Several days had passed.
The Demon Lord's Army's invasion of Imperial territory continued to progress smoothly.
The fact that the army dispatched to the World Tree's forest had been annihilated played a major role in that.
Even the mighty Empire was showing signs of a manpower shortage.
It seemed they had been so desperate to seize the World Tree's forest and the elves that they had poured in enormous resources.
I could understand their sentiments, but I had no intention of helping them.
The Empire was mustering soldiers from every corner of its domain to counter the Demon Lord's Army's onslaught.
However, their desperate measures only managed to slow our advance at best—the actual damage remained minimal.
The Demon Lord's Army was converting corpses into undead to bolster its forces as it pushed forward.
The Imperial Army, synonymous with overwhelming power, excelled at tactics that relied on sheer numbers—but that approach was useless against the Demon Lord's Army.
That was because numerical superiority meant nothing here.
The undead knew neither fatigue nor pain; they could simply absorb every attack the Empire threw at them.
Still, all of those factors were merely within the margin of error.
The biggest reason was probably that Grom and Henry were on the front lines.
The Imperial Army simply did not possess the forces capable of stopping them.
No matter what schemes they devised, they were as fragile as thin ice against those two executives.
Henry's sniping precisely picked off commanders, and at the moment the army's coordination crumbled, Grom would slam them with miasma and magic.
It was a simple method—which was precisely why its effectiveness was immense.
Countering it was extraordinarily difficult.
Even I might struggle if I were limited to only the magic I could use.
According to regular reports, they were currently crossing Imperial territory at a leisurely pace.
They were advancing carefully, mindful not to exhaust their subordinates' stamina.
A truly sound judgment.
There was no need for them to rush in the first place.
Living subordinates—monsters and elves alike—were extraordinarily valuable.
Preserving their lives took priority over hastening the march.
I had made sure to relay that message clearly to them as well.
I would be in trouble if they executed reckless operations in pursuit of greater glory.
Besides, for the defense of the Royal Capital, I was more than sufficient on my own.
Whatever kind of force threw itself at me, I could handle it.
The Demon Lord's Army had no need to rush back.
I spent my days handling detailed administrative work and planning for the future while listening to the war reports that trickled in.
Then one day, a large number of humans appeared before the Royal Capital.
It was not an invasion from a foreign nation.
It seemed the personnel I had been pressing the lords to provide had finally been dispatched.
To assess the situation, I teleported into the sky and looked down at them.
Surrounded by undead, the group of people numbered somewhere between twenty and thirty thousand.
Most were sturdy-looking men, though women and children were mixed in among them.
Several carriages had accompanied them as well.
They appeared to be loaded with daily necessities and food supplies.
It was a sizable group, but the Royal Capital could easily accommodate them.
The grounds were more than spacious at the moment.
As long as the food supply was stabilized, we could take in even ten times this number without hesitation.
(Well then, shall I go greet them?)
When I descended to stand before the people, they were enveloped in shock and terror.
I no longer reacted to such responses—it was all familiar by now.
The succubus who had been briefed in advance lingered unobtrusively behind me.
Using a voice-amplification spell, I addressed the crowd.
"From this moment forward, you belong to the Demon Lord's Army. I trust there are no objections?"
At my abrupt opening, the people fell silent.
They were clearly not happy about it.
But no one dared voice a complaint.
A wise decision.
I continued in a businesslike tone.
"The Demon Lord's Army is currently engaged in combat with the Imperial Army. Therefore, you will be—"
Mid-sentence, I detected an approaching presence from the side.
Nothing appeared to be there, but the space was subtly distorted.
It was likely a perception-blocking spell, the same kind that had been cast on the World Tree.
Trusting my instinct, I ducked.
Something passed over my head.
I had apparently succeeded in dodging the attack.
I seized the attacker's body, yanked them down, and hit them with a jolt of electricity at close range.
A pale blue light erupted, dispelling the perception-blocking spell.
It was a man dressed entirely in black.
"Tch…!"
The man groaned and thrust the dagger in his hand toward me.
I dodged it and crushed the hand gripping the dagger.
Then I seized him by the neck and lifted him off the ground.
The succubus who had been standing behind me rushed forward, her face pale with alarm.
"Mi—My Lord! Are you unharmed…!?"
"No issues. More importantly, it appears an assassin infiltrated the group of personnel that was delivered."
The man thrashed in my grip, trying to break free, but it was futile.
My physical strength was magically augmented.
There was no way human strength could pry my hand loose.
While holding the man, I looked down at the dagger that had fallen to the ground.
Sacred-attribute formulas were inscribed along the blade.
A weapon designed to kill the undead.
It was an extraordinarily expensive item—not something an individual could easily purchase.
I turned to the shaken succubus and asked her to look into this man's identity.
"Find out who this man is. Which lord dispatched him?"
"One moment, please…"
The succubus leafed through the documents on hand.
Once she had confirmed the man's identity, she reported the lord who had sent him.
That lord was one who had surrendered early on.
I had assumed he was merely the self-preserving type, but to think he would scheme like this.
It was somewhat unexpected.
This was something I could not overlook.
"I'll be right back."
I told the succubus and teleported away.
The destination was the city belonging to that particular lord.
From there, I teleported again, infiltrating the lord's manor.
Brushing past the servants who collapsed in terror, I proceeded down the corridor, smashed through a wall, and stepped into a room at the back.
There, the lord was lounging surrounded by women, drinking to his heart's content.
The lord and the women froze the moment they saw me.
Still holding the assassin aloft, I questioned him.
"Do you recognize this man's face?"
"Wh—What…!?"
The lord was stunned, then quickly tried to compose himself.
His reaction told me he knew exactly what was going on.
Which meant he had sanctioned my assassination.
"I see. That's all I needed to know."
I channeled miasma into the assassin.
The assassin didn't even have time to scream before he was consumed by black flames and reduced to ash.
I brushed my hands clean and addressed the lord.
"The idea of assassination isn't bad, but your execution was sloppy. Something like this won't kill me."
"Ahh… uuaaaah… auaaaahh…!"
The lord let out incoherent wailing.
Dragging him along, I teleported back to where the people waited before the Royal Capital.
I flew up into the air, made sure the lord's presence was visible to all, and spoke.
"Everyone, look at this man. He is the mastermind behind the assassination. I have brought him here just now."
The square was filled with a tense silence.
Most of them could already guess what was about to happen.
Their guess was almost certainly correct.
And it was my role to deliver on that expectation.
"Anyone who opposes the Demon Lord's Army will meet this fate."
The instant I finished speaking, the lord underwent a horrifying change.
Dark spots bloomed from his toes and spread upward.
His skin split open, spraying viscous fluid, and he began to collapse with a sickening, bubbling sound.
The corruption spread throughout his entire body.
What I had cast was a curse of rot.
The lord tasted death while still alive, suffering every agonizing moment.
His flesh putrefied and sloughed off, dripping onto the ground.
The people watching let out screams and stumbled backward.
Eventually, only the lord's bones and clothing remained.
I descended to the ground and released my grip. The lord's remains started moving on their own.
With a dry, grating sound of bone against bone, the skeleton scurried away.
I could feel the crowd holding their breath.
They were horrified by the lord's gruesome death and his wretched end.
It served as a sufficiently vivid example.
I issued a warning to them.
"There may still be assassins hiding among you. But don't bother. There is no need to throw your lives away pointlessly. If any of you are confident in your assassination skills, I will gladly purchase your services. I want that power used for the Demon Lord's Army. That is all I have to say."
I had conveyed what needed to be conveyed.
The rest of the instructions could be left to my subordinates.
Having finished speaking, I teleported back to the castle.