Darius paced back and forth, keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword as he scoured the forests below him.

There were no abnormalities.

The wind lightly blew, and the skies were covered in a thin layer of clouds.

'It would seem that it's going to rain.'

Stopping in his tracks, the man who had a well trimmed beard looked into the distance, thinning his eyes as he stared into the forest.

'Is there.... something there?'

The man stepped forward to the front of the wall as he glared into the forest, attempting to see through the trees themselves.

There were no sounds, nor was there any movement.

Darius had no reason to be suspicious of anything, however after his years fighting on many battlefields, he knew that someone or something was present.

"Have more men allocated to this section of the wall.", he ordered to a man who stood behind him.

"Yes, Legion Commander.", the man immediately replied, saluting by pumping his fist to his chest before rushing off.

It was at that next moment, as Darius honed in his attention to the area of forest, which the leaves truly did begin to rustle.

"Someone is there. Men. Prepare your bows."

The archers lined up at the front of the wall, loading arrows and aiming them downward at the forest before them.

Holding up his hand, Darius spoke in a tone that was not excessively loud, but powerful enough to carry to all those around him.

"Hold until my signal."

The men stared into the distance, focusing like never before.

The last time something like this had happened, a monster had appeared out of nowhere, slaying all in the vicinity with no survivors.

Whether that was due to luck, unpreparedness, or simply a vast difference in skill, these soldiers did not know.

But they were not about to find out.

If it was truly due to being caught off guard, then they would never again allow themselves to let their guards down.

Sweat rolled down the body of Darius as he glared into the forest, of which the leaves continued to rumble.

'When are you going to come out? Come on already. If you're going to lead an attack on humanity..... then do it already. Are you trying to catch us by surprise? Waiting until we're not paying attention? Forget about that. From this moment forth, there is not a man stationed on this wall who is not completely focused on the possibility of enemies appearing at any moment.'

As Darius thought this however, he saw something.

A white hooded cloak.

Stained with dirt and pulling down her hood, a girl wearing a ragged white cloak stepped out of the bushes, looking up to Darius with tears in her eyes.

She looked to be about 8 years old, and her expression was one of fear.

"Please.... help us....", she cried lightly as she looked up to Darius, who widened his eyes at the scene.

"Do not fire! Not a single one of you will fire! That is a young girl! A human!!"

Shouting these orders, the men relaxed their arms.

"A girl...."

"What was she doing in the forest?"

"How did she get into the monster realm in the first place?"

Standing forward, Darius looked down on the girl.

"Why were you in the monster realm?", he asked with kindness, trying not to scare the child further. "Are there any more of you?"

The girl nodded her head yes, waving for the others to come out.

As she did so, they begun coming out of the woodwork as if they were termites.

One by one, the children came out of the woods, taking a place next to the girl.

They all wore the same white cloaks, and they appeared to be dirtied as if they were living in horrible conditions. The children were of all ages and types, and there were roughly 30 of them in total.

One boy stood forward, looking up to Darius without removing his hood.

"We were taken captive as slaves by a man who wore a similar outfit to you..... are you going to enslave us as well? He.... forced us to come to this place by ship, and we were told to scout this area for him..... we've obtained information on the area, but it seems that the man who captured us just forgot about us. We've been trying to find a way back to the human realm.... but.... up until now...."

The boy quivered with fear as he spoke, clearly suspicious and terrified of Darius, who wore the outfit of a Legion Commander.

At hearing the story of the boy, a vein burst in the head of Darius, and he clenched his teeth together, grinding them with indignancy.

'Larios..... you..... you were even making these poor children do dirty work? Even in your death you are still making people suffer!? Or was it Tirius? No, if they traveled into the monster realm by boat it wouldn't have been Tirius, who was already stationed at the walls. But why would Larios want them to survey the monster realm? Was it because he planned on capitalizing on the upcoming war with the monsters? That is.... the most likely scenario.'

Having come to this conclusion, Darius immediately shot forth his hand, giving an order.

"Lower the bridges!!! Allow these children into the walls!! They are victims of war, and will be treated as guests. Give them food and drink, a place to sleep, and we will soon return them to their homes."

With these orders, the soldiers of the Legion immediately complied, and the bridge which allowed passage between the two realms was lowered.

The children slowly walked over, welcomed by the soldiers as they entered the human realm once more.

"Please, come this way."

"Over here, children."

The children were led onto the walls, and directed over to Darius, who now stood before them with his arms folded.

"It would seem that one of my equals has done such a horrible thing to you all. As a Legion Commander of this Empire, as a servant of the Indeterminant, and as a follower of the former Emperor, Percius IV..... I apologize."

Tirius bowed before the children, lowering himself to the ground to the point where he was almost lying prostrate.

