Game Difficulty
Is Insane
A vast borderland stretching between the Demonic Wastes and Avenue Fortress.
The 8th Army of the Demon King was advancing straight through its center.
From one end of vision to the other, a procession of the dead continued endlessly, followed closely by trained demonic beasts and demon clans.
They were not as orderly as the army of the Papal Holy State, but each individual radiated a threatening aura.
“……”
At the very center, Penelope sat in a red palanquin filled with jewels, arrogantly looking down at everything.
In truth, even for Penelope, this was her first time leading an army of such scale.
That was how important this expedition was to her pride.
Penelope was an unprecedented genius witch who had woven the eighth Demonic Ring at just a little over thirty years of age.
However, despite having the support of all demon witches, she had been looked down upon by the Demon King and the other corps commanders.
There was no special reason.
She was weaker than them.
—Don’t talk to me. You useless woman.
—Penelope? She’d fit well as a lab assistant. If you see her, tell her to forget being a corps commander and come work under me.
—I really hate bitches who are weak but only have big mouths.
The humiliating words brushed past Penelope’s mind.
Crunch—
She would prove it.
She would swallow not only the human territory before her eyes, but even the humans’ capital in one gulp and prove her strength!
With that vow in her heart, Penelope sharpened her gaze.
That was when—
“Corps Commander.”
Black liquid bubbled up beside the palanquin and soon transformed into a gaunt demon man.
“I have just returned.”
“…I see, Dante. Welcome back. Did you ask what I told you to ask?”
Penelope corrected her gaze and asked in her usual gentle tone.
Previously, she had ordered this man to investigate the human who intercepted the skirmisher unit.
“Yes. I received an answer from the Vice Corps Commander.”
“So? What did Muta say?”
“According to what the Vice Corps Commander found, the one who intercepted Skirmisher Unit No. 4 during their mission was a human named Glen Wordsworth.”
“Glen… Wordsworth?”
Penelope tilted her head.
“He is the youngest son of the Wordsworth family.”
“Was there a child like that?”
“They say he was a delinquent who was practically abandoned by the family head.”
“And yet Ralpher lost to such a brat?”
“It is hard to believe realistically, but based on the circumstances, that seems to be the case.”
“Really? Hmm…….”
Penelope gently rubbed her lips.
She knew that one of the main targets, the eldest daughter of the Wordsworth family, was around twenty years old.
‘If he’s the youngest, he should be even younger than that.’
It was hard to believe that a milk-smelling boy had defeated Ralpher, a 6-star Demonic Archer.
However, what truly happened between them was known only to the boy himself and the dead Ralpher.
‘Then I should ask him directly.’
Penelope put the pipe she was holding into her mouth.
“If any of the officers happen to encounter him, leave that boy alive. I have many things to ask.”
“Understood.”
“You may go.”
As Penelope waved her hand, Dante bowed his head.
Soon, he turned back into black liquid and disappeared into the ground.
Blowing out pure white smoke into the air, Penelope curled her lips upward.
“For some reason, he’s starting to interest me.”
Late the next afternoon.
Glen and Romina were leisurely walking around Avenue Fortress.
The surroundings were quite quiet.
That was because most people, aside from the two of them, had been dispatched to the western wall to block the full-scale demon advance.
“But isn’t it strange that there are this few people……?”
Romina looked around, then stared straight at Glen.
Just by looking at her half-lidded eyes, it felt like she was saying, This is another one of your schemes, isn’t it?
“That’s right. Yesterday, I advised Sir Jaber to take as many troops as possible out for today’s battle.”
Jaber had actively accepted Glen’s suggestion and headed to the western wall, leaving only the bare minimum of soldiers inside the fortress.
“Why go that far just to empty this place?”
“It’s awkward when there are too many eyes watching.”
“Eyes watching…?”
As if sensing something ominous, Romina hugged her shoulders.
Considering the Glen she had seen from the moment they met until now, he would never call her out just for a walk.
“We’re here.”
While Romina was guessing at Glen’s plan, the two arrived at a massive cave-type warehouse built where the fortress met the mountain.
“Why is this so huge?”
“They’re using a large cave attached to Mount Libero as a supply warehouse. The scale is insane, right?”
“I guess so… but then that means it’s the most important place, right?”
With suspicious eyes, Romina looked around the warehouse.
“But for such a place, there isn’t a single guard… No way?!”
“You noticed? That’s right.”
Seeing Romina’s eyes go wide like a rabbit’s, Glen smiled faintly.
“The guards are you and me.”
As the sun set and dusk spread,
Once again, the demon vanguard appeared before Avenue Fortress.
From atop the western wall, Jaber snorted as he looked at the demon army stretching all the way to the horizon.
“So they finally came.”
This was on a completely different level from the army of the dead that had shambled toward Avenue with their bodies caved in.
Their skin was pale and their pupils resembled those of snakes, but otherwise they looked similar to humans.
Soldiers armed with spears and shields.
Demonic swordsmen in black armor.
Mages and witches in robes.
The demon army had arrived.
Crushed by that thick pressure, the soldiers’ eyes trembled, and the Gray Wolf Knights swallowed dry saliva.
Judging by numbers alone, there was not a huge difference between allies and enemies.
However, unlike them—whose forces were mostly conscripted civilians—every single enemy soldier possessed at least one Demonic Ring.
So even with the advantage of defending a fortress, it did not feel favorable at all.
Step—
The air grew heavy.
In that calm before the storm, Jaber suddenly stepped forward and climbed onto the battlements.
