155 - The Beginning of the Quagmire
The battle between the Multinational Allied Forces and the Demon King's Army had devolved into a chaotic melee. The main forces of both armies were clashing not inside the fortress, but in front of the defensive walls.
Immediately after the walls collapsed, Fumiya ordered the assault units to infiltrate the fortress. Even though he said they had collapsed, it was only a portion of the walls. Moreover, infiltration required climbing over piles of rubble. He had to be prepared for significant casualties. However, the assault units ordered by Fumiya infiltrated the fortress without fear.
The clamor coming from the other side of the walls grew gradually louder, and one could feel the battle intensifying.
Once that happened, it would be the turn of the elite units to charge. They were supposed to use the opening created by the assault units pushing back the enemy to infiltrate all at once, and without taking any damage. That was the plan.
However, before the elite units could attempt their charge, the fortress gates swung open, and the Demon King's Army surged out. Caught off guard, the elite units were thrown into chaos. The battle instantly turned into a chaotic melee.
"To the right! Units without an opponent, flank to the right!"
Such chaos was within the Multinational Allied Forces' expectations. Fighting against the Demon Race was a matter of one against many. Creating this situation was necessary, and that was essentially the same as creating a state of chaotic melee.
Fierce battles were unfolding all across the battlefield.
"Do something about that unit! They're hindering the operation!"
Prince Babel issued orders to his own nation's units. Among the Demon Race, who were fighting in fragmented groups, Kai's unit was the only one moving as an organized body. The order was to attack them.
"Attack with multiple units! Don't let the enemy consolidate!"
"Have the infantry units charge! First, disrupt the enemy!"
Prince Babel deployed not only the elite units but also the general soldier units into the battlefield. This was to divide the Demon Race through the power of numbers. He did so while being prepared for some casualties.
If he could drastically reduce the numbers of the Demon King's Army in this battle, it would be nearly the same as deciding the victory. It was a judgment based on that feeling.
"Charge! Slay the demons before you!"
Fumiya's voice echoed across the battlefield. Fumiya was thinking the same thing as Prince Babel. Separate from the units he had sent into the fortress, he had organized other units and ordered them to charge the Demon King's Army.
"Form up! Do not allow the charge!"
The one who reacted to this was King Dracul. Having entered the fray leading a group of the Vampio race, King Dracul launched a flank attack on the units that had charged under Fumiya's orders.
"Don't get too caught up in the fight! Keep an eye on your surroundings!"
While halting the momentum of the assault units, King Dracul shouted toward the chief of the Buffalo race further ahead.
"S-sorry!"
"Hurry and gather your allies! The tide of battle is changing!"
"Understood! Everyone, gather!"
Hearing the chief's voice, the Buffalo race began to move to consolidate, even while fighting. They weren't the only ones. Other members of the Demon Race were also attempting to gather around their respective kings or chiefs.
"I won't let you!"
Noticing this movement, Fumiya himself leaped to the front lines. Holding his sword above his head, Fumiya charged toward King Dracul.
Fumiya and King Dracul did not clash head-on, but instead leaped far apart to create distance. Fumiya moved to close that gap again, but the sword he swung ended up cutting only the air.
Fumiya let out a long breath and readjusted his stance. Judging that the opponent belonged to the category of the strong even among the Demon Race, he was refocusing his spirit.
"...Are you the Demon King?"
Based on King Dracul's strength and the fact that he had issued orders to other demons, Fumiya thought this.
"No, I am not."
King Dracul denied Fumiya's question with a wry smile. He found it amusing that Fumiya had not yet realized.
"Are you playing dumb because you value your life?"
"I have no such intention."
"Then where is the Demon King!? If he's elsewhere, let him come before me and fight me!"
This was the quickest way to settle the matter. However, Fumiya was the only one thinking this.
"I don't know if we'll fight, but the Demon King-sama is over there."
"Eh..."
Where King Dracul pointed. Emerging from the open gates was Ray, accompanied by elves who had become death-soldiers. The hair that had been pure white was now dyed black, and complex black patterns—which were actually across the entire body, but visible from the neck to the cheeks—that had not been there before were floating on the skin, but it was unmistakably Ray.
"Tsukitani... that guy is the Demon King..."
The aura Ray emitted made Fumiya feel that King Dracul's words were the truth.