"I deeply apologize for this blunder. This is a failure on the entire Empire, and everyone involved in the matter. I will do everything and anything to repay you with that which has been taken from you."

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The men around Darius merely watched in guilty silence.

While they were shocked at first at the reaction of Darius, these men understood well that their commander was making the correct decision.

The horrors which these children had undergone at the orders of another Legion Commander were likely enough to scar them beyond imagination.

Their entire lives had been ruined. Their minds were likely traumatized, and never again would they see the world in the same light as before.

Their innocence as children had likely been stripped from them, and it was the fault of a commander of this military.

As the only remaining Legion Commander, it was the responsibility of Darius to take the punishment for the actions of his predecessors on himself.

Therefore, he bowed before them.

The children merely watched as this man laid himself before them in remorse, however a single girl came through the crowd.

A young girl who appeared to only be around 4 or 5 years old stepped forth with an innocent smile, standing before the man.

"It's alright, Sir."

The girl spoke with innocence in her voice, and her bright energy spread to the soldiers around the area.

And on hearing the innocent voice of this girl, Darius felt himself tear up.

'Perhaps.... they have not been so tainted yet.... perhaps.... they can still be returned to their normal lives....'

It was then that Darius felt a foot on the back of his head.

"It's alright. Because dad taught us to be strong. Mom taught us to care for one another. And her eminence taught us that even if we're slaves.... that there's nothing wrong with that."

It was at that moment that Darius felt something sharp being pressed into the back of his neck.

The cool flow of blood and the burning sensation of being stabbed combined in the same spot, and Darius found it difficult to breathe.

"Urp.... blerp...."

Trying to speak, blood spilled from his mouth as he looked at the ground, slowly raising his head to look at the girl before him.

The young innocent girl looked down on him with a smile.

That smile, so filled with innocence, carried a horrid bloodthirst within it.

In her hand was a knife, and it was covered in blood.

The blood of Darius.

It dripped to the ground, and her white hooded outfit was now stained red.

'No..... no..... that.... that can't be..... has she....'

Lowering his head to the ground, tears flowed from the eyes of Darius as his vision became hazy.

'Have they already been corrupted beyond the point of no return?'

As he thought this, fear and sadness overcame the man as blood flowed from his neck.

'Have they already been turned into monsters?'

----

The word shock didn't even begin to describe the emotional state which each and every soldier was currently experiencing.

Their Commander, dead.

In that moment of bliss as they were filled with warmth upon seeing the innocence of a young child as she forgave those who had put her into such a position, the soldiers couldn't help but to be filled with happiness.

However, what a facade that happiness was.

The girl before them was not an innocent child.

She was a little devil, playing with the hearts of men as she slaughtered them.

And the same went for each and every one of the children here in this place.

The fact that a four year old girl could commit this crime was absolutely beyond them, so for a few moments the soldiers merely watched without reacting, unsure if what they were witnessing was even reality.

It couldn't be.

How could that innocent young girl have murdered a man in such cold blood?

It was ridiculous.

It was insanity.

It was madness.

It was ludicrous.

However, faced with the situation before them, it soon dawned upon each and every one of these men.

The children pulled weapons from underneath their cloaks, and each and every one of them smiled horribly.

Their grins were those of demons, and in that moment they shot off at speeds far faster than the men could even perceive.

'Wha-'

'How....'

'This....'

Not even allowed time to react, so many heads went flying in that moment that it would be a task to count them all.

However, these heads did not stop here.

30 little devils had been released inside the walls, and not a single person could stop them.

The walls were cleaned of men, covered in blood and bodies from beginning to end, in the matter of minutes.

The children didn't stop there, however.

After slaughtering everyone on the walls, they cleared out everyone in the tents, eliminating every last soldier with swiftness.

"Ah..... you guys are so fast. I didn't even have time to do anything."

"That's because.... we raised them so well."

Flying in the sky above the destroyed encampment was a humanoid wasp, and in her insectoid arms she carried a humanoid spider.

She wore a dress made from chitin, and her hair and body was streaked yellow and black. She had two human hands on her upper pair of arms, and the spider which she carried had a similar set.

The humanoid spider wore a tuxedo and grinned as he looked around, his fangs poking out of his mouth as he thinned his four eyes with enjoyment and approval.

"You're right. We did raise them well. They grow up so fast.", he stated in reply to the words of the wasp.

This was Coran, the first slave owned by the antiheroes, and his own personal slave, Alicia.

As the two landed in the center of the destruction, the children gathered around them with hopeful eyes.

"Dad look! I killed all those guys!!"

"Mom, I killed the ones over there!!"

"I made sure to kill them instantly since they were all class 1 like her eminence ordered!!"

