Chapter 314: Second Round Begins

……

The familiar silence returned.

“Ah, that’s refreshing.” Deon threw his head back, chuckling softly. Rainwater streamed down his cheeks, gathering at his chin before dripping to the ground. His wet clothes clung to his body, hindering his movements, yet his mood was surprisingly upbeat.

“You know what’s more pathetic? It’s the reason the Demon King started this war.”

This war wouldn’t have started in the first place without the Demon King’s permission.

The smile faded from Deon’s lips, his once bright red eyes dimming. His face, now dry, hardened as he lowered his voice.

“Would you believe me if I told you all of this was just someone’s way of killing time?”

……

“There’s no noble cause, no desperate ambition driving this.”

In other words, there was no grand purpose to justify the war that’s driven you all to the brink.

Silence stretched on. Deon licked his lips, a bitter taste lingering. As the end drew near, a new thought surfaced.

‘What was I even fighting for?’

It had been a long journey, yet the end was still a stretch away. Clinging to his unfulfilled goals and stubbornly holding on, exhaustion was inevitable.

…But no, that’s not important right now.

“So.”

Pushing aside the hollow feeling, Deon’s lips curled into a vicious snarl. He directed his sharp words at Aletea and the other Heroes who flinched and tightened their grips on their weapons, and towards the rulers listening in.

“Let’s start round two, you bastards!”

Let’s just get this over with.

The downpour either dampened the battlefield’s frenzy or amplified it – it seemed to be doing the latter, which suited him just fine.

With a final glance at the demon soldiers and Primiero Knights locked in frenzied combat nearby, Deon’s crimson eyes glowed. He gripped his familiar weapon and charged towards the enemy.

Thus began the full-scale battle between the berserk Hero and the Heroes trying to restrain him.

***

The Lofty Knights had finally crossed the swollen river.

Of course…

“Hey… hey! Snap out of it!”

“Damn it, can’t die here!”

Though ‘everyone making it across safely’ was not the case.

For ‘Demon Realm steeds,’ they sure lacked stamina. A few were even swept away by the current. True to their survival instincts, they quickly ditched their horses and clambered onto their comrades’ steeds, but…

“He swallowed too much water.”

“In that short time? Was this bastard planning on having water for lunch…?”

“If you’re hungry, eat rations, you moron…”

“It’s not like you’re a hippo calf starved for three days. When you fall into water, you’re supposed to hold your breath, not gulp it down like you’ve been waiting for it. What kind of crazy bastard does that?”

“And he sucked it down his windpipe, not his gullet… Looks like filling his stomach wasn’t enough, so he wanted to store some in his lungs?”

“It’s not like you’re going to be stranded on a desert island without water for a month.”

Some were too slow and slipped into the river. Thankfully, no one was ‘lost’ – comrades hauled them out before they were swept away. Though, their ‘liveliness’ was another matter.

The able-bodied quickly set to work, pumping chests and pounding backs. If someone didn’t snap to, a sharp slap to the cheek usually did the trick.

True to their cockroach-like resilience, they’d sputter awake, cursing between coughs, demanding to know why their ribs were broken and cheeks were slapped. But not everyone was so lucky.

……

“…Just one. We got off lightly, considering.”

“I know.”

In terms of numbers, yeah. Milan’s gaze fell to the cold body before him.

“But…”

But ‘just’ didn’t cut it when it was a comrade you’d fought alongside for over a decade.

Despite knowing time was of the essence, a heavy silence descended. Their attempts to keep things light and jovial had fallen flat.

Milan, his face blank as he stared at the body, noticed Kleter rummaging through something in the corner of his eye.

“Kleter, what are you doing?”

“Thought I’d check if there’s anything useful among the Captain’s herbs.”

These were fairy herbs, after all. There might be something useful.

Clinging to hope, he scanned the instructions on the slip of paper. His eyes stopped on one line. Pupils, which had held a hint of resignation, dilated with dawning excitement.

“Milan!”

Kleter looked up sharply.

“Shove this down his throat, now!”

“What? Hey, even if he went down like an idiot, desecrating a corpse is…”

“What crap are you spouting? Did you forget these are fairy herbs? It’s to save him! Shove it down his throat, windpipe or gullet, doesn’t matter.”

Either way, as long as it goes down, it’ll work.

Instructions said it’d instantly clear water from the windpipe if it went down that way, or dissolve in the gullet and induce vomiting to expel water from the lungs. It even heals the body and any injuries sustained in the process.

[※Warning: For healthy individuals, this may cause lungs to shrivel, dry up, or even rupture. Do not misuse.]

Hmm… Thought the healing effect might have other applications, but guess not. Regardless, the point is this could save their comrade.

Milan’s eyes lit up at the explanation. Snatching the herb, he clamped a hand on their comrade’s chin, forcing their mouth open, and grinned as he shoved the herb down their throat.

“As you wish.”

…It was a rather gruesome sight.

Had he partnered with a madman? Oh right, they were a band of lunatics to begin with.

“Get you’re excited about saving him, but try not to rupture his throat shoving it down. And watch his tongue.”

“Of course, trust me.”

“……”

Didn’t inspire confidence in the slightest.

