Chapter 212: Reinvasion (9)
Chapter 212: Reinvasion (9)
The Demonic Humans were watching every move of Han Shin’s group.
“It’s a success!”
Klaus clapped his hands together with a sharp smack and smiled.
“Good! Report it immediately. We’ll continue to observe!”
The Demonic Human who received the order focused on monitoring through his familiar and replied, “Understood!”
They had succeeded in splitting the Moon Shadow Party’s strength in half.
This was the very reason they had forced the civilians to form such a massive tent city.
Ordinary people dying atop the radioactive Desert of Death.
They had gambled that any human burning with a trite sense of justice would be unable to ignore them—and their prediction had hit the mark perfectly.
“It truly was a magnificent plan.”
“Hehe… wasn’t it?”
Without a single Demonic Human dying, they had split the Moon Shadow Party in opposite directions, significantly reducing their combat power.
To make the tent city appear large, they had kidnapped a vast number of civilians and kept the monsters from touching them.
There were two such locations in total, with the second one positioned exactly opposite to where Han Shin’s group was currently heading.
The Demonic Humans had deliberately placed the tent cities in wide-open areas so Han Shin’s group could see them from a distance. They had made it impossible for them to miss.
“This confirms those bastards are driven by pathetic heroism. Fine then, let’s fight using hostages.”
“Right. We have plenty of captives anyway.”
The Demonic Humans had forcibly abducted many people to use as fuel to activate the Black Spire. They had turned the countless citizens of Macherasi into sacrificial lambs.
The Demonic Humans felt no guilt whatsoever about these people dying.
The power that allowed them to remain unscathed without any protective gear in this radioactive Desert of Death came from the Black Spire. Having received its backing since its activation, the Demonic Humans were more brimming with self-confidence than ever before.
Moreover, since everything was proceeding exactly as they had planned, their morale was through the roof.
“Keep sending monsters toward the two who are escorting the civilians. We need to delay them further so they don’t get any other ideas.”
Klaus intended to delay Kang Yujin and Laysia as much as possible, preventing them from joining Han Shin’s group immediately after escorting the civilians to a safe zone.
The monsters, seeing such a large cluster of "sacred prey" moving together, rushed forward in a frenzy.
Screeeech!
Giant serpents lunged with low, sharp shrieks, alongside massive scorpions with pincers that looked capable of snapping anything in half.
The civilians screamed in terror or fainted as the monsters they feared finally closed in.
However, they were all safe thanks to Kang Yujin and Laysia.
Both women deployed their psychokinesis and the Divine Power of Tiamat over a wide area to protect the crowd.
As before, monsters of this caliber were no match for them.
Nevertheless, Klaus’s intention was working; the time it took for the two to move the civilians was being delayed, even if only slightly.
Noticing that the surrounding monsters weren't attacking all at once but were approaching in periodic waves, they realized the Demonic Humans' intent.
Though this made them furrow their brows in frustration, they couldn't simply abandon these people.
For now, their priority was to remain unshaken and lead the people out as quickly as possible.
★ ★ ★
Meanwhile, Han Shin, Grace, and Sitri, who continued to push forward, began their battle with the Demonic Humans in earnest.
The Demonic Humans unleashed a barrage of Dark Magic from within a fortified position, where they had hidden themselves behind sharp stakes driven into the ground to make approach difficult.
“Die!!”
Black spheres hurtled toward Han Shin.
The Demonic Humans directly facing Han Shin’s group no longer showed the arrogant, wicked confidence they had displayed while committing atrocities just moments ago.
They could instinctively feel that death was drawing near.
To the Demonic Humans, the knight in silver full body armor was now synonymous with the Grim Reaper.
They had already witnessed the horrific sight of several of their comrades being cleaved in two from the crown of their heads to their crotches—spilling their entrails—or having their heads sent flying before they could even lift a finger.
The very things they had done to civilians for their own amusement and pleasure were now being visited upon them.
Han Shin was more furious than ever.
It was because these Demonic Humans had just been holding civilians hostage and using them as leverage for threats.
