—
Kyoya ran off on his own.
"My lady, what will you do?"
That's exactly what I want to know.
But... I'm the one who has to say something here, right?
Because Kyoya also left without permission, and rank-wise, I'm the highest-ranking person here, aren't I?
Ugh...
The pressure is killing my stomach...
Let's just stick with the usual plan.
"Melazophis, I'm leaving the rest to you."
There—full-on passing the buck.
I was actually planning to pass the buck to Kyoya, but he's gone now.
Honestly...
He finds his friend and just leaves me behind? What kind of move is that?
There's no way I can command an army by myself!
"What will my lady do?"
I answer Melazophis's question with an unhurried pause.
In reality, I'm using that pause to think up a good excuse.
"The Hero is right over there. As a subordinate of the Demon King, it would be rude not to go and pay my respects, wouldn't it?"
...Why did I say that?
Hearing it come out of my own mouth, I'm already pulling back.
Going out of your way to greet the enemy—what kind of evil Four Heavenly King nonsense is that?
"I see. Is that so?"
"Oh my? Do you have a problem with that?"
"Not at all. Everything is as my lady wishes."
Melazophis bows his head respectfully.
Somehow I managed to smooth that over.
Well then, let me follow after Kyoya, shall I?
I begin walking slowly.
Strolling gracefully across a battlefield where the Human race and elves are clashing.
No one notices me.
As I walk, I assess the current situation.
From what I can see with my Clairvoyance, the center of the battlefield is in a stalemate.
That's also where the Hero is.
The right and left flanks—ah, the elves' robots have practically annihilated the Human race forces.
Well, it can't be helped.
Against those robots, ordinary humans don't stand a chance.
Oh my?
That old man is impressive—he took down a robot.
Oh my?
What is Master doing over there?
Does he know that old man?
Well, if it's Master, it shouldn't be a problem.
Oh my?
Kusama got taken out by a robot and is retreating.
Well, Kusama isn't that strong to begin with, so just surviving against a robot is a win, isn't it?
Or did the elves deliberately let him go because he's a Reincarnator?
His ninja Skills make him fast enough to escape, so it's equally possible he got away on his own.
Hard to say which.
Oh my?
Melazophis is advancing, then.
Well, I suppose now's as good a time as any.
The Human race forces outside the center are almost entirely useless.
I was hoping they'd hold out a little longer, but against robots, what can you do?
So from here on out, it becomes a three-way battle between the Demon King's army, the Human race army, and the elves' army.
In practice, the Human race army caught in the middle will be eliminated quickly, so it'll really be the Demon King's army versus the elves.
Will Melazophis be all right?
On the surface, he holds the title of Fourth Corps Commander of the Demon King's army, but his actual strength is considerably inferior to ours.
He's stronger than the other ceremonial corps commanders, but still—fighting multiple robots at once seems rough.
Let me give him a little support.
Skill activation—Undead King.
There are plenty of corpses around, and while they won't be much help in terms of combat power, they should at least serve as a nuisance.
Empowered by my Skill, corpses scattered across the battlefield slowly begin to rise.
Zombies.
Their movements are sluggish, and they possess none of the abilities they had in life.
By stats alone, they're the absolute worst.
However, since they have no souls, you have to completely destroy their bodies to stop them.
And since they have no souls, you can't gain Experience Points from them either.
Truly, what a terrible ability.
They stink.
They're disgusting.
I set the zombies to target elves, humans, and robots alike.
From this point on, anyone who dies on the battlefield will automatically be turned into a zombie.
That should do it.
They'll at least serve as a wall of flesh.
Oh my?
Kyoya killed Natsume.
Well, whatever.
By now, the brainwashing should have worn off and the humans are in total chaos, right?
Well, I'm sure Uncle
Now then, I've made it close to the Hero's position. Shall I suppress my presence and watch how things unfold from here?
"Kyoya... is it really you?"
"Yeah. The one and only Sasajima Kyoya himself. It's been a while, Shun. Kanata."
"Why are you here?"
"Huh? It's obvious, isn't it? I'm here to destroy the elves."
"Wh—!?"
"If anything, I'm the one who can't understand why you two are siding with the elves. You've probably been duped by their sweet talk, but still."
"What are you talking about?"
"What do you mean, what? The elves are a blight on the world. Defending them is insane. It's not too late—even now. Won't you pull back?"
"We can't exactly just pull back..."
"Kyoya, tell me everything."
"Sure. But Kanata, you've gotten really cute. I almost didn't recognize you."
"Well, thanks."
"Ha ha ha. It's like talking to a completely different person."
"Can't stay the same forever, can you? The world we live in and the circumstances we're in are nothing like the old days. It'd be weirder if nothing changed."
"True. Oh right, let me get back to the point—"
"!! Wait! Who's there!?"
Oh my?
Were we detected?
I suppose even someone who's gone to seed is still the Hero.
Well then, let me make a dazzling entrance.
"Good day."
"Who are you?"
"Oh my? Isn't it common courtesy to introduce yourself first when asking for someone's name?"
"Shurein."
"How straightforward of you. I'm Sophia Keren. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Negishi Akako, then."
"Wh—!?"
Why did this man just casually drop my previous life's name!?
I'm gonna kill him!?