[The Demon King's Aide — Barto] Inside the command tent, I confirm the state of battle across all fronts.
Each army always has messengers carrying the Far-Talk Skill, an advanced ability derived from telepathy.
Based on the information relayed from them, I monitor the situation on each front and issue orders.
It appears that the Second Army, led by Sarnathria, has succeeded in driving Anogratch toward the enemy fortress.
The nerve of that woman.
Sure, the timing was right after a major breeding boom, when the creatures could have gone on a rampage at any moment—but to deliberately goad them like that?
The Anogratch had a habit of periodically undergoing massive breeding cycles, causing their population to explode.
During periods when their numbers were low, they stayed deep in the forest and posed little threat, but after a breeding boom, their territory expanded dramatically as they scoured the area for food.
The Anogratch habitat spanned both Demon race and Human race territories, but skewed toward the Demon side.
As a result, it was the Demon race who bore the brunt of the damage after every breeding boom.
And Sarnathria had turned that headache of a monster into a weapon.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a strategy no one would attempt—there was a real risk of becoming a target yourself.
Which only went to show just how desperate her situation had been.
Elsewhere, the Third Army under
Conversely, the Sixth Army under Hyui and the Fourth Army under Melazophis had been defeated.
Melazophis was wounded, but apparently not in any life-threatening condition.
However, Hyui had been killed in action.
He was the only casualty among the leadership so far.
As for the rest, battles still raged on.
But everywhere, our forces were being pushed back.
The fortress of Kusorion that Commander Aagna had stormed was a critical stronghold connecting to the Lengzant Empire, a great power of the Human race.
Naturally, the troops stationed there were among the best.
Even the formidable Aagna was struggling.
So far they seemed to be holding their ground, but bit by bit, they were being pushed back.
And the biggest problem of all was Blow's Seventh Army.
The Hero was there.
In terms of raw combat strength, things seemed evenly matched—but they couldn't stop the advance of the Hero and his companions.
At worst, the enemy might reach Blow himself.
"Straightforward, straightforward. You think so too, Black?"
While I was dispatching orders to the various fronts, the Demon King spoke to the black knight standing beside her, seated elegantly in her chair.
"Yeah, it is."
"Blunt as always, Black. Couldn't you be a little more pleasant about it?"
"There's no point."
"Boo."
A carefree conversation, in the middle of a war.
Well, Black was perfectly serious—the only one being carefree was the Demon King.
"By the way, the Second Army's Sa... what was her name? Oh, never mind. That succubus—she does some interesting things, doesn't she? Using those apes like that. Hmm, hmm."
The Demon King was grinning and nodding to herself, apparently finding something hilarious.
"Is that fine?"
"Hm? Perfectly fine. We haven't suffered a single casualty, and the humans are dying left and right."
"I see."
"Exactly. What matters is that the bodies keep piling up—whether they're Demon race or Human race."
A chill ran down my spine at those words.
As I had suspected—this person saw us as nothing more than food.
She had no sense of camaraderie. When the time came, she would cut us loose without hesitation, of that I was certain.
"Hey, Black—you're not still hung up about this whole thing, are you?"
"I am."
"I knew it. I mean, this whole war practically started because of your mistake, didn't it?"
My body froze for an instant, and I struggled to mask my reaction.
What was she talking about?
This war had been caused by Black's blunder?
Even I had never heard anything about that.
What were these two discussing that I didn't even know about?
"You're right. This is something my own softness brought about."
"Mm-hmm. Which is exactly why I'm cleaning up after you. You should be grateful, you know?"
"I can't do that. I'll admit this is necessary. But I still can't accept your methods."
"You say that, but the fact that you haven't stopped me—why can't you see that that means you haven't changed since the old days?"
"Perhaps not."
"That's right. Well, agonizing over things like that is so very you."
I pretended to work while eavesdropping on their conversation.
To gather whatever information I could.
If I took what they said at face value, were the Demon King and Black not on good terms?
Not outright hostile, but there was an atmosphere just one step removed from it.
Yet it was strange that they would speak so openly with me present.
Did they think it was fine even if I overheard? Or was all of this an act—bait designed to keep me off balance?
I couldn't tell.
"Well, I'd say we've hit our target numbers. Barto—go ahead and issue withdrawal orders to all fronts."
"Yes. Understood."
I was in turmoil on the inside, but I made sure not to let it show.
Withdrawal?
It was true that most of the remaining battlefields were unfavorable, but it was still too early to pull back.
So why withdraw?
"The objective this time is the Hero, plain and simple. Once the Hero is taken care of, everything else is secondary."
As if answering the question burning inside me, the Demon King murmured.
Take out the Hero?
But the Hero was still alive and well.
If they hadn't been taken out, then why withdraw?
"No need to worry. After all, White is over there. Hero or whoever—they're no match for White, my greatest creation."
The Demon King declared this with absolute confidence.
At the location where the Hero was, a girl called White was accompanying Blow along with the Tenth Army.
"As long as White is there, the Hero will never come back alive. Absolutely never."
Watching the Demon King smile as she said those words, I felt a sense of foreboding.