The Count’s Youngest Son is a Player

Crack!

“No, this can’t be!”

The soldier’s helmet crumpled like paper in the demon’s grasp, and his head was crushed. The blood flowing from the soldier’s body ran up the demon’s arm, being absorbed into his body.

“You! Are you demons afraid of a direct confrontation?” roared Commander Adhart of Forward Base Alpha, swinging his Aura Blade as he chased the demon too late.

However, the demon Quevia generated a gust of wind under his feet, evading the attack range.

Ssss, haa.

“The taste of human blood really is the best.”

Quevia licked the blood off his fingertips with a vile grin.

Bang!

Once again, Adhart’s swung Aura Blade was effortlessly blocked by Quevia’s right arm. Whoosh.

Compressed wind imbued with demonic energy swirled around Quevia’s right arm, eroding the aura.

‘Damn it. How many men has he taken already?’

Despite the demon’s strength, Adhart believed they could handle him. And indeed, in a direct confrontation, he had the advantage.

In the first minute of combat, Adhart’s sword inflicted several deep gashes on Quevia’s body. But what good did that do?

Whenever it got unfavorable for him, Quevia used wind magic to swiftly distance himself and then preyed on hapless soldiers and knights to heal his injuries.

This wasn’t a problem unique to Commander Adhart.

“Damn it. Too fast!”

“Is there no way to bind his movement?”

“We can’t pull our soldiers back any further….”

Of the four demons that infiltrated the fortress, two were freely wreaking havoc within the formation.

The only reason the defensive line hadn’t collapsed was due to Duke Hansley, who was overpowering the demons, along with Lawrence, Kane, and Jake.

Boom! Crash!

A dark blue lightning bolt streaked across the fortress wall.

“Hmph! Do you think I’ll let you?”

Kane crossed the hunting knives in his hands, blocking the lightning. The green aura emanating from his daggers clashed with the lightning, emitting intense heat.

Sizzle.

Kane’s forearms, gripping the daggers, turned red-hot inside the armor, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air, yet his expression remained unchanged.

“Uraaah!”

Jake leaped into the air, swinging a large Aura Blade at the tip of the lightning bolt as he fell.

Crash!

Though his sword seemed to strike the fortress wall pointlessly, the dark blue lightning it grazed wavered.

“Think you can evade this!”

The final strike came from Lawrence. The four large swords he wielded came together, forming a vortex of orange Aura Blades that split the lightning in two.

Kiyaak! You relentless humans! Because of you, I can’t enjoy myself!

The lightning severed by Lawrence’s sword soon transformed into a human shape, revealing the demon Marcelzene.

His characteristic: lightning.

Marcelzene freely transformed his body into lightning, moving here and there over short distances, engaging in combat. When he became lightning, he received virtually no damage, but his attack pattern also became simpler: turning into lightning to burn his opponent’s body. However, this technique was not very effective against masters who used aura.

What was particularly formidable were the lightning-laden whips Marcelzene wielded.

“He’s coming!”

“Watch out not to get entangled!”

Crack!

The two whips crackled with lightning, searing the air as they flew. The electrical whips emitting lightning all around would have been impossible to block without aura.

“Take that!”

Jake blocked the tip of a whip with his greatsword, while Kane sliced through the flowing lightning next to him with his aura-infused blade. Lawrence used his four large swords to toss the whips around, disrupting the flow of electricity.

“You persistent pests. Do you think struggling will change the outcome? Hahaha, in the end, you will all become offerings of blood for the Demon Lord!”

“Shut up. In the end, you can’t break through us on your own.”

“…Oh, really? Let’s see about that.”

It had already been over 30 minutes since the demons had breached the fortress. Despite the demons wreaking havoc, no one else had yet climbed onto the wall. The barrier remained strong, and the soldiers fought back, risking their lives.

Besides their duty as soldiers, they understood all too well that if the fortress fell, it would endanger the entire continent.

However, the overall battle situation was not favorable. The once superior defensive line was weakening. The reserve energy was depleting, causing less critical defensive structures to cease functioning.

If this continued, the remaining defenses would soon fail as well. Then, they’d have to fend off the endless hordes of demons with their bare bodies.

‘These demons are cunning….’

Duke Hansley’s expression darkened. The demon soldiers, who had seemed ready to charge instantly, had stopped about 100 meters from the wall and set up makeshift barriers.

These 5-meter barriers, built from various monster bones and blood-red soil, weren’t extremely robust but were sufficient to block arrows and long-range attacks from ordinary soldiers.

“Fire!”

“No need to aim precisely. Just target the wall!”

The demon soldiers fired arrows and spells at the wall from behind their barriers, while demonic beasts climbed over and under the makeshift walls, constantly charging toward the fortress.

Their objective was clear: to deplete the wall’s energy and disable the defense system.

Human soldiers’ long-range attacks predominantly targeted the demonic beasts approaching the fortress, posing little risk to the demons.

‘And since the demons are rampaging atop the walls…’

In usual siege warfare, the defenders have the advantage. However, in a war of attrition like this, the tide would eventually turn in favor of the attackers. The demons continuously received reinforcements and demonic energy, while the resources on the wall were finite.

Swoosh, bang!

Duke Hansley’s mace struck the upper body of a demon, exploding the left shoulder of the shadowy figure.

“…….”

Whether he chose not to speak or simply couldn’t, the demon Winduil remained silent throughout the battle.

“Annoying.”

Hansley wasn’t one to speak much either, resulting in a largely silent duel. Winduil’s attributes were darkness and fear. Though potent against multiple targets, his role in this battle was clear: to hold back Duke Hansley.

