Chapter 1196 – #282_A Hidden Card (3)
#1190
1.
The Eastern Legion of Hexen Nacht was dominant thanks to the great performance of the Time Witch.
The Tiferet Duke of the Left Wing, considered Gehenna’s trump card, was locked down by the Green Witch.
Hexen Nacht had managed to create a cross-state that blocked all the variables they didn’t want.
At this point, there was no reason for the Southern Legion to hesitate.
Following Orselia’s judgment, Hexen Nacht advanced their Central Army all at once, and Gehenna did not back down, meeting them head-on.
Thus began a soul-crushing battle for the fate of two groups with different ideologies and beliefs.
The central front, where all remaining forces were concentrated, stretched 180km east to west, forming the longest front in this war.
Compared to the forces on both sides, it could be said to be an absurdly low-density front, but this was from a human perspective.
Those fighting on the battlefield were transcendents who had surpassed human limits.
They were witches whose individual abilities were comparable to asymmetrical strategic weapons.
What would happen if such witches became entangled on a thin front, wielding the mysteries they had honed with all their might, with the intention of thoroughly killing and destroying their opponents?
What would happen if hundreds of thousands of familiars were added to that?
It would become chaos itself.
Less than five minutes after the clash, friend and foe were mixed together, and a truly devastating chaos had arrived.
“Kyaaaaak!”
“Keheuk… Kek… Kek…”
“Save me, sa, save me… Please… Someone, anyone help me…”
“Medical unit! Medical unit! Quickly send this guy to the rear! He’s still alive! He’s alive!”
Baroness Demer wiped the blood-soaked cheek with her sleeve and looked around.
Her lips were pale, and her body was trembling.
Witches were killing and being killed everywhere.
The terrible death throes, screams, and pleas did not fade away, even amidst the surrounding explosions, and sharply pierced the ears.
The fine sand of the beautiful dunes had melted in the high heat and pressure, flowing everywhere, and the shattered remains of familiars crunched underfoot with every step.
The self-proclaimed queen of the Red Roof Salon stood at the forefront, staking the honor of the Gehenna nobility.
As Baroness Demer had many followers, quite a few witches had followed her.
Lisenne Erbat, who was originally from the Secretary Office, was one of them.
“Lisenne, Lisenne… Open your eyes…”
Baroness Demer’s blue dress was stained reddish-brown.
Lisenne, held in her arms, was dying quickly.
She had fought bravely, assisting Baroness Demer, but her lungs had been pierced by an attack that had come from who knows where.
“Please, open your eyes…”
Those who have power are given rights, and with them comes responsibility.
If the rights are heavy, the responsibility must also be heavy.
But if seeing a loved one die before your eyes is part of that responsibility, then it is too cruel.
“Baroness… I don’t think… I can keep my promise…”
Lisenne barely opened her eyes.
Her voice, with a pitiful smile, was as soft as a whisper.
“Lisenne, stay focused. Support will be here soon.”
That was not true.
The support unit would not come.
The momentum of the central front was slowly and heavily tilting towards the Southern Legion.
The Green Witch’s artifact ‘Azure Fruit’ supplied to the Southern Legion played a big role in this.
The effect of the Azure Fruit, made by grinding human souls, was magic recovery.
Since the amount of magic one possesses varies greatly from person to person, it’s hard to say exactly, but it was a magic potion that could replenish about 30% of one’s magic power.
This was very effective in a group like an army.
If one person used the Azure Fruit, they could only use a spell they could use three times, one more time, but if there were a hundred people, the spells they could use 300 times would become 400 times.
On top of that, there was a difference in the number of troops on both sides, so it was no wonder that the scales of victory were slowly tipping.
In the process, Baroness Demer’s salon unit, which had not retreated and had held its ground, was isolated in the middle of the enemy, which was surging like a tide.
“Lisenne, stay focused! Just hold on a little longer!”
“Baroness… I’m so sleepy…”
“Say anything! I’ll keep listening!”
After finishing the emergency treatment, Baroness Demer wiped away her tears and carried Lisenne on her back.
She ran.
Dodging enemy attacks, killing familiars that blocked her way, and pouring out all her magic.
She would save her, even if it cost her life.
“Do you remember… the day I first debuted in society…?”
“Of course, I remember. How could I forget the young lady who was awkwardly standing against the wall wearing a hat with a huge ostrich feather that was way out of fashion?”
“That’s too much, I put a lot of effort into it that day…”
“But you were cute. You were the only one I could see, Lisenne.”
Baroness Demer couldn’t help but smile a little at the memory they shared after a long time.
Lisenne seemed to feel the same way, as her shoulders lightly shook against her back.
“Thank you so much for teaching me how to hold a glass, and for teaching me etiquette… Really, thank you so much.”
“You can say that later.”
“But you were the one who told me to say anything…?”
“But, like this, it feels like… our last… conversation.”
“Then… Baroness, you say something. I’ll listen quietly…”
Strangely, every time she swallowed, her throat felt hot, as if a fireball was passing through it.
