Chapter 237: Traps on the Path to Sanguo

Even before the war, the border between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm had been a place of interest. Now that war had broken out, surveillance was tighter than ever.

Due to the limitations of deployable troops, they couldn’t completely block every border, but monitoring the borders day and night to immediately detect any incidents was more than feasible. Consequently, an Imperial soldier, constantly watching the border, promptly reported to his superiors upon discovering a group of soldiers slipping through under the cover of darkness. Emperor Elpidius, quickly realizing where they were headed, contacted Sanguo, an allied nation and a prime target of the Demon King’s army.

“Reinforcements from the Demon Realm, huh?”

The King of Sanguo murmured nonchalantly after ending the communication.

“It seems the Demon King has no intention of ending this war anytime soon.”

Otherwise, there was no reason for him to reignite the conflict in a place showing signs of settling into a stalemate.

A slightly worried voice chimed in, seemingly nonchalant as well.

“This support comes not long after news broke about a demon being summoned from the Empire. They must be planning to use that demon.”

“I agree with you. Moreover, sending ordinary troops along suggests they have considerable confidence in that demon’s abilities.”

Ordinary troops were essentially just there to make up numbers. The core element was likely the ‘contracted demon’.

“If they’re that confident…”

“It means the contracted demon is at least general-rank.”

“Surely not legion commander-rank?”

“It’s not entirely impossible…”

King Yeonhwa of Sanguo, who had been staring silently at the communicator, lifted her head. Her eyes met Sareen’s, who was looking at her with concern.

“…We can only hope not.”

“…”

“Well, shall we predict their route then?”

Clapping her hands together, she pointed to a map affixed to the wall. Sareen’s gaze, which had also stiffened with seriousness, followed her gesture.

No conversation ensued about how to respond if the opponent turned out to be a legion commander.

Even a legion commander under various restrictions was a formidable opponent. How could they possibly face a legion commander who had legitimately emerged through a contract with a human, with reduced limitations? Unless they had a Heroic Spirit wielding a fragment of the Hero’s power, but such beings were rare to begin with. Furthermore, former Emperor Eudoard had swept up every talented individual with extravagant promises, leaving Sanguo devoid of such capable figures.

Therefore, they tacitly avoided the uncertain and uncomfortable topic, focusing their attention on the map. A finger traced a path along a mountain pass, drawing a smooth line.

“The fools currently banging on the city gates took this route.”

Sareen nodded in agreement, adding,

“And that pass was riddled with traps.”

“That fact must have been reported to their superiors.”

“Yes, so the support force’s route will be…”

Yeonhwa, taking her hand off the map, turned to Sareen.

As if thinking the same thing, both their eyes flashed simultaneously.

“The same.”

“It will be the same.”

A satisfied smile graced Yeonhwa’s lips.

“Why do you think so?”

“Because it’s the fastest, most well-maintained route, and they’ll assume the vanguard has already cleared most of the traps.”

“Exactly.”

Do you know why Sanguo is named ‘Sanguo (Mountain Country)’?

Sanguo is located in a mountainous region. Although not entirely surrounded by mountain ranges like Esperance, the numerous mountains were obstructive enough to hinder passage. The king of this country, which struggled with self-sufficiency, defied the objections and concerns of countless retainers in the past and had roads built to facilitate the passage of trading companies.

From the demons’ perspective, it would be a perfect invasion route.

“But they overlooked something.”

There was no way she hadn’t considered the possibility of this road being used as an enemy invasion route. That was precisely why her retainers had initially opposed its construction.

The well-paved road was designed to activate traps if used by unauthorized individuals. Therefore, envoys or trading companies using the road had to contact the city in advance and go through a procedure to temporarily disable the traps.

Checking and managing the traps’ activation status and whether they were active could be done within the city reached by following the road.

Did you catch that? ‘Manage,’ I said. Yeonhwa quirked up the corner of her lips.

“The traps weren’t designed to be one-time use in the first place.”

One-time use traps would be problematic.

When a trap is triggered, arrows are shot, and boulders roll down. That’s not all of it, but anyway.

Not all stored arrows and boulders are expended in a single activation. After a certain amount of arrows and boulders are used, the trap would stop operating to prepare for the next activation.

And that’s not the end of it. By simply adjusting the mechanism, the exit point for rolling boulders and the direction arrows are aimed could be altered. Memorizing trap locations was pointless.

“These were intended to target support troops following behind during wartime or enemies in retreat, but it seems they’ll be used like this instead.”

Investing the budget to design them this way was definitely the right choice.

These traps alone might not be able to deal with the ‘contracted demon,’ but they should be enough to inflict significant damage on ordinary troops.

“More concerning is that ‘contracted demon’…”

Should she eliminate the contractor after all?

Hoping that the number of demon reinforcements would be significantly reduced by the time they arrived, Yeonhwa began to ponder the contracted demon’s capabilities and the best way to counter it.

***

Hell, the 8th Corps Commander, who had been summoned to the Human Realm and joined the troops departing from the Demon Realm, was currently enduring considerable hardship.

Clang.

An ominous sound was detected, and a rain of arrows poured down from somewhere. Hell hastily drew a spear from his weapons carried on his back, deflecting arrows with it, and erected a temporary magical barrier in areas beyond the spear’s reach. Even with reduced restrictions, his magic power felt significantly diminished in the Human Realm.

