A supreme devil, one of the “Demon Beasts” – the “Dark Beasts” –.
A legendary beast from the distant past that is said to have destroyed a great nation that summoned it.
Hevrat did try to communicate with it, but the Demon Beast did not respond to his words. Displaying intense rage within the binding magic circle, it let out a bestial roar as if recuperating its lost power while glaring into the void like an injured beast.
“Currently, that ‘Demon Beast’ is being suppressed by our Lord. The situation does not allow for detailed instructions to be given to us, but the Lord has ordered us to leave the Demon Realm for now.”
Darnell’s words were the exact last order Hevrat had given him.
Unable to believe that the selfish and overconfident demons would obey an order to “flee,” Hevrat could only give the vague order to “leave the nation.”
“What do you mean? Is the Lord going to drive us out of the nation and do what?”
Galus cast a disorderly glance at Darnell. Killian followed suit, forming a smile with just the corners of her mouth.
“With us gone, you’ll be able to do as you please with our wealth and territories, won’t you?”
“You…!”
Incensed that the beloved Hevrat was being called a thief, Darnell exuded a killing intent. In response, Galus placed his hand on his weapon.
“…I see. So you intend to stab us in the back the moment we leave the nation.”
At Galus’s arbitrary remark, Darnell silently drew his sword.
The killing intent of the three swirled, bringing them to the brink of violence. At that moment—
“That’s enough.”
A calm yet undeniable aura that even these demons and monsters could not ignore reminded the three of his presence.
“Lord Geass…”
“You too should calm down, Lord Darnell. I have heard Lord Hevrat’s words.”
Geass, Chief Strategist of the Demon Army.
While his official title was Chief Strategist of the Demon Army, given to him so he could issue orders to subordinates, he was effectively the strategist and Strategist second only to the Demon King Hevrat himself, a figure of immense power.
Some did question Geass’s allegiance – as demons who valued strength, they doubted his capabilities as an elderly man who had lived many years. The fact that he always kept his face hidden under a deep hood also caused suspicion that he might be of human descent, not a true demon.
However, Geass silenced all such doubts with his power. Though his body had aged, his wisdom and magical abilities were said to rival even the Demon King’s. The demons accepted Geass as a superior being.
“Then, Strategist? What are the Lord’s true intentions?”
Perhaps just to mock the foolish beast demon, Killian readily dropped her hostility after hearing Galus’s remark. Geass calmly nodded at her.
“Indeed. In this situation, Lord Hevrat likely did not have time to convey his true intentions to Lord Darnell. However, I had heard of them from His Majesty previously. His true intention is…for the entire Demon Army to invade.”
“””—!”””
The three present let out gasps upon hearing Geass’s words.
The Demons had invaded human nations numerous times, only to fail repeatedly. Each time, the Demons’ territory dwindled, yet they never perished. The reason was simple: the human nations found no value in the Demons’ lands.
The Demons’ territory was a barren, northern wasteland where crops barely grew. It held no worth or reason for the humans to spend years eradicating the demons.
“An all-out invasion of the human nations in our current state? Can that demon beast even be controlled?”
Even the beast-like demons, who knew nothing but battle, understood that the Demons was now on the brink of collapse due to the demon beast. As Galus, the Beast King, glared at Geass, questioning if there was any way to resolve this crisis, Geass responded with a sly grin.
“Lord Hevrat once said it before, didn’t he? That we should use the demon beast as a ‘trump card’ in negotiations. This is no different. With this much demonic energy, even those sensitive to magic in human lands will sense the anomaly and the threat. If that happens, the humans won’t unite their armies to protect their individual nations. We can conquer each nation one by one.”
“But even with the full might of the Demons’ army, can we conquer nations that quickly? Won’t we be at a disadvantage if it takes too long?”
Even with the righteous cause of protecting their own nation, if heroes or saints were to rise, more countries would send reinforcements under the name of the Costol Church. When faced with a threat, humans naturally unite. The question was how many nations they could seize before the humans made that decision.
“I said ‘everyone.’ Lord Hevrat told us to leave the Demons’ territory. That means everyone—women, children, all who can fight.”
His words sent a shockwave through the room. In terms of soldiers and military strength, the Demons was far inferior to the human alliance. But if they mobilized literally ‘everyone’—excluding only the very young and the sick—the gap would shrink significantly.
In that case, there would be no hope for those left behind in the Demons’ territory, and no supplies would come from the rear. But they could plunder supplies from the lands they conquered, and even use prisoners as food.
To anyone with even a shred of battle experience, such a strategy would seem insane. Yet Galus, the Beast King and a general of the army, trembled with joy at Geass’s words.
“So it’s fine? We can kill them?!”
“Yes! Kill! Plunder! Make the humans understand our hatred!”
“Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!”
For the demons, strength was everything. If they were to engage in an all-out war with the human armies, a ‘hero’ would surely appear. And if they could fight that hero to their heart’s content, nothing else mattered.
Above all, Galus couldn’t contain the joy and laughter bubbling up from within at the thought of unleashing his beastly nature to its fullest, without restraint.
“…Hmph.”
While casting a cold glance at Galus, Kilian, too, felt a surge of excitement at the prospect of indulging his monstrous instincts and feasting on humans. Unconsciously, he let out a heated breath.
“Chief Strategist… Are we free to act as we please?”
“Do as you wish.”
“Understood… Hehehe.”
With the two divisions quickly deciding to fight, the remaining demon general, Darnell, who led the human-demon hybrid troops, also shone with excitement at the prospect of the bloody battles to come, inspired by the wisdom of the Demon King he revered.
“…………”
Watching the three of them, Geass wore a faintly dark expression. Leaving the rest to them, he silently exited the room.
“…Hevrat. Your mistake was sending Cordle away.”
Even Darnell, a demon general directly under the Demon King, was like that. Excited for battle, no one understood the Demon King’s true intentions.
Hevrat should have kept someone like Cordle, a calm and intelligent figure, by his side. He shouldn’t have sent away someone who could understand his anguish and act accordingly.
Even Kilian, the clever and cunning Black Princess, didn’t truly understand the Demons’ current situation. Only Cordle and Geass had truly grasped the Demon King’s suffering.
“…How pitiful.”
In the empty corridors of the Demon King’s castle, Geass let out a sigh and muttered those words.
Even now, Hevrat was sacrificing his life to suppress the god-like ‘demon beast,’ all to save as many demons as possible.
“…For the sake of our homeland, I’ll send as many as I can out of the Demons’ territory. Though the path ahead is hell, some may survive better than if they stayed here.”
Of course, more humans would die in the process…
Keeping those words to himself, Geass returned to the castle’s research lab to prepare. Suddenly, his wrinkled face twisted, and he muttered in a voice that sounded almost like a ‘youth’s’:
“I will return… to your side.”
Geass prayed. Though it was too late to pray to the gods of humans, if there truly were gods in the demon world, he wished with all his heart.
That even the slightest light might shine on his wishes and the path Hevrat had chosen…
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Meanwhile, a certain ‘Devil God’ had borrowed Mylene’s territory to experiment with summoning something useful for their journey. Hearing her wish, a large number of [Devilfish Octopuses] appeared in a flash. Now, with the help of demon servants and vampires, she was busy making dried octopus to deal with the sudden surplus.
TLNOTE:
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