“Hurry up, all of you!”

The capital of Yaphenon.

The city was now drowning in chaos.

“W-What’s going on?”

“Deployment?”

“Are they going after that witch of a mage?”

The citizens, flooding the streets, saw soldiers rushing by, urging one another forward.

They were more heavily armed than usual, a clear indication of the major battle to come.

Leather armor, the very symbol of barbarism, reinforced with rough metal plates. Every weapon, though unique in design, had been honed to its limit.

Beneath helmets shaped like beastly heads, the gleam in the soldiers’ eyes sent shivers down the spines of those watching.

“Ooh, now that’s the Yaphenon we know!”

“Hang the enemy in the plaza and beat them ‘til they die!”

“Let’s gooooooo!”

Ever since joining the Holy Alliance, Yaphenon had been unable to bare its fangs in full.

With Holy Krata holding dominion over the continent, Yaphenon had been forced to suppress its savagery under their watchful eye.

Krata demanded they stop acting like beasts. So they had. Until now.

“But if we want to win completely… we’ll have to throw everything at it.”

From atop his horse in the center of the advancing army, King Utor of Yaphenon had staked everything on this battle.

“Look at that morale!”

He stretched both arms wide, drinking in the capital’s roaring cheers.

“When we unleash our true nature, we gain strength that cannot be defeated!”

Their targets: Ezer, and Yuru.

They would strike Ezer first, of course—Yuru’s whereabouts were unknown.

Ezer was the larger threat, and their prior clash had already served as de facto declaration of war. Ezer would be preparing, no doubt.

The attack by the Blue Tower’s Master gave them the perfect excuse. Now was the time to crush them completely.

I won’t even give them time to plead their case to other nations!

Because the justification was flimsy, any delay could jeopardize Yaphenon’s position. They had to devour Ezer quickly and stabilize the region.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

As Utor extended the hand holding his battle axe, the soldiers surged forward.

The axe shimmered faintly, engraved with the primal incantations that embodied all of Yaphenon.

…And shortly afterward.

“What the hell is this?!”

Yaphenon’s barbarian soldiers were brutally trampled by a coalition of Blue Tower mages, elves, and Ezer’s military.

♧

Before a battle, what one needed most was foresight.

You had to predict what tactics the enemy would use, and how they’d respond. It was a brutal mental chess match.

But Utor, relying solely on his nation’s brute strength, had made the same mistake as the troops who first struck Ezer.

What is going on?!

He hadn’t seen it coming.

He assumed it would be a blitz—crush Ezer before they could react.

He never imagined Ezer would form a coalition this fast.

Why are they here…?!

Though he used Yuru as a pretext, he hadn’t believed the Blue Tower’s mages would actually support Ezer. He thought they’d want to distance themselves from Yuru too.

Besides, Yuru was the outlier—mages generally stayed out of worldly affairs as a rule.

Yet somehow, they’d joined the battle.

Boom! KRAAANG!

Thanks to magical support from the rear, Ezer’s soldiers could dodge close-quarters attacks and keep pressing forward.

Impossible! My soldiers!

The barbarians of Yaphenon couldn’t advance—they were being pushed back. Finally, Utor lost his patience and galloped to the front.

“I’ll break the front line! Don’t fall back—push forward!”

Inspired by their king’s charge, Yaphenon’s soldiers rallied behind him.

“Rip them apart!”

“We don’t lose!”

“CHAAAARGE!”

A mindless, brute-force rush.

Still, Yaphenon had long focused on maximizing physical prowess to maintain that combat style.

Combined with enchantments woven into their weapons, they smashed through Ezer’s frontline troops, shattering even their armor—and the tide began to turn.

With eyes gleaming like wild beasts, Yaphenon’s soldiers began to overpower their opponents.

“Good! Use the catapults! Blast those damn mages too!”

Whump! Whoosh!

Boulders launched from Yaphenon’s catapults flew toward the Blue Tower’s magicians.

Mages raised shields to block the incoming barrage, but the impact gave Yaphenon an opening—allowing them to push harder against Ezer’s forces lacking magical support.

“More! Just a bit more!”

Exhilarated, Utor swung his axe and shouted:

“Victory is within reach!”

He was certain. Despite the unforeseen complications, his banner was moments from piercing the heart of the battlefield.

And then—

Thwip-thwip-thwip!

Arrows rained from the flank like a storm.

“What?”

In his dazed moment of disbelief, the arrows struck his soldiers.

“Ghh!”

“Gwaaaah!”

Yaphenon's soldiers collapsed like reeds battered by a typhoon.

When did they flank us…?!

Utor had forgotten the elves’ mobility. They moved with the wind—able to reposition as swiftly as cavalry.

He clenched his teeth.

“It’s fine! Keep pushing forward! Once we’re in range, we’ll win—!”

KWA-A-AANG!

Suddenly, a beam of light blinded Yaphenon’s soldiers and blocked their vision.

“Wh-What is that…?!”

The blinding brilliance made it impossible for them to see, and in that moment’s hesitation, Ezer’s forces surged forward like a tidal wave.

