Chapter 64 - Retreat
"Everyone, hurry!"
The capital of Yafenon.
The place was filled with commotion.
"Wh-what's happening?" "An expedition?" "Are they going after that mage?"
The citizens who flocked to the streets saw soldiers hurrying their steps.
They were more thoroughly armed than usual, as if hinting at a major battle ahead.
Leather armor, a symbol of barbarism, with rough iron plates on top, and sharp blades of various designs, all honed to their limits.
Upon seeing the soldiers' eyes shining in the helmets, which looked like they had been covered with beast heads, the citizens shivered and shouted.
"Oh, yeah, this is Yafenon!" "Let's hang the enemy in the square and beat them until they die!" "Let's gooooo!"
After joining the Holy Kingdom Alliance, Yafenon could not fully display its original barbarism. It had to be wary of Holy Krata, which held the hegemony of the continent.
Under Krata's pressure to stop acting like beasts, Yafenon had suppressed its savagery until now.
However,
"To win completely, we have no choice but to use everything we have."
Uthor, the King of Yafenon, who was riding a horse in the center of the soldiers, was staking everything on this battle.
"Look at this morale!"
He stretched out his arms and embraced the shouts of the capital's citizens.
"Unleashing our inherent strength will grant us an unconquerable might!"
The enemies were Iser and Yuru.
They would, of course, attack Iser first. They didn't know where Yuru had fled.
For now, they had to deal with the larger Iser. Their previous action was no different from a declaration of war. Iser must be preparing as well.
Using the pretext that the Master of the Blue Magic Tower had attacked Yafenon, they had to completely destroy them this time.
'I won't even give them time to appeal to other nations!'
Since their justification was weak, Yafenon's position could be shaken if they gave them time. They had to swallow Iser as quickly as possible and stabilize the situation.
Clang, clang, clang!
As he stretched his hand holding a great-axe forward, the soldiers advanced even faster.
On that great-axe, a primeval prayer containing everything of Yafenon glowed faintly.
…And a little while later.
"What in the…?!"
The coalition of the Blue Magic Tower's mages, elves, and Iser's army crushed the barbaric soldiers even more barbarically.
What was needed before a battle was prediction.
It required a fierce battle of wits to figure out what tactics and strategies the opponent would use.
However, Uthor, who had only believed in his own strength, made the same mistake as the soldiers who had attacked Iser the last time.
'What on earth happened?!'
He had not expected this.
He had only thought it would be a battle of speed, where they would simply advance quickly and overwhelm Iser.
He truly had no idea that Iser would form a coalition so quickly.
'Why are those things…!'
Even though they used Yuru as a pretext, he didn't think the mages of the Blue Magic Tower would help Iser. They would also want to abandon Yuru.
Furthermore, Yuru was an outcast, and the mages had a principle of not getting involved in worldly affairs.
But for some reason, the mages had joined them.
BANG! BOOOM!
Thanks to the mages' rear support, Iser's soldiers could continuously advance while dodging Yafenon's close-range attacks.
'This is insane! My soldiers!'
The barbaric soldiers were being pushed back instead of advancing. Uthor finally lost his patience and charged forward on his horse.
"I will break through the front! Don't retreat, push them back!"
Empowered by their ruler's advance, Yafenon's soldiers quickly followed him.
"Tear them all apart!" "We will not lose!" "Chargeeeeee!"
It was a reckless charge.
However, to maintain this fighting style, Yafenon had steadily developed its physical abilities.
In addition, with the power of the spells imbued in their weapons, they repeatedly shattered the armor of Iser's vanguard, and the tide of the battle soon turned.
Yafenon's soldiers, with their eyes wide like beasts, overwhelmed Iser's soldiers.
"Good! Use the catapults to blast those mages away!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Rocks launched by Yafenon's catapults flew toward the mages of the Blue Magic Tower.
The mages put up a barrier to block the rocks, but in that gap, Yafenon could press Iser even harder, who was now without magical support.
"A little more! Just a little more!"
The excited Uthor shouted, swinging his great-axe.
"Victory is right in front of us!"
He was certain. Despite this unexpected situation, his flag was about to be planted here.
Just then,
Thud! Thud!
He witnessed arrows pouring down like rain from the flank.
"What?"
While he wore a dazed expression, the arrows fell on his soldiers.
"Ugh!" "Gah!"
Yafenon's soldiers fell to the side like reeds hit by a typhoon.
'When did they move to the side…!'
He had forgotten the elves' mobility. They could move as if riding the wind, traveling as fast as those on horseback.
Uthor gritted his teeth.
"It's fine! Keep advancing! As long as we clash, we will win…"
CRASH!
At that moment, a sudden streak of light appeared, blinding the vision of Yafenon's soldiers.
"Th-that is…!"
The soldiers stumbled, unable to open their eyes in the intense light. And that opening gave Iser a chance to charge forward with great momentum.
Watching Yafenon's soldiers being mowed down, Uthor hurriedly looked for the source of the light.
