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The day has finally come, the army of Humans led by Graham Gold, one of the Five Constellations, an organization created by the Empire of Bestellen and its Extremist Faction, had finally begun their march through the Devil Forest.
?
After months of preparations and arduous training, the army of soldiers had finally begun their charge.
Leading them was the High Battle Pope Graham Gold, and to his left, the Head of the Miller Family of Knights, Albert Miller commanded the troops of knights that were given by several Knight Houses, special families that train their descendants to serve as knights to an aristocrat and the Kingdom.
More than ten thousand soldiers were gathered through this entire ordeal, 40% of the soldiers were soldiers trained inside the Kingdom, who served in several types of jobs, such as gatekeepers, street guards, and more, while 30% were knights gathered from all families within the Aquaria Kingdom, the other 20% were Adventurers hired as Mercenaries, special battle pope troops from the Church of Bestellen, and Wizards and Magicians specialized in terrain manipulation.
The leader of the Wizards and Magicians was Abraham Gespudo, a strong wizard who had devoted his entire life to magic, having an important position in the Mage Guild of Aquaria.
He and his apprentices were hired for the specific reason of changing and adapting the terrain for the soldiers to march more comfortably.
This had been done after several days of arduous work, but now that they had finally created a good road, the soldiers finally entered the Devil Forest at high speed, quickly reaching its center after just a few hours.
The march of soldiers was so great that even the ground began to tremble.
"It is finally time, my good friend! I cannot wait to finally slay these demons and prove to Bestellen-sama that I am a worthy soldier of his cause! Rejoice, everyone! Bestellen-sama blesses us in such an occasion!" said Graham Gold, raising his golden staff as the soldiers all around were attracted by the splendor of such an artifact, shining brightly as if Graham was not a human but a herald of their god.
The soldiers raised their weapons, cheering with bravery, as many of them seemed overly relaxed and carefree.
Through the troops, the idea of victory was already a fact, as they were being led by one of the strongest humans in the Empire of Bestellen who had come exclusively to their Kingdom to aid them against the future Demon King, the half-demon boy who had slaughtered an entire group of seasoned mercenaries while still being a toddler.
Of course, they would have never expected Ervas and Veronica to be anything but what they had heard, even though more than four months had gone by since the news about such a half-demon existing, it was still known that he was just a toddler… and that he could not possibly grow so strong in just a few months.
At least, not strong enough to fight against someone like Graham Gold or Albert Miller, strong humans who could be compared to A-Rank Adventurers.
There was also the cunning Abraham Gespudo, one of the strongest wizards within the Kingdom who had been paid a hefty sum of money by the King of Aquaria to participate in the battle. Although he was weaker physically than Graham and Albert, his magical prowess was unparalleled, being able to compare to an A-Rank Adventurer as well, and whose achievements even included having slain a Rank 10 Dark Dragon that once tormented Aquaria in the past.
"Indeed, it is finally time, Graham-sama. We shall finally defeat this threat before it grows too strong! It seems that the divinations had said that the boy still exists and hides within the Devil Forest and that he had been hiding within the tribe of Squirrel-kin beastmen," said Albert Miller, a large and stout man who wore an enormous and heavy white and gold armor, as if he were a holy paladin while holding on a long blade that resembled more a giant piece of steel than a sword.
"That's right, our spies had already scouted the area, although some of them disappeared, even then, as they possess magic bombs on their hearts, they will die before any of these beasts could even dare to interrogate them," said Graham.
"Hm, it seems that we are finally approaching their hideout, there is the smell of something being roasted… Perhaps these beasts are in the middle of a beastly feast? It would be a good time to strike them down!" said Albert.
"Indeed, that might be it! …Eh?" asked Graham, as he saw Albert suddenly stop walking and glancing at his back.
Half of his army was suddenly gone.
The other half was being roasted alive.
The two old men's eyes were suddenly taken aback.
What could have happened?
Out of nowhere.
Completely out of the blue!
They did not even sense any change at all!
It was as if space itself was… distorting the sound and perception of what was happening right at their back!
Only a few hundreds of soldiers near them managed to escape from the enormous hole that had appeared out of the blue right in the road, the hole was so deep that most of the soldiers that fell towards it were most likely dead.
And even if they were to not die somehow, there were thousands of spears stuck into the ground, having impaled any survivors already.
The others that managed to evade the abyssal pit were greeted by runes in the ground formed by Curse Synthesis and Mana Construction, which exploded into a blazing fire that began to burn them alive!
This sight was nothing else but hell incarnate!
