Chapter 252: The Commander’s Unusual Order

Even between legion commander and adjutant, unless they were special cases like the 12th Legion Commander or the already deceased former 8th Legion Commander, they usually wouldn’t reveal their weaknesses to each other. Even if they became comfortable and trusting enough to show some vulnerabilities, it was only natural to hide their ultimate weakness.

Oel also knew that tears were a dangerous weakness that could make a subordinate look down on their superior. So, like other typical legion commanders, he never showed tears in front of Derniban, his adjutant.

Perhaps that was why.

“…I will search for a suitable person in the Human Realm.”

Derniban made an uncharacteristically irrational judgment.

***

Deon moved along a path that, while not well-maintained, was free of traps.

Of course, just because there were no traps didn’t mean it was peaceful. Revolutionary Army or Sanguo troops ambushed them from time to time, but before they could even raise their weapons, the 10th Corps Commander stepped forward with a swagger, rampaging with his own troops and wiping them all out. There was hardly anything for Deon to do himself.

The summer heat kept making him irritable, but in any case, Deon safely reached his destination and joined up with the existing forces. Before taking over the command, he first checked the overall war situation.

Initially, they had sent reinforcements because the situation was becoming entrenched in a back-and-forth stalemate. However, before the reinforcements even reached their destination, they were annihilated, impacting the ‘morale’ of both sides. Especially since it wasn’t just any reinforcement, but reinforcements that included a legion commander, the aftermath was bound to be significant.

As expected, this situation affected the previously balanced war.

At first, the difference was tiny, almost imperceptible. But that small gap widened, and soon the war situation showed noticeable results.

‘So, this is how it ended up like this.’

Look at this rapidly deteriorating situation. Anyone could see they were being pushed back.

And look at how their faces brightened up at the news of reinforcements arriving.

Even if there were restrictions, they were still demons. He quietly opened his mouth, newly realizing the importance of ‘morale’.

“Gaisitel.”

“Yes, I will go and return. I will eliminate them all at my level so that Sir Deon doesn’t have to bother stepping out personally….”

“No.”

He shook his head at the guy who, sensing his intention, stepped forward to handle it.

“Keep it moderate.”

“Yes…?”

A gaze mixed with confusion and doubt returned, as if he couldn’t understand.

Under the gaze that felt somewhat sharp, Deon calmly checked his weapon, then clasped his hands together. Stretching his body as if limbering up, he said.

“I will also participate in the battle.”

“Ah…! Yes! I will set the stage for Sir Deon to shine!”

As expected, his sense for this kind of thing was quick.

The guy, understanding the unspoken approval, mounted his horse and charged into the chaos with his troops. Dan, who had been watching the situation, spoke from beside him.

“It seems like they would be enough, but is it necessary for Master to step in personally? Shouldn’t you rest?”

“Resting wouldn’t be bad, but… well.”

Currently, the Sanguo troops were deployed in front of the city, forming a battle line.

Judging by how they pushed out to the edge of the magic suppression array’s range and set up camp, it seemed they were preparing for a repeat of the 8th Legion Commander incident, but….

“It’s not often that a stage like this is set up in a siege battle.”

“Ah, Master and the… Lofty Knights displayed great influence in this kind of melee combat.”

“Right. We should at least say hello since we came all this way, shouldn’t we?”

If they were going to announce their arrival, it would be best to leave a strong impression.

‘Is this what they call a baptism of fire?’

In any case, in that sense, the current war situation was a very good stage.

How fortunate that they couldn’t be sure if a demon with abilities similar to the 8th Legion Commander existed.

“You stay here.”

Demons were enough for fighting well, and overturning the atmosphere was the specialty of him and the mad dogs. Dan wouldn’t be of much help even if he stepped out.

Dan lightly nodded in agreement. Watching Deon, who was wrapping one arm around the other and pressing down as if to stretch, suddenly asked as he looked like he was about to leave.

“Come to think of it… aren’t you wearing armor?”

