The Author's POV
chapter-773

[Planet Idoania]

Boom―!

The sound of metal clashing against the ground reverberated through the battlefield as Angelica panted heavily.

She stared at the bulky figure lying beneath her, trying to catch her breath.

"Haa..hha… This is too much…"

She tirelessly muttered to herself.

Angelica's eyes shot up as she saw over a dozen other dwarves approaching her.

Her face paled at the sight, knowing that she was outnumbered and outmatched.

She was only a Maquis ranked demon, and while it was considered strong, it wasn't anything noteworthy in the grand scheme of the battlefield. She had already taken over a couple of dozen dwarves, but she was almost out of energy at the moment.

"Fuck."

Her grip tightened around her weapon as she prepared to face her adversaries, but she knew that it was only a matter of time before she would be overwhelmed.

She was barely holding on.

Booom―! A beam of light headed in her direction.

It was so fast that she had a hard time avoiding it.

"Ahhhhghh."

The impact of the beam was so powerful that half of her arm blew off at that moment, causing her to let out a frustrated cry and glare at the dwarf responsible for her injury.

With a pale face, her arm wiggled and slowly regenerated itself.

"Shit..."

Angelica cursed under her breath as she looked around and noticed that she was surrounded.

'Where did all that arrogance go from before?'

When she looked down, and her gaze paused on her so called prospective 'fiance', she could only sigh in disgust.

He had only lasted a couple of minutes before dying.

She knew that she was in deep trouble, and her expression crumbled.

"So much for this strategist being great."

She thought to herself.

They had clearly fallen into a trap intricately set up by the dwarves.

When she looked around and noticed that the situation was like this for the other demons too, she knew that it wasn't just her that had fallen for the scheme.

It was clear to her that the strategist was at fault for this predicament.

"Fuck it, whatever."

She could only curse another time, knowing that there was no use cursing the strategist's incompetence at this point.

Staring at the dwarves that were surrounding her and loading their artifacts, she channeled all of the demonic energy within her body.

Her eyes started to glow a red hue as she prepared to make her last stand.

"Put down your weapons."

Her soft voice echoed within the surroundings and traveled through the ears of each and one of the dwarves in front of her.

For a split second, the dwarves' movements halted, and Angelica took advantage of that moment.

Fwap―! She flapped her wings and made a dash upward, the only area that wasn't covered.

But unfortunately, the dwarves' reaction was a tad bit faster than she had anticipated.

Just as her wings flapped, a huge net was cast above her, trapping her completely.

Angelica tried to pass through the net, but it proved to be an impossible task as the net stretched and absorbed her attack.

"No, shit!!!"

She let out a frustrated cry, finally feeling despair. She knew at this moment that there was no way out for her.

"Shoot her!"

The dwarves yelled, aiming their weapons at her.

'It's over.'

Angelica stared at the barrel of the artifacts, knowing that it was over for her.

She didn't close her eyes and simply stared at the artifact, wanting to see what would kill her.

WOOOM―!

The beam shot and approached Angelica, and there was only one thought in her mind.

'It looks like the sun.'

Bright and large...

It wasn't such a bad sight.

Darkness completely overtook her vision shortly after, but…

"Hu?"

For some strange reason, she felt no pain, and light soon returned to her vision. Her vision hadn't yet fully cleared, but what she managed to catch a glimpse of upon opening her eyes was a flock of pink hair.

'Reinforcements?'

***

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The dense and lush canopy of towering trees overhead created a natural fortress, blocking out most of the sunlight and casting a murky green light that filtered through the twisted branches.

The air was thick with the sweet scent of decay and damp earth.

"Follow closely."

The forest floor was a tangled mess of roots, vines, and fallen leaves that crunch and rustle underfoot.

Squish!

The ground was soft and spongy, and it felt as though every step was filled with danger, sinking into the mire beneath.

"Keep moving; we're almost there. Make sure to hide your presence as best as you can."

In the distance, the twisted silhouettes of gnarled trees clawed at the sky, their blackened limbs reaching out like skeletal fingers.

The dense foliage and underbrush made it nearly impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction, adding to the sense of disorientation and claustrophobia.

"This is the right way, right?"

"It is, but just keep moving for now."

As we moved deeper into the forest, the trees grew thicker and closer together until their trunks were so close that you could reach out and touch them.

"Stop here for a moment."

I raised my hand, and everyone stopped at my signal.

Immediately, everything turned silent.

The silence was deafening, and the only sounds I could hear were the occasional rustle of leaves under a breeze that lingered in the air.

The stillness was oppressive, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched.

'They're probably using an artifact.'

It was the only explanation since I could feel it with my senses. There was no one near us at the moment.

