Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 538

It was December, and winter had arrived.

The Allied Forces had planned to begin their campaign by taking Senkerian, then moving along the outskirts of Rizeln and systematically destroying the warp gates of small outer cities one by one.

However, the small warp gates in these towns had already been destroyed by the Demon King’s forces, who acted as a vanguard, and the Imperial General Headquarters disguised this as the work of the Empire’s vanguard.

Very few knew that the Allied Forces were receiving help from the Demon King. If this were to become known, it would sow confusion within the ranks of the Allied Forces and could even lead to massive division. Therefore it had to remain top secret.

It was inevitable that the large military formations would have to endure through the winter. The war would continue into the next year.

Thus far, the Allied Forces had secured seven small towns and three medium-sized cities.

Vertus stood before a map with a stern expression, assessing the operational situation that had been laid out in front of the numerous military commanders who were gathered at the Allied Forces’ General Headquarters.

The battles they had faced so far could not all be described as small. But now, the Allied Forces were facing the largest battle they had ever encountered.

Three large warp gates, one mega warp gate, and seven small warp gates.

This was the largest city in southern Rizeln, Serandia.

For the first time, they had to destroy a mega warp gate. That was the crux of the matter.

The operational staff began their report.

“Your Majesty, if we succeed in capturing Serandia, we believe the number of monster hordes in southern Rizeln will significantly decrease.

“Additionally, the Razier River near Serandia can act as a local water supply. If we are able to source water locally instead of having to have it transported in, it would free up space for other supplies, and our forces will be able to endure the winter more easily.

“However, due to the nature of winter operations, significant losses in combat power are expected as the main force moves to Serandia. Once the operation begins, retreat will be nearly impossible. If we fail, we will incur severe and irreplaceable losses in manpower.

“We could focus on defending our current position and beginning the Serandia campaign after enduring the winter. However, if we do this, there’s no guarantee that we will be able to sustain a smooth and steady supply of military supplies until spring. The monsters gathered in Serandia will periodically attack our camp throughout the winter and their ranks will continue to be replenished, so the enemy’s combat power will not diminish.”

Vertus furrowed his brow as he listened to the staffer’s report.

Winter was a season where everything froze, and that went for soldiers as well.

Marching in winter was even more hellish than marching in peacetime. Soldiers’ toes would literally fall off from frostbite, and not just from exhaustion.

Even though the priests of the Order of the Holy Knights could heal them with divine power, not every unit could benefit from having such priests around.

Serandia was a large city, and because of that, the surrounding areas were teeming with hordes of monsters. That meant the Allied Forces had to set up their encampment a fair distance away.

Just reaching this staging area near Serandia had already been a grueling forced march—one carried out in bitter cold, with monsters growing more numerous the further they advanced. The environment they were in would not give them even a single day of rest before battle.

The troops would have to go up against the fiercest enemy they’d faced thus far while in their most exhausted state. All of this, in the dead of winter.

‘This isn’t going to get any better unless another weather anomaly appears along the way and clears things up, which we can’t necessarily count on,’’ Vertus thought.

They had endured a march in severe cold, and would have to proceed with the Serandia campaign.

The campaign was expected to result in significant losses, and capturing Serandia would not bring the Gate Incident to an end. There were still other large cities that needed to be destroyed.

If they suffered irrecoverable losses here, future battles would become more difficult and more burdensome. And if they continued to lose irreplaceable personnel, they would ultimately fail to destroy the last gate, and humanity would lose all hope.

However, If they decided to endure the winter here and attacked Serandia in the spring, an enormous amount of resources would have to be burned to sustain the army. Humans needed to eat, and they needed to burn fuel to generate heat and keep away the cold.

Moreover, even though they were still a distance away from Serandia, monsters were continually pouring out from the mega warp gate in the city. This meant the army would have to fight defensively throughout the winter, which would not only consume resources but also result in losses in personnel.

If they succeeded in capturing Serandia, they could at least secure a steady source of water to endure the harsh winter. The wood from the forested area nearby could also serve as fuel to survive the cold winter.

Was it better to launch a large-scale campaign, endure the losses and secure Serandia so they could spend the winter there?

Or was it better to hunker down until the weather warmed, enduring a long winter filled with battles of attrition, before launching the attack under more favorable conditions?

“We can’t endure the winter here,” Vertus declared. “We’re going to Serandia.”

They couldn’t always expect help, but help had always been there. So Vertus had no choice but to rely on the Demon King’s forces once again.

The frozen ground along the path of the Allied Forces would thaw, and an unexpected blessing, in the form of warm sunshine, would appear.

The ruler of humanity was depending on the Demon King.

‘If we ever reach a point where we can no longer receive help...’

Vertus chuckled in a self-deprecating way.

He wasn’t confident that he wouldn’t panic then.

***

Nudge, nudge...

Meow!

Nudge, nudge...

Meow!

...

Meow!

The small animalistic cry that seemed to be calling her brought Ellen back to consciousness.

A black cat was pressing its front paws against her thigh, as if it had been there for some time.

It looked up at her with a somewhat pitiful gaze, as if it were worried.

Why was it doing this?

