Volume 8, The Seventh Chapter of the Final Battle: “The Demon King VS. The Church of the God of Light—Battle Between Subordinates”

lucathia

I really might miss it… a bit.

I drank with everyone deep into the night. I gleefully watched Michel’s heart break over his wine. When I drank the last bottle, he nearly fainted.

Finally, it was after the holy knights’ helpful reminder to not disturb others that everyone went back to their tents to sleep.

Truthfully speaking, passing the days like this was quite fun. I thought it would even be no problem to play like this for a year! However, I didn’t have a year to play around with. It was all because of Lesus’s persistence that the Church of the God of Light sent troops, so this hero game must come to an early end.

Hmph!

I clenched my fist, crushing the glass skull in my grasp. Dark element gushed out.

“There’s nothing to linger over. This kind of game, I can play however many times I want.” I muttered, “Come! Adair, let’s end this game.”

Outside the tent, a large amount of dark element gathered. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds…

“Enemy attack!” came a loud shout from outside.

I nodded. The alertness of the holy knights had not deteriorated. If three seconds passed and no one reacted, I really would make sure that Adair gave them a good beating later!

I lifted the flap of the tent and walked out. Actually, most of the uproar came from the adventurers. The holy knight camp made nearly no sound. If there was any noise from them, that would be the sound of armor clinking against armor. Compared to the alarmed shouts of the adventurers, the holy knights were truly much more disciplined.

Tonight, there was not a cloud in sight, and the moonlight was especially bright. Even though the army encampment only had torches to light the way, the surrounding terrain could be approximated. A thread of black smoke rose from the horizon, rushing towards the encampment.

At first, it did not draw much attention, but as the dark smoke rolled closer, people took notice. By the time they did, everyone else also realized it very quickly.

At first, they were suspicious. When the black cloud was close enough that they could faintly see troops and horses, they became shocked. Finally, when they could even clearly see that the troops on the horses were most definitely not living humans, a riot broke out.

Hmph hmph! The Pope knows how to use a teleportation circle. Did you think I wouldn’t… Okay, I really don’t know how. The magic circle was drawn by Scarlet. I only provided a source of unending elements to power it.

“Grisia!”

I turned to look. Taylen and Michel were both fully armed and standing by my side. Their expressions were serious, but not at all like how panicked the other people were. Although they were probably not as strong as the vice-captains of the Twelve Holy Knights, they were just as composed.

“What does this undead army hope to accomplish?” Even though Taylen was calm, he was a little shocked. “This place is so far from the Demon King’s Castle. What are they doing here?”

“Their target is probably the army of the Church of the God of Light.” I lazily said, “The Church of the God of Light crusaded against the Demon King with such great fanfare. If I were the Demon King, I would definitely send troops to flatten them completely!”

Michel nodded in agreement.

“But…” Taylen frowned, but after saying a single word, he spoke no further.

At this time, the holy knights started getting into formation to face the enemy. The holy knights in the middle held large shields, forming a defensive line. Between shields extended one long pike after another. These battalions were led by Georgo’s and Aivis’s platoons. Behind them came holy knights who wielded pikes and two-handed great swords. Then came archers, who were of course led by Elmairy’s platoon. By the two flanks were holy knights who rode war horses. Some wielded cavalry swords, and some were mounted archers.

Truly an impressive sight…

Even though I was the Sun Knight, even I had never seen the holy knights form such a formation. After all, the world had been at peace for a long time. During Teacher’s generation, they had sent some armed forces out to suppress banditry. However, once I had become the Sun Knight, there had yet to be any outlaws tough enough to require the Holy Temple to send troops against them. Most of the time, the local churches could deal with it themselves.

It’s not that I want to say this. Suppressing banditry is a job that everyone loves because no matter how much plunder is earned, only twenty percent of the spoils have to be given to the headquarters of the Church of the God of Light. The rest would all end up in the local church’s pocket. Since the Church of the God of Light is poor from top to bottom, suppressing banditry is something wonderful even though it can’t be wished for!

