T/N - I mistranslated demons into Fiend Sovereigns in previous chapters. Will correct them ASAP. Also changing Great Demon to Archdemon. So now, there are three ranks of opponent; Demon, Archdemon, Fiend King.Once Ordo and other demons had left, the remaining 200 something demons and archdemons fan out to surround Allen and his party between their siege.
(Let's see... There are 200 of them left behind huh. It makes sense to carry much of their force if they're going to attack Divine Arena. They must have expressively come here to make sure everyone one of their members were buffed, and ready to fight the Eight Gods of Armament, and three Martial Arts Goddesses.)
Though the situation might be grim, Allen didn't immediately jump to attack the demons.
(Merus, watch out. Push any button on Heavenly King or anything, but make sure Lupto gets the news as well. Divine Realm is awaiting a grand upheaval.)
Merus had lacked the ability to share his consciousness with Lupto. He might be a former First Angel, but those abilities were long lost to him. He now possesses only the ability and awakening skill he had now. So Allen made sure to inform Merus about it.
«I got it. So, we're in a critical time. I have Heavenly King contact with Aura apparently. Since you're going to face them first, help me if there's more information we can use.»
In the Heavenly Kingdom, Merus had immediately made his way to the Heavenly King and explained the impending crisis. It was there he learned that the subordinate of First Angel, Aura and accompanying member, had already contacted the Heavenly King, and were now making a round everywhere possible, playing the role of messenger. It explained why Lupto was alone when she came to Allen for help.
Merus presented the newfound information he had gained from Allen and managed to pass it to Aura who then informed Lupto via Heavenly King. With his prestige as the former First Angel, Heavenly King had adequately listened to him. And when he learned Bask and the demons were coming to the Heavenly Kingdom, he had mobilised his force, including the guardian dragonkins, and the divine soldiers situated inside the capital Rapul.
Though what spurred him for immediate action wasn't just status, but details—that the incoming invasion was apparently of scale far larger than one that happened against Fire God Freya. The Divine Realm had learned its lesson from the past. The chaos when the Demon King Army invaded them was still fresh in his mind.
They might not be the target during then, but from the aftermath, he was bound to closely work together with gods and put up a counter-measure. Meanwhile, Lupto apparently had headed to the Divine Realm to seek support as well. However now a new piece of information had been out; Divine Arena was also under the target of Ordo, the Supreme Commander of Demon King's Army and Kyubel, one of the army's executives.(Of course. For what we know, they've a reason to target Heavenly Sandal Kingdom. And you are already seeing the situation via synchro, they would be bursting through your door in less than 10 minutes.)
As Allen and Merus shared their visions, Merus could see the Demon King Army marching straight toward the Rapul, ignoring any city or village they flew by. It was by Virtue of Kuwataro's Tracking Sight that it was possible. Of course, the foremost priority was always to determine the target's position, while any surrounding details were mere side-benefits.
He was hearing their conversation, and deduced they must be skipping the areas to find their target before anything.
(It's nice that Bask is such a chatterbox. Merus, keep up with me.)
«Man, how long does it take to hit the capital? I am bored!!»
«We will arrive at our target within 10 minutes, Bask-sama.»
«Why the hell did we not launch into the heart of the capital straight?! Why did we even bother fighting for teleportation if it can't cut the pain!!»
«And why the hell do you think I know the reason?!»
«Oh wait, I think I should do a little warm up with you before slaughtering those Divine Realm citizens, don't you agree?»
«Eeek! Please forgive me!!»
Perhaps because he was irked to use the flight spell, Bask could be seen grinding his subordinate while flying.
«...We definitely would need some summoned beasts to our side. Oh, I want S-rank summons too. It would be better if you can send 40 of them.»
(Hey, our hands are just bound. We both are only going to have mere 40 summoned beasts if I do that.)
«What? Are you kidding me?! I need Luvanka and Makris by my side. Heck, Makris is the integral cornerstone or else say goodbye to Heavenly Kingdom with a boom!!»
(Hmm, let's share Pecktan and Makris on both sides. And Magla and Luvanka will be... on your side. But send them back when you get an upper hand, alright?)
«We even doubt if our forces can even handle themselves, and you think we can get the upper hand?! We don't even have much of Abigail's army, saving 10,000 of Dragonkin. How do you expect us to overpower them!!?»
