"I'm sorry, Damian."
On the way back to Crossroad from Zone 8 of the Lake Kingdom.
Ash apologized when the sniper Damian, who had been waiting from afar, joined up.
"I've given you another harsh task."
To ensure Jackal could die peacefully, Ash had ordered Damian to take the shot. And Damian carried out that order without hesitation.
"It's okay, Your Highness."
Damian nodded silently.
"It was to make Lord Jackal comfortable, after all."
"..."
"And in the future... I don't mind taking on the task of sniping them."
Damian looked at the enemies with clear eyes. Not far from there, the Fallen Knights were salivating, looking this way.
"They may have been human once... but now, they are unmistakably monsters."
"..."
After taking a breath, Ash spoke out in a strong tone.
"Let's return."
The grip on the flagpole was so tight that his hand had turned white.
Grinding his teeth, Ash spat out.
"To annihilate them completely, without leaving a single one behind, let's prepare."
***
A few days later.
Black Lake.
Ssshhh!
Cutting through the surface, the Fallen Knights appeared.
Normally, they would have been stopped by the Nameless One, but for some reason, she did not appear before the Fallen Knights' squad this time.
The battle between the Black Dragon Legion and the Demon Guard had escalated, throwing the Lake Kingdom into utter chaos.
The Fallen Knights could only guess that the Nameless One was caught up in that battle.
The dark event given to the Fallen Knights this time was 'Enhancement.'
The effect was simple. It amplified all stats across the board.
Already an elite force, the dark event made the individual power of the Fallen Knights even stronger.
It was a privilege granted after much deliberation by the acting authority, aiming not to lose a single one to the Nameless One, who, ironically, did not show up at all.
The situation was mysterious, but nonetheless, it was a relief that she did not block their path.
Eventually, all 13 were able to set foot on the land outside.
Crack-
Riding on horses made of bones and rotten flesh, after ascending to the ground.
"The sun..."
Looking up at the sky, Pendragon squinted his eyes from inside his helmet.
"It still spreads its hateful light."
This was the southern part of the continent.
The summer afternoon sun blazed down directly on the Fallen Knights. It was hot and bright. Not a pleasant environment for monsters that had lurked in the darkness.
"In that winter, it wouldn't even show its nose towards us..."
"After we annihilate the humans, let's bring down that sun too, Great King."
"Kihi, kihihihi, what taste will the sun have..."
Joking and giggling, one of the Fallen Knights suddenly turned serious and rubbed his belly.
"By the way, Great King, I'm hungry..."
"How long has it been since we ate that you're hungry again."
"No matter how much I eat, I'm always hungry..."
Since being revived in the Lake Kingdom, the Fallen Knights had been completely freed from the issue of food.
After all, the humans of the Lake Kingdom were all cursed with eternal life, coming back to life no matter how much they were devoured.
Though completely soulless, making them dull and uninteresting prey that didn't react even when chewed alive. Nonetheless, the Fallen Knights were always well-fed.
But as soon as they left their base, they felt hunger. And Pendragon felt the same hunger.
Pendragon rubbed his empty stomach.
"...I am indeed hungry."
"Hungry, hungry, hungry..."
Unable to bear it, one knight began to bite his own fingers. Pendragon, with a sigh, gestured towards a human forward base visible not far away.
"Good. Let's quickly raid that place. It looks like it's full of food."
"Kihi, kihihihit! Hurry, hurry!"
"Gulp. Gulp."
"I want to chew on a heart still fluttering with life...!"
Drooling through the gaps in their helmets, the 13 knights hurried towards the forward base.
These 13 knights were full of confidence in their own valor, but they were also well aware of the overwhelming track record of the human defense forces.
The Spider Queen, the Vampire King, the Werewolf King, the Goblin God-King, the Ghost Pirate Captain, and the Grand Sorceress. Rumors had it that even the Plague Lord and the Succubi's daughter were among them.
A formidable defensive line that had reportedly defeated all eight commanders of the Nightmare Legion. This place, Crossroad, was nothing short of the humans' final line of defense.
Pendragon had dismissed all those in the Lake Kingdom who called themselves kings, except himself.
However, he did not consider them weak.
These monsters were all defeated by the human commanders and defense forces.
'I admit it. The human defense forces are strong.'
Therefore, he would not be careless.
With all their might, they would smash them to pieces and chew on the meat of their enemies as trophies. A wicked laugh leaked from Pendragon's open helmet slit.
"Draw your weapons!"
As the forward base came close enough and they judged they had entered the interception range of the enemies.
Pendragon drew his greatsword - the man-eating Excannibal. Then, his subordinate knights also drew their dreadful weapons one after another.
A giant scythe, a spear wrapped in tentacles, a flaming sword fueled by human fat, a mace made solely of finger bones...
After glancing back at his subordinates, Pendragon pointed his greatsword forward and shouted.
"It's time for the feast! Charge-!"
"Chaaargeee-!"
"Eat, eat, eat, eat, eaaat!"
The 13 knights spurred their corpse horses, rushing towards the forward base.
But why?
"...?"
Despite the Fallen Knights getting closer by the moment, there was no interception from the forward base.
'What's going on?'
Pendragon, who had made a name for himself as a conqueror before becoming a monster, felt something was off. He was a man who had experienced countless wars in his lifetime.
Why is there no interception coming?
Could it be a trap, luring them in to wipe them out all at once?
No, but...
'There's not even a sign of life?'
There was no interception, nor anything else coming from the forward base.
It was as if it was completely empty...
Soon, the other Fallen Knights also noticed something was amiss. All the knights gradually slowed down and came to a stop in front of the forward base's gate.
