Chapter 70 - Suppressing the Rebellion 2 (2/2)

“Hyaaah!”

From atop his Griffin, undead Lee Shinwoo ripped up his magic scroll [Fire Arrow]. Shortly after a barrage of fire arrows dropped on to the castle, shaking it to its core as several explosions occurred.

Quang! Qua Quang! QuaQuaQua!

A blistering hot flame engulfed the soldiers as it ravaged across the castle. Watching from inside the tower, Count Ludwig was stunned at the damage it had managed to unleash upon the sturdy castle walls.

“Can’t….”

A completely unexpected scenario. Just who was capable of pulling off something like this?

As Count Ludwig was still bewildered by the latest fireworks, a nearby soldier shouted as he pointed to the gate.

“Count, the enemy is attempting to cross the moat!”

While the soldiers in the castle were distracted by the latest attacks, their forces were busy erecting a makeshift wooden bridge to cross the moat. Behind, several siege towers and battering rams were waiting to be sent forward.

Feeling a sense of crisis, Count Ludwig ran to shake a nearby mage to his feet.

“Pay attention! If they reach the gate with those we’re all dead.”

Fortunately the area where the mages were was protected by a magic barrier, so they hadn’t suffered much damage.

The same was true for any soldiers within the castle keep or any of the watchtowers. After gathering all remaining soldiers, Count Ludwig rallied them to fight desperately against the kingdom army.

Unfortunately for him they had taken too many losses and morale was at its lowest, so it wasn’t easy to make a stand. As things stood, Eden Hall falling into the kingdom army’s hands was all but certain.

‘Everything is going as planned.’

Woohyuk nodded as he observed the ongoing siege from a distance. After appointing Joanna as Regent, he became the new Commander in Chief of the entire army. The forces under the loyalist faction had also agreed to follow his command.

Of course none of them recognized him because he had removed his mask.

‘I no longer has to hide my identity.’

Previously when he had been Regent, he had pretended to be another person, in order to avoid any unnecessary attention. But now he no longer needed to hide, so he removed his [Jester’s Mask]

‘I can’t spend any more time on this.’

It was important to put an end to this rebellion as soon as possible. if Count Ludwig died, the rebels had no future and would soon surrender.

As Woohyuk was busy giving out orders to his officers, Jung Sanghoon rushed to his side on horseback.

“Commander, a Demon army is approaching from the east.”

“How big?”

“It looked to be about 70,000.”

They never mobilized in small numbers, not to mention that these were demonic creatures. Even for a veteran soldier they would struggle to win a one on one.

Basically their side would be at a disadvantage if they were to face off. After thinking for a moment, Woohyuk gathered that loyalist nobles.

“Help me by blocking the advance of this demon spawn.”

The kingdom army had to focus on capturing the castle, so that Eden Hall would fall before sunset.

The loyalist faction alone had 100,000 soldiers, so it wasn’t likely it was a huge mismatch.

After a short while, black creatures were spotted charging in the distance.

Red eyed Demons, their very appearance causing the soldiers to swallow down nervously.

“Charge!”

Woohyuk unsheathed Grandia and took the lead atop his white stallion. His actions purging the fear from his soldiers’ hearts as they shouted out courageously.

“Waaahh!”

The clashing of metal soon followed as the two sides crashed into each other. Now that the morale of his men was high, Woohyuk set out to find the Demon’s leader.

‘Maybe by now it has regained a fair bit of its power.’

Amanda whom he had fought back in Landium, had only been awake for a very short time, and wasn’t able to freely use her abilities.

However this guy would be different.

Just the fact that he could mobilize an army of 70,000 Demons meant that he was on another level.

‘Doesn’t look like this can be settled peacefully. The opponent had taken too many losses as it was, so taking a step back was no longer an option.

If I don’t take care of him right here and now, he will without a doubt aim his sword at the Rhine kingdom once more.

As Woohyuk prepared himself for the tough battle ahead, he heard a cold voice in his mind.

[Who are you?]

Melphis.

He was communicating with his mind, so as to not reveal his position.

[Asura, Demon King]

[Oh, do wonder I felt such strong Demonic Energy. Why am I hearing your name for the first time though? I’ve never seen you among the list of 72 Demon Kings.]

Just like the clan system on the players side, the Demons rankings were also updated every 3 months. Through it, a Demon can check the rank and status of any other of its kind.

It was the reason that Melphis was full of doubts.

[I came from another world, but my circumstances are my own.]

[You might have your own reasons, but that doesn’t mean that I will let you do as you please.]

Melphis realised that it had been Woohyuk that had interfered with his plans time and time again.

It was an easy guess because there really wasn’t any alternate explanation.

[...]

As Woohyuk stayed silent, a black portal appeared and a blonde haired young man stepped out, Melphis.

“Demon King Volak has instructed me to take possession of the Rhine kingdom at any cost, so I’ve come here leading half of his army.”

“I can understand your situation, let’s just settle this.”

“You seem to be very confident simply because you are a Demon King.”

Melphis smiled as he released his magic. His appearance then underwent a drastic transformation, becoming a bipedal walking monster.

In order for him to use all of his power, he needed to assume his original form.

“So ugly.”

“To be honest I don’t much like this form either, but what choice do I have when I have to face off against a Demon King.”

Melphis wasn’t stupid enough to go up against a Demon an entire tier higher than his without some sort of trump card. The reason behind his confidence was because of the power bestowed on him by Demon King Volak, which allowed him to awaken.

In his awakened state, not only would his Stats rise drastically, but Demon King Volak could also take direct possession of his body.

‘Let’s start.’

If he was able to defeat this Demon from another world, he could then be the one to inherit his title.

It was worth risking his life for this challenge.