The leopard-faced evil god clad in a military uniform, Lieutenant General of the Evil Army Ose, gazed out at the tens of thousands of evil forces sprawling before his eyes.
"Magnificent! There is not a soul in this world capable of triumphing over us!"
Raising both arms, he intoxicated himself with an enraptured voice on the sweet wine of inevitable future victory.
This time, the evil forces bestowed upon him by Lord Asura numbered fifty thousand.
Among them were 25,000 in the evil infantry division, 5,000 in the evil artillery division, 5,000 in the evil cavalry division, 5,000 in the defense division, 5,000 in the aviation division, and 4,000 in the special forces—all led by one thousand officers.
Originally, those who belonged to the Evil Army were, without exception, mighty beings who had indulged in every conceivable villainy across their respective worlds. On a universal scale, they ranked among the absolute elite. Even a single foot soldier could effortlessly slaughter the Dragon Species or phantasmal species of such a trivial game board of a world.
In particular, the strength of the Evil Army Officers holding ranks of second lieutenant and above was on an entirely different plane. Each was a one-man army, standing as a pillar among the mightiest beings in existence. And this time, a thousand of them had been mobilized into this realm. Furthermore, several dozen field-grade officers permitted an audience with His Excellency the General were on standby. Such a formidable army should easily pulverize any force, even one led by the Six Heavenly Gods of the Heavenly Army.
The Evil Army's victory in this game was an absolute certainty. All that remained was determining just how brilliantly, brutally, and cruelly they would win. That was all there was to it. And when victory was achieved, this world too would fall under their dominion, allowing them to indulge in evil to their hearts' content.
"Mmh, my blood is boiling."
Death, malice, destruction, hatred—staining this world entirely in the singular hue of absolute despair by his own hands. Merely imagining that sight sent a thrilling shudder down his spine.
"Advance!"
Drawing the longsword at his waist, Ose bellowed the grand command, and the army began its march.
Shortly after setting off, a strange distortion rippled through the space before their eyes.
"Hm?"
Could it be the Heavenly Army rabble who had severed communications with Lieutenant General Forneus? If so, that was all the better.
"To go out of your way just to come die—how admirable! Allow me to commend you!"
Just as he raised his voice theatrically, the spatial distortions multiplied. The creaks in space formed a swirling black mist, rapidly swelling in size and density.
"Most likely an enemy spell. Defense division, raise a barrier at once!"
At Ose's command, the five thousand soldiers of the defense division began chanting the spell for Territory Creation in unison.
Deploying a spell of such immense scale meant the enemy possessed some measure of skill. He would utterly crush those arrogant fools and thoroughly harvest their will to fight. That was the essence of evil—the true conduct of absolute beings.
"Order the entire army to assume combat positions!"
Ose bellowed, and like a single living organism, the vast host shifted into the optimal formation to slaughter every last enemy creature.
Ah, truly marvelous. This was irresistible. With just a single word from Ose, this overwhelming military force moved to completely trample the enemy. For someone like Ose, who loved nothing more than crushing the weak beneath his heel, this was pure bliss!
"Lord Ose, something is emerging from that black vortex!"
His adjutant reported, his complexion pale and his eyes wide with rising dread.
"So it is a teleportation spell, is it?! For mere Heavenly Army lackeys to challenge this mightiest evil army to a direct confrontation is utterly laughable! Let us show them what we're made of!"
Ose thrust the sword in his right hand high into the air once more and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Paying no heed to Ose's theatrics, entities stepped forth from the black vortex one after another.
"Huh?"
The sound that slipped from Ose's lips was one of sheer bewilderment. And understandably so. The pressure radiating from each and every emerging entity was equal to his own—or greater.
"Ridiculous!"
He instantly rejected the impossible thought. As a Lieutenant General of the Evil Army, Ose was one of the absolute beings of this world. Those capable of forcing him to his knees were few and far between. He could state with absolute certainty that no such number of them existed in this world. After all, if such a force truly existed, there would be no one left capable of stopping them.
"Cognitive interference—no, a wide-scale spell designed to project an aura of intimidation, is it? They resort to quite a cheeky trick."
Indeed, nothing was more fragile than an army that had lost its will to fight. Subjugating an enemy after breaking their spirits through intimidation made tactical sense. However, such superficial parlor tricks were only effective when opposing forces were evenly matched. Using them when there was an overwhelming disparity in raw power, as was the case here, rendered them utterly meaningless.
"I see, so that was it. It makes sense why I couldn't stop getting goosebumps just now."
"Mmh, the enemy's spells are not to be underestimated."
While the adjutant and staff officers voiced their relief one after another, the number of entities emerging from the dark vortex climbed toward a thousand. And then—
"L-Lord Ose!"
The adjutant cried out, panic creeping into his voice. Forming ranks before the army, thousands of grasshopper-men dressed in bizarre costumes stepped into view.
And standing majestically at their head was a lion-faced god clad in radiant golden armor. For some reason, Ose felt as though he recognized that god's appearance.
Well, no matter. In any case, the Evil Army's victory remained unshakable. They would simply trample them with overwhelming force, take them captive, and torture the answers out of them later.
"Commence the battle! Trample them!"
With Ose's battle cry, the fires of war were ignited.
And quite literally—the lid to the cauldron of hell had been thrown open by the hands of the Evil Army itself.