191 Then they confront each other.

Zobelamitaya has also been killed.

After the mysterious phenomenon of humans suddenly coming back to life, our unique classes are being defeated one after another. The Demon Lord can directly sense the life and death of the unique classes that are directly granted the power of the Demon Lord. This fact is undoubtedly true.

You can't use the Demon Lord's power and lose. ...... Can't you even survive without the Demon Lord's leadership? ......!

It's not like the Purple Demon, there's no way to communicate my orders quickly. I'm not going to blame you for that. I don't blame you for that. How's Harpy's squad doing?

I'm not going to blame you for that. How is Harpy's squad doing?" "It was attacked by enemy snipers on its way back to ...... and was ...... wiped out.

All of the Harpies that had been sent home had been shot down. It means that the enemy knew about my squad, which was in the sky from the beginning. Even so, I'm not sure how they could have wiped us out. .......

"So it is. It seems we were deceived by the false information the enemy gave us.

"False information?

You'll need a good number of them to shoot all the flying harpies. A normal bow won't reach them. Only a knight of Tarz who excels in magic enhancement or some holy knight of Mejlis would be able to do it. But that's not the case. In the event that you've got a lot of money to spend, you'll be able to take advantage of it.

That's ...... for sure.

I know how this works. I think they used the Purple Demon to take control of the Harpy during our invasion. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to be doing in the future.

......

While the humans retreated and repeatedly checked, my troops were slowly being taken over. ....... That kind of thing ...... No, it certainly explains what's happening now. In order to reinforce the command of my troops that are attacking Garne and Mejis at the same time, the Demon Lord's position has to be near the middle. In order to meet that requirement, I used my troops as a relay to exchange information. That's where he took advantage of me.

The reason why he made it look like he was accepting Harpy's order to retreat was probably to buy time and destroy our unique class in the meantime. We have no choice but to continue to use the power of "struggle" on the assumption that a battle is taking place. The only course of action for our troops in a situation where the chain of command has been disrupted is to keep fighting. It seems that you have been defeated precisely when you spread out.

If that's the case, I'll mobilize the Harpies who aren't on the battlefield right now and give them orders.

No need. I'm not sure what to do with it. If we send it into battle now, it will be killed before it can fulfill its role.

But if we don't, all of the unique classes we've sent into battle...

I don't care. We've given them time to attack and stall, but we haven't allowed them to retreat. As long as they can continue to fight until the end of time, that's all that matters.

The Demon Lord says with a quiet expression on his face that he will let those on the battlefield fight to the end. I had thought that this battle, in which I had invested all of my strength, would not be lost. But ...... but ......!

If this continues, my army will ......

"Mersa Stilwell, we don't have enough men to fix the current situation. There is already no victory for my army.

The words that came out of the Demon Lord's mouth made my whole body lose strength. I'm not sure what to make of this, but I think it's a good idea.

How will ...... you be after ...... this?

"No change. You will continue to build up your army as before. As long as the unique classes of other races are lost, the management of other races will be left to you.

......

The time we have is infinite. The time we have is infinite. We can build up our strength as many times as we want. All we have to do is not make the same mistake next time.

The Demon Lord is unfazed by this defeat. He is already preparing for the next battle. The Demon Lord is immortal. He will rise from the dead and live forever. Even if the achievements he has accumulated are lost, he believes that he can build them up again and again. Although I have lived for many years as a unique class, I realize that I am still only a young being. I have not reached this point yet.

"Yes, sir. ......

"Mercerstiel, you go ahead. I'm going to fulfill my final role.

Then the Demon Lord picked up his axe and turned his gaze towards Garne.

"Demon Lord, ......? What do you intend to do?

"My victory is gone. Our victory is gone, but our defeat is not. The humans need to understand that fact.

This was the first time I saw the Demon Lord smile.

I'm sorry.

"But there is a way to say that, isn't there?

You can't help it, Ao told me to speak plainly.

On the way back to Garne Castle, he somehow managed to appease Ilias. He misunderstood the words I said during the communication with Ao and accused me of many things, but he finally convinced me that it was advice. Well, it's someone's fault for simply saying, "Die and be done with it. I wouldn't have told my friends that. Incidentally, he contacted me a while later and told me that he had successfully defeated the enemy. Now he's hunting the remnants, and it should be over without any trouble. However, I'm a little worried about Lakra's mother, so I have to make arrangements to meet up with Murasaki as soon as possible. You put one of the communication crystals to your ear and listen to its contents. This was prepared just for the purpose of broadcasting the situation of Marito and the others in Garne Castle, and although it is one-way, it can be used for a long time.

