Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 76: Forest Onslaught

Chapter 76: Forest Onslaught

’How? What? How the hell?’

Xaren stood there with an utterly dumbfounded expression on his face as those questions went through his head. His eyes weren’t on the lifeless corpse of their fallen enemy but on Ilya.

More specifically, on the residues of dark green energy that had coated her sword. That same energy had let her pierce clean through the half-giant’s forearm and drive her blade deep into his chest, burying its entire length inside his body.

Sure, Xaren had given her a boost, but that alone wouldn’t have been enough. The power in her sword had already been quite strong.

In his past life, Xaren had been a Level 390, so he had experienced awakening and using aura.

He had taken advantage of that experience and battle’s pressure to awaken his—something he already knew was there, and already knew how to manipulate proficiently.

But Ilya? She should have had zero experience.

’So how the hell did she awaken her aura so easily?’

He shot her a look, still trying to piece it all together, and sensing his gaze, Ilya turned to him. Then, with her usual blank expression, she uttered the most ridiculous thing Xaren had heard since his rebirth.

"I simply copied what you did."

’What?’

No, seriously—what?!

"You... copied me?" His voice almost cracked as he asked for confirmation and Ilya nodded silently.

Xaren couldn’t believe his eyes or ears.

That wasn’t how this worked. You didn’t just copy how to awaken aura from someone else and execute it nearly instantly.

That wasn’t a thing. How did she even—!

Xaren groaned as he felt his headache. He pressed his fingers to his forehead and massaged it.

’No. I refuse to think about this.’

His head was already pounding from the beating he had taken—slammed into the ground, kicked around, nearly sliced in half. The last thing he needed was to make it worse by trying to make sense of Ilya’s ridiculousness.

But just as he came to that conclusion to save his mental health, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.

It wasn’t just him. Both of them felt it at the same time.

Xaren immediately reached into his magic pouch and drew one of his spare swords, his grip tightening as his gaze narrowed.

Something—or multiple things—radiating killing intent was closing in fast.

’Angel beasts? Actual angels? Giants?’

They didn’t know what was approaching. But what they did know was that another battle was about to begin.

And just as that thought crossed their minds, shadows emerged from the surrounding area.

Four-legged creatures with white fur stepped into view, their bodies pulsing with strong light magic, and low growls rumbling from their throats.

Angel beasts.

Their growls turned to enraged roars the moment their eyes landed on the half-giant’s corpse. Waves of light magic surged from their bodies as they tensed, pulling back in preparation to lunge.

But before they could charge forward, a deep, commanding voice echoed across the area.

[That’s enough.]

In an instant, an overwhelming force descended upon the angel beasts, slamming them into the ground with such crushing weight that their bodies were flattened into nothing but mangled, bloody pulp.

"?!"

"!!"

Xaren and Ilya, shocked by the powerful demonic energy that suddenly filled the area, looked up and saw the floating figure of a familiar High-Ranked demon in the air.

Just then, a voice came from the ground, somewhere behind them.

"Sir Naephas, didn’t you say something about me not trying something a few days ago?"

Three pairs of eyes turned towards the speaker, a seven-foot-tall fire demon who had a wide grin on his face.

Ignoring his comment, Naephas ordered.

[Take out that giant, and at the end of today, there should be no elves left in this forest.]

The man casually ordered a genocide on the elves, and hearing this, the fire demon, Floch, gave a lazy salute and spoke.

"As you wish."

And then, with the same hand he used to salute, he formed it into a finger gun and pointed it in the direction where Vollm and the other giant had been fighting.

The fight had come to an end, not just because of Vollm’s defeat, but because of Naephas’ appearance.

The giant who attacked Vollm was trying to run after sensing Naephas, but it was futile.

Floch pointed his finger gun in that general direction and unleashed a bullet of searing fire.

It carved through the air, the power of the very laws of fire burning through the space itself as it tore straight through, collided with the back of the fleeing giant’s head, and blasted his entire head to bits.