Ellen was inside a tent, sitting on a chair. Only then did she realize she had briefly lost consciousness.

She had heard about the operational meeting regarding the Serandia campaign, but she didn’t necessarily attend such meetings. Her voice in these meetings was not insignificant, but she did not find it pleasant to discuss matters involving the lives of so many in such settings.

She had been contemplating whether or not to go when she had returned to her tent and was greeted by the cat, which had been away the past few days. It had walked up to her and meowed.

Ellen did not usually lock her tent anymore. The Royal Class garrison was heavily guarded, and no one in the garrison was rude enough to enter Ellen’s tent without permission, so she left the tent unlocked so the cat could come and go whenever it wanted. Thus, it came and went freely.

Meow!

She didn’t know what had happened while she was unconscious, but the cat seemed to find it strange, so it kept pressing its little paws on her thigh as if to rouse her. In human terms, it would have been like slapping her cheeks to wake her up.

Ellen couldn’t help but chuckle at that thought.

Ellen held her necklace with her left hand and petted the cat, which was crying out pitifully, with her right.

“I’m okay...”

Ellen now knew that pouring her heart into something was helpful. She felt as if this small being was protecting her, but even so, these moments when she lost consciousness were becoming more frequent.

“It’ll be okay...”

The cat quietly looked up at Ellen, who was chanting the words as if it were a spell.

Losing consciousness, and having her soul disappear... These were frightening things, but Ellen had more immediate matters ahead of her.

The Serandia campaign.

The mega warp gate.

The battles ahead were becoming increasingly difficult.

‘Reinhart...”’

What the general headquarters knew, Ellen knew as well.

Reinhart would try to offer assistance in this Serandia campaign, whether through creating unusual weather, lending his supernatural powers, or by deploying more conventional military forces.

He had been assisting them all along, and so he would try to assist in this battle in his own way.

Meow...

Surely, he was watching over her from somewhere.

***

Ellen’s condition was growing increasingly more serious.

I knew she was periodically losing consciousness, and had witnessed it in cat form.

The expression “losing consciousness” wasn’t quite accurate. It was more like someone else was replacing her consciousness. Her eyes changed, and dark eyes, like an abyss, looked down at me. However, I couldn’t tell if they were truly looking at me or not.

The eyes seemed cloudy and unfocused. In those eyes, I could read nothing but emptiness. It was beyond eerie; it was a dreadful feeling.

The others in the Royal Class also felt a strong sense of unease whenever Ellen occasionally entered such a state.

I didn’t know why a mere cat was helpful, but Ellen seemed to be influenced by my feline presence.

I also had a hunch that the necklace Ellen wore played a similar role, though I couldn’t be sure.

If her condition continued to worsen and became irreversible, would this version of Ellen, with her hollow eyes, be the only Ellen I could ever see?

I occasionally visited the Royal Class garrison to check on Ellen’s condition and the rest of the Royal Class, but I couldn’t stay there all the time.

I had to clear the path ahead of the army, train in my sleep with Airi’s dreams, and even though Charlotte handled Edina’s affairs, I still received reports on important matters.

I was a pet-like Demon King.

And just as Ellen was steeling herself for a major battle, so was I.

The immediate issue was the Serandia campaign, and the large city standing in the army’s way.

***

I called a meeting of the core members of Edina’s Senate.

“They’ll probably advance, and they’ll be expecting us to help,” I said.

“Camping out and enduring the winter would inevitably lead to a long battle of attrition. They have no choice but to make that decision.”

I nodded at Eleris’s response.

There were two options available: a full-scale battle, after a forced march in severe cold, or a full-scale battle in the spring, after a long, drawn-out defensive battle of attrition in the bitter cold.

Both had their own significant risks.

In the original story, the Serandia campaign was not fought in winter. Instead, the Allied Forces had faced winter during the campaign for another large city.

In that situation, the Allied Forces chose to endure.

Now, though, Riana had awakened the ability to change the weather, an ability she did not possess in the original story. We, the Demon King’s forces, were also providing support.

Therefore, the Allied Forces would surely opt to advance instead, fully expecting our help.

This time, we would protect the Allied Forces from the weather, not monsters.

We could protect the path of the Allied Forces from the harsh cold.

However, there was another problem after that.

“When the attack on Serandia begins, we need to decide what we should do,” said Lruien.

‘Yes, we need to decide.’

In previous battles, we had preemptively struck and destroyed small warp gates or whatever we could manage before the Allied Forces arrived.

When it came to locations with medium-sized warp gates, we would sweep away the monsters with a preemptive strike and then leave the gate to the Allied Forces.

We had taken on the role of an unknown vanguard, and we had no intention of being seen by the Allied Forces when the main operation began.

However, this operation was on a totally different scale. There was one mega warp gate and three large warp gates in the city.

There was a limit to the number of monsters Riana’s weather anomalies could handle, and even if we annihilated the monsters, these warp gates would spew out monsters at an incredible rate, replenishing their numbers.

A preemptive strike could have a meaningful impact. If we left this operation solely to the Allied Forces, they would suffer significant casualties even if they succeeded in capturing Serandia, since none of us would be directly involved in the fight.

