“Miraculous boy Rody, dare you fight a decisive battle with me!” A demon general, covering the rear, rode a Flame Nightmare Beast over the fire wall, roaring loudly in challenge.
“I don’t talk to little bugs!” Rody ignored the demon general in front of him, his voice, transmitted through magic, resonated across the entire battlefield: “I have nothing to say to you. If you surrender now, I might consider reading out our ten articles about war prisoners and slaves, as well as the terms for paying a hefty ransom.”
“Rody, although you have slightly more troops than us demons now, you are not stronger in terms of power!” A Ghost Eye Demon Marshal, riding forward a hundred meters, said.
“We humans have the advantage of intelligence, unity, and the spirit of sacrifice. Each of our warriors is determined to face death, resisting invasion with an unyielding shout from the heart, a righteous self-defense. Thus, we can rightfully slay each of you invaders, burying you here. Your ended lives will all become our collective human triumph, our honor, and pride!” Rody replied with a light smile: “We believe in our abilities and in the ultimate victory. And you, from the moment you emerged from the portal, were destined to die a miserable death in a foreign land. Do you think you, mere pawns in war, will live to return home? No, even if you, the foolish, fight bloody battles with us, others will eventually step over your corpses as trophies of their victory.”
“Bravo!” The elderly war correspondent jumped up excitedly. Only this miraculous boy could speak such words in front of the demons!
“Long live humanity! Victory, victory, victory!” The soldiers of Rody city raised their weapons, erupting in a thunderous roar.
“As long as we conquer your place, the entire continent will be flattened by us demons. You will all become our slaves, or be gnawed clean by our ghouls, leaving no bone behind!” Another Horned Demon Marshal loudly retorted.
“You know how to say, ‘as long as’... Haha, what a ridiculous phrase. There's a beggar in the capital of Noren who says, 'as long as' he gets a chance to drink the magical spring water of Mire, he will definitely become an outstanding great magician! Ah, people believe him, but no one believes he can live to reach the Mire Empire! 'As long as', such a heart-breaking word... There was a blacksmith in Camalon who said, 'as long as' he had the best magic crystals and materials, he could forge the sharpest sword in the world. But in reality, he couldn’t even forge four identical horseshoes.” Rody burst into laughter upon hearing this: “As a Demon Marshal, you can't just have a mouth like a ghoul; otherwise, I'm worried for you.”
“What? Damn it!” The Horned Demon Marshal became furious, but deeply concerned, he dared not advance to fight Rody.
In front of Rody, the demon general riding the Flame Nightmare Beast, just as he raised his magic blade, stiffly fell to the ground. The beast, which usually spreads fear of life, changed its usual ferocious and fiery temperament, becoming very tame or extremely cowardly, lowering its head, with flames from its nose becoming very small, its tail swaying uneasily.
A Nightmare Beast recognizes only one master in its life, not out of loyalty, but pride. Unless it is raised from a young age or bound by a contract, Nightmare Beasts never allow any other creatures to approach them. This pride is common in powerful creatures; the more powerful they are, the more apparent it is, just like dragons or golden lions.
Although the Nightmare Beast under the demon general was not the highest tier, its appearance on the battlefield would usually cause most horses and human soldiers to panic, their hearts pounding as they scattered in all directions. Just moments ago, it charged fiercely, but in less than a few seconds, this Nightmare Beast abandoned its master, bowing its head in submission before Rody...
No one knew what method Rody used, but the people in Rody City had already begun to cheer eagerly.
The demon soldiers were slightly agitated upon seeing this scene. Not just the ordinary soldiers, even the Demon Marshals felt a chill in their hearts. If killing a Nightmare Beast required effort, they could do it, but to tame an enemy's Nightmare Beast so easily on the battlefield, such a feat, even the Demon King would not dare to boast.
The miraculous boy Rody, indeed the most formidable and troublesome enemy of humanity.
At this moment, an invisible fear was planted in the hearts of all demons, a fear they had never experienced before facing humans.
Contrary to the mindset of the demon soldiers, the soldiers and magic reporters of Rody City were excited to the point of tears. Although they had heard and even seen recordings of Rody leading battles, no one had ever witnessed it firsthand, felt it in person. At this moment, they finally realized what a proud and glorious thing it was to follow the miraculous boy Rody, to fight side by side with him.
A sense of superiority, never felt before, swelled to its limit at this moment.
Humans are a powerful race, a race that reigns supreme above all, not just ‘two-legged sheep’ to be slaughtered by orcs at any time, or bloody sacrifices for the mass rituals of demons...
Hundreds of demons, unable to escape, were being slaughtered everywhere by the elite squad, forced to huddle together, screaming and howling.
They hoped the Demon Marshals would counter-charge to save them.
