NOVEL NEXT Chapter 294
“Have you killed them all?”
The Demon King muttered as he gazed at the traces of the knights that had vanished like smoke, having personally executed some of the defeated soldiers. Although a few knights had escaped, the demon race saw no need to report that to the Emperor. Violet, with an expression that suggested she was done with the situation, sat on the ground holding her mother’s corpse.
“These worthless creatures. There was no need for the mission to succeed. There was no need to return having slain the enemy’s hero. All that was required was to protect the Emperor’s most trusted aide, yet you couldn’t even do that and have put him in this predicament.”
Violet’s voice was low and filled with fury. Her eyes glinted with rage, and there was no trace of calm or reason in her tone.
The demon race trembled in fear as they realized the current Emperor could kill any visible target. The Demon King pointed at a nearby orc guard.
“You.”
“S-sorry, Your Majesty! Please spare my life…”
“If you wish to live, shut your mouth and follow my orders. Bring Jean Helmut here immediately.”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty!”
The orc rushed out of the Demon King’s Castle, speaking hastily in their own tongue. Helmut, who had been diligently training his remaining troops, felt a sense of foreboding as he received the call from the Demon King.
“Did His Majesty call me because the Succubus Queen is dead? Right now? Is there no way to avoid this?”
Helmut almost teared up as he asked the orc guard. The orc growled menacingly in response.
“If you don’t, both the general and I will not survive.”
Though it was in the orc’s language, Helmut, having been trapped in this world for ten years, understood it better than anyone else. The mere fact that an ignorant orc would say such a thing hinted at the atmosphere surrounding the Demon King’s Castle. Realizing that being late would jeopardize his own life, he hastily put on his armor and made his way to the Demon King’s throne.
The Demon King calmly awaited Helmut in the throne room, without bothering to move the corpse of the Succubus Queen. Helmut knelt urgently before the Emperor and bowed his head.
“I meet His Majesty.”
“Raise your head.”
Helmut lifted his head. The sight of the Demon King’s mother’s heart-pierced corpse horrified him.
Their relationship had always been delicate, but Helmut, who had been captivated by the Demon King, was fully aware that Violet relied heavily on Elios more than anyone else.
She was a founding noble of this regime, and had played an enormous role in its continuity as a versatile minister.
She was truly the best talent of the Demon King’s Army, adept at everything but warfare. The conflict between the Succubus Queen and the Demon King stemmed, regrettably, from Violet’s wish to give her mother a chance to gain military achievements, only to see Elios repeatedly let her down.
Ultimately, at the very end, the Succubus Queen, while executing a solo operation, fell into an enemy trap and was assassinated. It was hard for Helmut to even imagine how far the Demon King’s fury might rise.
“Do you see? This is the work of humans.”
“It is our inferior race’s fault. P-punish me; I will take full responsibility for my people’s sins.”
“Why should the general take responsibility? You still remain a loyal human to me. I do not wish to punish those who are loyal to me.”
The Demon King’s voice was unnaturally calm, instilling a fear in Helmut that was incomparable to the terror of her wrath. Violet, ignoring Helmut’s trembling, continued speaking.
“Is the work done, General?”
“Y-yes, Your Majesty. I’ve reorganized the army, leaving only the most cooperative and trustworthy soldiers. Any signs of rebellion or outright resistance have been weeded out and sent to forced labor camps.”
“I see. Bring them back.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And kill them all.”
Helmut was taken aback, his head snapping up in shock. It was clear from his expression that he couldn’t comprehend the Demon King’s command.
“B-but Your Majesty, there are as many as thirty thousand…”
“Good. Is that all? The more corpses we have for this, the better.”
The Demon King’s calm tone led Helmut to realize any resistance to this command would be futile. The former duke of the Empire bowed his head in submission.
“I will kill them all. If you require more blood, I’ll identify and kill the rebellious ones among the laborers.”
“That is what I desire.”
“What should I do with the bodies afterward?”
“Use them as obstacles to block the enemy’s path. Let them realize what they’ve done, watching as the corpses of their brothers and citizens of their Empire become mere chunks of meat. Let human blood flood the streams, and let the stench of burning corpses taint the air, allowing them to see and smell it with their own eyes and nose.”
