Everything unfolded suddenly, yet quietly.
The girl tending the sheep—Elin.
She lived in a quiet, remote city, just as she always had.
She had lost her parents to bandits long ago, and now she lived quietly in the outskirts of the city.
Recently, there had been some commotion because the Hero and the Imperial Army had passed through the area, but now, the city was peaceful once again, as it always was, and Elin was carrying on with her usual routine of tending to the sheep.
Although the adults had been talking a lot about how a war might break out soon,
how they should flee, and so on, Elin paid little attention to such talk.
It was common for the village to become a little noisy and then settle down again.
Elin believed that peace would continue, just as it always had.
However…
What the adults had said was not a lie.
“Ugh…”
Elin trembled in fear as she collapsed to the ground.
Around her, the scene was far from normal.
The walls of the castle had collapsed.
Soldiers lay defeated.
And there were countless people bound around her.
Among them, the most noticeable was the lord lying on the ground, bleeding.
A man who had imposed heavy taxes and acted tyrannically for no reason.
Elin herself had once been unfairly kicked by him simply because he was in a bad mood.
But in this moment, all of his former arrogance was meaningless as he lay dead, his head cleanly severed.
And surrounding his corpse were…
Demons.
With swords, horns, and black wings, terrifying beings who were rumored to drink human blood and feast on flesh.
In less than half a day, they had captured the castle.
Now, without the lord’s head, they were looking at the residents, including Elin.
It was a terrifying sight, as if they were ready to swing their swords at any moment.
And then.
One of the demons slowly began to approach Elin, who was frozen in fear.
The demon, holding the sword that had just severed the lord’s head, was dripping with blood.
As Elin watched the blood fall, she was consumed by a heavier sense of dread.
“A… Aah…”
Elin’s voice trembled as she started to cry, knowing death was imminent.
The demon raised its sword, ready to strike her down.
But then.
“Wait.”
“!”
“T-That person is!”
A cold voice interrupted, and a figure stepped in front of Elin, blocking her from the demon.
Elin and everyone around her recognized the figure instantly.
“H-Hero?”
“A… A-Are you really here…?”
The figure, dressed in shining white armor and holding the Holy Sword, was none other than Hero Irushil.
Her sudden appearance, despite being thought dead by the demons, filled the onlookers with surprise and a faint sense of hope.
The Hero was the strongest being in the Empire.
Could she defeat these demons with her power?
But despite their hopes, what came from the Hero’s lips was something else entirely.
“The lord of this place is dead. With the Emperor’s lackey gone, I will not allow any more tyranny here.”
Clink!
For a moment, the demons seemed to hesitate, then sheathed their swords and disappeared.
Watching them vanish, Hero Irushil let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“H-Hero!”
“What in the world is going on here?”
The people, filled with both confusion and relief, asked their questions.
The Hero responded with a voice tinged with sadness.
“Do not worry. As long as there is no unnecessary commotion, these demons will not cause trouble here any longer.”
“The peace in this area has been stabilized without major issues.”
“Yes, there are still some concerns, but there shouldn’t be any major disturbances for a while.”
Mari and Irushil spoke quietly to each other.
Just as they had done elsewhere, they had calmed the residents with an appropriate ‘performance.’
The demons who had occupied the city, and the fearful residents, were now left with the image of the Hero’s intervention.
The atmosphere was stabilized, and the people had, albeit passively, accepted the demon’s rule for now.
It was a bothersome, yet effective plan with few flaws.
For now, it was the best option.
The demons’ original intent was the complete annihilation of all humans.
To prevent that, the only choice was to temporarily secure stable control.
“Even so, I doubt the Great Demon King will be pleased. If anything goes wrong, it will be even harder to justify.”
In a quiet voice, Mari’s “friend,” Teriya, spoke.
To this, Mari slowly nodded and responded.
“I am aware of that as well. That is why we must capture the Imperial Capital as quickly as possible.”
“Indeed. The swift capture of the Imperial Capital is the only way to minimize sacrifices.”
Once the capital was taken and the Empire was destroyed, the situation would be sealed.
Hoping that this fragile balance would not collapse, Mari began planning their next attack.
“But Master, why is Kesar attacking irrelevant places? Shouldn’t he be heading to the Imperial Capital immediately?”
