The Demon King's First General
Chapter 163: This Is War

Chapter 163: This Is War

In a certain room in a castle located in the Duskstalker Kingdom, a man was sipping a cup of red-colored liquid while sitting beside the open window. His crimson-black eyes were staring into the moon when clouds began to hide it, replacing the endless sky with nothing but darkness.

"So now, it’s you who fell, Aragorn," the man mumbled after taking a sip, his voice calm and collected.

Then, the peaceful silence came to an end as a sudden knock sounded. The man didn’t respond right away; he took a few more sips before giving his permission.

"Come in," he ordered, and the clacking of the door opening followed.

"Greetings, High Venerable," the person who entered bowed and stated.

"I beg for your forgiveness; I failed to meet your expectations," he added.

Upon hearing him, the man averted his gaze from the sky and stared at the now empty cup, then sighed.

’Well, I’ll play along with you,’ he thought before looking at his side, where the person was standing.

"Don’t make a fuss about it; he’s not easy to deal with in the first place. Seeing you return alive and well is already a commendable feat. Isn’t that so, Strannard?" he stated with a playful grin.

. . . . .

A while ago, in an unknown land, a world with a vast landscape, two individuals stood still facing each other. A human and a beastman, looking eye to eye, gauging their opponent’s strength.

"Welcome to my world, human!" The beastman shouted, but Ren didn’t even bother to reply.

The next second, both of them vanished from their positions, and a huge shockwave was felt over the sky.

With a large axe that appeared out of nowhere, the beastman swung it above the human’s neck, but Ren ducked, evading the attack.

Then, the beastman was sent flying upward as he kicked him on the chin. The next second he appeared on top of his head and smacked the beastman with his fist, clad with golden energy.

The giant creature was plunged downward, creating a large crater with him as the center. However, despite this scene, he stood up like nothing had happened. He moved his gaze above, and a satisfying grin appeared on his face upon seeing the human.

"Wonderful! Truly wonderful! It’s been a while since I encountered an opponent worthy enough for me to unleash my full strength!" He declared.

Then he let out a loud roar; his upper fangs grew longer, along with his mane, while his fur turned black with bluish stripes. His huge build, though, shrunk in size. It became smaller, having almost the same height as a human being, but the presence he was emanating was far superior to his previous form.

The ground started to shake while pebbles levitated into the air, cracks appeared on the surface of the land, and the air vibrated in turbulence as the beastman let out another ear-deafening roar.

"I’m Aragorn, the true king of all beastmen! You should be proud to die fighting me!" He exclaimed, intimidating his opponent.

However, Ren was not even frightened; he looked at the beastman and shook his head in annoyance.

Upon seeing the human’s reaction, Aragorn charged forward while dragging the war axe, creating a fissure on the open ground. Then, as the distance between them diminished, he leaped, aiming his weapon at the human’s head.

Ren looked at his opponent, and a sigh of disappointment escaped from his mouth. He raised his sword and blocked the incoming attack.

"King? This strength? Don’t make me laugh," he stated, and his eyes turned golden in color.

Then, his grip on his sword tightened, and streaks of yellowish light enveloped its blade.

"Compared to him, you’re nothing," he added as a man with hair as white as snow and cyan-colored eyes came to his mind.

Afterward, he deflected the war axe and thrust his sword forward; this caused Aragorn to step back; however, the moment he did, a huge orb of light appeared before him and exploded without warning.

The sudden outburst obliterated the area, creating a huge mouthpit. Though Aragorn managed to stay alive, his body suffered a huge blow; his left foot was caught in the explosion, and the mane on his neck was marked with a marking of a cross shimmering with golden light.

"What in the world is that power?" Aragorn mumbled, startled by his opponent’s strength.

He looked at the marking on his neck; it was the same size as his palm. He lifted his hand and tried to touch it, but before doing so, the marking stretched out until its horizontal line became a choker strap on his neck.

"What did you do?" Aragorn snarled.

He moved his hand with the thought of severing it, but he couldn’t grab the piece of light. He felt that it was getting tighter every second that passed, and it was not that long before he felt entangled by it.

Soon, he struggled, gasping for air. He looked at the human staring at him several meters away; his eyes were gleaming with radiance.

"I-I I’ll obey you.... I-I s-surren-" Aragorn begged for mercy; however, he didn’t have enough time to finish his words; his view of the world turned upside down in a mere second.

The choker of light contracted to the extreme, snapping the beastman’s neck, separating the head from the body. As the platform of energy that kept him levitating dissipated, the corpse fell inside the deep crater.

. . . . .

Ren looked at the two creatures fighting above; the dragon with its claws reaped the phoenix’s right wing; however, the purple flames burst, replacing the damaged part.

Then a massive ball of fire appeared beside the phoenix, and it was slammed into the dragon’s chest the very next second. Kreigster, who was crouching at the top of his Legacy, was the one who conjured the attack. It was a guaranteed hit, but the black dragon remained unfazed; not a single trace of burn could be seen on his scales.

The young man was about to move upward and join the fight when he heard a sudden call.

"Ren!" Said an old man’s voice.

It was none other than Augustus, the emperor. Ren looked at him the moment he heard his name getting called.

"Your Majesty," he stated with a tone filled with respect.

Augustus moved closer and stared at the beastman’s head in one of Ren’s hands. A sigh of relief escaped from his mouth, and he diverted his gaze straight to the hero’s eyes.

"We need to move; there are a lot of intruders; the city is already surrounded," he said.

"But that dragon," Ren answered, stating his concern.

"Leave this battle to him; he needs it," Augustus replied.

Then Ren closed his eyes to concentrate; he tried to assess the whole situation. Knights were fending off a horde of humans clad in black clothing. Each of them emanated demonic energy, enough for Ren to furrow his brows.

"Why are there so many of them?" He uttered, his voice laced with confusion.

Then a familiar presence triggered his anxiety, making him open his eyes and look towards the empire’s main entrance.

’She’s here,’ he thought, and his grip on the sword got tightened.

And the next moment, a series of magic circles with different sizes were drawn above the sky, like an inverted tower.

"Deus," Augustus uttered, his eyes widening in shock.

A second later, the surroundings started to tremble as the magic circles lit up; the buildings fell one after the other while the ground continued to shake, causing a greater panic in the citizens’ hearts.

Then, as all the runes of the magic circles lit up, a blinding flash of white light burst down in a blink of an eye. It was soon followed by a monstrous explosion, obliterating the whole area beneath the series of magic circles.

The difference in distance between the attack and Ren’s location was so vast, but despite this fact, the explosion was so powerful that Ren was forced to thrust his sword on the ground and kneel to prevent himself from flying while the others were sent away by the force of the explosion. Even the emperor held onto the hero’s shoulder just to keep himself in place.

"Why did Deus unleash such a powerful attack on the empire premises?" Augustus uttered, expressing his concern.

As soon as Ren heard it, he looked back and stared straight into the emperor’s eyes before words escaped from his mouth.

"Your Majesty, I think we need outside reinforcements; this is not a simple invasion; this is war," he stated, then he stood up and diverted his gaze above.

"Aside from the Enchantress of Time, with whom the Magic Tower’s Grandmaster was fighting, there are still others who are waiting for an opportunity to strike," he added.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, in the eastern part of the city, not a single person could be seen in the vicinity; instead, there were hundreds of vicious little dolls marching towards the palace.

"Why does that woman get all the fun?" Said a woman with denim-colored hair while walking behind the army of dolls.

She halted for a second and clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"I should be the one fighting that old man! Am I right, Mr. Fluffy?" She complained, as a little doll jumped up on her chest.

. . . . .