Chapter 12. The Demon Kingdom (4) Part-2

"I wish to save my kin! If I want to succeed, I don't need to have any concern, sympathy, or mercy for my opponents! Do you understand?! Kulbo! If you're a leader of the Goblins, don't hold anything back to protect your people!"

Karakul screamed at Kulbo, who was standing right in front of him. Kulbo recoiled, feeling deflated.

"B-but…"

"I will take full responsibility! It doesn't matter if I am hated! I will no longer hold anything back. Fire all of the ammunition that we have! We shall kill them all with the weapons left behind by the Hero! All those that defy―! Bring down the iron mace upon all those that dare sully the name of the Demon Kingdom!"

As a commander, as a ruler, and as a chief, he felt that this was his duty.

"I will be left doing nothing if I keep fearing the eyes of the other species!"

Tom looked at Karakul and smiled. He was prepared to be hated by the other demons to protect his own kin.

Karakul stepped onto the battlefield himself. He leaped up and swung his massive double-bladed axe. The horn of a charging Minotaur was struck by the axe and broke apart before the rest of his body was split asunder.

"Kwwwwuuuooh!"

The eyes of the Orcs lit up hearing Karakul's cry.

"Don't retreat! Don't let the bastards flee! Fight on! Orcs! Stand with me!"

The Orcs roared in response to Kararkul's shout. Kulbo whimpered as he shouted toward the other Goblins.

"Prepare the Magic Cannon right away! The one that the Hero's forces used! We should be able to use it too, right?!"

The Magic Cannon was moved. The goblins, who were several times smaller than it, struggled as they tried to push it into position. But they managed to set it up at the rear of the fortification. They pointed it upwards by leaning it onto a rock, ignoring accuracy altogether. For a wide-ranging attack like one from this Magic Cannon, it would kill no matter where it shot within this narrow canyon.

The Goblins loaded the magic stone into the cannon as quickly as they could. They aimed it toward the other side of the barricade and the side of the mountain range.

"Magic Cannon armed!"

The Goblins cried out. Their hands were precise and dexterous. If they had more physical strength, they might have been comparable to the smithing species, the Dwarves. They were able to aim and load the magic cannon much faster than the humans had been able to.

Kulbo groaned.

"I don't know anymore! Fire!"

The goblins pulled the trigger at Kulbo's command. A bright light sprayed out from the magic cannon. The cannon was kicked back from the explosion as the ball of light shot up into the sky. The beautiful cluster of light drew an arc in the sky like a meteor before gradually falling down to the ground.

"… What is that?"

Bludifer frowned in confusion as he looked up at the light from his position on the opposite side of the battlefield. But a moment later, his eyes grew wide.

He jumped up from his seat. He had seen this once before. He recognized it as the weapon of terror that the Hero's forces had used, known as a Magic Cannon. Its might was on a different level than any siege weapon he had seen thus far.

"That crazy―! Are they insane?! They'll kill all the demons!"

Bludifer's eyes were wide. He followed the projectile with his eyes for a moment or two before turning to look at the area in which he expected it to land.

The sun was still in the sky. Once the explosion reached him, the palanquin tent shading him from the sun would be blown away.

The pure ball of light exploded in the air. It spread out like embers and began to slowly fall to the ground. The demons that had seen it for the first time instinctively felt the danger, as they could feel the heat emanating from it on their faces just from looking at it.

"R-run!"

"Flee…!"

Chaos ensued. The Gnolls fled. Centaurs ran. Minotaurs and even the Treos stumbled back, but they couldn't properly retreat due to the smaller demons right behind them. They clumsily collided with each other.

Within this confusion, the light touched the ground and exploded.

The explosion continued ceaselessly, even causing the ground to tremble. The earth shook horrendously and the mountain range itself began to crumble.

It was carpet bombing.

Thousands of demons were swept up in the explosions and flames. Screams of pain echoed out across the battlefield. The number of demons shrank drastically in the blink of an eye.

"What… was that?"

