The demons were searching the entire palace one by one. Sinbin and the demon beside him were walking down the corridor. They saw human and demon corpses everywhere along the corridor. As they passed through one corridor, there was a man covered in blood and three demon corpses. The demons who had died away from the human body seemed to have been killed with a sword but had fallen, leaving blood along the wall. There were no sword wounds. His chest had collapsed inward. He thought that whoever had done this must have been a powerful individual and felt relieved because everyone, including civilians, had been killed. Therefore, there was no need to fear. He withdrew his gaze and continued on his way.
****
After Eren and Estoren reached S-level, they were given 1,000 soldiers. Even the weakest among them was at B-level. Eren was considered the strongest, and when the demons attacked, despite being newly promoted to S-level, he killed three Obsidian Dukes, which excited the council. For his safety, they sent many powerful individuals under his command and Estoren to assist him. Eren was heading to the Agnos Kingdom with his troops. The council sent him to the Agnos Kingdom for support, as it was slightly farther from the demons' territory. They did not want to send someone as brilliant as him to his death.
The regiment under his command was traveling on horseback. Since the distance was too great, they were heading to Velisar Castle to use teleportation.
Velisar Castle was a place built for teleportation, which every eternal empire possessed. It was used to teleport to all kingdoms for faster support and reinforcement. It was only used at important times because it required a lot of energy, and the energy source was mana. For each teleportation, 90% of the mana of 10 A-level humans was sufficient.
The battalion entering the castle slowly made its way toward the teleportation gate of the Agnos Kingdom. Eren, waiting at the front on his horse, waited for the gate to open. The guards stood in front of the gate and began to channel energy into it. After five minutes, the gate opened, and a blue liquid resembling a fluid remained stationary on the gate without spilling. Eren moved his horse and was the first to enter the gate. He felt strange but pleasant, and the soldiers followed him. Eren emerged from the portal.
He dismounted and assumed a battle stance. The city was burning. For teleportation, it was sufficient for the main teleportation gate to be intact. Even if the portal on the other side was destroyed, teleportation was still possible, and Agnos's portal had been destroyed. The area was filled with building debris and corpses. Most of them were civilians. There were demons and armored people. They had collapsed on top of each other.
One by one, other soldiers emerged from the portal. They all froze at the sight before them. The declaration of war had been made only an hour ago, and now a kingdom far from the demons' homeland had been destroyed.
Eren spoke without turning around.
"Estoren, we'll split into two groups. I'll check if there are any demons left in the city. You look around to see if there are any living humans. The portal will close in an hour. If we can't make any progress, we'll retreat. Have someone send a message to the council."
Estoren nodded and sent a messenger through the portal without taking the 300 soldiers with him, then ordered everyone to look around.
****
For half an hour, Eren searched the city for demons, but they were gone. He thought everyone was dead, and this was terrifying because killing nearly a million people in the city so quickly in just a few hours definitely lived up to the demons' name.
As he entered the palace to check it out, he heard footsteps. He took a stance and waited, ready to give orders to everyone. He saw someone. They were covered in blood, and it was a human. They didn't have horns, but he still didn't lower his guard. He spoke cautiously.
"Introduce yourself."
The human-shaped figure slowly opened its mouth.
"I am Stephan Agnos."
****
I tried to open my eyes. My head was aching. I understood why I shouldn't have wasted all my mana. I was covered in blood. I had fainted next to Astrid. It must be her blood. Wait, Astrid! I quickly opened my eyes and looked around, but neither Astrid nor Olivia was there. I relaxed. If neither of them was there, it meant they had escaped. If they had escaped, the others might still be alive. I tried to get up, but my body ached. My sword was a few meters away from me. I crawled toward it and picked it up. Using the sword as support, I tried to stand up, and a voice came from my head.
'PING'
-------------------------------
MISSION: DEMON HUNT FAILED.
MISSION: Survival successful.
Reward granted.
CRIMSON REAVER [Lv. 1]
DESCRIPTION: Kyran Williams was created. This art, born from Kyran's hatred for his enemies, is a style that is difficult for mortals to understand and terrifying.
