The Great Human-Monster War Ends

When I returned via transfer, the battle's outcome was nearly decided.

The human army, having lost their hero and allies, had lost momentum.

Opposing them was the Tenth Army—untouched, having remained in reserve behind the Seventh Army until now.

Moreover, each soldier in the Tenth Army had been trained by my own hands—elite.

The human army, demoralized by the loss of their hero, could not halt the Tenth Army.

"Welcome back."

Wald, who had been commanding, greeted me.

As expected—former, and still, a noble-born gentleman.

Commanding a unit was no obstacle.

Not for nothing was he once engaged to Fernina.

Yet, regrettably, the time spent training was considerably shorter than with Fernina—so in terms of stats, they fell significantly behind.

Still, he has reached the same level as the average tenth army infantryman—so the baseline advantage of vampires and innate talent is considerable.

That said, the other vampire senior has advanced considerably ahead, so Wald-kun may face difficulty.

Checking the battlefield through the fragmented body, the second army's fortress is occupied by apes, the third army's fortress abandoned by the human forces, with withdrawal already underway.

The fourth army is retreating under Melia's orders.

The fifth army appears to have begun withdrawal as well.

The sixth army, following the death of the young commander, has been ordered to retreat by the deputy commander.

The eighth army has been completely annihilated—excessive actions by Oni-kun.

The first army was entirely destroyed by the Queen Taratect, summoned by me, including the enemy fortress.

All battlefields are nearing conclusion.

The close-quarters combat here has concluded.

The Seventh Army, previously disrupted by the Hero, stabilized after the Hero’s departure and counterattacked.

The human forces outside the fortress, coordinated with the Tenth Army, have been nearly eradicated.

Only those remaining in the fortress are still holding out. Without the Hero, their resistance will not last long.

Neither in strength nor in morale.

In total, the Demon Clan secured victory in four locations.

The Human Clan won three.

One location ended in mutual annihilation.

Though this may sound like a close contest, overall casualties were greater on the Human side.

Even victories came at significant cost.

However, considering the Demon Clan’s smaller population, the damage sustained by the Demons is not negligible.

Excluding irregulars like myself and Oni-kun, both sides suffered roughly equivalent damage.

The situation unfolded as planned.

The Second Army's breast-shaped alien achieved a complete victory through an unexpected maneuver, though not to an extent beyond anticipation.

The plan deviated only when it became necessary to kill Agnir.

Warfare was expected. The possibility of Agnir perishing in battle was not unconsidered.

Yet I did not anticipate having to exhaust him personally.

The timeline required acceleration.

Originally, Agnir and Balt were to unite the Demon Clan. Now that one half is missing, reorganizing the Demon Clan will require considerable time.

Reconstructing the wounded forces will also take time.

Ideally, we would have awaited the Human faction's counterattack and completed defensive formations before assaulting the Elf Village. But that luxury is no longer available.

Reorganize only the force capable of assaulting the Elf Village for immediate deployment. Defensive preparations may be neglected to some extent—there is no alternative.

The matter of Yamada-kun, presumed to be the newly awakened Hero, must also be addressed.

Must not, under any circumstances, be allowed to align with the Demon King.

While eliminating Potimas, who operates in secret within that kingdom, have Yamada-kun and his sister act in parallel.

Yamada-kun has acquired the Seven Deadly Sins Skills of Lust and Greed.

He is attempting, in secret, to move independently and accumulate power.

If a slight adjustment is made to guide him—just enough to suit our objectives—he will likely cooperate as intended.

Assign the role of guiding him to his sister.

A visit to the Church of Divine Word is also necessary.

Explanations regarding the new Hero must be given. It is possible, depending on the outcome, that cooperation may be secured.

Even without that, we did promise to invade the elven village once this war ends. The specifics of that plan must be finalized.

Deploying the demon army into the elven village located within human territory requires the cooperation of the Divine Word Church—no alternative exists.

I could theoretically transport them myself, but it would consume a significant amount of energy. I would prefer not to, if possible.

Ah, speaking of elves.

The analysis of the cybernetic potibody recovered by the Vampire Child and Fermina must also be conducted.

Mechanics are outside my expertise, but it's undoubtedly a fusion of magic and super-science, isn't it?

Then I should be able to analyze it to some degree.

By identifying the magic applied, I can gauge just how dangerous the construct truly is.

I already have a general sense of its threat level from the battle scene with the Vampire Child.

The issue, if any, is the uncertainty surrounding how many of those super-scientific weapons the elves possess.

That can only be determined through direct confrontation.

Still, with a demon lord present and me participating, a loss is unlikely.

Still, the system mechanics require review.

I did not anticipate the goddess’s intervention.

Going forward, should the system be destabilized, the goddess might intervene again and disrupt the plan.

Preventing that requires some form of countermeasure.

Unfortunately, no specific method comes to mind yet.

Can one truly prevent the goddess’s intervention—she who is the core of the system?

Still, it must be done.

Damn it.

She really did it.

Ah, so much to do.

Too much.

Why is it so busy?

All of this—entirely the fault of that damn goddess!

Never say it in front of the Demon Lord or the Black One—though.

Phew. Can’t do this without some reward, not really.

Maybe I’ll squeeze a sweet treat out of the Demon Lord later.

For now, hand the fortress conquest over to Wald-kun completely.

That’s what I’ll do.