Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Demon King's Army Legion Commander Hero Sage (6)
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Duke Volpar stood before the command tent, gazing at the city of Mir.
The city of Mir, visible across the vast plain.
Once, it had grown prosperous with the largest silver mine in the outskirts.
But now, it was occupied by monsters.
A motley assortment of monsters lurked inside, waiting for the kingdom's army.
'Are there any humans left alive?'
He couldn't be sure.
By now, they might have been devoured as monster fodder.
Even if any survived, they wouldn't be in their right minds.
The city glowed brightly from the fires lit by the monsters.
They seemed to be on high alert as well.
This wouldn't be an easy battle.
"Your Grace, it's cold out here. Please come inside."
"With the siege just days away, how could I sleep easily?"
The cardinal of the Church of Light had followed him out.
The Church of Light, centered in the Holy Kingdom and the dominant faith across the continent.
He was likely the man with the strongest holy power in the kingdom.
The sole cardinal from Aslan, who had joined this expedition.
"Cardinal, without a hero, what are our odds of defeating the Demon King?"
"Hard to say. I'd call it fifty-fifty."
"Fifty-fifty?"
"Yes. The Demon King is powerful, but his forces aren't fully assembled yet. If we overwhelm them with numbers, we can weaken him significantly. Then, my priests and I can perform the sealing ritual."
"Nothing from the Holy Kingdom?"
"No. His Holiness said to handle it ourselves. It's not their affair, it seems."
"......"
What a joke.
Despite the history of countless kingdoms uniting centuries ago to defeat the descended Demon King, they stood by because it wasn't in their territory.
King Revel II, Duke Volpar's liege, was no different.
'Not the time to bring that up now that we're mobilized.'
If the kingdom won this time, his name would go down in history.
"Monsters as opponents worry me most. Their strategies are unpredictable."
It weighed on him heavily.
The lives of the 40,000 troops under his command hung in the balance.
No, considering the sacrifices if they lost the war...
The lives in his hands far exceeded 40,000.
His shoulders felt leaden.
"What strategy could monsters have? They just swarm with their savage instincts."
"I hope so. Fighting mindless brutes is straightforward. But..."
The fall of Mir nagged at him.
Especially since it had fallen into enemy hands without a single wall breached.
There was definitely something more.
Duke Volpar suspected the monsters weren't acting blindly.
That's why, now encamped before Mir, he had doubled the night watches beyond doctrine and ordered full armor even at night.
Just in case something happened in the dark, they could respond.
And then it came.
"Your Grace! Your Grace!"
A messenger from the eastern camp.
"What is it?"
"A night raid! Monsters attacked using the cover of darkness!"
"What?"
The duke panicked.
A night raid?
"As expected, something was up. What's the eastern camp's status?"
"They're holding as best they can, but the sudden raid caught them off guard, and they're being pushed back."
"Didn't I order heightened vigilance?"
"Count Homel, in charge of the eastern camp, ordered them to stand down..."
"Those idiots!"
Fools!
Why disobey orders and act on their own?
"Send reinforcements. Order everyone to arm up!"
"Yes, sir."
"Adjutant!"
"Yes, Your Grace!"
"Send runners to all camps. Have them arm fully and prepare for further monster night raids. Also, order 500 from the northern rear camp to head east."
"Understood!"
He knew it.
These weren't simple monsters.
There was something.
A brain directing them.
'Demon King...'
Is it you?
Commanding those monsters.
Grind!
Duke Volpar gnashed his teeth.
We repelled all the monsters from the night raid.
Fighting monsters at night was a hassle.
They had better night vision than humans and came in all sizes, making them far trickier than daytime battles.
Knights might handle it, but regular soldiers could only hold formation.
"212 dead, 345 severely wounded and combat-ineffective, total casualties 557. 678 lightly wounded."
The adjutant's report drew a deep sigh.
Losses exceeded expectations.
In defending the raid, Count Homel, commander of the third army in the eastern camp, had fallen.
Of course, many monsters died too.
Thanks to Duke Volpar's swift response.
