The Heavenly Demon Can't Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 270

News arrived: Corta had fallen.

Upon hearing the soldier’s report, Duke Bamford felt surprised and angry.

‘Dmitri. So, this was your plan.’

He was impressed.

Normally, they might have left Rascal and run to the west. But Roman Dmitri did something unexpected. He took Corta.

Now, the choice of the Cairo-Dmitri alliance was understandable.

They wanted to buy time, even if it meant giving up the western front, because they were sure that Roman Dmitri would secure Corta’s warp gate.

At the same time,

Anger surged within him.

Dmitri’s plan showed what he intended to do.

‘Without a warp gate, we are cut off. From now on, if we need more soldiers, they will have to come through the warp gate hundreds of kilometers away from Corta. We knew this, but we didn’t make Corta stronger. It’s not that we didn’t think Corta was important, but even if this crazy plan works, it won’t change much.’

He was furious.

Duke Bamford’s army was leading nearly three hundred thousand soldiers. He had stormed into the west, and even if he was isolated, no one could stop such a large force head-on.

The Cairo-Dmitri alliance had given up the western front on purpose. But it was more like they had to do that because the difference in strength was too great.

Being isolated didn’t matter.

All he had to do was defeat Cairo and Dmitri.

However,

Duke Bamford was careful.

He thought about what might happen, just like he had guessed Flora Lawrence’s plan.

‘The only thing the enemy can do now is avoid a big battle and stop us from getting supplies easily. Without a warp gate, we can’t get supplies. Once we run out of food, we can’t feed 300,000 soldiers.’

They will burn everything that we can eat or use. This is called ‘scorched-earth tactics.

Duke Bamford called his staff right away.

He put the map of the western front on a simple table and looked for a good place.

Rrrrrrip.

“From now on, we need to get ready for a long war. If we go all the way to Cairo’s capital, we will run out of food first. If Chronos sends supplies to the west within a month, we can stop the enemy by getting enough food to last until then.”

“Then, what about this place?”

One of the staff pointed to a spot on the map.

It was just an old, empty castle. But Chronos knew that the Cairo Kingdom had hidden food there in case something happened.

Also, it was close to where the Chronos Empire was now.

The Cairo-Dmitri alliance wouldn’t think that the Chronos Empire knew about the secret of the old castle. So, if they took the castle, they could get enough food for the army.

There were two choices.

Attack fast to stop them from burning everything, or take the safe way.

Normally, he would have attacked fast.

However,

Because Roman Dmitri kept destroying Rascal and Corta, he thought something bad might happen if he got tricked like this.

If he moved his forces carefully,

Nothing unexpected would happen, and he would surely defeat Roman Dmitri.

Duke Bamford said.

“We are going to the old castle from now on.”

The battlefield was in chaos.

A group of soldiers gathered at Teslo, a Chronos outpost in the east, like Rascal.

On the walls,

Baron Zekman, the commander of Teslo, frowned.

“He’s using the warp gate of Corta to attack us from behind. Roman Dmitri is dreaming an impossible plan to defeat the Chronos Empire.”

He was shocked.

About 30,000 soldiers had come through the warp gate.

With that number, it was hard to capture Teslo quickly, let alone defeat the main Chronos force.

He didn’t understand what Roman Dmitri was thinking.

He wanted to open the gates and attack Roman Dmitri, but Duke Bamford had ordered him not to. He could never disobey that order.

“If Dmitri’s forces appear, just defend. We need time. To win for sure, don’t do what the enemy wants.”

He was the master of the battlefield.

His orders were absolute.

Even though the Chronos Empire was very strong, Duke Bamford always got the best results with the least damage.

That’s why he was known as the symbol of the military.

People like Baron Zekman had to follow orders. They wanted to be famous.

Then,

Far away,

A man was walking.

But as soon as Baron Zekman saw that the man was Roman Dmitri and that he wasn’t holding a ‘white flag’ to talk, he shouted.

“Attack! Stop Roman Dmitri from getting to the castle!”

Tap tap tap.

Arrows were fired.

Arrows flew up and filled the sky. They were so many, it looked like a dark cloud falling on Roman Dmitri. Soldiers watching felt cold fear.

Even with shields, no one could escape all those arrows. They would find any gap and cut through skin and bone.

However,

Tap tap tap.

Roman Dmitri was no longer where the arrows had fallen.

He had disappeared.

He jumped off the ground and moved so fast that the arrows couldn’t catch him.

“Stop him! Stop him!”

Arrows and magic fell from the sky.

They tried to stop Roman Dmitri from getting closer, but even if they hit him, a magic shield made it useless.

Baron Zekman didn’t know what to do.

Teslo’s gates were strongly protected by magic, so why was he attacking alone?

At that moment.

Rumble!

He had reached the front.

Aura came from Roman Dmitri’s sword, and he swung it at the large gate without stopping.

And then.

Flash-

People saw it.

The steel was cut cleanly.

The magic shield and the gate were cut at once.

Thud!

