Demon Summoning (4)
Count Frey had been entrusted with a vital mission.
The poorly defended west gate. Breaking through it and charging into the royal palace to slaughter everyone inside—that was Count Frey's role.
Count Frey wasn't particularly powerful.
However.
He was a mere count who had earned the trust of Emperor Volond.
Count Frey was exceptionally resilient against variables.
In truth, he had turned the variables from countless past battles to his advantage with his brilliant mind.
Drip, drip—
But right now, Count Frey didn't even notice the dampness trickling down his pant leg.
It was because of the man standing before him.
'Only a little over a minute has passed.'
In that time, the man had single-handedly dismantled eight hundred Blood Ghost Corps soldiers.
And just moments ago, he'd calmly declared that he hadn't taken a single hit.
Bluffing?
No. Count Frey had witnessed every moment with his own eyes.
The man truly hadn't been struck once.
A sudden thought crossed his mind.
'Even the Parion Empire has only a handful of such talents.'
Despite its population numbering in the hundreds of millions.
What shocked him most was that this monster wasn't alone—there were two of them.
He recalled the other man who had headed elsewhere earlier.
Frey thought back to Emperor Volond's speech before deployment.
'This will be an effortless campaign.'
Anyone would have thought the battle would unfold that way. But now, that assumption shattered.
'Your Majesty, this may not be so easy.'
Count Frey knew exactly what he had to do.
Report the presence of these two unidentified powerhouses.
The entire Blood Ghost Corps was brimming with overconfidence, certain of victory.
"Everyone...!"
He couldn't finish his words.
Slash—
The man, sensing his intent, swiftly severed Count Frey's throat.
'These are beings that shouldn't exist. Who knows what variables they might create...'
That was Count Frey's final thought.
Meanwhile.
Amid Marquis Lookburg's forces guarding the east gate.
A young knight was desperately holding back the endless onslaught of the Blood Ghost Corps.
His name was Lookk, son of Marquis Lookburg and vassal to Hyun-soo.
He was witnessing the Blood Ghost Corps' strength firsthand and falling into despair.
'Even their regular soldiers are this powerful?'
They were overwhelmingly superior. A single soldier's level rivaled that of a knight.
Yet Lookk gripped his sword tightly.
This kingdom was the one his father, Lookburg, had strived with all his might to protect.
"Raaah!"
Lookk sliced down another Blood Ghost Corps soldier. Watching him was a certain man.
His name was Javarr.
A knight hailed as one of the Parion Empire's heroes.
Javarr, in his level 440s, regarded Lookk with interest.
"So that's Lookk, son of Marquis Lookburg?"
Impressive skill.
A man who'd become a knight just a year ago was overpowering Blood Ghost Corps soldiers.
The reason was simple: even at equal levels, Lookk was on par with a semi-named NPC.
That was the extent of his admiration.
Parion Empire commanders had thoroughly researched ways to uproot the Goyad Kingdom.
To achieve total victory by shattering even their unbreakable spirits, they'd investigated relentlessly.
"Kill that one and impale his head on a 5-meter skewer. Hoist it high into the sky, and the east gate will crumble."
Javarr was cunning.
Cunning and cruel, he reigned as the empire's hero.
If the head of Marquis Lookburg's son—the east gate commander—were raised high, both officers and soldiers would break.
With that, the Blood Ghost Corps charged at Lookk.
'What the—?'
Lookk panicked at the concentrated assault.
Suddenly, weapons slashed across his body from all sides.
Slash, rip, stab—
"Gah!"
Lookk spat blood and collapsed.
From afar, he caught Javarr's sinister smile.
Lookk realized.
'Father...!'
His father, who would sacrifice his life for his son, early bereft of his mother!
Maligned as a cold-blooded noble, but warm toward his child.
'He wants my severed head paraded before Father?'
Lookk despaired at the swinging weapons, despair upon despair.
Then.
Slash, stab, thrust, crunch!
The five Blood Ghost Corps soldiers attacking Lookk were butchered.
Seeing the blade, Lookk's eyes lit up.
'That’s...?'
The Supreme Sword.
The weapon wielded by his lord, Hyun-soo!
Turning his head, Lookk was bewildered.
'Who is that?'
A lanky, beggar-like man with unkempt hair.
"Step aside."
But who he was didn't matter.
His warm voice made it clear: he was an ally, no doubt about it.
Lookk was awestruck.
That gentle voice just now.
"......"
He glanced back.
Dozens of Blood Ghost Corps soldiers lay fallen.
The powerhouse sent by my lord has come to save me!?
But no.
"Hey, I said step aside. You're blocking me."
"...?"
Lookk was flustered.
The man baldly swept back his hair, muttering irritably as he passed.
"...The 23rd one?"
Lookk tilted his head.
23rd what?
The man exhaled once and then carved through hundreds of Blood Ghost Corps soldiers, charging inward.
"...!?"
Behind the stunned Lookk.
"Ho, what an interesting fellow."
Javarr appeared before Lukio.
"I thought this war was too dull, but to think Goyad hid a talent like you."
Javarr unleashed the swordsmanship passed down from Sword Emperor Volond.
Hot aura rippled from his body.
"I am Javarr, called the Hundredfold Hero. Today, I shall make you know my na—"
Slash—
"...?"