"!"
And what he saw was the figure of Iser's Empress, Tia de Mazelia, walking toward them like a saint.
"Th-this can't be…"
One of the superhumans that could appear in this world.
A legendary being who could replace the hero who had already disappeared was turning the tide of the battle.
'I've been had.'
A saint could even bring Krata to the negotiating table. Although Krata could somehow suppress Iser, which now had a saint, would they choose such a path now that the hero, a potential obstacle to negotiations, was gone?
'I must retreat!'
They had already attacked Iser without a proper justification, and now they couldn't even force the issue. If Krata, upon seeing the saint's appearance, did not side with Yafenon and stood by idly, it would all be over.
"Re-retreat!"
Uthor shouted in a panic.
"Retreat!"
But Yafenon's soldiers could not hear his shouts. Trapped in the flashes and roars of the light, their minds, already maddened by their own spells, just kept swinging their weapons.
"Adjutant! Retreat!"
In the end, he took only the people near him and began to retreat quickly.
"Huh? What, what is it?" "H-His Majesty is retreating!"
Yafenon's soldiers, finally realizing the situation, also began to turn around, and the scene became a complete pandemonium.
The momentum had already shifted to one side.
However, Iser did not leave the fleeing enemy alone. They burned them with light and magic and pierced their chests with arrows and spears.
Iser's soldiers, with a clear sense of hostility, looked like 'hunters' overpowering 'beasts.'
"R-run!"
Yafenon's soldiers, in a state of utter panic, began to scatter in all directions.
Among Iser's soldiers, Tia looked at the sight and muttered,
"Clay, this might not be the result you wanted."
If they hadn't formed a coalition, Iser would have also suffered great damage from Yafenon's attack.
But she had minimized the casualties. Tia was curious about how Clay would react when he learned of this.
'Whatever it is, I hope it's not a bad thing for you.'
Even though it wasn't a wish a saint should have for a Demon King.
Uthor's hands trembled with rage as he hurried back to Yafenon.
"How could this happen?!"
Tia, that hateful woman, had hidden her true identity. Even when the hero died, she didn't step forward and kept everything a complete secret.
"That ruthless bitch!"
If she had revealed herself earlier, she might have received the same focused barrage as the hero.
The fact that she only appeared after that period passed could only be seen as a deliberate intention to deceive him.
"This…!"
Whether that was actually the case or not no longer mattered to Uthor.
'I will definitely avenge this humiliation after I regroup.'
He had only fallen for a reversal that was nothing short of an ambush. All he had to do was prepare again. He would find a way, no matter what…
CRASH!
Just then, a huge rock flying from somewhere shattered the soldiers next to him.
"Wh-what was that?!"
Uthor quickly stopped his horse and shouted.
"…Where are you going in such a hurry?"
From somewhere in the darkness, where red eyes were glowing, a voice was heard. Uthor flinched, seeing the countless eyes that had suddenly appeared.
"Wh-who are you! Who dares to speak to the King of Yafenon…!"
"It's been a while, Uthor."
But the one who emerged from the darkness was a being far beyond his imagination.
"It's been a long time since we met, after I died."
A man in black clothes holding a demonic sword that conveyed a sense of ominousness just by looking at it.
He was the one who had been called the hero in the past.
"C-Clay?!"
"It seems you haven't forgotten."
Clay replied in a low voice and walked toward him.
"For Uthor the Barbarian to flee with his tail between his legs, did you encounter a fearsome hunter?"
"Wh-what, what are you, you bastard!"
Uthor shouted, his face filled with shock.
"You're supposed to be dead!"
"Why are you so surprised? You must have heard rumors that I was alive."
"N-no way! A rumor like that can't be true…"
"Believe what you are seeing with your own eyes right now."
Clay looked Uthor straight in the eye.
"Because I hope you don't go without knowing who you're dying by."
"What?"
In front of the gasping Uthor, countless demons appeared. Among them was a huge demon who seemed to have been the one who threw the rock earlier.
"It's good to meet you, Uthor."
He stepped forward in front of Clay, faced Uthor, and opened his mouth.
"I am the fourth of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings, Geshkapo."
Geshkapo.
Although it was a name of a Heavenly King he had never heard of before, Uthor had a rough idea of what was happening.
That the former hero had become the Demon King and was trying to swallow the world.
Vvvvvt.
Uthor instinctively held out his great-axe, which contained a primeval prayer.
The great-axe read the life force within Clay. He was definitely alive. He was not a mere puppet being controlled by someone.
"Y-you're really…"
The Demon King.
"The former hero is the Demon King?" "What in the world is going on?" "I didn't hear anything about this!"
Even as Yafenon's soldiers were in turmoil, Uthor couldn't say a word.
"I'm sorry, but your first opponent is not the Demon King."
At that, Geshkapo limbered up and walked toward Uthor.
"I can handle a king of humans who runs away with his tail tucked in."
With that, Geshkapo grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at Uthor.