Estimated reading time: 8–9 minutes
Chapter 38
One day, the sky split open and darkness spilled out.
The darkness spread through the sky like a stain seeping into sheets.
Hands reached out from the darkness.
Those hands grabbed the city and crushed it in their grip.
The Demon King had revived.
「It’s the Demon King! The Demon King has returned!」
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The Demon King was a giant, about 15 meters tall.
He had pale blue skin and magnificent horns.
His crimson eyes and bulging muscles looked ready to burst out of his skin.
When the Demon King descended upon the earth, he shrank his body down to human size.
It was as if all his power had been compressed, leaving behind a dense, concentrated core of intense life force.
The Demon King destroyed an appropriately sized country and seized its castle to use as his base.
A whirlpool of demonic energy enveloped the castle as vines of evil foliage draped the castle walls, rapidly transforming it from a human castle into the Demon Castle.
At the center of Demon Castle, a pillar of dark light stretched up into the sky, connecting to the darkness hovering above.
Through this pillar, droplets of all manner of dark elements come dripping down.
Descending as if sliding down the light pillar came bizarre creatures from the sky – devils, gargoyles, succubi, vampires.
All sorts of monsters appeared at the Demon King’s Castle.
Then, under the Demon King’s command, they set off towards human civilization, and so the battle began.
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「Fear not! I am with you! Strike them down! Slaughter them! Do not retreat!」
I rallied the attack forces.
My base of operations was Fort Gandhar.
A small fort situated in the wilderness several hundred kilometers from the Demon King’s Castle.
Using it as our base, the Demon King Subjugation Squads advanced towards the Demon Castle.
The first ones to charge into battle were the forces led by Alto.
Behind them followed Domingo’s forces, then Otto and Akane’s.
I also boosted our numbers with an additional 50,000 slave troops.
And each force was provided with healing orbs that they could use to heal themselves if injured.
「Clear the path! Scatter those demons! See Alto safely to the Demon King!」
Domingo yelled from the front.
The plan went like this – Domingo and the others would bash through the demons, delivering Alto somehow to the Demon King.
Then Alto would defeat the Demon King.
Alto had the power to accomplish that much at least.
I had raised him to have that level of ability.
As for my own role…
I decided to remain stationed at Fort Gandhar and oversee the rear guard.
Everyone else consented to this decision.
In a sense, I was the medical team.
Any forces too injured to use their own healing orbs would retreat here to Fort Gandhar.
I would heal their wounds and recharge their orbs with healing magic before sending them quickly back out to the battlefield.
My duty was one of supply and support.
As long as I kept my healing hands active, none of the human forces would die.
We would crush the Demon King’s army with an unrelenting zombie attack strategy!
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【Demon King’s POV】
The Demon King Elmndora – that was my name.
From the moment I was born, I knew it.
And in that same instant, a directive was implanted in my brain.
Destroy all humans.
That was my only purpose for existing.
「Fuhahahaha! My Demon King’s army is invincible! These humans are mere insects!」
The tide of battle favored us.
After all, humans have little magical energy compared to our kind.
And our numbers were overwhelmingly superior.
We pushed the human forces further and further back.
「I had hoped they would put up more of a fight, but they are disappointingly pathetic.」
At first, I looked down on the humans in this way.
But things changed on the 5th day after the war began.
「What’s going on… Why is this happening…」
Despite defeating so many humans and driving their forces back, their central fort refused to fall.
And not only that, while my demonic forces were becoming fatigued, the enemy’s vigor showed no signs of fading.
「How could this be…?」
Over a week had passed.
Something strange was clearly occurring.
「Damn… What the hell is going on?! Why aren’t the humans decreasing?! No, it seems they are gaining even more momentum!」
I could no longer ignore the strangeness of the situation.
I decided to use a scrying spell to peer into the human base of Fort Gandhar.
What I witnessed there was a shocking sight.
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「Extra Heal!」
As the man chanted those words, the soldiers’ injuries rapidly recovered.
No, more than that, their morale seemed to increase as their muscles bulged larger.
Through the healing process, it appeared they had powered up.
「Ooooooh! What an amazing healing magic, Lord Eld! Now we can fight again! We have nothing left to fear!」
「That’s right, that’s right! With Lord Eld supporting us, we have nothing to fear from the Demon King’s armies!」
The revived soldiers eagerly grabbed their swords and rushed right back out of the fort, seemingly fearing nothing, their zeal akin to that of berserkers.
「Extra Heal! Extra Heal! Extra Heal!」
The man continued to rapidly heal one soldier after another.
Some were missing arms or at death’s door.
But all quickly recovered before returning to the battlefield.
None feared death.
On the contrary, they seemed overjoyed to throw themselves back into deadly combat.
「Oooooh this feels so GOOD!」
「I can’t wait to get injured again and have him heal meeeeee!!!」
「Now I’ll level up too! Feels so good to level uuuuuup!!!」
「If getting hurt means I can level up, injury is welcome!」
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Observing the situation at Fort Gandhar through my scrying crystal left me dumbfounded.
「Wha-what is going on here…How did things turn out this way…」
I never expected the humans to have such a talented healer among them.
And what was with this absurdly high morale…
Now I understood why the enemy forces weren’t decreasing.
I would have to take down that healer directly if I wanted to win this battle…
I was thinking that when suddenly―
――BOOM!
The door to my private chamber bursts open, and in walks a human holding the severed head of one of my Demon King generals.
「So you are the Demon King? I’ve finally found you!」
「What is… the meaning… of this?」
The generals were just having a strategic meeting, the battle lines haven’t advanced nearly this far…
How did he get in here?! And from where?!
「This brave hero Alto shall pass judgement upon you!」
「Grrr, the nerve of you humans to barge into my private chamber uninvited…You must have a death wish!!! Prepare to die!!!!!」
I drew my sword――
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【Eld’s POV】
Meanwhile, back at Fort Gandhar, everything was going smoothly for me.
The Demon King’s forces were formidable to be sure.
However, our casualties were minimal.
Anyone injured would quickly make their way back here to receive healing from me.
Thanks to this system, everyone’s levels kept rising.
After all, nothing beats combat experience when it comes to increasing stats.
We struggled at first, but the battle lines were gradually being pushed back.
And the ultimate goal here was defeating the Demon King.
If I could just deliver Alto successfully to the Demon King, the battle would be decided then and there.
The other fighting was merely a diversion to buy time.
If Alto somehow managed to slay the Demon King, our problem would be solved.
The abnormal magical energy empowering the Demon King’s monsters all originated from the Demon King himself.
Sever the head and the body would fall.
According to the game Alto originated from, he was destined to defeat the Demon King.
My trained-up version of Alto should have no trouble dispatching him.
At least, that’s what I believed.
However, the day after receiving word of Alto storming into the Demon King’s Castle, a messenger arrived with troubling news.
「Sir Eld… I regret to inform you that Alto was defeated and killed by the Demon King. What are your orders now…?」
「Eh?」
My mind went completely blank.
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