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Not a single person in the Holy Nation of Amid opposed the holy war proclaimed by Pope Eileek Marme.

This was because the people involved with politics, military affairs and the church had already guessed that a holy war would begin soon… Some citizens and the royalty and nobles of the vassal nations, including the shield-nation of Mirg, were bitter to hear of it, but they were unable to openly voice their dissent.

The pope of the Church of Alda had always been a politically powerful one, but with the nation changing from an ‘empire’ to a ‘holy nation,’ the pope’s word had become the word of Alda, the God of Law and Fate. Opposing the government would mean opposing the god they worshiped.

The Mirg shield-nation in particular was indebted to Heinz and his companions, as they had saved the nation from monsters when a part of the Boundary Mountain Range moved and became the Ark Mountain Range. They could not openly rebel against the decision to wage a holy war.

“But even if we are to begin a holy war, what are we supposed to do? The enemy is on the other side of the impassable obstacle that is the Boundary Mountain Range. Even if we wished to attack via the sea, the only thing awaiting us would be whirlpools, reefs, and the fearsome monsters of the Devil’s Seas. Is it not impossible for us to begin an attack?” asked the king of the Mirg shield-nation, voicing his opinion in a roundabout way.

He gave off the impression that he was a king who voiced his opinion clearly rather than merely currying favor with the suzerain state of his own nation, but on the inside, he was terrified. Would Alda’s will force him to order his nation’s soldiers on an expedition of death trying to force their way over the Boundary Mountain Range or across the treacherous seas?

In the past, while the nation was still known as the Amid Empire, there had never been any orders that could result in the possible destruction of the Mirg shield-nation. All of the previous emperors had been capable of rational thinking, and the Mirg shield-nation had always demonstrated the value of its continued existence.

But with the moving of the Boundary Mountain Range, the Mirg shield-nation’s role as a shield against the Orbaume Kingdom had come to an end, and its value had plummeted drastically.

And now, the Amid Empire was known as the Holy Nation of Amid. A considerable number of people were fearful over whether its new ruler, Eileek Marme, intended to maintain the nation’s relations with its vassal nations as the previous emperors had. The king of the Mirg shield-nation couldn’t be blamed for fearing that Eileek might take this opportunity to get rid of a drastic number of his nation’s soldiers.

When the Amid Empire became the Holy Nation of Amid, he had decided to wait and see how things turned out, but he now knew how much of a crisis the suzerain state could cause and regretted taking such an optimistic approach.

In response to his words, the nobles and royals of the Holy Nation’s vassal states who had been summoned here began exchanging their own opinions in voices too loud to be considered whispering.

“Indeed… the paths and tunnels used by the Mirg shield-nation in previous invasions no longer exist.”

“Don’t tell me we have to start with rebuilding a tunnel? There’s no telling how many years it will take until one is finished.”

“No, can’t we just use magic to fly over the sea?”

“Don’t be foolish. Do you think nobody has ever tried that? The people of the past gave their lives so that we could learn from their failure.”

“How about we have our forces join those of the Farzon Duchy and look for a tunnel through the Boundary Mountain Range from the Orbaume Kingdom’s side?! If there was one on our side, there must be one on their side as well!”

“And how many years do you plan to spend doing that?! We would need to have our soldiers join the Farzon Duchy’s army by boat, turning all of the Orbaume Kingdom’s other duchies against them as enemies, then search for tunnels that may not even exist… It just isn’t feasible.”

“To begin with, the enemy can move the mountain range itself. If we spent that much time doing something like that, they’ll just move the mountain range themselves and come attacking us!”

What these squabbling nobles and royals had in common was that they were those in positions that the Holy Nation of Amid considered to be unimportant.

Meanwhile, those with positions of importance within the Holy Nation of Amid remained calm, as if they already knew the answer.

“Please calm down,” said Eileek. “Our lord Alda has already sent a Divine Message with instructions on what we are to do. The hero Heinz will summon the Heroic God Bellwood and split the Boundary Mountain Range to open the path to our victory.”

