Another side
“What is this?” most of the selected participants thought.
“This isn’t supposed to happen,” one of them muttered, unable to hold back the words.
It was undeniable that those who could participate here were among the best in the Demon Lord’s Army, no, on the entire continent.
There were geniuses who had trained since childhood and diligently accumulated effort.
There were elites nurtured with vast amounts of money after their talent was recognized.
And there were natural strong persons possessing innate physical prowess.
Though their titles differed due to disparities in status, environment, and talent, their abilities undoubtedly surpassed the ordinary, making them formidable beings.
However, even such individuals found the scene before them difficult to accept. The sound of their confidence crumbling like rubble in the face of the unfolding spectacle echoed in their minds.
How many still held onto their hearts, resisting the urge to yield?
From a distance, it might appear as if the Dragon King, a colossal dragon, was simply rampaging.
But to the powerhouses gathered here, the scene was visible with a clarity closer than any telescope could provide.
At the Dragon King’s feet, or perhaps, one could say, where it stood.
The Oni King, moving his massive body with agility, fought against the dragon. So far, so good.
The Oni was also a formidable fighter within the Demon Lord’s Army, one of the veterans who served the Demon Lord. Thus, the participants could still find solace in the thought, “It’s the Oni King, so it’s understandable.”
But why was there another being present, one who shouldn’t be there, or rather, one they wished wasn’t there?
Compared to the Dragon King, they were like a tiny bean, and even smaller compared to the Oni King. How could a human, who should be a symbol of the weak to the participants, be holding their own against two generals? What kind of nightmare was this?
The Dragon King’s breath instantly transformed the land into a molten expanse of lava.
The Oni King’s fist boasted enough power to redraw the map in an instant.
These were normal attacks, their everyday occurrences.
In a world where the participants’ full-power attacks were only normal here, how could a human be fighting back with all their might, rather than just dodging these attacks? It was a joke.
Many participants had sworn to themselves, “I will become a general in the future,” when they joined this selection.
But now, the hearts of most of those participants were beginning to break.
The reason for this was the bombing attack that had shattered the grand magic activated to invade this battle just moments ago.
Many had sensed something unpleasant in the flow of that battle.
“Perhaps that human might defeat one of the generals,” they had thought.
Such anxieties were a source of humiliation for those who took pride in their own abilities, to a greater or lesser extent.
However, to avert one’s eyes from that anxiety and refuse to see reality would be to admit to being second-rate.
Understanding this, they knew they couldn’t just watch. To intervene, they unleashed a grand magic as a greeting, calling forth those who were observing.
They knew that this magic wasn’t their ultimate technique. Who would be foolish enough to reveal their trump card from the start? Thus, they contained their magic to that scale.
But what was the result?
If all the magic were blocked by defensive barriers, it would be understandable.
If they were to flee from those attacks, it would be met with derision but also acceptance.
However, the outcome was neither. Instead, there was a nightmare-like preemptive strike.
It was a carpet bombing unleashed in all directions, as if to say, “Do not interfere with this battle.”
To anyone who activated magic, without exception or distinction, a counterattack was launched with more magic power than they had used.
What flew towards them was a slender, slightly curved single-edged sword. Few knew it was a sword. What they understood was the terrifyingly vast amount of magic power poured into it.
Who could have imagined that someone would prepare such a thing and use it without hesitation?
And it was a human who had done it.
Countless individuals had been eliminated by it.
Now, most were simply hiding, quietly waiting for the attack to subside. An atmosphere of resignation began to settle upon the other participants.
It was an action disguised as a spirit of wanting to win, even if pride was cast aside on the ground.
But inwardly, they had already given up, believing they couldn’t win against a battle that was only intensifying, not waning.
Yet, they couldn’t hide here forever.
As time passed, the battle area was shrinking.
If they were eliminated due to the area disappearing, there would be no honor or pride.
Losing without doing anything was unacceptable.
Understanding this, they repeated their excuses, “This is why I’m hiding and waiting for a chance.”
