Chapter 17 – Fall of the Fort
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
Four days later, in the dead of night, when the moon was slightly tilted to the west.
Fahlen Tein and his vampire subordinates were gathered in the forest not far from Fort Alphadia.
Further afield, Wilhelm and his dragons were likely already prepared, along with werewolves, lycanthropes, and other demons led by Rodolphe’s younger brother, Wilde.
Fahlen turned to his subordinates.
“All right, everyone. We need to go ahead and eliminate the lookouts so our comrades can take that fort.”
There was none of his usual exaggerated gestures or tone.
The subordinates nodded to the quiet, calm Fahlen.
“Our actions will determine the success of this operation. Yes, we are the ones who matter most. We’ll take the fort now.…… No one would have thought of something this fun if not for the Demon Queen.”
Fahlen laughs.
“Now, let’s go, guys. Instill fear into the humans.”
A sudden wind blew, sweeping away the vampires, including Fahlen, away, and several bats flew up into the sky.
Vampires can transform into their kin, bats.
If they were in human form, they would be conspicuous, but as bats, even if they were seen by humans, they would not be recognized as demons.
Many bats flew off towards the fort.
Then, sneaking under the watchful eye of the lookouts, Fahlen and the others managed to infiltrate the fort.
Each of them approached a separate lookout.
Fahlen also approached the lookout under cover of darkness.
There were two people on the lookout.
“Hey, good job keeping watch.”
The moment the soldiers turned around at the sudden voice and looked at Fahlen, his red eyes glowed suspiciously, and he took control of the soldiers.
The soldiers who had no magic resistance lost consciousness easily.
“Humans are weak.”
Fahlen takes a mirror out of his pocket and points it towards the sky.
There are few clouds tonight and the moon is full, so when you shake the mirror, the moonlight reflects off it.
Looking around, more and more mirror reflections were flickering on the other lookout towers.
Eventually, reflections shimmered in all six locations surrounding the courtyard.
Looking up at the sky, a small shadow appeared in the sky, gradually growing larger and getting closer.
Several dragons had large boxes hanging beneath their feet. The boxes were like large cages, and on closer inspection, there were countless glowing eyes on the other side of the cage.
The dragons descend into the courtyard, lower the boxes in turn, and then fly back up into the sky.
Feeling the breeze, he put the mirror away in his pocket.
His compatriots appear in the courtyard.
“Ah, time for a jolly hunt.”
Fahlen grinned, the corners of his mouth turning up.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
“The demons are attacking!!”
The soldier jumped up at the sound of voices coming through the door.
Ever since they heard that the Arendt Front had collapsed, he knew a day like this would come someday.
But this is a fort.
It won’t be taken down that easily.
As he hurriedly donned his armor and stepped out into the corridor, he heard angry shouts and the sound of some kind of explosion echoing from afar.
The sound was closer than he had imagined.
“Hey, what’s going on?!”
The soldier called out to another who was passing by, and the young man’s face was etched with fear.
“D, demons have attacked!”
“I know that! Why does it sound so close?!”
“I don’t know how they got in, but a lot of demons have appeared inside the fort! We have to escape or they will kill us!
The young man shook off the hand that was holding him and ran off.
…… Demons have infiltrated the fort?
This fort was supposed to be a stronghold that had long supported the Arendt Front.
There is a thick and sturdy door, a high outer wall separating the outside from the inside, and lookout towers on which soldiers are stationed at all times.
If the demons approached, they would know immediately.
That’s how it was supposed to be…….
“Hii!” shouted the companion next to him.
When he turned around, there was a demon there.
It was a ferocious wolf-like demon, much larger than a human and covered in fur. He could see sharp black claws growing from its paws. He shuddered to think of what it would be like to be torn apart by those.
“Hold up your sword!”
He quickly drew his sword and the demon grinned.
“That’s right, if you’re a warrior, draw your sword! A coward who can’t fight on the battlefield is worthless!!”
The demon attacked.
He somehow managed to catch the claws with his sword, but his body was pushed back.
The rest of his comrades screamed and ran away.
However, soon after, he heard death cries from behind him.
“Dammit……!”
With all his strength, he pushed back the demon.
And the demon took a few steps back.
“Fight me. Show me your warrior brilliance!”
