Chapter 91

In the sky above Dycatt, countless bats were flying.

The black bats blended into the darkness of the night, making them invisible from the ground. Even if they were noticed, people would likely dismiss them as just ordinary bats. Bats flying at an altitude of several thousand meters would be an absurd sight, but such an absurd scene was overshadowed by the even more absurd events unfolding on the ground.

However, those bats were the cause of the turmoil on the ground.

Volph, the vampire, was the third general of the Demon King's army and possessed the power of immortality. He was observing the ground in the form of a bat.

Incidentally, this bat was not Volph's true form but one of his clones.

When he transformed into a bat, he split into 100 clones.

This was also his weakness.

While in the form of a bat, he lost his immortality. Nevertheless, he split into clones to gather information.

In this form, he would not be burned by sunlight.

"Two days ago, I had a terrible experience... damn humans..."

Two days ago, at noon, he had released 90 of his bat clones across the country, while the remaining 10, including his true form, hid in a cave.

At that moment, someone cast a spell inside the cave. The spell burned 9 of his clones and severely injured his true form.

As a result, he had to regroup the 90 clones from across the country, gather their power, and rest for another day.

Incidentally, the attacker was Ichizo, who had mistaken the bats for a nest of monsters before arriving in Ferit. Volph, of course, did not know this, and Ichizo did not know that he was attacking Volph.

Volph thought he might miss the clash between the monsters and the army, but for some reason, the monster invasion was delayed, and he arrived just in time.

"They are coming—"

The eyes of the vampire, known as the King of the Red Night, did not lose their vision even in the form of a bat. His countless eyes were watching the battlefield.

The horde of monsters clashed with the human army.

However, the human army took action.

They fired flaming arrows.

The grassland turned into a sea of fire in an instant.

(Foolish. Do they think they can stop the monsters with this? The monsters, created by the curse I bestowed upon the King of Corat, cannot be stopped by such means.)

As Volph predicted, the horde of monsters advanced without fear of the flames, without fear of losing their numbers or their lives.

The monsters, born from the labyrinth, were merely a collection of miasma. Their actions were limited by the power of the goddess, and they could be controlled with a little intervention.

Those monsters were not thinking. They were mere puppets with the sole purpose of reaching Ferit, the capital of Dycatt.

The unexpected advance of the monsters caused the flames to spread to the human army's camp.

Humans say that no monster fears fire.

However, that is not entirely true. Humans also fear fire.

The fire they thought they could control had become uncontrollable.

The human army began to retreat.

The monsters would soon reach Ferit.

And they would rampage through Ferit, disappearing three days later.

After that, the army of Corat would arrive.

Humans would fight each other. The country would fall.

However, while the army of Corat was attacking Dycatt, Volph would set up the same trap in the labyrinth of Corat.

The army of Corat, having moved to invade Dycatt, would be unable to stop the advance of the monsters and would be destroyed.

Why did Volph want to destroy Corat and Dycatt?

There was no meaning.

He was a demon who used humans as pawns and found it acceptable to destroy them.

He laughed in his heart.

He laughed at the slaughter that was about to unfold.

The monsters would ravage, humans would fight each other, and the monsters would ravage again.

He laughed at the foolishness of humans.

But his laughter stopped.

(—! What's happening? What's going on!?)

The horde of monsters suddenly changed direction.

All the monsters changed their course to the south.

What!?

What happened!?

(Is something more powerful than my curse at work!?)

Volph, who had absolute confidence in his power, was shocked and tried to assess the situation.

(—!!)

At that moment, Volph felt a gaze.

Someone was watching him.

And it was not just a gaze; someone was watching him with clear hostility.

Volph looked to the south, where the monsters had changed their course, to find the source of the gaze.

He saw four humans.

(Why is he here... Why is that demon Canon's slave here?)

The first one he saw was a woman wearing a pointed hat and a mask—Marina.

(Marina, I think. Just a street performer, a strange profession. Did she do something?)

But Volph reconsidered and realized the gaze was not from her.

Then he saw a white-haired White Wolf next to Marina.

The White Wolves had excellent night vision.

It was not strange for her to notice him.

But why was she looking at him so intensely, even though he was just a bat?

Volph thought and then realized.

(—! Haruwataro! The pet of Demon King Laritei!)

He was certain.

She knew he could transform into a bat.

(Then, did she change the course of the monsters? But how?)

Haruwataro told the others—Marina, the weak-looking man, and the small woman—to look up at him.

He decided that they would interfere with his plans and resolved to kill those four humans.

Then, Volph's clone disappeared into the darkness of the night, returning to his true form.