"...Charge!"
With a single command. Leaping out from the gates were the assault units of the Multinational Allied Forces who had previously infiltrated the walls. They had returned as the Undead Legion.
With a terrifying momentum that made it hard to believe they had only just become death-soldiers, they swarmed the knights of the Multinational Allied Forces.
"...N-no way, right?"
It was a sight like a movie he had seen in his original world. It was completely different from the disciplined movements of the Undead Legion he had seen before. It looked as if they were attacking people based purely on instinct. In reality, that was not the case. Not a single member of the Demon Race was being attacked, but it appeared that way to Fumiya.
"Fall back! Retreat!"
"Intercept the enemy! Set the formation!"
The other nations were suffering the same onslaught from the Undead Legion. They were ordering their elite units, which had been deployed against the demons, to pull back and fight after reforming their lines.
"Don't mess with me! I'll blow those undead to pieces!"
Fumiya's sword began to emit a dazzling light. Fumiya held it high above his head.
"U-wooooooooooh!!"
With a war cry, he swung the sword in a single flash. The blade of light expanded as it surged toward the swarm of dead rampaging ahead.
However, that giant blade was swallowed by a contrasting pitch-black darkness and vanished.
"...T-Tsukitaniiiiiii!"
Fumiya immediately knew that this was Ray's doing. A sword of the same color as the darkness that had appeared in the air. Ray carried a sword on his shoulder, its blade traced with red patterns that pulsed like blood vessels.
"Hero! Please step back!"
"I will slay the Demon King!"
"Please step back for now! If we don't retreat quickly, we'll be surrounded!"
"...What?"
Words that made him doubt his ears. Hearing them, the blood that had rushed to his head receded. Furthermore, seeing countless shadows moving between the remaining trees to the left and right, the color drained from his face.
"Order the retreat! Quickly!"
"...Retreat. Retreat! Leave this battlefield immediately!"
Stopping his stubbornness, Fumiya ordered the retreat. If the army were to be annihilated here, his plan would be thwarted. What Fumiya sought was not victory in battle, but the throne.
"...Tsukitani! I won't lose next time! Because I haven't lost yet!"
Leaving such a parting shot, Fumiya returned to his own army.
"...Even if you don't lose, if the army loses, it's a loss. Can't you tell by looking at the current situation?"
"Demon King-sama, your next instructions."
Once the Multinational Allied Forces had fully begun moving toward retreat, King Dracul approached Ray.
"First, tend to the wounded. I will continue to drive the enemy back. If they calm down, the decoy soldiers will be exposed."
"...They really don't notice, do they."
"Because we were able to confuse them. Maybe there was some luck involved too?"
Those moving through the forests to the left and right were the combat-incapable demons and the Undead Legion. He had them perform tricks to make their numbers seem larger, such as circling back through the same areas. The Multinational Allied Forces had fallen for it completely. There had been commanders who believed it.
"Ah, that's right. Shall we also use the siege weapons they left behind? Let's change their direction and fire them at the enemy."
"That is... understood."
It was too early to think "how pitiful." The matter had not yet been completely settled. However, King Dracul believed it was simply a matter of needing a little more time.
From this day, the tide of battle changed completely. The Multinational Allied Forces were dragged into a quagmire.
◇◇◇
The Multinational Allied Forces retreated from the front of the Demon King's Army fortress. Their plan was to put some distance between them, reorganize, and then counterattack. That was what they initially thought, but Ray would not allow it. To ensure the soldiers had no room to calm their nerves, Ray pursued them.
Just as they attempted to regroup, he launched attacks using the siege weapons the Multinational Allied Forces had left behind. Some in the upper echelons had anticipated this, but the soldiers weren't thinking that far ahead. With stones raining from the sky, and the explosions of magic tools mixed in among them, they fell into great chaos again and fled without following the commanders' instructions.
On top of that, though few in number, the corpses of their own allies attacked them. The shaken Multinational Allied Forces were forced to retreat even further back.
Blocking their path was the Demon King's Army's defensive line that they had crossed on the way in. After breaking through small hills and deep moats while being pursued by the Demon King's Army, they hit a water-filled moat. The boats and floating bridges they had used to get in were gone. The retreat of the Multinational Allied Forces was halted there for the time being.
