Chapter 372: An Imminent Fight

"..." I look ahead at all my soldiers gathered together. It's around 5 in the morning, and since night had fallen, the war had paused. Now, before it resumes, I've decided to give a speech to motivate the soldiers and inform them of certain things, even though it was something I barely planned.

I glance around, spotting Marie, Grace, Laplace, and some very strong soldiers scattered throughout the sea of soldiers in front of me. Eve and Shizuka are at my side while I stand on a wooden stage my marionettes built in just a few minutes.

'This is a bit uncomfortable... all those eyes staring at me... I should have planned this better... although we didn't know we'd have this opportunity to advance right now.' I take a deep breath to calm myself and begin the speech.

"I won't start with a very elaborate or thought-out speech. I want to be brief, explanatory, and concrete, so I'll begin with hard data," I say to everyone, using a voice amplification artifact I developed so that all of them can hear me.

"Currently, the war is at a stalemate that is tipping in our favor, and soon we will invade the angel kingdom directly. This means everyone must be ready for that. Of course, I will reward all soldiers at the end of the war based on their contributions."

"For now, all soldiers can pull back from the war to prepare while I hold what we've already conquered with my marionettes." I look at Marie. Since the soldiers need a break, I will pressure the angels with my marionette army so the soldiers can rest and return to battle with everything they have.

"And with the help of Commander Marie, we will open the space for the invasion. When we invade the angel kingdom completely, the objective will be to take it in a rapid advance, forcing them to lose more ground and making them retreat." The angel kingdom is gigantic.

So large that even once we invade it, the angels will still be able to sustain the war for some time.

"You soldiers must maintain the original plan that the generals have been relaying, while I will deal with the queen of the angels. As the war escalates to its peak, I will lift the food restrictions, since everyone will need to be at their maximum strength." Before, there was a daily food limit, but we have a certain surplus of food because of the barrier the angels had previously erected, and we are approaching the most intense moment of the war.

"Eve, could you continue?" I never planned to speak for long, just to start talking and give the cue to Eve, who is the one who really knows what to do. So much so that I didn't even know exactly what to say myself; I just said what seemed right.

"Of course, Evelyn-sama..." Eve steps forward, her posture that of a true general, so very skilled and appropriate for the situation. I wish I had carried myself as well as she does.

"..." With a downward glance from Eve, all the soldiers immediately correct their postures, which gives me a certain envy of the respect Eve has earned, and it shows that I am not as respected among the demons.

'Eve, you are incredible.' I praise Eve through my mind, which causes her to gain a small smile as she takes a deep breath.

"As everyone must already imagine, our Queen will face the enemy Queen, so we must prevent anyone from interfering with that. You, as soldiers, have the duty to confront the angels and, at the very least, stop them completely."

"Losing is completely out of the question; it would be an absurdity. I will lead up to a certain point, and then command will pass to Laplace and Marie, who will handle it. The invasion is scheduled for exactly 17 days from now."

"And the advance itself will be something swift. We won't have a long battle of attrition like the current one has been. Part of Evelyn-sama's marionettes will advance, blasting open the path and creating vulnerabilities in the enemy troops, and then we will advance."

"There isn't an exact estimate for when it will end, as everything will depend on situations beyond our control, besides the fact that the king of the angels exists..." Eve begins to explain and talk about various technical things, giving a speech to the soldiers. She exudes so much confidence, as if we have already won the war, but without sounding arrogant.

While she talks, I deactivate my artifact and Shizuka deactivates hers as we give space to Eve.

"Shizuka, so how are you feeling? Is it better for you now?" I ask her, as she seems a little better than in the past.

"Killing is still uncomfortable, and the hateful stares are very unpleasant, but I'm fine. Eve is really cool and has been helping me... b-besides that, she's quite dominant, so she practically takes the reins of everything... it's great to have someone with her confidence, it makes me feel more secure in myself..."

"And you? You always seem kind of spacey," she asks, clearly wanting to change the subject, but I understand. It must not be comfortable for her at all, considering her past.

