Chapter 39

"General Mino, we're approaching the designated position."

"Good work. You're preparing the formation as we move, right? Speed is crucial this time."

The young male mage reported without breaking formal speech, addressing his superior—a beautiful woman not much older than himself.

He had been chosen by Mino herself to be one of her secretaries, thanks to his sharp mind and quick thinking. Including him, Mino had over ten secretaries, each tasked with completely different responsibilities.

In other words, it meant that General Mino was personally overseeing the work of nearly ten secretaries on her own.

"Yes, understood. But if I may... could I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Is the Demon King's army really advancing here? If you have any solid reason to believe that, could you share it? The men are unsure why we're setting up camp in a forest with no strategic value, and it's hurting morale."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Of course they’re not advancing here."

"...Excuse me?"

The secretary tilted his head, puzzled. Mino responded with an exaggerated frown.

"You're overthinking it. Even if the Demon King's army came to this forest, it'd just slow them down, right?"

"Then... why—"

"Their target is probably the northeastern fortress. And Clarise has already been deployed there. So then, how do you think the Demon King’s army will move?"

As one of the Three Great Generals, Mino fully understood how terrifying Clarise was. No matter how powerful the assault force might be, she believed there was no way they could take a fortress guarded by that inhuman monster.

What kind of army could possibly defeat a creature that roared and brought down a thousand bolts of lightning with a snort?

Just then—Boom!—an explosion echoed in the distance, sending up a cloud of dust. It came from the direction of the northeastern fortress.

"See? Sounds like fighting’s already started in the east. Looks like Clarise and the Demon King’s forces have begun their clash. So, to escape Clarise and her absurdly long-range attacks that could blanket this entire country, what will they do?"

As she watched the smoke rise in the distance, Mino smiled as if she had been waiting for that exact moment.

"Ah... To escape Lady Clarise’s attacks, they’ll flee into the forest where visibility is poor..."

"Exactly. This time, we’re not intercepting an advancing enemy—we’re setting up a formation to cut off the retreat of a fleeing one. Keep that in mind while you finalize the formation."

"...Yes, ma’am!"

The young secretary nodded, now understanding, and immediately got to work.

Meanwhile, at the northeastern fortress...

For the demons, it had become a living hell.

"...To think they’d really come. Mino’s sharper than I gave her credit for."

Infernos raged, fireballs danced, and the earth exploded. Guarding the fortress stood humanity’s most powerful black mage—Clarise. All around her were the charred corpses of demons, covering the ground like a carpet of death.

Less than an hour into the battle, over half of the Demon King’s army had been reduced to charcoal by Clarise’s hellfire.

"Lady Clarise, they seem to be retreating. Shall we pursue?"

"Under no circumstances. No matter what happens, stay on the defensive. That is the king’s order."

"So we’re letting them go? Even though they may return as a greater threat in the future?"

"...Let’s hope they do."

Clarise looked down at the retreating demons with a tinge of pity. But as long as they remained within her line of sight, she would not allow them to escape unscathed.

"This order not to pursue is both the king’s command and Mino’s suggestion."

"...I see."

"That woman would never let retreating enemies slip away so easily."

Clarise aimed to slay as many as possible, to turn them into corpses. Not out of hatred for demons.

"I don’t know how Mino plans to use those who escape. But they might end up wishing they’d died here instead. So at least let me kill them now—as brave soldiers—so they may rest in peace."

"Lady Clarise..."

"Don’t worry. Mino would never harm her allies. She does feel affection for those on her side. But at the same time, she shows no mercy—none at all—to her enemies."

"Enemies, you mean..."

"Enemies of the nation... She is a woman who will be endlessly cruel and merciless toward those she deems the enemy."

That’s why I can’t stand her, Clarise muttered. The golden-haired girl, kinder than anyone else, let the fleeing demons reflect in her eyes—eyes now ice-cold and merciless.

"Love is about choice. And battle is choosing what you must protect. For me, it’s this country—where Mei, Penny, and Emma live—that matters most."

With those words, Clarise summoned countless flames behind her.

"Don’t hold a grudge."

And without mercy, she erased the approaching demons—those broken, fleeing survivors—in a storm of smoke and fire.

The war between the Demon King’s army and humanity had begun. And the first clash of armies played out entirely in the palm of Mino’s hand.

The moment the Mino forces arrived at the designated location, the Demon King's army appeared—leaving us no time to catch our breath. Following Mino’s orders, we were stationed at the rear, watching the national army soldiers scurry about in a rush.

Their movements were frighteningly sharp. Efficient and methodical, the national army completed their formation with practiced ease.

“Don’t kill the squad leader-class demons, okay? Heal them just enough to keep them alive. Capturing them is the standard~”

Mino’s formation, constructed in the forest with astonishing speed, looked like a giant antlion pit—designed purely to trap and neutralize the enemy.

“Don’t break formation! Time your chants and unleash concentrated fire together!”

Mages lined up in a fan-shaped formation, channeling the enemy demons into the center where they were annihilated. Caught in a barrage of spells from nearly ten mages at once, one demon after another collapsed to the ground.

Against the individually powerful demons, they leveraged numbers and strategic formations to turn the tide. It was a thoroughly human way of fighting—sly, calculating, and ruthlessly efficient. The Mino forces executed it with precision.