Advancing further, boulders and burning logs tumbled down from both hillsides. He belatedly realized magic was ineffective and drew a shield, standing at the forefront to bat away the projectiles. Nevertheless, more soldiers died than before.

It was devastating.

[Sir Deon… said he believed in me….]

Hell collapsed onto the ground.

If not for Adjutant Nine’s encouragement, he would have undoubtedly wasted a significant amount of time recovering.

[Hel-nim, you are doing well enough right now. The fact that magic is unusable means we’ve entered the range of a magic suppression array.]

In other words, a city was nearby.

[It means we’re almost there. Why don’t you try to push on a little further?]

Taking those words as solace, they moved forward. How far had they gone? Just as everyone’s nerves were directed upwards, wary of whatever might come flying next, this time the ground suddenly gave way.

And what appeared below were various old and broken weapons and sharply pointed trees, embedded in the ground and menacingly aimed upwards.

‘Efficient recycling…’

8th Corps Adjutant Nine thought, clinging to Hell’s side as they escaped the treacherous pit.

They had been told that the vanguard had passed through this road, but were the traps re-installed in the meantime? Every trap along the pass was functioning perfectly, without exception.

…Perhaps, these weren’t one-time use traps.

‘Well, it’s such a well-maintained road; it would be problematic if it lacked this level of defense.’

He understood, but… the problem was that their forces had been significantly reduced by this.

He could feel the arm holding him trembling. Nine sighed softly. A curse word involuntarily escaped him.

Damn Sanguo.

‘Why did they make such meticulous traps and… undermine our superior’s morale like this?’

Nasty bastards. Bad guys. Humans.

While Nine internally hurled all sorts of curses, Hell, rendered speechless and now on foot after the earlier traps, blankly surveyed his troops, still carrying Nine at his side.

Even at a glance, their numbers were noticeably reduced compared to when they had set out. His head hung heavy.

…Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

‘If only I had moved alone…’

He could have used his unique ability to reach their destination quickly without major issues.

Even if he had only brought Nine along, the situation would have been better than this.

Hell, who unconsciously considered the following troops as baggage, was startled by his own thoughts and began to reproach himself.

“It’s… because of me…”

“No, Hel-nim. This was unavoidable.”

Nine was accustomed to comforting his superior.

“It’s the limitation of ordinary troops. They aren’t even the 8th Corps, nor particularly elite.”

“No… I should have been more careful and taken better care of them…”

Am I lacking… this is difficult….

A depressed voice, as if digging into the ground, was faintly heard. Nine, still held at Hell’s side, tapped Hell’s arm, then slid down to the ground and turned to face his superior.

“If it’s too much for you, how about entrusting command to me?”

“…Huh?”

“I’ll bring the troops along from behind, and Hel-nim can go on ahead.”

“…!”

Hell, whose head had perked up at the opportunity to shed the heavy burden, paused as if something was bothering him. The eagerness to immediately agree vanished, and after a brief silence, his head slowly shook from side to side.

Contrary to expectations, a resolute voice returned.

“No. What if you die?”

Nine’s expression subtly changed.

“…I don’t die that easily.”

“You almost died in a trap just now…”

“That’s because I was careless. I didn’t pay attention to the ground.”

“…”

If he went ahead as suggested, and Nine became careless again, he would truly die without a chance. Hell, looking at his adjutant with pursed lips, slowly opened his mouth.

“Sir Deon said he believes in me.”

“…”

“I have to take responsibility and bring everyone safely.”

“…”

“I will.”

Faced with his unusually firm resolve, Nine fell silent.

…Having motivation was good, but what should he say to this?

‘Sir Deon, your words of belief… seem to have an overly powerful effect.’

It felt precarious, like it could backfire any moment.

Suppressing a sigh that threatened to escape, he mentally addressed the absent Deon, unable to withstand the gaze that pressed for an answer, and nodded.

“Understood.”

***

“Like all fields, spearmanship too, at first glance, seems simple, but delving deeper reveals countless branches, complex and vast. You only see as much as you know.”

Whoosh.

The Demon King, who had come to the training grounds with Deon as promised to teach him weapon skills, lightly swung a spear.

“To simply explain a spear… it’s about blocking and thrusting. Blocking can be done by deflecting outwards or pressing inwards, and thrusting… you know what that is, right?”

The first weapon he decided to teach was the spear.

There was no particular reason. He simply picked up the weapon that was within reach in the training grounds. Since Deon hadn’t specifically chosen a type, there was no issue.

“Above all, recovering the spear is crucial. Due to the nature of thrusting, the biggest opening is exposed when attacking. If you fail to recover in time, you’ll suffer a counterattack that could cost you your life.”

“…”

“Remember. Thrusting and recovering are one motion. The motion is… like this.”

Swish. The spear thrust past Deon’s head and retracted.

If not for the eyes of a Hero, he would have only seen afterimages. Deon, visually tracing the path of the spear, lifted his gaze to the Demon King.

He was grinning shamelessly.

“See that?”

“…”

Instead of answering, Deon reached out a hand towards the spear the Demon King was holding. He readily handed over the spear, and Deon, taking it, adjusted his grip on the shaft a few times as if gauging its balance. Then, in a moment, swish—he thrust the spear past the Demon King’s head.

“Is it like this?”

“…”

Eyes that followed the spear’s movement met crimson pupils looking back at him.

As if waiting for their eyes to meet, the bright red pupils retreated behind narrowed eyelids.