The plan he declared was one involving such sheer strength that it defied all common sense.

But many realized that this was indeed possible.

Even an A-class adventurer was capable of putting all of their strength into a single attack to split apart, break down, or destroy a mountain that was several hundred meters in height; naturally, such a feat would also be possible for an S-class adventurer like Schneider.

But it would be impossible even for Schneider to do the same to a mountain in the Boundary Mountain Range that was several thousand meters tall. Even if he managed to make it collapse, it wasn’t difficult to imagine that this would cause a tremendous volume of sediment to avalanche into the Mirg shield-nation, and with their habitat destroyed, monsters would flood into the nation in swarms from the collapsed mountain.

However, if the ‘Blue-flamed Sword’ Heinz summoned the Heroic God Bellwood upon himself, his full-strength attack would indeed split the Boundary Mountain Range apart. And Alda himself had gone to the trouble of sending a Divine Message with the instruction to do so in order to commence the holy war.

The Mirg shield-nation’s king knew that this was true, but even so, he objected. “I-if we do that, the monsters living in the Boundary Mountain Range will come attacking our nation once more, will they not!” he shouted.

His objection was only natural, as if this plan was carried out, it was his nation that would become the war’s primary battleground.

“Once the holy war is over, all that will remain is an entranceway, wide open to the Boundary Mountain Range! Please, consider taking measures to protect our nation… or at least allow us to choose the location at which the mountain range is to be split!” he pleaded.

The Mirg shield-nation had never considered that an entrance into the Boundary Mountain Range would be used as a foothold to conquer new land.

After all, they had carried out a failed second expedition to Talosheim seven years ago. From the limited but very precious information and lessons learned from it, they knew that even the idea of such a thing was dangerous.

The Boundary Mountain Range was treacherous; the entire area was a Devil’s Nest, swarming with a countless number of powerful monsters. Having received reports that this was the case, the Mirg shield-nation’s royal mages had considered whether it might be possible to purify it and transform it into ordinary land, but they had arrived at the conclusion that this was not feasible.

It was common knowledge that to purify a Devil’s Nest, the entirety of the Devil’s Nest must be purified all at once. If only one part was purified, even if all of the monsters in that part were eradicated, monsters would keep returning from the parts that were not purified. The entirety of the Boundary Mountain Range was a Devil’s Nest, so it could be assumed that even while the purification was taking place, monsters would keep flooding in from other parts of it.

Of course, if the monsters flooding in this way could be exterminated continuously, twenty four hours a day, purifying it might be possible, but… considering the fighting forces and costs that would require, it wasn’t very realistic – though it might be possible for the ‘Demon King,’ who was capable of moving the Boundary Mountain Range, or Heinz, who was capable of splitting it apart.

If the Mirg shield-nation were to become adjacent to such a dangerous region, what would happen? There was no doubt that the Devil’s Nest would spread from the newly-created valley acting as an opening into the Boundary Mountain Range.

In order to prevent that from happening, it would be necessary to ensure that the mountain range was split far from places that were inhabited, and a fortress would need to be erected to protect the nation from the monsters coming out of the mountain range and prevent the Devil’s Nest from spreading.

This would take years, so requesting such measures to be taken was essentially requesting for the holy war to be stopped. Even so, the Mirg shield-nation’s king couldn’t help but voice his thoughts.

But this request was not met with a harsh refusal or being labeled as traitorous; it was instead met with warm words of reassurance.

“There is no need for concern,” said Eileek. “The great Alda, the God of Law and Fate, is already aware of all this.”

“R-really?!” the Mirg shield-nation’s king exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise.

Eileek nodded, still smiling. “After we are victorious in the holy war, all of your worries will vanish, and there will be nothing to be concerned about.”

The moment he said this, the Mirg shield-nation’s king began praying with an emotional expression.

What an insolent, pathetic man, Eileek thought to himself.

Alda, the God of Law and Fate, knew from the beginning that initiating this holy war would cause the Mirg shield-nation to become one of its battlegrounds, bringing devastation and great losses to the lands within it.