The local churches were so stingy with their money that they would send holy knights to fight in one-against-three odds. Even if the odds were one-against-four, they would only hesitate a little bit. Only in the case of one-against-five odds would they give up and request aid from headquarters, but this was solely because the knights would mutiny. In short, the local churches would never hand over the job of sending troops to the main division of the Church of the God of Light so simply.

Three holy knights walked over and shouted at the adventurer party, “Everyone, retreat immediately. If any adventurers above mid-level wish to step forward to support us, come with us. The reward money would be equal to a C rank mission given by the Adventurers’ Guild. High-level adventurers would receive reward money equal to a B rank mission.”

“As expected, the Church of the God of Light indeed does not tarnish the reputation of the Church of the God of Light.” Michel praised, “To think that they’re not going to treat us as cannon fodder.”

When I saw Charlotte approach too, I told the three of them, “Go and support them. The reward money sounds pretty good, and you will even have the holy knights as your bodyguards. Why not cash in on this kind of money?”

“This is the first time the Demon King has sent troops. He is probably determined to win. This battle will not be easy,” Taylen said worriedly. After he spoke, Michel’s expression also fell.

I said indifferently, “If the holy knights all perished, do you think we would be able to escape from the undead creatures? Of course, I can teleport, but when I teleport, I can at most only bring one person along. If it was just to save ourselves, I can probably do it if I stretched myself thin, but we will have to leave everyone else to their fates.”

After I spoke, Taylen’s and Michel’s faces paled. Charlotte’s face turned even paler than theirs. She immediately shouted, “No!” Even Michel who calmly took care of matters was unable to abandon the adventurers they had traveled with, never mind Taylen and Charlotte. They came to a consensus on the spot and quickly caught up with the holy knights.

Seeing this, some of the others were about to make chase too, but at this time, the undead army was already in the vicinity. They were only a hundred meters away from the army of holy knights. It was easy to see the whole army at a glance.

“How can this be?!” exclaimed Taylen… That was more like a yell than an exclamation.

The undead army had actually gotten into formation!

In the forefront were blood skeletons holding shields, even though their equipment was like toys in comparison to the divine weapons the holy knights were using. But they won in terms of sheer number, and they didn’t require food. Even if only one was sent against ten, there wouldn’t be any danger of them quitting on the job! Of course, whether they could win or not was a whole different matter…

Dark warriors lined up behind the skeletons and at the sides of the formation. Each and every one of them was clad in dark armor that gave off an imposing feel.

At the very back of the army, there was even a death knight squad! Even though they were mass-produced death knights and the disparity between them and the initial Roland was like comparing toys to gods, there is only one Roland in this world, so it’s not like there could be an army made out of him.

Finally, there was “him,” who rode on a tall black horse. The horse’s face was half skeletal, its body more or less covered by black armor etched in gold. In front of this horse, even a high-level fighter would not dare claim that he could win against a horse!

Above that, the horse’s master was even more imposing. He wore heavy black armor etched in gold and wielded a great sword of the same color. His appearance was hidden below a sinister face plate, only revealing a pair of eyes. But because the distance was too great, it was hard to tell what color those eyes were.

The skeletal horse was not very calm, flaring its nostrils and stamping its feet from time to time like it wanted to rush forward to start a slaughter. However, its master merely lightly patted the side of its neck, and that was enough to calm it down completely.

As expected of Adair. It only took a few days’ effort, yet he actually managed to form an undead army that really does look like it could fight a war, complete with infantry and cavalry!

Even though the army was missing a squad of archers, it was not like low-level undead creatures could make precise motions. Making high-level undead creatures be archers was also too wasteful, and they most likely wouldn’t even be very good archers either!

“T-This, where did this army come from?” Taylen shouted in alarm.

“Of course they came from the Demon King’s Castle,” I retorted. “Otherwise, where would they have come from?”

I looked around. The expressions of the adventurers who had originally planned on following along changed greatly, and several people even backed up, as if they thought the holy knights would forcefully drag them off to battle!

“Sorry, we have to head over now. If you still wish to help, follow us.”

After speaking, three harried holy knights left without looking back.

“Looks like they don’t need us.” Michel rubbed his nose.

I coldly said, “Of course they need help. They just don’t want to force us, and they’re even afraid that we don’t want to support them but don’t know how to say it, so they might as well just leave without looking back.”

