* * *

“Almost there…… You can hear that, right?”

A faint sound echoed from somewhere not far away. It was a desperate cry, unsure whether it was a scream or a battle cry, mixed with hurried footsteps and dull thudding sounds. It was certain that the allied forces were engaged in combat.

They stopped their advance for the moment and began discussing how they would join the battlefield.

“According to Sir Modeleine, the allied forces are already surrounded. Therefore, we must assist our allies and form a larger encirclement to trap the enemy. Sir Cadel and Hyron will move north. If the two of you use magic to create confusion, the rest, who are gathered in the south, will strike from behind.”

“But the forces to the north will be targeted by the enemy as soon as they create confusion. We should send knights who can protect Sir Cadel and the fairy…… um, Sir Lydon’s father and are relatively resistant to attacks.”

“I will take Van Herdos and Lydon from the Scalet Scales Knight Order. The rest will assist with a surprise attack from the rear.”

After a discussion among the knight commander and the battalion captains, it was decided that the forces would split into the north and south to encircle the battlefield. Since their current position was closer to the north, the knights assigned to the south immediately prepared to move.

“Ahaha! Goodbye, you rabble! I’ll take good care of Cadel, so feel free to be jealous!”

“Goodbye. Let’s try to meet as late as possible.”

With mocking words left for their departing comrades, Van and Lydon joined. Cadel surveyed the knights who would be accompanying him to the north. They were knights from various orders, selected for being relatively unscathed and physically imposing.

Cadel knew it would be difficult to command them all while preparing the magic for confusion. Therefore, another battalion captain was assigned to help lead the knights.

“Let’s move immediately, Sir Sorin.”

“Indeed. We must synchronize with the south, so we should move as cautiously as possible.”

The magic was set to unfold 20 minutes from now. Sending signals from the north and south earlier would risk drawing the enemy’s attention, so they decided to time the attack precisely.

As they moved toward their destination, they kept alert, trying to avoid encountering the enemy. Van kept a sharp eye on their surroundings in front of Cadel, while Lydon casually walked between Cadel and Hyron.

They walked in silence for a long while, when Lydon finally spoke.

“But, you know, do we really need to be this cautious?”

Amid the silent march of the allied forces, Lydon’s voice rang out unusually loud. All eyes, including Cadel’s, turned toward him.

“If you’re just going to talk nonsense, keep your mouth shut and keep walking, fairy brat……”

Van, who had been about to call Lydon a ‘fairy brat’ as usual, quickly shut his mouth. It was because he had belatedly noticed Hyron. Hyron simply smiled lightly at Van’s reaction.

“It’s not like getting caught by the enemy will just delay our arrival. We need to execute the operation on time to avoid any mishaps.”

Cadel, who had spoken in a calm tone, patted Lydon on the back. Lydon, making a clicking sound with his tongue, continued speaking nonchalantly.

“But the only enemy we’ve encountered so far was that amusing High Demon. We haven’t seen a single monster.”

“……That’s true.”

“Unless we enter the battlefield, I don’t think we’ll run into any enemies. That High Demon was just chasing after Modeleine, after all.”

There was nothing to contradict that. In reality, the only threats they had faced in the Demon Realm were the time-bomb magic circle and the High Demon chasing after Modeleine. Those were the only two.

“Still, it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”

“……Well. I just thought we didn’t need to move this quietly to the point of frustration.”

After Hyron’s response, Lydon didn’t speak further, but Cadel, sensing something was off, began to scan his surroundings.

‘It’s true, we haven’t seen any enemies at all. According to Sir Modeleine, we should be getting pretty close to the battlefield by now. Is that why they’re not showing up?’

It could be that all the enemies were already diving into the center of the battlefield, the forest, leaving the outskirts clear. Just as Cadel was beginning to think this way.

“Stop!”

Sorin, who was leading the group, shouted in a low voice. At the sudden stop order, Cadel, who had been walking in deep thought, bumped his nose into Van’s back. Van, who had stumbled slightly from the impact, grabbed Cadel’s wrist to steady him, then peered over the heads of the knights in front.