And after the holy war was won, unless the Mirg shield-nation was extremely fortunate, it would be destroyed.

Alda understood this, but he had deemed it a ‘necessary sacrifice.’ Although he pitied the Mirg shield-nation’s people who would become sacrificial lambs, and mourned their impending deaths, he believed that this could not be helped.

Eileek knew this from the Divine Messages that he had received, and he did not intend to oppose Alda’s designation of the Mirg shield-nation as a ‘necessary sacrifice.’

In fact, he believed that all of the Mirg shield-nation’s inhabitants should be grateful for Alda’s pity and gladly offer him their lives.

That was why Eileek told the truth to the Mirg shield-nation.

Alda knew of all of the Mirg shield-nation’s concerns. And by the time the holy war was won, the Mirg shield-nation was unlikely to be capable of continuing to exist as a nation. Thus, all of the worries of the Mirg shield-nation’s king would disappear, and there would be nothing to be concerned about.

But this was not a coldness born from an arrogant belief that he and his followers were exceptions. After all, the other vassal states and the Holy Nation of Amid itself were to become sacrificial lambs as well.

Eileek knew that he himself was a sacrificial lamb for Alda, and the only difference between him and the Mirg shield-nation was the likelihood of becoming sacrificed and when that sacrifice would happen.

That was Alda’s will, and Eileek felt honored to give up his life for his god. He was sincerely delighted that he would be able to give his life for the holy war that would decide the future of this world.

The exceptions were those who knew that the Mirg shield-nation would become a sacrificial lamb but believed that they would not – the nobles who had handed over the former emperor, Marshukzarl, when the Amid Empire became the Holy Nation of Amid.

They were oblivious. They had no idea that in the worst-case scenario, Alda was willing to have all of the heroes who survived the holy war retreat from the Bahn Gaia continent to already-inhabited islands and use those islands as bases to regain their strength and make preparations to retake the continent.

Eileek knew everything, and though he thought of these nobles as pitiful, he did not intend to tell them.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, word of the holy war had reached the Farzon Duchy as well. As for the method by which this information was relayed… There were no elite messengers capable of making the journey between the Farzon Duchy and the Holy Nation of Amid, nor were there any genius space-attribute mages, so the news was delivered via a Divine Message from Alda.

The Church of Alda in the Farzon Duchy had nobody as talented in correctly interpreting Divine Messages as Eileek. But even so, there was no mistaking the short Divine Message sent on this occasion: “Begin the Holy War.”

Duke Farzon believed that this holy war was the reason for which he had been born into this world, and he was ready to give everything to the cause – not only the duchy’s army, but every volunteer he could recruit, too.

As these movements grew larger in scale, they were sensed by the other duchies, and information was relayed to the Demon Empire of Vidal as well.

In the castle of Talosheim, the capital city of the Demon Empire of Vidal, Vandalieu pondered for a while before speaking. “First, we should have the Kijin Nation evacuate, since their land is on the Holy Nation of Amid’s side of the Boundary Mountain Range… I know little about politics and military strategy, but this is some kind of diversion, isn’t it? These movements from both the Farzon Duchy and the Holy Nation of Amid.”

“Yes, I agree,” said Chezare, who had been a military officer of the Mirg shield-nation while he was still alive.

“Precisely. As expected of you, Vandalieu-sama,” said Isla, who had once been an evil-god-worshipping Vampire who had manipulated human society from the shadows for tens of thousands of years.

The great army that the Holy Nation of Amid was trying to send would march along the highway for over a month to get to the Boundary Mountain Range. And they would do so with the ‘Blue-flamed Sword’ Heinz and his companions riding in a large carriage at the army’s center to ensure that he was perfectly prepared for battle at any moment.

This might work against an ordinary enemy nation, but with Vandalieu and his companions being so mobile, this army would be marching while essentially begging to be attacked before they reached the Boundary Mountain Range.

