On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

In this world, the strongest force is individual power. On Earth, unity may hold more force, but it matters not in this world; an individual can demolish an entire Kingdom by himself with his power.

Unlike Earth, there is no limit to how far people can jump or how much they can grow. As long as one strives, one will reach the height that no one has ever reached.

In war, the amount of personnel one has in one’s army also doesn’t matter. Even if one’s army is completely outnumbered, as long as there is that one individual, the victory will be on one’s side.

Such was the case with the Demon King’s Army. The reason why they were “falling behind” for all this time was that the senior Warriors—those in the Fourth Wing and above—abstained themselves from participating.

Although the number of personnel in a Legion was strictly maintained, the personnel constantly changed. New recruits always came in because, in every battle, there were always casualties; they were needed to replace the fallen.

The senior Warriors abstained themselves from participating in the first half of the battle because they wanted to let their juniors experience fight in a real, life-threatening battle.𝚘𝔳𝓵xt.𝓬𝑜𝓶

It was done to forge a formidable mentality and weed out those who weren’t suited to be Warriors. This, of course, wasn’t always practiced; in a major battle, the senior Warriors occupied the front line, leaving the small fry to their juniors.

For the Demon King’s Army to do this, in other words, means they didn’t consider conquering Lysimork a big deal. They weren’t wrong, though, since the flow of the battle changed drastically as soon as the senior Warriors participated.

Burst!

“Hmmm… This is what makes me hate their method—they are playing too much,” Layland remarked as he inspected the battlefield from above. “We could have suffered less casualties had they been serious.”

Unlike the human, who still believed there was strength in unity, the Cursed Creation believed solely in their own power. They didn’t care how many personnel they lost as long as the powerhouse survived by the end of the battle.

Layland actually found nothing wrong with it since they had quite a lot of people that could demolish an entire army with their eyes close, but he couldn’t bring himself to agree with the mindset.

As someone who believed in hidden potential, Layland was sure some of the juniors that had fallen in the battle must be late-bloomers. He had been one himself, so he felt unfair that the weak were weeded out so soon.

“Well, considering how much of a chore it is to pick the gem among the trash, I won’t blame them,” Layland sighed.

“Still, it is a waste of source. We can use them to conquer small human villages instead of letting them die here.” He shrugged lightly and sardonically muttered, “But, what can I say? I am not the Demon King.”

Smirking, he added, “Not yet, at least.”

Whoosh!

Genelos dove down under his command. The friction between the Wyvern’s wings and the air created a haunting sound to the Rebel Army.

They knew what would happen whenever they heard the sound: some of them would get burned to crisp, meanwhile the others would get shredded.

“B-Be careful!”

“Uwaah! My body!”

“Aaahhh! Get rid of this fire!”

In less than five seconds after they heard the sound, hundreds of them suffered from the calamity they had expected. Some of them were charred the moment Genelos’ fire breath touched them, meanwhile the others were turned into minced meat.

Of course, the Rebel Army didn’t just stand there and watch as their friends got brutally demolished. With their bows and arrows, they tried their best to shoot Genelos down.

They had been doing the same thing for the last ten minutes; but, like always, Genelos could never be shot down. The commendable coordination between the Wyvern and the Rider was the reason why it was hard to shoot them down.

“Genelos, can you fly by yourself?”

“Of course, I can—I am a Wyvern! What is with the question?”

“I was wondering if you can see well in the dark.”

“I am a Wyvern!”

Although Layland knew Wyverns had an ability to see in the dark, he wasn’t sure if Genelos could see anything in the dark Amizanima Forest. He had been the one in control for all this time.

‘It seems Teanosvera also helps our Wyversn see.’ Patting Genelos’ back twice, Layland said, “I am going to join the fray. Assist me—light my path on fire!”

“Ku-ku-ku. Let us make a history, partner!”

“Don’t get shot down though.”

“I know! Why do you like ruining the mood so much?” Genelos exclaimed in protest.

As Genelos dove down, the arrows decorating their flight path increased. Luckily, all of the arrows didn’t possess that much power, so they could leave everything to the Barrier encapsulating them.

