Chapter 333: A Change of Heart

Returning to the present once more, Derniban shook the blood off his hands and surveyed his surroundings.

Amidst the ongoing battle, he could see the 1st Corps being helplessly slaughtered by the 4th Corps Commander. The one-sided massacre naturally made him frown.

Even among the legions composed of elites, the 1st Corps was known for its exceptional members. He understood prioritizing them for containment, but did the Corps Commander really need to intervene personally to eliminate those already under concentrated fire from almost every other legion?

‘Besides, wasn’t the 1st Corps… our ally?’

…A reason to help them had emerged.

His body wasn’t in perfect condition due to his injuries, but that didn’t matter. He couldn’t just stand idly by in the middle of the battlefield. Derniban quickly identified a new target and charged.

Idelia, the 4th Corps Commander, noticed the appearance of an intruder and irritably tightened her grip on her fan, which flashed in his peripheral vision.

The 5th Corps Commander, Derniban, was a legion commander as troublesome as the 2nd Corps Commander.

It was common knowledge that he primarily used a bow. Setting that aside, before becoming a legion commander, he had originally honed his close-combat skills, not just to compensate for the weaknesses of ranged weaponry, but through frequent sparring sessions with Trober, the 9th Corps Commander.

To reiterate, he ‘frequently sparred’ with ‘9th Corps Commander Trober.’ Trober, who could be considered the epitome of close-quarters combat, and no one else!

Even focusing on mastering a single main weapon skill felt insufficient, yet he was remarkable indeed….

‘The problem is, that kind of guy is my enemy right now.’

Among all the legion commanders present, the one with virtually no weaknesses had unfortunately clashed with him.

Idelia immediately retreated, scattering hidden weapons from her unfolded fan to evade close combat. True to a legion commander who wielded a bow as her main weapon, arrows flew at once, but they were deflected by the hidden weapons she launched.

Instead of pursuing and swinging his sharpened nails, Derniban stood in place, staring directly at her as he checked his bow and arrows. The chilling gaze of a predator targeting its prey sent shivers down her spine. Seizing the brief standoff, she opened her mouth.

“Is there a reason for you to contain me? Even if I’m held up here, the 1st Corps will still die.”

Whether he intervened in their battle or not, the death of the 1st Corps was as good as certain, given how things had unfolded.

“How could they possibly endure being attacked by so many legions? Instead of suffering for a long time and dying exhausted, wouldn’t it be better for them to die quickly and comfortably before they lose all their strength?”

“…I disagree with that opinion.”

Derniban nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring. He narrowed one eye as if closing it and aimed at Idelia. Then, he released his hand, and the arrow flew at a speed too fast to follow with the eye.

A murmuring voice trailed after it.

“They might not die.”

“Well, impossible….”

Idelia, who deflected the arrow by swinging her folded fan, paused for a moment. A scene caught her eye.

“…Damn it.”

In her peripheral vision, the 1st Corps Commander, who had killed the 7th Corps Commander, had plunged into the battle to support the 1st Corps.

There was no other legion commander to contain him. Idelia’s expression hardened uncontrollably.

….

1st Corps Commander Jaykar stared down at the lifeless 7th Corps Commander Sillua with an expressionless face. The demon, once full of confidence, stood there motionless, forever frozen in time.

Watching this, the words she spoke before her death flashed through his mind.

“[If I have to die anyway, I wanted to die by Sir Deon’s hand… but well, the 1st Corps Commander isn’t bad either.]”

“[….]”

“[Although it’s not as thrilling as Sir Deon, your combat style was quite interesting.]”

In the Human Realm, not even the Demon Realm, in a chaotic battle no less, her words were refreshingly free of regret. Truly, it was just like her.

…In any case, her battle was over.

Cutting off his thoughts and averting his gaze, Jaykar checked his own physical condition. He had been stabbed and cut in various places, but it wasn’t to the extent that it would hinder his movements.

‘The problem is….’

He slightly opened one eye. All he could still see was a hazy red color.

‘…It seems I’ll have to give up on using this eye in the current battle, at least.’

It was fortunate that he had somewhat adapted to his messed-up sense of distance. He made a quick judgment and surveyed his surroundings.

He could see the 1st Corps, now truly dwindled to just a few. If they were so weak that they couldn’t overcome their current situation, it was natural for them to die, and he had no interest in their lives. However, it would be problematic if the other legions, who had been focusing on them, achieved their objective and were left free.

Therefore, Jaykar immediately took steps towards them.

A demon who had caught the Demon King’s eye due to his martial prowess and exceptional lineage, and become the 1st Corps Commander, was now sweeping away the allied legion members. He pushed the troublesome 1st Corps out of his sight as if herding them away, and without giving them any attention, regardless of whether they supported him or not, he moved about wildly.

Even though the 8th Corps, having finally defeated the 6th Corps, had come to support those being pushed back, the tide of battle showed no signs of faltering.

Idelia, who grasped this situation with her six wide-open eyes, felt a chill run down her spine.

The person who should have been prioritized for containment even more than the 1st Corps, or rather, even above them, was in a free state without any containment.

‘This is insane.’

At this rate, everyone was going to die.

She looked around for other legion commanders who could contain him, but everyone was too busy to spare a glance. As she frantically rolled her eyes, scanning each legion commander, Idelia returned to the beginning and focused on one legion commander.

