- Grimley's Demon Slaying Army

Studying his stats and familiarizing himself with his skills allowed Zex to formulate a few plans to deal with the possible invasion by Grimley's forces.

However, all those plans were thrown into the bin as he finally saw the marching troops 2 days later.

An army of blue steel, draped with black, white, and red embroidery carrying flags with the image of a Red Flower held together by a Black Sword and a White Spear clashing, forming the shape of an X as Purple Vines surrounding a gemstone occupy each corner of the Blue Cloth.

The flag is indeed Grimley's, portraying the 3 houses, and the 4 vineyards, with peace being its ultimate goal signified by the majority color, blue.

However, the army in Zex's sight right now entails a war-ready kingdom.

'Peace does not beget peace, after all.' Zex sighed.

What made him shiver the most was not the 20,000 soldiers with varying designs in their armors signifying different units. As they were targeting a Demon Lord, they needed individual power more than numbers.

Surrounded by fearsome soldiers at a cluster near the front were 5 individuals, with astonishing presence.

No. This was not due to their aura. Their control over it was leaps and bounds compared to his own. It was simply their presence. Not to mention that Zex had not used [Evil Eye] yet.

…

Within the marching army, the Heroes were chatting among themselves despite being surrounded by their elite guards.

"It will take 2 more days for us to reach Ruben." Brius, a bald machinist with a muscular build declared. He had a mechanical arm attached to his left shoulder while a great scar from burns could be seen creeping on his left collarbone towards his head.

Years ago, he held a war cannon he created himself as he wreaked havoc on the battlefield. However, in one of the battles, an enemy mage cast a powerful spell on him. He could not dodge it so he blocked it with his war cannon which exploded together with the gunpowder within it. Luckily, due to safeguards he made precisely for such situations, he survived losing only his left arm and the sight of his left eye now covered by an eye patch.

"2 days… I'm getting bored. I wish I hadn't left with you guys." Falna, a dual-wielding swordsman with two black swords sheathed on his back. He had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and was the youngest of the 5.

However, he has won the most duels and killed the most generals among them.

Precisely because he did not waste much time facing cannon fodder. He always had the habit of splitting from the group and targeting the enemy commanders.

Beside him was a timid man with eyes closed wearing the robes of a holy man. However, this man was not a priest, but a very powerful mage. Most people know him as the Archmage Arissef, Demon Slayer. He was their greatest weapon against the Demon Lord they sought to face.

"You can go on ahead like you usually do and face the Demon Lord yourself. We will await news of your victory in the next town." Spoke a cloaked man who was next to Brius, with a cold temperament paired with a sharp tongue.

His name was not known to many but most just call him Edge. A master of blades, archery, traps, and poisons. He was a prisoner on death row. However, his usefulness in battles moved his schedule down, time and time again.

"If you have such thoughts, I advise you against it. The messenger said this Demon Lord is strong. Do not mess things up." The person at the center and front of the four warned Falna. His name was Drago, born from a half-dragon father and a human mother. He is rumored to have a body sturdier than steel and could bathe in lava for hours. Of course, these were only rumors. Otherwise, it would not make sense for him to have so many scars all over his body. He wields a shield on one hand and a sword on the other. On both of his sides are carts pulled by four of his elite guards on horses.

"Hey! I am not crazy!" Falna replied and shut his mouth.

Drago was about to open his mouth and say "Good!" when he noticed something.

…

"Shit! Did he notice?" Zex, who was crouching behind a hill. Wishing to get more information, he took a risk and used [Evil Eye] but he suddenly saw the man in front of the 4 turning to look exactly in his direction.

His instinct was to run immediately… when suddenly, a shadow was expanding on the ground where he was.

Cold sweat covered his body as he looked up and saw a huge meteor falling towards him.

"Bullshit! Are you fucking Madara????"[1]

*BOOOOOM!*

The giant meteor crashed towards the hill and left it barren and scorched. Tongues of flames were everywhere as rocks continued to crumble and fall.

Beasts from the forest who survived fled and birds were mustering their strength to fly far away. Some of them panicked so much that they couldn't even control the flapping of their wings properly.

The Grimley army halted their march a few moments ago when Drago issued coordinates to Arissef.

The meteor was precisely a spell the Archmage cast, combining [Quick Cast] and [Artillery Magic] with the 4th tier Earth and Fire Combination Magic, [Meteor].

"I think you overdid it." Falna gave Ariseff a strange look which was completely ignored.

"Was it the Demon Lord?" Brius asked while preparing his cannon.

Drago was silent for a moment and shook his head. "If it was, then he would have wiped out the meteor before it even hit the ground. Must have been a scout."

Brius used his cannon's scope to check the area of impact to see any signs of life but to no avail. He lowered his cannon and shook his head.

Seeing this, Drago looked at Edge, who nodded and took his elite guards with him vanishing from sight.

"Let's wait for them at Harker." Drago motioned for the army to continue onward with some of Brius' troops leading the horses left by Edge's team.

[1] Madara is a legendary character from Naruto who could perform insanely strong ninjutsu.