The 6th Legion of the Crescent Alliance Army, under Barbatos's command, marched forward.
Though she had been allotted a considerable number of troops, Legion Commander Barbatos had no intention of slowing down. Her tactical doctrine was exceedingly simple: move faster than the enemy. That was all there was to it.
"Why not wait for the other legions to arrive and advance together?"
Demon Lord Zepar, ranked sixteenth, offered his counsel. He was a cautious veteran. Even his hair—streaked with patches of bleached white—could not make the man look feeble. Those white locks carried the scent of hundreds of years of fierce battles.
"If we wait just three or four more days, the 2nd Legion alone will join us. That would nearly double our strength. We could subdue the human forces far more easily."
Barbatos shook her head.
"While we prepare, the enemy will complete their own preparations as well. If we attack before we're fully ready, they'll be attacked before they're fully ready too. So what's the difference between us and the enemy? It's that we know when and where we'll strike, while the enemy remains ignorant of the battle's timing and location."
She spoke with iron conviction.
"In fact, we should increase our speed even further. The human scum are expecting us to advance as one massive, consolidated force. That ignorance creates an opening. I reject Zepar's proposal. Beleth!"
"Yes, Legion Commander!"
Demon Lord Beleth, ranked thirteenth, answered with a thunderous voice. Beleth was a man as massive as an Ogre. The moment he raised his voice, even the less courageous Demon Lords flinched involuntarily. A bestial rumble coiled within Beleth's tone.
"I'm entrusting four hundred of my Death Knights under my command to you. My knights need neither rations nor rest. Race alongside them, day and night without pause. And then—"
Barbatos drew a dagger and hurled it. The blade plunged into the ground. Projected onto the earth was a tactical map Barbatos had recreated with magic. The spot where the dagger had embedded itself read: Krams.
"Raid Krams and seize it."
The fortress city of Krams. It was the Habsburg Empire's last line of defense. Beyond the fortress, the Danubius River cut a long swath across the heart of the continent. Cross that river, and you would reach Windbona—the capital of the Habsburg Empire.
"Krrrghhh."
Demon Lord Beleth let out a heated breath. His bronze-colored muscles glistened with an almost serpentine sheen. He was visibly excited. The Danubius River. In the two thousand years since, the Crescent Alliance Army had managed to cross it only twice.
The first Demon Lord to cross the Danubius was Bael, currently ranked first. The second was none other than Barbatos herself—ranked eighth—commanding the legion right before his eyes. And now, ranked thirteenth, Beleth would etch his name into the history books as the third.
"Legion Commander… no, Lady Barbatos. Do you see? My body is trembling with excitement."
It would place his name right after Bael and Barbatos. Beleth could not help but be moved.
"Command me to do anything—annihilation, extermination, rout. I, Beleth, shall deliver whatever victory the Legion Commander desires, no matter the kind."
"There is only one thing I, Barbatos, desire."
The Demon Lord girl grinned.
"Annihilation. Annihilation so devastating that the human race will never again be able to resist us Demonkin—so that at the mere sight of our feet they will scream in terror and collapse to the ground—so that from now on life holds no meaning for them whatsoever beyond the ashen sky. That is the annihilation I desire."
"That command—I have received it clearly!"
Beleth roared toward the sky. The Demon Lord's voice echoed ominously through the gray, cloud-heavy heavens. Beleth immediately took command of four hundred Death Knights. Demon Lords did not require much rest to begin with. Beleth, a warrior-type, needed even less.
As though fatigue were something he had never once experienced, Beleth and the Death Knights raced onward for three days and nights without stopping. If anything, it was the wolf monsters that carried them—the Black Wolves—that collapsed from exhaustion first. Beleth did not care. That was precisely why he had brought three Black Wolves per rider. When one Black Wolf tired, he simply switched to the next.
After three days and nights of riding, the city of Kramms rose into view upon the horizon—a fortress that had naturally incorporated the river's flow into its moat. Beleth's forces had advanced with truly stormlike speed.
"What— the Demon Lord's army is already here?!"
The fortress commander shouted in shock. A messenger reported.
"Yes, sir! The enemy, approximately four hundred riders. All four hundred are Death Knights."
"Four hundred Death Knights…."
The commander swallowed hard.
Barbatos's prediction had hit its mark.
The Imperial Army had estimated that even in the best case, the enemy would not arrive for another week. The current supreme commander of the Imperial forces, Third Princess Elisabeth, was a tactical genius. But even Elisabeth did not know what kind of personality a Demon Lord named Barbatos possessed.
The princess had, however, prepared measures for contingencies. She had gathered the elite knights of the Habsburg Empire at the fortress in advance. Stationing capable knights at Kramms, she gave them strict orders:
"No matter what enemy force descends upon you, hold for three days. Understood? Sacrifice your lives if you must, but defend the fortress for three days."
Three days.
The forces assembled at the fortress to buy that time were nothing short of spectacular.
The empire possessed two first-class warriors — <Sword Sovereigns>. There were thirty second-class warriors. Over five hundred third-class and fourth-class warriors combined. In total, five hundred and fifty warriors were stationed at the fortress, forming a formidable fighting force despite their limited numbers.
The man commanding the fortress was also a <Sword Sovereign>. A top-tier combatant whose individual strength rivaled that of an entire legion. If the enemy forces appearing before the fortress had not been Death Knights, he would have undoubtedly dealt with them nonchalantly, dismissing the whole affair as a joke.
The commander gritted his teeth.
"If only we had four more days… just four more days, and reinforcements would have arrived."