“I understand what you mean.”
“Use those corpses as barriers to impede the enemy’s advance. Ensure they can’t cross over to the Demon King’s Castle out of sheer disgust at trampling over their kin’s bodies. Let the flowing blood create a torrential river, preventing them from crossing. Block their advance with a scene they have never witnessed before, enough to make them puke. Do not show mercy in burying the bodies. Leave them scattered on the ground for wolves to devour, but do not allow for a clean finish by chewing up the bones. The stronger the stench of blood and the more foul the odor of decay, the better. Now, if you understand, go. Instruct your proud army to slay as many of their kin as possible.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Jean Helmut shot up without a hint of hesitation and walked out.
The Demon King knelt again before her mother’s corpse, ripping off one of the bronze-adorned horns on her right side and throwing it to the ground. She then cut off one of her mother’s horns and joined it to the stump of her own, creating a grotesque yet natural connection.
Unlike her original horns, which formed a crown atop her head, the Succubus Queen’s horns rose like pillars into the sky.
The asymmetry might have been off, but the Demon King was satisfied with it. The horns of a demon represented authority and life. She desperately wanted to preserve at least this one horn of her body.
“Rest in peace, Mother. You have done enough.”
Violet finally ordered that Elios’s corpse be removed, murmuring softly. To avoid provoking the Demon King’s wrath, the demons carefully carried the Succubus Queen’s body out of the castle. On the Demon King’s coat, a large diamond sparkled and glimmered.
It was a piece of diamond taken from the corpse of the Gargoyle Queen, her other right arm.
“Standing alone, I am left with no one to entrust my soul to.”
The Demon King spoke with a delirious laugh.
“Now, standing alone, I have no allies to trust, no subordinates to confide in. But did you think this would weaken me? Did you believe that by cornering me this way, I would give everything up and crumble? You’ve misjudged. What a foolish thought.”
The Demon King’s eyes gleamed with unprecedented fury.
“The ones regretting this will be you. Look well; see the consequences of angering the Emperor of Terkeon. Feel it distinctly. Just see how far I’m willing to go to instill anger and humiliation in you.”
Shortly after, under the lead of Jean Helmut, a massacre of humans within the Terkeon Empire began indiscriminately. Those humans identified as even slightly resistant by Helmut were dragged out and brutally murdered.
The corpses were not discarded; they were treated with utmost care. They were not trash but rather trophies. Innocent or perhaps the most just humans became the primary targets. In just a week, thousands of human corpses piled up. Helmut carried this out like a purge rather than an execution.
It was evident more corpses would please the Emperor, so he had no qualms about killing the innocent. The bodies, crammed into wagons, were transported south, their blood not yet dried, left to decay on the trails expected for the Empire’s army to advance.
Some corpses were deliberately set ablaze to increase the stench, while others were left for wolves to roam around and feast upon, maximizing the intensification of terror.
Alex, who had led a small cavalry to scout the suspicious movements of the Demon King’s army, nearly lost his sanity at the horrific scene before him.
Humanity was equally harsh on the demon race. On the battlefield, human armies did not hesitate to kill hundreds of thousands of orcs without remorse in their quest for victory.
But that was merely because the orcs were fools who would threaten them again once they had both hands intact. Walter had previously set a policy of either capturing or throwing away any orc who tried to surrender or lost morale, ensuring they couldn’t easily join the enemy.
Due to this policy, many orcs thrown into the fields ended up starving to death or resorting to cannibalism.
However, humanity had never enacted such brutal and barbaric slaughters against enemies. At the very least, the Audrich Empire had shown some genuine effort to alleviate the situation by digging a large pit and shoving thousands of orc corpses into it. The Demon King’s behavior, killing her own people whom she was supposed to use as laborers just to display her anger, was utterly incomprehensible to the alliance.
“What… what on earth is this…?”
Barely maintaining his balance, Alex murmured with tears in his eyes. One of the knights urged Alex to retreat. Even among the Royal Knight Order, who had seen their share of battle, some began to retch at the scene unfolding before them.
“I will not forgive this. Absolutely will not forgive it!”
As Alex Harker returned to the main camp, he clenched his fists. The mutual hatred between both sides deepened, foreshadowing that the next battle would lead to ruthless slaughter.