Makai Hongi

Chapter 244

General Farneze was furious.

Ballistic.

After the mock battle, I took a detour for half a day and returned. And then she summoned me immediately.

“But, I told you beforehand.”

Before we left, I said that they must not do anything under any circumstances.

“Even so, that was excessive! The soldiers thought it was an ambush and tried to attack. It was utter chaos here.”

She was truly angry.

The mountain was in a terrible state from the shockwaves of that battle.

The ground had shaken and there were sounds like thunder.

And while I had warned the General, the other soldiers did not know.

They had misunderstood it as the attack of a great army, and had prepared for battle.

I couldn’t help but feel that they were being ridiculous, but apparently, they had believed that Kyuka himself had come down to annihilate them.

“Well, it’s in the past.”

“That’s for me to decide!”

“…I’m sorry.”

This was strange. I had warned her in advance. My plan should have been perfect.

I had raised the success rate of the operation. Surely she should be praising me instead? Hmm, it was not fair at all.

While I was being scolded, messengers continued to come and go.

Saifo and Beka had returned and explained the situation.

In order to make sure that what they said was true, soldiers were sent to the scene.

And after a thorough inspection, they decided that there was nothing wrong.

Of course, there wasn’t. No one else had been there but us.

And then the scouts returned.

After hearing their report, the state of alert was lifted.

This happened shortly before my return.

The reason that things hadn’t settled down yet, was because there were those who had been waiting eagerly for the enemy.

It was quite the shock for them as they stood ready, and some still insisted on going out.

The other soldiers were holding them back through desperate effort, and I felt quite bad for them.

“Ah, that’s right. General.”

“What?”

“About the wall around the camp. It’s rather weak. In just one hit I was able to… Uh, sorry.”

She glared at me.

“General, I have news!”

“What is it? Have the soldiers forced their way outside?”

Surely it wasn’t my fault.

“Kyuka’s army has started moving!”

“What!?”

It really wasn’t my fault.

But this was good news.

If they stayed in their camp, the plan could not be put into motion.

“According to our scouts, more than half of their soldiers have left the main camp. But Kyuka was not seen to be among them.”

So that meant Kyuka was still inside.

“But why would they start moving now?”

“It must be your fault.”

General Farneze glared at me again.

I had thought I was more of an…intellectual person.

“What should we do?”

“Strike back. Crush them into the dust, and lure Kyuka out of his nest.”

While that was likely the best way to fight, the plan that Felicia had created was the important part.

I had sown the seeds earlier, so perhaps it was time to go and reep the rewards.

“Alright then, I will go. Let’s kill all of Kyuka’s underlings.”

I just had to reach Kyuka.

“I doubt they will take you to the main camp.”

That’s right. They were crossing a mountain, after all.

Then what should I do? I had to think about it.

“…Hmm? Why don’t I just go to the main camp directly?”

It wasn’t exactly according to plan, but what if I just went there and asked to join them?

All I had to do was get in front of Kyuka.

“It’s not that easy. Why do you think Felicia had to work so hard to come up with this plan?”

“But our position will only get worse if he doesn’t come out of there.”

Kyuka’s army had more soldiers who were also stronger.

All he needed to do to win was to have the two armies clash.

It was because we couldn’t win by fighting him head-on that we had to crush his henchmen first.

Another messenger arrived.

The army of soldiers that had left the camp were heading straight towards us.

And they alone were more numerous than our entire army.

Not only that, but there were three smaller corps in the area as well.

They were probably placed there in case of an ambush, and to help protect the main camp.

“Can you really make it? Somehow I think they won’t let you in and you’ll just be forced to fight.”

“If they really moved because of what happened on the mountain, there is a good chance they will let me in.”

And if not, I’ll just fight like mad.

If I was outside of the camp, then running away wouldn’t be too hard.

Unless Kyuka left to chase after me, which I doubted would happen.

“Very well. There is no way to do this without danger anyway. But we cannot jump in unless you are able to distract Kyuka.”

“I know. There shouldn’t be a problem as long as I can get inside. Let’s just go and do it.”

If I couldn’t meet Kyuka, I would make a scene.

…Huh? I feel like I’ve been talking about nothing but going berserk.

No, nevermind. That wasn’t true. I was an intellectual.

“But Golan. If you think about it, the possibility of success is…”

“Alright, I’m off. You should follow as planned.”

“Hey…”

If I was going to go, best to do it quickly.

After all, I had to go around so that Kyuka’s army didn’t see me.

“Since Kyuka’s main camp is on the other side of the mountain, I might as well go around.”

It would be very troublesome, but I couldn’t risk being seen by the enemy.

And once I arrived at the enemy camp, I would ask them to take me in.

“…It would make things so much easier if they welcomed me with open arms.”

“…So, why is this happening?”

When I got close to the main camp, they attacked me without provocation.

And when I fought back, more of them came.

I crushed them and continued to walk. Then someone who looked like a boss came out.

“The rest of you, stand back!”

The boss said in a heroic voice.

And the surrounding soldiers all shouted, ‘Sir Barzas!’ like some legendary hero had arrived.

“You fiend. I will avenge my fallen comrades.”

“What? Am I the villain here?”

This guy they called Barzas.

He was a demi-human, I suppose. But I wasn’t sure what kind.

He had the mane of a lion, but he was so tall that I almost thought he was a giant.

Perhaps he was some kind of evolved lion-type demi-human.

Nevermind that.

From what I could tell, his mana level exceeded that of General Farneze.

Perhaps he was a Lesser Demon King.

How did this happen?

He was clearly ready to fight, and it would do no good to try and talk with him at this point.

And he had all that mana. If I let my guard down even a little, I would die in the blink of an eye.

I had to make the first move.

And so I had been charging my fist with mana.

After my evolution, I had learned to use my special ability in order to strengthen my body.

However, I had not tested it on anyone yet. It was too dangerous.

This special ability was called ‘Bottomless.’

I could charge parts of my body with mana without limit.

Well, it was just the mana stored within me.

In any case, that should be enough now.

The mana in my fist was itching to be released.

I forced it to stay inside as I approached the enemy…and unleashed it all at once.

—Mana Spear.

That’s what I called it.

The mana that shot from my fist pierced into the enemy’s stomach and came out the other end.

A giant hole opened up in Barzas’s stomach.

“That’s a much better view.”

I said with a chuckle.

Even I thought that I was starting to really sound like a villain.