A ruthless intuition was stabbing her heart like a needle.
The number of enemies blocking Demer’s path was increasing.
It was already difficult to save herself, and it took even more effort to protect the defenseless Lisenne.
Baroness Demer stopped.
This was it.
She had no strength left, there was no sign of support coming, the familiars around her were all from Hexen Nacht, and the war situation was getting worse.
“There are two here! They’re weak!”
“Capture them alive!”
Like hyenas who had found prey after a desperate struggle, the enemies swarmed in.
“Lisenne.”
“Yes…”
“When we go back, let’s live together in a nice mansion. I’ll help you move your workshop too. You liked fishing, right? When the weather gets a little cooler, let’s go fishing, and on holiday afternoons, let’s do embroidery and cook together. What else is there to life?”
“That’s right…”
“And this might be a bit shameless, but… will you continue to stay with me, always?”
“Yes, of course.”
Baroness Demer’s hand ignited its last flame.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
It was the moment when Baroness Demer, who had chosen to die beautifully together here rather than become a plaything, was about to make a decision.
“Huh? What’s that!”
The front line wavered for a moment.
Among the triumphant enemies, there was a commotion of urgent shouts like screams.
At the end of Baroness Demer’s vision, blurred and red with tears and blood, was a black armor, going against the flow of the retreating Gehenna forces.
The sight was so reckless that it looked like a suicide attempt.
“It’s just one person!”
“Is this bitch crazy! Who does she think she is, coming here alone!”
The enemies, who had spotted their target, rushed towards the black armor like angry wasps.
And they were struck by a red spear faster than they had rushed in, and fell to the ground.
They were entangled in a swaying ribbon, letting out death throes.
They were pushed away by a huge golden wave, falling helplessly.
Because it was such a chaotic battle, the hyenas who had rushed in without properly assessing the enemy’s capabilities finally recognized their foe.
“It’s the Demon King! It’s the Demon King!”
“Demon King? What’s that?”
“It’s Shin Siwoo, you idiot! Shin Siwoo!”
“Hiiiik!!!”
A man who had reached the 23rd level on his own and had earned the title of Count of Gehenna.
A disciple of the vengeful Eloa Tiferet.
The vanguard of the hardliners, the witch of rebellion, the one who killed Urshira von Himmelslauf.
The one who annihilated the Rehar Group and killed the war witch, Herja Balhiri.
The one who killed Lydia Magnus, the Golden Witch, the head of Solidus, the largest faction in Hexen Nacht.
At one time, he had been viewed with suspicion and doubt about his qualifications and strength even within Gehenna, but he had finally proven himself.
He was the major piece who could change the flow of this battlefield filled with transcendents on his own.
He was the greatest power of the current Gehenna.
-Kwa kwa kwa kwang!!!!
Baroness Demer stared blankly at the miracle he was creating on the battlefield.
The familiars, who had been acting as a difficult ‘wall’, were falling like insects sprayed with insecticide.
The attacks of the enemies, who had been advancing fiercely, were caught in a strangely distorted space and scattered in random directions.
Like a shepherd dog herding countless sheep, every time he advanced, gaps appeared in the enemy’s forces, which seemed impossible to overcome.
But there is a saying in the world that it is impossible to fight against overwhelming numbers.
It means that a small number cannot fight against a large number.
“Kya ho!!! It’s a big shot!”
“Let’s make a name for ourselves with this opportunity!”
Even if he split the waves with his hand, if there were forces running in the opposite direction of Shin Siwoo, as if other waves were quickly filling the space, then witches who were twice his number would rush towards the delicious prey.
“Bloom.”
A circle appeared behind Shin Siwoo.
It was a huge circle drawn by the ribbon that had been assisting him.
What popped out of it was a barrage of spears from the Red Knight’s armor, ‘Red Branch’, which was also called the worst homunculus ever.
————!!!!!
Dozens of spears, not just one, left long, red streaks on the battlefield, proving once again.
Why he was given the alias ‘Demon King’.
“…Ah…”
Siwoo, who had opened a path with a terrifying bombardment that could be called a wide-area magic, landed in front of Baroness Demer at some point.
“Oh, Baroness Demer. It’s been a while.”
Although his face was hidden by his helmet, Siwoo greeted Baroness Demer and Lisenne as if he knew them.
“Count Shin Siwoo… Th, thank you… I’m alive thanks to you.”
Baroness Demer felt like crying from embarrassment and gratitude.
Hadn’t she tried to slander Siwoo in the past by accusing him of plagiarism?
Until then, it was true that she had secretly seen him as her subordinate.
Prejudice is such a scary thing.
“I will save the other units as well. If there are any isolated units around, please tell me everything. I will open the path.”
But looking at him, who was defeating all those enemies and acting as a support unit.
Looking at him, who was maintaining his composure and calmness when even experienced witches were panicking.
“He really is… a Demon King.”
Now, she had no choice but to admit it.
“Ah, I don’t really like that alias.”
He waved his hand, but that was just him.
