"Kill!!!"
"Charge!"
The roar of battle shook the heavens outside the town.
Atop the city wall, Chief Taka, the priestess, Kakatu, and Lilimond stood shoulder to shoulder. Though the battlefield below was clearly in their favor, their expressions remained grim.
"This is not good," Taka said heavily. "The longer a Demon General incubates, the stronger it will be upon birth. This time… it may reach the full nine days."
In the tribe's records, any Demon General that incubated for the full nine days had brought catastrophic losses upon the Vichy people.
"There's nothing we can do," the priestess replied. "The incubation cannot be interrupted. All we can do is eliminate as many monsters as possible before the Demon General emerges. If we thin their numbers enough, we might still seize the initiative."
"That's our only option."
Their gazes returned to the battlefield.
Without a Demon General to command them, the monsters posed far less of a threat. And with Ur's assistance, the number of Vichy warriors blessed with Holy Power had surged dramatically. The monsters were being driven back step by step.
"Hmm?" Taka suddenly frowned. "What is that black energy? Why does it seem even more lethal to the monsters than Holy Power?"
He had noticed it. The Black Holy Power spread across the battlefield. Warriors empowered by it were noticeably stronger than those blessed with ordinary Holy Power. Often, a single strike was enough to annihilate a monster. Its destructive force was astonishing.
"Priestess, what is going on?" Taka asked in disbelief.
The priestess fell silent.
What was she supposed to say? That someone else had cultivated Holy Power for only a few days and surpassed her? Did she not care about her dignity as the Vichy tribe's priestess?
"That is the Holy Power released by the guest who traded with us before," she finally said. "Thanks to his help, we were able to prepare for this war in advance."
"What?! How is that possible? How does he possess divine power? Why is his Holy Power black? And why is it so strong?" Taka fired off questions like a machine gun, eyes wide with shock.
The priestess remained silent because she didn't know either.
At that moment, Ur approached. "Chief Taka, you said the Demon General's incubation cannot be interrupted?"
Taka looked at Ur with a complicated expression before nodding. "It cannot be interrupted. A Demon General is created directly by the Demon God. Its birth is protected by the Demon God's power. Unless the Snow Goddess intervenes personally, our strength alone cannot stop it."
"Oh?" Ur's eyes flickered.
Without another word, he shot into the sky. Two massive Tempest Wings unfurled behind him, whipping up violent gusts of wind.
Roar!
Screech!
The moment he rose into the air, swarms of flying monsters shrieked and surged toward him like a cloud of locusts.
Ur's expression darkened. His Tempest Wings beat fiercely, generating a hurricane that blasted the monsters away. He extended both hands forward. A massive ochre magic circle bloomed before his palms, radiating brilliance across the battlefield like a blazing star.
"Earth Magic, Earth Spear!"
A ten-meter-long stone spear formed instantly before the circle. A faint black glow wrapped around it, amplifying its aura and destructive force to terrifying heights.
Whoosh!
The spear tore through the air, shockwaves bursting outward in rings of white. It streaked forward like lightning toward the Demon General's incubation point. Everything in its path, every monster it passed, was obliterated instantly, reduced to dust as if struck by a nuclear blast. Not even ashes remained.
At last, the spear struck the incubation point directly.
Then, nothing.
Not even a ripple.
The moment the stone spear touched the incubation barrier, it shattered silently, dissolving into particles of light.
Ur's pupils contracted sharply. He had expected resistance, but not this.
This wasn't a matter of strength. It was a difference in tier.
A completely different dimension of power.
One strike had failed.
Ur did not linger. He immediately returned to the town. He had never relied on a single plan. Since Plan A had failed, he would move to Plan B.
Finding Chief Taka and the others, Ur began outlining his strategy.
❖≔﴾═══════ﺤ
Another day passed.
It was now the ninth day, the final day of incubation.
The atmosphere on the battlefield grew oppressive, suffocating. Even seasoned Vichy warriors felt their hearts tremble uneasily.
The monsters began instinctively converging around the incubation point, their frenzy reaching fever pitch.
Faint but overwhelming pressure radiated continuously from the epicenter. Taka's expression grew darker with each passing moment. "What terrifying energy… I hope their plan succeeds. Otherwise, our tribe may truly face destruction," he murmured, staring at the gloom-choked sky.
Time crawled forward.
The incubation site grew increasingly horrific. Dark clouds gathered above it, forming a massive funnel that churned and descended, exuding crushing pressure.
Bzzzz!
Finally, when the energy reached its peak, an explosion of boundless power erupted outward, whipping the battlefield into chaos and shaking the earth itself.
Boom!
The monsters howled. The Vichy warriors turned pale.
Moments later, under Taka's horrified, trembling gaze, four figures wrapped in shadowy radiance slowly rose into the sky.
"Four?!" Taka's entire body shook. "How can there be four Demon Generals? Has our tribe's end truly come?"
Never in history had four appeared at once.
The four shadow-clad figures hovered high above, releasing their overwhelming auras without restraint, gazing down upon the battlefield like aloof gods.
"Vichy people, you shall—" One of the Demon Generals had just begun to speak when space itself trembled.
The sky split open.
A colossal fireball materialized in midair—crimson at its core, yellow blazing around it, and rimmed with black. It radiated an aura of unimaginable destruction and threat as it descended directly upon the four figures.
❖≔﴾═══════ﺤ
Next Chapter: A Final Battle from the Very Start?
Next Next Chapter: Is It Ending Right After It Begins?
Next Next Next Chapter: The Shortest War in Vichy History