“So it’s like that.” Michel glanced at me several times. “You seem to understand them well.”

“…Who doesn’t understand them? They’re holy knights, open and just holy knights!” I stressed somewhat angrily.

Charlotte suddenly interrupted and said, “Have you both forgotten? Grisia is from the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound! Of course he understands the holy knights well!”

A look of sudden realization came across Taylen’s and Michel’s faces.

“Grisia?”

The holy knights hadn’t gone far yet before halting in their steps. They hesitantly turned to look at me. This girl Charlotte’s voice is truly way too loud. Even though we’re this far apart, they still heard her.

The knight in the middle of the three looked to be a direct subordinate of Ceo’s. It was true that he might know my name. Even though the name Grisia isn’t so uncommon that it would be impossible to find someone else with the same name, it was not that common either. In addition to that, it was possible that he had seen me many times before and might feel that I was very similar to the Sun Knight in his memories.

Under the leadership of the person in the center, the three holy knights walked back. Even though the other two people were out of the loop, they obviously followed the leadership of the person in the middle.

“Your name is Grisia?” His brows were furrowed deeply. I didn’t know if this fellow knew the truth—the truth that the Sun Knight is the Demon King.

Michel walked to the front. Generally speaking, he handled negotiations and the like. “Is there something wrong? Grisia is one of our teammates.”

When he heard my name again, the holy knight studied me carefully. “Please take off your mask!” Even though he had said “please,” his attitude was rather unyielding.

Ceo’s platoon members aren’t very afraid of me. Every time they see me, their attitude is fairly lacking in respect but quite full of resentment. This was because not only did they have to complete their own duties, but they also had to accomplish the matters I threw at their captain, such as paperwork or making inquiries about all kinds of information, from gossip to secrets, you name it. I heard that in order to acquire intelligence, they had all learned the skill of disguise and concealment!

My lips quirked up. I flatly refused, “No!”

The holy knight’s brows were still furrowed. Michel glared at me and hurriedly apologized to them. “Sorry, sorry, this fellow just doesn’t have a pleasant personality. Please don’t take it to heart. Grisia wears a mask because he was burned in a fire in the past, so he is a bit more sensitive to this aspect.”

Hearing this, the holy knight’s brows scrunched up even more. I was a little curious about what he would do. Will he insist that I take off my mask, or will he back off and leave it be?

If he insists that I take off the mask, should I take if off or not? If I take it off, should I keep my eyes closed or not…

“Grisia, why don’t you let him see?” Taylen opened his mouth to urge me. “We won’t care about your appearance. Otherwise, just let him see it alone. We will all close our eyes and not look, okay?”

…Hah! This game is just too amusing. Every day, there are unexpected happenings. It’s much more entertaining than facing that bunch in the Demon King’s Castle who only know how to say, “Yes, yes, yes”!

“No.” I smiled and once again refused.

The two holy knights drew their swords. Even though the person in the middle frowned, he did not draw his sword.

It looked like I would have to fight. I might as well give them a thrashing. It’s all Ceo’s fault for unexpectedly retaliating so many times.

“Grisia—” Taylen warned, but right after he shouted my name, his voice died.

A black figure appeared between the lot of us. Wearing a full suit of heavy armor meant he was already imposing. He didn’t have to do anything. His appearance alone was enough to shock people into gasping.

I’d almost forgotten that I told Adair that after he led the army into battle position, he was to come over to give the “hero” an…. overwhelming defeat.

“Enemy attack!”

Michel yelled. The three holy knights actually responded more slowly than the two of them! It seems that they lack real combat experience! I shook my head.

Even if the hero unexpectedly gained three holy knight helpers, the situation had not become more favorable for them. Their attacks were nearly completely ineffective against Adair. That heavy armor was truly incomparably tough. Michel’s arrows couldn’t even pierce it, let alone a dagger. Both his weapons were ineffective, making it so that he didn’t know how he should attack. He could only stand to the side and wait for an opportunity to help.

If there were an army where every single person was outfitted in this armor, then they would triumph in every battle, but before they managed to outfit this entire army, the kingdom would surely go bankrupt first.