…… I’m sorry, it looks like I’m done for.
The image of the wife and daughter he left behind in the village flashes through his mind.
He is not strong enough to win a one-on-one battle against the demon.
Still, he has no choice but to fight to the end.
If he doesn’t, he will be killed.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
Screams could be heard from all over the fort.
Fahlen sat on the outer wall of the fort, throwing his legs out and humming as he listened.
“You seem in quite a good mood.”
Wilhelm came down from the sky, and Fahlen laughed comically.
“Ah, indeed, I feel wonderful. Can you hear it too? The finest music played by the humans.”
Fahlen spreads his arms and looks down.
In the courtyard, human soldiers are fleeing or trying to fight their way out, all under attack by their fellow demons.
Shouts, screams, roars, and all sorts of other sounds can be heard.
These human sounds were a favorite sound for the demons,
Demons hate humans. Because they are not their brethren.
If the Demon Lord wants to fight humans, they will gladly kill them.
Demons love to fight and kill humans.
Wilhelm also looks down.
“It’s not a bad sight.”
Fahlen looked up at Wilhelm, who was standing beside him.
“You’re not being honest.”
Wilhelm is probably in a good mood as well.
Wilhelm, in particular, had intensified his hatred of humans after the Demon Lord was sealed.
“Even so, I never thought you’d accept the Demon Queen, I thought you’d only see her as ‘a former human’.”
“I still feel that way.”
“Oh, is that so?”
The Demon Queen was formerly human, and also a descendant of the First Saint who sealed away the Demon Lord. It would be insane to think nothing of it.
They follow the Demon Lord’s decision, but not everyone accepts her unconditionally.
Even Fahlen intends to eliminate the Demon Queen without mercy if she shows any suspicious behavior.
Even if the Demon Lord kills him afterward, he won’t regret dying for the sake of the demons and the Demon Lord.
“Although I have my doubts, we can use the Demon Queen’s strategy. If she wants to destroy the Kingdom of Inglith, we can invade on that basis. If she shows any signs of treachery, then I will eliminate her.”
“Lord Faust might kill you, you know?”
“I’m prepared for that.”
Fahlen narrowed his eyes.
“Well, so am I.”
Then he looks down again.
“But I’m really grateful to the Demon Queen. Not only did we break the front line, but we also took the fort so easily. I can’t believe how we struggled up until now.”
“It’s because the Demon Lord has returned.”
The demons are connected to the Demon Lord.
The more demons there are, the stronger the Demon Lord becomes, and the demons connected to him also become stronger.
And since the resurrection of the Demon Lord, the demons had indeed felt their own power grow greater than before.
For the demons, this was a source of joy.
The joy of serving the Demon Lord. The joy of their increased strength.
The joy of knowing that they will never lose to the humans.
The moment the Demon Lord was resurrected, the Demons rejoiced.
To the Demons, the Demon Lord was that special of a being.
“I am grateful to the Demon Queen for unsealing the Demon Lord and completely reviving him. However, that is a separate matter from this.”
“Understood.”
Fahlen listened intently to the sounds rising from below.
The death throes of humans were more delightful than anything else.
He was intoxicated by the sensation of fulfillment.
“But, my intuition tells me that the Demon Queen would never betray us.”
The look in the eyes of the Demon Queen when she was with the Demon Lord.
That was definitely the onset of her affection for the Demon Lord.
Humans have much more complex emotions than demons.
Humans feel a strong aversion to betraying or killing those they love.
If the Demon Queen falls in love with the Demon Lord, she will never betray him.
“You are not going down there to fight, are you?”
“It’s fine for now. In exchange, I have secured an agreement to participate in the invasion of the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Inglith.”
“Haha, you’re still as sly as ever.”
Fahlen has no interest in the Kingdom of Inglith.
As long as he can just kill humans, that’s fine.
Before he knew it, there were no more voices to be heard from the humans below.
“It looks like I’ll be able to give the Demon Lord some good news today as well.”
Wilhelm’s voice sounded a little happy as he said this.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
“Well, it seems that Fort Alphadia has fallen.”
At the breakfast table, Lord Ewaldt told me, and I swallowed what was in my mouth and replied, “Yes”.
And continue with breakfast.
Lord Ewaldt leaned his head against the table.