The demons were far from foolish. They had observed the battle from the Demon Temple for days and devised their strategies. Seeing Duke Hansley as the defenders’ strongest, they sent in Winduil.

Fwoosh.

Winduil’s shadowy body scattered over the wall as his shoulder was blown away. Darkness suddenly enveloped Hansley.

‘Damn it.’

Hansley’s expression turned unpleasant as he infused his mace with blue aura and swung furiously in all directions. Whoosh, slash. The darkness around his mace dissipated under the force of his aura. Yet, each time it was cleared, it was quickly replaced with more shadows.

The densified darkness lifted momentarily, revealing Winduil once more. In the meantime, hansley had not moved an inch. Moving would mean Winduil following him, potentially causing collateral damage.

‘Our allies would be caught in the crossfire.’

While the superhumans might endure, ordinary knights would perish in the darkness. Thankfully, the allies were holding for now, allowing Hansley to spar with Winduil without exceeding his limits.

‘Not yet. When the battlefield changes, I must strike swiftly.’

Hansley’s sharp eyes analyzed the battlefield keenly. However, the changes that occurred were not in his favor.

“To secure the wall within three days. Such impatience.”

“Indeed. It won’t last long if left alone anyway. But you think the demons won’t act up?”

“Well, the higher-ups must’ve taken care of it. And considering their boasting, it’s unimpressive.”

Two masters of the Empire, aelbed and Bertiot, were casually making their way toward the fortress as if on a walk.

“The Imperial Army is on the move!”

“The enemy’s knight order is approaching!”

“Two Masters of the Empire have been spotted at the forefront of the knight order!”

Until now, the Imperial Army had remained in the rear, waiting. After Raul’s arrival and the decimation of the mage corps, the Imperial Army had ceased all movements.

Their communication officers had been eliminated, and it had become difficult to mobilize additional troops. However, three days had been enough time to rebuild their communication network.

‘Damn it…. If those two superhumans join the fray, maintaining the front line won’t be easy! If I had known, I wouldn’t have sent Viscount Raul away….’

Raul’s suggestion to strike the enemy’s main camp while the demons were away had its merits. Though Raul had the extraordinary ability to maneuver the weapon legion, hansley believed the soldiers could manage without it.

It had been thirty minutes since Raul left, but there were no notable changes in the Demon Temple, the supposed main camp of the demons.

‘Please return safely.’

There was no time to look for someone who wasn’t there. Hansley swung his weapon while shouting.

“Two enemy Masters are approaching! Girion, deploy the reserve troops! Everyone, stay vigilant and maintain the front line!”

Although it was a crisis, the walls still had available forces. While handling demons was tricky, human Masters could be countered by top-level experts supported by the Overlord system.

Thud thud thud, bang!

“Loyal sword of His Majesty, aelbed, is here! Who will face my blade?”

“You cowardly scum of the kingdom! Come at me all at once!”

The two Imperial Masters climbed the 30-meter-high wall in a few swift steps. Following Hansley’s orders, about ten top-level expert knights engaged the two Masters, trying to hold them back.

Nevertheless, the situation was far from stable. Pieces of aura and various demonic attributes flying around the wall were causing casualties.

“Commander Adhart!”

“I got it!”

Responding to Hansley’s call, Adhart changed his direction. He decided to abandon his pursuit of the fleeing demon and join Hansley in targeting the weakest enemy demon. This would inevitably result in allied casualties, but sometimes one had to sacrifice bone to cut flesh.

Bang!

A change was occurring in the superhuman duels.

***

“Damn it! This can’t be happening!”

Jake gritted his teeth and swung his greatsword fiercely.

Sizzle.

Sparks flew from his sword, and the smell of burning flesh emanated from his body. Even with the protective field of his Power Armor, demonic attribute attacks were not fully blocked.

‘Will this heal later?’

It seemed every hair on his body had been burned off. Though grumbling amidst the sweat dripping from him, Jake knew healing would come only if he survived first.

The strategy by Duke Hansley and Commander Adhart was only half successful. Or was it successful at all? They managed to repel one of the demon barons, Gustir, as intended. However, they lost about ten top-level Expert forces, and critically

“Wipe out these insolent humans!”

“How dare slaves oppose the great Demon Legion?”

“A festival of blood!”

A section of the wall’s defenses had collapsed, and the Demon Army’s main forces seized the opportunity to climb the wall. While the strength of the demons was evident, the commanders of the demon army, too, were formidable individuals with demon blood, many of them at Expert level or higher.

Their arrival to the front lines now threatened the stability of the wall’s defenses. Adhart and Duke Hansley struggled to regain control, but the situation was not easily remedied.

Even Lawrence, who was maintaining stability against the demon Marcelzene, had to push beyond his limits. Consequently, Kane and Jake were left to handle Marcelzene, while Lawrence moved to another front.

‘Ah, at this rate, we really might die.’

Thus, Jake and Kane were holding off the demons with every ounce of their strength.

“Hey, Kane! Any word from the Master?”

“…If you have the energy to chat, how about swinging your sword one more time?”

Since entering the Demon Temple, there had been no contact with Raul. They desperately needed someone to turn the tide of the battle.

Just then.

Boom boom boom boom!

Beyond the fortress walls. No, far beyond the walls of the city of Porta. The ground trembled in harmony with a majestic drumming sound.

“Ah… seriously. What a perfect timing! Everyone shout that you’re already dead!”

Jake exclaimed with newfound hope, swinging his greatsword vigorously.

Blare…

An immense number of cavalrymen formed waves and charged towards the fortress, accompanied by the blare of a long horn. At the forefront, a banner fluttered wildly.

That banner bore the emblem of the Golden Bear, symbolizing the House of Count Ashton, roaring toward the sky.

(To be continued)