If the Demon Lord were to witness them convincing themselves that a chance would surely come, he would probably say:
“The generals I chose wouldn’t tire out in just three days if they were in perfect condition.”
The very moment a time limit was set for this selection, they were already in the Demon Lord’s palm.
The Demon Lord knew the generals’ capabilities well.
Why was that? Because the generals had fought to the death with the Demon Lord countless times, regardless of the number of times.
This was true not only for the Oni King and the Undead King.
The battle-crazed Dragon King, and even the now-deceased Queen of Insects, had also fought the Demon Lord.
The relatively more moderate Machine King, Tree King, and Uuor were no exception.
All the chosen generals had experienced fighting the Demon Lord to the death, and in every instance, the Demon Lord had subdued them without killing them.
Therefore, the Demon Lord knew the generals’ abilities.
With the three-day time limit set, he assumed that the Oni King and the Dragon King would not lose in a prolonged battle. If they were to lose, he believed it would be due to losing purely in terms of skill.
Therefore, those watching the time tick by were, in the Demon Lord’s eyes, missing opportunities.
Underestimating the capabilities of beings like generals was a fatal flaw in this battle.
Some might possess a technique capable of incapacitating a general with a single strike.
But such a strike wouldn’t land just by idly waiting. The Demon Lord believed one must have the skill to land that one decisive blow head-on.
In a sense, the question was whether one could cross that line.
The capabilities of beings like generals were that transcendent.
Surviving a fight to the death with the Demon Lord was a badge of honor in itself.
However, this story could also be interpreted as the generals having survived due to the Demon Lord’s mercy. Indeed, there were those who survived in this manner, and nobles who boasted of it for generations.
Families would proudly recount, “Our ancestor fought and survived against the Xth Demon Lord,” or “I challenged the Demon Lord and was defeated, but survived,” while drinking.
Such tales alone were evaluated and met with envious gazes. But those who spoke of them could neither prove nor substantiate their claims.
After all, they knew from personal experience. The next time they fought the Demon Lord, they would undoubtedly be killed.
However, the perception of the current generals was different.
No general had become a general through such soft mercy.
No matter how the Demon Lord tried to justify it, he had failed to finish off the generals. He had fought them with all his might, using magic and techniques to defeat them, facing generals with solid abilities.
As a result, the Demon Lord desired the generals.
They were a group of individuals whose abilities had made the Demon Lord want them, and who had made him believe that he would lose his head if he fought them again, leading to recruitment just before they could be finished off, and arranging for them to fight until they were satisfied.
That was what generals were.
Survivors who failed to pique the Demon Lord’s interest, and current generals who did. It was obvious how vast the gap was between these two.
They were as different as heaven and earth, or chalk and cheese.
Let me introduce one such example.
The Tree King, Lunaria, who ruled as the queen of the Dark Elves at the time, was the one who fought the longest against the Demon Lord among the generals. The battle lasted for approximately three months. She engaged the invading Demon Lord in guerrilla warfare, taking advantage of her territory, and fought continuously without allowing him any rest, day or night, by manipulating nature, such as the land and climate. This duration was the result of her hiding her body within the earth, adorning herself with natural fortresses, and continuously absorbing mana from the earth’s veins to replenish her magic.
Despite being undetectable, natural disasters rained down precisely where the Demon Lord was. The Demon Lord expressed his dislike for such relentless ferocity and persistence, saying:
“If I encountered her again without any preparation, I wouldn’t want to fight her.”
The Demon Lord acknowledged her strength to that extent.
Next was Evia. She was not a general but a demon sent to the Demon Lord as a hostage. Nonetheless, she had fought the Demon Lord to the death once to hone her abilities. As the Demon Lord had said, “You can make any preparations you wish,” she engaged in a war of attrition using numerous magic swords, investing ninety percent of her assets at the time. The sheer volume prepared solely to defeat the Demon Lord achieved a combat force that even made the Demon Lord sweat. The duration of this battle was approximately two and a half months. Unlike the Tree King, she fought a death match against the Demon Lord head-on for that period. She continuously switched magic swords and employed a wide variety of means to compete with the Demon Lord. While the outcome appeared to be a complete victory for the Demon Lord, with Evia’s magic swords all destroyed, the Demon Lord did not think so.
