The Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Shizukuku
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 071 – Battle of the Kings [A]
The human side was dominating the war due to their superior numbers.
The warriors of the human kingdom, led by Warrior Chief Arnold, formed a line in front of the kalar’s settlement and attacked in droves.
The kalar warriors, on the other hand, managed to form a wide formation that resembled an arc and, despite their inferior numbers, intercepted the advancing humans with their bows and magic.
However, that didn’t last long. As the battlefield became wider, the advantage in numbers began to show itself, and the humans slowly began to overtake the kalar army.
Although some groups managed to intercept their attacks locally, their numbers were overwhelmingly insufficient to cover the entire battlefield. Many kalars were pushed over by the human offensive and they gradually lost more soldiers as they pulled back.
Although a squadron of elite kalars with high personal abilities had successfully killed some humans from the tree tops, that tactic was also hindered by an operation undertaken by the humans.
And that operation was,
“Kuh… to set fire to the forest…! What a thing they did!”
The kalar warriors glared strongly at the human soldiers who were burning trees throughout the forest.
They had torches in hand and were throwing them to burn the forest. The items originally meant to light their way through the dark forest were now being turned into a means of attacking the kalars.
As the flames engulfed the trees, they no longer needed torches to illuminate their path, and the kalars tactic of attacking under the cover of night was also crushed.
All the kalar warriors who saw it had a panicked expression on their faces.
They were clearly inferior in number to the human army, and now their geographical advantage was gradually being crushed by the flames.
Moreover, there was an unstoppable human monster on the enemy’s front line — Warrior Chief Arnold, who was swinging his battle axe wildly.
Kesselring, the only kalar who could possibly stop him, was absent and Pale, their chief, hadn’t returned either. They didn’t know where she could possibly be, since she had been kidnapped by that majin.
—If this goes on…!
They hesitate to say beyond that. However, the presence of death that was gradually coming for them had them shaking from the fear of their impending demise.
They had to find a way to prevent the humans from reaching the settlement. They were determined to do so as they continued fighting.
But how long would it last?
“—There they are! It’s the kalars!!”
“Guh…?!”
The kalars who had been shooting arrows at the humans through the gaps between the trees were captured as the massive army advanced forward.
Dozens of humans rushed forward at that voice. Their eyes were glaring as they tried to either kill the kalar, or injure them, so they could capture then rape them.
The kalars were well aware that humans were devils on the battlefield. Their barbaric methods made them no different from demons. 1
If they were caught, they would suffer treatment worse than death. But if they escape or commit suicide before that—
Some kalars started to internally debate those options but they didn’t have time to decide anything.
Because a sudden impact hit one side of the human army,
“GYAAAAAAaaaaahhh—?!”
“Wha-what happened?!”
“?!”
What the kalars saw looked like an invisible shockwave and it had struck the advancing humans. An invisible force that slashed through air, trees, and some humans was enough to make their eyes wide in astonishment.
What just happened? Both the human and kalar sides thought this at the same time, as they stopped in place at the sudden phenomenon. However, some people there seemed to be familiar with this phenomenon.
Because the same thing also happened in the battle few days ago—
Before those who felt the déjà vu completely remembered it, a certain kalar sensed something.
What she heard was sounds of footsteps and the voices of several people that walked toward the battle,
“That was reckless of you. Won’t the kalars also get caught in that?”
“I calculated my movements properly before unleashing it, so it should be okay. —maybe.”
“Leonhart. Please be careful not to hit them.”
“…I’ll be angry if you do, okay?”
“…I know. I won’t hurt your compatriots.”
“There’s no way Leonhart-sama would make a mistake in calculating such a thing!”
Some humanoid figures gradually drew closer. It was a group of six men and women. That group, who possessed a variety of different skin tones, hair colors, and shapes, also had a presence and aura that far surpassed regular humans, and they calmly invaded the battlefield.
At the center of the group was a small girl with white hair who said,
“…So how should we move? Leonhart, you decide.”
“For the time being, just spread out at random and defeat any enemies you encounter. Although I doubt anything will happen, let’s move in pairs just in case.”
“How should we split up?”
A blond man with red eyes gave his instructions,
“I don’t mind, even if we just randomly pair up… but I’ll try to make it even. —First group, Galtia and Hunty.”