"Take this chance to rest, I'll get in contact with the other teams."

Following that, I brought my watch to my mouth and spoke.

"What's the current situation? Have you all reached your spot?"

―Affirmative. We're currently waiting for orders.

―Not yet; we'll be there soon.

―We have just arrived.

―We see the spot; we're almost there. A couple of minutes at most.

A wave of messages reached my ears, and I nodded my head comfortably. Everything so far was proceeding smoothly.

'This is good.'

Although everything was going smoothly so far, I didn't let my guard down. With the unsettling feeling that I was being watched, I knew that the demons weren't completely unaware of our movements.

In fact, they most probably already knew where we were and were planning on counter-attacking.

Not that I'd let them…

"Stay put where you are. Keep your guard up."

I reminded the others on my watch before shifting my attention toward my group. It was a rather small group comprised of Amanda, Jin, Emma, and Liam.

I thought about bringing Melissa, but considering the gravity of the situation, I decided to leave her in Ashton City, which… well, she was all in for.

The thought made me sigh, and I turned to look at the others behind me.

Their expression was rather normal, but I could tell that Emma was nervous.

Compared to the others, she was practically the weakest and not by a close margin.

I tore my gaze away from her and looked at the group.

"Let's go sneak into the city and do a proper check of the city before we decide to attack."

I paused and looked toward the distance, where I could see the faint outline of a city. It was currently masked by the fog, but I could feel it from where I stood.

"…Once we infiltrate the city and do a proper check of the place, we'll find a way to let the others in. It's important that everyone is careful during the task."

I was very careful to put an emphasis on the final point.

Inadvertently, I gave Liam a glance, but then I realized that there was no point in doing so because he was no longer the Liam I knew from the past.

Even though he was just as lethargic as he had been in the past, he was a lot more alert now and didn't forget anything that was said to him.

I double checked with everyone to make sure that we were all on the same page before turning around and heading for the city.

"Let's go."

***

"Hahahaha."

The sound of laughter echoed throughout the dimly lit room as the representatives of the demons in the Demon Domain gathered in a single room.

Prince Plintus―the one in charge of the city Plintus―sat behind a large wooden desk, his features illuminated by the soft glow of the candles that flickered around the room.

His piercing gaze was fixed on a small orb that rested in the center of the table, and a wide smile spread across his face as he listened to the voice replaying within it.

[Let's go sneak into the city and do a proper check of the city before we decide to attack.]

[…Once we infiltrate the city and do a proper check of the place, we'll find a way to let the others in. It's important that everyone is careful during the task.]

The air around the room was jovial, a stark contrast to the tension and fear that had permeated it just a day ago when the demons received the news of the sudden invasion.

But now, with Prince Plintus in possession of the powerful artifact given to them by the major heads, the demons felt a newfound sense of confidence.

"Prince Plintus, it looks like things will be easy for you."

One of the demons remarked, grinning from ear to ear.

"The humans won't know what hit them."

Prince Plintus chuckled, a deep rumble emanating from his chest.

"Now, now..."

He fiddled with the orb in his hand.

"How do the humans say?... Don't count the chickens before they hatch? I won't rejoice until they're dead, but..."

He trailed off, unable to hide the gleeful expression on his face.

Another demon laughed.

He was a rather lanky demon, and a dreadful aura surrounded them. He was Prince Kuzma, and just like Prince Plintus, he was in charge of one of the four major cities.

Kuzma City.

With his gaze fixed on a small orb in the middle of the table, he laughed again.

"It's not just the artifact. The humans are truly just... They're practically inviting us in."

He leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on the orb in the center of the table.

"I didn't take them to be this careless."

Prince Plintus nodded in agreement, his mind already working out the details of their plan.

"Let me guess..."

Prince Kuzma interrupted before he could speak.

"Now that you know what their plan is, you're going to allow them in and then set up a trap, right?"

"Was I so obvious?"

Prince Plintus laughed, the sound ringing out like a bell in the otherwise silent room.

"It looks like I'm easy to see through."

"How can we not when your expression says it all."

As the conversation continued, Prince Plintus couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement building within him.

'Yes, this is it.'

With the humans taken care of, he would be able to reinforce the other demons and take care of all the other races at once.

The possibilities were endless, and he relished the thought of expanding his power and influence even further.

"I wonder who I should help after getting rid of the humans."

He mused to himself, pressing his hands against the wooden table.

"Who will benefit me the most?"

The other demons continued to chatter amongst themselves, but Prince Plintus barely heard them.

His mind was consumed with thoughts of the future and the power he would wield once the humans were gone.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers drumming against the table as he plotted and schemed, already looking forward to the day when he would emerge victorious. As if that was already a certainty to him.