The allied forces, spurred by their home countries, sighed and decided to gather all their strength to capture the Hordia Royal Capital.
The rendezvous point was the Katzī Plain.
Reinforcements arrived from three countries, swelling their numbers to over eight hundred thousand.
There was no other place nearby where such a large force could be assembled.
“This is truly a magnificent sight!”
The one rejoicing innocently was Lemir, the nominal commander of the Barshark army, who didn’t understand the gravity of the situation and hadn’t been informed.
Vice-commander Chandler, the general from Vester, Randle, and the general from Misra, Gareth, looked unwell.
They knew of the tragedy in Berganda and felt deeply ashamed.
Even though the demons had attacked humanity, they wondered what they themselves were doing. They felt that if they were going to fight, it should be against the demon army, bearing the fate of humanity on their shoulders – that was the true calling of a warrior. They wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible and go to their aid. The continued invasion at this juncture would undoubtedly draw fierce criticism from foreign nations. The only way to mitigate this was to perform well and earn recognition. Chandler and Gareth had made a desperate resolve.
“Let’s go! To the decisive battle!”
The eighty-five million strong army roared and marched towards the Hordia Royal Capital. Gareth, Chandler, and Randle conducted investigations and succeeded in determining that Hordia’s forces numbered around fifty thousand, with only twenty thousand in the royal capital. Neither they nor their subordinates were incompetent. Hordia’s counter-espionage capabilities were outstanding, making their efforts difficult, but that made their success all the more valuable. Hordia Royal Capital, Hordias, had high walls but was not a strategically defensible location. Since its founding, despite aristocratic overreach, there had been no civil wars, so it had never been fortified. If they were to hold out with twenty thousand, then with eighty-five million, victory was within reach. Especially with Vester’s Wyvern Corps present. It might be too harsh to say they were mistaken at this point. They had repeatedly dispatched spies to gather information meticulously and continued to march cautiously. If there was any point to criticize them, it was that despite being so cautious, they hadn’t considered why they no longer heard rumors of the Twin Dragons.
The Hordia army, led by General Asteria, sallied forth from the walls with ten thousand troops. Upon hearing this, the allied army was filled with question marks, and their march slowed down almost reflexively.
“What do they intend?”
Chandler answered Randle’s question. “Are they trying to blunt our momentum? Attacking with momentum is different from attacking without it.”
“But they only have ten thousand?” What could they possibly achieve with an eight-to-one disparity in forces? In a siege, it might be possible to compensate through tactics, but in open battle, numbers were everything. Even if they were all elite soldiers from Boltner, it would be a difficult situation.
“They’re not going to fire ballistae, are they?” Gareth said, which was obviously a joke. Even two or three ballistae wouldn’t overcome such a disparity in forces, and besides, only Filat should have any left. Ballistae were also powerless against the might of the former Demon King Zagan. While the allied army, against their better judgment, slowed their march and prepared for interception, Hordia’s ten thousand troops stopped about a kilometer away.
“Then let’s begin, Annette!”
“Y-yes.” Called by Asteria, it was Annette, a maid who had also been mobilized for the Demonplay, who nervously stepped forward.
“My sworn allies, now become the blade and shield of my oath, and repel my enemies! [Summon Servant]” Annette used summoning magic, and as her incantation finished, her familiars appeared. One was a dragon with black, glittering scales and red eyes. The other was a dragon with white, shining scales and green eyes. They were called the Twin Dragons of Mount Amidar.
“GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” A roar erupted, causing the life on the ground to recede. The allied forces were stunned into stillness by the unimaginable development, their bodies becoming like carved statues rather than flesh and blood. The first to react were Vester’s Wyvern Corps, or more precisely, the wyverns ridden by humans, and the horses of the cavalry. Lower-ranking beings, hearing the roar of an absolute superior species, fell into a panic and began to flee. The humans frantically tried to control them but were unsuccessful. Horses were timid creatures, incapable of facing dragons, and even wyverns, despite their intelligence, lacked the courage to overcome their fear and face such a powerful enemy. While humans might believe they have a chance against two dragons even with an army of over a million, beings of lesser intellect could not comprehend this. As a greeting, the Twin Dragons unleashed their breath upon the chaotic mob of fools. One of the dragon’s hallmarks was its breath, which could annihilate an overwhelming number in a single blast. The scorching breath from the black dragon evaporated tens of thousands of soldiers in front, while tens of thousands sustained fatal serious burns, and tens of thousands suffered severe injuries. The ice breath from the white dragon turned tens of thousands of soldiers in the rear into statues of ice, while tens of thousands suffered life-threatening frostbite, and tens of thousands were rendered incapable of fighting. Each dragon’s breath alone incapacitated over three hundred thousand troops, demonstrating the terrifying power of dragon breath. It was understandable that ballistae were developed, as human subjugation was difficult, even the Hordia army, who were supposed to be their allies, thought so. When Asteria had ordered them, they had gone to the battlefield prepared to die. However, as it turned out, they might not even need to fight. It seemed the statement that some dragons were as strong as demons was not an exaggeration. The black and white dragons summoned by the Queen’s maid were wreaking havoc, slaughtering the allied forces unilaterally. The allied forces were fleeing, but against dragons, even escaping seemed impossibly difficult. By the time the black and white dragons had each unleashed their breath three times, there were no longer any active members on the allied side. Chandler and Gareth had perished without a fight. The allied forces of Misra, Barshark, and Vester, who had invaded Hordia, lost the majority of their total forces and enough provisions to feed them for several months. To the people of Hordia, it was baffling. Asteria’s reason for saying it wasn’t a strategy was now clear. There were no plans or tactics involved. It was simply the summoning of familiars and the annihilation of the enemy. However, if they possessed dragons, why didn’t they deploy them sooner? Why did they force refugees to make long journeys, even though the civilians suffered no direct harm? As she pondered this, Asteria commanded Annette to do something, and Annette called out to the dragons. The black dragon descended to the ground and breathed fire, which began to melt the frozen provisions.
“Collect them.” Asteria ordered the ten thousand soldiers she led. Asteria herself answered the unspoken question. From the beginning, she had intended for the ten thousand soldiers to collect the provisions.
“There are more left than I expected.” Asteria had miscalculated. She had expected some losses when thawing the provisions with dragon breath, but in reality, most of them were intact. She should have brought an additional fifty to sixty thousand soldiers. She sent a messenger to the royal capital, ordering them to assist in the recovery of the provisions. Upon returning after completing her task, Asteria explained herself to the astonished vassals and commoners who greeted her. “Since they are people who would invade us while demons are attacking, how can we trust them? To eliminate future worries, it was necessary to crush them all at once.” In essence, she stated that Vester, Misra, and Barshark, whom she could not trust as nations, needed to be prevented from attacking Hordia for a period. Otherwise, she argued, they wouldn’t even be able to fight the demons. It was a complete deflection of responsibility, but everyone already knew the foolishness of the three nations, and Asteria managed to create an atmosphere where it seemed she had seen through it all. Coupled with the overwhelming victory and the lack of damage to themselves, the militia readily believed Asteria’s claims. “Now that you mention it, they didn’t retreat immediately,” someone commented. “They protected us civilians, so it’s their fault,” the people of Hordia agreed, nodding in unison and praising Asteria’s greatness. The generals and high officials, however, were not so easily swayed and thought, “She’s talking nonsense,” but with the results she achieved, it was difficult to object. “Because you didn’t know either, the enemy was also fooled,” they were told, and couldn’t immediately refute it. In fact, they could think of many counterarguments, but couldn’t come up with any that could definitively silence her. Asteria then revealed something even more astonishing. “Several million demon troops have been confirmed in the East. Our country will send reinforcements to the East.” At the mention of demon troops, people lost their voices, and the faint-hearted fainted. “O-our country needs to be rebuilt. Do we have any spare capacity?” someone asked with a strained voice. Although the damage was minor, the people in the north had abandoned their homes and fled. Asteria replied calmly, “You must endure. If the East falls, at least this continent will be finished.” The history of the past testified that her words were not an exaggeration. Therefore, no one raised any further objections. “We will send twenty thousand troops and provisions.” Of this, the provisions would be from the three nations. In other words, they would fight a war with other people’s provisions. Someone asked why dragons were not being sent. “It appears demons are heading towards our country as well. we need forces to intercept them.” With that, she urged the reinforcements’ general, Zetuura, not to forget this point. She also expressed a desire for Marius to come. Asteria made arrangements to evacuate people around Elabam Forest in case they failed to prevent Decarabia’s revival.
The three-nation alliance remained unconvinced. Although they had ulterior motives, the expedition originally should have been to punish Hordia for its unjust actions. However, the circumstances did not allow for complaints. They had heard of the tragedy in Berganda and had not offered aid despite realizing the crisis facing humanity. They had avoided a fight they should have, lost hundreds of thousands of troops and provisions. The loss of Chandler and Gareth, in particular, was immeasurable. The claim of the three nations was dismissed with the simple phrase, “Was this the right time to act?” The people loudly criticized the government, which was only natural. Many had lost brothers, sisters, friends, and lovers, and the funds invested in the war effort were unlikely to be recovered, leaving many facing bankruptcy. Furthermore, there was the issue of refusing reinforcements to the East and breaking trust. The sweet dreams the allied leaders had harbored were shattered, and the abyss lay open before them.