No, more importantly, if Vandalieu intended to conquer the Holy Nation of Amid, he could simply wait until the army was too far away to return easily, then raid and occupy the capital.

In other words, that was what Alda wanted Vandalieu to do. The Five-colored Blades in the carriage in the army’s center were undoubtedly fake decoys, and the real ones would be lying in wait elsewhere.

The Farzon Duchy was also undoubtedly just another diversion. No matter how much effort Duke Farzon made, he and his army simply did not have the means to even engage the Demon Empire of Vidal in direct battle.

If traveling by land, Duke Farzon’s army would have to cross the Birgitt Duchy and the Hartner Duchy before they could even reach the Boundary Mountain Range. If traveling by sea, they would face the same obstacle as the Holy Nation of Amid – the raging sea currents, reefs, and the monsters of the Devil’s Seas.

Of course, every duchy in the Orbaume Kingdom would have to build defensive lines that were not just diversions. With the exception of the Farzon Duchy, the Orbaume Kingdom was an ally of the Demon Empire of Vidal. Naturally, they did not intend to merely remain spectators to the war.

“I believe it would be best to provide the reinforcements requested by the armies of each duchy while you remain on standby, ready to act on a moment’s notice, Your Majesty,” said Chezare.

But sending sudden reinforcements as Chezare suggested would likely be best to only be done when the defensive lines were at great risk of breaking. If done too soon, it would cause the duchies’ armies to lose face – even if the Farzon Duchy’s army included elite soldiers that had defected from other duchies.

In politics, including foreign diplomacy, process and procedure were important things that could not be ignored… Of course, there were emergency situations in which there was no time to go through process and procedure, but for those situations, there was a wonderful phrase called ‘receiving approval after the fact.’

And besides, they would probably never hesitate to ask the Demon Empire of Vidal for reinforcements.

“So, the critical thing is what Alda’s forces are doing. What do you think they’ll be doing behind all these diversions? I do believe they will be aiming to assassinate His Majesty,” said Kurt, who was Chezare’s younger brother and served as deputy general and prime minister.

It was Eleanora who was first to respond to his question. “Won’t they form a small force of elite individuals with the Five-colored Blades at their center, and send them into Talosheim? They could have the diversionary forces on the Holy Nation of Amid’s side break the barrier. Then Nineroad – or Larpan, the God of Mirror Images, since he’s most likely still alive – could teleport them in.”

Isla had a different theory. “No, perhaps Heinz and his companions are already in hiding in the Farzon Duchy, and they’re planning to attack and cause great damage in the Birgitt Duchy or the Hartner Duchy where Katie is, and then change their focus to Vandalieu-sama when he comes to their aid.”

Eleanora and Isla often competed against one another on many things, but they were completely serious now, discussing the matter at hand with no meaningless squabbling.

“If you’re going that far, it’s possible that they’re already in hiding, somewhere in the Jahan Duchy or the Sauron Duchy, isn’t it? All they would need to do is teleport somewhere outside the cities with space-attribute magic to avoid being detected by Gufadgarn or Jane Doe, then just camp out there until the time comes for them to strike,” said Zandia.

Indeed, there was too great an area that needed to be watched over.

Unlike Earth, people in this world were capable of individually possessing offensive power equivalent to that of a weapon of mass destruction. This was true of Vandalieu, Schneider and his companions, and also of the Five-colored Blades led by Heinz.

And in this world, people did not control as much of the land as the people of Earth. If one were to hide in a forest or thicket between two cities, it would be difficult to find them.

And the Five-colored Blades were a party of adventurers. They were comfortable with and proficient at living and sleeping outdoors. They could easily do so for a week or even a month.

“Well, I’m sure it’s impossible for them to be hiding around the Demon Continent or Gartland or the areas around there, so I think we can rule that possibility out,” Zandia added.

“In any case, assuming that they went into hiding in advance, it will be difficult to find them,” Kurt said in conclusion.

There was also a limit to how many Demon King Familiars Vandalieu could make. He simply couldn’t create enough Demon King Familiars to search every nook and cranny of the entirety of the Orbaume Kingdom. And it would be even more difficult to mobilize spirits and Undead for the task.