I was wondering, wouldn't it be sufficient to keep His Majesty informed?

"Marito's communications are important, too. Marito has a tendency to summarize information too neatly. If that's the case, the information we wanted to know is often left out.

One piece of information that is coming to my ears right now is that Lord Reynaud fought a battle with an army of demons, mostly goblins, in a nearby village, and Lord Reynaud killed a unique class of goblins. If we were to hear this from Marito, it would be something like, "Lord Léanor killed a unique class of goblin," but the actual report includes details of the battle. How hard was it fought, what were the losses, and so on. Personally, I would like to know the details of the battle rather than just the victories and losses. But if I demanded that much from Marito, his task load would be overwhelmed.

To sum up the information so far, the strength of the unique class is quite high. It may not be as strong as Duvraeor's, but it's still comparable to the great demon class that we faced in Purple. Normally, that alone would make me want to frown, but the knight captain class of Tarz is the real deal. Each one of them is a match for the other, and even when they are outmatched in specs, they are still able to win.

"Lord Reynaud is pretty strong too, isn't he?

"Yes, he is. Sir Léanor is not as skilled in magic enhancement as Sir Raggedy-doo, but his protection is unsurpassed among the knight captains. It will take me a long time to get one from Sir Léanor.

"The difference in experience, huh?

Yes. If you only look at simple ability, I have the advantage, but if you are a knight captain, each of you will have your own strengths to make up for it. If I want to win, I have to stand in a way that prevents them from taking advantage of those strengths.

For example, Lord Fowl, whom the Iliad once defeated in hand-to-hand combat. Although he and Ilias have not had a rematch since Ilias defeated him in front of his men, it is said that if he fights to his full potential, there is no telling whether he will win or lose. If you only look at the specs, Ilias is more of a monster, but even if he's an opponent that Ilias can't defeat for sure, the quality of Tarz is still very high.

"Old Man Kara looks pretty awesome when he's serious, too.

"Yes. I've had a lot of hand-to-hand combat with the Ragdolls, and everyone has always stood by me to make sure I'm at my best. I don't want to imagine ...... what they would do if they were serious about fighting me.

Vol also managed to defeat a unique class of the enemy in this battle. I'd be glad to have him on my side, but I really don't want him as an enemy. I can fully sympathize with Gold, who has repeatedly challenged Taze to war in the virtual world and said he didn't think he could win.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

This time ......, what does that mean?

I'm not sure what you mean by that. For the Scarlet Witch King, it seems as if his goal is to bring about this battle itself.

"The battle itself ......?

The Scarlet Witch does not want to win this battle. If he had gone to war himself and thrown all his forces against Gurne to expand the Gurne demon world, he would not have been misled by false information and many demons would have been crowded in front of Gurne Castle by now. The Scarlet Witch King's leadership gives the impression that he is trying to show off his power to the humans. And yet, he is not concerned with victory. What this means is that .......

If our reasoning is correct, the Scarlet Witch King will be quick to dismiss this victory and prepare for the next war. The Scarlet Witch King is immortal, and there's only so much time.

Even after such a huge defeat, they still want to invade? ......

I'm sure they'll need a preparation period of several decades. If we're not careful, it could be a hundred years.

The average lifespan of humans in this world is long due to their inherent magical power. I'm not sure if I'd be able to live to a hundred. We'd be lucky to live to 100, so of course we won't be able to show up for the next invasion.

I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.

The Scarlet Witch has lost most of her army. It's a good idea if you can purify the demon world and invade the home base of the demon world. ...... Well, it's tough with the current strength.

The magic of the demon world is poisonous to humans. It's a good idea to keep your wards up at all times or you'll get sick very quickly. The knights of Tarz may be able to do it, but soldiers from other countries won't be able to do so. It would be too dangerous to conquer the demon world with only a few Tarzans. The appropriate plan would be to continue to purify the demon world and launch an attack when we are satisfied with the situation, but considering the size of the demon world, it would be a long-term plan on the order of ten years. In the meantime, there is a possibility of interference. .......