Then, he noticed it – a twitch in their ‘dead’ – no, dying – comrade’s arm.

…Was it his imagination? Or late-onset rigor mortis? Maybe the soul, angered by their rough handling, had returned. Kleter narrowed his eyes.

“Hukk, hack! Gerk! W, wa… Puke!”

“Oh.”

“Cough, cough… What the hell, you crazy bastard?! Trying to kill me?!”

The corpse was sitting up and grabbing Milan by the collar!

Though still spewing curses and water, Milan’s face lit up. He bear-hugged the revived corpse—no, comrade.

“He’s alive! The ‘corpse’ is alive!”

“Who’re you calling a corpse?! More importantly, my stomach’s churning, so quit squeezing… Puke.”

“Oh.”

Warm liquid splattered across Milan’s shoulders and back.

…At least it was just water. He’d feel a bit queasy, no doubt.

‘Well, not my problem.’

Kleter, unfazed, turned away, rummaging in his herb pouch for another remedy.

Bringing him back was just the first step. They still needed to address aftereffects like lowered body temperature. Same went for the others who’d taken a dunking.

Herb in hand, Kleter clapped the wet back of a nearby comrade, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Alright, everyone who took a swim, line up in front of me.”

“…?”

“No time to dawdle, chop chop.”

Gotta get you patched up quick and back to helping the Captain.

The added words were enough to form a line in front of him instantly.

***

Rweche had public bathhouses. Do you know what that implies?

Such fastidious folk wouldn’t just dump wastewater haphazardly within the city. Which meant there had to be a designated outflow for used bathwater.

‘Infiltration via water? That’s my forte.’

Develania, Commander of the 2nd Corps and expert in infiltration, grinned, stroking the gills behind her ear with a splayed hand. The webbing between her fingers flexed, a clear testament to her expertise.

‘Used bathwater… ugh, not thrilled about wading through that, but…’

Tipping the scales of this dragging war meant destroying the arrays. No choice for it.

After checking her gear, she plunged into the water, steeling herself against the revulsion. She had a communication stone, map, and other odds and ends tucked away. Comms stone was basically rock anyway, water wouldn’t hurt it; map was waterproofed. The rest of her gear was water-resistant too.

Fortunately, the outflow tunnel was wide enough for a person to move through without issue.

‘Makes sense, wouldn’t want to make it too narrow and risk blockage – no way to fix that.’

Better to risk potential intrusion by making it person-sized and doing regular maintenance checks than inefficiently redesigning the whole system from scratch if it clogged.

Mindlessly wading upstream, Develania stopped short at the sight of iron bars blocking her path.

‘Figured they’d have some kind of defense.’

Luckily, it was just a latch, pickable kind.

Legion Commander’s infiltration skills were nothing to scoff at. Without missing a beat, she rummaged in her gear, pulling out a set of lockpicks – various slender rods, some with bent tips, others curved. After a moment’s consideration, she selected one.

……

Once she’d cracked one, the rest were a breeze.

Rweche was shockingly lax, using identical locks on all the grates. Meaning they were all variations of the same simple mechanism. Traps occasionally triggered, but nothing too serious.

At this point, they might as well use this as a regular infiltration route. The thought actually crossed her mind.

‘If only others could hold their breath as long as she could, this would be a prime infiltration route.’

Shame that so few demons could manage extended underwater excursions in completely submerged tunnels.

Suppressing a sigh of regret, Develania reached the end of the tunnel and unfurled her map, pausing at the sight of water droplets hitting the floor.

‘Ugh…’

Dripping water left a trail.

Wish she could use magic to dry off, but magic suppression arrays within the city walls made that impossible. She squeezed out her clothes and hair as best she could to minimize the drips, then consulted the map again.

She resolutely ignored the disgust crawling under her skin at the thought of being soaked in sewage.

‘Alright… let’s get to it. First pylon was around here, right?’

Good thing there weren’t too many pylons to deal with.

She scanned the pre-planned route designed to hit every pylon in one go, minimizing backtracking. Likely guards at each pylon, but that was hardly an issue.

Assassination was part and parcel of infiltration, after all. Time was the real enemy.

‘Fifteen minutes tops, from the moment she drew first blood inside the city walls.’

The instant guards at one pylon went down, reinforcements would be dispatched to all of them. Had to finish before that happened.

Ideally, destroying one pylon would collapse the entire array, but something this crucial wouldn’t be that flimsy. Best to assume she had to take them all out.

Her lithe body moved faster than ever.

***

Magic suppression arrays vanished.

Looks like the Commander of the 2nd Corps pulled it off. Commander of the 11th Corps, Lirinel, immediately barked orders at her legionnaires.

“Move out!”

Instantly, the 11th Corps unleashed their magic. Then, the 3rd and 4th Corps, along with the 2nd Corps legionnaires Develania had left behind, vanished from before the city walls. The sudden silence was eerie, unsettling. Human soldiers watching from the walls gaped.

Reflexive questions echoed from the city walls.

“They’re gone.”

“Where the hell’d they go?”

“Magic? But… magic shouldn’t work here.”

A low murmur rippled through the ranks. The questions and unease morphed into shock at the sudden clamor erupting from within the city.

The situation became clear quickly.

Demons…

Had infiltrated the city.