Ellin, who was in her position defending the fortification with her Great Sword, muttered to herself dumbly.

She knew very well what it was. The Magic Cannon. However, it was a useless weapon in her opinion, whose effectiveness didn't match its overwhelming might. It had terrible accuracy, and the speed at which the projectile dropped from the sky was slow, making it easy to dodge by any soldier with half-decent training.

However, when it was fired in every direction, demons lacking proper equipment were swept up in the sea of flames and burned to death.

Karakul let out a rough sigh as he surveyed his surroundings. The demons were flailing in the flames and dying. Over 500 of the 5000 demons were killed in a single barrage while 800 more were struggling painfully in the flames. A thousand more were stricken with fear, hesitating about whether or not to attack. Karakul gritted his teeth, looking at the aftermath of this horrendous tragedy of his creation.

The Orcs were standing dumbfounded instead of fighting as they watched the scene.

"Orcs!" Karakul shouted at them. "It is time to begin our counter-attack!"

The Orcs turned to look at Karakul.

The sun was still up. The Vampires could not move and the morale of the Demon Army was at its lowest. That meant that there was an opportunity now. They realized that they had to end everything while the sun was still in the sky.

Someone suddenly jumped out of the flames with a roar. He charged forward even though his massive body was covered in flames. He didn't think to head up the stony hill, but lowered his head and charged forward instead.

Boom!

The entire hill was completely crushed, destroying the barricade. The Orcs standing on top of the barricades were thrown off causing them to fly up into the air before rolling onto the ground.

"Mooooo―!"

Allen, the chief of the Minotaurs came to a halt. His mouth spat out black smoke as his entire body was enveloped in flames. His bloodshot eyes glared at Karakul as he landed on the ground.

"Karakul! You bastard! You dare do that to demons! You killed our kin!"

Karakul gripped his axe and stumbled to his feet. Allen's dense muscles twitched as he approached Karakul.

"Allen―!"

Karakul tried to swing his axe, but bull hooves stomped on it and knocked it out of his hands. A massive hand picked Karakul off the ground.

"You bastard! Regardless of whether it was to save your own kind, you dare to commit this evil that only humans would unleash?"

Karakul glared back at him and spat at him.

"Don't make me laugh! I don't care about dirtying my hands for my people! Isn't that the reason that chiefs exist?! Allen! Didn't you kneel before those damn bloodsuckers for your people?!"

"But what you've done crossed a line! You've truly fallen, Karakul! You are not an honorable warrior!"

"Don't speak of things like honor on a battlefield, Allen!"

Allen gripped tighter. The sound of Karakul's bones cracking could be heard.

"Kwaack!"

"Kneel and beg for forgiveness to my kin that you killed in hell!"

When Allen tried to twist Kararkul's body with both his hands, Ellin leapt forward.

"Captain Karakul!"

She swung her greatsword toward Allen. Her blade met Allen's horn and bounced off, but she twisted her body to land on Allen's face and extended her hand. Her hand, shaped as a gauntlet, began to grow sharp as it extended. Doppelgangers could turn their entire body into armor or weapons, however, when they did, the manifested items acted similarly to a person's bones. Once the weapon or armor was broken, the pain of its breakage transmitted directly back to the owner.

Her sharp nail dug into Allen's eye. Ellin looked squeamish as the sickening sensation of her fingertip entering his eyeball could be felt directly.

'Gross! I want to puke!'

The eyeball exploded spraying blood everywhere. Allen cried out and released Karakul.

"Moooooo―! Ellin! Even you dare to side with Karakul!"

"I only serve Her Highness!"

Ellin quickly dropped from his hand and landed on the ground. She grabbed her greatsword and retreated. It was too much for her to handle Allen alone. Her opponent was 6th in rank, but that was only because Minotaurs had limited political influence. In reality, he was much stronger than Karakul, only following the Treos and the Trolls as the most powerful demons.

"C-commander Karakul? Hurry and get up! It's going to be really tough on my own!"

Karakul shook his head and lifted his fallen axe from the floor in response to her pleas.

— Ω —