Chapter: 280
The battle that began with the morning light entered a lull around noon. With the sound of the horn, the demons halted their advance and looked down from the ridge upon them.
They still seemed grotesquely numerous. Under the shade of the forest, their gaze felt sinister.
Even as they sensed their gaze fully, the soldiers stood panting, barely able to hold up their failing legs. Humans are not designed for fighting. The stress of the battlefield and the fear of death quickly erode a person’s stamina.
It is simply a matter of forgetting their exhaustion while their lives hang by a thread. The combat endurance of an ordinary person who cannot become a superhuman is not very long.
“What is the damage report?”
“During the retreat of the second line, twenty percent of the troops were swept away. Other losses are not as severe as expected.”
“That’s to be expected. They could only throw goblins at us.”
Most of the demons were nocturnal. More precisely, they were not suited for the bright surface environment.
The Demon Realm is dark and gloomy all year round. The sky in the Demon Realm is thick with gray clouds, even at midday.
Moreover, almost all demons reside in the dense forests of the Demon Realm. For those accustomed to the shade of the forest, the United Kingdom’s sunny climate was unsuitable.
To express it in a more mythical way, the sun is a symbol of humans. It symbolizes the Lord, human faith, and is the adversary of monsters.
So, as time passes, and evening comes, night will return to the demons. The daytime skirmishes could be seen as a mere light deterrence.
Elizaveta pressed her eyebrows together, desperately organizing her thoughts.
“I cannot allow the soldiers to rest.”
No matter how much they need to show a gap, they must not completely open the floodgates. The moment the soldiers’ tension relaxes, if another blitz occurs as in the morning, they won’t have the stamina to last until night.
There are barely over four thousand soldiers left. Meanwhile, the number of enemies is unimaginable. Thirty thousand? Perhaps forty thousand? Who knows, there might be even more troops waiting beyond the hills in the forest.
A basin without castle walls, with a river at their backs. It is an obvious illustration of a desperate situation.
“If there is any hope, it is that the Seven Dragon Lords don’t engage directly.”
He fears the “hidden potential” of the 2nd Legion. The power that is believed to have killed even the Seven Dragon Lords. Currently, Elizaveta’s soldiers exist only in the shadow of that phantom terror.
If that illusion shatters, and they realize that what remains here is merely a handful of humans, that moment will signal the end of all Elizaveta’s worries and concerns. Certain death will come.
Just hold on for two days, just two days more. If they can endure that time… Yes. There’s still a way to regroup and escape.
The dwarves’ underground tunnels are laid beneath their feet.
“If I speak of this in advance, desertions will surely occur…”
The reason she can keep her soldiers at the front line now is not due to her charisma. The presence of a mortal can never surpass that of the Seven Dragon Lords.
Only two reasons compel them to fight for their lives.
The fact that there is nowhere to flee. The enemies do not take prisoners, so those who survive only to face defeat would end up as a meal for the demons.
And the second reason is that if all the demons have converged here, then the invasion of their homeland must have been halted.
Those two hopes are what drive the soldiers to risk their lives in this desperate situation. If the existence of the underground tunnels were revealed, desertions would be inevitable. They would see the possibility of survival.
That cannot happen. Even their own side must be deceived. At that realization, Elizaveta suddenly felt a degree of loneliness that made her stomach churn.
She could not trust anyone; failure meant certain death, the possibility of safely escaping was slim, and even if they used the underground tunnels, most of the men from Krasilov who had entered the battlefield with her would likely die during the retreat.
Everything was done under her command. She is ordering them to die while creating a means for herself to survive and hiding it…
“Vanka.”
Elizaveta whispered, stroking her belly.
“If we both survive and meet again, we’ll have to comfort each other for a very, very long time.”
There is a reason she cannot die. She has loved ones and a life left by a loved one. This is a selfish desire that a king should not have, but it is a hope she cannot give up.
“I will endure one more day and one evening. No matter what happens.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Visit the soldiers. Once this time passes, there won’t even be time to prepare their meals. Distribute the rations generously and order the soldiers to rest in shifts.”
