“Are you really planning to march forward like this?”
“Of course. Now is the perfect opportunity to make a name for ourselves, with Kesar and that human woman hesitating.”
Alexander spoke firmly to Charlemagne, who was expressing concern.
Originally, he had no ill feelings toward Kesar, but recent events had drastically changed his perception of him.
Adolf, the man he personally respected, had been killed in a way that Alexander could only describe as unjust.
The ‘unjust’ death of the long-time loyal servant of the Demon Kingdom, Adolf, had made Alexander realize that the current situation was not as simple as it seemed.
And, to make matters worse, the one who had become the Demon King in place of the late Adolf was the human woman he so despised.
No matter how much she had become a half-demon by gaining the power of the Demon King, at her core, she was still a being with deceitful and ugly human blood.
This was an insult to Adolf, and, moreover, to the Demon Kingdom and all of its people, including Alexander.
Of course, considering that the one who made this human woman the Demon King was the Great Demon King himself, one might question if this reasoning truly made sense.
But at least, in Alexander’s mind, it did.
However, despite his dissatisfaction with the situation, there was little Alexander could do.
Kesar and the human woman were part of the Four Great Demon Lords.
Even the Great Demon King had openly supported these two.
At least Charlemagne had remained neutral, with a slight tilt toward Alexander’s side, but it seemed that restoring the balance of power was an impossible task.
If Alexander were as brilliant as Adolf, he might have been able to come up with some sort of strategy, but unfortunately, he did not possess such intellect.
In this situation, the only way for Alexander to fix this decaying state of affairs (as he saw it) was to use the power he had.
By achieving great merit in the war against the humans, he could gain the favor of the Great Demon King.
With that, perhaps he could correct this distorted situation, even if only a little.
After all, Kesar, a lowly demon to begin with, had reached the position of Demon King and gained the Great Demon King’s favor through his strength and military achievements.
Power was the instinct of all demons.
If Alexander could also achieve similar feats, he believed he could reach a position comparable to Kesar’s.
And to do so, he needed to act ahead of the other Four Great Demon Lords, not simply follow behind them like a fool.
Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to achieve this on his own, but Charlemagne, his long-time companion, was by his side.
If two of the Four Great Demon Lords acted together, he believed they could win.
With that thought, Alexander hastened his steps.
‘The throne… at the very least, I must claim the head of that Emperor. For this country… for our demonkind, I must do this with my own hands!…’
A cathedral where pure white light flickered.
At its center, a person was kneeling with his head respectfully bowed.
With golden hair that shone like the sun, a handsome face that was obvious at a glance, and clad in silver armor, the man stood.
Before him was the leader of the Church, a person known as the representative of the gods.
Pope Closes XI declared in a solemn voice.
“Sir Anor, high-ranking knight. In answer to the goddess’s call, I appoint you as the new hero. In these troubled times, I command you to purify the corrupt and restore the goddess’s order by displaying your strength, wisdom, and deepest faith more than anyone else.”
“As the goddess wills.”
The knight, Anor, responded with a solemn voice to the Pope’s declaration.
Anor, who had already been famous as one of the Empire’s greatest knights for a long time, caused the Pope, the priests, and the knights accompanying him to smile broadly as they watched him.
“You shall receive the holy sword blessed by the goddess.”
With those words, the Pope handed the ‘holy sword’ to Anor.
Of course, it was not the true holy sword, but rather a weapon taken from the Magic Tower.
It did not radiate the strong divine power typical of a true holy sword.
While it had been reforged using holy water and carried the blessings of the Pope and the priests, that was all.
The sword lacked the characteristic divine energy that a true holy sword would normally emit.
However, despite knowing this, there was no one who dared to speak of it.
Although they were aware that it was a kind of political show, there was no reason to spoil the moment by mentioning it.
As soon as the ceremony of handing over the holy sword ended, the new hero, Anor, lifted the sword and declared loudly.
“By the name of the hero, I hereby declare a crusade to exterminate the demons starting now!”