“Aren’t you pleased?”
“I’m delighted, very much so.”
“Despite that, you seem rather detached.”
I wipe my mouth with a napkin.
“I’m very happy, but this is only the first step.”
The fall of Fort Alphadia is only the beginning.
It will take a few days for the news to reach the Royal Capital and the Royal Castle.
In the meantime, we must continue to invade.
“Besides, we knew the fort would fall.”
“Really?”
“Yes, the fort itself is a nuisance. But on the other hand, the humans inside are not so troublesome. Normal humans would have a hard time attacking the fort, but high outer walls would be pointless against demons who can fly. Also, demons are strong individually, so if they were to fight in the passages of the fort, they would be stronger even against two or three humans.”
Besides, I believe in the demons.
When I decided to trust in Lord Ewaldt, I also decided to trust the demons who were his subordinates and connected to Lord Ewaldt.
More than anything, I have come to know the strength of the demons since I started spending time here.
Each demon is strong.
And yet, they have been unable to win the war so far.
The reason for this may be their lack of coordination.
Although there is a strong sense of camaraderie, they essentially act individually.
“But demons are not good at group action.”
I nodded in response to Lord Ewaldt’s words.
“That’s true, but even if they fight freely, it’s possible to make them act collectively if you know how.”
This time, Fahlen, Wilhelm, and Rodolph’s younger brother, Wilde, moved with their subordinates.
I asked Fahlen and the other vampires to accomplish three things: “Infiltrate without being detected by the humans”, “Neutralize the lookouts”, and “Send a signal to the dragons”.
Wilhelm and the other dragons were instructed to “wait in the sky” and “when the signal was given, drop their cargo in the center of the signal”.
The only instruction given to the demons led by Wilde was to “Kill the humans in the fort”.
That’s all there is to it.
There was no need to make a detailed plan and have everyone understand it.
If each person performs their required task, the overall flow will be established.
“Certainly, even though we acted individually, it felt like we were acting in unison.”
“But I’m glad we had vampires this time. Both the werewolves and the dragons tend to stand out, so if we hadn’t had anyone good at stealth, we would have had to think of another way.”
From now on, I will probably leave that role to the vampire.
“But things went faster than I imagined. There are so many humans in the fort, so I thought it would take a bit longer to wipe them all out…….”
“The demons were frustrated as well. The Undead Legion was the main force that broke the frontline, so when they realized that they could finally fight this time, they were motivated.”
“I see.”
When the Arendt Front collapsed, it was the army of skeletons and zombies I had created that had crushed it with brute force.
Rodolphe gave chase, and Wilhelm’s dragon squad attacked from above, wiping out the humans with almost no time for a counterattack.
Some managed to escape, but it took some time for them to reach the Royal Capital.
Even if they asked the lords of the neighboring territories for help and sent a fast horse to cover the distance, it would take at least a week of riding day and night to reach the capital.
“So, what to do next?”
Lord Ewaldt asked with amusement.
“Oh well, I plan to march along the highway. As we go, we will destroy the villages and towns along the way. However, the neighboring lords will not stand for that.”
“In that case, we will have no choice but to fight.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
However, we can’t reduce the number of demons every time we fight.
“As for that battle, I’m planning to resurrect the corpses from the Arendt Front and Fort Alphadia and take them with me as zombies. They may smell bad, but they will provide us with numbers.”
And the dead don’t get tired.
They don’t need rest or food.
If they rot and end up beyond repair, I can turn them into skeletons.
Personally, I prefer skeletons because they don’t smell and, unless they’re smashed to pieces, their bones quickly reattach and they rise again, but zombies have their advantages too.
Their smell and appearance will scare off enemies, and even if an arm or leg is cut off, the zombie will still be able to move those parts.
“If you’re going on an expedition to the Royal Capital of the Kingdom of Inglith, then I’ll join you. I want to see the faces of the fools who executed Rachel.”
“That’s fine, but we’ll be camping out during the march, is that okay?”
“Not at all. I will not have you sleeping on the side of the road. I can use my dark attribute to set up a temporary base. So you won’t have to stay in the wilderness.”
“Oh…….”
It is also quite convenient.
“It would be best if I took you along, wouldn’t it?”
He said with a slight tilt of his head, and I nodded.
Sads Translates 