There were people wailing and begging for their lives.
Yet, with faces full of ridicule and excitement, the Demonic Humans had threatened the captives and shouted that they would kill them if Han Shin’s group came any closer.
At that moment, Sitri realized the situation she had feared had come to pass. She immediately approached Han Shin and spoke.
“Lord Han Shin… those people… it will be difficult to save them.”
“Urgh… I know.”
Han Shin knew Sitri’s words were logically true.
However, he was consumed with rage that the situation had become so agonizing.
Han Shin closed his eyes for a moment and then snapped them open.
Having steeled his heart, Han Shin charged straight at the Demonic Humans.
Naturally, Grace and Sitri followed close behind, and the three of them reached the Demonic Humans and the civilians in an instant.
The Demonic Humans were slightly taken aback by the fact that they attacked without a moment's hesitation, but their expressions soon twisted into malice.
They began to swing their weapons to kill or wound the people they were holding hostage.
Seeing this, Han Shin’s rage intensified, and Grace felt the same.
Han Shin tore through the black spheres raining down on him, leapt into the midst of the Demonic Humans, and swung his spear.
His sharp silver spear slaughtered the Demonic Humans.
Grace and Sitri also swung their respective weapons, killing the Demonic Humans without mercy.
Grace, in particular, had experienced this countless times in Nippur.
Back then, there were many apostates and humans who had gone mad in a perishing world, pursuing nothing but hedonism and depravity.
She knew that such people were human trash who couldn't be reasoned with, and that killing them was the only answer.
Because Grace understood that the most realistic approach was to kill them surely and quickly to minimize damage, she was able to maintain her composure better than Han Shin.
It didn't take long to clear out the thirty Demonic Humans.
“P-please, spare me…”
The last remaining Demonic Human backed away.
His comrades, who had been laughing and chatting just moments ago, were all dead, cooling into lumps of meat. Feeling the overwhelming strength of those in silver armor, he was struck by a sense of despair and helplessness.
Though Han Shin’s eyes were invisible behind his visor, the Demonic Human could feel a cold, biting fury radiating from him.
Han Shin tried his best to suppress his emotions and not let them show…
But since this was his first time dealing with something like this, he couldn't easily calm down.
“Did you spare those people when they begged for their lives earlier?”
Slash!
Before the man could even answer, Han Shin took the last Demonic Human’s head.
The head, frozen in a silent plea with its mouth agape, rolled far across the ground.
"Lord Han Shin. You must maintain your composure."
"Ah... right. I'll try..."
As the situation ended, Grace immediately approached Han Shin to calm him down.
Excessive excitement in battle was dangerous.
Han Shin understood what Grace was trying to say, so he nodded and tried to follow her advice.
He did his best not to look at the bodies of the sacrificed civilians as he slowly walked forward.
The sacrifices that had already occurred couldn't be helped; they had to prevent further loss of life.
Before them lay a sight that made them realize the path ahead would only get harder.
‘These pieces of trash prepared a lot in such a short time.’
Han Shin muttered to himself as he saw the Demonic Humans blocking their path were thoroughly prepared.
The terrain itself had changed from what should have been a desert.
Instead of a vast stretch of sand, it had transformed into a rocky zone made of black stone.
As the Black Spire activated, it had been exchanging Arcane Mana with Nippur, and through this, various defensive structures had been installed to make the surrounding terrain easier to defend.
Starting with changing the sinking sands of the desert into solid rock to allow the Demonic Humans to move quickly, high stone walls had been erected like a fortress to protect the Black Spire.
‘It looks like an even larger castle than the one in Japan.’
He recalled how the demons had built a similar fortress to protect the Black Spire as soon as they arrived on Earth back then.
“It feels like the Black Spire has been active for at least half a day.”
Following behind Han Shin, Sitri—who had once been a demon under Asmodeus—knew this all too well.
She knew that for such a transformation to occur, the Black Spire must have been operational for more than half a day, and she immediately informed Han Shin.
“We’ll have to hurry.”
“Yes.”