knights rushed frantically through the open gates. There was no honor left in them.

Those who had maintained their faith and convictions had already fallen on the battlefield.

Even the demons didn’t touch their corpses. They still radiated intense divine power even in death.

In other words, those who remained were all chaff.

This was the fate of those who had wielded what they thought was their own power, when it was merely heaven’s light hidden by their arrogance.

Rakael himself was not free from this responsibility.

“In that case…”

He drew his sword.

If one must go, shouldn’t one die gloriously?

“General.”

“We will follow you.”

Those who had been watching the crumbling walls joined him.

They were the angels’ last pride.

Though born without ever seeing heaven’s light, they steeled their final resolve thinking of God who might be watching them from somewhere.

“Lord, look upon me.”

“Save me from these demons.”

“I pray my soul reaches You.”

The solemn prayers ended. They called for salvation.

Peace found not in happiness but in death.

That was the final wish uttered by the righteous holy knights.

“AAAAAAAARGH-!”

The battle cry turned into screams.

Those who drew their swords, burning their remaining life, advanced bravely.

#

“The wall is collapsing.”

After the torrent had passed, calmness settled in.

Verdia, who had ordered the advance, was looking toward the front. It wasn’t just an aftershock. It was closer to a thrill.

Faced with the glory she had sought as a warrior, she found herself speechless.

“The demons… our demons are pushing them back, Your Excellency!”

Tears flowed. Verdia couldn’t contain her rising emotions.

Though she hadn’t experienced the previous war, there was pain engraved in her blood. The souls of countless fallen ancestors were embedded in her subconscious memory.

Though faint, she too was of the Southern ruler’s bloodline.

The supreme glory washing away the pain was indescribable.

“Please give the final signal. We will finish them all. We will slaughter the angels.”

Verdia knelt down. She looked ready to charge at any moment.

It wasn’t just her. All the Western warlords who had joined the battlefield pleaded in unison.

“Your Excellency! Give us the chance!”

“We’ll cut the throats of those damned creatures!”

They were caught up in the atmosphere. Like Verdia, they were filled with fighting spirit.

“Enough.”

But Durin stopped them.

Though the celestial wall was crumbling before his eyes, he remained calm. There was no trace of excitement. The author of this myth maintained his composure alone in this place.

“This is sufficient. Proceed with the occupation procedures.”

“Your Excellency, then what about the angels…?”

“Bind them as prisoners for now. I will not permit unnecessary killing.”

“Unnecessary? They are our enemies!”

“And simultaneously, they are pawns we can use.”

Durin heavily subdued the atmosphere. The demons around him came to their senses.

More accurately, they were terrified. The red battle fury that had killed angels changed direction, and everyone fell silent.

The Regent slowly moved forward through the gap.

“Verdia, I leave the cleanup to you.”

“I will do as ordered, Your Excellency.”

“The rest of you, follow me. We’re going to see those angels.”

Durin sheathed his great sword. The battle fury that had disappeared into the void allowed the world to brighten again.

The gray, ashen sky returned. The Western warlords who had been kneeling looked at each other.

Is it really over?

“What are you doing? Not following?”

“S-sorry!”

Only then did the Western demons scurry after Durin.

#

“Long live the Regent!”

“The conqueror of the demon realm has arrived!”

Beyond the collapsed wall, demon soldiers were cheering. They were intoxicated with victory. After all, they had brought down an angel garrison after several hundred years.

Though they hadn’t completely annihilated the expeditionary force and other troops, they had opened the path to the settlement wide.

“Damn.”

At the end of the line of soldiers stood a few angels. All of them were commander-class beings of considerable rank. Durin scanned them with his eyes.

“None from the expeditionary force.”

“All dead. Like true celestial warriors.”

“Not like warriors, but blinded by faith and dying alone. You survived because you still had something left in your grasp.”

“Shut up! Durin!”

Rakael, a face not seen for a long time, shouted angrily but quickly quieted down. As the Durahans roughly stomped on him, only faint screams emerged.

