The 6th legion of the Crescent Alliance led by Barbatos advanced.
She had dispatched a rather sizable amount of her military power, but Commander Barbatos had no intentions of slowing down. Her tactical doctrine was very simple. Move faster than the enemy. This was it.
âHow about we wait until the other legions arrive and advance together?â
Rank 16 Demon Lord Zepar proposed the idea. He was a careful old veteran. He had white patches of hair, but that didnât make him look shabby. The aroma of a hundred yearsâ worth of fierce battles emanated from his white hair.
âIf we wait three to four days, then the 2nd legion should be able to join up with us. Our military power would basically be doubled. This will allow us to dominate the human army more easily.â
Barbatos shook her head.
âThe enemy will also make all sorts of preparations while we are waiting for our allies. If we attack them while we are not fully prepared, then the enemy will also have to take our attack before being fully prepared. Do you know what the difference between us would be in this situation? Itâs the fact that we will know where and where to attack while the enemy will have no idea when or where the battle will occur.â
She spoke firmly.
âIf anything, we should speed up further. Those humans probably think weâll attack after weâve all come together. This ignorance will open an opportunity for us. I will be dismissing Zeparâs proposal. Beleth!â
âYes, Commander!â
Rank 13 Demon Lord Beleth responded energetically. Beleth was a man with a physique as large as an ogre. Once he let out a shout, the Demon Lords who lacked nerves inadvertently flinched. Belethâs voice sounded like that of a wild beast.
âI will leave the 400 death knights under my command to you. My knights do not require food or rest. Charge forward with them regardless of whether itâs day or night. Also.â
Barbatos took out a dagger and tossed it. It stood upright as it stuck to the ground. A strategy map was being displayed by Barbatosâ magic on the ground. The word âKremsâ was written where the dagger had landed.
âAssault Krems and capture it.â
The fortress city of Kerms. That was the Habsburg Empireâs final line of defense. The river of Danubius ran across the center of the continent behind the fortress. If you cross this river, then you would immediately reach Vindobonaâthe capital city of the Habsburg Empire.
âKuhuu.â
Demon Lord Beleth let out a heated breath. Belethâs copper-toned muscles glistened like that of a snakeâs. He was clearly excited. The Danubius River. For the past 2,000 years, the Crescent Alliance had only managed to cross this river twice.
The first Demon Lord to cross the Danubius River was the current Rank 1 Baal. The second person to cross it was none other than the Rank 8 Demon Lord before them, Barbatos. It was now Rank 13 Belethâs turn to have his name written in the history books.
âCommanderâŠâŠ No, Miss Barbatos. Do you see it? My body is trembling with excitement.â\n
His name was going to follow Baalâs and Barbatosâ. Beleth couldnât help but feel moved.
âJust give me the orderâŠâŠ. Annihilation, destruction, or repelling. I, Beleth, will carry out whatever type of victory you ask for.â
âThere is only one thing I want.â
The Demon Lord grinned.
âAnnihilation. An utterly cruel annihilation. Make those humans so weak that they can no longer put up a resistance. Make them so terrified of us that they fall to their knees and scream if they even see our toes. Make their lives have no other meaning than being underneath an ashy sky. This is the kind of annihilation that I want.â
âAs you command!â
Beleth let out a roar. The Demon Lordâs voice echoed ominously through the cloudy sky. Beleth immediately led the 400 death knights. Demon Lords normally donât require a lot of rest, and this was especially true for Beleth since he was a fighter.
Beleth ran with the death knights for 4 straight days as if he had never experienced exhaustion before in his life. On the contrary, the wolf monsters they were riding, the black wolves, ended up getting tired first. Beleth did not care. He had prepared 3 black wolves for each person in case something like this were to happen. Whenever one black wolf got tired, they would rotate to another one.
After running for four days, the towering city of Krems entered their vision. It was a fortress that used the river to naturally create a moat. Belethâs unit had truly advanced like a typhoon.
âWhat, the Demon Lord army has already arrived!?â
The commander of the fortress shouted in surprise. The messenger nodded.
âYes! Their number is about 400. All 400 of them are death knights.â
â400 death knightsâŠâŠ.â
The commander gulped.
Barbatosâ prediction was correct.
The imperial army had expected the enemy to arrive a week later at the soonest. The current supreme commander of the imperial army, Third Imperial Princess Elizabeth was a genius when it came to tactics; however, there was no way for her to know what sort of personality the Demon Lord known as Barbatos had.
Nonetheless, the Imperial Princess had set up a precaution just in case. She had gathered the elite knights of Habsburg at the fortress beforehand. She told her men the following as she assigned skilled knights at Krems:
â Regardless of what enemy forces approach, endure for at least four days. Do you understand? Defend the fortress with your lives for four days.
