“Didn’t you say you’d cleaned up this area so it was safe? We got openly ambushed on the way here. You call that ‘cleaned up’?”
“Th-That isn’t it...!”
“It isn’t, my ass!”
The moment I got away from the others.
I started talking one-on-one with Ariella.
“Thank god the welcome party arrived by a hair. If it hadn’t, we could’ve had a real disaster right there!”
“I-I’m sorry!”
The content of it was...
Yeah.
Naturally, it was a scolding.
‘That scared the hell out of me. Seriously.’
It went without saying, but.
When I first arrived in Gyeonggi Province.
Just escaping this place as fast as possible had taken a ridiculous amount of backbreaking suffering.
‘There’s no way bringing all those people into the Inhuman Demon Realm was going to be easy.’
The reason it was possible.
There was only one.
“You said if we just walked around reeking of vampire magic power, nobody could attack us. Did you lie to me?”
Because of the vampire magic power.
Mixed into my body by nearly half.
‘The monsters in the Inhuman Demon Realm respect the domain of the strong.’
And maybe that was why she was a boss monster to begin with.
Ariella said that after being left behind in the Inhuman Demon Realm, she’d rapidly expanded her power.
At first, the whole force had been just two people—Ariella herself, plus Lee Beomjae.
With so little strength, increasing the number of monsters was difficult too, but...
‘In the end, the monsters inside the Inhuman Demon Realm weren’t even things that qualified as targets for [Sealing].’
On the other hand.
Even if Ariella’s personal, true strength wasn’t that overwhelming...
Her ability to grow an army was so powerful that, normally, she should’ve been designated as a [Sealing] target.
It was just that the seal had been forcibly released to protect that military base.
‘And on top of that, I raised her with sincere devotion.’
Right now, she was a viscount-class vampire.
Compared to when I first met her, back in her quasi-baron days, she was incomparably stronger.
And even...
‘She’s a little stronger than those giants I met inside that [Gate].’
Of course, as an individual fighter she’d be far behind those giants.
In the first place, nobles of the night were a species specialized in raising armies.
If you included that ability in the calculation...
Her strength as a boss monster, even compared against those so-called twenty leaders inside that Gate...
Ariella ranked a little higher.
Even if I struggled a bit in the beginning.
In the end, she steadily expanded her forces.
“Th-That wasn’t a lie! From the moment I took the monster that ruled this place as a vassal, most monsters have been wary of us...!”
One of the powerful rulers that had originally dominated the Inhuman Demon Realm.
She succeeded in making [Black Claw] her “vassal,”
snatching up its entire domain,
and because she’d defeated [Black Claw]...
other powerful monsters became wary of Ariella’s force as well.
“Then the bastard that ambushed me.”
“That’s because that bastard is strange...!”
“Excuses. You’re hopeless. When I was only getting reports, I thought you were doing your job and I was going to reward you... but forget it. That never happened.”
“Ah... no...! The boon I waited so long for...!”
Right now she was despairing at the thought of not being provided with my meals anymore, but.
She really was a monster whose capabilities deserved recognition.
‘The ones I planned to make into my troops if the humans of Gyeonggi Province got wiped out.’
Fortunately, that purpose lined up well.
And she managed to build up her power to some extent.
‘...Honestly, if it were up to me, I’d have liked to mobilize her for that source assault too.’
But back then, she hadn’t been as stabilized as she was now, or something.
All I heard was that losses were heavy during the process of taking [Black Claw] as a vassal, so support would be difficult.
Still.
A lot of time had passed since then.
“The enemies are coming.”
“...Yes. I already know from the reports.”
“It’s time to use your army.”
Now.
It was time to use her army.
‘Bringing people here was close to a gamble.’
If it became known that monsters had an owner, people couldn’t help but be wary.
Especially since the Expedition Force included Han Iseo, who could use [Read Soul – Discriminate Truth].
Even so, to make use of this monster’s army, I had no choice.
For now, without revealing that I was their owner,
I’d brushed it off vaguely with talk of oaths and alliances...
“There are twelve monsters at a similar level to you, and they look specialized only for combat. The number of monsters following them is enormous too. How... are you going to catch them?”