“It might be possible for Vandalieu, but he might need to dedicate himself solely to that task, reducing the Mana he has available and worsening his control over his magic because he has too many of his thought processes occupied with controlling his Demon King Familiars,” said Darcia. “And that might be what the enemy is really after.”

“You’re right, Mom. So let’s keep the Demon King Familiars on standby around the important cities… And, well, I can’t imagine that Heinz would want to employ those kinds of tactics anyway,” said Vandalieu.

“What do you mean by that, Master?” asked Luciliano.

“I mean exactly what I said, my apprentice,” Vandalieu replied, looking at him with a flat expression.

Prompted to elaborate, Vandalieu resisted with silence for a while longer before reluctantly continuing.

“Not that I mean to defend Heinz, but he isn’t the type of person to gain pleasure from destroying cities and killing people indiscriminately. That would be even more true if they’re ‘people’ as defined by Alda – belonging to the human, Elf, and Dwarf races… And to go even further, he apparently did not go out of his way to cause members of Vida’s races harm as long as their existence wasn’t harmful to human society.”

Vandalieu truly hated Heinz from the bottom of his heart, and believed that the world would be a brighter place without him. He was absolutely certain that he would never achieve true happiness as long as Heinz lived. If he had to choose between Heinz and a snake or a scorpion to be his best friend, he would choose the snake or scorpion without any hesitation… though he was already quite good friends with snakes and scorpions already.

Still, Vandalieu was sufficiently calm – and cowardly – to know that facts shouldn’t be twisted.

The Five-colored Blades were a party of adventurers who worshiped Alda. But they were considered heroes in human society, and they had not carried out acts of persecution against worshipers of Vida or members of Vida’s races. In fact, in the Alcrem Duchy, they had even worked to help them gain the same rights as other people and succeeded to some extent.

They had shown no mercy against some – Ghouls, who were considered to be a race of monsters; the Majin who had misled government officials to gain information; and the Merfolk tribe who had been in possession of a fragment of the Demon King… However, that was because human society had considered them to be evil.

Vandalieu had no intention of forgiving Heinz or letting him live because of his good deeds, but even so, he believed that Heinz was different from the truly fanatical, zealous worshipers of Alda… those like Eileek.

“So you are saying that he would not attack cities in the Orbaume Kingdom in order to draw you out, Your Majesty? But were you not the one who suggested that Alda might use the fragments of Guduranis’s soul?” asked Chezare.

“I did say that, Chezare, but Heinz is not Alda. Heinz is not an incarnation of Alda, nor can he summon Alda upon himself,” Vandalieu said.

Heinz and Alda were not the same. They were separate entities with their own thoughts and memories. With that being the case, although Alda would consider many to be ‘necessary sacrifices’ in his holy war, it was more than likely that Heinz would not do the same.

That was especially true because there were also worshipers of Alda remaining in every duchy of the Orbaume Kingdom.

“Some might be able to go through with it by telling themselves that it can’t be helped because it’s war, but I don’t think that Heinz would be able to do that… Phew. I’m going to take a little break,” said Vandalieu.

Although he had no intention of defending Heinz, he had ended up defending Heinz’s character. In order to recover from the stress, he stopped all activity performed by his main body.

As Vandalieu became completely motionless with his eyes still open, Darcia gently lifted him into her arms as she nodded in agreement with his opinion.

“If I recall, during the battle against the resurrected Guduranis, he prioritized defeating Guduranis rather than Vandalieu,” Darcia said.

“But if all they need to do is attack cities in order to draw the boy out, it does not have to be Heinz to do it. Even the Fifteen Evil-breaking Swords… No, I suppose not. Once they drew the boy out, the boy would kill them in the blink of an eye in his rage,” said Zadiris.

It would indeed be possible for those other than Heinz to draw Vandalieu out. But like Zadiris pointed out, the only one who could actually stand a chance against Vandalieu was Heinz with Bellwood summoned upon him.