“Ou.”
“Hm, roger.”
“Next… I want to entrust Ssulal to you, Kesselring… is that alright?”
“…Aah, I don’t mind.”
“Is Ssulal also alright with this?”
“…I don’t mind. But make sure you don’t do anything weird just because I’m not watching, okay?”
“I won’t. But, rather, what do you mean by weird thing… and finally—”
“It’s me and Leonhart-sama!!”
“…That’s how it is.”
As the blond man said that, the group seemed to unite.
Then,
“Well then, just gather randomly once you’re done. —See you later.”
“Ah, wait for me, Leonhart-sama—!!”
With that said, the blond man instantly moved as if he had disappeared from the spot. The blond girl who saw that began to make a loud noise, then ran off in the direction the man had gone.
“…Then we’ll go.”
“Oo. Well then, later.”
As the black haired kalar instantly disappeared from her spot, the man with brown skin and a large hole in his belly shot a thread from between his nails and swung himself from tree to tree.
“—Then, Ssulal-sama. We should go as well.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
Lastly, as the beautiful kalar woman with blue crystal on her forehead jumped up onto a tree branch, and the white haired girl with red eyes, who possessed the greatest magical presence of all of them, floated up into the air and flew off.
The kalar who happened to witness the group blinked in surprise and confusion.
“Among the people there just now… wasn’t that Kesselring-sama, and Shiso-sama…?”
Her question echoed in the air without an answer.
Immediately after that, certain powerful beings began moving around the battlefield and trampling over the humans.
There were some fortunate people who managed to speak with those powerful beings. Although they ended up dead a few seconds after that, those human soldiers had definitely heard of the name of those beings.
Although their manner of speech varied, people said they all were the same kind of being. And that was,
—Majins, the soldiers all said that.
Humans and kalars soon came to know that majins and their apostles had appeared on the battlefield.
The first among the group who rampaged across the battlefield was Majin Leonhart.
He dealt with things responsibly. Although it wasn’t part of his duty, there was a reason why he did so. And that was,
…If only I cleaned them all up properly the first time…
He made a deal with Pale a few days ago. It was a deal where he would repel the humans away in exchange for getting directions to the mountain. Yet Leonhart had failed to fulfill his side of that deal, based on the current situation.
He thought as long as he dealt with all the commanders, that there wouldn’t be anyone left who could properly direct the big army, so they’d have no choice but to give up and return to their nation. But it seemed that he was too naïve. Apparently, the humans still chose to invade again despite all that.
He was neither aware of the humans’ motivation in this conflict, nor their reasons for attacking again. Perhaps they had their own circumstances that forced them to proceed, in spite of their situation.
However, that was not an excuse. It was a fact that he had failed in his promise.
Therefore, just this once, Leonhart decided to let loose.
In other words— he lifted his self-imposed ban on slaughtering small fries.
Leonhart didn’t like bullying the weak or unilateral slaughter, but things can change when the situation requires it.
And now was such a time.
“—Oi, you guys.”
“—?! Wha-wha-what the hell are you…?!”
He held his demonic sword Orpheil, which was taller than his own body, and glared at them menacingly.
With that alone, the voices of the humans trembled and their faces were distorted and their body felt chilled. Even though they already looked weak enough without that, these ones couldn’t even breathe properly and their fighting spirit had waned.
…This is why I hate dealing with the small fries…
He didn’t even need to show his strength. Just showing himself was already enough to render them unable to fight properly.
The stronger Leonhart became, the more often he saw humans make such expressions.
Since they were soldiers trained for battle, they still had some will to fight, at least. That was still better in comparison. If it was a regular person instead, they would tremble in fear and despair from the moment they noticed the majin’s existence.
Although the soldiers were still better in comparison to normal people, since they still had the will to fight, he couldn’t fight them properly or, rather, he couldn’t enjoy the fight.
However, this was a time to ignore such feelings. With a cold voice, he said,
“You see, us majin just happened to be having a picnic in the forest just now…”
“Pi-picnic…?”
The soldiers’ eyes swam as they were confused by his words. As he squinted at them,
“And since you guys are in the way, we thought we would just kill you.”
“—”
The soldiers lost their voices together.
I guess that’s too awful of a reason… While Leonhart also thought so, he didn’t correct his statement. He ignored those who stiffened and spoke out.