Graham glanced at this as his senses began to sharpen, out of the blue, all of this had happened, and not even he, a human compared to an A-Rank Adventurer was not capable of sensing it?!
"Impossible!" he cried, as Albert pointed at the sky while gnashing his teeth.
"What is… that?!" he asked.
Suddenly the sky began to distort, as something that was manipulating it finally broke the spellbinding sounds and vibrations of the designed space.
A beautiful fairy and an enormous and grotesque mass of phantasmal eyes and tentacles glanced at them.
Kireina and Legion, the two strongest Spatial Mages joined hands, creating what Kireina named a 'Spatial Domain', a space that anyone could enter but whose sounds and other things inside would be blocked from the outside!
Although it seemed as if they had created it out of the blue, they had taken several days to set this special magic formation, waiting for the soldiers to follow the path they had created.
This was why Ervas and Veronica even left the wizards to mold the forest, so they could create countless traps on their path with utmost ease.
"To be honest, I really thought that they would have noticed it beforehand… To think that they actually all go through and those leading it even go outside of it without even realizing it for the first few seconds…" laughed Kireina, as her crimson eyes gleamed with malice!
"I am sure that our lords would be pleased," said Legion.
Suddenly Graham noticed that right in front of him, there was a graveyard!
"This… this graveyard?! Where did it come from?! It wasn't here a few seconds ago!!!"
"(This… My Danger Sense is telling me that something dangerous is coming!!!) Graham, watch out!"
Albert cried as he put his enormous shield in front of Graham, conjuring a powerful Technique that combined Light Attribute Magic and Shield Technique, generating a giant force field of light protecting Graham and his troops, as his knights quickly began to do the same, unifying their techniques in perfect tandem.
Most of the knights and soldiers that weren't thrown into the abyss were in shock, but the scream of their leader, Albert, woke them up, as most of them instinctively began to create barriers of light and use their shields to defend against something that was about to come!
And then…
BOOM!
Something enormous suddenly surged from the gigantic graveyard that extended for hundreds of meters, a giant metallic piece of black color, flashing with a spectral and deadly presence that encompassed everything!
It was as if the men there were confronting a Demon God!
Its presence alone began to unleash an Aura of pure darkness and fear, which the light shields barely resisted, Albert, infused his Mana as he used the dozens of accessories around his body to enhance his technique and also to acquire more mana.
Graham was paralyzed, glancing at the monstrous sight in front of him.
Something that should not even exist, a being made entirely out of the metal of such size shouldn't even exist!
"A… Fortress?!" he asked.
"Welcome, everyone, we were so impatiently waiting for all of you to come!" laughed the gigantic metallic fortress, opening its insides as a world of abyssal darkness greeted the men.
Then, chaos unfolded as countless demi-humans, monsters, and undead surged out of the gigantic fortress, raising their weapons, conjuring magic and techniques, and roaring fiercely!
Graham, Albert, and the rest could not believe their sight once more!
"Those are…!"
"Squirrel-kin… Raccoon-kin, Rabbit-kin, Bear-kin, Harpies… Even Ghouls?!"
"And they're all working alongside monsters and Undead as if they were all a single army!"
"Bare yourselves! This is a challenge by our God! Do not falter, as they are less than a hundred, and our group is still big enough! Overpower them with what I have taught you and purify this Undead with Light and Life Magic!" roared Graham, his maniac eyes gleaming with conviction.
This was it!
This was the challenge he needed!
The challenge to finally ascend!
The challenge to finally show that he was worthy of being one of the Five Constellations!
To show Bestellen that he was committed to his cause!
Graham smiled happily, as an enormous Aura of Light and Life began to engulf his entire being as if he had become the personification of light!
Charging to the front with his enormous, almost two meters tall body, the battle pope raised his staff as his muscles started to bulge, smacking dozens of Undead and Plant-type monsters into the ground with great speed and strength!
Clash! Crash! Boom!
"Bring him to me! Bring me the Demon King!" he roared, as the soldiers that were being released by the gigantic fortress glanced at the maniac who had broken through their ranks within seconds, his strength was clearly not their match!
However, someone seemed to match his power.
Flash!
"Demon King? Is this how you humans have called me?" asked a young boy, seemingly on his five to six years of age, wearing a formal attire like those that an aristocrat would wear, he had silvery white hair, with black strands, crimson eyes that gleamed with a light that seemed to penetrate the soul of those it glared, alongside a long horn on his forehead and wolf ears atop his head.
"You…! We have never seen it before, but I can clearly tell! You're… the Demon King!" said Graham, smiling obsessively.
"No, please call me Ervas, Ervas Igni," said the boy.
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The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l