Gonna Be a Demon King!
Chapter 82: War on the Horizon

Chapter 82: War on the Horizon

"Are you crazy!? Are those not Neuro-Machinae?! Where did you get them?! And more importantly, why did you give them to these kids??!!"

Her barrage of questions revealed the names of the weapons now in Xaren and Ilya’s hands, but despite the intensity of her words, Floch simply looked at her and asked, "You want one? I have eight more."

The casual mention of the number made the Doctor drop his cup of pens in shock, while even the demoness’ expression shifted to one of pure disbelief.

"...why do you have eight of those limited-edition demon swords?"

"I know a guy, who knows aguy."

With that, Floch freed his ear from the dumbfounded demoness’ grasp, then turned to Xaren and Ilya, speaking with a grin.

"I’m not giving you those blades for free, you know? You two are gonna have to do something for me in return."

His words snapped Xaren and Ilya out of their stupor, and when they turned to him, their expressions were a bit apprehensive.

From the demoness, they’d learned that the weapons had the expensive-sounding name "Neuro-Machina" and were limited-edition, making them even more valuable.

They couldn’t imagine what Floch could possibly want from them in return.

But contrary to their expectations, Floch’s request was... rather simple.

"When you get to Area 1, and Lord Xynax asks you where you got those swords, tell him it was ’Floch’."

Leaning in closer, he spoke with a serious tone.

"Make sure to specify, ’Fire Demon Floch,’ ’the one who burned down the dormitory on day one.’ Use those exact words."

Xaren and Ilya blinked, completely dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the request that had just been made of them.

"Um...who’s Lord Xynax?" Ilya asked carefully.

"You’ll know who he is when you meet him. And uh..." Floch trailed off, his expression shifting as he rubbed his chin in thought.

After a moment, he shrugged nonchalantly and continued.

"I’m not allowed to say much since it’d be cheating, but here’s some advice from someone who survived5 years in Area 1:

The moment you go through ANY fog wall, be on guard.

You’d never know what crazy shit that guy could throw at you."

His tone lightened toward the end, a light laugh escaping his lips as he stood up straight.

By this time, his aide had finally snapped out of her stupor and turned to him, disbelief evident on her face. She glanced at Xaren and Ilya before sighing and speaking.

"...leaving aside your absurd choices, those blades are too powerful for them to wield."

"I know. But the swords have absorbed their demonic energies, and their powers are limited to the Existence Realms of the two younglings.

Besides, those two are prototypes and don’t have any Special Weapon Skills, so they’ll be fine."

Floch’s words seemed to downplay the significance of the blades, but judging by his aide’s expression, Xaren could tell that it didn’t make them any less dangerous in the grand scheme of things.

"Even if it’s a prototype..."

"They’re guaranteed to last for up to 15 years, even with only basic maintenance."

Floch cut her off before she could finish speaking, but his statement only reinforced the point she was trying to make.

"Normal prototype Demon Swords don’t last that long with just basic maintenance."

She sighed, seemingly giving up on convincing Floch to take the sword away. Instead, she shifted her focus to another matter.

"How did you get them?"

"Like I said, I know a guy, who knows a guy. The other guy—the one the guy I know knows—is actually the creator of the Neuro-Machinae."

"...you have connections to the creator? Of course, you just happen to have ten of them with you."

The demoness ran her fingers through her long red hair, while Floch continued as if oblivious to her very obvious disbelief.

"I met the guy who knows him at Area 1, back when I was still doing Lord Xynax’s training sessions from the deepest underground depths of hell."

Hearing this exchange between the two Mid-Rank demons, Xaren felt cold sweat begin to trickle down his back.

The way Floch had spoken to them earlier made it sound like he and Ilya would inevitably end up in this ’Area 1’ and meet ’Lord Xynax.’

But now, with Floch mentioning training sessions from the deepest underground depths of hell, it was only natural that Xaren began to feel a bit uneasy.

Noticing the look on his face, Floch let out a hearty laugh, clapped him on the shoulder, and said,

"Don’t be scared, kid. Lord Xynax wouldn’t kill you."

Taking his hand off and turning around, he added under his breath—quiet enough that even Xaren’s superhuman hearing nearly missed it.

"You might just end up wishing for death..."