Even trying to slow Vandalieu and buy time would be an impossible task, after all. For the task of killing him, Heinz was the only choice.

“Don’t you need to be wary of Alda’s Stakes of Law? I think it’s definitely possible that Alda could have some crazy plan where he descends himself to stab you with his stakes,” said Borkus.

“I shall answer that question on the great Vandalieu’s behalf,” said Gufadgarn. “In the event that such a thing is attempted, the great Vandalieu can simply retreat temporarily. And I believe that it will be possible to avoid Alda’s attack, even if caught by surprise.”

Alda’s authority, the Stakes of Law, had an unstoppable effect against any god of Lambda. However, because they were stakes, they needed to be directly stabbed into the target in order to take effect.

In other words, as long as Vandalieu kept his distance from Alda, he could not be stabbed. And because Alda was not a god of war, even though he possessed great power as a god, he was not particularly skilled in battle. It would not be impossible for Vandalieu to simply evade Alda’s attempt to bring his stakes down upon him.

Mythological tales spoke of many incidents in which Zuruwarn, the God of Space and Creation, and Ricklent, the Genie of Time and Magic, were punished by the Stakes of Law. And in the battle that took place a hundred thousand years ago, Vida was riddled with numerous stakes.

But Zuruwarn, Ricklent, and Vida did not possess divinity as war-gods; they were not particularly skilled in battle.

In Zuruwarn and Ricklent’s cases, they had willingly accepted their punishments, not even attempting to evade the Stakes of Law. These incidents had occurred long before the Demon King Guduranis arrived in this world, back when all of the great gods still existed. Although Zuruwarn and Ricklent had often messed things up, they were still gods whose existence was necessary for this world, and they were fully aware of that. That was why it would have been meaningless for them to avoid their punishment at the hands of Alda, back when he was still sane and ruled over law without issue.

By accepting their punishments and atoning, they had been able to remain standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the other gods; if they had run around trying to escape their punishment, their relationship with the other gods would have been damaged. That was why they hadn’t chosen to escape by using teleportation or slowing down the time around Alda.

As for Vida, she had already been damaged by attacks from Bellwood before the Stakes of Law were driven into her, so she had been unable to avoid them.

“With that said, this strategy will only work against an Alda who has descended upon this world himself, as there is a limit on the duration he can exist here. It will not be effective if Alda descends upon a vessel,” Gufadgarn warned. “If the vessel possesses significant skill themselves, they might be able to use that skill to wield the Stakes of Law to great effect.”

In other words, it was the same as when Darcia summoned Vida upon herself.

“In that case, it would perhaps be best to engage in close-quarters combat ourselves, as we are not gods, while Danna-sama retreats to a distance where he cannot be attacked using the Stakes,” said Bellmond.

“I agree with Bellmond,” said Gufadgarn.

“So, back to the original topic… Where do you think Heinz is, and what do you think he is trying to do?” asked Zadiris.

“Taking His Majesty’s thoughts regarding Heinz into account, I believe he would cut his way into the depths of a place inhabited by those whose lives he would not hesitate to take. In other words, I believe that there is a high chance that he will come here, to Talosheim,” Chezare said.

The cliché of every tale in which a Demon King was slain – a small number of elite individuals infiltrating deep into enemy territory to assassinate the Demon King.

This was yet another unpleasant thing to hear for Vandalieu, the one being treated as the Demon King.

“For now, let’s continue thinking while staying ready to deal with any unorthodox attacks from Alda, just as we theorized,” Vandalieu said.

 

 

 

Winter grew deeper, and several days before the new year, the Crusader Army of the Holy Nation of Amid… known as the Crusader Army for short, continued to march.

Its number totaled approximately a hundred thousand… One might consider this a small number, considering that it was the total forces of the Holy Nation of Amid and all four of its vassal nations.

But this hundred-thousand-strong army was made of elite soldiers.