Only four days.
The military strength of the knights that had gathered at the fortress to play for time was definitely excessive. \nThey had two Rank 1 , 30 Rank 2 swordsmen, and 50 Rank 3 and Rank 4 swordsmen. A total of 550 swordsmen were currently residing in the fortress. Their numbers may have been small, but they were a powerful force.
The commander of the fortress was also a . A powerhouse that was comparable to an army. If the enemy forces that had appeared in front of the fortress hadnât been death knights, then the commander would have definitely let out a snort and dealt with the situation with little effort.
The commander clenched his jaw.
âFour daysâŠâŠin just four more days, reinforcements will have arrived.â
The plan was all messed up now. Imperial Princess Elizabeth was currently in the middle of executing her plan in the capital. She was evacuating all of the people. A large number of soldiers were being used to maintain public order.
In four days, Imperial Princess Elizabeth would have sent reinforcements; however, Beleth, no, Barbatos was a step faster.
The fortress had to stop Beleth with only 500 soldiers. They did have another hundred sentry guards, but they were normal soldiers. They probably wouldnât last even a second before a death knightâs blade.
âWe have to stall for as long as possible!â
The commander quickly came to this conclusion.
The sound of bells rang clamorously throughout the entire fortress. The knights that were resting comfortably in their quarters quickly put on their armor. Today was probably the fastest the attendants had ever moved in their entire lives. Equipping someone with sturdy armor was a surprisingly difficult task.
On the other hand, the commander of the fortress sent a outside the fortress. They were going to stall for time by having the swordsman duel the enemy.
âYou petty demons! Are any of you willing to taste my blade!?â
The Master of the Sword stood out on the plains and shouted.
What the commander wanted was simple: lure the enemy into accepting a duel by dispatching a swordmaster. If they agree to the duel and send in a death knight to fight one at a time, then they would be able to stall for that much time. Although this would probably only earn them about half a day at most, this was the best he could do as the commander.
âPfft.â
However, the commanderâs plan didnât work.
âMen! It seems that these humans are aware of common courtesy. They even sent out a pretty lady to welcome us.â
Demon Lord Beleth easily saw through the human armyâs intentions. He may have been a meathead, but he was also a general. He wouldnât mess up their original plan simply because he liked duels. Beleth raised his right hand.
âThe other party has willingly gone out of their way to be polite. As the most gentlemanly demons in the world, we cannot possibly ignore this. âShall we show them how we demons respond to courtesy!?â
\nâRavage them however you want!â
The death knights approached the rampart in an instant. They had fought together for hundreds of years. They hopped off their wolves and started to climb up the rampart in perfect unison. The death knights wearing black armor started to flutter their black mantles like bat wings.
âStop them! Work together with your comrades!â
âWe have the topographical advantage! Do not get swept away by them!â
The imperial knights unsheathed their weapons at the same time. They relied on the rampart as they fought back against the approaching death knights like hunting hawks. The knights of the human world and the knights of the demon world collided.
âKuaaaaah!â
âDie!â
Everyone here was skilled. The fight wasnât decided in a single moment. The death knights were unable to capture an area on top of the rampart. Some of them managed to push back the humans, but they backed down without any hesitation. Only a few death knights had managed to get up, so they hopped down and got ready to charge again.
âWe stopped them! We can keep this up!â
âMove in unison with those around you! Donât forget it! Move in unison!â
A small cheer erupted from the knights. They werenât so incompetent that they would let a small battle influence their emotions. However, this was the early phase of the battle. They had to deliberately raise their morale however they could. They had intentionally let out a cheer in order to motivate the people around them.
The Imperial Princessâ order passed through the commanderâs head.
Endure for 4 days!
âWe can do it. Your Highness, be it three or four days, I will defend this place for as many days as you want!â
A tinge of excitement welled up inside of him as he looked around. The death knights were attempting to climb up the rampart for the second time. All of a sudden, he realized the most dangerous individual in the enemy army was nowhere to be seen.
âWait a second. Where did the Demon Lord go?â
At that moment, the entire fortress started to shake as if an earthquake had hit it.
The commander of the fortress skillfully maintained his balance and figured out where the tremor came from in an instant. He then began to panic. The vibrationâhad come from the fortress gate.
***
TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Well, like I said, I uploaded the previous chapter late so this one came out a lot sooner since I was already finished with like half of it by the time I released the previous chapter. Uh, I hope you guys did something nice for your mothers on Motherâs day. I donât got much else to say. I suck at small talk.