He Chases, She Flees

Almost everyone realized this terrifying fact in an instant.

They never expected that the Demon Lord of Evernight, Vivian, would actually be waiting for them at the border!

“It’s-it’s the Demon Lord!”

“The Demon Lord!? She-she’s here?!”

In an instant, the expeditionary army, which had been full of morale, fell into a slight chaos.

It was mostly the regular soldiers, the private troops of the nobles, and the adventurers and mercenaries.

Their will was not firm when facing a Demon Lord.

Their faces turned pale, their eyes vacant, and their formations began to show obvious signs of loosening and disarray.

The personnel of the Rhine Holy Church, however, immediately returned to normal after the initial shock and stiffness.

“Don’t panic!”

At that moment, the Hero Garen’s voice, just like before, rang out like thunder.

At the same time, a brilliant light flashed, instantly dispelling the malicious intimidation from the demons.

“As long as I’m here, you have nothing to fear!”

Garen roared, trying to clear away the deterrence and influence brought by the Demon Lord—and at the instant Garen unleashed his power, shining as dazzlingly as a lighthouse in the dark night, the corners of Vivian’s mouth also curved slightly upward.

“Locked on.”

She said faintly, then raised her hand and pointed.

The space in front of her suddenly began to twist, and her own dense shadow mana, which seemed capable of devouring all light, crazily gathered, compressed, and condensed!

In the blink of an eye, a giant shadow spear, over ten meters long, entirely black, with ominous purple magic patterns flowing on its surface and emitting terrifying energy fluctuations, condensed out of thin air!

“Go.”

With a thought from Vivian, the shadow spear, like a cannonball, instantly broke the sound barrier!

It shot out at high speed!

A black trajectory, visible to the naked eye, remained in the air, carrying a destructive aura of death.

It sped toward Garen’s position like a falling black comet!

“!”

And at the very instant Vivian launched her attack, Garen also sensed it and instantly drew his sword!

A crescent-shaped radiance, composed of purely highly compressed holy light energy, shot out from his sword with a furious roar, meeting the giant shadow spear head-on!

“Boom—”

Vivian’s and Garen’s attacks collided in mid-air and annihilated each other.

A violent shockwave then spread out in all directions, forcing the knights at the front to raise their shields to block it, lest they be blown away.

“Demon Lord Vivian!”

And after blocking Vivian’s strike, the Hero Garen also stared fixedly in the direction the attack had come from.

After taking a deep breath, he leaped up and rushed toward her!

Instantly, the Radiant Blade, the Hero Garen, transformed into a comet, lunging straight for Vivian!

“He took the bait.”

Vivian watched the Hero rapidly approaching her, turned expressionlessly, and fled!

‘You’ve got to be kidding.

She wasn’t going to fight Garen at all.’

‘A head-on clash with Garen?

That was the worst possible strategy, a foolish suicide.’

As long as Garen’s attention was on her, that was enough.

“Demon Lord—Vivian—!!”

“Don’t even think about running!!!”

Seeing Vivian actually turn and flee, the Hero Garen also let out a furious roar.

Garen’s roar, filled with anger and battle lust, echoed through the sky.

The holy light around him blazed, locking onto the purple figure on the high ground.

His entire being transformed into a silver comet that seemed to want to tear the sky apart as he charged upward!

He even left a long-lasting trail of light behind him!

And Vivian’s figure turned into a blurry purple shadow, rapidly weaving through the forest and mountains.

He chased, she fled.

“Stop! Demon Lord!”

Garen roared incessantly as he pursued her closely.

“Tsk, so persistent—I’m not stupid.

You say stop, so I stop?”

Vivian could feel the massive, pure, and oppressive energy source hot on her heels.

She didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless and continued to speed up, moving away from the front line.

She had guessed that Garen would definitely pursue her relentlessly after she launched her attack.

This was something she could judge from the thick hatred she had felt from him after just one previous meeting.

And that was her goal.

Their chase instantly moved far away from the main body of the expeditionary army.

The huge commotion Vivian had deliberately created and the astonishing aura Garen unleashed as he gave chase, like a lighthouse in the dark night, firmly drew everyone’s attention.

“Lord Hero is in pursuit!”

“Quick! Follow Lord Hero!”

“Don’t let the Demon Lord escape!”

The Knights of the Holy Order and the Gospel Holy Knights reacted the fastest.

They let out holy war cries, spurred their mounts, and tried to keep up with Garen’s pace.

However, Garen’s speed was far beyond that of an ordinary person, and the complex terrain Vivian had chosen greatly hindered the cavalry’s charge.

Only a few elite holy knights managed to keep up with the initial sprint, but they were soon left far behind.

The vast army composed of regular soldiers and fanatics fell into a brief chaos.

Commanders anxiously shouted orders to reform their ranks, trying to turn and pursue, but turning a behemoth of twenty thousand men was easier said than done.

Just as the main force of the expeditionary army’s formation was in slight disarray due to Garen’s pursuit, and their attention was drawn to the direction where Vivian had disappeared—

“Elia, make your move.”

Vivian’s voice, transmitted through special mana, clearly reached the ears of the Head Maid who was lying in ambush on the other side.

“As you command, Lady Demon Lord!”

A cold glint flashed in Elia’s eyes as she swung her arm down sharply.

“Boom—”

A deafening explosion suddenly erupted in the mountain forest on the flank and rear of the expeditionary army!

These were timed explosions set by magic—these magical formulas were not deployed on the main road but were chosen for the flanks, thus avoiding detection by the vanguard.

Although their power was not enough to destroy heavily armored knights, the huge sound, the soaring smoke and dust, and the instantly tearing shockwave were enough to create immense panic and chaos in the dense ranks!

“Enemy attack! On the flank!”

“The rear! The rear too!”

“Protect the baggage train! Protect the priests!”

“Reform the ranks! Quickly!”

In the next moment after the explosion, the pack horses pulling the carts neighed in fright and began to charge about wildly.

The laborers and some mercenaries and adventurers were scared out of their wits, covering their heads and scurrying away.

Those noble sons who had never seen a real battlefield and were just following along to get some glory were even more terrified, screaming wildly and even starting to flee under the protection of their guards.

And some unprepared low-ranking priests were knocked over by the blast wave.

“Don’t panic! This is a demon trick! Hold your ground!”

The knights of the Holy Order roared, trying to maintain order.

However, the chaos brought by the explosion spread uncontrollably.

Gaps appeared in the once-neat ranks, and the soldiers instinctively contracted inward, pushing and shoving each other.

Fear gradually spread.

And in that moment of chaos—

“For Evernight! For the Lady Demon Lord!”

“Kill—!”

“Kill!!!”