I'm not sure what to make of that.

"Even if we defeat him, he'll come back. You'll need a way to capture and seal it. I don't know if we can seal a demon lord whose abilities are unknown. ......

Mmm. ......

It's not possible to subdue a demon lord like the previous ones. I'm not sure what to do with it. I'm not sure what to make of that. The Purple is ...... well, yeah. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing. In the event that you've got a lot of money, you'll be able to use it for a lot of things. Since we cannot negotiate with them, we have no choice but to neutralize them. There are some ideas. But all of them are risky and difficult to realize.

We'll have to have the humans discuss this and come up with a solid plan.

I agree. I'm sure you'll have some input into that, won't you?

Yes, of course. Aside from the people in the distant future, you can't leave them alone if you know them well enough to live to that time.

It's not just the Scarlet Witch King. It's not just the Scarlet Witch King, but the Gold and other Demon Lords as well, unless they lose their immortality, will be a party to the next battle. I don't know. It would be irresponsible of me to leave him in a corner.

We arrived at Garnets' home country and went through the procedures at the first level gate. The first level of the gate is heavily guarded in consideration of the possibility that those who belonged to Raheit or Reithis may have been working behind the scenes during the war. The second level and beyond are not much different from normal, but due to the strictness of the security, merchants from various countries are currently keeping quiet at home. Only merchants who have been asked to supply goods are likely to move even in such a situation. The magic power of the registrant is given to the special handbill, and the magic power of the handbill and the passerby is checked through the magic tool always kept at the first layer gate. Someone has no magic power, but by registering Kuto's magic power, he is able to avoid the problem.

Please come on through.

Oh, good work.

He opens the gate and goes inside. The gate is immediately closed and locked. Normally, as soon as you enter the first layer, you would see many of the Ghanaians, but now they are evacuating to the second layer and beyond. This decision was made in consideration of the possibility of the enemy dispersing and attacking the Ghanaian homeland individually.

"Even so, it's very strict. I've heard it was your idea, but I'm surprised you had to go this far.

Raheit uses mind-involving magic to impersonate others. It's possible he'll use it to send in agents at once. If we check each of them individually, we can prevent anyone but Raheit, who can take their bodies, from entering. If you have more than one gatekeeper, you can reduce the risk of being hypnotized all at once.

The most important thing to watch out for now that the war is in our favor is terrorist activity in the Ghanaian homeland and the center of the Mejlis, which has been thinned out by sending soldiers to the front. You can't deny the possibility that Reitis has other pawns in his arsenal to incite the likes of Jestaff, so at the very least, security should be raised. However, the battle on the front lines will soon be over, and the enemy soldiers scattered locally will be destroyed one by one.

...... By the way, you seem to be more tired than usual, are you feeling okay?

I'm tired as hell. It's the first time I've had to move around the battlefield and make various arrangements, even though I didn't do any direct fighting.

"Get some rest when you get to Garne Castle. You've been taking naps, but you haven't been sleeping well, have you?

Even with the reliability of Ilias and Wolfe's guards, I am not bold enough to get a good night's sleep near a battlefield. I've experienced a slight loss of sleep many times, but when it happens day after day, the physical strength of an ordinary person is nearing its limit. The fact that Ilias and the others don't seem to be tired is beyond amazing, it's mind-boggling.

"Yeah. I'm sure Marito can take care of the aftermath, and you can sleep for half a day.

"Get down!

Ilias suddenly pushed my body down and made me lie on the ground. At the same time, a roar and a shock hit my whole body at the same time. I felt my body float and roll as if it were bouncing on the ground. Even though Ilias was hugging my body tightly and easing the impact, the pain was not half bad. After the movement stops, you feel your own body, and you sit up. Ilias is already standing up and turning towards the gate.

What the hell is ......?

You'll be able to see that the gate, which had been tightly closed until a moment ago, has been cruelly destroyed. And behind it, a shadow with a huge axe. It might be classified as a subhuman, but it didn't match the features of any animal I knew. It had a mane, huge horns, and a well-developed body that glowed red. When I saw him, the name of the person naturally came to my mouth.

The Scarlet ...... Demon King?

