I Stayed Loyal When My Teacher Was Betrayed

27 – The Fall of the Alliance 2

The high wizards who set out on their expedition with an anxious heart.

However, as time passed, they came to realize that their worries might be nothing more than trivial concerns.

“Advance!”

“Sweep away all the monsters!”

The united forces advanced with a fearsome momentum.

In front of the massive military power, numbering in the tens of thousands, the few dozens or at most hundreds of monsters were simply wiped out without putting up any resistance.

“G-rrrr….”

“Yo…u…sh…al…l… pe…ri…sh…”

Even the charging ogre groups, despite their fierce attacks, could only meet their futile demise in the hands of powerful wizards who were far from weak in terms of objective strength and overwhelming numbers.

The situation was progressing much more smoothly than they had originally thought, and Bevuolf and the other four archmages were leading the expedition with growing excitement, forgetting their initial concerns.

“Haha! Truly remarkable, Bevuolf!”

“Indeed, the great hero who defeated the Orcdin! A simple gesture is enough to handle most monsters!”

“The performance of the others was truly remarkable as well! Especially Lady Rokia’s lightning was truly terrifying, I was almost awestruck.”

“T-Thank you…”

Rokia blushed and drank her wine shyly amidst the soldiers’ praises.

Meanwhile, Bevuolf, who was listening to the story, chuckled happily and said, “Haha! There’s really no need to exert too much effort in dealing with those creatures, but… Honestly, they’re starting to get on my nerves. We’ve made it this far and all we encounter are these nuisances. I was hoping to meet a worthy opponent and give it all I’ve got.”

“Haha, you’ll get your wish soon enough.”

“When we reach a certain point, the demons will start coming out. Then you can go wild as much as you want.”

“By then, fighting will become more interesting. Although, those pitiful demons won’t be much of a challenge.”

“That’s true. Even if the demons are strong, compared to the Demon King, they’re nothing more than weak opponents.”

“What do you think? How about taking the heads of the remaining two Demon Kings as well…”

“Since you’ve already made history, adding one more line wouldn’t hurt.”

“…”

The leaders of each race subtly showed their ambition.

However, on this matter, Bevuolf responded with a slight cough. “Hmm… Well, I’d like that too, but… no matter how you look at it, it’s impossible. Engaging them would result in significant casualties among our forces, regardless of the outcome of the battle.”

“Hmm… that’s true.”

“Well, there’s no need to push it. As Queen Majesty mentioned, the purpose of this expedition is to weaken the enemy’s forces. If our allies suffer significant losses, it will defeat the purpose, won’t it?”

“That’s exactly it, then. In that sense, let’s forget about the Demon King and just enjoy a drink. For the continued success of our future battles!”

“For our victory!”

Feeling a sense of relief that they had smoothly averted the crisis, Bevuolf, who was already somewhat pretentious, was also being attentive in his own way to the matter of the Demon King.

If the enemy moved, he was ready to be the first to jump with a suitable excuse.

With a mindset that the battle with the Demon King must be avoided at all costs, Bevuolf began to enjoy the hero’s treatment again.

*

A banquet and a subsequent battle.

This time, only a few hundred monsters attacked, and victory was not difficult… but in this battle, they obtained something different from what they had experienced before.

“Bevuolf, please look at this!”

“Hmm?”

A small scroll brought by his subordinate.

Upon confirming it, Beowulf couldn’t help but frown slightly.

“Is this… an order?”

“It seems so. It looks like the demons and monsters are planning something… but the exact details are not easy to interpret.”

“Let me have a look.”

Beowulf handed it over to Judith, per her request.

After carefully examining its contents, she began reciting them.

“It seems like the demons are getting impatient. According to this, they are planning an attack, leading thousands of monsters.”

“Thousands? Is that all?”

“Yes, it seems like the demon king hasn’t made a decisive move yet. There are even contents expressing dissatisfaction with the indecisive demon king.”

“I see…”

In other words, the enemies currently have internal rifts and it means that a fragmented group will soon attack them.

In relation to this, an intense smile formed on the corners of Beowulf’s mouth…

After a while, he gathered all the others around and started a private meeting among the archmages.

“So, what you’re saying is… we should take advantage of the imminent demon attack?”

“Yes, if we delve deeper into their territory, it will be difficult if the demon king decides to make a move. Instead, it’s better to end the war by killing some demons and capturing them as prisoners.”

“Well… if they are demons and not just monsters, it would be a plausible excuse for claiming victory.”

“I think it’s a good idea as well. Honestly, we’ve been winning so far, but I’m always worried when the demon king will show up.”

Expressing their agreement, the archmages made a final plan with a somewhat loud voice.

However, among them, only one person, Lokiya, looked uneasy and couldn’t take her eyes off the order.

“Um… excuse me… it’s an absurd thought, but can we believe this content to any extent?”

“Huh?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well… that’s true. Our enemies, the demons, are the ones who leaked this information… if they wanted to trap us, what should we do?”

“Haha, it can’t be like that… those monsters wouldn’t be clever enough to think that far.”

“That may be, but more importantly, considering the circumstances around us, it’s hard to simply dismiss this content as a lie. The monsters we’ve encountered have all been scattered without any clear organization.”

“After all, we invaded at this time precisely to take advantage of that, to capitalize on the chaos among the demons and monsters after the death of Demon King Ordim.”

“That’s… true, but…”

These were the discussions of their colleagues who had somewhat plausible arguments.

There was a feeling that they were excessively self-centered, but Lokiya felt uncomfortable about it but had no choice but to accept those words for now.

To be frank, there were still some suspicious parts, but the most important thing was that they had not been defeated even once during their journey here. Every battle was not that difficult, and the enemies were always unreliable.

The power of an army that was on a different level than when she received an extermination request as a wizard of Matap in the past. Now, with vague trust in that, she thought that nothing bad would happen even if the enemies gathered as much as they could.

“Well, let’s think about how we’re going to cook those demons.”

“If there are thousands of enemies, it won’t be so easy. We’ll have to use some strategies.”

“What do you think about this? Each of us takes charge of a unit and advances from all four directions simultaneously. According to the directive, the gathering place of the demons is the center of a considerable basin. So we will surround and annihilate them by attacking from all sides first.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

“I agree. Let’s do it that way…”

A strategy that one has heard somewhere before, called encircling annihilation warfare. The enemies were few in number while the allies were a large army. Therefore, if they hemmed them in from all sides and attacked, they would inevitably be wiped out without any means of escape.

After reaching this conclusion, they quickly began to prepare with the thought that this would finally be their last battle. After all, what remains for them after this is a comfortable and guaranteed future.

*

On a dark night, the allied forces led by archmages split into four groups and began to move. The front line was the force led by Beowulf. The left and right sides were taken by Judia and Brutal, respectively, and Lokiya planned to wait in the rear in case of any emergencies.

Their target was the gathering place of the demons written on the directive. It was a bright open space in the center of a basin, which was quite far away, but it was clear that a considerable number of enemies were camped there.

Watching that place, their last battlefield and where they would plant the flag of victory, Beowulf immediately gave orders.

“Advance, all troops!”

“Sweep away those filthy demons!”

The Allied forces began their march under the command of the great hero.

The riotous voices that filled the field finally began to overwhelm the deepest part of the field.