Chapter: The Conqueror's March
The night had barely faded when the war horns began to howl across the border town.
A chilling wind swept through the broken battlements, carrying with it the metallic scent of blood and smoke. The town had not yet recovered from the previous night's chaos. Burned houses still smoldered. Rubble covered the streets. The wounded groaned inside makeshift camps built from broken carts and shattered doors.
Yet no one rested.
No one slept.
Because on the distant horizon…
Something was coming.
A soldier standing atop the northern watchtower wiped the sweat from his forehead as he stared into the morning mist.
At first, he thought it was fog.
Then he noticed something strange.
The ground itself was changing.
Grass darkened.
Trees twisted.
The soil blackened as if corruption itself crawled through the land like a disease.
His eyes widened.
"W-what…?"
Then he saw them.
A shape.
Then another.
Then thousands.
His voice cracked as terror gripped his lungs.
"THEY'RE HERE!"
The alarm bell rang violently.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The entire town erupted into panic.
Soldiers rushed to the walls.
Knights grabbed their weapons.
Ballista operators scrambled to load bolts thicker than a man's arm.
Cannons were rolled into position.
The guild master slowly stepped forward onto the battlements.
His body was wrapped in bandages. Blood seeped through the cloth across his ribs.
He looked exhausted.
But his eyes were still sharp.
He stared toward the horizon.
And what he saw…
Made his heart sink.
An army.
No.
Not an army.
A calamity.
Thousands of monsters marched forward in eerie silence.
No roars.
No chaos.
No wild beasts running mindlessly.
They walked like soldiers.
Organized.
Disciplined.
Terrifying.
Gargantuan titan beasts carried gargoyles on their shoulders.
Wolves larger than horses moved alongside armored undead knights.
Serpentine creatures slithered between columns of armored ogres.
Above them…
Dark shapes circled.
Wyverns.
Ravens.
Flying horrors that blotted out pieces of the rising sun.
And at the center of it all…
Something far worse.
A massive demonic creature slowly walked forward.
A creature with the body of a lion, wings like a bat, and a tail ending in a blade-like stinger.
Black flames leaked from its jaws.
Its claws shattered stones beneath its steps.
The Demon Tyrant.
And sitting calmly on its back…
Draven.
The guild master whispered.
"…So it's true."
The soldiers around him trembled.
One knight clenched his sword.
"That… that's the monster lord…?"
Another whispered.
"…We can't win."
But the guild master raised his hand.
"Hold the line."
His voice was hoarse, but firm.
"Everyone… hold the line."
Behind him stood the remaining defenders of the town.
4000 Knights.
3000 Soldiers.
And thousands of reinforcements.
Seventeen thousand men.
Exhausted.
Injured.
But still standing.
The guild master took a slow breath.
"Prepare the cannons."
"Prepare the ballistas."
"Archers… ready!"
The army moved.
Soldiers climbed the walls.
Bowstrings tightened.
Ballista bolts were locked into place.
The massive iron cannons pointed toward the approaching horde.
The distance between the two forces slowly shrank.
Then…
Draven stopped.
The Demon Tyrant halted before the town gate.
Behind him…
The entire monster army stopped at the same moment.
Perfectly synchronized.
Like a single organism.
Draven looked up toward the wall.
His expression was calm.
Almost bored.
The guild master shouted.
"FIRE!"
The sky exploded.
Thousands of arrows shot into the air.
Cannons roared like thunder.
Ballista bolts tore through the wind.
The entire sky darkened as a storm of steel and fire rushed toward Draven.
Soldiers held their breath.
This attack…
Could destroy entire monster hordes.
It was enough firepower to level a fortress.
Yet…
Draven did not move.
Not even slightly.
He didn't raise his hand.
Didn't cast a spell.
Didn't speak.
He simply sat on the Demon Tyrant.
Watching.
The soldiers looked confused.
"Why isn't he—"
A voice interrupted them.
B2.
High above the battlefield, a massive poison wyvern spread its wings.
Its scales shimmered with sickly green venom.
Its eyes glowed with cold intelligence.
The creature opened its jaws.
A single arrow of energy appeared before its mouth.