"Me too!"

The children jumped around, calling out to the two as if they had just achieved a good grade on a test and were showing it off to their parents.

"I got the leader!!", the young girl shouted with pride, stepping forward through the crowd.

"Is that so, honey!? Come here. Good job."

The two hugged her as if they were a mother and father praising their daughter, lifting her up so that she sat on both of their shoulders.

"Looks like the last army of the humans has now been wiped out. It really is strange that there were no class 2 or 3 people within this entire unit. Perhaps the leader was just extremely strict? I guess he really whipped his men into shape. Or maybe..... I suppose Oraguth and Bella must had already taken care of those people in that last war? Haha..."

Walking over to a large tent, Coran waved for the children to follow him.

"Come on. They've gotto have some good food somewhere around here. The ones at the top can never live without at least some luxury. Let's have a meal on their dime."

"Yay!!"

"Rich people food!!"

Surrounded by children, Coran and Alicia entered the tent of the Legion Commander without reserve.

If one were to ignore their monstrous appearances, the blood which covered the children, and the murderous look in the eyes of each and every one of them, they would appear to be a big happy family.

"Now now.... settle down! Looks like there's already a table here. I guess this was for meetings before? Well, no matter. I'll see what they have and do my best to cook something for you all, so just be patient."

Alicia made her way into another room within the large tent, and as she placed the child who was previously on her shoulder into a seat, she waved to the children as Coran followed her.

"We'll be back in a bit. Be good and stay here until the meal is ready. And there shouldn't be any stragglers, but make sure to kill any humans who make their way inside."

"Of course, dad."

The children replied in unison, laughing and smiling as they gripped their utensils, preparing for a meal.

"Are you sure they'll be alright on their own?"

"They defeated an entire Legion on their own. And you think we can't leave them for a moment?"

"Well.... I guess that's true..... but....."

Alicia looked down with worry, however Coran ran his finger past the side of her head, allowing it to flow through her hair.

"You really are becoming more and more like a mother and less like..... a Queen? You care for the children more each day."

"Well..... of course... they're our children, even if they're not ours.... I mean..... it's like we stole them, but also.... you know.... now we have to take care of them and make sure they're raised properly."

"Mhm."

The two walked into another room in the tent, revealing an assortment of wines, alcohols, and other goods stored in crates.

"Lots of good stuff in here."

Grabbing a wine bottle and popping the cork, Coran drank straight from the bottle, the red liquid dripping from his mouth.

"You'll stain your suit like that. Um..... here.... er...."

Pulling out a handkerchief, Alicia wiped his mouth.

"You're always so careless...."

"Hm? Ah, yeah. Well, that's why you're my slave, right? You're supposed to serve me so that when I mess up it balances out one way or another, right? Whether it comes to taking care of the kids..... or whether it comes to our work as a whole. Hey, I wanted to ask you. Do you have an opinion on her eminence's orders to eliminate all the humans?"

"Mmm.... well, I cannot question her orders. I am not even her slave, but rather a slave of her slave. But I hold no particular sentiment. Even if our children are human, it was also that human who did such things to them. And even if we were able to work with a few other humans.... well.... you noticed it yourself, right?"

"Yeah. I did. And that's why I have absolutely no complaints with her methods. Heh.... here. Take a drink."

"Eh? But.... you already...."

"You don't wanna drink from something I put my mouth on already?"

"Ah... n-no! I.... I would love to! Er- wait! No, that's not what I meant! I...."

The woman seemed to fiddle with her words, looking down and averting her eyes.

Taking a sip from the bottle, the wasp lightly smiled as she savored the drink.

"Most of the humans in this world, when pushed to the brink of death, would throw someone else in the line of fire to save themselves. We proved that with our experiments earlier. Assuming that's the natural state of people, even for people who are normally good.... well.... that's a hard pill to swallow. Even so..... maybe there aren't as many bad people as I thought."

Shrugging his shoulders, Coran put his arm around the shoulder of Alicia, causing her to smile lightly as the two walked along one another.

"However, regardless of that, it is our duty to eliminate them all so that we can pave the way for the new world- a world where everyone has died at the hands of monsters..... and is unable to reject the rule of her eminence as an absolute Dictator."

----

[Time log]

[10:00 AM. A group of seemingly lost children appear before Darius]

[10:03 AM: The children are allowed back into the human realm as the gates are lowered]

[10:05 AM: Darius bows before the children in apology for the actions of the other members of the Vythguard Empire military]

[10:06 AM: Darius is killed]

[10:12 AM: All members of the 2nd Legion have been killed]

[10:15 AM: Appearance of Coran and Alicia, and the complete takeover of the wall by the forces of the army of evil]