It took them roughly an hour to finally completely secure the area they needed to hold their entire army. As soon as they completed the perimeter, they stood around the borders, keeping watch over the incoming demons and clearing them.
As they stood on standby, the portal then began to spew out the other members of the army. Batch after batch, their tamers began flooding out and moving out of the way immediately.
It was as if they already had a location they had to stand on beforehand, as they ran without even a hint of hesitation.
“But running in a large group is a bad choice.”
Ember did plant landmines there, but who said it was only one type?
*BOOOM!*
A large cloud of dust rose after a big explosion suddenly occurred, dragging thousands of the clustered tamers. A mine tuned to react to heavier groups spread over a wide area detonated in their midst.
“Oh, they’re panicking like ants.”
I smiled as I watched them run in all directions. Some of them grabbed their injured allies, while others could only look on with fear at the meat paste that used to be their partners.
“…”
I guess that’s a bit harsh. Well, they picked a fight with us, so they should’ve been prepared for it either way.
After the first batch got hit by Ember’s mass landmine, the succeeding batches became a lot warier. Due to that, their gathering speed dropped to about a tenth of what it should’ve been. Now, the sun was already about to set, but not even half of their army had completed moving into position.
“At this rate, they’d finish around midnight…”
Most likely, they would then proceed to the invasion thingy first thing in the morning.
“Then, what I’d need to do is already set.”
I stood up from my seat after turning off the computer before opening a portal. After all, swiftness is important in war.
—
The next day, about an hour or so before the sun would peek over the horizon, I was already standing in front of a large crowd. Beside me were Ember and Fatima, on my left and right sides, respectively, while Fang was on alert, hidden inside my shadow.
The rest of the girls stayed behind, or more like stayed in their designated positions, as we discussed last night.
“Master, twelve presences are approaching.”
While I was lost in thought, Ember suddenly whispered to me in a low voice. I turned to where she was looking and saw the crowd parting as a group of twelve waltzed over with confident looks on their faces.
Judging from the expensive-looking military uniform draped over his rotund body, I’m sure that man is some high-ranking officer within the Empire’s military.
“Well, well, what do we have here? Isn’t this President Will?”
The officer stopped about ten paces away, his hands resting behind him, as he raised his head, pointing his chin towards me.
“Are you here to beg for forgiveness? I’m sorry, but His Highness the Prince has already made a decree for it. Your country is an eyesore, so we’ll be wiping it out of the bigger picture!”
His tone was full of confidence—not a hint of fear at all. Could it be that he really thinks they could do that to us? Wipe us out?
“Hahaha!”
I couldn’t help but laugh loudly.
The officer frowned upon seeing my reaction, sneering loudly.
“Did you become crazy after knowing the despair about to befall your country? Pity. But don’t worry, we’ll make sure to treasure the guns your country was providing. Those are quite useful, so they’re better off being managed by our great Empire!”
“Kekeke,”
I tried to stifle my laugh as I raised my gaze, looking at the officer surrounded by tough-looking tamers. Well, they’re all at the 9th stage, other than the tubby in their midst, who’s only at the 5th stage, so I guess they are moderately powerful?
“Look here, fatty. I’m not here to beg forgiveness or something, alright?”
“F-Fatty?! How dare you!!! Who are you calling fattly?!”
“Is there anyone else but you? Anyway, my purpose here is just one: to announce your approaching death sentence.”
I took a deep breath before shouting at the top of my lungs.
“LISTEN! SOLDIERS OF THE EMPIRE!”
Of course, my voice alone wouldn’t be able to reach the entire army, so Ember opened up mini portals to help propagate my voice.
“FROM THIS POINT ON IS OUR COUNTRY’S TERRITORY, AND YOU’RE ALL ENTERING WITHOUT PERMISSION. TURN BACK NOW, OR WITHIN AN HOUR, WE’LL METE OUT YOUR RIGHTFUL PUNISHMENT!”
My voice echoed around, spreading to the entire army. There’s no excuse that they didn’t hear it or anything, since even a deaf man would be shocked awake by my loud voice alone.