Unlike herself, who followed the Lord Demon King, he was a guy standing in a ridiculous position as a third force….

‘But right now, we’re in a situation with a common enemy, so it can’t be helped.’

He was a guy who could think quite well, so he might find a method different from hers.

Staring directly at Develania, the 2nd Corps Commander who was fighting the 11th Corps Commander, she raised her voice.

“What are you all doing?! The most dangerous enemy is left free!”

“…Damn it.”

Develania, who had been aware of Idelia’s gaze since she felt the piercingly persistent stare, belatedly grasped the meaning of her shout and cursed.

1st Corps Commander Jaykar was left free without any legion commander engaging him. Thanks to the 2nd Corps’ containment, the legion alliance was barely holding on, but at this rate, they would all be swept away soon.

“Where are you looking?”

As if sensing her eyes rolling, Lirinel immediately launched an attack.

“I won’t let you plot anything.”

“……”

Develania, who fixed magic stakes in the air and used threads to evade, didn’t even look at the mass of energy falling where she had been and hastily scanned other legion commanders.

1st Corps Commander Jaykar was on Deon Hart’s side, so she tried to induce at least a temporary alliance if there was any place among those currently fighting where their side’s camp and the Demon King’s camp were clashing….

‘…There aren’t any.’

When did they all die off?

Looking only at the surviving legion commanders, the 6th Corps Commander and Idelia, who were on the Demon King’s side, were each fighting the 9th and 5th Corps Commanders from Deon Hart’s camp. Even she herself was caught and fighting against Lirinel, the 11th Corps Commander, who was on Deon Hart’s side.

They wouldn’t miss this advantageous situation. Surely, no matter what she said, they wouldn’t let her go… huh?

‘What I said’?

“……”

“What… why are you looking at me like that? It’s ominous.”

Why had she only considered persuasion as an option? Instead of going through the trouble of persuading them, she could just make them betray Deon Hart.

‘Either way, Deon Hart is an obviously suspicious human, so if I poke at it a few times, they’ll start suspecting him on their own, probably.’

She happened to need something to buy time anyway, so there was nothing to lose by trying.

Develania, staring intently at Lirinel, opened her mouth. Her voice boomed loudly, seemingly aimed at all legion commanders in Deon Hart’s camp present on this battlefield.

“What I really don’t understand is, why are you guys following Deon Hart?”

“……”

“Deon Hart wants you guys to die just as much as he wants us to die, you know.”

“What?!”

Among the silent legion commanders, the only one who reacted was the 9th Corps Commander.

From the start, he had been forced to side with Deon Hart against his will, so it was understandable.

‘However….’

Lirinel aside, it was a bit surprising that Derniban and Jaykar hadn’t reacted. Judging by how Lirinel was glancing at them, it seemed she hadn’t anticipated Deon Hart’s scheme being revealed to them at all either.

While only 9th Corps Commander Trober was rampaging around, yelling about what nonsense this was, 5th Corps Commander Derniban calmly opened his mouth as he pulled out hidden weapons embedded in various parts of his body.

“I know.”

“Whaaaat?!”

“I realized it when I found out that he hadn’t told us about the existence of other allies.”

“I didn’t know?!”

What the hell are you talking about!

Trober’s scream echoed through the air.

Regardless, Derniban glanced back at Jaykar. As always, their gazes met, his eyes unfathomable.

‘…He knew too, as expected.’

There was no particular gesture, but that was precisely why he became even more certain. Jaykar also knew about this.

He probably realized it in the same context.

“[Deon Hart didn’t tell us about the existence of other allies.]”

Deon Hart told him to kill the other legion commanders. Even though he did, the fact that he didn’t tell them about their allies meant he wanted ‘everyone’ to die. Because those who didn’t know about allies would try to kill each other.

“But it doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me!”

“……”

No one responded, yet he was consistently persistent.

Derniban briefly closed his mouth and looked at Trober, who kept interjecting. Lirinel, not missing the opportunity of silence as Trober kept asking ‘What, why, what?’, opened her mouth.

“That’s right, it doesn’t matter.”

“……”

“Because I want Sir Deon to be happy!”

It wasn’t for that reason, and it was more because he wouldn’t have any regrets after killing the 9th Corps Commander… but anyway, since the conclusion that it didn’t matter was the same, Derniban closed his mouth. The question of the correlation between Deon Hart’s happiness and this matter was also quietly tucked away.

“…I figured you’d say something like that.”

Develania looked back at Lirinel, who was shining her eyes confidently.

“It’s a bit disappointing that the only one who took the bait is the 9th Corps Commander, who can’t even betray.”

“Sir Deon’s insight is amazing!”

“Well… I don’t think so. Isn’t it just Deon Hart’s luck with people that exploded?”

Judging from what she could see, it seemed like the other side had approached him first, rather than Deon Hart taking the initiative to bring someone in.

Either way, she had bought time, so she had broken even. Develania focused on the sensation of the thread caught on her fingertips and asked the butterfly fluttering without knowing it was caught in a dense web.

“There’s no chance you’ll change your mind now, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Yeah… I guess not.”

Before things turned out this way, they weren’t on particularly bad terms as legion commanders, so it was bittersweet, but it couldn’t be helped.

Before Lirinel could sense the ominous feeling and do something, she yanked the thread.

“Then, goodbye.”

“……!”

Swish.