This provided a moment of calm. However, that did not necessarily work in their favor. The foot of the mountain was still far. Not a few of the soldiers, including knights, began to think this way.
"...If we are in a hurry, our only choice is to swim across."
In a military council to decide their next move, Prince Babel proposed swimming across the moat.
"We should just hold our ground here and fight."
Fumiya opposed this. Except for the fact that the unit he had charged into the fortress had been annihilated, the damage was not as great as he had feared, though it was more than he had hoped.
Since the soldiers had continued to flee without engaging in much direct combat, that was the result.
"A Back-to-the-Wall Array?"
Prince Babel wasn't simply trying to run away. He believed that even if they were to counterattack, they should choose the location carefully.
"...There are generals who have overturned disadvantageous situations this way."
"I see... so we're gambling."
If they wanted to survive, they had no choice but to push the enemy back. By cornering the soldiers, he could make them exert more strength than usual. While there was room for thought, Prince Babel believed it was undoubtedly a gamble.
"We were just caught off guard. As long as we don't forget to be wary of surprise attacks, we will surely win."
"That might be true. But... there are surprise attacks that cannot be prevented even if you are wary."
"What... eh?"
Fumiya was about to complain about Prince Babel's words, but a shock that seemed to shake the earth stopped him.
"They're coming again."
A black shadow floating in the air. It grew large in an instant and fell toward the Multinational Allied Forces. It was a catapult attack by the pursuing Demon King's Army.
"I'm not afraid of such clumsy attacks."
So far, the Demon King's Army's attacks had not caused damage to their side. Fumiya acted tough, utilizing that fact.
"...Isn't this intentional?"
"Eh?"
"Look, there it is again."
The stones falling from the sky only landed in front of their allies; as this continued repeatedly, stones began to pile up on the ground.
"...What meaning is there in that?"
"I wonder? I'd understand if they were trying to block our rear."
The Demon King's Army was attempting to pile stones between their own army and the Multinational Allied Forces. Prince Babel couldn't immediately think of the reason. The one who realized it faster than anyone else was...
"...Isn't it to force us into a Back-to-the-Wall situation?"
It was Prince James of the United Kingdom of Westerland.
"Forcing a Back-to-the-Wall situation by blocking the front?"
"Probably."
"What?"
A black shadow flying through the sky. Much smaller than the previous ones, perhaps due to its lightness, it flew over the Multinational Allied Forces. Several shadows fell into the moat. As people watched to discern what they were, they exploded. The shadows were not stones, but magic tools.
This was not the first time they had launched magic tools. It wasn't the first time, but...
"Calm the soldiers! Hurry!"
It was the first time they were flying in while the soldiers had no place to escape. The next one might fall right on top of them. That fear drove the soldiers.
"Quiet! Attacks of that level can be avoided as much as you like! Stop!"
Prince Babel raised his voice to stop the soldiers who were jumping into the moat to swim across. However, he could not stop the flow. A few people's actions dragged in dozens, and then hundreds; the number increased exponentially.
"Stop them by force if you have to! Hurry!"
Prince Babel grew frantic at the sight. But that panic did not spread to those around him. Even though he ordered them to use force, no one stepped forward to execute it.
"Using force, no matter what... I think that would only spread the confusion further?"
Fumiya's words represented the majority opinion. Prince Babel's reaction was not normal.
"...Why is it that you, who should have the longest acquaintance with him, do not understand that man?"
"What do you mean?"
Precisely because of their long acquaintance, Fumiya could not understand. He was guessing the current Ray's abilities based on the Ray of the past. He was allowing himself to ignore the fact that Ray had become the Demon King.
"Do you not consider that he might have a further plan? That raining magic tools is the only plan that man—"
The sound of a magic tool exploding cut off Prince Babel's voice. It was the sound of a magic tool exploding at a considerably high altitude.
What that meant. Those who understood finally shared Prince Babel's concern. And they would soon learn that it did not end with mere concern.
"...We've been had."
The soldiers swimming in the moat. Their figures were gradually drifting away. Not toward the opposite side, but toward the north. Naturally, this was not what the soldiers intended. The water of the moat was washing them away.
The water level was dropping at a visible pace. Everyone knew this was not natural. Even knowing, those outside the moat could do nothing. They could only stare blankly at the disappearing figures of their allies, or conversely, avert their eyes from them.