“...Hehe!”
When I asked that.
Ariella covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed.
“Master, did you decide to cancel the boon you were going to give me?”
“...Huh?”
“Once you hear this part, you won’t be able to not give it to me.”
She spoke, brimming with confidence.
“What are you so confident about? The number of monsters I can feel around here is pretty significant, sure... but it doesn’t look like enough to deal with the enemies I mentioned.”
“It’s true that it would be hard for my children to hold out for long against opponents like that. But....”
“Huh?”
“On the way here, did you not see several monsters carrying quite powerful strength?”
Well.
I did see them.
“I saw a few monsters that looked unusually strong.”
They were weaker than Ariella or those giants, but.
Judging by their magic power, they were around a very faint blue.
Like Blackie or an alraune, I figured they’d been summoned in a weakened state for some reason so [Sealing] didn’t apply to them,
or they were monsters that had awakened from a seal relatively recently.
“All of them are the ones currently dividing the Inhuman Demon Realm’s power with me. Every one of them holds a fairly wide domain.”
“Huh?”
At that.
I tilted my head and asked.
“Then why did I see them? You said this is your domain.”
I’d moved in a straight line toward Ariella’s domain.
Unless I’d been blindly ransacking around without knowing anything about monster domains like that [Assault Team]...
There was no reason for me to run into that many forces on the way to Ariella’s domain alone.
“It’s not because that’s their domain.”
“Then?”
“I called them.”
“...Huh?”
“They were here until just a moment ago, talking with me. Then on the way back, they must’ve run into you, Master.”
Ariella smiled faintly.
“You said the enemies coming are that strong, right?”
“...Yeah.”
“We, too... no.”
Ariella.
Smiled with confidence and said:
“[Inhuman Demon Realm] won’t be easy either.”
******
“Ah... Youngjun!”
“You’re back!”
When Shin Youngjun returned from going to speak with the Queen,
the leaders of each group came out to greet him.
“...I heard you spoke with that being called the Queen.”
“Did the conversation go well?”
“Yes. For now.”
Park Junggu carefully opened his mouth.
“...May I ask what you talked about?”
“It was nothing special. Whether she could fight alongside us against those monsters—something like that.”
“Then the answer...?”
“Fortunately, things went smoothly.”
As if suddenly entering the Inhuman Demon Realm wasn’t enough—
they’d ended up inside a monster nest.
People were extremely flustered, but.
Even so.
These monsters showed them a gentle attitude,
and there were occasionally monsters that could converse.
“The Queen and the monsters under her will fight alongside us.”
“...Ooh!”
There were many people who felt uneasy about fighting alongside monsters.
Even so, they were people who had seen those mighty giants with their own eyes.
Having even a little extra force that might help was something to celebrate.
“So this... was the reinforcements you meant...!”
“Yes.”
“To think you could handle... monsters like this....”
“Saying I can ‘handle’ them is a bit ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) misleading. In the end, this time our interests simply aligned with the Queen’s.”
Strictly speaking,
before this, her power hadn’t grown to this extent.
‘At this level... you could say the Association’s strength increased by about 1.5x.’
An enormous leap in power.
...Of course.
“Even so, it won’t be easy to overcome those monsters.”
“Well, sure.”
The disparity in power was still overwhelming.
Beating them would be impossible.
But.
“We don’t need to beat them.”
“...?”
Leaving the baffled Jo Beomseok behind,
I went to Kim Jongdu and said:
“This magic power... right. Youngjun’s magic power came from here....”
“Jongdu.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Build a wall here.”
“A wall here?”
At that.
Kim Jongdu replied in shock.
“Did that Queen allow it?”
“Yes. How long do you think it’ll take?”
“Hm. It’ll depend on the situation.”
“What do you mean?”
“When building a wall, I use an ability called [Construction Command]. It’s power that lets me use other Awakeners as my laborers. If I’m only using the Awakeners from our Eastern Branch, there’s a limit to the speed. But if we can use the Association’s elite Awakeners, it’ll be much faster.”
“Oh, if it’s that...”
