Three days after the ceremony.

　In front of me, there were three of my household members lined up in front of me.

'Iro, Hani and Hoheto!　You have a very important mission ahead of you.
"'Ha!　I know it by heart, sir!

　The three dhampirs who created humanity for the diversion of humanity respond reverently.

　What we have prepared for the diversion this time is three subordinates standing in the arrowhead, and two hundred subordinates deployed to keep their subordinates out. And more than 2,000 ghouls.

　Except for Iro, Hani, and Hogheth, all the other Attendants have been ordered not to stand in the front line under any circumstances.

　The military are precious. Since the Military and its subordinates are the only ones who can go outside of their dominion, their numbers are equal to the number of soldiers in the war against humanity. To create a family member, all of the accumulated CP must be devoted to it. In theory, only two military members can be created in a day. In reality, one is the limit.

　Therefore, the loss of a family member in a diversion to reduce the damage would be a travesty.

　Nevertheless, it is difficult to create a diversion without losing a single family member.

　Thus, the precious sacrifices chosen - Iro, Hani, and Hoheto.

　Lina and the other executives are ordered to stand by at the frontline of the Astor Empire, which is facing humanity along with 3,000 of the main missionaries - the First Control Area.

　Kaede is ordered to stand by at the southern part of Hakusan City, near the front line between humanity and Demon King Kaoru.

　I will carefully check my plan and the arrangement of my staff to make sure nothing has been overlooked or omitted.

　The time is 19:00.
　It's early enough for the human race to go to sleep, and the perfect time for me, a bloodsucker, to declare war.

　With my men in tow, I'm headed to the frontline base of humanity against the Astor Empire - a point one kilometer away from Ishikawa University. It was a point about 3km away from the First Control Area.

　--We will now begin our operation!

　I picked up the loudspeaker and announced the start of the operation with my telepathic voice.

"To all human beings in Kanazawa City, I announce to you all that I am the Demon King of the Astor Empire, the one who unified the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture. I am the Demon King of the Astor Empire, who unified the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture - Theon. I hereby declare that the Astor Empire will now begin its invasion of Kanazawa City!　We do not like useless killing. Those who show a willingness to surrender will be given a life of peace, and those who show a willingness to rebel will be given death. Already, many of us are living a life of peace in the land of the Astor Empire. All those who are willing to surrender, disarm and come to my dominion!　We have three hours to launch our invasion of Kanazawa City!　I hope there are many human beings who can make wise decisions.'

　I utter the advisory in one breath.

'Ilo, honey, hoheto, I'll leave the rest to you.
"'Ha!　I'm awestruck!

　I had retreated, leaving the front line to Ilo, Hani and Hogheth.


　◆


Welcome back.

　Canon greets me when I return to the realm of control.

"Are you ready?
'Yes!　Other than Takahar-san trying to get some experience out of his free time, everything is fine.

　I chuckle when I hear a response from canon. The waiting time for the executives is long. Even if they're ready for battle, they can only actually move into action after Demon King Kaoru sets up the 《Ruling》.
　Takahar probably wants to raise a divine weapon. I understand that feeling. After the Kowaleta world, the mysterious concept of levels was introduced... but the only time you can experience it is when you shake your BP and increase your rank. It may actually be getting stronger little by little, but it's only at the beginning that I was able to experience it. In contrast, the Divine Weapon has just started to grow... you can feel its strength every day, and the moment it looks different when it rises in rank is even impressive. If I can live by my instincts without thinking about it, too.......I'd like to focus on the growth of the divine weapon.

　However, it wasn't a sweet world where I could act according to my instincts and survive.

''Sion-san, you've put 2,000 ghouls into three of the Dampir's subordinates this time, right?
Yeah.
Will it be a diversion?
Do we have enough firepower?
Backwards!　Isn't that a pretty threatening force from the perspective of humanity?
Really?

　Kanon has never seen me struggle much. The existence of humanity invading the territory under their control is also seen as an experience.

I'm sure it'll be tough until we win, but I have a feeling we'll be fighting a pretty good battle. It's possible that we'll have our hands full with our opponent and won't have time to send our main force to the Demon King Kaoru's side...?
If that were to happen, the humans in Kanazawa City would be an existence that doesn't need to be taken into account. I'll just send in the executives and cut them down in one fell swoop.

　If Kanon was right, the humans in Kanazawa City would be the equivalent of 2,000 ghouls as a fighting force. With that level of existence, could they stall the Demon King Kaoru?　If it can be done, then Demon King Kaoru is only that weak. If we can just stop making nonsensical plans and overpower them by force, we can unify Ishikawa Prefecture in a flash.

I'm worried about the opposite: can 2,000 ghouls be enough of a diversion? It won't be a diversion if they are defeated immediately. At the very least, we'll have to hold out until Demon King Kaoru senses an opportunity and sets up the 《Ruling》.

　The greatest feature of the ghoul is its durability. In terms of durability alone, the Living Mail is the best, but in the case of the Living Mail, you have to train equipment, so the cost is terrible. In contrast, ghouls can't handle items. They may have no sense of pain, or they have a habit of continuing to attack without regard to how many wounds they receive, making them an awkward opponent to turn against.

　There are also 3,000 ghouls in the first dominion area as a backup force. Depending on the situation, they will be sent to the front lines to replace the defeated ghouls.

　What's the situation on the front lines?

　I operate my smartphone and check the frontline from Iro's perspective.

　The only thing I can hear from the surroundings is the eerie grunts of the ghouls. There doesn't seem to be any action from humanity at all.

　Then I take control of my smartphone and call Tusk.

'How's it going?'
"Huh?　Thanks for the help!　If you put in the name of the Astor Empire, it will be deleted, so the 13 deadly stars in the northern part of the prefecture have declared war on Kanazawa City.
Response?
Some of the humans are making a lot of noise. Right now, there's a noticeable trend toward confirming the truth.
'Well..... Continue to focus on spreading the word.
Yes, sir!

　The roll was thrown. The only thing left to do was to wait for the enemy to come out.