"Great King!"
At that moment, a long-haired Fallen Knight who had approached the gate called out to Pendragon in a flustered tone.
"The gate is open, Great King!"
"What...?"
Surprised, Pendragon saw that it was true.
The thick gate of the forward base was not locked but slightly ajar, as if inviting them in.
"I'll go in first."
The long-haired Fallen Knight took the lead, opening the gate, and the rest of the Fallen Knights followed closely, ready to unleash an attack at any moment.
However- there was nothing.
No interception. No enemy. In fact, nothing at all.
Realizing there were no enemies, the Fallen Knights poured into the forward base and were bewildered as they surveyed the empty interior.
The clean and perfectly maintained forward base was empty. Pendragon grunted.
"To not use such a facility for defense? Just leave it empty...?"
"Great King. There's no one here."
After scouting the entire interior of the forward base, the Fallen Knights eventually returned and reported.
"It looks like it was used until just yesterday, given the signs of life... It seems they pulled out knowing we were coming."
"..."
Pendragon found it dubious, but he couldn't kill enemies that weren't there.
"Understood. First, raid the stores for food. Let's have a meal."
"Eh, Great King! I don't want to eat anything but human flesh."
"We haven't eaten anything but human flesh since we were resurrected..."
"Don't whine, you fools. Isn't it wartime now?"
Pendragon tried to appease his grumbling subordinates, but the long-haired Fallen Knight who checked the storage came back sweating.
"Uh, Great King, the thing is... There's no food to be seen."
"What?"
"The storage is completely empty. Not a speck of dust."
Silence fell.
Pendragon frowned as if incredulous.
"What are you saying? For a base of this size, used until yesterday... the storage is completely empty?"
But it was true.
When Pendragon checked, indeed, all the storages of the forward base were clean and empty.
"Did they remove everything through a teleport gate..."
Kicking a pile of broken magic stones, Pendragon clicked his tongue.
Annoyed as he was, he couldn't fill an empty storage. That's when the other Fallen Knights began to whine.
"Great King..."
"I'm so hungry... I feel like I'm going insane..."
"Tch."
Pendragon gestured towards the nearby forest.
"Let's go hunting then. There must be animals in that forest. Let's go."
Thus, the Fallen Knights left the forward base and entered the forest.
However, only after a few hours into the hunt did the Fallen Knights notice another anomaly.
"Something's wrong, Great King."
"..."
"Not a single animal, let alone a human, is to be seen."
Ssshhh-
Only the hot wind blew through the silent forest.
"It's a lamentable situation. How can there not be a single squirrel in the forest?"
The long-haired Fallen Knight following Pendragon answered.
"Do you remember when we invaded the Elf Kingdom in a previous life, Great King? Back then, the elf bastards played tricks so all the animals in the forest ran away, leaving it completely empty."
"Wasn't that a tale from the era when the Elf Kingdom was overflowing with spirit mages? Are you saying now that the human defenses have elves and spirit mages all among them?"
Pendragon gritted his teeth.
"Could it be that they're using a scorched earth tactic...?"
The Fallen Knights brought back mushrooms and fruits, but.
Even after gobbling them down, their hunger was not sated in the slightest.
"Great King! This stuff doesn't fill us up!"
"Hungry, hungry, hungry..."
"Give us something to eat, Great King..."
"Shut up and bear with it for a bit, you fools."
When they returned to the forward base, night had already fallen. After setting up camp, Pendragon scolded his subordinates.
"In three days' journey north, there's the human defense line, isn't there? Let's feast on meat to our heart's content there."
"Ugh..."
"I feel like I'm going to die of hunger..."
The hunger of the Fallen Knights was almost like a curse.
For hundreds of years in the darkness of the Lake Kingdom, feasting on the people who died and came back to life over and over, they lived in abundance, a fact unknown to them.
Even a slight state of fasting caused severe madness.
And so, that night.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Crack. Gnaw. Gnaw.
"...?"
In the middle of the night, as Pendragon pondered over the supply issue, he heard strange sounds. The sounds of something being torn and eaten.
Startled, Pendragon ran to see,
"These crazy bastards..."
The hungry Fallen Knights, unable to bear their hunger, were tearing into the corpse horses they had ridden on.
The Fallen Knights, hastily swallowing the rotten meat, knelt before their king upon realizing he had arrived.
"Great King, Great King..."
"This won't fill us up, Great King..."
"Give us something to eat..."
Watching the Fallen Knights grovel at his feet, clutching their starving bellies, Pendragon suddenly realized.
He was hungry.
Insanely, unbearably hungry.
"...Huh."
A wide smile spread across Pendragon's face inside the helmet.
"I really do like the number 13."
"...?"
"But my knights. For you, I can break even that."
With eyes sparkling with madness, Pendragon turned around.
"Why do we need supplies? We've already brought them."
***
"Don't do this, Great King."
The long-haired Fallen Knight, cornered in the forward base, steadied his breathing with his longsword pointed forward.
"You shouldn't do this to me."
The remaining twelve Fallen Knights pointed their weapons at the long-haired knight, saliva dripping from their mouths.
"It's truly sad that our number of thirteen has to decrease by one."
Pendragon whispered, flicking his greatsword.
"To safely advance to the enemy's walls, it's unavoidable. Just like in those winter mountains, we have to eat one a day."
"Please, Great King...! How loyally I have served you..."
"Thank you, my friend. Eat well."
"Don't do thisssss!"
The remaining Fallen Knights rushed in like beasts. The long-haired Fallen Knight swung his sword, screaming.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
That night, the Fallen Knights had a plentiful dinner.