Makai Hongi - Chapter 281

○ Demon King Tralzard’s Country – Tralzard

The news that Demon King Legard had crossed the border had now spread throughout the country.

Tralzard and Legard were currently at war.

As a fellow Demon King, Tralzard was the only one who could face Legard.

And so if Tralzard went on the attack, the two Demon Kings would fight. Everyone expected this.

In fact, Tralzard had already made preparations and left her town.

This time, she took only five hundred of her best soldiers.

However, she would unite with about three hundred others at a fortress city on the way.

An army of about eight hundred would then head towards the border.

And the battle between the two countries would be fought.

The common folk talked of nothing else but this upcoming clash.

On the second day of Tralzard’s march.

Things were going smoothly.

“At this rate, we’ll arrive at the fortress city tomorrow.”

Perhaps it was due to all of their training, but Tralzard’s army was the embodiment of order.

And so they marched with confidence down the road.

“There is a field up ahead, and preparations have been made for our camp.”

Said her Adjutant.

“Mmm. I suppose we’ll stop there for the day then.”

As they were in Tralzard’s own lands, no one would stop their advance, and they had places secured for their camp.

People had been sent ahead in order to set everything up.

They marched until sun down, and then reached the campsite without incident.

If people from other countries could see, they would be quite impressed at this performance.

Even their marching was faster than usual.

The march of an army was different from any other kind of travel.

It could not be helped if your speed dropped by half.

The smallest thing could cause the front to stop, and then there would be quite the traffic jam.

However, Tralzard’s army had anticipated everything and planned so that they would be able to travel at a normal speed.

It was a shocking degree of discipline.

“Once they are finished eating, have them guard with three shifts. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“Understood.”

It was according to schedule.

They would arrive at the fortress city in the evening of the following day.

As for what route they would take after that, it depended on how Legard moved.

Tralzard recalled the plans that Seitry had devised, and considered which of them she would use.

By the time everyone was finished eating, the whole camp was enshrouded in a thin darkness.

As for the fact that they were being watched, even the scouts that Tralzard had sent out did not notice.

And like that, the watcher left without making a single sound.

○ Wild Hunt – Nehyor

Nehyor sent out scouts, who confirmed that Tralzard had set up camp.

He knew this would happen. It was all according to what his spies in Tralzard’s castle had said.

“It will be easiest to attack them now.”

It was the second day since they had left.

As they had entered a town on the first day, he could not ambush them.

The advantage of an ambush was that the enemy didn’t see you coming.

And that you knew exactly where the enemy was positioned.

However, this would not be the case if the enemy were inside of buildings. They would have to walk around and search for Tralzard.

Besides, you could not launch an ambush with decent numbers in the confines of narrow buildings.

And so it was no good that they would be entering the fortress tomorrow.

Not to mention that after that, Tralzard’s army would be even bigger.

As someone who wanted to attack her, that had to be avoided.

And so today was the only day.

He knew the positions of the tents in their camp.

And so he and the entire Wild Hunt would attack.

Tralzard would fight back without a doubt.

She was not the kind of Demon King who would leave her men and escape. And so she would come out to fight them.

Then he just needed to keep the others away from Tralzard and surround her.

As long as they had the element of surprise, he had a good chance of succeeding.

“Legras, are you prepared?”

“Of course. No matter what happens, we will accomplish our goal.”

“Mmm. Alright, let’s go. It’s time that old hag bows out.”

“Certainly.”

And so with Nehyor in the lead, the members of the Wild Hunt set out silently.

As always, no one was able to see them.

○ The Camp – Demon King Tralzard

Demon King Tralzard was in her tent, thinking about what had happened, and what would happen in the future.

“The battle with Legard will happen. I’ve known it for hundreds of years. We’ll be fine… However, with all that has happened, perhaps Legard is no longer the same?”

She was worried.

She should be superior in both experience and mana.

However, Legard was younger.

And so Tralzard was not confident in her ability to fight in prolonged battles.

And there was one other thing that she was concerned about.

(Will Miralda be fine at the castle…)

The Wild Hunt were an unpredictable element in all of this. And Tralzard could not stop thinking about them.

Nehyor had defeated Lesser Demon King after Lesser Demon King. He had so much momentum.

But what was truly dangerous, was how he seemed to just vanish and appear out of nowhere.

That made him a bigger threat.

He could appear right in front of you before you knew what was happening.

“That is probably why he was able to kill all those Lesser Demon Kings.”

He was fully prepared. While they would be taken by surprise.

And in such a situation, even a Lesser Demon King would not be able to fight at their best.

“But Miralda is a cautious one. So it should be fine… Hmm?”

She could hear noises coming from outside.

(But there aren’t any soldiers close by…)

Tralzard was surrounded by her most powerful men.

But she didn’t let any of the ordinary soldiers come close.

“Is it just me?”

Still, she felt an unease growing in her chest.

She listened carefully.

It was faint…but she could hear something.

“What is it! What happened?”

“…”

But there was no answer.

Thinking this strange, Tralzard stepped out of the tent.

—Dodoooon!

A fireball came flying down and hit the tent.

“What? What happened?”

As she watched the tent as it was consumed by fire, Tralzard searched the area.

“A battle must have started close by!”

She could hear the familiar sounds of fighting.

An ambush? Just as Tralzard realized this, the ground shook.