The holy knights had holy light to aid them, so their condition was a little better than Michel’s. They could even force Adair to dodge if they gave it their all in their strikes.

Unexpectedly, Taylen was the person with the best ability to deal with the situation out of them all. He took water filled with the holy element and poured it all on his sword, which immediately glowed with holy light, giving rise to a counter effect against armor of the dark element. I even thought that Adair’s actions seemed to have become more sluggish. I didn’t know if the armor was dragging him down or not.

The holy element was so powerful that it was shocking. It might even be on par with the blood of the Sun Knight. Where did Taylen get something like that?

“Wind Blade.” I swung my hand, tossing out two streaks of wind blades.

Adair was hit head-on by me. The place I aimed at was the back of his knees. Hitting someone in such a spot would easily make them fall to their knees.

“Good job!” Taylen cheered but his hand did not stay idle. Along with the others, he immediately struck while the iron was hot and hit the downed Adair.

Even though Adair had fallen to one knee, he still brandished the great sword in his hand with the ferocity of a tiger. Against the five fighters who had him surrounded and me who was sticking my hand in off to the side, he still had the upper hand.

After the fight dragged on for a while, reinforcements finally came. Vidar led a platoon of holy knights in a hurry. At the same time as he rushed over, he had already drawn his sword out of its sheath. He placed his hand on the edge of his blade. Immediately, a thin layer of holy light enveloped the surface. Then, he launched his attack.

At this time, Adair had already stood up. He saw Vidar coming from the distance and immediately strengthened his offense. He flattened the three holy knights with a flick and kicked Taylen out of the way in time to meet Vidar’s raised sword. Adair was forced to receive this blow, but then he retaliated, taking the offensive.

So it’s the vice-captain of the Sun Knight Platoon against the vice-captain of the Judgment Knight Platoon?

Adair was obviously very strong, but I was unsure of Vidar’s strength. Still, if I hadn’t remembered incorrectly, Adair’s relationship with Vidar seemed to be very good—

Adair’s attacks were quite aggressive. He wore heavy armor yet was agile. Vidar was forced back, caught off guard. It seemed that he kept being pushed back. Seems like his strength is truly inferior to Adair’s. It wasn’t unexpected. Ever since long ago, Georgo would keep on telling me that with Adair’s super strong swordsmanship that put him in the top ten of the Holy Temple, it was a wonder that he would obey me so wholeheartedly, so much that it could be counted as one of the ten wonders of the Church of the God of Light!

Adair chopped down forcefully. Vidar was barely able to withstand the attack. He immediately became shorter, as the person who had been forced to kneel this time was him. His expression was very ragged.

However, Adair didn’t let up on him because of it. Rather, he raised his sword once more. Towering above, he had even more of the upper hand. One swing. Two swings. Vidar was barely able to block each swing. If he did not have the support of the other holy knights, he might have already been cut in half.

…Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they are enemies that hate each other to the bone?

“Grisia.” Taylen tossed me a wink; of course it wasn’t that kind of wink, just a hidden suggestion.

With Adair’s heavy armor, it was true that magic possibly had a better chance of harming him. I nodded, indicating my understanding. Taylen then moved forward without any hesitation to aid Vidar.

On the other hand, Michel didn’t join the battle. Since he was incapable of harming Adair, he decided not to butt in. Instead, he stood guard by Charlotte and me, in case Adair suddenly rushed over to finish off the mages.

As the battle grew more and more unfavorable, Michel couldn’t help but say in a low voice, “Grisia, what are you doing? Hurry and help!”

I smiled slightly and lightly said, “It’s true that I should help now.”

After hearing this, Michel rolled his eyes at me, but immediately afterwards, he stared at the Dark Blade that was gradually taking shape in my hands.

“Don’t use the dark element!” Charlotte hurriedly reminded me.

“You’re using the dark element to fight against undead creatures?” Michel looked like he was about to throw up blood.

“Who said I’m going to fight undead creatures?” After speaking lightly, I flicked my finger. A dark blade the size of a human in height flew out, hitting Michel squarely in the stomach, knocking him flying. Because it was completely unexpected, he had received the full force of it. He lay on the floor without a single twitch. It seemed that he had already fallen unconscious.