Javarr panicked.
Before they could even exchange blows.
A single, blindingly fast strike—a lethal hit—sent blood gushing from Javarr's chest.
Stab—
Lukio pierced his heart once, withdrew, and wore a bored expression.
"...What kind of hero dies in three strikes?"
"...!?"
Javarr's mind went blank.
He had calculated much while watching the man repel the Blood Ghost Corps to reach here.
Then, seeing him raise his sword, realization dawned.
'...My calculations were wrong. He led me to calculate.'
In just three swings.
Slaaash—
The hero Javarr's head hit the ground.
As Lukio passed Lookk again, he muttered.
"Now the 24th. Gotta rack up at least fifty to prove I didn't chicken out, right?"
Lukio vanished.
Only then did Lookk realize.
"24..."
The number of 'commanders' he'd slain.
Looking around once more, Lookk was filled with admiration.
Gruff and indifferent as he seemed, he'd butchered every last one there to ensure Lookk could escape safely.
The ripple effect was massive.
"Commander Gen has fallen...?"
"Commander Kartun too."
"Sir Bous, the knight who wielded the strength of a thousand, has fallen!"
"Who is it!?"
"Who!?"
"Someone approached silently, killed the commanders, and vanished!"
The Blood Ghost Corps fell into chaos.
No matter how elite an army, losing commanders disrupts the chain of command.
And when it wasn't just one or two, but twenty, then thirty? The impact was enormous.
The once-unbreakable Blood Ghost Corps began to waver.
Fighting them became far easier for the Goyad forces.
However, upon hearing the reports, their supreme commander Pick scoffed.
"...Bella, was it?"
The knight cherished by the Sword King.
Now said to have left the king's side to serve another.
He assumed she had infiltrated the battlefield, slaughtering his men in secret.
"...She truly is a remarkable talent."
But a once-easy battle merely growing a bit tougher changed nothing.
'Lost 15,000?'
Units deprived of commanders by Bella collapsed rapidly, costing thousands in moments.
Yet Goyad's losses were greater.
Killing commanders changed nothing.
"Full assault."
35,000 Blood Ghost Corps soldiers remained.
Goyad's forces, meanwhile, were exhausted.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
"Brace for death!"
Pick changed his mind.
He'd originally aimed for victory with minimal losses.
Now, the 35,000 charged fearlessly, overwhelming Goyad's army.
"Gah!"
"Urk!"
"Ugh, uwaaah!"
"Aaaargh!"
The all-out assault swept Goyad's forces away.
East gate, west gate, north gate, south gate.
Those barely holding against the Blood Ghost Corps were scattered like autumn leaves.
The battle's tide turned in an instant, and Goyad's troops crumbled faster in terror.
"Kehahaha!"
Pick laughed at the sight, then grew baffled.
'Even for a minor kingdom, this is too easy?'
Goyad's army was collapsing far quicker than he'd anticipated, unable to withstand the assault.
What made him laugh maniacally was their retreat into the castle like fleeing rats.
***
'Collapsing this easily...?'
At Hyun's Forge.
Nel's face, who had joined the west gate fray, was stained with despair.
'Was Goyad this weak?'
Weaker than even she'd imagined. As if someone had deliberately weakened them.
But the cries from within confirmed their utter defeat.
"Ah, aaaah...!"
"Our soldiers crumbling like this!"
"We're done for, no escape!"
"Sob, sob!"
"O King!"
The citizens' wails spread as pure despair.
Their voices brimmed with sobs and screams.
Nel's chest ached.
'Even if they're NPCs, if the capital falls, they'll all die...'
And Nel knew.
'If Goyad falls, what of Hyun's Forge? What of Atlas?'
Hyun-soo couldn't become king.
Goyad would become Parion's vassal state, its people enslaved.
And.
'Knights and soldiers will be tools of war...'
Nel's vision darkened.
As all Goyad forces retreated into the capital, the 35,000-strong army began seizing the walls.
'It's over. Goyad...'
At that moment.
Nel witnessed something even more shocking.
Fenrir, who had merely observed after clashing with Barad.
"Raaargh!"
The beast leaped skyward.
Fenrir was a wolf, but possessed a unique magic due to its traits.
The instant Fenrir cast magic on Marquis Lookburg, Falo, and Constantinu.
"...!?"
"...!?"
"...!?"
Goyad's pillars panicked.
Like Hyun-soo's Gathering, an irresistible force dragged them toward Fenrir.
Creeeak!
Fenrir bared its maw at the pale-faced trio.
Nel realized.
The three marquises.
Lookburg, Falo, Constantinu. If they fell, it was total defeat.
Then.
"Summon."
'Huh...?'
Nel blinked in confusion.
Not far from her. A familiar man's voice.
'Summon what?'
Soon.
"Gremory."
"...!!!?"
Nel couldn't process it at first.
A demon suddenly descending from the heavens.
And of all places, between Fenrir and the marquises.
Flash—
Amid black energy, Gremory appeared, glaring at Fenrir like a bug with murderous eyes.
"What is this mongrel?"
Fenrir, sizing her up.
One of the legendary monsters, famed for cruelty and ferocity.
Yet it quietly closed its mouth.
"Yelp..."
And even gave an awkward grin.