FIRE'S TERROR: The sword's temperature reaches 100° and inflicts deep wounds on enemies. The sword does not burn, and when the skill is deactivated, the sword returns to its normal state.
Mana cost: 100
Duration: 10 minutes
Cooldown: None
NOTE: A NEW SKILL IS ACQUIRED WITH EACH NEW MASTERY.
---------------------------------------
I quickly glanced at the sword style, and it's not very advantageous against these demons because they are already resistant to fire. Only the weak can be defeated. Maybe the effect increases as mastery increases.
I closed the status window and started walking unsteadily. The building wasn't standing firmly. It had taken too many hits. So I headed outside to find help. A few minutes later, I saw the familiar outer door. The door was open. I moved forward, leaning on the wall for support. My mana hadn't regenerated yet. Even though I hadn't taken too many hits, I was in bad shape because of my mana.
Mana is the most important source of life for humans. Even a normal person has very little of it. If someone has no mana at all, it means they are dead. Superhumans don't die even if their mana is depleted, but if they can't replenish it quickly, they will die.
The sunlight hit my eyes, and I used my super powers. I saw them. Hundreds of people had gathered in the square. I was happy because it meant we hadn't lost. History says that demons never leave anyone alive. I heard a voice and looked in the direction it came from.
"Introduce yourself,"
He said to me. I looked at the person who spoke. He had black hair and looked quite handsome. His muscles were clearly defined. His eyes were green. He seemed taller than me. I'm sure he's popular with the girls.
"Stephan Agnos," I said.
****
Eren examined the man in front of him. He didn't appear to be injured, but Eren sensed that his mana was very low. He couldn't believe that demons would leave such a weak person behind. So he took a small device out of his pocket. This device measured demon energy. It was the only way to determine if he was human.
He slowly walked forward. He seemed confident that he could survive an attack, even if it was a demon ambush. He stopped in front of Stephan.
"Send your mana to this device."
"What?"
"This device will show whether you are a demon or a human. If you don't do this, you will be considered a demon and executed immediately."
The man in front of him forced a smile.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know."
The man placed his hand on the device and directed his essence. The device lit up blue, indicating that he was human.
"Your humanity has been confirmed. Now tell me who you are and what is happening here."
The man thought for a moment and opened his mouth.
"I am Stephan Agnos, the fourth prince of the Agnos Kingdom. While we were eating, my father, King Julian, received a letter. After reading it for a moment, he announced that war had been declared on the demons. Just as we were about to speak, there was an explosion. The queen and my siblings went to a safe place through the back door, and shortly after, my father left the hall to organize his troops. My wife... um, Princess Astrid of the Ston Kingdom and her guard Olivia left the hall with me. We encountered two demons, and Olivia attacked them to fight. I heard a sound behind me and saw the princess lying on the ground in a pool of blood. I used all my mana and, after killing the demon, fainted beside the princess. When I woke up, the princess and Olivia were gone, and I was lying on the ground in Astrid's blood. I had overexerted my body because I had used too much mana. Since the building was unsafe, I left the palace and encountered you."
Even though Eren listened carefully, he couldn't help but think, "You're giving too many details." Stephan looked at him and his surroundings before speaking again.
"If you're here, that means we won the battle. Haha, thank God. Thank you for your great bravery. Do you know where my family is?"
****
Even if the demons had attacked, I would have won. That made me happy. I was worried about my father and the others. That's why I want to see them as soon as possible.
The man in front of me opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. He spoke slowly.
"I'm sorry, we couldn't win the battle. We were late. By the time we arrived, everything was over. You're the only living person I saw. I'm sorry."
"...."
The only living person they saw was me, hahahahahahaha.
****
After saying these words, Eren looked at Stephana. He didn't know how she would react. He waited with his head bowed, and then he heard laughter.
"Hahahahahahahahaha"
Everyone who heard the laughter looked at Stephana. Eren's hair stood on end because this laughter was definitely not one of joy. Stephana laughed and laughed, and finally tears came to her eyes. She wiped her tears away clumsily with her hands.
Eren was angry with himself. If he had left a little earlier, he could have saved nearly a million people. He clenched his fist. He bowed his head and couldn't bring himself to look at the man in front of him.
****
"They're dead....all of them."