Chapter 102: Watching a Show - III

As Melia and Lyre engaged in light-hearted banter and caught up with the others from Dawn Embers, Aventine’s gaze shifted slightly south and far west.

Fleim’s sun still had many hours of radiance before it would set beneath the horizon.

The Human-Demon Border.

An elegant face with fiery red eyes that scanned the battlefield for blood.

Long, dark-brown hair that flowed with her thin, twin blades as it sliced apart any limb, neck, or appendage that barred her way.

She was a flurry of silver, engulfed in a milky white light. Wherever she went, wine-red rivers of demon blood flowed, sizzling against their antithesis.

While the sun still granted her unlimited stamina and insane amounts of healing, Lila was busy decimating the demon legions that dared march within earshot. Hundreds, maybe thousands of demonic cannon fodder died by her blade every day.

It was getting repetitive.

"Those damned nobles...!"

A single cleave tore through more than a hundred C-Rank demon cannon fodder—Fiends. Unlike their short, Imp siblings, Fiends were humanoid demons standing at least 7 feet tall on average, towering over Lila and rushing towards her like well-trained infantry.

Their movements were truly an organized march, completely different from the clawing, galloping, and crazy approach of the Imps.

Their footsteps thundered over the blood-soaked battlefield.

In the end, however, they were just cannon fodder meant to weigh down humanity’s armies.

Facing the Hero of Leisha, however... They were nothing more than large groups of ants.

—Clack, clack, clack, clang!

Lila’s blades flashed several times in an instant, parrying a hole through the rain of arrows that had begun to pour.

Crescent-shaped light rays surged outwards now and then, screaming towards the archers in the distance. Bisecting dozens of archer Fiends at a time.

Still, the rain of arrows could not deter her.

[Blitz Step]!

Suddenly, the Hero of Leisha’s form blurred and faded. The afterimage she’d left behind was torn through a hundred arrows in the next moment.

But Lila had already descended with a rabid, lethal intent sparkling in her gaze.

The sun continued to supply her with energy.

The demons continued to surround her.

Thousands upon thousands of dead demons gave the battlefield a layer of corpses.

Hours went by.

One hour after another, Lila charged into group after group after group of cannon fodder. She annihilated everything in her path.

But the demons kept on marching.

And still, no reinforcements came to stabilize the defensive line behind her.

Lila’s rage had reached a tipping point.

"I’ve endured for more than a month!"

She had been fighting nonstop. Her twin swords would’ve gone dull had she not coated their blades in a slicing stream of light-attributed mana.

For weeks, she alternated between a routine of fighting, eating, shitting, and sleeping.

There was nothing else for her except endless, meaningless bloodshed.

The demons were simply going to produce more and more minions to swarm their enemies until said enemies died of frustration and fatigue. Winning every battle was easy... But Lila couldn’t win the war alone.

Now, if only the nobles could do something about her situation!

"[Bloodstream Evaporation]!"

With a roar, Lila was going to slaughter as many as she humanly could.

—BOOM!

***

The night slowly consumed the bright sky as the heavens seemed to have been swallowed by a giant snake.

Until now, Lila hadn’t stopped fighting.

So many demons had fallen to her blade, but darkness had begun to approach.

It was time to stop.

—Swish!

In the blink of an eye, Lila retreated from the battlefield.

The sound barrier shattered as she rocketed up an endless mountain range and vanished into a magical fog.

Within that fog, a wave of magic engulfed her, dragging her into the heart of the mountain. In the next moment, Lila opened her eyes to a sprawling underground fortress city.

Lila huffed, and instantly, a bunch of bootlicking, well-dressed nobles appeared in her way. Their subservient posture was completely fake, and their eyes glimmered only with the light of insidious schemes.

These nobles—though not necessarily good leaders—were skilled at subterfuge and sabotage. They were the reason why the Human-Demon Border couldn’t be breached.

In fact, the ones sent to welcome her back were merely the dogs of the ones higher up. They were dressed well, but not a single piece of expensive jewellery elevated their garments.

Ornamental swords and armor whose only purpose was to look good; the smiles they put on could’ve fooled anyone not born of noble lineage.

"Good work today, oh great Hero! Once again, the demon’s armies have been forced to halt in their advances."

"We’ve relocated our armies towards more pressing chokepoints and worrying slopes. Your contributions this time have been integral to the calm lakes we now enjoy within this quadrant!"

"Please, we’ve prepared a feast for you. You must be tired! We can even provide any other requests you may have—"

Their fawning tones and meaningless rhetoric rang out like a practiced speech.

"Leave me alone," Lila growled, expressing her irritation. Her savage demeanor, having just returned from the battlefield, sent a chill down every onlooker’s spine.

[Blitz Step].

In the next moment, she vanished, along with her terrifying aura of bloodlust.

Lila was all too familiar with their games. It was the reason why she left the Shierain Dukedom in her teens.

Her face and talents would have caused an endless amount of internal strife that would tear the family apart.

Thus, the less she exchanged pleasantries with them, the less she’d find herself close to annihilating the human camps as well.

It already took her so much energy to restrain herself from using her newfound gifts to overthrow every human kingdom there was.

’Why was I chosen, I wonder?’

Lila inwardly sighed, reappearing within a courtyard she’d rented out for herself, using her status as an A-Rank adventurer.

Though surely the top brass knew she was here, at least it deterred any others who wanted to get acquainted with her or use her for their own schemes.

’Until now, my own fellow humans still scheme against each other.’

And although they moved together at times, this coalition of humanity’s kingdoms—headed by the Kingdom of Leisha—all had their own motives in mind. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Had the demons been a little bit less hostile to humanity... The current human-demon War would have an entirely different feel to it.