The sky above the battlefield was shrouded in a blood-red haze, streaked with smoke and ash from the fires that smouldered among the wreckage.
The once-thriving metropolitan city lay in ruin.
The proud towering skyscrapers now crumbled into skeletal remains and the once clean streets were now littered with debris and the bodies of the fallen.
Millions of corpses littered the ground.
Human soldiers — both awakened and unawakened — were sprawled amidst the remains of shattered buildings, many with final expressions of fear and agony, still present on their faces even in death.
Blood soaked the earth, seeping into the cracked pavements and mingling with the crimson lifeblood of the Red Demons that lay beside them.
The eerie silence was occasionally broken by the groan of some unfortunate soul who had yet to experience the mercy of perishing.
Not only this, the silence was also broken by the hum of ships taking off into the skies; the hums of Red Demon war machines and the like.
A human scout, a lone survivor of the slaughter, huddled in the wreckage of what he used to call home.
His breathing was ragged, and his distant gaze stared out into the carnage that had been caused with hopeless eyes.
He had seen it all — the titanic clashes of the powerful awakened, the relentless Red Demon shock troops storming forward like a crimson tide, and even when they were killed, there were countless more to replace them.
Even the last desperate stand of his comrades as they were torn apart by a horde they couldn't hope to match still stuck to his mind like he was reliving the moment over and over again.
But above all, his mind was overwhelmed by one memory.
Seeing a squadron of Red Demons crashing through the roof of his family home, where he had assured his wife and child that they would be safe, and hearing the screams coming from the inside.
The image of what was left of them never left his mind from that moment on...
Thump.
But with one slash of a nearby Red Demon scout, even this lone survivor's life was cut short.
Some might have called it a mercy.
But even in death, the humans had taken many of their foes with them.
Despite being the second strongest awakened in the entire federation, even he couldn't fully mask the weariness in his eyes as he addressed them.
"Thirty percent."
He began, keeping his voice low.
"We've lost thirty percent of our total territories in just three months."
The numbers were more than just a statistic — they represented quadrillions of lives, a countless number of cities and cultures, and entire planets that had been either conquered or obliterated by the Red Demon invasion.
"And it's not just territory we are losing."
Principal Farnes continued, pressing a button on the console beside him.
The holographic display shifted, showing the positions of human forces across the whole Milky way galaxy.
It looked more like a desperate scattering than a coordinated defence.
"Admiral Olgierd has personally engaged the enemy at the perimeter of the Orion belt. Initial reports indicate that the Red Demon prince is leading the charge there — our first confirmed sighting of one of their royals on the battlefield."
A murmur of unease spread through the room.
There were four Red Demon princes in total, and each one of them was a terrifyingly strong awakened.
Three of them were King class S+ ranked awakened, while the fourth was the youngest and weakest, being only a Variant class S rank.
But he was only weak in comparison to his siblings.
He was still an S tier! And a Variant class one at that!
Very few of the human race's own S tiers could face off against him, and Admiral Olgierd happened to be the only one available at the time of the emergency call.
"We are being overwhelmed on all fronts. Not only do they have the capacity to just keep on sending down reinforcements like crazy, but they still have their royals pressuring us from behind."
Principal Farnes spoke in a very sombre tone.
"We are lucky this time. It's only one prince they sent. If they even send two, or three, then we are fucked. I'm the only one other than that crazy guy who can match up to them, but I can't take on two at once!"