With my orders given, I cast a final glance toward the throne.
Resting there were the keepsake sword and the crystal containing the remains. Our current enemies were formidable, but I felt this was not yet the moment to wield them. I had no concrete evidence for this conclusion; it was merely a shred of intuition, a feeling that the time had not yet come.
I activated my sensing magic without bothering to arm myself. As I expanded my range, several anomalous signatures appeared within my perception. These beings were scattered about, imbued not with magic power, but with a force that felt dangerously similar to miasma. Their resonance was nearly identical to Gwen’s—these were undoubtedly the Beasts of the Outer World.
Within my territory alone, the beasts had manifested in several locations. None possessed a presence as overwhelming as Gwen’s, but they more than made up for it in sheer numbers. It bore all the hallmarks of a coordinated strike by multiple armies.
The Demon King’s Army was already engaged in intercepting them across various fronts. My executives and their subordinates had divided the labor, responding to the incursions with practiced efficiency.
(Not a bad showing.)
Even in my absence, they had executed their duties with near-perfect precision. Thanks to their efforts, the damage within my borders was being kept to a minimum. Compared to the reports from other nations, our losses were likely negligible.
Under normal circumstances, I would have considered providing support to neighboring countries, but the logistics of such intervention required careful thought. Overtly aiding them would risk altering the world's perception of the Demon King. For the sake of my future plans, that was a development I wanted to avoid at all costs.
Regardless, my priority was securing my own borders.
“……”
I turned my attention inward, analyzing my own body. Upon a careful search, I detected a strange power at work. It was not my own magic power, nor was it the miasma supplied by the Valley of the Dead. It was an endowment granted from some unknown source—the Will of the World.
It seemed the blessing was still acting upon me. I had no way of knowing how long the effect would last, but I fully intended to exploit it for the time being. Through my confrontation with Gwen, I had gained a vague understanding of the Will’s true nature. I planned to seek confirmation from the Great Spirit later.
(To do that, I must process this situation quickly...)
I teleported to the nearest battlefield. I arrived at a lush green grassland where the Demon King’s Army had already established their lines. They formed long, disciplined rows that stretched toward the horizon, positioned precisely along a massive fissure in the earth.
The soldiers were directing a relentless barrage into the depths of the chasm. Volleys of rifle fire and various schools of magic were unleashed in rhythmic cycles according to the commanders' shouts. The front and rear ranks swapped positions with practiced speed, maintaining a continuous curtain of fire.
My sensing magic revealed an staggering number of organisms lurking within the fissure. The Demon King’s Army was holding the line, meeting the swarm head-on.
As I assessed the tactical situation, Henry, the general in command of the area, came running over.
“Yo, Boss! Finally back, I see. Glad to see you’re in one piece.”
“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” I responded quietly as Henry clapped me on the shoulder.
The soldiers seemed to notice my arrival, but not a single one broke formation or ceased their fire. They understood that operational discipline took precedence over formal etiquette. They were well-trained.
Henry planted his hands on his hips and looked at me expectantly. “Since you’ve shown up, I take it I can count on some backup?”
“Yes. I’ve kept everyone waiting long enough, so I intend to provide my full support.”
“That’s a relief. I was just starting to hit a wall.”
Henry pointed toward the fissure. I nodded and took to the sky, maintaining a telepathic link with him as I hovered over the chasm. From this vantage point, I finally saw the true form of the miasma signatures.
An unthinkable number of frogs were attempting to claw their way to the surface. However, these were no ordinary amphibians. Their bodies were as translucent as water, their silhouettes visible only through the play of light and the shimmering of their forms. Only their bloated, singular eyes were a vivid, piercing red.
Each of these deformed frogs radiated a significant concentration of miasma. The sheer volume of it was enough to cause immediate undeadification in any living being.
When the attacks from the Demon King’s Army struck home, the one-eyed frogs were wounded and tumbled back into the depths. However, as they fell, their bodies writhed and split. Having multiplied mid-air, the creatures would then cling to the walls of the fissure and begin their ascent once more.
(So these are the Beasts of the Outer World...)
They were vastly different from Gwen in form, but the resonance was unmistakable. It seemed the term was a collective designation for a variety of species, with no apparent biological uniformity.
I continued my observations. Among the infinitely multiplying swarm, some individuals seemed to die without dividing. Conversely, others split spontaneously even without being attacked. There was no discernable logic to it. Their ecology was utterly bizarre—certainly not a product of this world’s natural order.
While the Demon King’s Army currently held the advantage, keeping the swarm contained within the earth was only a matter of time. Against a foe that multiplied endlessly, the army’s offensive capacity would eventually be exhausted.
Furthermore, the soldiers were beginning to show signs of fatigue. While there were no direct casualties yet, some were being rotated out to the rear for rest. It appeared they had suffered mild mental contamination from prolonged exposure to the frogs.
I spoke to Henry on the ground via telepathy.
“Tell me how this began.”
『Yeah, I can do that.』
Henry kept his explanation concise. Apparently, the frogs had rained down from the heavens without warning. They had immediately begun devouring everything in sight—livestock, crops, and humans. Upon receiving the report, the Demon King’s Army had moved in to purge them.
However, the frogs' ability to split made the extermination effort difficult. Eventually, judging total annihilation to be impossible for the time being, the army had driven the swarm into this fissure to contain them.
The frogs themselves were physically weak, but they were seemingly immune to binding magic. The only way to hold them back was to subject them to a ceaseless barrage of destructive force. The reserve mages were currently analyzing the carcasses in hopes of finding a weakness or a more effective containment spell, but so far, a decisive solution had eluded them.
『We were just about to start preparations to seal the fissure itself, but I guess we won't need to bother with that now. Go wild, Boss.』
“Leave it to me.”
I nodded, accepting the weight of their expectations. I owed the Demon King’s Army a debt of gratitude for buying this much time. Without their intervention, the scale of the disaster would have been irreversible.
Targeting the swarm choking the fissure, I invoked a forbidden magic.