***
Another month passed with Alice conducting the orchestra of war from the rear, while Ashen supported her from the front by being exactly what the enemy hated most.
Relentless.
The more the Narkals schemed, the more violently he answered.
His kill count rose with each day, then each hour, then each concentrated clash.
The soldiers began speaking about him as if he were a force of nature rather than a man.
"Did you hear? Marshal Ashen killed another two hundred in less than a quarter hour."
"That can't be right."
"It is. I saw the tally."
"Then how many is that now?"
The answer changed depending on who was speaking, because the count rose too quickly for anyone to keep the same number in their head for long.
A week later, someone said he had crossed fifty thousand.
Then one hundred thousand.
Then half a million.
After that, the number became almost mythic even to the men speaking it.
***
Today was strange.
The first strange thing was the absence of Narkal attacks. What was even stranger was that there was barely any sign of the beasts within the surrounding kilometers.
That was also why a strange sight came into view: a clean Ashen.
His hair, usually damp with sweat or blood, looked neat. His spear, almost always stained red, gleamed with a black luster under the sun.
As he walked through the sea of temporary tents, two women flanked him on either side.
Alice stood to his right, Lucia to his left, both dressed in their military uniforms, which gave them a sharper, more imposing presence than usual.
Though... even attire meant to inspire intimidation failed to hide the allure they carried, their figures lending an almost nonsensical charm to the uniform.
Lucia appeared drowsy throughout the walk, while Alice kept a thoughtful expression, likely lost in her own thoughts.
As for Ashen, the way his hand kept tightening and relaxing around the shaft of his spear made it clear he was still in fighting mode.
The brief respite had failed to pull him out of his murderous haze, it seemed.
So it was hardly strange that the three of them traveled in complete silence until they reached a massive tent: the Supreme Commander's tent.
The moment the trio passed through the flap and stepped inside, countless eyes locked onto them.
Alice finally snapped out of her thoughts under the weight of the attention. Her gaze swept across the tent, finding ten marshals staring intently in their direction.
As she followed Ashen toward an empty spot around the long table, she gradually began recognizing the emotions hidden behind those gazes.
Curiosity. Respect. Fear. Jealousy.
She even felt one gaze filled with unmistakable pride, and when she traced it back, she found it belonged to Cornelia at the head of the table.
Beside the faintly smiling Wrath Lord sat Lola, her veil active this time, thankfully.
"It seems our little king has finally arrived. Welcome~"
Alice could not see Lola's expression through the white mist veiling her face, but from the way she greeted them, the pride in her voice was unmistakable—perhaps even greater than Cornelia's beside her.
"It seems I'm the last one?"
Ashen finally began to relax under the woman's heavenly voice.
But what truly made him let go of his nerves was the sight of the saintess standing next to her lady, frantically waving at him with a smile that made it seem as though a second sun had risen inside the tent.
...Seraphine was as enthusiastic as ever.
"I apologize. It took longer than expected to arrange the frontline's defenses so they could operate smoothly without me."
"No worries. You're right on time." Cornelia shook her head. "Also, you need not fear a Narkal attack, at least not today. Both the Lust Lord and I did our best to clear them out last night."
"Oh. That makes sense."
Ashen nodded in understanding.
The mystery behind the Narkals' absence was solved, but it only opened the door to another set of questions.
What could have compelled the Sin Lords to abandon their posts and personally clear out the Narkals just to free up the army and convene this meeting?
It had to be said—their role in this war was, by far, the most vital.
To put it into perspective, the Narkals the entire theater had been fighting until now were merely stragglers from the true battlefield: the clash between the Sin Lords and the main Narkal force deeper within the infested lands.
That was also why there had been no signs of catastrophes yet, nor any appearance of the unfathomable monsters equal to First Step Pathwalkers.
Ashen had already been curious about this sudden gathering.
Now, however, his attention was fully seized.
Cornelia's smile gradually faded.
Without wasting another second, she placed both hands on the table.
A map lit up beneath them.
Mana spread across the surface, and the terrain of the surrounding Narkal-infested lands manifested in three dimensions. Mountain ranges rose like jagged teeth. Broken plains stretched endlessly. Dark red markings covered vast sections of land like a spreading disease.
The atmosphere inside the tent immediately sharpened.
No one spoke.
Cornelia's finger moved toward the left flank of the coalition's advance.