“Armor would be meaningless to a Hero. It’s just cumbersome.”

Before, it was because his physique was weak anyway, and if he wore heavy armor, he would surely die, unable to evade attacks he could have avoided.

Finally, after rotating his wrist, he snatched a spear from a demon soldier standing nearby. The guy who had unwittingly handed over his weapon was flustered and sweating profusely, but Deon ignored him and lightly twirled the spear.

“Lend me this for a moment.”

“Yes, yes! It’s an honor!”

Holding the spear in his right hand, he raised his left hand and gestured.

…!

Despite it being a hand signal from a long time ago, the Lofty Knights quickly read it and moved naturally, following his advancing steps.

Thud, thud.

The leisurely pace, mismatched with the irregular and urgent battlefield, faintly vibrated the ground.

Those who felt the sense of incongruity turned their heads to look at the source of the sound. Soon, as if the Red Sea was parting, those in his path stepped aside, and Deon, stopping at a suitable spot, smirked as he tapped the ground with the butt of his spear.

“Alright, you guys.”

Clang.

As if they knew what he was going to say, the sound of weapons being drawn echoed from behind him.

….

….

The surroundings were silent. Not only the Lofty Knights, who were silent as if not to miss a single word to follow, but even those who had inadvertently turned their gaze couldn’t turn their eyes back, shutting their mouths and concentrating.

In a space where even the air seemed to hold its breath, without a breeze, a low voice resonated.

“It’s time to take our medicine.”

Let’s rampage together for the first time in a while.

The Killer Knights laughed at the words they hadn’t heard in a long time. The response to this was obvious.

Words that had now lost their meaning, utterly vile words.

“Everything is for survival.”

…Right.

Deon Hart, nodding in satisfaction, leisurely advanced, issuing additional orders.

Those who already had questions about the unusual weapon in his hand and were all ears clearly heard his words without needing to receive a separate order.

The content was simple.

“Leave the part about morale of both armies to you guys.”

In short, wasn’t he telling them to rampage? As brutally as possible!

It was an order that was nothing new. The guys who lightly sucked on the prepared drugs disappeared with their bloodshot eyes gleaming red. A shout saying not to worry was a bonus.

Deon watched them for a moment, wondering if his allies, being demons, might get confused about friend or foe due to the drug’s effects and attack wrongly. Then, he swung the spear in the air and soon plunged into the battlefield himself.

It was the appearance of a natural disaster.

***

Behold.

As he rampaged across the battlefield as his stage, he proclaimed with his whole body.

The proof that the world had abandoned humanity, the Hero who turned his back on humanity had returned, leading the Killer Knights.

Deon Hart had returned.

As if proving that he had gone to the battlefield at too young an age, the man, who had a relatively small build for a general, rampaged well against the generals on this side who were fundamentally larger.

When he kicked off the ground, he stayed in the air almost as if flying. When he used the spear shaft as a support to jump, the extent became even greater, to the point where it was questionable whether he actually had the skill to fly in the air.

Each time the guy swung his leg in that state, the number of those who died with broken necks increased. Sometimes, there were those who skillfully blocked him, but in those cases, the guy would lift his other leg and entwine it around their neck, then twist with his weight.

And how skillfully he used the spear. The radius that the spear reached was thoroughly his domain. On his palm, where life and death were decided according to his will.

Spears were all about distance, so occasionally there were those who penetrated inside… But didn’t you see a moment ago? That he was also quite skilled with foot techniques. The end for those who penetrated was invariably death with a broken neck.

Moreover, he didn’t stay in one place but crisscrossed the battlefield, rampaging around. Who would dare to endure?

“His fighting style is completely different from the Deon Hart we knew….”

The front line, which had been endlessly pushed back, was now close enough to be clearly observed even from the city walls.

Yeonhwa, the King of Sanguo, who was watching the battlefield from atop the city walls, groaned.

Originally, wasn’t his fighting style based on ‘brutality’?