"...I'm fine. It's just that I spend a lot of time in my other body, and when I'm focused on one body, the others get distracted and less active. However, during the war, I will be very focused... the battle against her is coming." When I say that, Shizuka seems tense.

"I-I've gotten a lot stronger, but I don't know if I can win considering the stories I've heard..."

"It's okay if you lose, Shizuka. If you win, that would be the best scenario, but if you lose, I will enter combat to finish this. Eve said she'll try to deal with the king of the angels so the queen of the angels doesn't have help."

"And while you fight, I'll make sure that no soldier, general, or special troops from the queen of the angels interfere with you."

"I will try to turn your fight into a one-on-one battle, so you can use all your potential without having to worry so much. Besides, the queen of the angels will have to be careful. She can't use any of her personal creations capable of affecting an entire continent."

"Because this is her home. She will undoubtedly be a dangerous enemy, but it's impossible for her to use a gigantic attack... I think, at least I deduce she won't be insane enough to blow up her own people and kingdom."

"But we can't underestimate that! So be cautious! And if she dies, make sure she is really dead and not just pretending!" Esther has a magical ability where it looks like she was hit and killed, but she actually dodged and vanished while leaving behind some kind of copy.

"Alright, Evelyn. I will do my best with what I have. Even though I lack experience fighting against someone strong, the strongest person I've ever faced was Eve, and she never fights to kill, so I'll have to be creative!"

"But I'll give it my best!" She tries to seem positive as I look at the angel kingdom ahead of us. From here, I can see the immense castle of the queen of the angels. It's an almost absurd vision, so large that I can only say it flaunts unnecessary wealth.

'I wonder what their plans are...'

...

...

...

"Qyraen, everything is ready. It seems they decided to go with a more rustic style, something very simple," Raguion speaks to me as we look out the window at the demons in the distance, outside the kingdom. Their plan is something we've already discovered thanks to a listening artifact we have over there, but it's such a simple plan that there's nothing for us to counter.

It's just advancing to invade and dominate, while eliminating the biggest threats—in this case, me.

"Yes, unfortunately the margin we had was always bad. Our inexperienced population hindered us quite a bit, but whatever. Apparently, the queen of the demons wants to fight me," I say with a small smile on my face.

"But from what I sense of her magic, she is far inferior to me. Hahaha, it'll be very easy," I say to Raguion. I'm very confident in my victory.

"After that, we can decimate her armies, recover everything, and boost the people's confidence in us again. Unfortunately, the Demon King and the Demon Queen are two titles that have always carried a horrible weight."

"All the Queens of the Angels have always been considered weaker, but if I defeat the current Queen of the Demons, that will be inverted. We will become the new top, and we'll achieve a level of authority we've never had before," I think about the future.

"...Don't you think you could lose?" Raguion asks, more out of curiosity.

"...I won't lose, not to pathetic, filthy demons. Honestly, with everything my intelligence network has gathered, the most dangerous demon would be that Esther from the reports, but she isn't here."

"I really don't understand how Esther could have failed to become the queen. She has an extreme amount of magic and mysterious powers. My intelligence network literally said she was a real risk to me currently."

"While the current queen of the demons is a pathetic girl who relies on puppets. Someone with an ability like that will never beat me just by using numbers to crush someone stronger."

"Numbers have a limit to how far they can go on a scale of strength, but I won't underestimate them. We spent months observing how everything works. I'll take it seriously."

"So, Raguion, could you please prepare my armor? I'm going to love welcoming our enemy properly."

"Of course, my love. I will also take this seriously then, although I am weaker than you, so I prefer to keep my distance so I don't get in your way."

"That's fine. I don't think I'll need help. Besides, I need to destroy that horned bitch so you don't pick her up like some stray animal."

"Hahaha, did you really take what I said years ago to heart?"

"..."

"A little, love. Now go, go. We have some time, and I don't want to waste a single second," I say to him as he starts to leave. I continue to observe from the window for a while, eager for what is to come.