Crumbling the Demon Army (5)
“We have no hope left.”
The commander guarding Luenhardt, Marquis Shepherd, bowed his head. The knights, already covered in wounds, did the same.
“Sir Crobel’s life wasn’t just that of one knight—it was the life of all humanity. And we just lost it.”
Tears fell as he stared at the handkerchief clutched in his hand. It was the last message from Crobel, the final Sword Master remaining in this fortress.
“We can’t even deliver his final words...!”
His reddened eyes gazed beyond the walls.
Liliana bit her lip lightly and gave a thumbs-up. Before her lay Crobel’s mutilated corpse, torn apart gruesomely. She had toyed with humanity’s strongest being—a Sword Master—like a plaything before killing him. Crobel hadn’t shown the aura that could cleave mountains or the intimidating force that made the air tremble. Before demons, humans were utterly powerless.
If the Apocalypse Knights came, would things improve?
The four Apocalypse Knights in the south—undoubtedly the empire’s finest. Could invincible Sword Masters who led the empire to its golden age turn this around?
Who knew. Marquis Shepherd was skeptical. He couldn’t imagine those demons losing to humans.
But.
“...Sir Crobel bought us five hours.”
“!”
Shepherd raised his head. The soldiers around him widened their eyes.
“In those five hours, we reorganized our forces. We patched the walls somewhat and evacuated the wounded to safety.”
Shepherd stared coldly at Liliana, who approached with seductive grace, and continued.
“That’s the value his death brought.”
The already beleaguered Luenhardt Fortress was in dire straits. Not even an hour seemed survivable, let alone a day. The soldiers here knew Shepherd spoke the truth.
“Then our deaths’ value lies in the safety of our families—and the entire empire.”
Fear faded from the soldiers’ faces, replaced by a burning sense of duty.
“Men, even one minute will do.”
Shepherd drew his sword, raising it high as he shouted.
“Hold the enemy—give your all!”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldiers returned to their posts, roaring as they fought desperately. Shepherd gripped his fist white-knuckled.
If only I had the strength—
All he could do was watch his fighting men. He wasn’t a knight—just a noble spouting pretty words from the sidelines.
If I could contract with a devil... Tch, fighting devils and having foolish thoughts.
The situation was grim. Shepherd had realized the demons had been “playing” with them. They could kill but held back, savoring the terror. That summed up the past week’s battles.
But now, the demons’ momentum had shifted. Whether they’d had their fun or sniffed out the plan, they were no longer holding back—they fought at full strength.
This wouldn’t last long.
“A fine speech.”
It was then.
“Your demoralized soldiers are all doing their part.”
Shepherd slowly turned. A silver-haired girl stood beside him, smiling brightly.
“Your role ends here. My personal respects.”
“Who... are you?”
She closed her eyes quietly and said.
“Sisilia. For now, that’s enough.”
“M-My lord, get back!”
As Sisilia finished speaking, a massive shadow loomed over Shepherd. An enormous boulder catapulted toward them.
But Shepherd didn’t panic. Or rather, he was entranced by Sisilia’s serene gaze at the sky.
“Up you go.”
Sisilia caught the rock lightly with one hand. Faint wind blessing flowed from her palm.
“Hup.”
And flung it back with a whoosh.
“...!”
A literal whoosh. She hurled the house-sized boulder like a pebble.
BOOM—!
The deafening explosion drew all eyes here—even from demons half-climbing the walls.
“Look at that human.”
“...We can’t fight there.”
“Step aside a bit.”
As Sisilia dusted her hands lightly, light pierced diagonally from the sky, and another appeared.
“Hah, huff.”
Beatrice panted, using her sword like a cane to stand.
“D-Don’t just leave without a word like that.”
“What if light’s slower than wind?”
“...You said wind was faster than light before.”
Sisilia looked at Beatrice with genuine puzzlement.
“Betty, are you dumb?”
“...”
Beatrice clamped her mouth shut. She belatedly recalled Sisilia often forgot others’ words—and her own.
“Y-You two—who are you? Allies?”
Shepherd asked, bewildered. Two girls popping up on the battlefield and clowning around was natural cause for confusion.