Charlotte was slow to regain her senses, but when she did, she shrieked, “Grisia, why did you hit Michel?” After she shouted, she rushed over to check on Michel’s condition.

She didn’t seem to be thinking much and still had her back exposed to me without the slightest intention to guard against me. I had already struck a comrade, yet she was still this careless.

Taylen had also noticed, but a mere glance had already nearly cost him his head from Adair. If not for Vidar who had pulled him away, he would not have escaped that fate, so he really didn’t have any time to pay attention to matters over here.

“Thank goodness he’s fine.” Charlotte heaved a sigh of relief and also threw a Minor Heal at Michel.

Not only is she careless, she’s also very stupid! I rolled my eyes. This woman isn’t conserving her magic so that she can use it on Taylen and the others later. She’s actually wasting it on Michel who isn’t even that hurt!

Charlotte turned around and angrily stomped over to me. I turned around to face her, conveniently turning my back to everyone else. Then, I took off my mask. This time, I had my eyes opened.

Charlotte stared at me with wide eyes. She dazedly said, “Grisia, why are your eyes completely black?”

Just how stupid is this woman! I thought she would directly shriek, “You’re actually the Demon King” or something to that effect, but she actually asked such a stupid question. How am I supposed to respond?

“Because I’m the Demon King, so of course I possess eyes that are completely black! So hurry and shriek so that you can let other people know that I’m the Demon King!”

I even have to explain it myself. How pathetic is that. Just thinking about it made me feel pathetic… A hero with idiots for companions needs to be docked fifty points from the start!

I was in a dilemma with no way out. Charlotte was also stuck in a daze. Just at that moment, Adair took matters into his own hand.

His battle aura exploded, flattening all the enemies around him. Then, he turned to me and knelt on one knee. He clearly yelled, “At your service, Your Majesty!”

Adair, I want to award you with a certificate for being number one at understanding my intentions!

With my black hair floating, I let my smile take over. I stopped suppressing the dark element, naturally absorbing it. I laughed without a care.

At that moment, Charlotte finally revealed a panicked expression. She stared at me. Even her attempts at calling my name had become disjointed sounds.

Even though I did not turn my head, my sensing told me everything. After they got sent flying by Adair, they had crawled back up quickly, but Adair’s “Your Majesty” had made everyone freeze on the spot. Every single one of them had frozen after getting up halfway. It was truly hilarious.

“Demon King?” Vidar gasped.

“Rise…” After I spoke halfway, I realized that I couldn’t directly call Adair’s name. I could only randomly make something up on the spot. “Black General.”

Adair did not bat an eyelid. He called out, “As you bid,” and then walked to my side. He turned to face the enemies, appearing like they would have to step over his dead body before they could face me.

“Grisia?” Charlotte regained her senses. She stepped forward. “You…You’re really the Demon King…Ah!”

I rose into the air and also grabbed Charlotte, lifting her along with me. After her gasp of surprise, she was so shocked that she hugged me. Even though I used my pure black eyes to glare at her, and she was so scared that her face was deathly pale, compared to the Demon King, she seemed to be more afraid of “heights,” so she continued hugging me to death.

After several useless calls of “let go,” I thought it over. Since one of my goals today was to abduct a beauty, my impulsion to seize her made it look like I was abducting her, rather than that she was forcefully hugging me.

Following that, I turned to look down at everyone. This angle really made me feel exhilarated.

All of them stared at my two eyes, unable to speak for a long time. Even Vidar didn’t know what to do, as the mission Lesus had given him probably didn’t include directly engaging the Demon King in battle. He had probably even instructed him not to confront me.

“Grisia!” Taylen’s face was full of disbelief. He asked, conflicted, “You, you… What is up with you?”

Still unwilling to believe? I smiled as I said, “Taylen, you still don’t understand? From the start, there was never a mage called Grisia. There was only ever a Demon King who was so bored that he needed to find entertainment.”

I looked at him, and with some malice, said, “You are precisely my entertainment.”

When he heard this, I don’t know what Taylen was thinking of, but his expression kept changing. Sadness, anger, loss, worry, and the like all flashed across his face in a short time span. It was truly amusing.