“Kuhak!”

The once-proud angel commander was now spitting blood on the demon realm floor. The sight was so miserable that other angels shed tears. Grief and humiliation existed simultaneously.

Yet they did not take their own lives for honor. Durin sneered at the sight.

“You must really want to save the settlement. No different from humans.”

“This is our home.”

“The demon realm belongs to demons. You were quick to insult it as a wasteland, and now you speak of it as your homeland?”

“Only the high-nosed celestials say such things. What say do we have?”

“You talk too much.”

Durin passed by Rakael and approached an angel who had been raising his voice.

The black great sword was summoned again and pointed close to his neck.

“Say that again.”

“Beyond here is our homeland. I was born and raised here, so it’s a place I must protect.”

“Saying that makes me want to burn it all down. Stop talking impudently and try begging. Then I might spare you.”

“……”

The once-spirited angel hesitated. Unexpected choices always breed hesitation. And they also create opportunities for others to seize.

“P-please spare me! I want to live!”

“We’re fine, please!”

“Just save my son who remains in the settlement! I beg you like this.”

Screams of all kinds erupted. While some struggled to protect their families, most were for their own safety. Durin looked down at them calmly.

They wriggled like worms at the Regent’s feet. The crying intensified. It was reaching an unpleasant level.

Thud!

“Kuk!”

Durin casually stabbed his sword into the ground. One angel who had been clinging most pathetically met his end. A fountain of blood shot upward. The faint divine power that remained scattered before the eyes of the other prisoners.

“Hup!”

“Heok!”

The angels stepped back. It didn’t matter if they looked pathetic. They moved solely for survival. Only about a dozen still remained kneeling. Durin looked around at them and immediately pronounced his judgment.

“Kill all those who begged only for themselves. I’ll take those who fought for the settlement. That’s all.”

“Y-Your Excellency?”

Most of the angels were shocked.

Those who had been struggling looked around frantically. The Durahans, closing in with their halberds, had no heads. Yet one could clearly feel the terrible joy etched upon them.

“W-wait!”

“One more chance!”

Their words were never completed.

#

“So what are you going to do now?”

Beyond the wall, Yoannina appeared. She greeted Durin with her magical battalion in full ceremony.

“Did you have the mercy to spare the angels?”

“Nothing is more foolish than looking for mercy in a demon.”

“But I don’t understand your intentions at all? Explain, please.”

Yoannina asked slyly. This was a question other demons had as well. They had naturally expected to push all the way to the settlement and burn everything. Yet he had stopped the advance.

He even left potential future trouble by keeping prisoners alive.

Discontent naturally accumulated.

“Do you know whose land this is?”

“Hm? The Demon King’s castle, of course?”

“It’s under the castle’s control, but precisely, it belongs to His Majesty the Demon King.”

The secret meeting with the Eastern Grand Duke long ago.

Before Serphin ascended to the throne, he had made a deal.

The East would provide the army, the Central would provide the throne and fitting territory.

“Don’t tell me you…?”

“All angels living in this land and the ruins will now become Serphin del Istria’s domain.”

Other resources didn’t matter. The reason Durin handed this place over as Serphin’s personal domain was one: the ancient ruins that had built a warp gate powerful enough to send a celestial expeditionary force.

“Yoannina. Take your magical battalion right now and close the gate. We must cut it off before Heaven notices and sends reinforcements.”

“I’ve already mobilized the fastest cavalry. The defending forces shouldn’t be that strong, so we’ll quickly occupy and cut it off.”

“Go verify it yourself. Variables cannot be tolerated.”

“Alright…”

The old demon Yoannina grumbled as she led her forces. She flew through the sky with her magical battalion, heading straight for the battlefield.

“Now all that remains is the victory ceremony.”

The moment Durin had been waiting for approached.

The land that had suffered under the angels’ grip for so long would return to the Demon King’s embrace.

With Serphin’s main force nearby, the time to declare a new era was approaching.