When I gave him an encouraging opening,
Jongdu’s face brightened.
“Then... is it okay to mobilize the Awakeners from other branches?”
“Yes—no. That won’t do.”
“...Huh?”
Awakeners have a lot to do.
They don’t have time to get mobilized for construction.
So....
-KRRRROOOOAAAH....
“Don’t these guys look like they’d work well?”
“......”
And so.
As a result of mobilizing monsters.
“To complete a wall this fast....”
“Jongdu, you must’ve improved a lot...!”
At a speed that made no sense.
A gigantic wall took its place inside the Inhuman Demon Realm.
*****
A gigantic structure built in the deepest part of the Inhuman Demon Realm’s forest.
The wall that Jongdu commanded with everything he had, and the Inhuman Demon Realm’s monsters built by hauling materials and constructing with everything they had, was quite tall.
Tall enough that it didn’t fall far behind even compared to most walls on the surface.
And.
Because it was that tall.
“......”
“Gulp.”
Those who climbed onto the wall could see, far away,
shapes approaching from outside the forest.
‘Giants....’
Powerful giants that looked like they were made of some unknown steel-like material.
And following behind those giants.
A countless swarm of monsters.
The moment Jongdu completed the wall with every last ounce of strength.
That army of “Belsnickel.”
Had arrived before the Inhuman Demon Realm.
*****
The giants lined up at the front of the Inhuman Demon Realm.
A countless army of beasts led by those giants.
“...What the hell is that.”
“When we fought at the source, we should’ve reduced their numbers a lot. Why does it look like they increased...?”
People who saw that mass muttered.
And they were right.
Their numbers were originally massive, but.
In the battle at that source, we’d been able to erase a great many enemies.
Even so.
The enemies approaching now looked like they had restored all the enemies we erased back then.
No...
It looked like even more than that.
And.
With that number right in front of them.
“...All twelve giants are coming at once.”
“D-Damn it... when we stalled at the wall, we only had to stop one or two at a time...!”
Among the people looking down at the distant scene.
I could feel unrest spreading.
‘While I was unconscious... how many times did they fight those giants?’
Battles to slow the giants’ advance.
Just from the way people’s morale was being shaved away,
I could roughly guess what those battles had been like.
That was when—
-NATIVE SPECIES!!!
“...!”
Just as we could look down at them from the wall.
Could they also see us from afar?
They noticed our presence and shouted.
-AFTER FLEEING IN SUCH WRETCHED COWARDICE, THIS IS ALL YOU’VE MANAGED TO REACH!
A shout that didn’t use air as its medium, but souls.
Even from far away, that soul-cry reached our souls.
‘...This is bad.’
I looked at the giant who was shouting.
[Knight Commander of the Frozen Kingdom, Spear of the Icicle Ariadon]
A knight commander.
Even back inside that [Gate], I’d felt it, but.
Those bastards had a structure.
That was why I could tell.
‘He’s trying to break morale.’
A “knight commander,” on the eve of war.
I could see what he was trying to do to us.
-I CAN FEEL YOUR SOULS. AND THE SOULS OF THOSE BLOOD-STENCHED THINGS YOU STAND WITH!
“...!”
At that level, a monster isn’t just “strong.”
Of course it has special powers.
That’s why.
-A FORCE SO PATHETIC THAT THIS IS ALL YOU HAVE, AFTER FLEEING SO FAR!
“...!”
The Association’s humans.
And the vampires.
“Inferior stray specters... daring to judge a noble’s army.”
It seemed that this “knight commander” had also grasped, to some extent,
what our strength amounted to.
-WITH SUCH PALTRY POWER, YOU DARE BLOCK US... HOW LAUGHABLE.
With those words.
It took a huge breath—
WHOOOOOOOM!!!
From the bodies of the twelve giants across the way.
An enormous cold burst forth.
And.
“...This is!”
The Awakeners, flustered, raised their sleeves to look.
And what was there was—
“Frost....”
“C-Cold.”
Inhuman Demon Realm.
Frost that should not be able to appear here, near the black wall that spews heat.
The cold those souls carried.
