ELLEN POV

Emerging from my tent, I swiftly fastened my helmet. The morning sun bathed me in its golden radiance, turning me into a beacon of light amid the solemn faces of the onlookers. There was a heavy air of anticipation as no emissaries from the war council had yet come to call on me. I had been informed that their relentless discussion, carried over from the night before, showed no signs of abating.

I walked to the camp's edge and took a seat, my gaze fixed upon the vast expanse of land that lay before me. My reverie was interrupted by the arrival of an errand boy, hurrying toward me with something wrapped in a ragged piece of white cloth.

Accepting the bundle from him, and hearing his advice, I began to descend the steep cliff from its more gradual side. The wind whistled through my helmet as I charged down the gentle slope, my heart pounding with anticipation and uncertainty. The battlefield stretched before me, an ominous canvas painted with the threat of an impending battle. On the horizon, the monstrous encampment loomed, its dark silhouette contrasting sharply against the morning sun's golden hues.

Recognizing that a mere walk would consume too much time, I channeled mana into my legs, granting me a tremendous burst of speed. As I raced toward the encampment of the enemy, the cryptic words spoken by Zena continued to occupy my thoughts. What was the surprise she had hinted at?

As I continued my swift journey, I sensed a penetrating gaze upon me. My eyes fixed ahead, and I spotted a teenage girl staring directly at my approaching form. Even at a distance, her features were strikingly clear. She possessed a porcelain complexion that contrasted sharply with her silky black hair and deep purple eyes. After a few moments of unbroken scrutiny, she vanished among the tents behind her.

The possibility that she might be a captive gnawed at my conscience, stoking my anger. Despite my profession as a mercenary, there were lines I had never considered crossing, and the idea of bringing unarmed civilians into a battlefield infuriated me. I was determined to find and confront the person responsible for this.

As I drew closer to the camp, a human woman clad in a maid's uniform approached me. The camp's strangely lax security and the absence of monsters were disconcerting. By now, I expected the monsters to be closing in on me, armed and ready for battle. I came to an abrupt stop before the maid, and she politely inquired, "What brings you to our camp today?"

"I seek a duel with the commander of the Demon Army," I replied. "I was told that if I brought this, he would grant my request." With that, I unfolded the tattered cloth, revealing a massive tooth, as large as my palm, nestled within.

After a brief examination of the tooth, the maid gazed at me with a grave expression, marked by fatigue evident in the dark circles under her eyes. Releasing a small sigh, she spoke in a grim tone, "Do you understand what this signifies?"

I hesitated before responding, "Well, no. I was just told that the Black Spear would face me if I presented this to him."

With genuine concern in her voice, she urged, "Could you not postpone this for today? Engaging in the battle now may cost you your life. There's no need to throw your life away for a mere duel."

Although I could sense her worry, my determination remained steadfast. "I have no choice. It must be today," I firmly asserted.

Resigned, she said, "Very well. I will relay your message. Please proceed and await her. She will meet you during the battle, and you will not be disturbed until then." Taking the cloth and the tooth from my hands, she vanished into the tents.

Returning to the battlefield's center, I sat down. The morning sun bore down, making the confines of my armor increasingly stifling. Time seemed to drag on, and eventually, both armies stood facing each other. The war horns blared, signaling the charge. In unison, both sides surged forward, hurtling toward the impending clash that would determine the destiny of this battlefield.

The battlefield seethed with heightened tension, the monsters and soldiers displaying a disturbingly heightened level of agitation and bloodlust compared to the previous day. I remained on high alert, my hand firmly gripping the hilt of my sword, prepared for any potential threat. Yet, as the maid had assured, nobody paid me any heed. I sat in solitude, a silent witness to the carnage unfolding as monsters and soldiers fell lifelessly around me.

When the sun reached its zenith, a subtle tremor coursed through the air around me, jolting me to my feet. I fixed my gaze forward, and there, slowly advancing towards me, was the person I had been anticipating. Completely enshrouded in obsidian-black armor from head to toe, not an inch of skin was visible. A palpable sense of fear radiated from him, causing those in his path to instinctively part and clear his way.

