Chapter 199. War
“What a shame.”
“....”
“I really wanted to avoid a war.”
The Demon King of Madness let out a long yawn.
In front of him stood Count Conte’s army, lined up in formation.
The army stretched so far that its end couldn’t be seen at a glance.
And standing before that enormous force...
Was only one man.
Ingwang.
“...Cherry. Have the scouts reported anything?”
“No. Nothing.”
At the entrance to the mountain where Ingwang Kingdom had been established, Ingwang simply stood alone as though waiting for them.
There were no other soldiers around him.
Was this the Demon King’s confidence?
Or did he have some other intention?
What exactly was he trying to do?
“What is he planning...?”
Cherry answered calmly.
“The Demon King possesses a Magic Bullet Fish capable of flight. Perhaps he intends to use it for aerial bombardment.”
But when Count Conte looked up...
There was nothing.
Not even a cloud floated in the perfectly clear sky.
So what exactly could be flying up there?
Cherry continued.
“The Demon King also has soldiers capable of moving through shadows. They are certainly lying in ambush somewhere.”
It wasn’t very convincing when they were standing on what had originally been a mountain on the map.
Could anyone really hide in ambush on a perfectly clear day, across this wide, flat land where hardly any shadows existed?
By Count Conte’s common sense...
It was impossible.
“There are also Badger beastfolk who attack from the sky, Goblins skilled in magic, and many other monsters....”
Cherry frowned.
“But why...?”
Even Cherry, who seemed to know the Demon King so well, couldn’t understand Ingwang’s current behavior.
The Demon King wasn’t supposed to be overwhelmingly powerful by himself.
His true danger came from everything he prepared around himself.
Had bombs been buried beneath their feet?
Or perhaps....
Perhaps....
Perhaps....
The endless rumors surrounding the Demon King were more than enough to stir fear among the soldiers.
Ingwang looked toward Count Conte.
“So, is it just us?”
He smiled.
“You know, the thing where representatives come out before a war and have a nice little chat?”
Count Conte glared at him.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
Ingwang shrugged.
“Really?”
Then he grinned.
“Aren’t you curious what happened to your son?”
Count Conte’s expression twisted.
“You bastard...!”
“I will tear you apart with my own hands!”
Ingwang scratched his chin.
“I’m currently debating whether I should attach a pig’s tail or a horse’s tail to your son’s ass.”
He smiled.
“Which do you prefer?”
It was an obvious provocation.
Count Conte did not endure it.
“CHARGE!!”
The enemy was only one man.
But that man was a Demon King.
No one questioned why the entire army moved at once.
The sound of countless footsteps shook the ground.
It was almost like an earthquake.
Ingwang smiled.
“Now that’s intense!”
It felt like a scene from a movie.
As though he were the protagonist standing at the center of it.
Ingwang lowered his thumb.
Powerlessness spread outward, beginning with those directly facing him.
Even soldiers whose bodies had been reinforced with countless potions and spells suddenly felt heavier.
Ingwang’s eyes widened slightly.
“Ohhh.”
He nodded.
“Hayangi actually made one hell of a skill.”
Count Conte roared.
“Damn Demon King! What vile sorcery have you used now?!”
Ingwang tilted his head.
“Wouldn’t people normally call this ‘magic’?”
He shrugged.
“You’re a fantasy-world resident, yet you react way too dramatically to stuff like this.”
As though testing things out, Ingwang began pulling out different weapons and skills one by one.
He knocked away the slowed soldiers with casual movements.
Everyone else was fighting with deadly seriousness.
And in an instant...
Ingwang’s behavior made them look like complete fools.
Count Conte’s anger surged to the top of his head.
“You otherworlders are all the same!”
Ingwang nodded.
“Exactly like this!”
Then he hummed thoughtfully.
“Mm-hm. I get it.”
He smiled.
“But here’s what I think.”
“Doesn’t the thought, ‘Hey, can this work?’ lead to progress in our lives?”
Count Conte swung his sword.
“...There is no speaking with you.”
At the same time, he glanced toward Cherry.
The special anti-otherworlder neutralizing gas.