Had reached all the way here.
‘...This is pretty intense.’
Even I was startled by that level of power.
And I could feel the people who sensed it panicking.
“Th-They’re right.”
“No matter how much the Queen’s monsters help....”
Contrary to what they’d expected—a simple invasion and battle—
those bastards spoke to us,
and showed their power first.
“Those monsters....”
“There’s no way we can win.”
Because of that.
The unrest among the people grew even greater.
‘...The morale that barely rose because Ariella’s monsters joined as allies.’
At the giant’s declaration that even that was meaningless.
It was being mercilessly carved away.
“This is bad. To think those giants can use tactics like that...!”
Seeing it, Jo Beomseok muttered in alarm.
‘Allied morale is more important than anything in battle.’
That knight commander knew it too.
So he used a move from the very start to crush our morale.
“This won’t do—before morale drops further, we have to start the battle!”
Jo Beomseok hurriedly,
prepared to sortie our forces before morale fell any more, but—
“No.”
“What?”
“It’s still too early to sortie.”
At my words.
Jo Beomseok looked at me like he didn’t understand.
“What are you talking about! At this rate, allied morale will only keep dropping!”
“...Mm, I guess it will?”
“You ‘guess’...!”
If we let it continue.
Allied morale would drop further.
That’s true.
But....
That was only
“If it continues like this.”
“...What?”
“Ah, my throat’s going to hurt. I didn’t want to do this again. Ahem. Ahem.”
I focused all my magic power into my throat.
Then shouted as loudly as I could.
{All troops, listen up!!!}
*****
{All troops, listen up!}
“This voice is...?”
“It’s Shin Youngjun.”
A man whose tremendous power was undeniable,
yet whose true nature still wasn’t widely known.
But even so.
Because of that power,
he wielded the greatest influence in the Association.
“No way.”
“Did he prepare another method?”
Not long ago.
When the Expedition Force was ambushed at the wall.
The voice that had delivered the guidance that let them survive.
“The way to beat them... might exist...!”
Some people, the moment they heard that voice,
thought maybe there was a way to win here, but—
“...As if.”
Still.
Most people stared at the giants’ army with faces full of despair.
“No matter what operation....”
“We can’t beat that kind of strength.”
Even if a legendary great commander returned to life,
just as one soldier can’t defeat thousands—
In the first place.
The gap in strength was too great to solve with tactics.
‘He’s going to say we can beat those monsters.’
‘But... no matter how exceptional he is, it’s impossible to beat numbers like that.’
Rather.
Some people seized by negative emotion thought—
“Saying we can win here...”
“In the end, it’s nothing but deception.”
Claiming the impossible is possible.
Would be deception toward them.
But then—
{We!!!}
“...He’s going to say we can win—”
{We cannot defeat them!}
At what came next.
They couldn’t help but be stunned.
“...Huh?”
“We can’t defeat them?”
Something that would eat away allied morale.
A thing with no reason to be said in this situation.
{But do not despair! The Association is not alone!}
“Not alone...?”
{The Queen’s vassals!}
With those words—
-KRRRROOOOAAAH!!!
The red-eyed monsters.
Became violently excited and charged out beyond the wall.
Right.
That the Queen’s vassals were with them.
They already knew that.
Even so, the belief that we still couldn’t beat them
was the cause of this collapsing morale, but....
{And!}
“...!?”
The ones fighting alongside the Association
weren’t only the Queen’s vassals.
{This Inhuman Demon Realm will fight with us!}
“What?”
While people were flustered, not understanding what that meant—
Far away.
A giant that had been about to advance toward us.
-SURRENDER, NATIVE SPECIES. IF YOU SURRENDER, WE WILL GRANT YOU—
That giant, suddenly—
-THE HONOR... OF BECOMING OUR BRETHREN... KRRRRGH!
Let out a painful soul-scream.
People stared that way in shock.
“That is....”
And then.
They could only gape in horror.
-WHAT IS THIS BEAST...!
Because what was there...
“The one we saw then.”
“That white lion!”
Charging straight at those mighty-looking giants.
Were the Inhuman Demon Realm’s monsters.
