—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: selkie
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The city of Thebes, located in the northern part of the Falcon Empire.
With a population of 10,000, its size couldn’t be considered that large, but it was still located in a strategically important area of the empire, making it a place with a relatively large floating population.
And now.
In the outskirts of this city, which is covered in deep darkness, a group of black shadows appeared and were cautiously surveying the surroundings.
“What about the city’s defenses?”
“Just as you predicted. The city’s defenses are extremely weak.”
“It seems that most of the troops have been mobilized for the war against the elves, just as Lady Shude mentioned.”
“I suppose so… Everything is as expected.”
At her subordinates’ words, Shude began to wear a satisfied smile.
This plan was carried out under the order of the Demon King.
As the leader of the plan to raid the Falcon Empire disguised as demons, Shude chose Thebes over several other cities.
The reasons were that, first, being located in the north of the empire, it was in a position to easily draw troops in response to the war taking place in the southeast,
And also, because it had a large basic floating population, security was inevitably more lax than in other areas.
However, these aspects were only secondary reasons.
The biggest reason she chose Thebes as the target point was something else.
Currently, in the residential area located in the center of this city,
There was a house where High Priestess Aileen and her lover, Torare, were living.
As a High Priestess who had to travel to various regions, it was relatively advantageous for Aileen to settle in Thebes, rather than other places.
And, as a former colleague who knew these facts well,
Shude set this place as the target point in order to carry out the mission and kidnap the man she was in love with at the same time.
Having perfectly finished preparing to launch an attack with about 100 witches, including herself, disguised as demons using magical tools,
Next, she saw a subordinate rushing towards her urgently.
“They say preparations are complete on the east wall as well.”
“Let’s begin now.”
“Good, move in immediately.”
“Yes!”
Having finished the final check, Shude and her subordinates immediately began to take action.
In the deep darkness where even the moon was not visible, they easily jumped over the walls using magic.
Then, the witches of the Magic Kingdom began to move quickly, completely silencing their footsteps with soundproofing magic.
Although they could see soldiers on guard, slacking off and being negligent, they didn’t bother to touch them.
Their purpose now was not a fight with the guards, which would only cause a commotion, but something bigger.
“Hoo…”
“Fortunately, we haven’t been caught so far.”
The witches arrived at the warehouse area, which was located quite a distance from the walls.
Immediately after that, they let out a sigh of relief, thinking that they were halfway to success since they had come this far.
And after looking around at her subordinates,
The squad leader, who was entrusted with Shude’s instructions, gave them instructions in a firm voice.
“Begin.”
“Yes!”
At the same time as her permission was given, the witches immediately began to gather their magical power.
Then, they immediately aimed the staffs in their hands at the warehouse buildings in front of them.
And…
Kwaaang!!!
An enormous explosion occurred with the simultaneous detonation of about 100 witches.
The noise caused by the aftermath stirred up the entire city.
The residents, who had been sound asleep in the darkness, hurriedly got up and began to rush out of their houses to find out what was causing this noise.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“W… What on earth is that sound?”
“Th… There! Look over there!”
“What is it? Wh… What is that…?”
A shocking scene began to appear in the eyes of the citizens.
It was the sight of the warehouse area, engulfed in bright red flames and spewing black smoke that was clearly
visible even at night.
The warehouse area was being swallowed up by the hellishly bright fire.
Recognizing the fact that their property stored there was turning to ashes moment by moment, the citizens began to move urgently to somehow deal with this situation.
“Damn it! Hurry up! If we stay like this, our property will turn into a handful of ashes!”
“Put out the fire quickly! If you can’t do that, you have to salvage whatever you can!”
Some hurriedly ran to the warehouse area with buckets, others pulling carts.
But immediately after that.
They had no choice but to stop in their tracks at the unexpected scene that began to appear in their eyes.
Beings blocking them as they rushed to reduce the damage.
It was a group of demons with black wings and horns.
“Wh… What is this…”
“How… How are there demons here?”
The citizens began to be filled with confusion and fear at the appearance of the unexpected beings.
Looking at their appearance, the ‘demons’ immediately straightened the staffs and swords in their hands and began to release their magical power.
And…
“Heok!”
“Dange…rous…!”
Kwaaang!!!
The demons’ attacks poured down on the defenseless citizens.
The fireballs, emitting a ghastly light in the darkness, instantly claimed the lives of the citizens at the forefront.
“Uwaaaah!!!”
“Run away! It’s a demon attack!”
“Demons from hell have invaded us!”
Due to the long-standing war, demons were nothing more than monsters who unconditionally antagonized humans to ordinary people.
And now, according to their common sense, the demons were launching indiscriminate attacks against ordinary civilians.
After brutally massacring people who had no intention to fight and were not even armed,
The demons no longer chased after the fleeing citizens and began to disappear into the darkness.
And after a while,
When the soldiers arrived late, after understanding the situation, neither the demons nor anyone else remained there anymore.
The only thing left was:
Weapons of the Demon Kingdom scattered on the ground and some tokens indicating their identity as demons,
Therefore, the lord and generals who managed Thebes naturally came to the conclusion that this incident was an act of revenge committed by demons who had crossed the sea.
And so, they failed to reach the truth about this matter.
Who the perpetrators of this event were,
And even what incidental things happened in the process.
With their power, they could not accurately achieve anything.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
‘A little close for comfort.’
Shude was moving secretly alone in the darkness.
At this moment, she was moving while releasing magical power to the maximum in order to reach her destination as quickly as possible.
She had managed to get away from her subordinates by making a suitable excuse, but even so, she didn’t have much time left.
Her subordinates were scheduled to cause a disturbance in the warehouse area according to the plan.
If that happened, many of the citizens in this city would surely come out of their houses to find out the cause of the explosion.
And among them, perhaps the man she was looking for… Torare, might also be included.
‘If that happens, finding Torare in this city will become like finding a needle in a desert. I have to arrive somehow before that…’
Feeling impatient, Shude flew quickly towards Aileen’s house, which finally came into view.
But then.
Kwaaang!!!
“! Keuk…”
The loud explosion rang in her ears the next moment.
Worried that Torare might come out of the house because of this, Shude concentrated all her attention on Aileen’s house.
She was determined that if Torare came out from there, she would never let him go after that.
But contrary to her worries, there was no sign of the house door opening. So Shude automatically let out a sigh of relief and managed to arrive there.
‘Could it be that he was already asleep and couldn’t wake up? If that’s the case, it would be really good for me, but…’
Thinking that, Shude carefully approached the house.
But immediately after that,
She saw a light flowing out from behind the thick curtains, and she automatically felt a question.
‘What is it? If the light is on, it means he’s still awake…’
Depending on how you think about it, it could be said that Torare simply didn’t want to get involved in this and was just staying in the house.
However, in this regard, considering Torare’s personality, which is usually quite sensitive to danger, it was a part that could be considered strange enough.
‘What on earth is going on?.. Could it be that he’s doing something inside?’
Thinking that, Shude carefully picked the lock with magic and entered the house.
Immediately after that, what she saw was a dark hallway and a room at the end where a faint light was leaking out.
“Torare… nim?”
A strange sense of foreboding came over her for a moment.
Recognizing it, Shude carefully called Torare’s name and arrived at the place where the light was coming from.
Then Shude slowly opened the door.
And immediately after that,
She was utterly and deeply shocked by the scene that began to appear in her eyes.
There were two people in front of her.
One was Torare, whom she knew well… no, whom she thought she knew well.
And the other person was someone she had never seen before.
A woman she had never seen before, clad in nothing but bare skin, entangled in Torare’s embrace.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: selkie
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