An extract of FA, which forcibly awakened people, refined together with the power of Chaos into an extremely horrific poison for players.
Armor that normally felt weightless became heavy enough to slow their steps.
A sword they had never held in reality began dragging their bodies around.
Their great skills became useless.
It was the kind of gas that would completely break a game if it existed normally.
Something that could only appear during a special event battle.
Even the Hero of Hope was neutralized by it.
We failed to capture him because he killed himself, but the effect itself was undeniable!
Since they were on a wide plain, it would take some time to expose the entire battlefield effectively.
But buying that much time would be easy.
Countless otherworlders.
Countless soldiers.
All of them were fighting Ingwang.
Hope began filling Count Conte’s heart.
He could see victory.
It was finally time to drag that weak otherworlder down from the undeserved position of Demon King.
No longer would they need to be manipulated by otherworlders.
No longer would they have to watch them act as though they owned the world.
No more territorial arrogance.
No more smug superiority.
Ingwang looked at him.
“Mister, your eyes are scary.”
Then his expression turned almost regretful.
“See? You really should’ve stayed away from Flowers.”
Count Conte snarled.
“Silence, monster.”
His sword trembled.
“Today, I will judge you.”
Ingwang sighed.
“Beautiful flowers have thorns.”
He gave a faint smile.
“I hope you learn that today.”
That lecturing tone.
That deliberately regretful expression.
The loathsome hypocrisy of this vulgar Demon King.
Count Conte roared.
“DO NOT THINK YOU WILL LEAVE HERE ALIVE!”
Ingwang suddenly took a deep breath.
“Phew....”
Then his voice thundered across the battlefield.
“Everyone!”
The people rushing toward him suddenly widened their eyes.
The fear that had narrowed their vision cleared.
At the same time, the content of Ingwang’s words made even those preparing to swing their weapons hesitate.
“My heart truly hurts!”
Count Conte shouted.
“Do not listen!”
“Do not lend your ears to the Demon King’s wicked whispers!”
Ingwang ignored him.
“You all know how this incident began!”
His voice carried across the plain.
“It began with one poor, pitiful child!”
“A child who was nearly used as nothing more than a political tool!”
Count Conte’s face twisted.
“You bastard...!”
Those words shook the hearts of the otherworlder soldiers Count Conte had gathered.
Especially because he himself had specifically recruited people who valued honor and justification.
That one sentence alone couldn’t be ignored.
And to create exactly that hesitation...
Ingwang had come alone.
He fought alone.
He had deliberately avoided dealing any fatal blows, keeping the situation stable.
I don’t know how easily people who already feel loyalty to the Empire will switch sides....
These were people drawn to the Empire because it represented legitimacy and justice.
And because it was the strongest faction.
Convincing them to join him wouldn’t be easy.
Ingwang shouted—
“No, seriously!”
His voice sounded genuinely frustrated now.
“How unfair does this have to be?!”
He pointed around.
“What did I even do?!”
“You attacked first!”
“So why is everyone only blaming me?!”
His tone was far more sincere than his usual prickly way of speaking.
Desperate.
Frustrated.
Unfairly wronged.
It didn’t sound like an NPC speaking.
It sounded like a friend in real life complaining about something genuinely unfair that had happened to him.
It was a tone that would never work on NPCs.
But to players...
It carried enormous sincerity.
“This is the Empire?!”
Ingwang shouted.
“THIS is the Empire?!”
He laughed bitterly.
“Seriously, after everything I did for that place?”
He spread his arms.
“They’re treating me like some worn-out shoe they can throw away after using!”
He clapped sarcastically.
“Amaaaazing Empire!”
“Wonderful!”
Count Conte gritted his teeth.
“Damn it....”
He realized what Ingwang was actually aiming for.
It wasn’t to abruptly end the war.
That would be impossible anyway.
Some people had already closed their ears and eyes.
No matter what Ingwang said, they would ignore him.
Plenty of people insisted their own words and beliefs were correct no matter what others said.
But obviously...
Not everyone was like that.
Ingwang only needed to win over those people.