“Well, I’m sure he has his own reasons. Don’t worry about it for now. Let’s focus on our own tasks.”
In response to Irushil’s words, expressing both confusion and dissatisfaction, Mari answered calmly.
Though she too had doubts about why Kesar was behaving this way, she knew that he was not someone who would act meaninglessly.
Therefore, she chose to let this issue go for the time being.
The city of Kashi, located in the northwest of the Leaf Empire.
Although it was not one of the larger cities in the northern region, and there was nothing particularly remarkable about it compared to other areas, at least… on the surface, that was the case.
“Great Twilight, grant us the power to save this corrupted world!”
In the depths of the city of Kashi, people were praying fervently in low voices.
These people, who usually appeared as ordinary citizens, now shed their false masks in the darkness of night, revealing their true nature.
The Twilight Cult.
A religion that worshipped the evil god Twilight, a cult outlawed across the Empire and the entire continent.
They were offering sacrifices of animals, including birds and livestock, as well as “infidels”—those who did not worship Twilight—performing rituals with them.
With every sacrifice made, the mana in the room grew stronger.
The dark, mist-like energy, tinged with a deep blue hue, was absorbed into the bodies of the cultists, and with each passing moment, their strength grew.
However, even with this increasing power, they had little they could do at the moment.
They had control over the underground of Kashi, but they were still too confined to act openly.
Their power was not yet sufficient to execute large-scale plans.
In fact, it would be several years before they revealed themselves in earnest.
After the Demon Kingdom’s fall, and with the subsequent events weakening the Empire’s strength, they would finally begin to move.
It was then that the Twilight Cult would step forward as the main antagonist of what was known as “Season 3.”
“This is bad! The demons are attacking!”
“What… what did you say?”
A sudden, urgent voice rang out.
The cultists in the room began to look at each other with expressions of confusion rather than concern.
“Demons? No, does that even make sense?”
“It can’t be. How could they know about this place… Grrrrrgh!!!”
Before the sentence could finish, a mana arrow came flying toward them.
The crimson energy wrapped around the arrow struck with deadly force, causing the cultists’ faces to stiffen with shock.
And then…
“D…Did they really come?”
“Of course. Has Kesar ever been wrong?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“Enough with the nonsense. Let’s sweep them all away. We were told to kill all the humans here.”
“Y-Yes!”
As the conversation between the two female demons ended, demons charged into the room, heavily armed.
Within moments, they began slaughtering the cultists with swift precision.
“W-What is this?!”
“Damn it! Stop them! We must protect the High Priest… Grrrgh!!!”
Although they tried to resist, their efforts were in vain as the demons quickly overwhelmed and slaughtered the Twilight cultists.
In that moment, the Twilight Cult, once a future major antagonist causing trouble across realms, was completely eradicated by a handful of demons.
The cult was severed at its roots, vanishing from existence.
“Good. With this, Season 3’s enemies are cut down!”
As the cultists in Kashi were wiped out, a sense of joy spread across my face.
After all the trouble these pests had caused throughout Season 3, this moment of victory felt especially sweet.
Having dealt with those relentless pests—like weeds that kept growing back no matter how many times I tried to pull them up—I couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief, like a burden had been lifted, as I saw the end of those who were broken before they could even stand.
‘So… what’s next?’
As the armies of the Four Great Demon Lords gradually took over the Empire,
I continued to search out the future villains hidden in every corner, crushing their heads one by one.
From the cultists, to Twilight, the Leaf Empire’s lord, Bishop Tyson,
and even Celos, the Elven Ambassador.
I attacked the places where troublemakers would later emerge, eliminating the obstacles that could cause future problems.
While this pushed me a bit further from the Imperial Capital, I knew the other Demon Lords would handle that path just fine.
And so, just like unripe fruit falling prematurely, the weak forces that were supposed to be the final bosses of the future were neatly wiped out by my hand.
Of course, from their perspective, it might have been a bit unfair. But, for the sake of peace, these sacrifices were unavoidable.
With all the future headaches cleared away, my attention naturally turned toward my final goal.
I was heading toward the Imperial Capital, where the Emperor resided, the final villain of the Season 8 finale.