As he watched his men being cut down, Utor frantically turned toward the source of the light.

“!”

And there he saw—Empress Tia de Mezelef of Ezer, walking forth bathed in divine radiance like a saint.

“N-No way…”

One of the superhumans said to still walk this world. A legendary figure who could replace the Hero himself was now rewriting the entire battlefield.

We’ve been had.

If she was a Saintess, even Holy Krata would be drawn to the negotiation table. And now that the Hero was gone, Krata—though powerful enough to subdue even a Saintess—might choose diplomacy instead of brute force.

We have to retreat!

They had attacked Ezer with no solid justification. And now, they couldn’t even pretend to have one. If Krata refused to back Yaphenon after seeing this, it would be over.

“R-Retreat!”

Utor shouted desperately.

“Fall back!”

But his voice did not reach his men. The flashing brilliance, the deafening explosions—and their own bloodthirsty frenzy, enhanced by their war magic—left them swinging their weapons in a state of blind madness.

“Lieutenant! It’s a retreat!”

In the end, Utor could only gather those closest to him and begin to flee.

“Huh? Wh-What’s happening?”

“His Majesty is retreating!”

Only then did the rest of Yaphenon’s soldiers begin to realize, and the battlefield dissolved into utter chaos.

The tide of battle had decisively turned.

But Ezer showed no mercy to those who fled. Light and magic seared their backs, while arrows and spears pierced through flesh.

With deadly resolve, Ezer’s soldiers became not soldiers—but hunters, effortlessly cutting down the 'beasts' that fled.

“R-Run for your lives!”

Yaphenon's soldiers scattered in total disarray.

From within Ezer’s ranks, Tia watched the retreat and murmured,

“Clay, I wonder if this was truly the result you were hoping for.”

If the alliance had not formed, Ezer would have sustained heavy losses from Yaphenon’s assault.

But she had minimized the damage. And Clay—once he learned this—Tia couldn’t help but wonder what he’d think.

Whatever the case… I hope this doesn’t end badly for you.

Not the kind of hope a Saintess should have for a Demon King—but there it was.

♧

Utor galloped toward Yaphenon, fists trembling with rage.

“How could this happen…?!”

Tia—that vile woman—had concealed her identity. Even as the Hero was executed, she had hidden herself, keeping her power secret from the world.

“You wicked bitch!”

If she had revealed herself earlier, the world might have turned on her and the Hero in a full-scale assault.

But she had waited. Bided her time. That made it clear—she’d intended to deceive him all along.

“This…!”

Whether it was true or not no longer mattered to Utor.

Once I regroup and rearm… I’ll repay this disgrace a hundredfold.

It had just been an ambush. A reversal of expectations. He would prepare again, find a method—no matter what it took—

KWA-AANG!

A massive boulder crashed into the soldiers beside him.

“Wh-What was that?!”

Utor jerked to a halt, yelling.

“…Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

A voice emerged from the shadows—where countless glowing red eyes flickered in the dark.

Utor recoiled at the sudden appearance of so many demonic eyes.

“W-Who goes there?! Who dares speak so to the King of Yaphenon—!”

“Well now… been a while, hasn’t it, Utor?”

From the darkness stepped a figure far beyond his imagination.

“Long time no see… since I died.”

Clad in black, wielding a sword that radiated ominous malice—he was once known as the Hero.

“C-Clay?!”

“So you haven’t forgotten.” Clay spoke calmly, walking toward him, “Imagine that… the barbarian king Utor, running with his tail between his legs. Did you run into something terrifying?”

“W-What are you…?!” Utor’s face twisted in disbelief, “You… you’re supposed to be dead!”

“Why so shocked? Surely you’ve heard rumors I might still be alive.”

“N-No! That can’t be! There’s no way those rumors were—”

“Believe what your eyes are telling you.” Clay stared straight at him, “I hope you know whose hands you’re going to die by.”

“What…?”

As Utor gasped, demons began emerging all around him. Among them, a massive one—the very one that had thrown the boulder earlier—stepped forward.

“Good to see you, Utor.”

He stood before Clay and addressed the king.

“I am the fourth of the Demon King’s Four Generals—Geshkafor.”

Geshkafor.

A name Utor had never heard before. But now, he understood.

The former Hero had become the Demon King—and was now rising to swallow the world whole.

Ziiing…

Reflexively, Utor raised his axe—the weapon etched with Yaphenon’s primal prayer.

And the blade responded. It read the life force within Clay.

This was no puppet being controlled from afar. This was the real Clay—alive.

“Y-You… you really are…”

The Demon King.

“The former Hero is the Demon King?!”

“What the hell is going on?”

“We never heard anything about this!”

The Yaphenon soldiers were in turmoil. But Utor said nothing.

“I’m sorry, but your first opponent won’t be the Demon King.”

Geshkafor stretched his limbs as he stepped toward Utor.

“A fleeing king like you? I’m more than enough.”

And with that, Geshkafor grabbed the nearby boulder and hurled it straight at Utor.

(End of Chapter)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.