Volume 5 Chapter 20 (2/2)

They could still win if they could manage to break through Marcho's forces but her monsters weren't generous enough to allow such reckless assaults to pass through.

Marcho's medal was the [Beast] medal.

Its feature was its capability to create monsters that had high physical abilities along with other varying abilities. As a group, they were the strongest.

Individually, her monsters might fall behind in performance to [Time] and [Dragon]'s monsters but taken as group, hers would fare better.

The [Beast] medal itself allowed the creation of monsters that were easy to use in a group—even in hundreds, they could adapt perfectly to small changes in the battlefield—but the main factor for their strength was Marcho herself and her caliber as a Demon Lord.

She loved and was loved by her subordinates. For that reason, her army was strong.

”Now, everyone, rampage as loudly as you could! Attack the enemy in the back!”

My monsters replied with shouts of their own.

The enemy's rear was full of openings and my monsters intended to exploit that.

The ones with guns began firing theirs while the ones without used their magic and breath attacks.

It was an easy hunt.

Obviously, if Marcho's monsters were locked in close range combat with the enemies, it would be hard to distinguish who was friendly and who was not. Even if we were able to do that, preventing friendly fire was still going to be hard.

However, considering that what was ahead of us was only the rear end of the enemy forces and considering that they couldn't just turn around to face us because of Marcho's monsters, things were simple.

Inferior in both quantity and quality, there was no way they could survive for long.

In such a short time, the enemy forces began to perish. And once they showed an opening, their demise came a little bit faster.

Like so, in under two hours, the enemy forces were annihilated. Well, almost annihilated since some were spared so that information could be extracted from them. To prevent the survivors from committing suicide, strong paralyzing poison was applied.

”Is it over?”

With this, Marcho's dungeon was probably safe for moment.

We won. Such feelings welled up within me.

Marcho's forces then parted and in the center was a giant wolf which was taller than I was.

It was a monster that fought vigorously in the previous battle.

It had grey pupils and a coat of fur so beautiful that it could make one sigh. Despite its killing intent that could make one's soul freeze, it was very noble.

That wolf then began to walk toward me slowly. After a while, its body shined and it changed its form into the shape of a humanoid.

The light faded and what appeared was a brown-skinned, beautiful woman that had white hair and a wolf's ears and tail.

It was the person that I came here to help. It was my guardian. It was Marcho.

”Procell, I believe I told you to not come.”

Her smile was wry but in her voice was unconcealed joy.

Urged by something, I rushed forward and embraced her.

”I was worried, Marcho. Very worried.”

When I felt Marchos' warmth and tenderness, the feeling of accomplishment rushed to me. I did it, I did it without losing her.

”Sorry. …you must think I'm useless right now, don't you? After all, if you didn't come, I might have been defeated and killed, my crystal broken, and my beloved monsters gone. So, thank you for coming.”

When Marcho said so, she then parted from our embrace, placed her hands on my shoulders, and looked me straight in the eye.

”I'm glad that you came but as your guardian, I must say this: what you did was suicidal. It's impossible for a new Demon Lord like you to remain safe after challenging old Demon Lords to a fight. Things might have turned out alright for the moment but I assure you, things will get much harder from now on.”

As she said, it was probable that I would be continuously targeted by the Demon Lords I fought this time. But…

”I know and I'm prepared. I've considered all that and in the end, I still wanted to come. I'd much rather have that than let you be killed.”

Marcho's face grew red but more interestingly, the expression on her face was more innocent than usual. It was my first time to see her look like that.

”Yeah, you're an adult now, no longer a child. You just made my heart skip a beat. …ahhh, I should be angry right now but after hearing that, how can I stay mad?”

Marcho and I then laughed together. Thank goodness, we can laugh together like this again.

”…Procell. Your reward will be all of me. My dungeon, my monsters, my treasures, all of it, I want to entrust it to you. I know it's a selfish request but from now on, will you, in my place, please protect my dungeon and my monsters? If it's you, I'll have no worries.”

She said such words with a smile and in a refreshing tone but somehow, those words made me feel uneasy.