Before long, he stood before me, and it was the first time I had ever regretted my decisions to this extent. Though he simply stood there, an overpowering aura of strength emanated from him, likely making him the most formidable opponent I had ever faced. Doubt gnawed at my confidence, and I harbored no illusions about my chances of victory. I now understood why everyone had emphasized the need to merely stall for time. Even that appeared to be a formidable challenge without meeting a swift and brutal end.

"Do you know what you've brought me?" His voice, cold and hollow, finally shattered the oppressive silence. Was he referring to the tooth? It seemed that both he and the maid were fixated on the same mysterious object. I couldn't help but wonder what made that tooth so significant, a question that hung ominously in the air.

Observing my silence, he continued, his voice imbued with a slight chill, "Seeing as you are not involved with it, I will give you one last chance to walk out of this alive."

"I…" I began, but before I could finish, I drew my sword with lightning speed, infusing mana throughout it. I aimed to slash at him in a swift and forceful attack. Caught off guard, he took a step back—a fatal mistake. My blade passed right through him, but it was not the victorious feeling I had anticipated.

The absence of the sensation of cutting into flesh told me this wasn't an illusion. He had moved so quickly that my eyes couldn't keep up. Just as I prepared for another strike, a surge of bloodlust from behind me sent my senses tingling. Before I could react, something slammed into my chest, sending me rolling across the battlefield.

I finally stopped, digging my sword into the ground to anchor myself. My armor, a faithful companion over the years, was now horribly caved in, and I felt a metallic taste in my mouth.

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It had been a grave mistake to hold back, thinking this fight would be easy. If I didn't give my all, I would seriously die today. There was no escaping without revealing my true power. Perhaps that was their intention all along for sending me to fight this 'Monster'.

Removing my helmet, I threw it aside, properly taking in my surroundings. The adversary was approaching, seemingly unaffected by my earlier attacks. Discarding the ruined breastplate, I lightened my burden.

Holding my sword, I slowly closed my eyes, beginning to circulate mana throughout my body. I felt it filling my mana vessels, making me lighter with each passing second.

This time, I sensed his fist even before it approached. With my eyes still closed, I deftly deflected his attack with a light tap of my sword. Slowly, I opened my eyes, and he staggered back. I knew this was an intentional feint, so I stood my ground.

Realizing I wouldn't fall for his trick, he composed himself and looked straight at me, without a hint of surprise. "You should have started like this from the beginning," he remarked.

In response, I raised my sword toward him, surrounded by a swirling wind. Placing my right foot forward, I launched myself toward him, fully committing to this battle.

VESPARA POV

The sword barely grazed my side as I deftly evaded the strike. My armor bore witness to the intensity of our battle, adorned with holes and gashes that hinted at its wear and tear. Protection was never its primary function; rather, it merely served to streamline the task at hand and hide my face.

"Stop darting around and stand your ground," the girl in front of me urged, her breath hurried and labored. She was a vision of exhaustion, drenched in a mix of sweat and blood. Her once-platinum hair was now muddied, mirroring the hues of the surrounding sand. The fierceness in her yellow-eyed gaze remained unyielding as I sidestepped yet another of her attacks.

Fire, water, wind, lightning, and an array of elemental energies danced and clashed in the air around us. My instincts had immediately signaled upon our first encounter that she concealed her true power. She exhibited a mastery over nearly every element I could conceive. It was no surprise she had been sent to fight me; someone clearly harbored a harmful intent towards her.

After I performed another narrow dodge, she leaned on her sword, which bore numerous scars and had lost several shards, teetering on the edge of breaking.

"Hey, did you never bother mastering your strength, or perhaps laziness held you back?" I taunted, my voice carrying a hollow timbre, influenced by the helm I wore.

"Shut up!" she snapped back, her breaths uneven. "I also know you can't kill me." Her confidence was palpable, suggesting she possessed some hidden knowledge.

"Though not readily apparent, a significant number of your troops are missing. And even though it seems like we're evenly matched in our fight, you could have dispatched me several times by now. I don't know what your plan is, but it's bound to fail miserably no, matter how much you delay," her voice reverberated in my ears. "And just as I've noticed this, so have those watching from above the cliff." A faint smile played upon her blood-smeared lips.

I had anticipated that someone would notice something odd going on, but I never imagined it would be her. She sat amidst the chaos as the two armies clashed, keenly observant. If she could infer this much just by surveying her surroundings, her intuition was indeed something to be feared.

