There was nobody in the ruins. It was late in the day, and even if this wasn’t the case, everyone would have run away from the chaos that was happening above. Zich and Lyla got out of the ruins.
‘I’ve missed this scenery.’
Zich felt nostalgic as he saw sparks blooming in different parts of the city. He had seen scenes like this daily during the days he was the Demon Lord. But after his regression, since he didn’t have much power and lived a pretty peaceful (?) life, he never got the chance to see a battle of this scale.
‘In Porti and Ospurin, the battle happened only around the estate’s surroundings. At Suol, the fight took place outside of the city.’
It was his first time after his regression witnessing a battle that involved an entire city.
“Ah…!” Lyla absentmindedly stared at the areas where the fires were. Although some of her sense of guilt seemed to have lessened after Zich’s speech, she looked shocked to see the horrors of a battlefield first hand.
‘She has to deal with it on her own now.’
It didn’t seem right for him to be involved in her personal struggles anymore when Zich wasn’t her parent or anything. Since it didn’t seem like she would make a fuss saying that she would kill herself, Zich decided to just quietly watch her for now.
‘The main forces are the monsters coming inside the city.’
Zich knew this without sensing the area. From far away, he heard monstrous shrieks.
‘Where should we go?’
Judging by the situation, it seemed as if their enemies had seized all three entrances near the city’s walls. However, Zich didn’t think about this matter for too long.
‘Let’s go head-on.’
Hans and Snoc were near the city’s walls. And since he felt many presences there, it seemed like that area was the center of the battlefield.
‘Ah, of course…’ Zich’s eyes turned towards a different direction.
‘But before that, I have to take care of these guys first!’
Dark-robed figures surrounded Zich and Lyla.
‘How come their clothes are always the same?’
Zich spat on reflex whenever he saw a robe these days. But the robed figures didn’t seem to be interested in Zich at all but only in Lyla.
‘Did they really do all this to capture Lyla?’
Seeing their response, that seemed to be the case. Lyla gritted her teeth; unlike Zich, she didn’t feel nostalgia at the scenery in front of her, and she gnashed her teeth in anger. But her rage didn’t seem to go through to her opponents.
“Capture her. You can cut her limbs, but we have to keep her alive at all costs.”
At their leader’s command, the robed figures pulled out their swords. Zich whistled at their flawless execution; but in the end, it was nothing more than a fancy or cool show. As if he heard the whistling, the leader glanced at Zich, but he only glanced at Zich for a moment.
“Kill the guy with her.” That was all he said about Zich. The robed figures aimed their swords at Zich and Lyla. Lyla also raised her hand, but Zich’s hand blocked it.
“What are you doing?”
“I will handle this.”
“Are you planning to be some prince on a white horse? This is also my issue. I don’t want unnecessary kindness.”
Zich shook his head and then explained, “It’s not kindness. It’s because you are going to be a hindrance.”
“What?”
“Don’t kill the mood when it just got good.”
Lyla was stunned. Judging by his tone and behavior, it didn’t seem like Zich was speaking in a roundabout way in consideration for her. Zich really looked at her as if she was a hindrance. Then, he stepped forward. There were about twenty robed figures.
‘I guess I can exercise before my main course.’
The robed figures began to move. They scattered all around to keep Lyla’s magic in check. Then, they spun around Zich and rushed towards Lyla. Some of the robed figures also headed towards Zich, and Lyla began to prepare her magic. Although Zich had confidently told her to not meddle in this fight, and his new branch-like sword didn’t seem like an ordinary item, she couldn’t just stand idly by. And most of all, she resented her enemies.
However, Zich didn’t seem concerned about her behavior at all. He simply lifted his branch-like sword in preparation for his enemies. Then, he smirked and swung his sword. The battle ended with this single movement.
Crash!
There was a ringing sound like something heavy had fallen to the ground. Then, a deep hole appeared on the ground, and the air vibrated. With this, all of the robed figures that rushed towards Zich were gone.
“What…?” the leader muttered in shock while watching from the back. All the enemies rushing towards Lyla also stopped, and even Lyla’s magic got canceled as her mind became distracted. Everyone’s thoughts stopped after seeing Zich’s enemies disappear in an instant. The only one who moved normally was Zich, and time seemed to have stopped for everyone else.
“Ha, this is it!” As if he couldn’t get over his excitement, Zich tightly balled up his fists. This was absolute power, which didn’t require him to come up with tricky schemes or consider whatever his enemies might do. This was the manifestation of the Demon Lord of Strength, Zich Moore.
‘Ah, I’ve been having a headache these days from using my head so much. It’s really true that your mind suffers if your body is weak.’
But now that he had enough power, Zich felt amazing. He didn’t even use a special attack; he simply poured out a lot of mana against his opponents. Of course, Zich controlled his power a bit, but one single attack managed to wipe out his enemies without a single drop of blood or shred of flesh remaining.
‘It’s really a shame that I can only use this power for a limited time.’
However, this also meant that Zich had to enjoy this opportunity as much as he could; and a battlefield was a place where he could enjoy the might of his power. The more enemies there were, the more he could enjoy killing his opponents.
The leader finally uttered, “That…”
Frozen time began moving again. But their enemies, including the leader, showed no signs of movement.