Visible dead weren't the only damage.
Fear.
The terror that enemies could strike day or night had gripped the entire army.
That was the problem.
'A headache.'
The fear etched in the soldiers' minds would wear them down.
If the war dragged on, that fatigue would hobble them.
'Did they plan this?'
The enemy seemed more tactically adept than expected.
Hitting the troops' weak points perfectly.
"Your Grace! The enemy is coming out from the gates!"
"Out of the city?"
"Yes, look there."
The duke's eyes turned to Mir.
Too far to see clearly, but something was moving their way.
Hundreds of monsters.
"Is that bastard sane?"
Intercepting them?
Didn't want a prolonged war?
He couldn't fathom the intent.
But one thing was clear.
They could win against this sortie.
"We must attack them now!"
"Just give the order, Your Grace!"
Yet, the Demon King cunning enough for night raids doing this?
'A trap.'
Definitely a trap.
Volpar's instincts screamed it.
"Hold. It's a trap. Wait until they get closer."
His instincts were right.
The Demon King's forces soon retreated back into the city.
'Hiding their numbers. What's the point of these maneuvers?'
A week passed like that.
Monsters kept sending troops out the gates and back in.
Regardless of their moves, the duke prepared for siege.
But his subordinates thought differently.
"Why not intercept them?"
"They were in range! Cavalry could have crushed them!"
"Too passive! Why is the kingdom's great noble so cowardly?"
Voices rose against the duke's tactics.
It started when Marquis Harbin defied orders and sortied, returning with dozens of monster kills.
That sparked it.
Every time enemies appeared, noble voices grew louder.
Marquis Harbin, branding Volpar a coward, led raids on sorties.
Victory after victory.
And that fractured the chain of command.
'Demon King, is this what you wanted?'
Siege towers and battering rams were complete.
Today was the day.
They planned to assault the enemy camp that evening.
But an unprecedented number emerged.
As if begging for open battle.
"As reported, all 5,000 from Mir. Better to intercept than siege, no?"
"Their walls will anvil us! Cavalry charge upfront, and they'll be annihilated!"
Noble voices swelled.
Volpar's siege plan was sidelined.
Enforce military law and suppress them?
'They won't obey in real combat.'
That's nobles for you.
They'd ignore orders once battle started.
The noble army's weakness: disjointed command.
"Duke Volpar! I'm charging now! Can't let them be!"
Marquis Harbin stood.
His retainers rose too.
His rival count stood as well, refusing to be outdone.
Glory-blind nobles followed.
The tide had turned.
Harbin's victories versus Volpar's night raid losses.
Damn it.
No choice.
Hand soldiers to those mad chargers.
The kingdom's future.
Fooled.
'Completely fooled.'
Night raid to heighten alert, then intentional defeats.
Volpar realized.
He'd been utterly outmaneuvered.
Overthought it, fell for the ploy.
"Permission to sortie. However..."
"Kingdom standing army and Volpar house troops stay with main force."
2,000 standing, 1,000 house troops.
Over 3,000 to support somehow.
Nobles cheered, eyes laced with contempt.
Coward.
Strategist Volpar's grown old.
Dim-sighted.
He heard them.
Volpar closed his eyes.
When they routed, he could minimize losses.
Eyes shut, he planned ahead.
"Your knights are too simple-minded. That's the problem."
I looked down at the headless noble.
He'd charged at the cavalry forefront.
Introduced himself as Harbin, I think.
"Aaaagh!!!"
"Save me!"
"Mommy... I'm scared."
The battle was one-sided.
Glory-drunk noble forces charged us; we, backs to the walls, repelled them.
They thought hammer-and-anvil with cavalry.
But...
"Groooar!"
-Grrr!
Three-meter ogres and gargoyles blocked the cavalry.
Right.
They forgot our forces were monsters, not humans.
Reckless charges self-destructed.
Giant monsters halted cavalry; arrows from walls pinned infantry.
Riley and Kina's magic, Frederike, Rebecca, Ariana, Amy, Yulia, and me.
Overpowered foes and monsters crushed them.
