Volume 5, Chapter 34 – The Army at the Gates

In the northeastern part of the World Tree Continent, three major powers were entrenched.

The first and foremost was the number one power of the northern continent, Silvar. With overwhelming national strength and territory, it could simultaneously fight the giants of the northern frozen lands and the undead of the southern Netherworld, and even spare soldiers to cross the ocean and beat the Holy Kingdom, which dared to challenge its authority, half to death.

No one wanted to provoke such a behemoth. If not for the troublesome undead of the Netherworld, the sea between Silvar and the Holy Kingdom would have long become an elven inland sea.

Besides Silvar, there were two other forces in the northeast that could not be ignored. One was the Netherworld, which continuously produced undead and had dragged Silvar into a thousand-year war of attrition. The other was the Cold Night Alliance, which had long been supported by Silvar.

Although the Cold Night also bordered the Netherworld, it was strange that the undead rarely attacked their western neighbor, focusing all their attention on Silvar. Therefore, some said that the Cold Night was a barren land that even the undead looked down upon, and the beastfolk had simply benefited from a disaster.

Though the words were harsh, they were true. However, no one could guarantee that the undead would not suddenly change their minds and attack one winter when they were in a good mood. Limited by this, the farther away from the eastern Netherworld one went in the Cold Night, the more populated and economically developed it was. The closer one got, the more sparsely populated and complex the terrain became.

The Royalist faction was located in the fertile west, while the Holy Son Faction was in the barren region near the Netherworld. Therefore, if the army Chazo sent to the northern part of the Cold Night to “attack Silvar” wanted to be detrimental to the Holy Son Faction, it would have to turn south after reaching the front lines. To take such a large detour, the difficulty was immense, and the possibility of a leak was high, making such a possibility almost non-existent.

So when Chazo moved his army from the Royalist faction’s main camp to the front lines, the Holy Son Faction did almost nothing besides paying close attention. They just wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, waiting for Chazo to be beaten half to death by Silvar, and then decide whether to use force based on the situation.

This move played right into Chazo’s plan. At this moment, that northbound army had already turned south and arrived at the city of the Snake-folk.

Too easy.

The Demon General of Lust, who was commanding the southbound army, couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. He looked at the low city wall, only about ten meters high, in front of him, an indescribable sense of triumph in his heart.

The seven Demon Generals under the Absolute Evil did not possess the ability of eternal life like their master. And in history, the seven Demon Generals had often been exceptionally short-lived due to their self-destructive tendencies—for example, the Demon General of Despair, for the sake of pleasure, had run right into Fia; the Demon General of Absolute Death, for the sake of fun, had gone alone to destroy the Sovereign’s revival ritual, and as a result, had been beaten half to death by the Ninth-Tier Helian at her full strength.

So the process of the Demon Generals’ birth was actually similar to that of the Holy Sons, except that the Holy Sons were chosen by gods, while the Demon Generals were chosen by the Absolute Evil from among his countless Darkborn, selecting the strongest and most lustful individuals. In other words, when one died, a new one would take his place.

Under this system, the Demon General of Lust was the most recently born and the youngest of the seven. As for the one he replaced, it was the most senior and the most cunning and despicable of the original seven, the Demon General of Despair.

No one knew how the Demon General of Despair had died, but they didn’t care. These Darkborn had always held the philosophy that as long as they were happy enough, it didn’t matter if they died. The Demon General of Despair had accumulated too many merits; it was time to give the young people a chance. Thus, the Demon General of Lust, who had a strong obsession with sex, was chosen.

As for why he was here, the answer was simple.

The Demon General of Despair was dead, and the second-oldest, the Demon General of Absolute Death, had become the leader of the seven. Now that he needed everyone’s help to complete a grand plan, the Demon General of Lust had eagerly come over. It should be noted that he hadn’t come to the Cold Night to curry favor with him, but to appreciate more erotic things.

Rеad оn KαtRеαⅾіոɡСαfе

Unlike the monotonous humans and elves, the beastfolk were diverse. From the tall and plump Bear-folk to the short and barren Rat-folk, their races were so numerous that one could have a different one every day for several years and not repeat. He did not distinguish between men and women, old and young, or even whether the other party was a living creature. In the world of the Darkborn, he had tried almost everything he could. Now that he had the chance to cause trouble in the Cold Night, he naturally had to seize it.

After all, he was only at the Fifth Tier. If he didn’t follow behind the Demon General of Absolute Death and his other brothers and sisters and drink the soup, the Holy Son alone could send him to the Land of the Dead. He still had many men and women he hadn’t tried. He couldn’t die so easily.