“Are you guys scarecrows? Why are all of you frozen like that? Didn’t you say you were going to kill me?”
“…What are you?” the leader barely managed to blurt out loud. His reaction was completely different from when he treated Zich as a mere target that was going to die soon.
“Then are you guys those bastards who are causing chaos in a peaceful city?”
“What kind of relationship do you have with that woman…!”
Bang!
There was a sharp explosion, and then blood and human flesh began to fly in all directions. The people near the explosion were instantly covered in the blood and flesh of their comrades, and they quickly retreated back.
Zich put his fist out and said to the leader, “Who are you trying to send a signal to?”
Zich had swung his fist after he saw that one of the robed figures received some kind of signal from the leader and was about to take a signal alarm out. The leader’s attempt to deal with his present dilemma ended up as a bloody explosion.
“Don’t do anything. Even if you run away, I will come and find you. And I don’t plan to drag out this fight for long anyways.”
Right now, Zich and Lyla’s enemies were inside the city. There was an extremely high possibility that thousands of ordinary civilians in Violuwin might be harmed. As someone who was trying to live a kind life, Zich could not let this happen. For that reason, Zich decided to end this conversation with the robed leader. He raised his sword again.
The leader shouted, “Evade!” He had no choice but to shout this. Zich had only attacked them twice so far, but he did not know how Zich was able to cause explosions and end the lives of so many of his underlings in a matter of seconds.
The leader thought of possible reasons: it could be due to Zich’s advanced skills, amazing tools, or a special ability. Since he did not know much about Zich, his group was at a clear disadvantage. However, all of the leader’s possible theories were wrong—no, there was one thing he was right about. Zich’s attacks were simple. He hadn’t used some kind of advanced skill or special ability; he had just used pure strength. But the leader was right in that his group was at a clear disadvantage.
Swoosh!
Zich swung his sword again towards those who were trying to escape.
Punch!
In the air, several explosions erupted at the same time as if they were letting out a harmonious chord. It was a short, strong sound. And then there was no sound at all. There were no sounds of people landing on the ground, people desperately running away, or even the screams of people in pain. There weren’t even the background sounds of debris breaking or falling down.
Zich turned his body. He saw Lyla’s shocked face.
“Let’s go.” Zich pointed his chin toward the fiercest part of the battlefield.
* * *
Hans and Snoc were holding up well. No, this was an understatement as they were the central figures on the battlefield. They had already defeated a large number of robed figures that were stronger than the Violuwin knights and soldiers. By using Estellade, Hans overwhelmed the robed figures. However, even his sword light could not continuously sweep the battlefield.
Crash!
“What!” Estellade was blocked, and Hans was taken aback. He felt a great deal of power from the sword that blocked him.
Since he first pulled out Estellade, it was the first time he had been pushed back in physical strength. Hans looked at the person who blocked him. He was the person who destroyed the gate that Snoc made and let in all the monsters. The person inside the robe glanced at Hans once and shifted his eyes towards Estellade.
“Estellade.” The robed figure knew what Estellade was. He looked back at Hans again. “Why do you have that?”
“What does it matter to…you—!”
Push!
Hans pushed back the robed man with his strength, and the man jumped back. However, rather than being pushed back by Hans’ strength, he moved back by himself.
“This sword is not fit for the likes of you.”
“If you are so jealous, then why didn’t you take it before me? If you’re the first one to pick up an ownerless object, it becomes yours, you fucking idiot!”
After Zich regressed, Hans had the longest relationship with Zich. In addition, he received all sorts of training from Zich. Even though Zich acknowledged Hans’ dream of becoming a hero and offered a lot of teachings related to his dream, some of Zich’s bad personality had rubbed off on him. It wasn’t noticeable since he was usually with Zich, but Hans’ speech had already become very rough. Moreover, didn’t Zich teach him that he had to fire back right away if someone insulted him? And they were also fighting for their lives here.
“Bastards like you who wear dark and gloomy clothes don’t fit Estellade at all, so shut your dirty eyes and fuck off!”
“Wow, this is a new experience.” Even while Hans hurled all kinds of insults at him, the man laughed instead. “It’s been a while since anyone has insulted me.”
“Are you a pervert that gets off on insults?”
“No, that’s not it. I’m actually very angry right now. You are also too low for the item you hold in your hand. But most of all, you are my enemy. I have no need to show you mercy.” Hans’ opponent put his sword back into his scabbard. “What’s your name?”
“Why do you wanna know?”
“I’m just curious about the name of the person who was chosen by Estellade. For your information, my name is Imor.”
However, Hans refused to reveal his name.
“Hmmm, you are not going to answer. Then I guess it can’t be helped.” Imor moved his fingers. “I’ll subdue you and figure it out by force.”
Shiver!
A shiver ran down Hans’ back, and he instinctively retreated. Something passed the spot Hans was just standing on.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Something that Hans could not see made a sharp screech.
Crunch!
The hard ground that Hans was standing on became completely mutilated. It was as if a sculptor knife had made scratches all over soft clay. Hans gulped his saliva and looked at Imor.
“Well, Estellade’s master. How many times do I have to rip you apart for you to tell me your great name?” Imor’s eyes sparkled murderously inside his robe.