Chapter 331: Variable (3) (1/2)

So I finished correcting the top-ranking demonic humans that got incorrectly translated as high-ranking. So far, the only top-ranking demonic humans that were mentioned are:

A huge battle literally took place in the Cilates Plains.

The kingdom’s army had 57,000 men while the Chancellor’s army had 62,000 men.

While the main forces of both sides were engaged in a neck-to-neck battle in the center, battles occurred in the sides and rear as well.

The battlefront changed due to the detour move of the cavalry and the participation of the reserve forces.

It was not easy to gauge who was superior or inferior as neither side was significantly behind in terms of tactics, and both sides were equal in power.

‘It’s rather dangerous at times like this.’

Marshal Bartolein who led the Chancellor’s army stared at the battlefield with narrowed eyes. The time when the most deaths occurred in a war was not during close combat. It was the time when one side would show their backs and begin running away.

They were in a tight situation now.

So it could lean to one side if the other side collapsed.

And Marshal Bartolein had one variable to make it happen.

‘The demonic human army.’

The demon army led by Karavan, a top-ranking demonic human of the Devil’s Eye.

If those who captured Fortress Karatum joined this battlefield using the unique physical strength and mobility of demonic humans and demons, they could instantly turn this tense battle into a massacre if they destroyed the rear of the kingdom’s army.

Half an hour had already passed since the battle started.

Finally, the news came.

“U-Urgent news!”

At the call of the communication wizard nearby, Marshal Bartolein reflexively turned his head. The adjutants around him also looked at the wizard with impatience.

Where is it?

Where is it from?

The existence of communication magic made it possible to rapidly exchange information that was not even imaginable on the battlefield in the past, bringing about a revolution in tactics. Because units that were located far away from each other could communicate and connect in real time.

“Go ahead and say it!”

An impatient adjutant shouted like a scream, but no one thought of stopping him. Because everyone felt the same way.

“T-that is!”

The communication wizard was in tears as he profusely sweated and squeezed out his voice.

“W-we lost.”

“What?”

“Karavan’s army has been defeated!”

Marshal Bartolein blinked his eyes. And it was the same for his adjutants.

A news that they could not have imagined.

A development that they did not expect at all.

“W-what? What did you just say! Huh?!”

An adjutant grabbed the communication wizard’s collar and threatened him, but no one stopped him again.

Because they were all in a daze from such a confusing situation.

“T-they lost! They collapsed! They say that they are now scattered and retreating!”

The communication wizard was innocent.

He was just reading the full message that had been passed to him.

“How…”

Despite the noisy battlefield, Bartolein’s small mutter to himself reached everyone in the vicinity.

“Who on earth?”

All of the kingdom’s troops were here.

They could not have hidden demonic humans and demons like Bartolein did.

Or rather, even if that was the case, how could they defeat a 7,000-strong army commanded by a top-ranking demonic human in half an hour?

A squad of that size suddenly appeared?

The situation there was different.

Karavan’s army captured Fortress Karatum, exposing their location.

In other words, the moment they stepped on the battlefield, they revealed their strength.

Marshal Bartolein blinked again. Instead of thinking about the incomprehensible situation, he looked at the communication wizard.

“How did it happen?”

The communication wizard gasped for breath as he barely let out a sentence. He answered again in a squeezed voice.

Because he himself could not believe the contents of the message.

“T-two people… they said that they were attacked by two people.”

There was silence among the adjutants. None of them could even open their mouths to such a ridiculous story.

Two people?

Two people defeated in half an hour a 7,000-strong army made up of demonic humans and demons and was led by a top-ranking demonic human?

That was impossible.

It was clear that there was a problem with the communication magic.

But shortly after, two words spoken by the communication wizard made the ridiculous story a bit convincing.

“Demon… Slayers.”

The two who defeated Karavan’s army.

A title that was all too familiar for the demon followers.

Marshal Bartolein viewed the battlefield again. He let out swear words at the flash of light in the distance.

***

“Haa… haa… haa…”

“Huu… huu… huu…”

Near the Cilates Plains.

To be exact, on a low hill that was barely visible to the kingdom’s army and the Chancellor’s army that were in the midst of battle.

Both Jude and Cordelia were exhausted as they profusely sweated.

“Huua… haa… t-this… w-would have…an effect, right?”

“A-absolutely.”

Cordelia who was on Jude’s back was creating a series of magic lights in the sky.

It was colored red so that it could be seen from a distance, and it appeared like it was running towards the battlefield at any moment.

Jude and Cordelia were victorious.

The two of them had accomplished a great feat of defeating an army of 7,000. Obviously, the two did not annihilate the army of 7,000.

They had knocked down a thousand.

That was clearly a huge number, but it was a somewhat insufficient number to say that they had defeated the entire army of Karavan.

‘It would be easy to think if that was the case.’

In the first place, ‘annihilation’ in the military did not really mean that all the soldiers died.

It just meant that they could not continue fighting.

(T/N: The word ‘annihilation’ here is a bit special. The Chinese characters used for the word literally mean ‘complete destruction’, but in military terms, it means ‘combat-ineffective’ or ‘unit destruction.’)

The moment their supreme commander, Karavan, and the two high-ranking demonic humans below her had died, the demon follower army lost their leaders.

A golden storm followed afterwards.

It was only natural for the demon follower army who lost their commanders to flee recklessly.

“Haa… haa… I’m… I’m going to die…”

Cordelia eventually become so exhausted that she let her body droop.

She had absorbed a lot of Jude’s stamina through , but she had consumed so much mana that her physical condition was not good.

The golden storm required an immense amount of mana equivalent to its strength and range, and even Cordelia with her archwizard-level mana reserves found it hard to maintain it for more than 5 minutes on her own.

But she had used such a magic for more than 15 minutes, so it was natural for her to drop down.

“Haa… haa…”

In fact, it was the same for Jude as he felt like he was going to die too. Because had devoured his stamina.

[You wouldn’t be tired from… something like that, right?]

It was natural for Valencia to question it.

He had stopped sweating before he knew it, and his breathing which had become as rough as Cordelia’s was also slowly stabilizing.

“I can recover fast.”

The reason for Jude’s infinite stamina was because his so-called life energy vessel was large, but his tremendously fast recovery speed also played a part.

He could recover soon if he just took a little rest.

He was the kind of character that had low HP but became full HP after a few minutes.

“Jude is… Garen.”

(T/N: This is a reference to Garen of League of Legends. Garen has a passive skill called Perseverance that allows him to regenerate his health at a fast rate.)