"What is the status of the battle?!"
In the rear, Colonel Malphas, who held overall command of the Evil Soldier Division, bellowed for a situation report. Yet his aides merely exchanged glances; not one of them dared to answer. At this very moment, the Evil Soldier Division was locked in a chaotic melee with the grasshopper men, and regular communication had been completely severed.
Naturally, it never crossed his mind that this division could possibly be on the back foot against mere grasshoppers. While the grasshopper men numbered several thousand, the Evil Soldier Division had more than double that force. Not only did they hold overwhelming numerical superiority, but in terms of quality, the evil soldiers were legitimate members of the Evil Army—one of the two great powers dividing the world with the Heavenly Army. Being assigned to the Evil Army was, in a sense, the pride of evil and the ultimate proof of strength. Even if there were millions of mere monsters from such a feeble world, they could never match a single evil soldier.
Yet, despite that, the grasshopper men had inflicted catastrophic damage on them in the opening clash, even if only locally. For the Evil Soldier Division, this was an indelible stain on their record. Furthermore—furthermore! The chaos was now so absolute that they could not even maintain their scheduled reports. If His Excellency the General were to learn of this, Malphas would be demoted at best. At worst, he could very well face execution.
"This is a blunder! An utter blunder!"
He kicked a nearby chair with all his might. It slammed squarely into one of the guards standing by the tent's entrance, snapping the soldier's neck at an unnatural angle and dropping him dead on the spot. Without sparing the fallen guard a single glance, Malphas sank into a seat and downed the liquor sitting on the table, just as a sudden commotion erupted outside.
Another guard hurried into the tent, snapping a crisp salute.
"Colonel Malphas! On an urgent matter, Lieutenant Zakoza is requesting an immediate audience to offer his counsel regarding this disturbance. How shall we proceed?"
He asked a question so obvious it hardly warranted answering.
"A mere lieutenant has no right to meddle in the decisions of our military command!"
The Evil Soldier Division Military Command was the brain of the entire force, composed exclusively of field-grade officers and above. The trifling opinion of a lieutenant was not even worth the breath it took to dismiss it.
"Y-Yes, sir! I will turn him away at once!"
Terrified of being caught in the crossfire and killed, the guard stiffened and practically bolted from the tent.
"Hey, you! Stop!"
The instant the guard's shout echoed from outside, a muscular, two-horned demon tumbled into the tent. Dropping swiftly to one knee, he spoke.
"Reporting to Colonel Malphas! Due to the grasshopper forces, the Evil Soldier Division is already in catastrophic peril! I strongly advise that we retreat at once to regroup and reorganize our forces, while also requesting the immediate intervention of His Excellency the General!"
He dared to shout such sheer, unadulterated nonsense.
"This division is on the verge of collapse, you say?! Hold your insolent tongue!"
Though Malphas roared with overpowering malice at Lieutenant Zakoza for spouting such brazen falsehoods, the lieutenant did not flinch in the slightest.
"The reality is far more unpleasant, sir! At this rate, the grasshopper army will annihilate the entire Evil Soldier Division! Right now is our final chance to turn the tide!"
He raised his voice with desperate fervor.
"Our Evil Soldier Division is the proud vanguard of evil! Retreat before the trash of a world like this? I will never permit such a disgrace!"
To beat a pathetic retreat before mere grasshoppers, only to grovel and beg His Excellency the General for salvation? Just try proposing such a thing! His Excellency Lieutenant General Ose would execute Malphas on the spot. That Great One would undoubtedly do so without a second thought.
"This is not a matter of pride! If we do not act this second, it will be too late!"
As Lieutenant Zakoza stubbornly pressed on, Malphas's rage finally boiled over.
"Enough! Slay this insolent dog!"
He barked the order to his aides. Zakoza showed no sign of panic; he merely let out a long, steady breath.
"I do not care what becomes of me! But in exchange, order the retreat! Otherwise—"
"Shut your filthy mouth!"
Drawing the longsword at his hip, Malphas lunged forward and severed Zakoza's head mid-sentence.
In the very next instant—literally in the blink of an eye—beside Zakoza's headless corpse as it crumpled to the ground, a single black grasshopper man stood in absolute silence, having materialized out of thin air.