Frowning slightly as he scanned his surroundings, what he saw was.

“What’s that little bug?”

It was about the size of a finger, just slightly larger than the length of a fingertip. Its apricot-colored skin was wrinkled and shriveled, and its muscular body seemed completely out of place with its small size. Additionally, it had grotesque eyes that took up more than half of its face. It was a hideous sight that made one want to believe it wasn’t a living creature.

And what made this grotesque creature even more bizarre was something else.

“Haha! It’s jumping backward! It’s incredibly fast!”

The creature was facing the knights and was running backward with all its might. Despite its running posture, it seemed like it should be getting closer, but in reality, it was rapidly moving farther away.

While Sorin hesitated, debating whether to chase the creature or let it go, Cadel, who had leaned forward and rested his head on Van’s shoulder, narrowed his eyes.

“It’s a Baby Devil, isn’t it?”

“……Baby?”

“Of course, it’s not called that because it’s cute. I’ve faced one of those before, back in Baskin Village. It was incredibly fast.”

“Was it running backward like that back then?”

“No.”

There was no monster in any ghost story that ran backward like that. Cadel couldn’t make out the Baby Devil’s facial expression because of its small size, but he felt a strange sense of unease from the creature.

‘……It seems to be scared.’

Its limbs were flailing, and it was desperately trying to raise its head. If it were afraid of humans, that would be odd, considering that even the frail goblins would charge forward without fear. Moreover, if it wanted to escape, it would be much faster running straight ahead.

‘It’s slower than usual. Is…… it being dragged?’

As if resisting some intangible force pulling at its back, the Baby Devil’s movements were awkward and unnatural. After staring at the creature for a moment, Cadel shouted toward Sorin.

“Sir Sorin! Let’s chase that monster!”

It wasn’t particularly difficult to chase the Baby Devil, which had slowed down from its original speed. The knights kept their presence hidden as much as possible, maintaining a certain distance from the monster, and as they moved closer, their expressions subtly changed. This was due to the direction the Baby Devil was heading.

“If it keeps going this way, we’ll reach the designated operation point on schedule.”

Van’s words were right. The Baby Devil seemed to be leading them directly to the operation point as if it were guiding them. As a strange sense of unease began to rise.

“Stop here.”

Sorin raised his hand, signaling to halt. They immediately scattered, hiding behind the trees around them. The tree trunks were bare, and with no leaves to provide proper cover, there was no real shadow to conceal them, but it was still better than revealing themselves openly.

Cadel pressed himself against Van’s back, using him as cover, and peered over his shoulder. What he saw was.

“A magic circle……?”

A large magic circle spread across the empty forest path. The Baby Devil ran over the magic circle, and only then did it stop running.

In the subtle tension, the Baby Devil began to show strange behavior. It stood stiffly as if bound by ropes, then began hopping in place. Its head tilted sharply toward the sky, and its feet were so rigidly raised that its toes bent back unnaturally.

After a few more hops in place, it finally came to a halt. Just as Van’s hand moved to the hilt of his greatsword.

“……!”

The magic circle began to glow, and in an instant, it transformed into something else. It was the mouth of some grotesque creature. The mouth opened wide, as large as the magic circle itself, revealing countless sharp teeth growing in rows both above and below. A long, limp tongue hung out beneath, lashing toward the Baby Devil, wrapping around it.

But what was even more shocking than the appearance of the vicious mouth was.

“Why are there knights there……?!”

The mouth was not only filled with teeth. It was so dark inside, it resembled the depths of an abyss. Within that darkness, there were monstrous creatures that had not shown themselves until now, and the heads of the knights who should have been moving south were packed tightly inside.

As soon as Cadel saw the faces of his subordinates in that place, he immediately broke free from Van’s grasp and ran toward them.

“Commander, it’s dangerous!”

With a sharp click of its teeth, the mouth snapped shut, completely hiding its presence. Where the mouth had been, only the same magic circle remained, just like before.