The War with the Fate of Races at Stake (3)
The war, with the fate of entire races hanging in the balance. The conflict over hegemony on the Libria Peninsula showed no signs of ending easily.
The Liberia Elf Kingdom. The Demon King Army. Both great powers had thrown every ounce of their strength into the fray. It was all or nothing—a fierce resolve not to stop until one side lay dead or admitted defeat.
“Ugh!”
Liana Linehold slashed down a charging monster, then turned her heavy footsteps toward the approaching ogre. Crushed skull and grotesque face. Towering bulk and potbellied frame. It swung a mace bristling with razor-sharp spikes, smashing elf knights left and right.
“GRRAAAAAHHH!!!”
The ogre bellowed a massive roar. An arrogant challenge: Come out if you think you're stronger!
Liana stepped up. She whipped her blade, cloaked in blue mana, carving a deep gash into the ogre.
Caught off guard by the sudden strike, the ogre's gaze locked onto her. Its massive eyes glared down. Liana swallowed hard.
“F-fuck…! I'm an academy instructor, you know! Bring it, you potbellied prick!”
The giant ogre—and the other ogres trailing behind it—all zeroed in on Liana. One on one? Piece of cake. But eight charging at once? That changed everything. And behind the ogre squad snaked a horde of countless monsters. As hundreds surged forward in unison, Liana's face drained of color.
Th-there's way too many…
The elf knights, locked in desperate outnumbered fights against the monster swarm, had no bandwidth to back her up. Which meant she was on her own against that entire army.
“No choice—it's do or die!”
Liana bellowed, clamping both hands tight on her hilt. Her eyes narrowed to slits. She glared at the horde, drawing ambient mana straight through her skin. The blue mana coalescing on her blade blazed like wildfire, gleaming fiercely.
The elf sword instructor steeled herself for a life-or-death strike to pulverize the enemy. Even if it meant falling to the monster legion, she wouldn't back down—that was the unyielding spirit radiating from her.
KABOOM!!
The moment she kicked off the ground to charge, a lightning-charged sword streaked in from behind—from where she'd just felled the ogre. Blue thunderbolts swept the monsters clean. A deafening crash echoed like thunder crashing to earth. Blue flashes erupted, turning beasts to ash piles or scattered meat chunks.
“Phew… barely made it!”
Liana wiped cold sweat, staring at the remnants of the lightning-ravaged horde, and muttered under her breath. But no time to relax. Plenty more monsters lurked. Sure, hundreds had been wiped out—but the Demon King Army could refill those ranks in seconds. She'd dodged death by a hair, but now she gripped her sword anew.
“Linehold Sword Instructor!”
Elf knights from nearby skirmishes rushed to her side one by one. Liana charged ahead, sword low. The others joined the push, slamming hard into the oncoming monster legion.
The same story everywhere. Elves battled desperately against the Demon King Army's overwhelming numbers. No front line favored them, but they clung to a razor-thin balance, waiting—hoping—for Demon King Sabnack to fall.
* * *
Over 100,000 troops clashed on the battlefield. It felt like the apocalypse. Wyverns and black eagles tore through the skies in brutal dogfights, while on the ground, elves and demons waged a war of extermination between species.
Neither side seized clear momentum. Elf sword instructors and the Demon King's kin poured everything into holding the lines, but no wedge had been driven decisively anywhere. Hundreds, thousands shredded in heartbeats amid the savage slugfest.
No surefire way to kill her.
Yushin Gilliard scowled, choking back a grunt as he traded blows with Sabnack. Back when he'd half-severed her neck, he should've capitalized—no mercy. But now that she'd learned even the Demon King Slayer couldn't die from a shattered heart, Sabnack fought smarter. She ate Ardena Valencia's hits but countered Yushin and Allen Rocksfield aggressively, milking her immortality for all it was worth.
But why go all-out blocking Allen's attacks? Can't kill her for good anyway.
Yushin had no clue. That Sabnack sensed true death from Allen. Only Another Ones from other worlds could sever a Demon King's immortality. Her odd movements puzzled him.
“Already tapped out? You're slowing down. Human flesh can't match demon resilience. Except that boar monster.”
Sabnack parried the Lightning Sword Karus and addressed the slayer clad in dark blue armor.