“I’ll at least give you all time to wield your weapons. If you need to hate someone for this, just hate yourself for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Wha, wha, wha—-“
A soldier’s voice shook. Then as his face filled with fury, he wielded his sword,
“S-screw —”
“Eiyaa!”
His cuss words were stopped by a sword swung from the side that cut him before he could speak it all.
That soldier’s head flew beautifully as splashes of blood scattered around his fallen form.
As the other soldiers’ faces turned pale, the one who caused that to happen, Leonhart’s apostle Carol, shook the blood off her rapier and said,
“Ah, I ended up attacking him before he properly took his stance…! I’m terribly sorry, Leonhart-sama!”
“…No, I don’t mind. It’s barely acceptable that he tried to take a stance at all.”
“I’m glad then— oof.” 2
Carol stroked her chest in relief as she heard that, then approached the corpse in a renewed manner, bending over to examine it,
“…Huh? Leonhart-sama-! There’s no item drop-!”
After tilting her head, she made such a report.
It was a common sight due to a certain hobby she often accompanied him for, and Leonhart’s eyes looked weary as he said,
“…Carol, that’s not a dungeon monster, so of course an item won’t drop.”
“Auh… so that’s the case. That’s too bad-… but I guess it can’t be helped,” said Carol as her shoulder dropped. But it only lasted for a second before her attitude changed and she raised her face,
“Then I’ll practice with the sword! Just like this—”
“Gugyaa?!”
She swung her sword randomly, hitting a soldier and tearing his cheek apart. As she did that, Carol turned to Leonhart and,
“Leonhart-sama-? Is this the correct way to swing a sword-?”
“Hih, Gyaa?!”
As Leonhart saw how Carol swung her sword wildly, killing the soldiers that got in her way, he exhaled.
Then he held his own sword and,
“That’s wrong, Carol. When you swing your sword… It should be more like this— use your whole body to convey your strength in order—!!”
He held his sword in hassō no kamae and swung it down.
Then the impact from his sword and the immense power behind it cut through the battlefield.
“Ah—”
As the humans were cut down along with trees, they fell to the ground before they could comprehend what happened to them.
And the sword was still held comfortably in his right hand,
“—Just like that.”
He showed Carol through his example.
“Leonhart-sama is amazing as usual! I should also do my best!”
“Aah, yes, do your best.”
With that said, he looked towards the soldiers in front of them again.
Their faces were even more distorted in fear than before.
Looking at such soldiers, Leonhart told Carol,
“—Then, you should try it.”
“Yes! Certainly!”
“Hih—”
And from that moment, the trampling began.
“U-UWAAAAHHHH—?! RUN AWAY—-!!”
“Ah, hey! You can’t run away like that!”
“The EXP is escaping!” said Carol, as she chased after them, pulling out a gun with her left hand.
As Leonhart slashed down the soldiers who tried to escape, he watched Carol and thought about her progress.
Currently, Carol was easily slaughtering the human soldiers, albeit they were focusing more on fleeing than fighting,
…I guess she has gotten much stronger than she used to be.
When she first became an apostle, she was already stronger than a normal human, but it was merely comparable or a little bit stronger than a demon general, so she couldn’t be considered strong among apostles.
But now, she had grown enough to be able to easily slaughter the humans, as if doing a chore,
…Fuh, I guess there’s still room for growth though. I suppose I will foster her for a little longer.
It wasn’t like she grew fast and, strictly speaking, she was only decently strong among the apostles, but she was a good prospect due her high aspirations. It was meaningful to be able to confirm that. Since she only fought with Hunty recently, and she barely fought humans directly before that, perhaps this was a good experience for Carol.
He wished to let her fight someone stronger, but,
…Now that I think about it, isn’t there a huge dude that looks really strong out there among the humans?
Leonhart remembered a big man he met a few days ago who seemed to have good abilities by human standards. He had just kicked him away and let him go back then, but that big man had likely survived.
And that man seemed likely to be the leader of this human army and it was because he was still with them that the humans decided to attack again.
…Then, if I find and kill him—
Perhaps I’ll have a bit of fun after all, thought Leonhart, as he and Carol killed the surrounding soldiers, all while hoping he had won the jackpot.
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