“I see. They’re taking down higher-ranked demons through coordinated magic… Looks like neither I nor Mei have any role to play here.”

“Anyone who can’t coordinate would just get in the way, honestly. I wonder how much training they’ve gone through.”

“It’s an incredible level of discipline. No wonder—they are the national army, and they get paid to fight.”

I had to agree with Mei. This was the kind of battle that only true professional mages could pull off—nothing a self-serving adventurer could replicate. I never want to go up against a unit like this.

Skirmishing mages bombarded the enemy from afar, steering their movements and narrowing their escape routes. If the demons tried to flee straight ahead, they ran straight into the fan-formation and got hit with overwhelming firepower. The enemy never got close—everything was handled from a distance, with brutal efficiency.

Just like with Mei and Karin, if people like me or Rex—who couldn’t coordinate—jumped into that melee, we’d only break their formation. Now I understood why we were only assigned to deal with enemy commanders one-on-one.

“Rex-kun, I’m counting on you if any commander-class enemies show up. We’ve set it up so that if something this formation can’t handle appears, a rescue flare will go up immediately.”

“…Got it.”

“A pink smoke flare means reinforcements. Until you see that, just take it easy and rest your body.”

To be honest, when I first heard she was a strategist, I underestimated Mino’s forces. I thought they were just a support unit—experts in sabotage and tactics, not actual fighters.

But they’re legitimate combat power. If the enemy commander is someone like Mello, they’ll probably take him down without any help. The Penny forces were decently trained too, but this is a whole different level.

Mello might be the strongest individual in the national army, but as a unit, Mino’s forces are probably the most powerful in the whole country.

“If the flare goes up, pull your team back. That’ll be my battlefield. I’ll handle it with my own party.”

“…Well, if that’s what works best for you, go ahead. Just putting it out there though—don’t lose, okay?”

“Obviously. Don’t insult me.”

“The entire plan is built around the assumption that you can beat the enemy commander. If you lose, we’ll abandon your whole party and retreat. Just so you know.”

“You’re annoying. I don’t lose.”

“I sure hope so.”

Mino gave Rex a sidelong glare, half-lidded. She seemed to be thinking something over.

“…I’m counting on you. Alright, I’m heading back to the front. You’re in charge here.”

“Yeah, get lost already.”

“Bye-bye~”

But that was the end of it. She didn’t say anything more to Rex. With a small wave toward us, Mino turned and headed to the front lines, surrounded by her mage escorts.

…All that’s left now is to wait for the enemy commander to show up.

“Seriously. That woman calls me out here just to say ‘don’t lose’… Is she mocking me or what?”

“There’s no way someone exists who could defeat Rex-sama.”

“Well, unless they’ve got a best friend with them. But some no-name demon commander? No way I’d lose to the likes of that.”

…No, I mean, normally no human could beat a high-ranking demon commander solo. Just saying.

Rex is just way too over-the-top sometimes.

“Hunting down the small fry demons that escaped from Clarise’s fortress, huh. Don’t call me out for crap jobs like this.”

“Well, I kinda feel like it’s questionable whether General Mello or General Penny could actually win against one of these guys…”

“Nah, that old man Penny could beat most enemies. He’s a martial arts master, and with Emma-chan’s advice, he wouldn’t fall for tricks so easily either.”

“What about Mello?”

“He’d get provoked, charge in, and self-destruct. That guy acts on his own all the time—he’s not cut out for war.”

…Yeah, that one really has issues with his personality.

“Well, isn’t General Penny off somewhere right now? Nothing we can do about that.”

“True. Thinking of this as stepping in for the old man makes it a little more bearable. He’s a good guy.”

“General Penny really is perfect except for being a lolicon. But he’s totally devoted to Emma, so he’s not dangerous or anything.”

…Actually, in that couple’s case, it wasn’t like Penny won Emma over—it’s more like he got captured by her.

He already seemed like he was totally under her control.

“…Oh. Look over there.”

“Hm? What is it, Rex?”

“No smoke signal’s gone up… but looks like it’s my turn.”

While we were chatting about all that nonsense, Rex suddenly noticed something and pointed to the edge of the battlefield.

“…Hhk!?”

“A red-and-black arc… Half-circle shaped. Looks like they didn’t even have time to send up a signal.”

“Probably took out nearly ten people with a single sweep.”

That red arc was no doubt the blood of the mages. They must have lured the enemy into position for a barrage, only to be slaughtered in a single slash instead.

Rex immediately stood and took off running. I scooped Mei-chan into my arms, and with Karin by my side, we sprinted toward that now-blood-soaked part of the battlefield.

“Enemy commander! Rex’s party, move out!”

Looking ahead, we could already see Mino frantically signaling the surrounding troops to fall back. While mages scattered and fled like startled rabbits, we rushed straight against the flow—charging headlong toward the one clearly towering demon that had appeared.

“We’re counting on you! Rex-kun, Flatche-san!!”

With the strategist’s voice behind us, Rex surged ahead alone like a fired arrow, charging straight at the demon commander with his blade drawn.

It was my first time fighting alongside Rex, shoulder to shoulder. Back then, I had no idea how it would end. I was just excited—genuinely thrilled to be heading into battle with my best friend.

On that day, what we thought would be a simple mop-up operation—
the battle where Rex and Mino fought side by side—
would go down in history as a pivotal moment that changed everything.