"Well, you're not wrong. I've been trying to buy time," I responded casually. "And I believe I've bought enough of it."

Indeed, my primary aim had been to stall for time. By now, I was confident that Meryl and the others had reached their destination, relieving me of one of my major concerns. Even if they encountered enemy forces, Meryl had my spear.

In the morning, when we discovered Asoth's lifeless body, there were no telltale signs of a struggle or bloodshed. A hunch nagged at me, so I decided to use my powers to inspect his remains. Strangely, I found traces of poison in his body. However, if poison had been the cause of death, there should have been visible symptoms. Many of those around me lacked a deep understanding of demon anatomy, and since Asoth and I were the only demons in the crusade, they assumed his lack of symptoms was natural.

Yet, I had witnessed the gruesome effects of poison on demons before. It was a horrifying ordeal, as the poison would ravage their bodies from the inside, only for them to regenerate and endure the excruciating pain anew. This relentless cycle persisted until the demon could no longer bear it and opted for a swift death. So, I was certain that Asoth must have been on the brink of death when the poison was administered.

Before long, I sensed a swift approach toward our camp. It was the new mercenary whom the human army had recently enlisted. The way she approached sent a foreboding message. Hence, I decided to dispatch only Meryl to deal with her. What she returned with was Asoth's cherished horn, a relic he had clung to just the night before.

Something nefarious was afoot, but I couldn't quite pinpoint it. There were traitors among us, but identifying them in such a short span of time posed a formidable challenge. Therefore, I made the best decision I could think of.

I gathered all the humans, demi-humans, and a select few trustworthy monsters from my forces, directing them to fall back to the rear lines. Meryl was well-versed in wielding my spear, so should they encounter the enemy, they would at least have a fighting chance to survive. With them on their way, I commanded the army to advance into battle.

Now, only a handful of us remained in the camp, along with a few who were injured. Approaching Asoth's lifeless body, I took a seat beside it. "You're causing trouble even in death," I murmured softly while touching his chest. His pale face and small black horns remained unchanged, except that he was no longer with us. Gradually, his body began to disintegrate beneath my touch, and within moments, there was nothing left. A faint hint of sadness tingled in my senses. After sharing a year of life with someone, it was only natural to feel something upon their passing, even if they were not close with you.

"Let's buy some time," I muttered to myself, resolve firm in my heart, as I made my way toward my tent. Donning my sleek obsidian-black armor, I prepared to face the impending battle.

Playing with the mercenary girl for the last hour had been quite enjoyable, especially when she got serious. However, as I slowly approached her weary form, a gnawing sense of unease began to creep over me. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to move from my current position, and my instincts had never led me astray.

Unlike my previous half-hearted dodges, I unleashed my full power to propel myself away with astonishing speed, almost like instant teleportation to an ordinary observer. Turning back, I saw an azure pillar jutting skyward from where I had stood. Before I could react further, something fell from the sky. I gazed upward to witness clouds gathering over the once-sunny battlefield, and a foreboding sensation enveloped me.

The earth trembled beneath my feet, and more columns shot up from the ground. Anyone even remotely touching them disintegrated into nothingness, with no distinction between monsters and humans. The clouds above unleashed torrents of thunder, as if intent on obliterating everything.

In a desperate attempt to seek answers, I dashed toward the mercenary. Thinking that she may know something I seized her by the neck. However before I could ask anything, my momentary lapse in vigilance proved costly, as she unleashed a counterattack that sent me hurtling away. I had severely underestimated her reserves of mana.

I struggled to regain my footing and pointed a trembling hand at her, prepared to speak, but the ominous feeling resurfaced, signaling the imminent rise of another pillar.

Just as I was about to evade, an inexplicable and overpowering force held me in place. Though it couldn't completely immobilize me, it succeeded in significantly delaying my escape.

"Arghh…!" I howled in agony, as if my very soul were being consumed. Only my hand, still free from the column's grasp, remained untouched. The excruciating torment threatened to shatter my sanity, yet I remained conscious and alive, unable to escape the torment.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, a dreamy voice whispered, "The Cycle Begins." Suddenly something brushed against my free hand, but my foggy mind barely registered it. Gradually, I lost sensation in my body, and my consciousness drifted into an abyss of oblivion.