Half a day since battle joined. Half a goddamn day of nonstop clashes with the Demon King. 3-on-1, and she stood firm—no fatigue in sight. Yushin's gains? Just a charred red overcoat. No lethal blows landed; the grind dragged on.
“I'll dice you to bits!!”
Sabnack's “boar” was Allen. The blue-haired swordswoman showed zero weariness. Sabnack's strikes shredded her quick, but she bounced back every time, charging anew. Her endless berserk fury even grated on Sabnack. Knock her down—she pops up. And with Yushin and Ardena to check, handling Allen left her pinned.
At this rate, even I'm in trouble.
Ardena's swing gashed Sabnack's porcelain cheek. Her arm too. Lightning burns throbbed. She hid it well, but the marathon fight sapped her strength.
“Nngh!”
Sabnack gritted her teeth. Allen and Ardena blocked her scrap sword's arc; Yushin kept slapping down her Rampage Flame authority. Crises piled up, fatigue stacking—pushing her to unleash everything.
The slayer's relentless pressure forced her hand. Hold back, and she might flop to a lame defeat half-assed.
“…I'll go all out now. Demon King Slayer. Face my full might.”
Sabnack raised a hand. Black flames erupted. Pure energy from her Demon Core, blessed with immortality—power exclusive to the Rampage Flame Demon King.
“Come forth, Rampage Flame.”
Black Flame 17 Swords: Ominous Demon Flame Shot
Nothing like her prior strikes. Before, cooldowns gapped her attacks. Now? No wind-up. Flames chained endlessly. And this black blaze? Cursed sorcery laced with poison and hexes—leagues beyond her old red infernos.
“Demon King Slayer… can you transcend the Rampage Flame's black fire?”
Sabnack posed the question. Igniting black flames had shifted her form again. Mid-to-late twenties now. Worlds apart from her initial teen waif look. A dizzyingly seductive, lithe knockout beauty.
The pressure pouring off her body totally changed. That's her complete form? Demon Kings and their three-stage bullshit…
Black flames proliferated, harrying Yushin, Allen, and Ardena nonstop. Blue lightning? Useless. Bolts that menaced red flames fizzled against the pitch-black blaze. The inferno spread to engulf the whole zone.
Elves and demons alike bolted from the Demon King–Slayer duel site as the black flames screamed danger.
“Sa-Sabnack-sama's unleashed her authority!”
“Get clear of the flames! The Demon King's power curses you dead!”
Demons knew her authority—hence the terror. Stunned faces twisted in panic as they fled for dear life.
First black-flame casualty: a leg-wounded behemoth ogre-sized. Enveloped, it ashed in seconds.
“We're fucked.”
Yushin muttered at the sight. No flame, however wild, vaporizes that bulk instantly—bones, blood, all. Demon King authority's cursed blaze, no doubt. Even singeing away clinging life sparks. He whistled at the sheer heat.
“Drawing cursed flames—first since El Seed. Rejoice. You're worth my all.”
“If you were hiding it, why not keep it hidden….”
Yushin sensed it anew. This Demon King outclassed his past kills. The real deal—endless dread for any challenger. Numerical odds? She crushed them with raw dominance. Weathering 3v1, then flipping the script full throttle.
“I grant you beat Agares. But don't bank on miracles chaining. Demon Kings aren't fragile. Can you shatter Demon King Sabnack's name this time? Or kneel at last…? Face the trial.”
Sabnack reverse-gripped her scrap sword, slamming it groundward. Black flames engulfed it. Amid the roaring blaze, the blade morphed. Intense black heat melted the junk steel. Molten crimson unveiled its true glory.
Blackened Evil Sword. Weapon worthy of a Demon King's majesty.
“Your minions are toast too?”
Yushin jabbed at the screaming demons and monsters wreathed in black fire.
“Irrelevant. Cannon fodder, filled by numbers.”
The Demon King decreed. Her treasures? Kin and the demons who'd fled south post-El Seed rout. The rest? Expendable.
“As you see—full power unlocked. No stronger, no weaker. Who breaks Demon King Sabnack? Slayer? High elf nobility? Human knight? All together. You earn the challenge.”
Sabnack leveled her blackened Evil Sword's tip at them. Black flames roiled. Tainted by the abyss blaze, her red hair turned jet-black. The ebony-tressed Demon King bared void-dark eyes, awaiting their trial by subjugation.