The Isal Army’s original plan was to send soldiers while sealing the Demon Lord using the Tower of God.
While defeating the Demon Lord at this stage would have been ideal, Princess Anri judged that even with a large army, their talent was insufficient to defeat him.
The soldiers of the country, who called themselves elites.
She believed that if even one of those soldiers could defeat a general, it would be enough to balance the scales.
The main plan was a war of attrition. Using the sealing of the Demon Lord’s Castle as a diversion, Princess Anri and Dazzlo would send a handpicked elite force for guerrilla warfare, causing chaos on the Magician Continent, degrading the enemy’s command capabilities, collapsing their coordination, and capitalizing on the Demon Lord’s absence to seize the ambition to become his successor.
However, this required the premise that the Demon Lord would remain sealed from the start.
Without that, the prepared game board would be overturned in an instant.
Princess Anri had to retreat immediately.
But.
“…It’s a total annihilation?”
“Yes, the development after the Demon Lord’s revival was poorly handled.”
“We need to investigate how it happened, but at the point the Tower of God was destroyed, we should have immediately sent a messenger to order a retreat.”
“Ah, who could have predicted that the teleportation circle, which allows for swift troop deployment, would backfire so unexpectedly?”
It was too late.
Isal’s methods of information transmission were extremely analog, unlike Earth with its developed communication devices.
Telepathic magic was meaningless when crossing worlds.
There was no way to convey messages other than physically running them.
It was probably their misfortune to send troops after confirming the seal in the Tower of God.
They could make excuses, saying they were overconfident because there weren’t many troops gathered at the Demon Lord’s Castle.
But.
“The lords are demanding an explanation regarding the annihilation of the soldiers.”
“Naturally. Even if they were expendable forces from the start, this kind of disposal was a complete waste. Merely admitting that the opponent was superior won’t alleviate this unease.”
Even a calm analysis revealed that the Commander’s blunder had significantly weakened his influence within the Allied Army.
If they had managed to send in the guerrilla forces, it might have been salvageable.
No, if they hadn’t sent any troops at all, it might have been salvageable.
There was no point in dwelling on ‘what ifs’.
It was necessary to switch gears now.
“Even though I’m the one who prepared for this, this initial stumble is quite dangerous, you know? Now they’re going to attack us.”
“Considering that, we need to consider the balance of offense and defense. First, we must quell the disturbance.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll accompany you~”
They never imagined that someone besides the Demon Lord could destroy that tower.
The Oni King and the Undead King – if those two had joined forces, they would have destroyed it, so they sent a spy to the other side to instigate a rebellion and keep one of them occupied.
The Oni King came to deal with the castle.
Up to this point, things had been going well.
However, in the end, the Tower of God, a defensive facility, was destroyed, and the exposed forces were annihilated by the Oni King, setting a chain of events in motion.
All of this was caused by a single individual.
“Eventually, I will repay this debt.”
“Oh dear, I sympathize with the enemy. Once you’ve piqued the Princess’s determination, it’s not so easily subdued.”
Princess Anri grinned, a ferocious smile that didn’t suit her demure demeanor, yet felt fitting when understood as her true nature.
Seeing this, Dazzlo prayed to the heavens as if to say he couldn’t help but pity the opponent whose plan had been thwarted.
“So, we know what needs to be done, right?”
“Yes, yes, we’ll switch to the backup plan as the main one. Honestly, I’m not too keen on this one.”
“The die is cast. Now all that’s left is to manipulate the outcome.”
But praying to heaven wouldn’t reduce their workload.
Her superior, the Princess, was already concocting excuses in her mind to appease the lords and devising a way to compensate for the loss of the Tower of God.
Being thwarted at the outset, and considering the possibility of a counterattack, it was undeniable that the chances of winning this war had significantly decreased.
However.
“She’s fully determined to win.”
“Yes, we still have a chance.”
She declared to Dazzlo with strong eyes, far from giving up, that there was still a possibility to end this long-standing war.
“As long as that chance remains, I will accompany you.”
“Then, please stay with me until the very end.”
“My, it looks like we’re heading somewhere incredible.”
The Isal side’s initial battle was a defeat. So, are the Demon Lord’s Army celebrating their victory?
“Hmm, this is a rather bad situation.”
Not exactly.
They succeeded in destroying the Tower of God.
That was good, but unsure when the tower’s function might be restored, they used the Demon Lord’s Castle’s functions to make the castle float in the air, securing temporary safety.
The enemy soldiers who emerged from the destroyed tower were annihilated by Oniō Raidou, who arrived as reinforcements.
Hearing only that, one could say they had escaped danger.
However, the Demon Lord, sitting on his throne in the audience chamber with his legs crossed, did not view the situation favorably, despite the usual smile on his face.
“Affirmative, the Demon Lord’s Castle’s coordinates have been identified, making it possible to attack using them, and the perpetrator is unknown.”
“Furthermore, Jirō here has exhausted his magic power to destroy this tower and is asleep. Dragon King also used his magic power a bit recklessly, so he can’t fight at full strength for a while.”
Two of the Demon Lord’s Army’s main generals have been incapacitated.
The Dragon King and the Human King.
Both of them were among the top-tier generals in terms of toughness.
The temporary withdrawal of these two from the front line.
“It’s understandable that we can’t pinpoint the culprit. I doubt the entity that orchestrated this would reveal itself so easily, so increase surveillance. What’s the prognosis for the Human King and Dragon King’s recovery?”