But the Demon Marshals, fearing a trap, exchanged glances and decided to abandon this small group of demon soldiers. They would rather see these incompetent soldiers slain by Rody and his elite squad than fall for another of Rody's tactics. No one doubted that if the demons charged, this battle would likely turn into a nightmare, the demons’ advantage in strength would be greatly diminished, eventually ending in a tragic fate like those previous demon orcs, becoming a grand victory recorded in human epic biographies, and a legend joyously discussed in everyday life.
“Soul, Judgment!” Rody’s incantation was very simple, generally understandable by people.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Many magicians could do this, but casting spells without chanting, not praying to gods, not drawing magic symbols, not standing in a magic circle, not using a wand, etc., all affect the power of magic.
Rody had a wand, one carved from green sandalwood, but it was an artifact, not a combat tool.
Now, wielding this artifact wand, he casually waved it, scattering a swath of golden light. Hundreds of demon soldiers, surrounded by the elite squad, all howled in agony, a pain so intense it was unbearable to hear. Ghouls clawed at their own chests with sharp nails, human-faced spiders spewed green poison from their mouths, demon monsters crazily smashed their heads against the ground, some bashing their heads with huge clubs... The undead knights took their skeletal heads off their necks, wildly hacking with swords.
The Dark Wizards, all emitted a mournful scream, akin to the wailing of ghosts.
As for those ghosts draped in filthy rags, they let out strange screams, white smoke rising from their clothes, slowly fading away.
If an angel were to cast a holy light, or chant a sacred magic to dispel the undead, it would cause great pain to the demons, but it's incomparable to this soul judgment. The soul judgment in front of them is a thousand times, ten thousand times more terrifying than the tortures inflicted by the demon lords in hell. Witnessing Rody carrying out the soul judgment, tens of thousands of demons, accustomed to blood and horror, were scared into retreating dozens of meters.
Demons possess great power and almost fear nothing, but they are terrified of the extinction of their souls. They were relieved that the Demon Marshal didn’t rashly order a charge, otherwise, it would be themselves who were wailing. Hundreds of demons were torturing themselves, hoping to alleviate the pain of the soul judgment through physical suffering, but it was utterly futile… The vampire ghosts were the first to perish, twisting and crashing aimlessly in the sky, screaming helplessly. The only ones who didn't retreat were the three Demon Marshals. They too were utterly shocked; this miraculous boy Rody knew the soul magic that most troubled the demons, and moreover, he was a king-level mage, no wonder he dared to counter-charge with only a hundred men.
“Rody, you are powerful, but we are not weak either. You have soul judgment, we have dark sacrifices!” said the Ghost Eye Demon Marshal: “I admire your wisdom and strength, but the human soldiers standing behind you are your burden.”
“We will definitely conquer Rody City, definitely, but not today!” The central Demon Marshal, who had been silent, ordered a full retreat as soon as he spoke.
“Come on! I can tell you frankly, we are not concerned about tens of thousands of demons. Humans will surely win. If one day the demons conquer this human bastion, then I swear, I will lead troops into hell, as a reciprocal gesture. Our human attitude is this: friends come, there is good wine; wolves come, there are hunting rifles. Demon soldiers, we are waiting for you in the city, welcoming you with bows and spears!” Rody laughed heartily, then turned and walked away, ignoring the Demon Marshals.
The demon general who lay stiff on the ground suddenly moved. He raised his blade of darkness and, amidst the screams of the people, ferociously struck at Rody.
Everyone was stunned.
The demons’ soldiers were overjoyed, but in an instant, their smiles froze like glaciers. Because the Flame Nightmare Beast, which had just been ridden by the demon general, opened its mouth wide, angrily spewing a burst of explosive flames at the general, then reared up high, trampling heavily on the back of its former master, burying the demon general deep into the ground.
“...”
“I, I'm fainting!”
Not only the demons’ soldiers’ eyeballs, but even the human soldiers’ eyes were all on the ground.
How could this be possible? The beast, that was just being ridden by its former master, suddenly attacked in anger. Even if it was a betrayal, even if it was loyally protecting its new master, it shouldn’t be like this, right? What exactly did Rody do? To make the Nightmare Beast so tame? To instantly turn it into his war beast?
People looked at the hundreds of demons in agony, self-mutilating and rolling on the ground, at the demon general in pain, twitching with half his body buried in the ground, at the Nightmare Beast following Rody like a docile lamb, at the tearless expressions of tens of thousands of demons, at the fear in their eyes never seen before, and suddenly, excitement surged from the bottom of their hearts. In silence, they burst out, everyone rushing to embrace each other, old soldiers with tears streaming down their faces, young soldiers cheering and jumping...
