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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: selkie
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The scene before my eyes filled me with confusion.
The Demon King, pierced by the spear I had thrown with all my remaining strength, was supposed to easily deflect the blow.
However, that strike, against all expectations, successfully pierced his side.
“Ugh! You… how dare you!”
The Demon King spoke in a voice filled with pain.
Hearing his voice, I began to shake off my confusion, and instead, I was overtaken by a deep sense of joy.
‘Could it be… did I really do it? Did my strike actually injure the Demon King?’
Even after committing the act, I found it hard to believe the situation unfolding before me.
Despite everything, Parisecht began to raise his voice, overwhelmed by the intense joy that surged within him.
“The… the Demon King has been injured!!! I, Parisecht, have pierced the Demon King with my spear!!!”
Just moments ago, Parisecht had no strength left to even move a finger. However, the overwhelming feeling of elation was enough to make him shout louder than he ever had before.
Immediately after hearing his voice, the soldiers present felt a profound shiver and hurriedly began to rise from their positions.
“P-Parisecht, the general, injured the Demon King?”
“Now is our chance! Kill that bastard immediately!”
In that moment, the Demon King, who had been displaying overwhelming power, showed a brief opening.
The soldiers, their eyes wide with excitement, immediately drew their swords and charged toward the Demon King.
They believed that now, they could claim the Demon King’s head for themselves. They were filled with hope that if they succeeded, they would obtain everything they had ever dreamed of.
However…
“Haah!!!”
“!!”
In the next moment, a sharp roar erupted from the Demon King’s mouth.
At the same time, a wave of power exploded from his body, causing the soldiers who had been rushing toward him with their eyes glazed over to suddenly halt in their tracks.
“Ugh!”
“Damn it!!”
Yet, even amidst this chaos, some soldiers burned with intense desire and attempted to attack the Demon King.
Fortunately, it seemed that the Demon King’s combat power had decreased due to his injury, as he could not completely thwart their movements like before.
The soldiers, who had reached the point where they could swing their swords, began to show a momentary expression of intense greed on their faces.
They were filled with the desire to strike at the Demon King before them.
But then…
“Gahhh!!!”
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, a scream filled with pain echoed from behind. The soldiers instinctively turned their gazes toward the sound, and soon their faces hardened in shock.
“How… how did the demon race get here?!”
“Ugh! Are these the Demon King’s guards? These guys are quite strong!”
A group of demons had suddenly intruded.
Although the number of demons was only about a hundred, the soldiers, caught off guard by the sudden ambush while focused on the Demon King, began to suffer significant losses.
As their attention shifted to the attacking demons, they heard a cry.
“Gahhh!!!”
“!! The… the Demon King is escaping!”
With a spear embedded in his side, the Demon King swung his sword wildly.
He ruthlessly cut down the soldiers blocking his path and then joined his guards who had rushed to save him, making his escape from the area.
“W-We can’t let him get away!!”
“Stop him! Shoot arrows or cast spells—do whatever it takes to stop him!”
In that moment, the soldiers and General Parisecht shouted urgently.
However, before the soldiers could take any action, the Demon King and his subordinates swiftly leaped over the Antioch castle walls and made their escape, like a receding tide.
Although arrows and spells flew toward them in a delayed response, it was already too late to catch them outside the castle.
Ultimately, the Demon King and his followers vanished from Parisecht’s sight, leaving him and the soldiers to feel a deep sense of regret, as if they had let a prized catch slip through their fingers.
Then…
“G-General!! Look over there!”
“! W-What is this?!”
Immediately afterward, Parisecht and his subordinates were struck by a profound shock upon realizing what they had just discovered. The scene before them delivered a weighty impact that overshadowed their disappointment at losing the Demon King.
It was the sight of a legion of demons that had reached right up to the castle walls, launching assaults from all directions.
While Parisecht and the commanders were preoccupied with the appearance of the Demon King, the demon army had quickly closed the distance.
As a result of the brief paralysis in their command structure, the demons reached the walls without significant losses and began to scale them with terrifying momentum.