When Genelos was 60-feet away from the ground, Layland jumped down. He was pointing Rexorem downwards; Mana was gathered at the tip of it and [Great Impact] was activated.

BOOM!

He reached the ground in the blink of an eye. When he did, the ground cratered and rose like a tide, sweeping those who were near his landing point.

Very few of the Rebel Army could survive this. Those who survived were only the elites amongst Trunk Guardians.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Layland remarked as he gazed at the chaos he had caused. “Unfortunately, I can’t reap any power-up from them. As I expected, I have to fight the Heroes or the Supreme Warlords to grow.”

‘Master, you can still let me grow!’

“I know, Rexorem. This is why I chose this place to land,” Layland replied. “Look at the river of blood surrounding us—a perfect spot to have meal, don’t you think?”

Channeling his Mana into Rexorem, Layland scanned all of the blood around him and willed Rexorem to absorb them. He let go of Rexorem’s hilt as soon it absorbed the blood in their surroundings and then took out a pair of daggers.

These daggers were part of the rewards which he had received from Valeria due to his achievement in the previous Conquest Mission. They were made of the horns of a Maga Taurone, which was the higher variety of Taurones.

Aside from the fact that finding one was hard, they were strong on their own, so killing it upon seeing one was highly forbidden.

Maga Taurones had a pair of sturdy horns that contained a slight amount of Divinity. Valeria making daggers out of them was a sin that no human could forgive; of course, it was because the hypocrites believed they were the only one allowed to do it.

“Well, these are one kind of a reward,” Layland remarked as he inspected the daggers. “The Divinity hardly has any function, but the sturdiness of these daggers is unquestionable. It will last long.”

‘I can help you utilize that Divinity,’ Luxia commented.

“Oh, you can? What can I do with it?”

‘Well, it’s not much, but you can do what I can do.’

“Ho-oh? Let us test it, shall we?”

Layland grinned excitedly as he saw the elderly Dark Elf who was coming at him. He had just gotten a test subject that he could use to test his new power on.

The elderly Dark Elf, Rohan, instinctively got nervous at how lax Layland’s posture was. He was sure Layland was weaker than him, thus he had decided to fight Layland despite his injured state, but now he wasn’t sure anymore.

“Ho-ho? Elder Rohan, isn’t it? It is very bold of you to come at me with one of your hands missing,” Layland said playfully.

“You are the only danger I can take on, Demon.” Rohan glanced at Rexorem that was still absorbing blood. “I have to take you down before you grow any stronger. It is the least thing I can do after failing my kin.”

“You have seen the result of the battle, haven’t you?” Layland smirked. “Then, why bother to fight? Surrender and you will stop failing your kin.”

“I am going to stop failing my kin when I die; therefore, I need to kill you!” Rohan exclaimed heatedly.

“Ridiculous.”

With a short sword in his hand, Rohan dashed towards Layland. In response, Layland assumed his stance and told Luxia to do her job.

When Rohan was just a few inches away from Layland, Genelos shot his fire breath at Rohan. The Dark Elf Elder barely reacted and merely stepped aside using his Footwork Technique.

‘As expected of an Elder.’ Layland smiled at the scene. ‘Still, you shouldn’t think too lightly of me. An injured lion can still be a prey, you know?’

When the fire dispersed, the only thing that Rohan could see was the charred ground. Layland was nowhere to be found—his presence had also disappeared.

As he wondered if Layland had teleported himself somewhere, Rohan felt a pair of hands pulling him into the ground.

Shrrk!

The next thing he knew, he was already planted in the ground. His head was the only part of his body that was in the surface; his eyes could see Layland looking down on him.

“You… earlier, is it…” He couldn’t find the right words to say. In the end, he sighed and laughed sardonically. “Ah… Lysimork has fallen.”

“It has indeed—into my hands.”

Just as Rohan widened his eyes at Layland’s response, his vision tilted and he lost his connection with his body. Layland had kicked his head so strong, it fell off.