A crystal ball that looked like a magical artifact glowed softly and started displaying images of the Roble Holy Kingdom.
Soon, Aurelius and Narberal were also clearly visible in it.
Remedios and Princess Calca, along with countless nobles, watched the two adventurers in real time with their gazes fixed on the crystal ball.
Earlier, when Aurelius prepared to make his appearance on the battlefield, Queen Calca proposed to support him with her forces. Remedios also wanted to aid him with ten thousand men.
However, the response they received was unexpected—a resolute refusal. Aurelius's message was clear: He and Nabe—the two of them were enough.
The grand hall of Queen Calca's castle buzzed with astonishment at such a statement, but Calca did not stop there.
She again attempted to offer her troops in various ways, but Aurelius's determination remained unwavering, and in the end, even Queen Calca had no choice but to yield.
Looking at the image of the two adventurers reflected in the crystal ball absorbed Queen Calca's full attention as she prayed. Her voice was tinged with worry.
"Please be safe."
"Calca..."
Remedios murmured and glanced at the worried Holy Queen.
For a moment, the man who caused the anxiety that clouded Calca's mind seemed almost foolish to Remedios. She thought to herself that the foolish, overconfident, and arrogant man would surely die.
Even if he were somehow fine in the beginning, he would surely die of exhaustion in the end.
*****
On the other side, Aurelius, unaware of Remedios's thoughts, pulled out his brilliantly shining platinum-colored Greatsword—Excalibur.
Beside him, Narberal stood still, clad in a brown robe.
Fifty thousand troops were slowly advancing towards them.
A fierce wind blew, heightening the tension, and Aurelius raised his voice, calling out to the invaders to issue a warning.
"Listen, invaders! I am Lucifer, a Mithril-rank adventurer from E-Rantel in the Re-Estize Kingdom. You have invaded this land without a declaration of war. You all deserve death, but I will give you a chance out of mercy. Surrender now, and your lives will be spared."
His words were a warning to the Demi-Humans. But they ignored him, continuing their fierce advance.
It was as expected. Aurelius pretended to sigh at the stupidity of those who refused to surrender, pressing on without hesitation.
He then turned to Narberal and spoke quietly.
"Be on guard for something unexpected."
Right after Aurelius said that, a radiant blue light began to emanate from Excalibur's blade in his hand.
He exhaled deeply, took a low stand, and pulled his sword back, as if ready to deliver a horizontal slash.
"I will help."
"No. The first attack is mine alone. Nabe, you just stay back and watch."
"Yes!"
The powerful blue holy energy started to pulse from the sword, growing more intense with each passing second.
It was so intense that the aura surrounding the blade was almost blinding. And not long later, feeling the aura accumulate to the limit he had wanted, Aurelius swung his sword hard.
"Destruction Sword, First Move: Splitting Heaven!"
Zzzing!
With an eerie cry, blue energy burst forth from the sword, hurtling towards the 50,000-strong army.
Boom!
The attack's sheer power split the space in an instant as the blue energy cleaved through the sky, leaving a jagged rift in its wake.
~
As the blue sword energy collided with the world, silent darkness covered everyone's vision for a split second.
It was as if the sun had set and an apocalypse had come. The slash was so powerful that it altered the sky's color and made the air itself stop, silently stealing the breaths from the Demi-Human soldiers one by one.
-Dump!
By the time the light came back, countless Demi-Humans were bisected, their torsos separated from their lower halves, bleeding out without a sound.
A deep crimson tide soon soaked the dark brown earth.
Like a deep blood sea.
Corpses of the fallen piled up like mountains; their blood formed a vast, gruesome sea.
About half of the survivors were in shock, their eyes wide with horror as they witnessed the carnage and saw their comrades slain in front of their very eyes.
Nasrene Belt Cure, Magelos's leader, lay on the ground with only his lower body intact but his upper body completely obliterated.
Buser, the head of the Bafolk Tribe, was also instantly decapitated, leaving only his head.
Halisha Ankara, the leader of the Stone Eaters, was missing the lower half of her body, and her internal organs were grotesquely scattered around.
Even Vijar Rajandala, the sole surviving leader of Zoastia, fell into a pit of despair at the sight of 25,000 children who had died instantly.
"No, this is nonsense..."
"The army of demi-humans..."