"- Kuro hair, black eyes. So, you're Yugra's star people. I've heard that unlike the Yuglas, their bodies are incredibly fragile, but I never thought that the aftermath of this could have nearly killed them. It's fortuitous that you didn't die. I was about to lose a great bargaining chip--

As if to interrupt the Scarlet Witch King's words, Ilias slashes at him. The Scarlet Witch King reacted quickly and caught Ilias' sword with his axe.

You stay back! Let Kutou protect your body!

"So be it, people of the planet Jugla. I doubt your legs will allow you to leave this place.

What about your legs? I'm not sure I can leave this place with that leg. ...... Seriously, my right leg is bent in an impossible direction. No, if you check your body calmly, you'll see that it's in pretty bad shape. I'm not sure if it's because I'm in pain all over my body, but I'm pretty sure there are cracks in my body. If Ilias had not reacted quickly enough, he would have died from this damage.

I don't have to ask, but I'm pretty sure you're the Scarlet Witch King!

"Indeed. Not bad sword pressure. If there's a human with this kind of power, it makes sense that my men would be defeated.

The Scarlet Witch King and the Iliad are locked in a fierce battle, neither moving an inch. I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what's going on.

I don't know if the general himself is going to come in alone. ....... I don't think so.

I'm not a fan of this kind of thing. I am the Demon Lord, and as such, I will wage war as the Demon Lord.

You sound like you're saying this whole thing was just a joke, dude.

"Child's play ......? I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea. If you ask me, it's like giving a child a tool to play with. But you, people of the planet Yugra, deserve praise for what you've done. Even if it's just a child's play, you've surpassed my judgment in acting as a demon lord.

Well, what do we do now? I'm pretty sure I can't move well with this body. If I command Kuto, he can fly and move, but I doubt he can escape from an opponent who's more than a match for the Iliad. He just called me a bargaining chip. If he can use me as a bargaining chip, I have a pretty good idea. It could be Rhaetys with Rahite, or that colorless bastard. But I'm guessing that Rhaetys will treat me like a nuisance, so I'm going with the colorless one. He's been given all sorts of wisdom by Seiya Yukura, so I'm sure he'll be able to prepare something that the Scarlet Witch King would want. I'm sure he's not going to let you off easy.

"I guess I'll just be grateful for the 'colorless' for now. No, I wouldn't want to do that to him.

"Well, you do seem to have a good head on your shoulders. I'm not going to kill you right now, but at the very least, use the demon on your body to protect yourself. I'm not going to kill you right here, but at the very least, use the demon on your body to protect yourself, because it's going to be difficult to keep you from being killed, no matter how hard I try.

What can I do in this situation, distract them with words? There's no way I can come up with enough content to upset a guy who's talking comfortably in a fierce battle with the Iliad. If we show any sign of running away, we will be attacked, and we will be dragging Ilias who is protecting us down. It is safe to assume that the anomaly of the destruction of the first layer gate has already spread throughout the Ghanaian homeland. If that happens, reinforcements will undoubtedly arrive, and we'll bide our time.

You're not just here to get me personally. You didn't even know I was here in the first place. It's not like you're here to kill everyone in Ghanaian land by yourself.

The purpose is mundane. My army's victory is gone thanks to you. But the Demon Lord will not be defeated and the humans will not be victorious. I'm merely here to remind you of that.

You're so confident. If you're so confident, you should be out there on the front lines.

You can't strike fear into every human being by destroying them on the battlefield. If you want to steal victory more clearly, you need to leave deeper scars.

Burning down a country is more impressive than annihilating its soldiers?

That's right.

If you had listened, you would have said what you wanted! Do you think I would allow that?

Ilias moves away once and slashes harder. The result is the same, the Scarlet Witch King catches the attack without hesitation. But unlike before, a crack appeared in the Scarlet Witch King's foothold.

The Scarlet King's foothold cracked. That's good. That's why I fell as a Demon Lord. That's why I fell as a Demon Lord. It's worth exerting power beyond my reason.

"What?

I can't see what's happening. But with a violent clash of weapons, the Iliad was pushed backwards. He was clearly different from the Demon Lord I had seen so far, and his individual strength was worthy of being a Demon Lord. I don't know if Ilias can win or not. I don't know if Ilias can win, but I have no choice but to believe. There's only one thing I can do: .......