A deep rumble shook the stone walls of Teslo Castle. With a loud groan of rusty hinges, the heavy wooden gates began to open.

At that moment, the soldiers of the Kingdom Alliance, who had been waiting tensely for the signal, roared as one.

“Attack!”

“For Roman Dimitri! Punish the evil of Chronos!”

The initial assault on Teslo’s gates was over in a single minute. The defenders were overwhelmed.

The moment the castle gates opened, taking the rest of the castle was only a matter of time.

With Roman Dimitri leading the charge, Baron Jekman surrendered without much resistance.

“I surrender!”

He knelt and raised a white flag.

The pride of the Chronos Empire did not allow ‘surrender,’ but Duke Bamford had meticulously prepared for the situation when Teslo fell.

Duke Bamford had told them what to do if the castle fell. ‘Surrender if you can’t hold on,’ he’d said. ‘Prisoners are a problem for the enemy. They need guards and food. And they can’t just kill you all. Prisoners are useful for trading later.’

Dimitri. They were in checkmate. Time was not on their side, and they could not win in an all-out war.

Frankly, he was genuinely surprised by the force that had broken down the castle gates, but Baron Jekman showed no anxiety about his situation.

He only spoke of surrender. Behind his wretched expression was a conviction in Duke Bamford, who had given him the order.

Thus, the captured soldiers were gathered in one place. But the atmosphere was strange. The people standing far away seemed as if they had no expectations from the prisoners.

‘…This is strange. Usually, they would offer us incentives to get information, but what are these guys thinking? Could it be that they are going to kill us all? That doesn’t make sense. Considering the prisoners captured when the Western Front collapsed, they can never make that choice.’

The soldiers opened a path. It was Roman Dimitri.

Roman Dimitri, walking through the path, grabbed Baron Jekman’s hair without asking any questions.

“Ack! Hey! What are you doing?!”

“Are you Baron Jekman, the commander here?”

“Y-yes! Yes, that’s me! Why are you grabbing me like this? If you want to ask me questions, or anything… please, be gentle! Hurting me won’t help you!”

He shouted in panic. Seeing him wanting fair treatment as a prisoner, Roman Dimitri looked down at him with a cold expression.

“I want nothing from you.”

“…What do you mean.”

The battle on the Western Front. He heard that Count Nicholas had died then. And perhaps, many soldiers who had failed to escape were very likely captured as their prisoners.

If so, what was his role as a commander?

Would it be right to show appropriate mercy to the prisoners of Chronos and induce a prisoner exchange to guarantee the lives of those who believed in him and followed him?

The commander that people wanted might have been such an ideal figure. But in the way Roman Dimitri, or rather Chunma Baek Joong-hyuk, had lived, the role of a commander was slightly different.

So that the lives of those who sacrificed were not in vain. To secure a definite victory.

He had no intention of driving other soldiers to their deaths to save the lives of prisoners who had fallen into the hands of the enemy.

Thud. He put his sword to his neck. Baron Jekman struggled. He never thought he would show such murderous intent right away.

“P-please, spare me just once! If you spare me, I will give Dimitri information that will be helpful! And you must spare us. Wouldn’t Dimitri’s prisoners also be able to save their lives?!”

He denied reality. The Roman Dimitri that the world spoke of was cruel, but he cherished his subordinates.

So, he mentioned the existence of prisoners. He hoped that he would be spared, even for the sake of a prisoner exchange.

“You’ve got it all wrong.”

It was a cold voice. “I do not show mercy on the battlefield.”

Snikt. Splat. Blood splattered. Baron Jekman, who had been struggling, collapsed from the blood gushing from his neck. His body twitched. He tried to stop the bleeding with desperate hands to live, but it was a meaningless act.

Beyond him, Roman could see the terrified faces of the other prisoners.

Roman Dimitri spoke coldly.

“We will not make prisoners. Therefore, kill all of these guys.”

At that time, Duke Bamford arrived at the ancient castle. He thought there would be troops to protect the food, but there was not a single ant inside the ancient castle.

Bloodless entry into the castle. He entered the castle. In preparation for any traps, Duke Bamford gave an order.

“The enemies may have already burned all the food and run away. Check for the existence of food, and have the wizards check if there are any magic traps installed around. We will bring the troops into the ancient castle when we are sure that everything is perfect.”

“Understood.”

If everything was perfect, it was not good fortune, but rather a high possibility of a trap.

The soldiers moved in unison. Only after a long time had passed did they speak with bright faces.

“We have secured the food. They are safe to eat, and if we combine them with the food we already have, we can last for a month.”

“There are no magic traps either. We have not found any magical energy anywhere in the ancient castle, and we have installed a magical defense barrier that reacts to explosions in preparation for any possible situation. If the enemies try to do anything reckless, we will buy enough time to respond.”

It was perfect. So, it was strangely ominous. Duke Bamford moved his steps to check the food with his own eyes.

The war supplies were untouched. It was strange. It felt like a trap, as if the enemy *wanted* them to take the castle and stay there.