“I wonder what the Snake-folk taste like… I hear they’re much tighter than other beastfolk. If you stuff a fruit in, it can even be crushed and juiced…”

While fantasizing about lewd things, the Demon General of Lust, riding on his horse, stroked his well-defined chin. Among all the Demon Generals, he was the most handsome. At first glance, he looked like an elf with pointed ears and vampire fangs. It was because of this that he could appear openly among the beastfolk without worrying about being recognized as a Darkborn.

“My lord, shouldn’t we ask them to surrender?”

A Lionfolk warrior riding alongside him reminded him. Although this warrior was much stronger than the Demon General, and seemed as if he could kill him with a single punch, his tone was filled with probing.

It wasn’t his fault. During the army’s advance, he had seen too many soldiers who had been ravaged by the Demon General. This guy didn’t even spare men, and even thought that a well-built man was more delicious. Therefore, he had been worried that the Demon General would see him, the warrior captain, as a boyfriend. The order Chazo had given him was that he had to obey whatever the Demon General did. So if he said he wanted to taste him, he really couldn’t refuse.

Just the thought of those soldiers coming out of the tent with their eyes rolled back, drooling, made his hair stand on end.

“Hmm~” Like a woman, the Demon General of Lust tucked his deep purple hair behind his ear. “They won’t surrender so easily. Look at the land on both sides of the city wall. It’s covered in swamps. There might even be spikes and poisonous snakes waiting for us. This group of Snake-folk plans to resist to the end.”

“Then I’ll go and teach them a lesson!”

“No, wait. We should wait for them to send someone out to negotiate with us, to wear down their morale, and then start the war.”

The Demon General of Lust reached out to stop the Lionfolk warrior captain who was about to leave. However, the captain, as if he had seen a ghost, looked terrified and controlled his horse to back away several steps.

The Demon General knew what he was afraid of and burst out laughing.

“Why are you so afraid, Captain? You’re not my type. I’m not the kind of person who just messes around with any living thing. So-called erotica must have both physical and spiritual satisfaction. And love that only pleases one person is not what I want. Only when both parties can experience pleasure can it be called a perfect experience.”

“Alas, on the way here, I saw your soldiers unilaterally raping women, and I was deeply ashamed and angry. That can’t even be called mating. If I didn’t have a mission, I would have used my methods to educate your soldiers and let them taste what a woman is like.”

“My lord, what are you trying to say?”

The Demon General of Lust gave the captain a bewitching smile, then picked at his green-painted nails.

Rеad on ΚatReαdіոɡCαfe

“I’m telling you the reason why I’m not interested in you, so you can rest assured. As a strong person, you should let the weak conquer you physically. Only then can both parties experience pleasure. The one who has always been in a strong position suddenly falls, and has to be at the beck and call of someone weaker, enjoying the pleasure of having their status and personality trampled on. And the originally weak party suddenly has the power to control everything, stomping on the person who used to order them around, venting their anger back. Isn’t this kind of role-reversal play very interesting?”

“The soldiers I chose along the way were also those who were insulted and had no status in the army. Although they refused a hundred times at first, after trying it once, they quickly became addicted to that feeling. It is precisely because of this that you don’t have to be afraid of me, Captain. I’m not interested in you, who is already in a strong position.”

“Uh…”

Disgusting, incorrigible pervert.

The Lionfolk warrior captain frowned repeatedly. He didn’t want to stay with this man any longer, so he walked directly towards the army.

But he had only taken a few steps when he heard the Demon General exclaim.

“Oh~ my supreme Lord Absolute Evil, look what I’ve found! How can there be such a wonderful elf in this world!”

“What’s wrong?”

The captain quickly turned around. Although the Demon General of Lust was disgusting, he had to admit that his brain was better than his strategist’s. Someone who could make even him exclaim in amazement must be extraordinary.

“Captain, can you see that white-haired elf standing on the city tower? That young girl is a heaven-sent treasure!”

“…If the treasure you’re talking about is her looks, I think the silver-haired human and the golden-haired elf next to her are more beautiful.”

“No! Your taste is too vulgar!”

As if to engrave the appearance of the white-haired elf on the city tower in his mind, the Demon General stared at her intently, his eyes filled with a missionary’s fanaticism and excitement.

“Beautiful elves are everywhere, and those with plump chests are a dime a dozen. But like this one, who should be an adult but is still budding, is a rarity in the entire continent! Moreover, this is a rare ice-beauty. Even from a thousand meters away, I can smell the inviolable coldness on her. A combination of youth and maturity, such a rare attribute, she must be a beauty created by the Elf God himself! She is an angel of death!”

This guy is crazy!