An arrow made from pure elemental chaos.
Lightning crackled across its surface.
Wind spiraled around it.
Fire burned along its edges.
The arrow pulsed like a living thing.
Then—
B2 fired.
The Arrow of Chaos shot forward like a comet.
And then…
It split.
Once.
Twice.
Ten times.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Thousands of elemental arrows erupted from the original attack, filling the sky like a swarm of stars.
The defenders stared in disbelief.
"What the hell is that?!"
The two storms collided.
Human arrows.
Chaos arrows.
Steel bolts.
Elemental magic.
The sky exploded.
Then—
C3 moved.
The massive Hellflame Bison calmly flicked a finger.
That was all.
Just a flick.
The chaos arrows changed.
Fire erupted from them.
Each arrow twisted.
Expanded.
Transformed.
Thousands of flaming dragons suddenly roared into existence.
Tiny dragons made from pure hellfire.
They screamed across the battlefield.
And then—
They slammed into the wall.
BOOOOOOOOM
The world shook.
Fire swallowed the battlements.
Stone evaporated.
The massive defensive wall…
Vanished.
Not broken.
Not cracked.
Not destroyed.
It simply ceased to exist.
As if erased from reality.
Where the wall once stood…
Only a crater remained.
Dust slowly settled.
Silence spread across the battlefield.
The defenders stared in horror.
Their greatest defense…
Gone.
Erased in a single attack.
One knight dropped his sword.
Another collapsed to his knees.
Someone whispered.
"…This isn't war."
"This is extermination."
Draven gently tapped the Demon Tyrant.
The creature began walking forward again.
Behind him…
The monster army began to move.
Thousands of creatures marched forward.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Peacefully.
They didn't charge.
Didn't roar.
Didn't attack.
They simply walked.
Straight toward the human army.
The soldiers raised their weapons.
But their hands trembled.
Their breathing became ragged.
An invisible pressure crushed their chests.
Draven's killing intent spread across the battlefield.
It was not violent.
It was not explosive.
It was quiet.
Cold.
Like the gaze of a god deciding whether insects deserved to live.
One soldier dropped his spear.
Another followed.
Then another.
Thousands of soldiers fell to their knees.
Their spirits shattered.
Their courage gone.
Even the knights could barely stand.
The guild master gritted his teeth.
His legs trembled.
But he refused to kneel.
He stepped forward.
Standing alone in front of the army.
Draven's monster army walked past him.
Thousands of monsters.
Walking around the humans.
Ignoring them completely.
The guild master screamed.
"WHY?!"
His voice echoed across the battlefield.
"WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING US?!"
Draven stopped.
The entire monster army stopped.
Draven slowly turned his head.
His eyes looked down at the guild master.
For a moment…
Silence filled the battlefield.
Then Draven released a tiny fraction of his killing intent.
CRACK
The remaining buildings behind the guild master collapsed into dust.
Stone shattered.
Wood disintegrated.
Roofs exploded into fragments.
The guild master coughed blood as the pressure crushed the air itself.
Draven finally spoke.
His voice was calm.
Emotionless.
"You misunderstand."
The guild master clenched his fists.
Draven looked at the broken town.
At the kneeling soldiers.
At the trembling knights.
Then he said quietly.
"You are not worth fighting anymore."
The words felt heavier than any sword.
The guild master's face went pale.
Draven turned forward again.
The Demon Tyrant began walking.
The monster army followed.
Thousands of monsters marched past the human army.
No one stopped them.
No one dared.
They walked like an unstoppable tide.
Heading deeper into the war front.
Toward the twelve towns.
Toward the thirty-five clans.
Toward the sixty-three villages.
Toward the true battlefield.
Behind them…
The guild master slowly collapsed to his knees.
His sword fell from his hand.
His eyes stared blankly at the ground.
Not a single human soldier moved.
Not one.
The monster army disappeared into the horizon.
Leaving behind only dust…
Silence…
And the crushing realization that the war had already been decided.
Far away in the distance…
Draven whispered to himself.
"This was only the beginning."
And the Conqueror's March continued.
TO BE CONTINUED....