“It seems a clash is imminent.”
Leo murmured this wordlessly as he watched the advance of the revolutionary army with a cold, settled gaze.
‘As expected from a paladin.’
Although he behaved submissively during our first encounter, he was indeed a paladin. In the original history, he had risen to become the youngest commander of the Paladins and ultimately led a failed reformation of the church due to his eventual corruption. Finding a more zealous paladin than him would be challenging.
Such a person now stood face-to-face with demon-worshipping revolutionaries who had accepted demon power. It was a miracle that he hadn’t yet charged into the fray to start a bloodbath.
Of course, there was a reason for his restraint.
“If demons are behind this, there’s no way they’d just watch this battlefield unfold. They were likely orchestrating this from the beginning. Their ultimate goal is probably—”
“Descent.”
Aries was right.
As with Augrabes in Bates, demons generally wish to break free from Hell and descend into the prey-rich Midland. Especially now with the Transcendents capable of challenging demons trapped in the Grand Dark Realm, this tendency is even stronger.
It was not difficult to infer the purpose of the demon that had swallowed up the revolutionary army’s leadership.
“On the contrary, it’s an opportunity. If we crush the demon, ignorant of its descent, here and now, we can inflict significant damage to its true form.”
“Moreover, the moment immediately after its descent is when it’s most vulnerable, as noted in the knight’s handbook.”
“Without its legion, it’s only a half-manifestation.”
With two paladins, hints were more than enough to have them arrive at the correct answer.
“Anyway, the demon’s power won’t appear right from the start. If those guarding the canyon gate are sane, they’ll aim to maintain the advantages of defense to the maximum—. Oh, these lunatics.”
“They are not sane.”
Khan sighed. Even Aries displayed an unusually flabbergasted expression, which spoke volumes about the absurdity of the sight before them.
“For the Principality! Sweep away those rebels!”
“Leave none alive!”
“Kill them all! Don’t let other mercenary groups take them!”
Suddenly, the drawbridge to the canyon gate lowered, and troops from the gate poured out in droves. Abandoning the defensive position and charging out was an inexplicable choice.
Although considering the disparity in forces between the revolutionary army and the regular army might make it seem somewhat reasonable, there was no need for such a move. Among the troops pouring out were also armed groups presumed to be mercenaries.
“This is not good.”
The escalation of the battle naturally leads to an increase in casualties, which in turn results in more sacrifices for the demons.
Indeed, a wedge composed mainly of knights and mercenaries began to pierce through the ranks of the revolutionary army, exponentially increasing the destruction.
People trampled to death by the hooves of warhorses, bodies exploding from the knights’ auras, people crushed to death by their comrades’ feet, and corpses with ears severed by the mercenaries’ ruthless blades…
‘Sigh. As with any war, it’s the same story…’
Not all revolutionary soldiers were under the demon’s influence. Many were unaware of anything and simply sacrificed their lives for the revolution. Naturally, their deaths were unjust.
That said, neither Khan nor the paladins Aries and Leo would personally intervene to stop the war.
In this world, disputes among secular nations are recurring events. Their primary role was to exterminate heretics and demons.
“The leaders are moving.”
While Khan quelled his discomfort, the charge of the knights and mercenaries on horseback reached the revolutionary army’s headquarters.
The qualifications for becoming a leader in the revolutionary army relied on the support of the people wanting revolution rather than military prowess. Most likely, they were not battle-hardened, and in reality, their armament was lackluster even compared to other revolutionary soldiers.
“Camus Ecel…! The leader of the revolutionary army!”
“The gold coins hanging from that guy’s head are worth over ten!”
“Be careful of his magic!”
However, Camus Ecel was different.
A wandering mage known for wielding blue magic capable of freezing entire orcs. His well-known story involved settling down after forming a family with a woman he met in the Principality, only to lose his wife and children due to noble tyranny, leaving him blind.
“What a pitiful sight.”
His blurred vision, restored by accepting the power of demons, saw his revolutionary comrades being massacred and the regular army carrying out a one-sided slaughter.
“Let’s get rid of these filthy things quickly!”
“With this power, I can destroy all the lackeys of the powerful!”
“Kill them! Kill the knights!”
And then, the leaders of the revolutionary army, seized by demonic madness, charged with terrifying roars. Though their appearances hadn’t changed much, from Camus Ecel’s perspective, they were demons incarnate.
The demons of the regular army and the demons of the revolutionary army intertwined, spilling blood everywhere. If this place wasn’t hell, then where else could be?
『……Open it.』
The whisper of the demon was so clear. It meant this canyon was that close to hell. Moreover, in such a short time, hundreds of lives had been lost, more than enough to “open” the “gate.”
Camus Ecel reached towards the sky.
“These madmen…! Where are they getting such power!”
“It’s a spell! They’re preparing a spell in the rear! Kill that blind man first!”
“Protect Comrade Camus Ecel!”
Seeing this, the battlefield clashed even more fiercely, thinking that a spell to annihilate the regular troops was being prepared.
“I have kept my promise.”
The demon laughed.
“You must keep yours. Drag all the rulers of the principality to hell and inflict eternal pain on them.”
