[Cossorion Fortress] Arugner, the First Army Commander of the Demon race's forces, looked out across the battlefield spread before him and let his expression grow grim.
The state of the battle was unfavorable.
At a glance, it might appear that both sides were locked in an evenly matched exchange of blows, but in truth, the Demon race's army was stuck on the offensive, unable to make headway.
Cossorion Fortress was among the targets of the Demon race's coordinated assault this time — and it was one of the most strategically important positions of all.
It was no exaggeration to say that this fortress marked the boundary between Demon race territory and Human race territory.
No matter how many other positions might fall, this fortress had to be held at all costs.
If this fortress fell, it would mean the Human race had failed to stop the Demon race's advance.
That was how critical this position was.
The soldiers deployed here were therefore among the Human race's very finest.
Even a single foot soldier was a powerhouse so strong that they could reasonably have claimed the seat of general in a lesser kingdom.
Opposing them, the Demon race's First Army had likewise assembled its elite — led by Arugner, a battle-hardened warrior of the Demon race.
Aside from the two pinnacles of power, the Hero and the Demon King, it could be said that both armies had concentrated their greatest fighting forces here at this fortress.
It was commonly believed that the Demon race was superior to the Human race.
However, Arugner did not consider that to be entirely correct.
It wasn't wrong, per se, but neither could it be called an absolute truth.
The gap in power between the Demon race and the Human race was a gap in Status.
On the whole, the Demon race possessed higher Status than the Human race.
But that was all there was to it.
Even with higher Status, there was individual variation among the Demon race.
There existed members of the Human race whose abilities surpassed the weaker among the Demon race.
Most importantly, there was no difference in Skills between the two.
In this world, Skills accounted for a larger share of combat capability than Status did.
There was individual variation here as well, but when comparing the Demon race and the Human race as a whole, it was fair to say the difference was negligible.
If Status alone were the measure, there were even Monsters whose stats exceeded those of the Demon race.
However, as long as those Monsters were not calamities given form — S-rank or Over S-rank, the kind that were living disasters — they could be defeated.
That was because Monsters possessed no intellect and could not acquire Skills on their own or train to develop them.
Unlike Monsters, the Demon race and the Human race were not born with innate Skills.
Instead, they mobilized their knowledge and accumulated training to acquire Skills.
It was this accumulation of hard-won Skills that became the weapon to overcome Monsters, who possessed Skills only by nature or by chance during their lifetime.
Monsters had only the Skills they were born with or had stumbled upon during their lives.
The Demon race and the Human race, by contrast, possessed as many Skills as they had trained for.
That was precisely what could overturn the gap in Status.
The difference in Status between the Demon race and the Human race was not as great as people made it out to be.
Compared to high-ranking Monsters, that difference was small.
And there was no gap in Skills.
The Demon race was undoubtedly superior, but that superiority was marginal — that was the conclusion Arugner had reached after years of opposing the Human race.
Moreover, because the Demon race was long-lived, their birth rate was lower than that of the Human race.
Naturally, their numbers were smaller as a result.
The Human race, who outnumbered them, and the Demon race, who boasted superior Status — the fighting power of both sides was closely matched.
It was for precisely this reason that in the current war, the Human race held the decisive advantage of terrain.
Thanks to the fortress's defensive walls, the Demon race's army was bogged down on the offensive, its losses mounting steadily.
Meanwhile, the Human race's army used the walls as a shield, keeping their casualties minimal.
The walls were being gradually destroyed, certainly, but at the current pace, the collapse of the army would come before the destruction of the walls.
Arugner held this awareness, yet he could not conceive of an effective countermeasure.
The Human race's army was conducting a solid, methodical battle.
They relied on no tricks — they defended the fortress according to established doctrine.
Doctrine was built upon years of accumulated experience and knowledge.
It was precisely because it was seldom broken that it became doctrine, and if one resorted to clumsy stratagems in an attempt to break it, one would only receive a painful backlash.
It was not impossible for doctrine to be shattered by an unexpected tactic.
But Arugner, for better or worse, was an old-school commander.
He excelled at executing maneuvers according to doctrine himself, which meant he was ill-suited to fighting through unorthodox stratagems.
Even so, Arugner was a brilliant general. Even in an overwhelmingly unfavorable situation, he had managed to keep the battle alive.
It was the mark of a commander called great — the foresight drawn from years of experience, paired with precise, decisive orders that put that foresight into action.
And yet, the battle was growing worse by the moment.
It was at such a time that headquarters issued the order to retreat.
Arugner moved to execute the order immediately.
Continuing the fight would only inflame their losses for no purpose.
But the retreat never happened.
Because of the sudden appearance of a colossal Monster.
"Q-Queen Taratect!?"
Arugner's eyes went wide.
Even he, who had lived for so many years, had never seen this Mythical-class Monster in his life.
The apex of the spider-type Monsters — said to number only five in all the world.
The Queen Taratect had appeared on the battlefield without the slightest warning, her enormous body materializing as if from thin air.
"Impossible!? How did she get here!?"
The Queen Taratect was supposed to exist in a number of only five in the entire world.
Even the nearest individual should have been stationed far, far from Cossorion Fortress.
For her to suddenly appear here was utterly unnatural by any reckoning.
Arugner forced his spiraling thoughts into order.
In the first place, a creature of the Queen Taratect's size could not have slipped past the eyes of every soldier on the battlefield and simply materialized on its own.
If that was the case, then only one method could explain it.
Transfer via spatial magic.
To Arugner's knowledge, there was only one being in existence capable of commanding the Queen Taratect and teleporting that colossal body through spatial magic.
The twisted smile of the one who currently reigned supreme over the Demon race surfaced in Arugner's mind.
"So that's it. I've served my purpose, then... Your Majesty, the Demon King..."
And then the rampage began — the devastation wrought by a living calamity of Over S-rank, Mythical-class — targeting Demon and Human alike without discrimination.
On that day, Cossorion Fortress was utterly obliterated, leaving not a trace behind.