If we participated, though, the number of humans that would have to sacrifice their lives would decrease, and the Allied Forces could preserve its strength.

Participating in the battle was of benefit to us practically.

“If we participate, it may aid in the immediate capture of Serandia, but from a long-term perspective, it could be a significant mistake,” warned Galarsh.

“That’s true,” I conceded.

Antirianus spoke next.

“Our army is small, but it will inevitably stand out on the battlefield. Just look at the large-scale magic that the heads of the clans and the mages here will use, not to mention the lightning used by the Thunder Queen, the Divine Power of the Demon God wielded by the leader of the Holy Order, and Alsbringer, the weapon of the Great Being.”

Our forces were excessively powerful, and our presence would inevitably stand out on the battlefield.

Sarkegar, who had returned to Rajak for the meeting, chimed in.

“Most of the commanders of the Allied Forces are aware of our assistance. A small number of personnel assigned to reconnaissance missions on the front lines have been sworn to silence. The different formations believe that the events occurring on the front lines are the work of the Empire. Of course, many have their own suspicions, but neither the Empire nor the upper brass of the Allied Forces have mentioned the subject.

“If we reveal ourselves in this battle, the majority of the Allied Forces, especially the ordinary soldiers, will become aware of our involvement, which could lead to unforeseen problems. Therefore, Your Highness, I believe it would be wise for our forces not to reveal themselves in the Serandia campaign.”

I had no choice but to nod at Sarkegar’s words.

Large-scale magic, summoning meteors... No one with humanity’s army was capable of such destructive power. The moment it was used, they would instinctively know that the Demon King’s forces had appeared.

The moment the sky had turned into a shattered mirror while meteors rained down from it and struck the Temple was an unforgettable nightmare for those who had witnessed it in the capital.

Everyone was aware of the rumors surrounding that as well. Since the meteor shower had coincided with the start of the Gate Incident, the meteors streaking across the sky had become a symbol of the Demon King’s return.

If Olivia summoned Death Knights to sweep through the battlefield, the Allied Forces might panic and try to attack the Death Knights.

And this was not even taking Alsbringer into account.

If we participated in this way, we would undoubtedly be of great help to the Allied Forces.

We could provide less help and participate in a smaller way, but that would defeat the purpose.

If we were to provide proper help, though, countless units of the Allied Forces would become aware that the Demon King’s forces had appeared. This could lead to another panic, and the operation might fail because of it.

To put it bluntly, if someone saw me slicing through monsters on the battlefield and cried out that the Demon King had appeared, which Allied commander wouldn’t believe the story that the Demon King was attacking the Allied Forces during a large-scale battle?

Vertus faced a dilemma, having to choose between hunkering down through the winter and facing a long drawn-out battle of attrition, or advancing immediately and accepting the possibility of significant losses.

I was in a similar situation.

Helping with the attack on Serandia would reduce the losses the Allied Forces would have to sustain, but our presence might cause other problems.

If we did not help but stood by the wayside, we would be ignoring the countless deaths of people who wouldn’t have lost their lives had we been there.

That included the lives of many people I knew.

Perhaps they would survive on their own. But was I supposed to sit back and observe the Serandia campaign while clinging to such a flimsy justification?

There was no absolutely right choice. Every choice involved sacrificing something in the hopes of gaining something else.

Every choice I had made since coming into this world had been like that.

Choices that involved gaining something and losing something.

I had to make such a choice once again.

I hadn’t spoken with Vertus, but we were practically allies, though only a few people accepted that.

To most, my name was still to be feared, and no one would believe that the Demon King was fighting alongside them. Revealing myself would only cause more confusion.

The Demon King, who had initiated the Gate Incident to annihilate humanity, suddenly helping humanity? Only those who had lost their reason in despair would believe such a thing.

If the other commanders of the Allied Forces or everyone in the Allied Forces learned that the Empire had been receiving help from the Demon King, the Allied Forces might disband after the Serandia campaign.

“Eventually, we’ll have to fight alongside the Allied Forces. That’s a given.”

Everyone in the meeting remained silent, looking at me.

Regardless of the panic that might ensue, the moment we had to participate directly would have to come. That much wouldn’t change.

The danger surrounding the Gate Incident was growing.

In the early stages of the Gate Incident, guerrilla units led by Sabioleen Tana could easily move through large cities to destroy the mega warp gates within them. Now that the Gate Incident had progressed, the danger had grown so it was impossible to do that, which was why humanity had mobilized such a large army.

Serandia was dangerous, but the cities we would have to subdue later on would be even more dangerous than Serandia.

“We’ll conduct a preemptive strike on Serandia, but we won’t participate in the actual attack. We’ll just watch.”

This was the time to watch as others died, no matter who they were.

Was it the right choice to ignore those who would die now, to prevent more deaths later?

I didn’t know.

But just as Louise von Schwartz had done, I would have to make a choice.

“And if possible, it would be good to destroy a few warp gates, if not the mega one.”

A preemptive strike.

If that was all we could do, then we had to do everything we could.

This content is taken from fr𝒆ewebnove(l).com