Nobles, certain of victory, died in shattered formations.
"Kaaagh!"
"Damn monsters... kyaaagh!"
"S-save... guk!"
All planned tactics.
First night, hundreds raided camps to sow fear.
Riley said Volpar was a cautious strategist.
Implanted fear and flashy tactics would hobble him.
Then, sent small forces out gates as bait.
Temptation no brainless fool would bite.
One noble did; returned victorious.
That ignited them.
Next night, raids on other camps.
Not to win, just harass.
They got riled up good.
Even with siege gear ready, when we sortied, they charged blindly.
How could they be so predictable?
Easy fight.
Like rabbits into a beast's maw.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms helped.
The anti-Dong Zhuo coalition fractured from infighting, right?
These guys met the same end.
Volpar fought valiantly with part of his force, but it barely shifted the tide.
"Volpar... was it?"
"Guh!"
I looked down at Duke Volpar, one arm severed, gripped in my hand.
"Heard you're the kingdom's top tactician. True?"
"Kill me... no more insults."
"Why kill talent? Could be my subordinate someday."
Duke Volpar's eyes bulged as he shouted.
"Think wiping the army makes the kingdom yours? As long as His Majesty lives, Aslan will resist to the end!"
His bloodshot glare held conviction.
Belief the kingdom would fight on, even if he died.
His wrinkled middle-aged eyes burned fiercer than any youth's.
"Ah, the king. Right. With a king, the kingdom resists. But..."
I matched his gaze.
"What if, against your hopes, the king is dead? Would the kingdom stand?"
"What...?"
"Heard the rumors? Hero joined Demon King, took Mir."
Volpar's eyes didn't waver.
"Nonsense. Hero wouldn't. He's the kingdom's guardian spirit."
"Even if I said the hero beheaded the king and heads here?"
"......"
Look at those unyielding, steadfast eyes.
"You'll know soon. The kingdom's a candle in a storm."
"Shut up, demon! Quit yapping and kill me!"
"Losers talk too much. Don't worry, you won't die. You'll watch the kingdom fall with me. Defeated general who doomed Aslan, Volpar. History will read that."
"Mock me to the end?!"
"Offering a choice. Not doomed Volpar, but Demon King's brilliant strategist Volpar."
Blood trickled from Volpar's gritted teeth.
"You..."
"Don't bite your tongue. Suicide won't save your honor. Think. Join me, I'll regrow that arm."
Demon King's army's perfect victory.
Three days later, the hero returned.
"Ahn! Hng! My lord Demon King! Hng! I-I'm cumming!"
Seated on my throne, I watched the female knight grinding atop me with detached boredom.
Just an hour ago, she'd thrashed, swearing she'd never fall.
A skilled knight who could infuse aura into her blade.
Thought she'd last longer.
At least as long as Rebecca's holy knights.
"Hng! Ungh!! Cumming. Cumming. Feels so good. First time like... uugh!!"
She writhed her hips herself, drooling pussy juice.
How many orgasms already?
Didn't expect her to break so fast.
Like a hyped restaurant serving crap.
Mood killed, but my dick hardened more.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The knight's moans grew louder as she clung to me, soon climaxing again.
"Ah... Aaaah..."
Eyes rolled back, tongue lolling, she passed out.
Twitching sporadically atop me.
I hadn't cum yet.
Lousy performance for a volunteer onahole.
I gripped her waist, shook a few times, then shoved her aside.
Thud.
Another female knight slumped beside the throne.
Including her, three knightesses I'd trained, none made me cum.
"Quantity over quality."
Too wasteful for mob use.
Decided to add them to Rebecca's knight order soon.
"My lord Demon King! I'm back!"
Sage entered the hall, box in hand.
Inside: King Revel II and the prince's heads.
"Praise me!"
Her beaming face looked relieved, no illusion.
"Good work."
The holy sword, fully corrupted by her, darted like an eyeball.
Even the holy sword fell.
Sage seemed to have shed her last lingering regrets.
'All set now.'
Ready to fully corrupt Sage.