“I originally wanted to play longer, but the Church of the God of Light is so annoying! They actually deployed troops against me!”

I glared at Vidar fiercely. As Lesus’s vice-captain, I believed that he knew who I was, and I also believed that he knew that the reason why the Church had deployed troops was because of his captain’s insistence!

Although Vidar’s expression remained unperturbed, I discovered that he kept sneaking glances at Adair. Obviously, he had begun to suspect. According to Lesus’s theory, strong swordsmanship was easy to recognize. And since I was here, Vidar should probably have an inkling of the true identity of the Black General.

Vidar remained silent for a long time. It was actually that platoon member of Ceo’s that started shouting. “The Demon King has summoned undead creatures and formed a large army, endangering the citizens. The Church of the God of Light would naturally not pardon that!”

I’ve once again been unjustly blamed! My undead army was only formed after I heard of the Church of the God of Light’s deployment of troops. The corps before that belonged to Roland, okay! If you can’t pardon that, then you should off Roland who is in the Church of the God of Light before coming to me!

“And you, who dares to besmirch the name of the Sun Knight, using his name as an alias, that crime is even more unforgivable!”

Alias? I froze. Don’t tell me this fellow doesn’t recognize me? You’re one of Ceo’s direct subordinates. You must have seen me several times before. You actually can’t recognize me… I will count this as a strike against your captain!

“The Sun Knight’s name is Grisia?” Taylen suddenly said in a soft voice. Then, he smiled bitterly.

I snorted and said, “Black General, except for Taylen, slaughter everyone else!”

When he heard this, Adair actually replied, “Your Majesty, the Demon King’s Castle is in need of extra hands. Why not capture a few of them? There are suitable candidates for guards among them, and the others can be made into servants.”

I was not very happy. I had thought that I had no need to doubt Adair’s loyalty anymore, but it seemed that his goal was still to stop me from killing people! I unhappily said, “I still don’t know how to make guards.”

“Then lock them away in the dungeons. It won’t be too late to wait until Your Majesty learns before we take care of it.”

Take care of it? You do know that they would have to be killed and turned into undead creatures, right? Adair, would you really be capable of “taking care of it”? Or is this a delaying tactic? I coldly smiled. “Oh? Then who do you feel is the most suitable candidate for making into a guard?”

I didn’t need Adair’s answer to know. I could guess it too. The strongest among them was most definitely Vidar. Even though his strength was not astonishing among the vice-captains of the Holy Temple, he was still a vice-captain, and he was even Lesus’s vice-captain. Anyone who was Lesus’s practice partner would probably turn into an expert!

“Him.” Adair didn’t hesitate at all before he gestured at a person, and that person was exactly Vidar.

“He is the strongest among them, the most suitable for turning into a guard. If the others are unwilling to swear loyalty to you, to become your servants at the Demon King’s Temple, then there is no need to capture them. The prisons’ capacity is limited. There is no need to imprison useless people. If Your Majesty is not pleased with them, would Your Majesty permit your subordinate to kill them?”

Adair, oh Adair. You are truly ruthless! The other person is Vidar, yet you are able to kill him personally? I have truly underestimated you!

I laughed loudly. After discovering this unknown side to Adair, the entertainment factor was nearly equal to seeing Awaitsun show an expression outside of compliance!

“No, no, Black General. There is no need for a general to kill small fry like them.”

After I laughingly spoke up to here, I dispersed the holy element that Vidar had gathered, and then I threw ten Dark Blades at him.

He actually dared to perform the laughable ploy of a sneak attack on the Demon King, and he even chose to gather holy element to do it? Lesus, how did such a serious fellow like you end up bringing up such a na?ve vice-captain?

At this time, my hand was suddenly slapped by someone. I lost my aim. The large amount of dark blades missed their target. Only a third of them brushed by the opponent’s body. Even though he spit out quite a lot of blood, the injuries were mostly shallow ones, and Vidar merely grunted. It looked like his injuries were not heavy after all.

I seized the hand of the woman by my side. Charlotte had her head lowered and didn’t even dare to make half a sound. I mockingly said, “The person I want to hit is not Taylen. You don’t have to worry.”

