Countermeasures

Charging in rashly was practically suicide.

Everyone realized this.

They finally understood—they weren’t facing some weak and easily bullied remnant army, but a genuine, incomparably brutal force of Evernight demons.

At dusk, in the expeditionary army’s camp.

When the exhausted and demoralized expeditionary army finally found a relatively open area to set up camp for the night, everyone breathed a sigh of relief—today had been absolutely grueling.

However, their nightmare was far from over.

The campfires had just been lit, and the tired soldiers were gnawing on dry rations.

“Swoosh—pop!“

A signal arrow, burning with a ghostly green flame, suddenly shot into the sky above the camp with a sharp whistle, exploding into a strange burst of green light!

The light was ghastly and cold, devoid of any warmth, like countless cold, ghostly eyes greedily looking down upon the ant-like crowd below.

The green light splashed down like a viscous poison, instantly dyeing every upturned, astonished face a grotesque ashen-gray.

“They’re here again! On guard!”

The soldiers jumped up reflexively, but this time, the attack did not immediately follow.

Dead silence.

A suffocating dead silence.

The soldiers gripped their weapons, nervously scanning the surrounding darkness, sweat soaking their undergarments.

One minute… two minutes… five minutes…

In the end, all that came was the wailing and moaning of the wind blowing through the forest.

“What the hell? Are they messing with us?”

a soldier couldn’t help but mutter.

Just as his voice fell, at the very moment everyone’s nerves had slightly relaxed—

“Boom! Boom! Boom!“

On the camp’s periphery, violent flashes of light and explosions erupted from several directions at once!

These were simple, pre-planted bombs detonated remotely!

Although not very powerful, the noise was terrifying, instantly igniting the dry bushes and a few unlucky tents!

“Fire! There’s a fire!”

“Put out the fire, quick!”

“Where are the demons?! Where is the attack coming from?!”

The camp once again descended into chaos.

Soldiers rushed toward the fires, while knights and priests were busy maintaining order and extinguishing the flames.

And since they had already been attacked several times, the mages in the army had also raised magical shields, on guard against any attack that might come from the darkness.

However, the explosions were scattered, and the fire and thick smoke obscured their vision, causing many to unknowingly leave the protective range of the mages’ shields.

“Swish-swish-swish!“

Taking advantage of the chaos, another precise volley of arrows shot out from the darkness, specifically targeting those fighting the fires and the soldiers who were isolated.

By the time the expeditionary army organized an effective counter-attack formation and charged toward the source of the arrows, all that greeted them was an empty forest and a mocking night wind.

“…”

The burning light of the fires illuminated Garen’s incredibly grim face, the flickering flames casting shifting shadows on his chiseled features.

“L-Lord Hero…”

Garen’s adjutant’s voice was slightly dry and hoarse, carrying an undisguisable trace of fatigue and fear.

He tried to report the casualties but was cut off by a raised hand from Garen.

Garen’s gaze slowly swept over the chaotic camp—the lingering terror on the soldiers’ faces, the stretchers lying haphazardly on the ground and the rough cloths covering the bodies of their comrades, the pale faces of the mages from expending their mana without enough rest, and the few tents that were still burning, illuminating the surroundings like giant torches…

An invisible shadow named “collapse” was quietly creeping up the spine of every warrior.

Every attack by the demons was like a precise scalpel, cutting away at their stamina, and more so, torturing their will.

But they couldn’t flee!

To retreat now, with no results, without even reaching the Demon Lord’s Castle, would be to have all of them nailed to the pillar of shame for “cowardice,” their careers ruined, with no hope of ever recovering!

This was only the second day.

The distance to the Demon Lord’s Castle was still at least a week’s journey.

If this continued, their morale would probably collapse before they even got halfway.

Garen could even keenly sense that among the knights of the Holy Church, the main force, many were wavering, even thinking that this expedition was a complete and utter mistake.

“This cannot go on.”

Garen’s voice was as low as muffled thunder.

“Damn demons.

They hide in the dark, biting like vipers, one bite at a time.”

He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles creaking from the force.

The suppressed fury was about to break through the dam of his reason, but in the end, a more resolute, colder will suppressed it.

He raised his head, his gaze passing over the chaotic camp to the deep forest that swayed like a giant demonic shadow at the edge of the firelight.

In there, who knew how many mocking eyes were hidden, how many drawn bows, how many deadly traps.

A clear and cruel thought, like the flicking tongue of a viper, finally extended coldly: since I can’t drag you out of the darkness, then I will burn the darkness itself, along with you, to ashes!

“Relay the order!”

Garen’s voice suddenly rose, firm and decisive, carrying a madness that was ready to take everyone down with him, instantly overpowering the noise of the camp.

“All fire mages!

All those carrying incendiaries!

Assemble!”

He drew his sword, the 【Radiant Blade】—that holy sword that glinted with silver light, its blade now reflecting the dancing flames, giving off an eerie and dangerous red glow.

Then, he pointed the tip of his sword steadily forward.

“Burn it for me!”

His roar was like that of a wounded lion.

“Burn this forest to the ground!

Don’t leave a single leaf!

Roast those rats hiding in the shadows!

Use fire to pave our way to the Demon Lord’s Castle!

All clergy, all mages!

Store all your mana, use it all for illumination and incineration!

I want to see just where these rats can hide once they’ve lost the protection of the darkness!”

The command struck through the chaos like a cold bolt of lightning, and it also temporarily froze the lingering fear on some of the soldiers’ faces, replacing it with a madness ignited by a mixture of shock and despair.

The fire mages gathered, dragging their exhausted bodies.

Their robes were stained with dirt and grime, their eyes bloodshot, but at this moment, an almost paranoid light shone in their eyes.

The soldiers silently pulled out oil cans and firecloths from their packs, even tearing off the oil-soaked parts of their tents.

The pungent smell of oil filled the air, mixed with blood and the stench of burning, making one want to vomit.

“For our dead brothers!”

A soldier with a face covered in black soot roared, throwing the oil can in his hand with all his might toward the nearest bushes—a torch followed closely behind, tracing a bright arc.

“Burn it all!”

More people joined this chorus of destruction, their voices twisted with excitement and fear.

In an instant, one scorching line of fire after another shot out from the edge of the camp!

Fireballs, carrying the last of the mages’ fury, howled and smashed into the dense forest.

In a flash, the tongues of fire began to greedily lick at everything flammable, quickly merging into a single sheet.

The dry trees were the best fuel.

In no time, thick smoke billowed, obscuring the sky and sun, completely igniting the entire night.

The whole world seemed to be plunged into a crimson purgatory, the heat wave scorching.

“…”

Vivian watched the expeditionary army’s actions, her face expressionless.