If it meant that the oppressors of this principality, who had taken his wife and children, would suffer, he was prepared to sacrifice even his soul.
Camus Ecel created an altar. This altar was the entire canyon gate, and the sacrifices were the bodies and souls of the humans who had died here. This was forbidden knowledge to humans, the knowledge of demons.
“Open.”
The altar and sacrifices were prepared. All that was left was the passage through which the demon would invade. Of course, even that passage was already prepared.
“Ugh. What is happening all of a sudden…!”
“Something is moving inside my body…!”
The revolutionaries who had accepted the demon’s power stopped fighting and began to convulse. The knights and mercenaries who were fighting them looked on in puzzlement.
Camus Ecel laughed.
“Let’s all go to hell together.”
Crunch! Crackle-crackle!
With those words, something burst forth from the bodies of Camus Ecel and the revolutionary leadership.
Bones, feet, and all sorts of body parts emerged from different bodies in a grotesque display. More than anything, the size of those bones was far too large to be human.
“What, what is that?”
“Undead…?! Was Camus Ecel a dark mage?!”
Seeing parts of skeletons erupting from bodies, that was the only assumption they could make. But soon, everyone watching realized this was far from simple necromancy.
Creak. Creak!
A cold aura spread from the revolutionary leadership, extending across the canyon. The parched rocky terrain transformed into a winter wonderland in an instant.
『Aah. Finally…!』
And so, the demon from hell fully revealed itself.
In the blink of an eye, fragments of bone had taken a humanoid form, cloaked in a dense, dark aura. Curiously, the demon had no head, yet its voice resounded throughout the canyon, accompanied by an overwhelming chill that symbolized its identity.
“A demon…?”
“A demon? Isn’t it just a lich?”
These uncertain murmurs arose from those who had never encountered a real demon. Even though the being had momentarily transformed the canyon into a winter-like environment, they couldn’t be sure.
『Pitiful. Truly unfortunate. Time has passed, and you no longer know the true nature of your enemies. Mortals.』
The demon extended a bony hand, and a sword made of frost materialized in the air.
『Then let me engrave it anew. Let me demonstrate what the beings you mortals once feared truly are.』
The demon plunged the frost sword into the ground.
『I am Kereaktu, scion of the Arch Demon, the third general of the legion led by the Lord of Hell.』
“Attack! Charge that monster before it can cast another spell…!”
At that moment, the knights, realizing the gravity of the situation, charged at the massive demon resembling a lich, Kereaktu. However, Kereaktu paid them no mind and plunged the frost sword even deeper into the ground.
『The ruler of the frozen wasteland of hell and the eternal sentinel of winter.』
Uwooooo….
The corpses of the slaughtered revolutionaries rose. Their eyes burned with blue ghostly flames, clad in frost armor and armed with icy weapons.
『According to the contract, I shall turn you into eternal slaves of the infernal legion.』
***
Kereaktu sighed in exasperation at the mortals who did not tremble in fear at his sight. In the past, how had things been? Every mortal in Midland knew his name and felt terror and despair at his presence. But now? They couldn’t even be sure he was a demon upon facing him.
This demonstrated how long demons had been unable to influence Midland.
After the great warriors had driven the demons, who had once traversed Midland freely, back to hell, and after the boundary between dimensions had been redrawn by that insidious sorcerer.
‘It is merely a matter of reminding them.’
But that too was now at an end. For some reason, the boundary of dimensions had weakened, gradually increasing the extent of their interference. Although most demons still feared this interference and lay low, the legion he belonged to was different.
Their master aimed to invade Midland.
『Foolish Augrabes.』
Surrounded by the numerous corpses he was reviving as soldiers for his frost legion, Kereaktu sneered.
Originally, the spearhead of the invasion, the second general Augrabes, had his consciousness sealed by a mortal. To Kereaktu, it was an unexpected opportunity. Now, he was tasked with spearheading the invasion of Midland.
『Mortals are weak. Especially the mortals of this era…』
The evidence was the massacre unfolding before him.
Even in his extremely weakened state, only manifesting a portion of his body due to the limits of interference, the frost legion soldiers were still overwhelming the mortals.
What had the sorcerers of the old era been like?
They brought arrogant dragons to the ground and used them as test subjects, petrified the bodies of living giants to turn them into relics, and captured demons to use them as their slaves.
Seeing that Augrabes’ consciousness was sealed, it seemed there were still some formidable mortals in this era, but—
‘Through the eyes of the contractor, there appears to be no threatening strongmen within the human countries!’
『First, I will consume all the humans of this country, summon the legion of hell, and turn this land into a new frozen wasteland, spreading the eternal winter of hell.』
It was a perfect plan. Kereaktu marveled at his own brilliance and wisdom. The cautious invasion of demons, learned through the great warriors and that insidious sorcerer, would be markedly different from before…!
“Eternal winter of hell, my foot.”
As Kereaktu was about to express his confusion before his anger at the scornful mockery that came from somewhere,
“The Hoarfrost Gorge is several times colder, you bastard.”
Khan, wielding the Giant Slayer, surged forward in a flash of light.