To Merus, Heavenly Kingdom was his birthplace. And while Heavenly King wasn't his parent, the blood was drawn from the same ancestry line, so they're a relative in a sense. Then again, he wasn't anxious because his hometown was about to be attacked, but the fact that the demons would unleash a one-sided massacre of Heavenly Kingdom's citizens once they got their hold in.
Meanwhile, Allen and his party members were just as much at dilemma. A many of their comrades were scattered around for various tasks and trials, so he was trying to scrap any help, but it was obvious they would still be outnumbered.
Now, they had to have Heavenly King send a request for backup from God of Armaments, or else they were waiting to see a slaughter. Heavenly Kingdom wasn’t without angels, but they’re far cry to count as reliable support, so cutting down on summons was a suicidal choice.
The grim situation had Merus sweating profusely, so he passed his words not only to Allen, but also to Magla, conveying they're far from the safety net of hitting 'upper hand' in their current situation.
«Oh dear, what happened, Allen? Your face wears such a brooding expression. You can tell me your worries, maybe this big sister can help you out?»
«Wow, really?! Then, can you tell me what's Demon King's Army's objective is?»
Allen pushed his expression to appear spirited in the theatrical gesture, and tried asking Fiend King Mara.
«You're good, but it's not probable. How will I explain to our lord if we failed, eh?»
(Hmm, ‘if failed’… so the objective of Demon King is not as foolproof. I presume there's a chance I can still interfere, which is why you're not saying?)
«...N-now that's the Allen I know! So clever.»
Mara's expression tightened when she noticed a lack of tension in Allen's words.
The mind games had already begun. They're made to stand at the verge of a cliff from the get-go, so they'd require a card to flip their situation.
«Hey Mara, shut yer traps for a minute! We have a mission to complete. He reads minds. Watch what you say.»
Virdiga admonished his fellow demon when he noticed their conversation, urging her to be more cautious.
«Y-Yes sir. I apologise.»
«Anyway, we need to take them down, and quickly. Failure isn't an option here.»
(Tch, damned that bug face. It's really hard to keep up with his poker face, and it’s pain to get my way around with his presence. Anyway, they want to eliminate us quickly so that we would no longer interfere in their plan huh. —Huh, is that a tentacle coming out from the hole? Ugh, we have one more enemy.)
"Hey, what the hell is that? It's so disgusting it's on my nerves!»
«Screeeeeee!!»
"Kikiki, behold the fruit of my research. My ultimate weapon—Scree! Anyone who tries to get into my way shall be purged! So my hypothesis was correct huh. With this, it’s possible to move to this space."
Beyond the opened hole on the floor, Shinonom gloated as he continued his interference with the Space-Time God's teleportation system.
«Screeeee!!»
From the hole below, innumerable tentacles crawled out. One could spot a huge eye at its centre, apparently the centre to all the tentacles as it flailed its tentacles to somehow jump out of the hole.
«Hehe, with Scree participating in the battle, the victory is undoubtedly ours.»
"You think just the addition of one more opponent sets our loss in stone?"
«No comment. Virdiga-sama has specifically instructed us to not engage in any bit of chit-chat.»
(It seems like any more probing will be futile. I should work on what I know right now, huh.)
Seeing his tactic to get them to talk failing, Allen renewed his mindset and decided it was better to sort out the current details he knew about demons.
[Demon King Army's Movement So Far]
—Two Fiend Kings launched an assault against Space-Time God.
—It was a bait to lure Allen and his party.
—They wrestled away the control of Space-Time God just as Space-Time God used his divine power to control it.
—They used the teleportation system to launch a raid consisting of 300 archdemons, and 700 demons.
—After enhancing themselves with buffs, the Demon King Army split itself into three raid teams; one staying behind the territory of Space-Time God, one set their eyes on Heavenly Sandal Kingdom, and the third one headed for the Divine Arena.
[Deployment of Demong King Army and their leaders: Pre-Battle Scenario]
—Army 1: Target - Space-Time God's territory.