“Damn it! That filthy Demon King! How could he resort to such tricks!”
Rather than using ladders, the demons spread their concealed wings, allowing them to fly short distances.
Seeing the demons climbing over the walls from various points, Parisecht felt a sense of urgency despite being a step behind and began issuing commands.
“Immediately activate the fire barrier prepared by the mages! We must hold off their assault, even if just for a moment!”
“Yes! General!”
“Go and bring out all the reserves! We don’t have the luxury to worry about anything else right now! We must hold back the enemies for today, no matter what!”
“Y-Yes, General!”
Despite extreme fatigue, Parisecht did his utmost to command.
Although he found himself in a position where he had to reveal his trump cards due to the Demon King’s schemes, he was still unwilling to give up on the current situation.
Having not acquired the crucial stronghold of Antioch through mere chance, he calculated the battlefield conditions in his mind and continuously issued orders, even in this unfavorable situation.
Having just fought a battle that left him barely able to keep his wits about him, he still fulfilled his duties as the leader of this place, doing his best to manage the troops.
He dispatched reinforcements to where they were needed immediately and activated prepared spells to block the enemy’s intrusion when necessary.
Although he was driven by intense desire, his skills were genuine, and the immense willpower stemming from that desire was not something to be underestimated.
Thus, Parisecht and his soldiers, while barely stabilizing the disrupted front lines, continued their fierce exchanges of attacks and defenses.
At this moment, Parisecht’s mind was racing, calculating not only the current situation but also what would happen after today’s battle.
‘For now, I’ve been caught off guard by his schemes, but hope has not completely vanished. I’ve sustained some damage, but I managed to inflict serious injury on the Demon King and force him to flee. So… even if Antioch falls tomorrow, there must be a way to turn the situation around!’
The Demon King, the enemy’s most crucial force, had appeared here and was now known to have been injured. This fact would surely attract many who sought to take advantage of the situation.
Based on this realization, Parisecht sent several of his subordinates outside the castle to relay the news.
Using the injured Demon King, an irresistible bait, to draw in as many hunters as possible.
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“Make way! We have an injured person here!”
The hero returned to the camp with a spear lodged in his side, supported by his direct subordinates. At the forefront was Rebecca, urgently calling for the army while assisting the fainted hero.
After perfectly defending against the enemy’s assault alone, the hero had jumped right into the heart of the enemy camp, causing extreme chaos.
Thanks to the hero taking on both defense and aggro, Rebecca and the vanguard were able to easily scale the walls without suffering any damage and ambush the enemies to claim their achievements.
However, as a result of this reckless action, the hero sustained severe injuries from the enemy’s attacks.
The hero, who burned himself to protect his subordinates and gave them the opportunity to achieve glory, left a significant impact on the soldiers, including Rebecca.
Initially filled with doubt and anxiety, they were now deeply shocked by the hero’s selfless actions.
This prompted them to rush to the infirmary with the injured hero, seeking the military doctor without anyone even needing to instruct them.
A short while later, the military doctor arrived at the scene in haste and began to examine the hero’s condition.
He pulled out the spear lodged in the hero’s side and used magic to heal the wounds. Watching him work with a serious expression, Rebecca could only anxiously observe the situation unfold.
Contrary to her initial suspicions, the hero had demonstrated true leadership by dedicating himself for their sake.
The thought of possibly having to part ways with someone who had shown such devotion without even being able to apologize weighed heavily on her heart.
‘Absolutely… you must not return like this. We have always doubted you… If you collapse like this without even being able to apologize for that…’
In a state of anxiety, Rebecca and the demon soldiers desperately hoped for their leader to awaken.
Meanwhile, at that moment, the hero, who had been receiving treatment from the military doctor and had his eyes closed the whole time, was not actually gravely injured.
He had not lost consciousness either; instead, he was feeling quite awkward and slightly sweating.
‘Damn it… what should I do? I intended to pretend to be injured to deceive the enemies and then get back up, but I missed my timing to rise.’