“I won this time, but if I were to do the same thing again, I would have to prepare for my own death.”
Evia was a being who made the Demon Lord, the most terrifying in the Demon Lord’s Army, consider death.
The Oni King and the Undead King, unlike them, fought the Demon Lord for shorter periods. However, conversely, they challenged him far more times than any other general. The Oni King challenged the Demon Lord no less than 128 times. Each of those battles was so fierce that it could be called a fight to the death. His incredible skill, even among the battle-crazed Oni tribe, allowed him to do so. Furthermore, the Oni King did not want to kill the Demon Lord but simply wished to fight the strong being that was the Demon Lord, expressing this desire directly. Therefore, the Demon Lord responded to his feelings head-on. The Oni King’s pure desire for battle was so straightforward that even the Demon Lord found it pleasant. The Oni King declared his intention to fight honestly and boldly without deception, and after the battle, they would drink together. The Demon Lord acknowledged this way of life.
“It’s also good training for me, and fighting him is enjoyable,” the Demon Lord admitted, viewing the battle as a form of relaxation.
The Undead King has fought the same number of times. His reason was that the Demon Lord was the perfect entity to test the results of his research on, a thought that some might consider extremely disrespectful. Even when exerting his full strength, nothing broke. And furthermore, “Yes, that research looks useful for the army too.” He found the Demon Lord understanding towards his research. Therefore, he continued to fight the Demon Lord to showcase the results of his research, outcomes that would normally kill ordinary beings. This happened again and again. In a sense, it was a relationship of mutual benefit. The Demon Lord could use the firsthand experience of the Undead King’s research results and his insights to strengthen the army. The Undead King could conduct experiments on the Demon Lord, the strongest being, for his own purposes. It was a distorted, but thus, functioning relationship of trust.
What about the other generals? It had to be said that they were much the same as the generals introduced so far. Though their duration was less than that of the Tree King and Evia, the Uuor, with his self-created weapons and armor, fought for a period just shy of two months, an abnormal duration for an ordinary genius. The Machine King, with his high-quality quantity of golems, fought a back-and-forth battle with the Demon Lord, earning praise even from him. The Dragon King fought using his physical body until he collapsed, continuing to fight even after his greatest advantage, flight, was nullified. The Queen of Insects boasted a reproductive capability that was among the highest the Demon Lord had ever witnessed. Though individual combat capabilities varied, the generals each had experience fighting the Demon Lord for extended periods using their respective means.
Therefore, the Demon Lord, watching this scene through his familiars, wants to tell those who are hiding and waiting for the last moment to feel a sense of urgency.
Chances are not things to be waited for; they are to be seized. If they continue to wait and observe without understanding this, it will be too late when they finally decide to act. After all, they are being told to defeat beings strong enough to fight the Demon Lord.
Time is never enough. They lack this awareness. And the only human who understands this and is striving to seize a chance is struggling with all his might, fighting head-on. He swings his weapon with all his might, leaving its brilliance etched in the Demon Lord’s eyes. If their spirits are broken by this sight, then their abilities are merely that strong.
Conversely, what if someone, faced with this scene, stood up with defiant spirit, or pride, and bolstered themselves? There is only half the remaining time. The outcome will become clear sooner or later, in another day and a half.
Another side End
Today’s Word:
Whether to give up or seize is determined by your actions.
Thank you for your continued feedback and typo corrections.
If you find it interesting, please leave reviews, ratings, and bookmarks.
Currently, I am also serializing another work:
“Pandora Pandemic Panic” – The Pandora’s Box has been opened again, but we are fighting back with secret bases and various other methods!!
Please check that one out as well!!