Silence spread for a moment before, finally, a short burst of suppressed laughter echoed from one of the fatty’s guards.
*Pffft!*
As if contagious, the other also began to laugh, not bothering to hide it anymore. Fang’s killing intent suddenly spiked, but I quickly sent an order for her to stay.
“Hahahaha! Ahh, I haven’t heard such a great joke in a while, President Will.”
The fat officer smiled from ear to ear before nodding his head toward one of his guards. The tallest and bulkiest among them stepped forward, walking up until he was just a step away from me.
“…”
I looked up, wondering how tall he was. I’m 1.9 meters tall, and despite that, I need to crane my neck just to see his face. Is he about 2.5 meters in height? That’s a small giant already.
“Corporal Henry, why don’t you guide our guests out? I believe they’re also under a tight schedule, just as we are, so both sides should soon move on.”
“Roger.”
The big man muttered in a low, reverberating voice. As expected of a small giant, should I say?
He suddenly reached his hand forward, about to touch my shoulder. I could also see signs of several buff skills activating, so he’s definitely not about to guide us out “peacefully.”
“Hey, no touching, please.”
But I simply caught his arm, holding it in place.
After all, I chose my best suit for today. Having it dirtied by this burly hand is a big no-no.
“Hah! What a fool! There’s no way that Corporal Henry would lose to an 8th-stage weakling like you!”
The fatty laughed loudly but soon realized that the others surrounding him suddenly stopped laughing. He started to look around, seeing their surprised faces as they stared at where the one they called Corporal Henry was.
“UGH!”
The tall giant was now kneeling before me, his other hand trying hard to pry my hand from his wrist.
*CRACK!*
With a short burst of strength, I completely broke his wrist. The man, as expected of a soldier, didn’t raise a single cry of pain, but his face was filled with cold sweat. Well, I don’t need to imagine the pain since I’m already familiar with it.
“…”
This man, despite crouching down and kneeling on the ground, was still at my chest height. He’s too big for his own good. I turned to the fatty and the soldiers behind him, but all of them were looking at me as if they were seeing some sort of monster.
“Uhh… Hey, you! Come here and drag this big oaf out of my sight, will you?”
I pointed at the one closest to us, and he jumped in surprise after I singled him out. He looked toward the others and the fatty before realizing that they were all in shock and unable to respond.
Having no choice, he rushed forward before carefully supporting the small giant away, heading further into their army’s formation, probably going for their field hospital or infirmary.
“So, you were saying…?”
I turned to the fatty once more, smiling sweetly. However, instead of smiling back, his shoulders jumped as he released a short shriek, making him sound like a pig about to get slaughtered.
“Y-You lot! Get him!”
And as if losing sight of the situation, he gave such an irresponsible order. After he did, he ran away, almost tumbling after tripping on his own two feet.
As his back faded, I turned to the remaining 10 soldiers at the 9th stage. They all had confusion and doubt in their expressions, looking at their peers to see who would move first. However, nobody took a step forward.
“Your leader asked you to get me. Aren’t you all coming?”
I took a step forward, but as if dancing cha-cha with me, the big guys all took a step back. Are you all sure you’re 9th-stage? .
I heaved a deep sigh before turning around, waving my hand casually as I left one last warning.
“Anyway, remember that in an hour, I want you all out of my land. If not, then… don’t blame us for what’s to follow.”
From that instant until we reached the portal that Ember kept open, not a single sound escaped from the soldiers. It seems that they can at least feel the difference in our levels. 8th-
stage? That’s just my energy level. In terms of skills, I’m about as powerful as a god now.
After exiting the portal, I opened my eyes and stared at the three guys standing before me.
“God Zeshion, Goddess Vermeil, and Goddess Blanc. In one hour, we’ll begin our offensive.”
War is easy to start, but it would fill one with regret. I hope the Empire will learn something from this.
“We need no prisoners, so ignore them if they surrender. But there’s no need to chase stragglers, so let them run away.”
I added a small reminder.
“There’s no need to show them mercy. After all, we’ve already done our greetings.”
Updated from 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