As the conflict in the West concluded, in the East, where and how to deploy the Filat and Garius armies was being debated in the Ranleo royal palace. The news of the Berganda tragedy had spread, leaving everyone speechless. Well, except for Zofi and the others, who observed silence out of consideration for Marius’s state of mind. Boltner and Seraeno were notified and gave their consent to send direct reinforcements to the border fort. Normally, this would be considered an illegal act of territorial encroachment, but everyone understood that this was not a time to adhere to laws. It was unanimously decided that Marius would prioritize the defeat of the demons. “The one using necromancy is likely Gastark or Mergen. Franklin is also skilled in magic, but his specialty is offensive magic,” was Zofi’s information, which humanity gratefully shared. Other information about demons was also relayed. “Gastark…?” King Henry IV of Ranleo and Philip tilted their heads. They had heard the name somewhere before, but it didn’t immediately come to mind. “If Gastark is defeated, the undead army will collapse? It seems the same as defeating a demon, as the command system will disappear, but it’s a completely different matter,” said King Filat Bernhardt III of Berganda, nodding in agreement with the consensus. The number of undead soldiers, according to spies, exceeded three million. While there wasn’t enough space to fight them all at once, it was more than enough to exert psychological pressure. Everyone secretly wished Marius would defeat him, but unfortunately, Marius had a higher-ranking demon as his enemy. “Albert and Franklin’s power is immense. If Master doesn’t fight, humanity’s army will likely be annihilated easily,” Zofi earnestly advised, and Al and El nodded gravely. Publicly, the three succubus daughters were known for their knowledge of demons. Only King Boltner seemed to accept this readily, but it was not the time to investigate their backgrounds. The information was organized. The five demons and their millions of allied troops were divided into three groups, advancing towards Boltner, Ranleo, and Seraeno, respectively. The division was as follows: Rebera for the Boltner front, Pal, Albert, and Franklin for the Ranleo front, and Gastark for the Seraeno front. For humanity, the worst aspect was that Gastark, who used necromancy, was a lower-ranking demon. If he were a higher-ranking demon, it would be a problem that Marius could resolve. Consequently, Marius would head towards the Ranleo fortress, and Zofi requested to fight Pal, which was accepted. Seeing the naturally confident expressions of Al and El, Marius surmised that at least they were no match for him. If these two found it difficult, even the strongest of humanity, including Barra and King Boltner, might struggle. “Al and El will reinforce everyone,” the familiars commanded by Marius nodded. Honestly, they wanted to fight alongside Marius, but it was unavoidable. While defeating lower-ranking demons was one thing, facing a higher-ranking demon could be a hindrance. The three succubus daughters shared a mutual understanding: they would never want to impede their beloved master. As for the remaining members, they wished to deploy humanity’s strongest forces to the Boltner and Seraeno fronts as well. Seraeno had Hemrooth and his men, and with their elite knights, Barra was assigned to the Boltner front. This was also because an excellent mage was needed to support Boltner, who was not skilled in magic. “We will hold out until Marius-sama arrives,” stated Barra calmly, showing no signs of being overwhelmed, although this was likely her first large-scale war, and those around her secretly increased their assessment of her. If she could perform as usual, the soldiers would surely be calmer too. Seraeno was a nation of strong soldiers, but their mobilization capacity was limited, so those skilled in recovery and support were selected and sent. Marius secretly read the memories of those who had visited the border fort between Boltner and Seraeno. Then, those who were to be sent as reinforcements gathered. Ten thousand from Filat and ten thousand from Garius, and an additional fifty thousand troops from Ranleo. Marius surmised that Ranleo would profit significantly this time by shedding blood. The reputation of having shed the most blood for humanity also served to satisfy the pride of the Ranleo people. Once all the reinforcements had gathered, Barra distributed various potions she had made into the item bag Marius had created. While soldiers engaged in close combat might not have the luxury of using them, they were valuable recovery items for the mages. Barra handed one to Marius with a brilliant smile, which he gratefully accepted. “Let’s go! [Trip]” Marius used a spell to transfer everyone all at once. That the troops in the Ranleo Royal Capital had casually held a strategy meeting was due to Marius’s spell. He had explained to everyone that it was fine if someone had been there once, but in reality, it was different. He had needed to read their memories with “Psychometry.” Marius had used a combination of “Psychometry” and transfer magic multiple times to gather reinforcements. By now, no one was greatly surprised by Marius’s actions. Perhaps everyone had grown tired of being surprised. The destination was the Kavil Fort in Ranleo. After merging with the Ranleo army, Marius planned to transport them to the other two locations by magic. A great battle, one that would determine the fate of the Taliant Continent, was about to begin.