“Long live Rody! Long live the elite squad! Long live humanity!”
“Victory, victory, victory!”
In the soldiers' eyes, demons were no longer fearsome, no longer strong, no longer an unstoppable force. They too can die, suffer, wail, and fear.
Just as the elite squad flew onto the city walls, before they could even speak, they were surrounded by soldiers. People eagerly lifted them up and threw them into the air, cheering for them wholeheartedly.
When Rody returned, the elderly war correspondent rushed to him like an arrow, embracing him tightly, tears streaming down his face: “Seeing the demons wailing before us, I have no regrets in death. I have been a war correspondent for decades, always hoping that one day humans could stand proudly in front of the orcs and demons, cheering, while the enemy sheds tears in despair... Now, I have seen it, I have seen it! Thank you, this day is the happiest day of my life as a war correspondent, my youth spent in this evil forest, but seeing today's victory, even if I die, I have no regrets…”
“Mr. Uso, I’ve heard about you from Marshal Fendesman, you too are a hero of humanity, a brave historical hero who reports the truth!” Rody also embraced the elderly war correspondent, smiling: “You are our predecessor, a role model for us to learn from, just like Marshal Fendesman!”
“If Marshal could see this scene, how happy he would be…” War correspondent Uso sobbed like a child.
That night, seeing the live broadcast of the battle, the people of Camalon skipped dinner and went straight to the streets to celebrate.
Different nations across the continent celebrated in their own ways.
Some neutral countries or federations began to waver, believing that the miraculous boy was indeed miraculous. Troski, despite his hundreds of thousands of troops, disappointingly let thousands of starving orcs be blocked at the Fortress of Saint Song.
“I don’t want to dampen the mood of celebration, but I must speak up, I must play the fool. When the miraculous boy led the elite squad to victory, what was our iron-fisted Marshal doing? People have the right to know this. Why does the miraculous boy Rody, facing tens of thousands of demons with only a hundred men, dare to counter-charge, while our Fortress of Saint Song, with nearly four hundred thousand troops, facing a few thousand starving orcs, cowers like a turtle? Our taxes and food are not for raising turtles! Our human lives cannot be entrusted to a bunch of fools and cowards…” Dennis Free Union Express, having been fooled by the temple and Saint Song’s superiors last time, completely sided with Rody, fiercely criticizing the temple and the fortress daily.
“Do something, anything! Even if it's just for a picnic! Besides holding your ground, can’t you tell me some new plans? Get out, I'm tired of excuses!” This was not said by His Majesty William II of Camalon, but by the King of Noren, furiously scolding.
Considering people's complaints and anger, and discovering that the orcs below the city were really starving, Troski, after overnight consideration and convening three knight-noble assemblies, decided to launch a surprise attack on the orc camp. Worrying that the battle scene might not be exciting, he did not invite magic reporters to record the operation, but had it filmed internally, editing the most exciting parts before broadcasting them to the world.
Twenty thousand elites and thousands of temple warriors, hundreds of temple knights, five hundred attack mages, and ten thousand griffin riders, even two strength angels to boost morale. With such a force comparison, and it being a surprise attack against starving orcs, Troski felt that even without swords, just the soles of their feet could crush the enemy.
He donned a golden armor, personally commanding from atop the city walls, having the army's mages record his most imposing appearance.
When he saw human soldiers stealthily approaching the orc camp, with the enemy still soundly asleep, unaware, a smile finally appeared on his lips. He seemed to see the dawn of victory, imagined the Pope personally awarding him, saw kings who had previously criticized him raising their glasses in celebration, envisioned generals moved to embrace him, saw those contemptible commoners who had doubted him changing their faces to flatter him, especially those magic reporters who had run to Rody City, all coming back to congratulate him...
What a wonderful imagination!
“Our elite troops struck, annihilating over a thousand orcs, showing the world that orcs are not invincible!” The next day, the noble Duke's newspaper in Galle published an extensive report with numerous pictures as proof. The orc camp was on fire, humans dominated the attack, and Marshal Troski commanded imposingly.
“This is a great victory! If one adjective could describe this victory, it would be ‘perfect’,” reported the Redlands National Express.
“Troski is not like some frivolous youngster, who kills a few hundred and then gets overly proud. What is the art of command? That boy doesn’t understand it, he’s too young!” Cardinal of Saint Duri published an editorial.
“My God, this is the biggest lie in history. As a human, I am ashamed!” Old war correspondent Uso distributed a video to countries around the world, reportedly shot by the orc Shaman King and then given to Rody to embarrass humanity. It's said that after the soldiers in Rody City watched it, ninety-nine out of a hundred cried uncontrollably, and the remaining one fainted from anger!
What, then, is the actual truth?