"It's a monster."
A clamor of shock filled the air.
*****
On the other side, the image of Aurelius reflected in the crystal ball left the nobles in the audience room, as well as Princess Calca and Remedios, in a state of bewilderment.
Everyone in the hall was stupefied by the sight of Aurelius reducing an army of 50,000 to half with a single sword slash.
Cold sweat trickled down their backs, and they couldn't even swallow their saliva in nervousness.
That power of that slash just now was an absolute force, beyond anything Remedios had ever seen in her life.
She herself was considered to be in the realm of heroes. Yet, in the presence of Aurelius's power, her own strength felt insignificant.
Even if she was the target, she was aware that she would face instant death.
If she was in the realm of Heroes, then Aurelius's powers belonged to a realm she had only heard of in mythology.
The realm of gods.
Controlling her body, which shivered almost instinctively at that thought, Remedios observed him carefully, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
His strike, which shattered her expectations, had come in an instant. It made her feel like she was dreaming.
She couldn't believe it, even after witnessing it herself.
No, she didn't want to believe it.
How could such power come from a single human being?
Remedios reflected that if Calca hadn't stopped her, she might have really died earlier when she dared to raise her sword against that man.
Contrary to Remedios, Queen Calca's expression was a mix of shock and awe, but there was something more. She was helplessly drawn to the strength of the man she loved. Her face flushed red like an apple, and she was utterly shocked.
"Lucifer-sama... So cool...!"
Calca was in a state of ecstasy.
She let out her heavy breath and watched Aurelius move on to his next action.
*****
The Aberion Hills quickly turned into a bloody festival.
Half of the 50,000 troops were instantly killed by the blow of a mysterious blond man.
"What the hell is that guy?!"
The sight of Nasrene, Buser, and Halisha's brutal deaths made Vijar Rajandala's pupils tremble.
They simply ignored the early warning, and the man swung his sword, slaughtering 25,000 subhumans from over 100 meters away. The sudden turn of events shook Vijar to the core.
Magelos, Bafolk, and Stone Eater were all wiped out. Only the Zoastia race, Snakeman, and a few others who followed incidentally survived.
Armed with various weapons, the remaining Demi-Humans swallowed nervously, smelling the thick scent of blood and iron.
"Tch."
Upon witnessing this sight, Aurelius clicked his tongue in surprise. He had intended to kill only 20,000 but couldn't control his power and ended up killing 5,000 more.
It was truly a pity.
Shaking his head, he looked ahead once again and spotted a large figure with a tiger's head.
"Is that guy Vijar Rajandala? He seems to have lost his fighting spirit."
Such a pathetic sight made Aurelius recall his battle with Luna, one of the few who had been truly fun to fight. He had high hopes this time too, but now he felt regret that Vijar Rajandala did not live up to those expectations.
"I feel sorry for Demiurge. But that's it. There's no reason to waste time with those who have lost their fighting spirit. I'll annihilate them all with the next blow."
The Demi-Humans were already in despair at Aurelius's overwhelming force.
"What the hell is that bastard?!"
"I've never heard of anyone so strong!"
"I'm running away! Don't stop me!"
One by one, the Demi-Human soldiers threw away their armor and began to flee. Their screams exploded like a roar, and the Demi-Human Alliance's system collapsed in an instant.
But at that moment, Vijar Rajandala turned to the cowards, who were running away in terror.
"You fools! Don't run away! This is a golden opportunity! That bastard's last attack must have cost him a considerable amount of energy! Now is the best time! Everyone, prepare for death and advance!"
Vijar Rajandala's roar brought some of the demoralized Demi-Humans back to their senses.
"Yes, we can win!"
"He must be exhausted! Charge!"
"Follow Vijar Rajandala!"
Unlike earlier, the troops' spirit suddenly surged, and they began to advance, stepping over 25,000 corpses with their arms raised.
25,000 troops galloped at high speed toward Aurelius.
"As expected, they are foolish, inferior creatures. How pitiful."
"What would you like to do, Lucifer Sama?"
"I'll take care of it. The guys from the Holy Kingdom are watching from the crystal ball. I'll have to give them a good show."
"Yes!"
———————————————————
Read 40+ chapters more on Patreon and support me!
https://www.patreon.com/ParadiseFruit