"The Left Theater has made a breakthrough."
The simple sentence caused every marshal, as well as their aides, to focus.
Her finger tapped a marked zone deep within enemy territory.
"Three days ago, after pushing through multiple Narkal swarms, they discovered something significant."
The red marking expanded.
What appeared next made even Ashen narrow his eyes.
Walls.
Massive walls.
Countless structures rose behind them, layered one after another in grotesque density.
A city.
No—
A metropolis.
Even through the crude projection, its scale was absurd.
The city stretched across the land like a grotesque aberration. Towering black structures pierced into the sky. Flesh-like growths crawled over the walls like veins. The entire place looked less like a city and more like a monstrous organism that had rooted itself into the earth.
A heavy silence fell.
One of the marshals finally broke it.
"...A nest?"
Cornelia shook her head.
"No. Much worse."
Her voice dropped.
"This is the first confirmed Narkal metropolis."
Everyone's gaze sharpened.
Cornelia continued.
"We had always known the Narkals originated deeper within these lands, but until now, we lacked confirmation regarding the scale of their civilization."
Civilization.
Even the word sounded wrong when used for those monsters.
And yet the evidence stood before them.
They had long known they were not fighting mindless beasts. The men who died under their trickery were proof enough.
But this was a whole new level.
Cornelia's finger traced multiple routes across the map.
"The Left Theater believes this metropolis functions as one of the primary strategic centers supplying the surrounding regions."
She paused.
"Destroying it would cripple Narkal operations across a massive area."
Murmurs spread around the tent.
Ashen remained silent.
Lola finally spoke, her lazy tone gone.
"The problem is simple. The metropolis is heavily fortified."
Her finger moved across the map.
"The Left Theater can attack from the front. But a frontal assault alone will be costly."
Multiple red clusters lit up behind the city.
Alice immediately understood.
"They have reserves stationed behind the metropolis."
Cornelia nodded.
"Correct."
Her gaze swept across everyone.
"If the Left Theater launches its assault, reinforcements from neighboring regions will converge on them."
Silence.
Then Cornelia's gaze landed on Ashen.
And then Alice.
And finally Lucia.
"That is where the Right Theater comes in."
The meaning was immediate.
Ashen's eyes narrowed.
"You want us to push deeper into enemy territory."
Cornelia nodded.
Many faces darkened. Cornelia noticed the wary looks of her generals and reassured them.
"Don't fret. The main assault will be carried out by the Sin Lords of both theaters."
Her finger carved a route through the map.
"Your task will be the same as always. Eliminate the stragglers that escape under our assault."
Then she added, with a grimmer tone, "Though you should understand that even the leftovers from our battlefield will likely be more than anything you have ever confronted."
The route traced by her index curved around hostile territory and ended directly behind the metropolis.
"There may even be Catastrophes escaping this time around."
She looked into each of their eyes, and seeing the growing unease, she tried to reassure them.
"You do not have to kill them. Just hold them long enough for us to return. Besides, their appearance is only a possibility, not a certainty."
The entire tent remained silent, and Cornelia did not linger long enough to hear any complaints.
"If both theaters coordinate successfully, we can trap the metropolis between two full armies and crush it."
Lola smiled faintly.
"A pincer attack."
Cornelia nodded.
"Yes."
Then her voice hardened.
"But the margin for error is nonexistent."
Her eyes locked onto Ashen.
"The Right Theater must hold the line until the very end. I will not tolerate any attempt to shrink your duties."
"Our objective has been clear from the start."
The tent suddenly felt more oppressive.
"The ultimate and final extinction of the Narkal race."
Many could smell it in the air…
"Cowardice will be met with execution."
The scent grew stronger, reminiscent of gunpowder.
"Deserters will not have the right to call themselves human."
It was the undercurrent of her shackled wrath.
"And they shall be treated as no different from Narkals."
And from that scent, all of them could instinctively feel the doom that would befall them if they disappointed her.
"So, do not disappoint me."
✦━━━━⛧━━━━✦
[IMG]
Reminder:
Beast Ascension Stages / Narkal Power Scaling
1st Stage — Wild Beast
2nd Stage — Gorefiend
3rd Stage — Great Beast
4th Stage — Demon
5th Stage — Great Demon
6th Stage — Catastrophe
7th Stage — World Ender