The moment they left Alan''s office, the entire city became alive. People who Asmodeus saw working as butchers or bakers in the morning now wielded spears, and donned leather armour, while standing proudly on the walls with a fierce expression.

    ''Amazing!''

    Alan''s eyes shifted to Asmodeus, before curling his lips into a grin. "Jealous?"

    "Shut it, let''s head to the walls."

    The two leapt from the citadel, and landed on the northern walls, coming face to face with the demon army. It numbered over 60 000 soldiers. The human forces that were mustered in a few hours amounted to 4 500 strong.

    However, Asmodeus knew that their difference in numbers meant nothing.

    ''The enemy just sent a rabble of goblins and low-level orcs... why?''

    While Asmodeus contemplated on the enemy''s strategy, a giant orc who was fully armoured stepped out from the back ranks of the army. The orc raised his right arm up and shouted: "Human scum! Surrender your land and live under us demons, or be annihilated!"

    The soldiers on the wall remained silent for a second before bursting into laughter.

    "They can speak human?"@@@@

    "Ah, you''ve never met demons from the north? All monsters here speak human and elvish. Though, their intelligence is usually quite low. I suppose sometimes even a smart orc can be born."

    "Alan, what happens next?"

    Asmodeus didn''t want to get too involved.

    First, he wanted to observe and learn how Alan fought for his future battles when he became the ruler of the northern lands, then later, use this battle as a training exercise for his future soldiers. Asmodeus felt it was best if he stood back and watched things unfold from close up.

    "Watch."

    Alan lifted his arm before he shouted with a ferocious, bellowing voice. "ARCHERS, PREPARE!"

    The archers on the walls moved in one coordinated movement as they drew their bows while kneeling. Each arrow glowed red because of a buff given by several fire mages that were stationed within them.

    "Humans. So you have chosen, Death!"

    The orc commander seemed unbothered as he turned to a goblin near him and said something. Immediately after, the entire front rows of the enemy forces shifted to reveal siege weapons such as ballista and trebuchets.

    "Crush their arrogant ego!" The orc bellowed, not losing to Alan.

    Alan raised his hands before pointing to the front row. "Loose!"

    Bows twanged as thousands of arrows flew towards the demon army.

    However, right before they reached them, the goblins raised giant wooden slabs as cover for all of them. Hundreds of arrows failed to connect, the swarm of arrows tore apart hundreds of goblins and caused the Orc commander to grunt.

    Da-Da-Da-Da-Da!

    VWOOSH!

    The sounds of countless ballistas firing shook Asmodeus'' eardrums. His eyes widened at the sudden escalation of violence, as rock and flesh sprayed across the air with every stone or corpse flung from the wall.

    It was clearly visible how some archers had been killed immediately when some large debris penetrated their heads or crushed their entire body into meat paste. But that did not hinder the morale of the soldiers in the slightest because of Alan''s heroic aura.

    "Ahhh!"

    A human flung from the wall, only for Asmodeus to catch him, and toss him back to safety, with a minor wound.

    "Heal!"

    The other humans who fell were also tended to by healers almost instantly. But this didn''t work forever, as every so often an unfortunate soldier would be hit with the corpse of a dead human, flinging both to their deaths.

    "Asmodeus."

    A voice called out, muffled and distorted, like static on a dead television show.

    Asmodeus turned his head to gaze around. ''Who is that?'' he wondered, the voice familiar, but the distortion made it difficult, as the girl''s hands snapped his face back to face her.

    A cold, but desperate look spread through her pitch-black eyes. Tears, bloody, red, hot, slid down her cheeks slowly, making the moment almost serene.

    『Focus on me!』

    "Not...your... fault." The voice in his mind faded, slowly vanishing with each word uttered... until the static noise ended. Her body shivered for a second before her head dropped.

    『Must kill the intruders...』

    Instantly, the sound of something shattered glass echoed, as the yells, and sounds of battle returned, men roaring while the orcs growled in defiance, trampling their dead kin as they moved towards Alan.

    "What happened?" Continue your saga on My Virtual Library Empire

    Asmodeus shook his head, the strange trance fading as he noticed Sariel holding his hand. With a worried gaze, her eyes filled with tears. A wetness touching his cheeks brought him to wipe himself with a hand and pull back at the sight of red on his fingertips.

    "I—I don''t know what happened," he answered honestly.

    "Then he noticed a figure hovering in the air, where Alan''s wings were golden, like the sun... hers more like pure darkness, as she hovered gazing down at Asmodeus."

    『Intruders... enemies. All of you... shall die. 』

    Her once human-like face bubbled, transforming into an aberrant shape, tentacles sprouting from her mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.

    "Haa, I miss the beautiful visage." Asmodeus muttered as bloody lances formed rapidly behind him, crackling with energy.

    "Filthy Demon Queen! You finally show your damn face."

    Alan shouted from below, as the orcs were annihilated, leaving just the goblins, which weren''t strong enough to cause much harm, quickly ending the siege, and battle with the knights slaughtering the terrified goblins.

    However, Asmodeus noticed Alan making a strange call.

    "RETREAT! All knights back to the citadel!"

    He stood facing the floating abomination—however—he gazed back towards Asmodeus with a worried and confused expression, before gritting his teeth and bellowing another order.

    "All mages use our full spell arsenal. Don''t hold back. Destroy the demon queen''s shadow with your full might."

    Asmodeus shrugged, pointing his hand towards the shadow, which mimicked his action, causing his eyes to dilate. The area behind the woman distorting as black spears, mirror images of his blood lances, appeared rapidly.

    ''What is this bullshit?''

    『Die!』

    A chuckle escaped him as he flung his arm forward, sending the spears at her, only for them to collide halfway.

    The dark lances of the demonic queen meeting his own lances in a clash, breaking each other apart until finally. They were reduced to nothing but black goo that dripped down onto the land, causing vegetation, and anyone caught in it, to shrivel and rot in seconds.

    "Sorry, but I have even more!"

    Vwoom!

    Glowing light gathered at the tips of his finger before several hundred lances shot forth, tearing apart the air with sonic booms and killing the wind itself with violent force.

    For a mere moment, he could''ve sworn that she showed fear, but... within less than a second, she lifted her right hand, pointing at Asmodeus. The blood lances pierced her body, tearing her apart as the distorted wails echoed through the air.

    Then she simply said: 『Traitor』

    Before she vanished.