“Uh, allies... I think?”
Beatrice wasn’t adept enough at handling his anxiety.
But Sisilia, who seemed odd at times but perfect in crises, declared firmly.
“We’ve come to end this war.”
Sisilia hated complications. Especially messing with cake. Simple was best. A clean cylinder beat one ruined by excessive cream for looks. For reference, strawberry cake ratios of 5:3:2 were the tastiest.
“This war’s weird too.”
She’d divided it like cake shares. 5 for Liannen, 3 for the empire, 2 for demons. Ideal proportions.
But forcing the fit made the recipe a bit complex. Naturally, a hard-won secret recipe stayed secret.
“Why are you here? Planning to break the truce?”
Freya and Sisilia faced each other. Sisilia had simply walked up; Freya hadn’t attacked.
She couldn’t.
“No. The truce stands.”
“...Doesn’t seem like you came to talk. Sorry, but move aside.”
Freya was already sweating coldly—not from love for Sisilia this time.
“It’d violate the contract.”
Sisilia smiled. The smile deepened, wetting Liliana below by the time Sisilia slashed left with her sword, murmuring softly.
“Air.”
Whoosh—!
Wind sword-qi stretched far along the air. Demons it touched died without exception.
Except the short one.
“...!”
Freya panicked wildly.
“D-Do that, and you won’t get off unscathed. Our contract’s sworn to goddess and demon god. Violators—even the Demon King—can’t escape death—”
Freya wasn’t wrong. Breaking a demon god-sworn contract meant even Sisilia couldn’t dodge death if true name release lagged 0.1 seconds.
It was an absolute rule of this world; Sisilia avoided breaching it lightly.
That stance held now. She had no intent to release her true name.
No need.
“I’m not breaking the contract.”
“Y-You just killed them—what?!”
Sisilia stepped toward Freya. Freya instinctively backed away.
“You seem unclear on the terms, so let me explain.”
It was amusing. Sisilia’s plan stemmed from Freya’s words on her first capital visit.
—They’re demons beyond the Demon King’s influence. Even he regrets their rampage deeply.
Response to Lydia noting dungeon demons slaughtered humans despite truce. Logic: uncontrolled by king, not his army.
Sisilia merely recalled one premise.
Dungeon demons could kill humans. Dungeons weren’t human territory.
So, was there a rule barring humans from making dungeons?
“One: Mutual non-aggression during truce.”
In short, demons entered the empire—a massive dungeon—as prey.
“Two: ‘Attack’ means territorial invasion.”
Sisilia placed a hand on Freya’s nape, whispering close.
“Three: This isn’t Liannen Kingdom.”
Demon contracts hinged on perception. Loopholes always existed; conviction sealed them.
God-sworn, gods judged innards in disputes—favoring the firmly self-convinced.
Liars knew lies best.
Sisilia was humanity’s contractor here. Top authority.
“Four: Demons can’t attack ‘Liannen citizens’ during empire invasion.”
Thus: Liannen citizens can kill demons, but demons can’t kill Liannen citizens. Miraculous logic complete.
Finally—Sisilia believed this utterly now.
“Five: No rebuttals.”
Her logic was watertight; no need to hear counters.
“...”
Freya clutched her chest, praying Sisilia missed the heartbeat.
First time. A human tricked a devil via contract.
She planned this from the start. Demons ahead face devastating losses.
Legion commander of 100,000—responsibility would fall on Freya.
But dread overrode worry.
How could one being do this?
Exploiting loopholes was feasible. But incomprehensible—Sisilia thought, executed, spoke without a tremor of doubt.
Any waver voids it—an impossible loophole.
“I can say it firmly.”
Freya sweated, smirking.
“You’re a devil worse than devils.”
“I pull off little devil concepts too.”
Sisilia stepped back. Beatrice’s full-force buff hit instantly.
Crunch!
As Sisilia crouched, a massive crater formed.
Can’t attack in north—it’s Liannen territory.
Freya judged swiftly, glancing aside.
“We retreat here.”
Sisilia giggled.
“Summer break needs XP events, right?”