Ordinary infantrymen could defeat Rank 2 monsters and enemies of similar strength, but in this army, each was a skilled soldier capable of fighting against a Rank 4 monster. Adventurers, priest-warriors and knights participating in this war were strictly limited to those of C-class and above.

With the enemy being Vandalieu and his subordinates, weak soldiers would be nothing more than hindrances, failing to be of use even as meat shields.

These elite soldiers had trained and trained for the past few months, and a hundred thousand of them had been gathered to form this army. Of course, Pope Eileek Marme was with them. But at the same time, the Crusader Army was nothing more than a decoy for Alda’s forces.

As Vandalieu and his companions had immediately realized, the Five-colored Blades were not among this army. Those riding in the carriage they were supposed to be in were fakes.

And this Crusader Army included soldiers who were not faithful to Alda.

As soon as the church leader gives the signal, I’m going to run as far away from the frontline as possible.

I don’t know if Alda, the God of Law and Fate, has really lost his mind. But there’s no doubt that Eileek has.

Alda isn’t the one we worship. So, we’ll just need to believe in the words of our gods.

Botin, give strength to my body, which was honed by you and your craftsmanship.

Peria, grant me your wisdom.

Ricklent, grant me the divine protection of time.

Zuruwarn, instruct me so that I may have hope beyond the chaos.

Some were those who had managed to successfully conceal their distrust towards Alda. Others were those who had received instructions from the clergymen saved by Vandalieu from captivity at the hands of Alda’s Church. Others still were in neither category and had received Divine Messages directly from the gods who had changed sides to join Vida’s faction.

All of them were those who had not been in a position to refuse joining the Crusader Army, or had chosen not to refuse in order to protect their friends or those from their own homelands who had chosen to join.

Naturally, they had no intention of fighting as a member of the Crusader Army.

They were far from a single, unified rock; they could not even be compared to a pile of stone sheets. That was what the Crusader Army was.

In several more hours, the army would come within striking distance of the Boundary Mountain Range, and those riding in the central carriage would destroy a part of the mountain range to create an entrance. The plan was to use this entrance to attack.

But a thundering noise came from the mountain range. It sounded like the roaring of an enormous monstrosity, but those in the Crusader Army who were from the Mirg shield-nation knew that this was not the case.

“The mountain range… The mountain range is moving!”

“That damned Demon King! He’s making the first move!”

As the Crusader Army approached, a valley had been created by ‘Golem Genesis’ slowly and silently. Now, an entrance into that valley was forming.

And from the mountain range, a countless number of monsters approached the Crusader Army… hordes of Tyrannosauruses with bloodshot eyes, Hill Giants that roared as they charged forward, and Huge Flying Sharks that swam through the air.

“Meet them in battle!”

“Now’s our chance, run! Retreat, retreat!”

The Crusader Army’s ranks broke immediately. Some were passionate soldiers who were willing to give up their lives in this battle against the Demon King’s army. But others took this as a signal to break off from the Crusader Army and escape as they had planned.

The chain of command collapsed in an instant, and those who weren’t attempting to flee were slow to act.

And as this occurred, the Crusader Army was attacked on both sides by hidden forces – the army of the Demon Empire of Vidal, led by the ‘Sword King’ Borkus and Vigaro, and the Noble Orc army led by Budarion.

Borkus let out a bloodthirsty roar. “SCATTER THEEEM!”

“Don’t chase the ones who are trying to run! Kill the ones who stay in place!” Vigaro shouted.

“Noble Orc army, march forth!” Budarion ordered.

“Damn it! They were already waiting outside the Boundary Mountain Range to ambush us?!” one of the Crusader Army’s soldiers shouted.

Indeed, the flashy opening of the mountain range was a diversion. And the disorganized horde of monsters emerging from the valley were nothing but disposable pawns used as bait, being spurred forth from behind.

The monsters of species living in the Boundary Mountain Range that were good at charging at their enemy had been rounded up and driven forward towards the Crusader Army. They weren’t even a part of the Demon Empire of Vidal’s army.

And so, the first part of the decisive battle began with a successful surprise attack from the Demon Empire of Vidal.