Every last part of the plan had crumbled to ruin. Princess Elisabeth was in the capital at this very moment, carrying out her operation — the evacuation of the entire capital population. A tremendous military force had been deployed just to maintain order.
With four more days, Princess Elisabeth would have been able to send reinforcements to the fortress. But Beleth — no, Barbatos — had been one step ahead.
The fortress had only five hundred knights to hold the line against Beleth. There were roughly a hundred guard troops as well, but they were ordinary soldiers. They wouldn't last a single second against the blades of Death Knights.
*'We have to buy as much time as possible!'*
The commander made his decision swiftly.
Bells rang out across the entire fortress. Knights who had been resting comfortably in their quarters rushed to don their armor. That day, the squires moved their hands faster than they ever had in their entire lives. Putting on heavy plate armor was surprisingly difficult.
Meanwhile, the fortress commander dispatched another Sword Master — one besides himself — outside the fortress walls. A one-on-one duel. A delaying tactic disguised as a generals' battle.
"You wretched demons! Is there anyone among you bold enough to face my blade?!"
The Sword Sovereign stood tall on the wide plain beyond the fortress walls and bellowed his challenge.
The fortress commander's objective was straightforward. Send the Sword Sovereign out to provoke a single combat. If the enemy responded to the duel and sent their Death Knights out one by one, the human forces would gain precious time. Even so, buying more than half a day's worth was a tall order. But it was the best he could do as commander.
"Hmph."
But the fortress commander's stratagem failed to bear fruit.
"My friends! It seems these humans do know their manners after all. They've even sent us a lovely lady in person to extend their welcome — how hospitable."
Demon Lord Beleth saw through the human army's intentions at a glance. He was a warrior, but simultaneously a general. He would never fall into the trap of obsessing over a duel at the expense of the battle. Beleth raised his right hand.
"They've gone to the trouble of extending courtesy. Surely the most gentlemanly of Demonkin cannot very well ignore that. —Shall we show them how Demonkin repay such courtesy?!"
Dark crimson mana churned around Beleth. An instant later, a massive axe materialized in midair.
"Forward, gentlemen of the Demon Realm!"
Death Knights and Black Wolves howled as one.
The monsters' roar scraped against human skulls like iron grinding on iron. The Death Knights did not produce sound through their mouths but through their mana. The Empire's swordswomen, too, were beings who harbored mana within their bodies. The monsters' roar contained something sinister that set that mana quaking.
— Kuuuaaaaah!
Beleth and four hundred Death Knights charged forward. There were no pre-battle speeches, no declarations of single combat, none of the courtesies that normally accompanied warfare. As though they had forgotten all such things long ago, the Death Knights screamed like savages.
"This— this is a violation of battlefield etiquette!"
The swordswoman cried out in alarm. Her voice, carried on mana, echoed across the plain.
"Insolent wretches! If you are warriors at all, you should honorably accept my duel—"
"Hahaha! Lady of the human realm! The greatest courtesy we can show is to ravish you to your heart's content!"
Beleth roared with delight, raising his axe overhead.
"Then come, and behold the taste of my manhood firsthand!"
"You— you shameless, low-down bastards!"
"My sworn brothers tell me that bastards are all the rage these days! Kahaha!"
The swordswoman had no choice but to retreat. She stepped—tap, tap—up the fortress wall with the stones of the ramparts, vaulting back onto the citadel. It was a feat only a martial artist who had reached a certain level of mastery could pull off.
"Ugh."
The fortress commander gritted his teeth.
The delay tactics had failed. That Demon Lord, who looked like nothing more than an Ogre, actually had a sharp mind. As commander, he had no immediate recourse. All he could do now was hold this place for three days with blood and sweat, just as Her Imperial Highness the Crown Princess had ordered.
The human commander's shout and Beleth's bellow overlapped.
"All units, defend the fortress to the last!"
"Ravish to your hearts' content!"
The Death Knights reached the fortress wall in an instant. They had been partners for the past several hundred years. Leaping from their black mounts, they scaled the wall in perfect unison. Clad head to toe in black armor, their equally black capes billowed behind them like bat wings.
"Hold them back! Coordinate with the comrade beside you!"
"The terrain favors us! Don't let them throw us off!"
The imperial knights drew their weapons as one. Bracing against the wall, they fought back against the Death Knights swooping down on them like hunting hawks. Knights of the Human Realm clashed with knights of the Demon Realm.
"Rraaagh!"
"Die!"
Not a single person here lacked skill. A single exchange was not enough to decide the outcome. The Death Knights failed to secure ground atop the wall. A few managed to push humans back, but they wisely gave it up. Too few of them had succeeded in climbing the wall. They leaped back down below the wall, biding their time for the next opportunity.
"We held them! We can hold!"
"Coordinate with your comrades! Don't forget! Coordinate with your comrades!"
A quiet cheer rippled through the ranks of the knights. They were not so green as to celebrate over a minor skirmish. But this was still the early stage of the battle. They needed to boost morale, even if deliberately. They had cheered with the intent of raising each other's spirits.
The image of the Imperial Princess's command flashed through the fortress commander's mind.
Hold for three days!
'I can do it, Your Highness. Three days, four days, however many days it may be — I will hold until my last breath!'
With a surge of excitement, he surveyed his surroundings. The Death Knights were attempting to scale the wall for a second time. Then it struck him — the most dangerous figure among the enemy was nowhere to be seen.
'Wait. Where did the Demon Lord disappear to?'
That was when it happened. The entire fortress trembled as though struck by an earthquake.
The commander skillfully steadied his footing while swiftly pinpointing the source of the vibration. And then he was horrified. The tremor had radiated from — the fortress gate.