“Uwaaa!!”
“Long live the hero!”
“Long live the goddess!”
“Long live the Leaf Empire!”
They cheered loudly, showing intense excitement.
Watching their reactions, a cold smile began to appear on the lips of the hero, Anor.
‘Finally, I’ve reached this position… Leaving behind that lowly half-elf woman and coming this far was worth it.’
The ties he had severed in the past with false methods.
He felt that it had been the right decision to decisively cut off what could have been an eternal shackle in his life.
With a firm grip on the holy sword in his hand, Anor experienced a deep sense of satisfaction.
‘From now on, it’s my era!’
The army formed around the new hero, Anor, was far from small.
The total force amounted to 70,000.
Considering that the demon army that had invaded was just over 40,000, their size was nearly double.
Moreover, with the Empire now in crisis, the Imperial Family, as well as the nobles and lords, were readily releasing their supplies.
However, despite the impressive size of the army, the expressions of the officers leading it were not exactly bright.
“How about your side?”
“Don’t even mention it, among the recruits, there are barely any who can fire a single arrow properly…”
“Still, hunters are good with bows, aren’t they? The problem is control. It’s not just about maintaining formations, even their movement during training is far from adequate.”
“Mm…”
The difference between an elite army and a regular force ultimately boils down to how well they follow orders.
Marching, retreating, attacking, and defending must be carried out precisely according to the commander’s instructions, but… expecting that from the current forces was practically impossible.
Elite forces trained for this purpose had been reduced to less than half in the last battle.
Now, the majority of the army was made up of hastily gathered peasants, and their limitations were clear in terms of management.
Uncontrollable forces could sometimes be more dangerous than the enemy itself.
There were even opinions suggesting that it might be better to operate with fewer, but properly trained soldiers.
However…
“That is not an option.”
“But, hero…”
“This war is a crusade to drive out the demons. Even if their training is somewhat lacking, we cannot crush their will to fight against evil. Even if they are not perfect, I order that all of them be sent to the battlefield.”
“Mm…”
“Willpower…”
In reality, most of them had been forcibly conscripted, so there was little willpower to speak of, but the supreme commander here was the hero, Anor.
It was not an easy task to voice opposition to him when he spoke so resolutely.
And so, it was decided to deploy all of them, according to the hero’s wishes.
Watching this unfold, hero Anor carefully fiddled with the holy sword at his waist…
To be more precise, it was the item that the former Great Witch Mari had obtained but sealed due to its dangerous nature.
‘It’s right to use whatever can be used. If it’s for victory, some sacrifice is inevitable.’
“How much further?”
“Yes, we should reach the capital in about two more days.”
“Two days, huh…”
The Demon King, Alexander, made a displeased expression at his subordinate’s words.
Then, with a voice full of resolve, he commanded.
“Increase the speed.”
“Eh? But… my lord, we are already moving fast enough…”
“I said there’s no time. We must reach the capital by tomorrow at the latest.”
“Isn’t this a bit too hasty? Everyone is exhausted. At least we need to save some strength to fight in front of the castle…”
“There’s no time to waste. Who knows when Kesar will arrive? We cannot afford to be leisurely. We’ll rest in front of the capital. Move quickly.”
His command was filled with impatience.
Seeing this, Charlemagne, who had been trying to intervene, fell silent as well.
Recently, her friend had been acting strangely.
It was understandable that this was the aftermath of losing the ‘comrade’ Adolf, whom he had respected, but even though Charlemagne could see that, it was still not a pleasant sight.
For the time being, they were traveling together out of loyalty, but she couldn’t help but worry that something might really go wrong if this continued.
Thinking that she would have to suggest delaying the march today if the opportunity arose…
At that moment…
“My lord! A massive enemy army has appeared ahead!”
“What?”
“The enemy… humans?”
“Yes! They are positioned in the plains ahead.”
The enemies had appeared far sooner than expected.
At this, the two Demon Kings quickly began to organize their ranks in preparation to face the enemy.