In the wetlands ten kilomels north of the New City of Ket Nya, Lieutenant General Forneus of the Evil Army, his subordinates Urokoonu and Fuguo, and Aldebaran's Demon King Army were gathered.
"Hrmmm. Did I not just feel some manner of strange sensation, I wondeeeer?"
Lieutenant General Forneus of the Evil Army voiced his question in a drawn-out tone, deftly grimacing with his fish face.
Forneus was a lieutenant general in the Evil Army. In a sense, he stood among the absolute strongest beings in this world. A common barrier would be blown away just by his touch. Thus, this unique sensation—one he had scarcely ever experienced—must have stirred an instinctive sense of danger within him. Indeed. Had he simply heeded that sensation and fled with his tail between his legs, he might well have managed to return from this horrific, cursed land back to Paradise, where the Evil Army's headquarters lay. It was a slim, impossibly lucky possibility.
Yet ironically, his pride as one of the world's absolute strongest stripped Forneus of that precious path.
"Lieutenant General, sir! Achiki doesn't feel a single thing, no neeeen."
As the sea bream-faced female asserted this while writhing her body in a sickening fashion, the male with the blowfish head chimed in.
"Neither do I, jaii!"
"Is that sooo?"
Turning his eyeballs toward Urokoonu waiting behind him, he asked about the reality he currently feared most.
"Urokoonu, is there any possibility of Heavenly Army espionage?"
"Nothing has caught in Achiki's barrier whatsoever, no neeeen."
Hearing Urokoonu's utterly relaxed response, Forneus suddenly felt foolish for entertaining such an absurd and impossible concern.
"Indeed, those strong enough to deceive this great self are quite limited, after allll! If the Heavenly Army had infiltrated, it is only natural that I would notice, after allll! As expected, it must be merely my imagination, indeeddd!"
He nodded repeatedly, brushing the thought away. Then, sweeping his gaze across Aldebaran's kneeling Demon King Army, he confirmed the purpose of this little outing.
"Do you all understand your mission, I wondeeeer?"
"Yes, indeed. To secure the pseudo-local deity and the diamond in the rough, isn't it nowww?"
At Aldebaran's immediate answer, Forneus spun around in circles, cupped his left hand to his ear, and asked:
"And what of the other defective failures?"
"We shall slaughter and devour them all!"
The Demon King Army responded in unison.
"Exaaactly so! You are my greatest masterpieces. Struggling in battle shall not be tolerated, after allll! Is that cleaaar?"
Aldebaran twisted his body supplely and gave his assent with a wide nod, his expression alight with rapture.
"Of course, my God."
"Veeery well, veeery well, then let us begin at once, shall weee!"
Humming a rap in a husky voice, Forneus began to dance a sickening dance.
As if in response, Aldebaran, Urokoonu, and Fuguo broke into sharp, razor-crisp dances of their own with mollusk-like movements.
"Then onwaaard we march! To revelry, to pleasure, to delight, to ecstasy—let us exhaust every last measure of evil, I sayyyy!!!"
Forneus broke into a rap with his husky voice.
Aldebaran and his subordinates sprang to their feet like clockwork mechanisms and began their march, showcasing strange, mollusk-like dancing and rapping all the while.