Elizaveta’s orders quickly spread throughout the camp. The soldiers received ample rations for the first time in a while and consumed the meat porridge made with trembling hands.
Three hours later, the demon army began to advance again. After thirteen hours of combat, half of the forces had collapsed, losing their combat endurance.
“Smoke on the horizon!!”
Ivan had already seen the billowing black smoke at the edge of the horizon before the soldiers started to panic. Exactly the point he had expected, and at the expected time.
A sense of relief quickly spread. At least, he was not in the wrong place. He thought so.
“How are the soldiers?”
“Not good.”
The Grand Duke said with a smile. Dried fatigue was stuck all over his sunken cheeks. They were currently engaged in a fierce battle at the Grand Gate and had rushed to this point nearly non-stop for days.
Under normal circumstances, more than half would have deserted or fallen behind. The only supplies they had were the tough meat from the demons, and drinking water was sourced from the rivers encountered along the way.
This could hardly be called an army. It would be more appropriate to describe it as a rout of defeated troops, considering their condition and stamina.
Yet, the eyes of all of them still burned brightly red. It was solely a mindset focused on revenge, akin to embarking on a holy war.
“But it can’t get much worse, can it?”
The Grand Duke joked as he concluded. Ivan nodded heavily and continued to lead the way.
The main operation is simple. Strike the enemy’s rear, crush them at will, and provide a lifeline to the isolated Elizaveta.
And Ivan’s operation was even simpler.
Decapitation.
A multi-racial legion formed solely under the authority of the Seven Dragon Lords. A gathering of warlords who would never normally have united. And there is only one Seven Dragon Lords in this land. The conclusion is simple.
If they just kill him, this battle will end.
If they just kill him, this battle will end.
Nekinon glared at the front lines, hissing. With no more room to retreat, Elizaveta had given up command, wielding her sword and fighting against the demons on the front lines.
Behind the last line of defense, the remaining handful of troops grit their teeth and fired their weapons, parrying swords and thrusting spears.
Their appearance is already so worn down that merely moving is a miracle. Yet, the humans were trying their best to maintain the front line.
And all of this was the result of Nekinon’s “mercy.” Thirty-seven hours. It had already been a day and a half since the first confrontation with humans.
During that time, he continuously pushed soldiers whom he could afford to lose. Just as the casualties among the demons were high, the enemy’s also endured considerable losses. Now, it seemed that humans had little chance of winning, even without him intervening.
Finally, Nekinon’s thoughts ceased.
[I see.]
A smile crept onto Nekinon’s lips.
[I see. It was never there. Ha, hahaha!!]
His laughter resounded loudly through the forest. He rose up and looked down upon the battlefield. Beyond the slopes littered with corpses, he could see Elizaveta gazing at him.
A hero, or something akin to one.
At least, the last weapon that could challenge the Seven Dragon Lords.
He had placed his forces in such suspicious terrain and had revealed his weakness so conspicuously that he dared not approach the humans directly.
Just the fact that the human king had personally joined this battle was enough to draw him out. It was an undeniable temptation that could not be ignored.
But if anyone could see it as a trap, then there should be thousands of troops here to dismantle that trap, shouldn’t there?
However, now in this situation, with their forces diminished to the point where they could no longer influence the battlefield, it was impossible to conceal their means. A rational commander would have used whatever means they had hours ago if they existed.
That meant one thing. From the very beginning, such a “final weapon” never existed.
Pretending that there was one, merely stalling for time and sacrificing their lives.
[You humans are truly… always, every time, new and also amusing to see. Did you really trust your kind behind you? If you die here, did you expect your brethren to take revenge for you?]
“…”
Elizaveta’s face hardened. Watching her expression, Nekinon laughed heartily.
[God does not speak falsehoods. The words of God carry with them power. I promise you, your death will be long and painful. You will be granted death only after witnessing the destruction of your kin and everything you cherish.]
Nekinon laughed as he walked forward. The forest trembled, and the ground cried out. The god approaches.
There was no longer hope to be found in the eyes of the humans who resisted until the end. Their writhing was now closer to a spinal reflex. An instinctive response that continued regardless of will.
Among them, those who had not lost their will silently swallowed their dry saliva.
