The Author's POV

[Demon Domain, Ramlot City]

As the elves and the demon army fought each other, the air was thick with the stench of brimstone, and the sound of steel clashing filled the atmosphere.

Clank―! Clank―! 

The smoke from the burning buildings obscured the view of the night sky above Ramlot City, and the cries of the injured could be heard echoing through the city streets.

The elves had been driven to the outskirts of the city, and their numbers were continuing to decrease with each hour that passed.

But they held on. 

The demons were on their last remaining leg and were merely holding on at the moment. The war had been raging on for a while now, and the elves had dominated throughout. 

They were able to break through the barrier that was protecting the city using the power of their spells and the sharpness of their arrows, which allowed them to kill the demons that were hiding behind the barrier.

Xiu! Xiu! 

It was a situation that the demons hadn't anticipated, and as a result, they were forced to come out and face the elven forces head on.

"Attack!" 

"Don't let those bastard―Akh!!" 

Unfortunately for them, it turned out to be a cunningly planned ambush by the elves, who hid themselves behind the dead trees and meticulously dismantled their army. 

"Go!" 

"Don't care about them! Charge forward!" 

The circumstances had deteriorated to such a point that the demons had no choice but to launch an all-out assault and square off against the elven forces outside of the protection of their own city walls.

"Keep shooting. Maintain your distance from them." 

Xiu! Xiu! 

That was exactly what the elves had been hoping for the entire time, so they dispatched a small group of their elite forces into the city while they defended the outside of the city from a distance.

While it was true that they suffered a lot of casualties due to the large number of demons that emerged from the city, it wasn't something that they couldn't handle. 

They kept luring the demons away from the city, thereby killing them one by one and dwindling their numbers. 

"Regroup!"

"Get into formation." 

Once they were a fair distance away from the demon city, all semblance of order fell apart in the demon army, and chaos ensued. 

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! 

The elves took advantage of the situation and attacked with even more ferocity than they had done before, and the demon army started to dwindle at a faster rate. 

…It was slowly turning into a massacre as the land dyed black in their blood. 

"It looks like the war will be over soon." 

Maylin mumbled something as she surveyed the entire battleground from her vantage point high above. Her eyes were as unmoving as a well, and she held a demon core in the palm of her hand.

It belonged to the Prince ranked demon that was in the city. 

They had been at each other's throats from the moment the war began, and ultimately, it was she who emerged victorious from the conflict.

It wasn't a walk in the park, but neither was it a particularly challenging fight. 

Her strength increased significantly as a direct result of the significant rise in mana levels in the atmosphere, which brought it back to the levels it had on her home planet.

―How is the situation with you?

Mylin's response came after she heard a harsh voice in her ear.

"I'm almost done over here. How about you?" 

―We're almost done on our side as well. What about you, Brutus? Ren? 

Gervis's question was met with silence, and Maylin frowned. 

'Did something happen?' 

What they were currently communicating with was a device that came directly from the dwarves and allowed them to communicate with each other wherever they were. 

Unlike a communication device, it didn't need to be taken out to speak, and one only had to think to speak through it. 

It wasn't intrusive, and so the fact that there was no response made Maylin and Gervis think that something had gone wrong. 

However, these concerns did not last for very long, as they were soon relieved to hear a familiar voice ringing in their heads.

―Sorry about that. Everything's good. I took over Plintus a while back, but I had to go over to help Brutus. The situation has just calmed down, so we are all good now. 

'Help out Brutus?' 

Maylin seemed rather surprised by Ren's words. 

'That brute asked for help?' 

She had known Brutus for a considerable amount of time, and she was also very knowledgeable about the orcs. They were a very proud race, and as a result, they were not the kind of people to ask for assistance unless the situation called for it. 

The fact that they asked for assistance must have been a sign that the circumstances they were in were extremely precarious.

Thankfully, it appeared from what Ren had said that the situation had been resolved, and there were no longer any issues.

She sighed in relief. 

"Do you need any help? We're almost done on our side too, and so if you―"

―It's alright, thank you. We're done here too. There's no need to send help. 

"You're done?" 

Maylin was legitimately surprised by Ren's words. 

'Didn't he just say that he had taken over Plintus City? How did he have the time to take over two cities?' 

It was already hard enough for them to take over the city they were in… and yet, he was telling them he had conquered two? 

Was Brutus's situation not as bad as he made it out to be? 

―I'll explain it to you guys later; I have to go now. Contact me once you're done taking over your city. I have some things I need to handle with Brutus. Come to these sets of coordinates once you're done. You'll know then. 

The communication turned off shortly after that, leaving Maylin standing there speechless. 

"This boy…" 

Maylin firmed her mind at that moment. 

She was going to have a nice talk with Natasha. 

*** 

"It looks like the situation is good on their side." 

I informed Brutus of the news, and he responded with an unruffled nod of his head. He then pointed at his own head. 

"I know, I can hear." 

"Oh, right." 

I smiled and didn't say anything else. We all had the same communication device, so he heard everything. 

Sensing something, my gaze fell in a certain direction. There, I spotted a familiar orc making his way toward me. 

"My lord." 

Thump!

Silug knelt on one knee in front of me. Following his example, another orc knelt down on one knee, and before I knew it, a wave of orcs knelt down right before me. 

Thump! Thump! Thump! 

Not all of the orcs kneeled, with the orcs that belonged to Brutus' army appearing to be confused by their actions. Ignoring them, the edges of my lips began to quiver as I stared at the swarm of orcs kneeling in front of me.

I could feel Brutus's stinging gaze from beside me, and my mouth twitched once more. 

"What are you doing?" 

"Paying my respect." 

Silug answered as if it were the most obvious of answers. 

"The only reason we are even alive today is because of you. It is only right that we follow your lead…" 

Silug paused. 

"…or is it that you don't want us?" 

Staring at Silug, I rolled my eyes. He was currently staring at me with puppy eyes and looked like a puppy that had just lost its owner. The scene was pretty funny, but I just couldn't bring myself to laugh in light of the circumstances at hand.

Where was the fierce orc leader that was commanding the entire army moments prior? Where did he go? 

"Don't look at me like that." 

I let out a sigh. 

"If I didn't need you guys, I wouldn't have called for your help over here, would I?"

I had invested so much into Immorra. 

There was no way that I could ever give up on them like that. 

What I saw today was a testament to my investment, and although in the past I had some reservations about keeping them for the long term, after seeing what I saw today, it was impossible for me to part with them.

They were simply far too useful for me to give up on. 

"Oh." 

After hearing my words, Silug's demeanor immediately shifted, and a gleam appeared in his eyes. Or at least, that was what I thought I saw. 

"Thank you so much for your grace!" 

"Thank you so much for your grace!" 

"Thank you so much for your grace!" 

The orcs behind him repeated out loud, and I turned my head away from them. 

…This was too much. 

"Alright, let's not dwell on this matter anymore." 

I quickly tried to shift the topic away from the current situation and looked at the city. Seeing that there were no more demons left and that it was completely empty at the moment, I commanded. 

"Plunder everything that is in the city as quickly as you can. Take care not to forget anything, and then turn back in the direction from which you came. You should bring the rest of the orcs with you. They'll be coming back with you to Immorra, so it's important you get along well." 

"Roooar!" 

After hearing my words, the orcs applauded very loudly, and I turned to look at Brutus.

"Follow me; it's time I show you your new home."