Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 232: War

Chapter 232: War

Ascending a wide foothill of dark stone and dead grass, the Imperial Armed Forces continued further into territory said to be ruled by Demons.

The surroundings, sparsely decorated with lifeless, black trees, was almost perfectly barren, and despite having arrived around the peak of noon, where the sun should ordinarily be reaching its zenith in the sky, it was unseen, concealed behind a sea of ashen clouds and bleak, chilling winds.

Compared to the idyllic climate over in the mainland of the empire, this place was desolate, nothing more than dreary and dismal.

It was more than just ‘soulless’―it portended something unfathomably sinister.

In such a frankly gloomy environment, those present couldn’t help but begin to feel the same, and before anyone realised it, the marching force had drowned in silence.

Included in this army of a main force were a mix of adventurers and knights alongside the usual soldiers, but regardless of their background or merit, there was not a single soul seeming to carry a smile on their face at the anomalous tension they could all feel floating around in the atmosphere.

The scouts had already returned from their advance reconnaissance, bearing nothing but the expected news that there were no signs of any life all the way until the base of the mountain range further ahead, the snowy peak of which was visible in the distance even now.

Soon, the vanguard of the armed forces reached the summit of the foothill, a plateaued stretch of land enough to contain perhaps a small town’s worth of people.

From there, they paused their march. They had already heard it from the scouting party, but on the other side of the foothill, a deep valley ran between it and the mountains ahead, rounded, like an immeasurable basin naturally carved into the earth.

Strangely, it was all utterly empty, vacant of any signs of life just as the scouts had claimed, the area at least being far too desiccated to support the sorts of life they were familiar with.

There were countless cracks seeping into the ground all throughout the basin, some small, some stretching on for metres as if caused by sizable tremors, but despite them all appearing undeniably many years, perhaps decades or even centuries old, there was one commonality none of the armed force’s vanguard thought right.

They couldn’t have been natural.

Even in bone-dry, arid regions like this, with dusty ground in which cracks could easily form with time, the pattern and sheer intensity of some were plain abnormal.

“Are you sure we should keep going…?”

“What are you talking about? We can’t just stop here. The princess is relying on us. The empire is relying on us.”

“Augh… I get it, I get it…”

“I don’t give a damn about the empire, I’m here to make a killing, you hear?”

“Hey. Are you out of your mind?”

“What? That’s what most of us are here for, no? Get off my back.”

Perhaps it was only to be expected, but it didn’t take long for there were a number of participants beginning to feel their feet grow cold at the realisation that this expedition wasn’t like they thought it was going to be.

It was a natural result when soldiers and adventurers were mixed, two groups with antithetical driving forces, and the differences only made themselves clearer when everyone part of the vanguard was faced with a choice―push forward or fall to the backlines.

“You’ll face the consequences if you back out now, I’ll make sure of it.”

“Oh, stuff it. Stop wasting time. Let’s just go before–”

At that moment, the mana in the air swelled, silencing not just the sharply whistling wind but even the complaining voices, and all of a sudden, as those who muttered in confusion realised they could make no sound, the infectious cognisance spread.

In this world of utter silence, the Imperial Armed Forces and its accompanying adventurers, shocked, all raised their heads towards the sky as if in unison.

There, right above them, a dark portal was present.

It was familiar to some, but even for those who weren’t present during the attack on the public execution, whether it was a good or a bad sign wasn’t a question that needed asking.

And even then, it’s not like they would have had the time to ask.

“…!”

Protruding from the sinister black void of the portal, thick flesh emerged, swiftly falling victim to gravity, and well…

“…!!!”

They could, naturally, go nowhere but down.

BOOM–!!

Countless ogres fell from the sky, crashing down upon the armed forces like fresh water sprinkled upon a growing bud.

Destruction quickly ensued.

Copious screams echoed across the land, the disruption of sound evidently having ceased at some point, as those who were a part of the main force were almost instantaneously squashed.

Being unable to resist the plummeting monsters effectively falling like meteorites upon the armed forces was bad enough, but the abrupt assault occurring just when they were getting to the end of that extensive foothill was worse―the terrain was not one on which a fair or easy fight could be comfortably accomplished, even for skilled warriors.

They could only make a swift retreat to a safer area on flatter ground while those who were more confident in their skills took on the descending threats, but even that was made impossible for some.

For those near the front of the main force, there were simply too many bodies behind them in order to get back quickly, and for that reason, many made the hasty decision to bolt off together into the opposite direction.

And thus, the armed forces were split into two groups, one withdrawing to the more advantageous ground they previously passed over, the other rushing forth towards the only seemingly free ground they had access to.

That is, down the steep slope of the hill on the other side, and into the deep basin below.

Dismissing the hesitation and terrible sense of unease they previously felt, they had nowhere else to go and simply booked it, sliding or sprinting down and away from the ogres, who now seemed to be just rising from their miniature craters on the ground at the top of the foothill.

As for those few who remained to take on the threat, still increasing even then in number from the dark portal high above, no matter how skilled, they too soon found themselves left with just the inevitable option of fleeing, unable to cull the sheer number of Demons by themselves.

This was a far different situation from the time at the public execution attack.

Even if they were prepared to fight, they naturally weren’t prepared to be taken by surprise, and moreover to be fighting on such uncomfortable footing.

Out of those left at the top of the foothill, they each had a choice of where to flee to, into the basin or back down from whence they came, as they came to their decisions, there wasn’t long to carry it out.

With the last adventurer that hurried into the basin, ogres falling endlessly down from the sky like rain behind him, the two halves of the armed forces now completely separated and divided on each side of the foothill.

At that moment, the air surrounding the dark portal distorted, and magic chains materialised from nothing, shooting out to wrap around the sinister gateway and preventing some of the ogres from coming through.

More chains emerged and coiled, stretching taut as they seemed to pull the portal inwards, slowly managing to shrink it, forcing it to close.

No matter which mage on their side was capable of such a feat, there was not a single soul not thankful to confirm that the dark portal was no more.

It meant no more ogres were likely to keep spawning like an endless wave, but it still meant they had to deal with what remained―an amount far greater than anyone would like to realise.

Soon after the dark portal was shut and the chains disappeared, it seemed some of the other magicians in the armed forces were also in a position to finally ready their spells, as there quickly began a magical onslaught that poured upon the ogres, now beginning to menacingly follow each division down the respective side of the foothill.

A whooshing wave of fire, ineffective against the Demons’ thick skin and fat.

A piercing rain of elemental javelins, likewise only able to penetrate so far before being stopped by sheer muscle and flesh.

An immobilising tremor that shook the earth, disrupting the ogres’ movements and tripping them up as they approached, albeit only temporarily.

As for melee or other non-magical fighters, they too were not left out of the action.

Assembling as hastily as they could into small parties, most made quick work of the ogres. With each group making sure not to interrupt any other whilst simultaneously watching their backs and taking down scores of enemies within minutes, blood and gore was soon to paint ground, flowing down the foothill like a river and effortlessly filling the myriad cracks of the basin.

Although the ogres were undoubtedly fearsome, they were still Lesser Demons at the end of the day, and the Imperial Armed Forces rallied here today contained only the best of the best, cherry-picked for their skill and strength in combat.

However, there was one silent development nobody seemed to take any notice of.

Looming in the dark skies above the battlefield, black clouds slowly, yet steadily gathered.

Throughout all of this chaos, there was not just one observer standing idly by.