Charlotte raised her head. Water element eventually leaked from the rims of her eyes. Two trickles ran down her face, but she didn’t seem to notice. She merely explained persistently, “I, I just don’t want you to kill anyone. If you kill someone, you will really become the Demon King…”

I lost control for a moment and yelled at her, “I am the Demon King! Even the Church of the God of Light acknowledges this. It doesn’t matter if I kill anyone or not!”

After yelling, I immediately regretted it. Charlotte didn’t know anything at all. She wouldn’t understand, and she would probably even ask me why I mentioned the God of Light…

“If the God of Light believes that killing or not killing is the same, then he would no longer be the God of Light!” Charlotte refuted emotionally, “Grisia, you need to wake up. Wake up!”

What ‘wake up’? I didn’t quite understand. These words really didn’t sound like words a normal person would say when facing the Demon King, no matter how strange this woman is!

I stared at Charlotte. What was strange was that she also showed a baffled expression. We began looking at each other in dismay…

“Grisia! Let go of Charlotte!” Taylen shouted, “She has nothing to do with this!”

Hmph! If you really want to talk about it, as long as you are alive in this world, then who doesn’t have anything to do with the Demon King? If there is no Demon King, what would get destroyed is the entire world. Who can extricate themselves from that?

Though, the Demon King’s emergence is for the sake of relieving the majority… Relieving the majority? If that is so, then what about the minority…

I closed my eyes. When I opened them once more, I finally commanded, “Black General, I want you to lead the undead army and attack the troops of the Church of the God of Light. Completely and utterly annihilate them! Remember to set this place on fire afterwards to show the holy knights who come later what a grave mistake it is to crusade against me!”

Lesus, I want you to see what kind of result your decision has! I hope that the lives of these five hundred people will make you wake up and stop the foolish action of crusading against me.

After I tied Vidar and Taylen into two large black balls with the dark element I had just gathered, in addition to Charlotte who was still in my hands, my spoils from this time’s game numbered three. It was not a lot, but considering that one of them was Lesus’s vice-captain, it should be counted as substantial.

I used dark element to tie the spoils into immense bundles. I flew into the air and looked as Adair… No, as the Black General once again returned to the undead army. He commanded the troops to move into an offensive formation, and then he raised his head to look at me. Like always, he left the last command to me.

As long as I gave the command to attack, these five hundred holy knights would probably be goners, right? The undead army was overwhelming, and they had even lost their commander, Vidar. They didn’t have any chance of victory.

“You are too foolish, Vidar.” I calmly told my spoil from battle, “As the highest commander of the front line, no matter what happened, you shouldn’t personally come over to investigate.”

Yet Vidar glared at me. “I will return these words directly to you, Knight-Captain Sun! As the leader of the Holy Temple, why are you here? Why have you abandoned the Church and thrown it to the side?”

“…”

“Grisia!” Taylen cried out in alarm, “He is speaking nonsense. Don’t listen to him… Don’t kill him!”

What do you think you know? Do you think I don’t want to return? Do you think I want to stay in that Demon King’s Castle that doesn’t have a single thing? That is no different from being exiled… I… I…

“Your Majesty, should I attack now?” Adair used psychic magic to ask.

I stayed silent for a moment. Then, I nodded.

“Understood!”

Black and white, the two armies converged and drew closer until finally, they were intertwined. They brandished their weapons at each other fiercely. The first to fall were the undead creatures. There was truly a discrepancy in their basic strength.

However, as time passed, the holy knights started to weaken. It became harder and harder for them to deal with the army, even though they were holy knights with the best battle endurance. Even they couldn’t fight against an unending source of undead creatures. After all, they were humans who would become tired, who would hurt, who would bleed, and who would even die.

Eventually, a holy knight fell. Even though the others wanted to drag him away, they were not strong enough to carry out their desires. They could only let him be buried by the rotting undead creatures…

I closed my eyes and retracted my sensing ability. I had completely lost my interest in this battle.

Lesus, now that things have come to this, could you still bring me back to be the Sun Knight? You can’t, right? You can’t ever anymore. Hahaha….

“Hahahahaha—”