’What the hell is this Area 1 place?!’

Xaren was completely freaked out now, totally unaware of the mischievous grin spreading across Floch’s face. The demoness beside him noticed it, sighed, and simply shook her head before ultimately deciding not to ruin Floch’s fun.

Turning to the two young demons who were still staring at the multi-million interstellar credit swords in their hands, she asked,

"Alright, you two. What Company are you in again?"

""The 39th. Under Captain Vollm.""

They answered in sync, prompting her to pull out a tablet and start jotting down the details they had just given.

"Floch, I’ll assign their company to the Zlego attack force."

"Mm? Yeah, sure. Add Companies 30 through 50."

Floch replied absentmindedly as the demoness began entering the data on her tablet. Then he turned back to Xaren and Ilya.

"Alright, you can drool over your fancy swords later. Get back to your barracks so the poor doc here can finally sleep.

Zlego’s getting re-sieged in seven days, so take the time until then to train your auras. I’d be tossing your company in the frontlines, so you better make the most of the opportunity."

With that, he turned and began walking off, the demoness trailing after him. Xaren and Ilya quickly stashed their new weapons in their magic pouches and hurried after the pair.

As they followed, they caught snippets of Floch’s conversation with his aide, still centred on the mysterious ’Lord Xynax’.

"Can you believe he said I’m the kind of selfish bastard who’d never help his juniors? The look on his face when he sees these two is gonna be priceless!"

"You know, he’s not exactly wrong. You wouldn’t have helped them if you didn’t want to prove him wrong."

"Regardless of the intent, I still helped them," Floch defended himself with a smug expression. Then, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, he muttered.

"Should’ve placed a bet on it."

The demoness rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day, choosing not to dignify that with a response as she walked on, focused on finalizing the Zlego attack plan on her tablet.

◇　◇　◇

Over the next seven days, the Cinder Outpost buzzed with activity.

Xaren and Ilya spent nearly every waking hour training their aura control. For Xaren, it was a matter of regaining the abilities he once possessed, while Ilya, with her terrifying Instinct, mirrored his actions almost flawlessly.

In the eyes of the other demons who watched them during training, the duo appeared to be monstrous prodigies—seemingly attaining a ridiculous level of skill on their own in mere days.

Neither of them paid any mind to the stares or whispers, focusing on their training.

They refrained from using the Neuro-Machinae Demon Swords Floch gave them, opting instead for their spare weapons during training to avoid drawing even more attention to themselves.

Though mastery was still a distant goal given the time constraints, both of them had refined their aura control and reinforcement techniques to a respectable, average level within that week.

Of course, training wasn’t all they did.

They were occasionally sent out on patrol duty, assigned to scouting parties, or tasked with delivering messages between Companies within and beyond the Outpost.

Whenever they completed these assignments and had a chance to rest and eat, they dove right back into their aura training.

At some point, other demons in their company who had awakened their auras earlier, whether inspired by Xaren and Ilya’s training or unsettled by how quickly the pair was catching up, started joining in to refine their own aura control.

Eventually, these individual training sessions gradually evolved into group sparring sessions.

With the experience gap between them and the others, Xaren and Ilya had little choice but to get good or get floored.

The entire Outpost was a hive of movement. Crates of supplies were hauled in nonstop, new demon troops arrived in waves, armouries were emptied, medics ran drills, and strategy meetings ran long into the night.

But while the demons prepared their next attack on Zlego, the defenders of the Magic City were just as busy.

It didn’t take long for the locals of this world to realize that the demons were now targeting dark elves for wholesale slaughter.

And so, Zlego opened its gates to any dark elf refugees that could make it to their borders, desperate to save as many as possible.

But this mercy had its own agenda—they would bolster the city’s defence with the same dark elves the demons sought to exterminate.

The angels, sensing the escalation of the war, called for reinforcements from outside the planet, while the Archmages of Zlego turned to the other nations of the Ohlion continent, demanding troops and support.

They blatantly revealed the truth that the first invasion had barely been repelled. Then, they proceeded to remind the leaders of these countries that if Zlego fell, their lands were next in line.

It was a sobering truth. One that made the Kings send as many troops as they could to support Zlego.

And so, all across Ohlion, armies began to march toward the inevitable war.