Leaders - Fiend King Virdiga and Mara
Assistance - Shinonom and the Ultimate Demon Weapon Screee
Soldiers - 50 Archdemons, 50 demons
—Army 2: Target - Divine Arena
Leaders - Fiend King Ordo and Kyubel
Soldiers - 200 Archdemons, and 500 Demons
—Army 3: Target - Capital Rupal of Heavenly Sandal Kingdom
Leaders - Fiend King Gandira, Bask and the Magic Sword Onuba
Soldiers - 50 Archdemons, and 150 Demons
[Deployment of Allen's Party: Pre-Battle Scenario]
Location 1- Space-Time God territory
Party members - Allen, Sophie, Formar and Luck
Summon Beasts - Kuwataro, Grahm, Leon, and 40 other summons
Shared Summon Beasts - Makris (on location 1 and 3), Pecktan (on location 1 and 3), and 40 other summons
Spirits - 8 Great Spirits, 8 Spirits, and 8 Young Spirits
Unaccounted - Cecile (in training), Commander Larappa (somewhere taking refugee)
Location 2 - Divine Arena
Party members - Kurena
Ally Force - Lupto, and the Angel Legion boasting the size of 20,000 trainee members under God of Armament
Unaccounted - The last of Allen party (in-training), Helmion and his party (in-training), Admiral Garara and his party (in-training), Dragon King Matildora (In-training)
Location 3 - Capital Rupal
Party members - Merus Ruvanka, and Magla
Shared Summon Beast - Makris (on location 1 and 3), Pecktan (on location 1 and 3), and 40 other summons
Ally Force - Guardian Abigail and his 10,000 dragonkin army (standby at the capital), 100 beastkin
※The lack of visual aspect might pose a problem to learn from mere text, however as this is a novel format, I had nothing to do in it. (From Author)
(Well, maybe I should be glad that we're left with a minimum amount of Archdemons and Demons. Mara did say they want a quick wipeout. So they really aren’t going to play around. And for once, the numbers are in our favor. —Alpine, and Hatchi, start laying eggs on the command platform. We're also going to use the quantity in our favour. I need your help too, Denka, Chuu.)
«Chiiirrp!!»
«Chiiirrp!!»
Since they're against almost 100 opponents, Allen shifted his plan to use Insect A and Insect B summons, increasing their count by having them lay their eggs. With this, the number advantage should turn in their favour.
The two sides fan out in arc shape in attempt to suppress each other.
The 1st floor spans an area above 10 km in length and size. Even if they'd an army tens of thousands big on both sides, there would still be plenty of space. A full-scale battle here wouldn’t feel cramped at all.
«Why even bother bringing out small fries when they would be squashed like nothing, eh, Allen...?»
(Well, not if we first managed to figure out your objective. It would be game over for you then.)
Since their formation moved in a close-knit fashion, the summon beasts had roughly obscured the two side's members.
«Our first target is those staff holders at the back. I believe you know what to do, right?»
"I see them clear. True Archery! True Howling Thunder Arrow, True Golden Arrow!"
Formar quietly replied once he got the details from Allen, invoked «True Archery» skill, increasing the strength of his attacks, and fired two arrows that shuttle through narrow gaps of the opponent's rank toward the target. To break their opponent, they must eliminate their support.
One arrow burst open the head of a demon like a watermelon, and the second arrow opened a gaping hole in the chest of another buff caster.
(Use a smoke screen and filter out the small fries, healers, and buffers. It's alway best to snatch away your opponent's support first so that they don't become a nuisance later. Hopefully we can be done here soon, and help out other locations.)
"Wow, you're amazing, Formar!!"
"Please save the compliments for later, Sophiarone-sama."
(Wait, why did they not put up any resistance? Virdiga and Mara didn’t even try to stop... but the other demons are obviously in panic. What's going on?)
Allen felt a sense of dissonance when he saw Mara's grin despite the two of her soldiers being slaughtered by Formar.
«Fufu, is that all? Hey, cutiepie, wake up the sleepyheads.»
«Scree!»
Just as the doubt lingered on Allen's mind, the tentacle thing turned its big eye toward the archdemon who had his head blown up. The big eye released an eerie radiance and bathed the corpse of the archdemon in it.
«Grawwgharrya!?»
The dead archdemon—no, a grotesque monstrosity rises up to its feet as it basks into the eerie light, the flesh squirming as it slowly restore the missing head.
T/N - I mistranslated demons into Fiend Sovereigns in previous chapters. Will correct them ASAP. Also changing Great Demon to Archdemon. So now, there are three ranks of opponent; Demon, Archdemon, Fiend King.