But the bullet didn’t stop there.

The bullet continued on its path, drawing in a parabolic arc toward the heart of the dark elf village in the distance.

It crashed into the centre faster than anyone there could do anything. A high-pitched whine preceded the impact by barely a second, and then—

**KAABOOOOM!!!

A blinding flash bloomed outward, followed by a thunderous shockwave that flattened everything in its radius. Homes were instantly vaporized, their wooden frames splintered into dust by the blast that sent trees flying like twigs.

Charred debris launched high into the air, raining down over a wide radius like molten hail.

The forest beyond the village caught fire almost instantly, igniting a chain reaction as flames surged outward in all directions.

From their position, Xaren and Ilya watched dumbfoundedly as a towering column of flames shot up, spiralling into the skies.

Then the shockwave hit—an invisible battering ram of air that slammed into their chests, forcing them to brace instinctively as dust and leaves whipped past, their clothes snapping tight against their bodies.

As the shockwave faded, the distinct sound of wings brushing the air reached their ears. Naephas wordlessly descended behind them, his boots landing with a crunch on the scorched ground.

"You may think you’re fine because of the adrenaline," he said, his tone radiating indifference. "But your bodies are in far worse shape than you realize."

Xaren and Ilya hurriedly tried to greet him formally, but before they could even get a word out, Naephas held out his hand and commanded.

"Sleep."

Naephas snapped his fingers, and immediately their visions swam as the both of them dropped on the floor, unconscious.

◇　◇　◇

The Demon Army advanced through the forest, their mages leading the charge at the front, hurling waves of fire that engulfed dark elven outposts, turning towers and watch posts into pillars of smoke and ash.

The fires spread fast, licking up the trees and chasing defenders from their hiding spots.

The dark elves fought back, quick on their feet and skilled with their weapons, but it didn’t matter. They were caught off guard by the sudden demonic incursion, and most of their weapons and tactics proved ineffective against the demons’ power.

Arrows burned up mid-air before hitting anything, and their Runeblades shattered the moment they clashed with demon armour.

Demons moved through the elven ranks with ruthless efficiency, cutting down anyone who stood in their way. They didn’t waste time with drawn-out fights or flashy techniques. Every swing of a blade, every spell cast, was meant to kill fast, reap souls, and move on.

The forest floor was soaked with blood within minutes as the demons turned it into a site of systematic killing.

Sullam, the Head of the dark-elf village, having barely survived the explosion caused by Floch’s attack tried to make the remaining warriors regroup and fight back, but the demons didn’t let up.

Led by the Mid-Ranked demons, they broke through the dark-elven formations with brute force and tore through defences like they were made of paper.

Screams and the sounds of weapons clashing filled the air, but one by one, the defenders fell. Bodies piled up around charred tree roots, and the undergrowth was trampled under feet slick with blood.

The demons moved from one section to the next, clearing it out like they were checking boxes. If someone ran, they were hunted. If someone hid, they were burned out.

The angels and angel beasts hiding in the forest were not spared either. Some managed to drag a few demons down with them, but it didn’t change the outcome.

They were outnumbered, overwhelmed, and torn apart.

After that, their souls were then consumed to empower their killers to massacre more of their allies.

As all this unfolded, the one who had given the order, Naephas, stood still, his gaze fixed on the distant elven village.

"Take these two away," he said aloud.

Immediately, a Mid-Rank demon descended from above, scooping up the unconscious Xaren and Ilya. Just as he slugged them over his shoulder, Naephas spoke again.

"Handle them with care. They are part of Lord Xynax’s next batch of students."

The demon’s eyes widened at the revelation, but he quickly schooled his expression and gave a firm nod before turning away and taking off with them.

As he flew, he glanced down at the two in his grasp, unable to hide the flicker of envy in his eyes.

’How lucky they are...’