Game Difficulty Is Crazy
Chapter 16
Somewhere in the borderlands, about one or two hours west of Avenue Fortress.
A hysterical woman’s voice echoed through the trees and grass.
“I told you to be careful how many times already! So why didn’t you listen and end up like that?!”
She was the supreme commander of the Demon King’s 8th Legion vanguard.
The 6-star witch Angonina angrily grabbed and tugged at her hat.
Beside her, a middle-aged demon, Bahad, spoke in a low voice.
“If you lose your composure as the vanguard’s commander, what are you going to do? Calm down.”
“How am I supposed to calm down right now?! That idiot bastard got eight thousand undead wiped out!”
The demon race already had fewer numbers than humans, so undead troops were the perfect disposable meat shields to make up for that.
But because of Belmore’s unexpected blunder, the legion’s vanguard lost most of its forces before even properly entering a full siege.
“The whole plan is ruined.”
Angonina bit her lip.
The original plan was for them to arrive around this evening, lead their demon troops, join the undead army commanded by Belmore, and attack Avenue together.
By alternating undead and demons on the front lines, they would slowly wear down the Gray Wolf Knight Order through a prolonged war of attrition.
“But who would’ve thought things would go this wrong. If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have sent Belmore ahead!”
Because of that, Angonina and Bahad now had to fight a battle that wasn’t even in the plan, using only the thousand demon soldiers they personally commanded—without any undead.
Of course, unlike the disposable undead, their demon troops were elites. Even the lowest soldiers had at least one demonic ring.
Even if they were outnumbered by the humans defending the fortress, they could still overwhelm them.
‘But without the undead, we’ll have to accept casualties on our side too.’
A vanguard force that should number close to ten thousand…
Struggling against a mere outpost defended by a few hundred humans was a disgrace.
“If the legion commander arrives soon and sees this mess, she won’t let us off lightly…!”
When Angonina imagined Penelope looking down at her with cold eyes, her face turned pale with fear.
“Don’t worry, Angonina. I’ve already thought everything through.”
At that moment, Bahad—who had been silent—spoke quietly.
“What did you say?”
“If things go according to my plan, we can bring down Avenue within a week, before the legion commander arrives.”
“That’s not the problem! What are we going to do about the troop losses?”
Angonina glared at Bahad.
“I told you. I’ve thought it all through.”
“……Go on.”
“A way to capture Avenue with minimal losses. It’s simple. We cut off their lifeline.”
“Cut off… their lifeline?”
A strange light appeared in Bahad’s eyes.
“I’ll lead a guerrilla unit, cross Mount Rivero, and strike Avenue from the rear.”
“What does that have to do with cutting off their lifeline? Or are you saying you’ll assassinate Jaber? Do you really think that’s possible?”
Before a war begins, assassinating an enemy commander by exploiting their carelessness is easy enough.
But now that the war had already started…
Assassinating the enemy commander—especially the rumored Jaber—was nearly impossible.
“Bahad. Aren’t you overestimating yourself? Do you think a 7-star holy knight would just let a 6-star demon archer kill him without even a red stake—”
“Who said anything about assassinating Jaber? My target isn’t Jaber. It’s the supplies and food inside the fortress.”
“The supplies and food…? Ah!”
Angonina’s eyes widened.
Only then did she understand what Bahad meant by cutting off their lifeline.
Bahad continued.
“No matter how powerful the Gray Wolf Knight Order is, once they run out of food and supplies, they’re nothing but paper tigers.”
“But won’t they be prepared for guerrilla attacks? Can you really pull it off?”
“If you help me, it’s more than possible.”
“Me?”
Bahad nodded.
“If you lead the remaining vanguard and attack Avenue moderately, they’ll focus everything on defending the fortress. While they’re busy, I’ll lead the guerrillas and burn all their warehouses.”
After that, Angonina would withdraw her troops, and Bahad’s plan would be complete.
“There’s no need to wait long. Just give it three days, and their morale will hit rock bottom.”
“And then we attack Avenue with the entire vanguard!”
“With that, we can capture Avenue with minimal losses.”
Color returned to Angonina’s face.
“Indeed… not bad. As supreme commander, I approve your plan.”
“Then I’ll depart now and head for Mount Rivero with the guerrilla unit. I should arrive around sunset tomorrow. Time your attack accordingly.”
“Fine, I get it. Just make sure you don’t mess up.”
“……Understood.”
After giving a light nod, Bahad left the area.
Once he had put some distance between himself and Angonina—
A murderous glint suddenly appeared in his eyes.
‘That clueless woman is the vanguard’s supreme commander…’
Even if she was appointed by the legion commander’s orders, Angonina knew far too little about war.
She didn’t even understand what kinds of forces she had, let alone how to use them.
Guerrilla units, witch squads, mage corps—resources with endless flexibility—and she only knew how to throw them all into one pot and boil them together.
That wasn’t all.
At first, she spoke calmly while dealing with Belmore, but the moment things went wrong, she immediately lost her composure.
“This is why witches are all the same…”
Bahad clicked his tongue.
Recluses who cared about nothing except their own magical achievements—why did they insist on clinging to such important positions?
‘That aside…’
A sharp light passed through Bahad’s eyes.
He carefully reviewed everything that had happened today and soon arrived at one lingering question.
‘Just who is that human?’
The ash-gray-haired knight who pierced Belmore after cutting through the tide of undead.
That unexpected existence kept circling in Bahad’s mind.
‘Ash-gray hair… that would suggest blood similar to the lord of Wordsworth…’
But as far as Bahad knew, aside from the family head Henry Wordsworth, there was no one in the Wordsworth family that strong.