“The Dragon King can handle low-level enemies without issue. But Jirō is…”
“The price for cutting through a divine treasure is immense. Not only magic power loss but excessive use of a high-ranking Spirit. He bears a soul burden equivalent to the physical strain. Recovery is possible, but it will take time.”
Moreover, the simultaneous withdrawal of these two frontline fighters was a setback for the Demon Lord’s Army, which had anticipated a counterattack.
“I see. Evia will provide support for the Human King, and it seems the Undead King’s rebellion will also take time.”
“It’s definitely Isal-backed. Confirming support supplies. We’ve also confirmed the presence of angels treating soldiers, disguised as magic tools.”
“Tch, a traitor’s way of doing things.”
In addition, the rebellion’s resistance was stronger than expected.
Initially, they thought that if the Undead King’s forces took the lead, it would be resolved, if not quickly, then at least with a prospect of resolution.
But upon opening the lid, while they were pushing forward, the atmosphere was not one of impending defeat.
They couldn’t push through due to Isal’s support.
“Furthermore, the movements in several territories are also suspicious. They’ve prepared quite thoroughly, haven’t they?”
They considered sending the Tree King to provide support, but before that, they received suspicious reports.
As a result, they could only keep the Undead King’s forces in check to prevent them from being attacked from behind.
“Now, what should we do next?”
The pieces on the board moved all at once.
Seeing this, the Demon Lord fell into a moment of deep thought. The Human King had blocked a potentially fatal enemy strategy.
This must have been unexpected for the other side as well.
The Demon Lord also understood that once sealed, the tower could not be destroyed from within.
Therefore, he believed that partially destroying it from the outside was worthy of praise.
He felt it was unavoidable that the Human King would be so exhausted as to be incapacitated by the process, and while he praised the act, he had no intention of blaming him.
Therefore, the Demon Lord considered how to deploy his current forces.
“Well, in that case, let’s attack.”
He chose to attack rather than defend.
Attacking with an unstable foundation could be interpreted as a foolish decision.
“This event should have been unexpected for them as well. I don’t think they anticipated this entire army being annihilated without being able to do anything. Therefore, we’ll launch a pursuit and deny them the luxury of attacking.”
However, from the Demon Lord’s perspective, this was a classic strategic decision.
In fact, upon hearing this decision, the Oni King smiled ferociously, and the Machine King did not object.
“Raidou, will you go?”
“You bet! I’ve been waiting for you to say that!!”
The Oni King, who was assigned the attacking role, struck his right fist into his left palm.
A loud clap echoed, and he rejoiced at being chosen.
“You can either rampage wildly or go along with the Human King’s suggestion. The objective is to remove the opponent’s breathing room, so do not pursue too deeply. Fortunately, it seems the Human King has made arrangements for support, so don’t worry about supplies. Just be careful not to overextend the front lines.”
“Understood.”
Without dampening his joy, the Demon Lord explained the policy for attacking to the Oni King.
Whether he agreed with it or not, the Oni King did not complain.
However.
“Lord, as long as I don’t overextend the front lines, I can do anything, right?”
“Ah, that’s fine.”
For some reason, the Oni King wore a scheming smile, different from his usual ferocious grin.
“Hmm, that smile… did you come up with something?”
When it came to scheming, Raidou was not his strong suit.
In fact, he preferred to attack head-on, and could even be said to harbor a dislike for such methods.
“No, I just thought I should grow a little, following my disciple’s example. Though, I can’t change my inherent nature, so it’s in my own way.”
However, the birth of a demon who understood and accepted that he wouldn’t grow by merely harboring dislike, and decided to move forward, could be considered a change.
The Demon Lord smiled with joy at his growth.
“I’m looking forward to it. I await good news.”
“Just board a large ship and wait.”
He watched the Oni King turn his back and leave.
“Now then, while I’d like to call the first battle a draw, the momentum is in our favor. However, if we let our guard down, they could seize that momentum. Machine King, I’ll have you rebuild the surveillance network and investigate the area around the tower. We don’t know what might emerge if we leave it as is.”
“Understood.”
After giving instructions to the Machine King, the Demon Lord was not alone in the audience chamber.
There were guards around him.
Secretaries were also on standby.
However, they did not address the Demon Lord directly.
Silence enveloped the audience chamber, but for the Demon Lord, that silence was currently welcome.
Unseen enemies, visible enemies, and the ambiguous presence of those who might become enemies or allies.
The enemy’s future moves.
There were many things to consider.
“…Hmm.”
As he clasped his hand to his chin and thought, he could clearly understand that the opponent in this war was intelligent.
Judging by how they used the Tower of God, he knew they were not devoted to the worship of God.
If they were devoted to faith, they wouldn’t use it in such a disposable manner.
“In that case, it must be the Empire.”
If so, the countries capable of leading such a large army were limited, and one of them would be the Supreme Commander of the alliance.
“The King… no. He’s not the type to use such intricate tactics. It could be the Prime Minister, but I can’t imagine him standing on the battlefield.”
The Demon Lord expanded his imagination based on the information gained from this battle.
As if embodying the saying, “Know your enemy and know yourself.”
Today’s quote:
The initial move is crucial.
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Pandora Pandemic Panic: Pandora’s Box has been opened again, but we’re fighting back through various means in secret bases!!
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