Do you hear that?　I heard that the Knights of the Holy Temple were trounced by a horde of demons.

　Rumors began to circulate in the bars in the second-class area of the Imperial City.

''Really? Those guys have a pompous attitude, but they're pathetic.

　A young man chuckled as he clinked his glass of malt liquor, "The people of the Holy Land are as hated in the Empire as the Western Kingdom.
　The people of the Holy Land are hated in the Empire, along with the western kingdoms.
　While the people of the Empire may dismiss it as "it's a good thing that the Holy Land lost and suffered so badly," the ruler, the Emperor, is not so sure about that.

'I order Giselhair to go to war. In the Holy Land, hordes of demons have taken over the Citadel of Trier, and the Ogre King has also appeared. Defeat them and save the people's grasses of that land, or eliminate the sorrows of our country.

Ha!

　The one who was given the order was a thirty-five year old man with short blue hair and fiery red eyes.
　He was dressed in blue crocodile skin full body armor and carried a large black bow on his back.
　He was Giselkhele, one of the Eight Divine Brilliance, the pride of the Empire.

He said, "Two days' ride to the southeast from the Citadel of Toria, and you'll be at the border of our country. Do you understand, Giselkhele?

"As you wish.

　The current emperor reminds him of the reason for his sortie and he replies coyly.
　The presence of the Ogre King means that the enemy's estimated strength is calculated to exceed ten thousand.
　The fort on the border of the Holy Land would not fall easily even if surrounded by fifty thousand human troops, but with a horde of demons whose common sense doesn't apply to humans, it's not worth worrying about.
　The emperor's decision to cut off the root of the misfortune before that is the reason why he is called a 'coward' for suddenly throwing in the eight divine lights.
　Giselkhele bowed and moved to the vicinity of the border fort with transition magic.
　Yagamiaki has the privilege of using transference magic to move anywhere in the territory of the empire, except for the private chambers of the royal family and the bathhouse, but as expected in a foreign country, it's not possible to do so.
　After crossing the border, they had to advance on their own.

(That's how much of the Holy Land's functions remained.)

　He thinks that the city of Toria is one of the most important cities in the Holy Land against the Empire.
　The fortified city of Toria is one of the most important cities in the Holy Land, and it's not an exaggeration to say that it is used against the Empire.
　Since it has even fallen, it is extremely likely that the surrounding villages and towns are all occupied by demons.
　I expect that to be the case, but if I'm wrong, it will be troublesome.
　This is because in the Holy Land, you have to go to the temple once to complete the formalities before you can enter.
　The reasoning that it's not a case of insisting on such a thing for a national event is not understood, at least not in the Holy Land.
　It was an irritatingly inflexible country.
　He first ran to assess the situation around him.
　If there were any witnesses, they would have been astonished.
　For Giselhair was running much faster than a horse, carrying a large bow.
　Then, as his breathing begins to get lightly disorganized, he takes out a black disc-shaped magic tool from the white bag hanging at his waist, as he has some grasp of it.
　It is a tool for conducting thought calls.
　The other party was the Emperor himself.

''Giselhair?''

Yes, sir. 'Yes, sir. From the border crossing to the Citadel of Toria, the temples, villages and towns have been destroyed and there are no survivors. We still don't know if anyone has been able to take refuge in other lands.

Well: ......

　The Emperor sighs at Giselhair's report.
　He doesn't question the fact that the time it took to investigate was too short.
　That's why he chose Giselkhair.

Then, Giselkhele, destroy the demons. "Then, Giselhair, destroy the demons. Leave the rest to us and don't worry about it.

Ha!

　Giselkhele, with new orders from the emperor, puts his magical equipment away in his bag and heads for the Citadel of Toria.　
　As expected, the Citadel has become a nest of demons.
　The sturdy gray stone walls are cracked here and there, and the hard oak gates have been destroyed.
　And outside, a corpse that looked like the defenders of the citadel was left in the field.
　It's probably because demons don't have the custom to bury their bodies and mourn.
　I wonder if they are having a drinking spree or something, when I hear loud laughter coming from inside.

(Goblins, orcs and ogres are basically not that different from humans, right?)

　Giselhair contorts his face in disgust as he thinks.
　Although the people of the Holy Land are not good guys, I don't think they deserve to be treated like this.
　When I searched for the number of demons inside the citadel, I found that there were over thirty thousand.

''If we were attacked by an army of demons that exceeded thirty thousand, we wouldn't have been able to put up a fight.

　It would not be an opponent that even the mighty Imperial Army would be able to easily repel.
　It was common knowledge that between a group of controlled demons and a human army, the humans were at a disadvantage in equal numbers.

''At the very least, we will avenge you.

　Giselkhele takes out a bow and converts magic power into arrows and buckshot them.
　Then he launches it into the citadel.
　It's not to attack, but to alert the enemy to his presence.
　A few seconds later, hordes of goblins, orcs, and ogres are lumbering out of the city, numbering about two thousand.
　They numbered about two thousand or so.

''Since there's only one of them searching for signs of us, do you mean we're going to hit them two thousand and lash them to death?　It's only a demon's wisdom.

　Giselhair smiled scornfully.
　He was now so skillfully hiding his signs that unless he was of considerable ability, he would only feel like a weakling.
　In other words, he knew that there was no one in the citadel who could see his true power.