To drop the morale of the enemies by showing a more brutal appearance than anyone else, far exceeding even the minimum line that even humans stained by the battlefield instinctively kept.

But he was now showing a ‘normal’ fighting style. Only the Killer Knights under his command were sticking to ‘that’ style that everyone knew.

“Because he is a Hero. It’s understandable that he has gained new skills.”

Sareen quietly replied. Unlike her calm voice, her eyes filled with murderous intent were glaring at the white hair that stood out more than anyone else.

“The problem is, even when he shows an ordinary battle style, it is overwhelmingly dominant, and our morale is plummeting rapidly….”

“He is like a fish in water. The judgment we made to be wary of ‘contracted demons’ has become a wonderful stage for that bastard.”

The ‘contracted demon’ who instantly moved inside the city walls and opened the gates. The news of that guy was quite… no, very shocking.

If they had been properly defeated in battle, the shock wouldn’t have been this great. But this meant they were attacked before they could even try anything! Furthermore, the fact that he moved ‘inside the castle’ meant that even the magic suppression array couldn’t stop him. Thus, not only Sanguo, the party directly involved, but the entire Human Realm was frantically searching for solutions as if their feet were on fire.

What they found was that he could only move alone and that there was a limit to the distance he could move.

Currently, the prevailing speculation was that he had also died when the support force was annihilated midway by someone. In fact, among the demon corpses at the site where the distress flare was fired, there was also a corpse that appeared to be a ‘contracted demon’. However, they couldn’t hastily conclude that there wouldn’t be another demon with abilities like him among the demons.

So, they had deliberately set up camp quite far from the city walls, but.

“I heard that the Killer Knights deserted, but to think they had really gone to the Demon Realm….”

He had hoped it was a rumor.

Not only Deon Hart but even the Killer Knights were rampaging like fish in water.

They should have entered the castle and started a siege defense. Watching this sight gave him a headache, and Yeonhwa rubbed his forehead. Sareen’s voice was heard.

“There’s no reason Deon Hart would be called ‘the owner of the Killer Knights’ for no reason. There’s nothing strange about it.”

In her voice, the animosity that had finally been revealed was clearly sharpened.

Yeonhwa lowered his hand and again focused his eyes on the battlefield. Just in time, his gaze reached Deon Hart throwing a dagger from his waist to save a Killer Knight member who was about to die. It was a very natural scene, so much so that it was almost overlooked.

…Even while fighting a battle, he was showing such composure.

‘Well, it’s understandable.’

The current war situation was being helplessly swayed by his movements as if a typhoon was raging.

He was a disaster. He was a typhoon, a bolt from the blue. Faced with an irresistible disaster, humans were collapsing powerlessly.

As the front line gradually approached the city walls, the King of Sanguo fell into worry.

“Should we start siege defense now…?”

Or should they desperately send out more troops to hold out, preparing for a demon with possible teleportation abilities?

In fact, the answer was already out.

All that remained was to confirm whether the strategist had also made the same judgment. Yeonhwa turned his head. As her eyes met his, Sareen answered as if she had been waiting.

“We must start siege defense.”

Certainty was given.

“If we consider the priority of those we need to contain, the ‘Hero’ in front of us who has become the enemy is higher than a possibly existing demon whose existence we are not even sure of. Right now, this board is where the Hero and his troops can exert their abilities to the maximum. We can’t provide the best board for a situation where we should be containing them, can we? We must naturally change the board.”

“That’s right. You are right.”

Yeonhwa smiled contentedly and reached for the communicator.

“Prepare for siege defense. Prepare to withdraw naturally so that the enemies do not notice, and withdraw all at once as soon as the signal goes.”

An answer acknowledging the order returned, and she ended the short communication. She turned her gaze to Sareen, who had an unwavering gaze.

She looked like she still had more to say.

“Do you still have more to say?”

“Yes. In the current situation, just blocking and holding out is not the best solution.”

Sareen said as if she had been waiting.

“We must kill Deon Hart.”