If it were one of his soldiers, he would have stuffed his unwashed, stinking shoes in his mouth.

The Demon General of Lust was still muttering as if possessed. He grabbed the captain’s arm, his eyes and mouth wide open in an exaggerated expression, his whole body trembling.

Rеaⅾ оn ΚаtReαⅾіոɡСafе

“Catch her… I must catch her… Captain, I’ll give you one gem coin! Capture her alive for me! Such a beauty must become my treasure and must not be harmed in the slightest! Attack the city, right now! Don’t let her escape!”

Liking women is better than liking men. The captain, as if comforting a child demanding a toy, repeatedly pressed his hand down.

“I know, calm down first. We’ve only just come south. We can’t expose our objective. We have to go through the proper procedures first. If word gets out, His Majesty will surely have both our heads.”

“Alright! Don’t forget to leave her alive! One gem coin! No, two!”

Two gem coins!

Even as a Lionfolk warrior captain, he couldn’t help but be moved. Due to the limited mines and the fact that gem coins were not used in daily transactions, the Cold Night had not issued such a currency at all. The gem coins the Demon General was talking about must be Silvar’s. In the Cold Night, their purchasing power was equivalent to more than three thousand gold coins, which was his salary for several years of not eating or drinking.

Thus, his spirits were lifted, and he was full of motivation. Even his voice became much louder.

“Bring me a bow and arrow!”

Soon, an arrow carrying a letter of surrender drew a perfect parabola in the air and finally embedded itself in a wooden pillar on the city tower. Along with it, catapults were lined up, and eagle-knights rose from the ground. The army of thirty thousand finally entered a combat posture, the dense black dots like a dark cloud pressing down.

…

“So, from now on, Tilulu has to call me Claire Mo… mom?”

When she mentioned the word “mom,” Claire clearly stammered, and the angle of her eyebrows was also quite strange.

「 Don’t you like it, Claire?」

Fia secretly connected to Claire with [Message], and she answered in a hesitant voice.

「 It’s not that I don’t like it, but… but to suddenly have someone call you ‘mom’, isn’t it impolite to their original parents?」

Good that Claire doesn’t hate Tilulu, Fia was relieved, her tone as light as a deer frolicking on the grassland.

「 Tilulu herself has no problem with it, so it’s fine. We’ll talk about the specifics after I deal with these beastfolk below. By then, Liti should be up too.」

Reаd οո KatRеаdіոɡСafе

With those words, Fia used her eyes to signal Claire to look at the army, a good two kilometers from the city tower. This distance was beyond the reach of even a [Thunder Spear].

After Fia had taken the changed Tilulu out of the room, the Snake-folk soldiers had blown their battle horns, which meant that Chazo’s army had appeared in the sight of the sentinels. Therefore, Fia had immediately found Anastasia and Claire and had them get ready—mainly to have Anastasia protect Milu and the sleeping Liti. After all, no one knew if there was an advance party that had already infiltrated the city. The safety of her companions had to be the first priority.

And now, standing on the city tower besides Fia, Claire, and Tilulu, were Nagg and the other three magic casters, as well as Radric and Woz.

Due to time constraints, Woz and Radric still didn’t know about the matter between Tilulu and Fia. They stood on the city tower with serious expressions, observing the formation of Chazo’s army—that is to say, Chazo’s army had no formation at all. Once a beastman entered battle, their body tended to not listen to their brain, so they always charged in a swarm when they fought.

“To come so quickly, there are at least thirty thousand of them! Did they move the entire front-line army over? Aren’t they afraid of Silvar suddenly attacking?!”

“Elf princess, although I don’t think you need our help, we would feel guilty just watching. I can help you hold back some of the soldiers on the right flank—?”

Before he could finish, Radric couldn’t help but look down at Fia. Just now, he had felt a strong sense of disgust from her. However, this disgust was not directed at him, but at Chazo’s army in the distance.

He asked in a low voice.

“Do you have an enemy over there?”

“No, I just suddenly felt a gaze that I hate.”

It was like a cockroach crawling out of the sewer and scurrying around, making one want to avoid it.

“Something’s coming towards us!”

Not long after the soldier’s shout, an arrow with a letter embedded itself in a pillar behind them. They looked at each other, and then Woz slithered forward and pulled out the arrow.

He glanced at the crooked words on the letter, his face turning ugly.

“What does it say?” Radric asked.

“They want us to hand over all the women in the city, or they’ll slaughter them! To hell with them! In their dreams!” Woz gritted his teeth. He tore the letter to shreds, then looked at Fia with a solemn expression and said sincerely, “Lady Fia, I’m counting on you.”