The Dark Rebirth of Pandora: Revenge of the Abyss

Chapter 378: Castle for the War

”...Alright troops, weʼre staying here! The confrontation will happen in this field, so I want you all to start setting up the traps and activate the ones that are already here, and use magic to shape the scenery to our advantage,” I say, standing on top of a tree in a forest of black, leafless trunks.

This is where the humans will pass, and this is where the war will begin. While the regular troops are setting up normal traps, Lilith has already used that teleportation trap magic I created.

So sheʼs prepared to deal with anyone caught in the teleportation, while Iʼm here, extremely excited to start soon.

I clasp my hands together while using my tail to hang upside down on the branch.

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...

”Psst...hey,” A colleague calls, catching my attention and making me stop digging a hole.

”What is it? Iʼm busy,” I say seriously. The previous team has already set up the trap locations at least a few weeks ago, but we still need to clear some areas for use due to the time thatʼs passed.

”I know, Iʼm busy too, canʼt you see? Iʼm just tense, sheʼs looking,” He says, lightly pointing. I turn around and shiver, seeing the demon king hanging upside down on a tree.

”Okay, you have a point.” Itʼs kind of creepy to have the demon king herself observing our work. Normally it would be Lady Freya or Lady Aokitsu who would take care of this.

Theyʼre usually quite lenient with mistakes or small side conversations, but the Demon King... we have no idea.

”But sheʼs beautiful, donʼt you think?” He says as we go back to work, trying not to get scolded.

”Well, itʼs obvious that she is...” I canʼt deny that the demon king is quite beautiful. Of course, I hope she canʼt hear our conversation.

”What do you think of her current appearance?” He asks as I finish my part.

”Ah, itʼs quite lovely. I think the extra arms give a certain charm, though the mask is rather frightening,” I say, going over to help him with his part, lifting a crate as we walk.

”I agree, she reminds me slightly of an arachne, but more beautiful.” Arachnes are beautiful, but their spider-like lower body is not quite as pleasant, and their nature of devouring their partners is terrible.

In this case, the demon king with 3 pairs of arms has taken the charm of the extra arms from the arachnes without their problematic parts.

”Hahaha, totally. Setting that aside, did you participate in helping the mermaids?” He asks, and I let out a disappointed sigh.

”No, unfortunately, by the time I tried to volunteer, it was already full,” When I say that, he gives a huge smile.

”I did.”

”No? Seriously? Iʼm so jealous, Iʼve heard from others that the mermaids are incredible,” I say, full of envy. It fills up super-fast whenever thereʼs an opportunity.

”Ah, yes, they are divine. After experiencing one, you never forget. They are absurdly tight, apparently because their tails have very strong muscles.”

”And theyʼre so hot and wet inside, no ordinary woman can compare to that. Even the mermaids that have normal legs on land are incredibly delicious, and their voices, those voices are amazing,” He says, teasing me.

”Dammit, man, donʼt increase my envy, you lucky bastard,” I say, placing the crate in another corner.

”Maybe you can get one after the war? Weʼre close to the coast, and the demon king always rewards all soldiers. Besides, even if you canʼt get a mermaid, maybe we can get some pretty human girls,” He says, and I agree.

”Well, maybe... I wish I had participated in the war with the beastmen. The demon king gave the girls as a reward, and a lot of my friends got married,” I say with ”pain.” Practically everyone in my family managed to get a wife in that war.

”Dude, you had really bad luck. That war was actually pretty easy. The demon king quickly dealt with the enemy leader and even managed to take the entire race under her command. Thatʼs probably not going to happen with the humans, who are much more numerous.”

”Yes, itʼs really bad luck...” When I turn around, I see the demon king staring directly at me, her gaze obviously on me, making me stiffen. The colleague next to me also notices and freezes.

”...”

”D-Demon King, do you need something?” Suddenly, she appears in front of us, and we both take a respectful stance while she looks us up and down.

”Iʼd like to know about you, which division of the army are you from?” The demon king asks my colleague.

”Me?”

”Who else?” She says with disdain.

”A-Ah, Iʼm in the light infantry, and I was also in the war against the beastmen, in the light infantry as well,” He says nervously, while I remain silent.

”...Light infantry, you say? I know you?” The demon king asks, leaving us both confused.

”N-No? I donʼt believe so, Iʼm just a mere soldier,” He says nervously as the demon king crosses her lower pair of arms and places one of her upper arms on her chin, tilting her head as if thinking.

”No, I know you, but youʼre so insignificant that Iʼm not sure where Iʼve seen you,” She says, which seems to be a harsh blow to my colleague.

”Hmmm... youʼre lucky, I donʼt remember if itʼs something good or bad, so Iʼll let it go. Get back to work, but know that if itʼs something bad, itʼs better not to appear in front of me again,” The demon king says, vanishing.

”...” I swallow hard while my colleague falls to his knees. Iʼm sure he saw his life flashing before his eyes.

”Hey, man, that was tense,” I try to ease the heavy situation.

”I know! I thought I was going to die, and the worst part is that I donʼt even remember seeing her that close before. Iʼve seen her from afar a few times, but never to the point of receiving real attention,” He says, completely nervous.

”Like, I was just a fried tentacle seller before becoming a soldier. How would she know me? I wasnʼt even a soldier, and Iʼm not someone strong either!”

”Well, at least she didnʼt kill you. Iʼve heard itʼs easy for her to kill someone for even fairly simple reasons,” I say, crouching down and seeing how heʼs sweating profusely.

”Yeah, well, it seems Iʼll have to be more careful? Was that a threat? I really donʼt know what to do.”

”I donʼt think it was a threat. She said that if you did something bad, you should not get close to her, but considering sheʼs the demon king who has killed soldiers for things not that big, she probably would have killed you before if it was something bad,” When I say that, he looks relieved.

”Youʼre right, man. If it was something bad, I wouldnʼt even be alive anymore. And look on the bright side, we saw the demon king up close and even talked to her! The guys are going to be so jealous when we tell them about this.” With a smile on his face, he calms down.

”Youʼre right!” The demon king normally never speaks directly to us, usually only talking to important people close to her. Having her speak to just us is an incredible honor.

”Well, since this tense encounter is over, we should get back to work. I donʼt want to get yelled at,” He immediately agrees with me as we return to our tasks.

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”Hmm, looks good,” I murmur while flying over the area. I see the troops working and adjusting the scenery completely as they prepare to take their positions and stay hidden.

Using mana, I also feel the position of the enemies far away ”approaching” quickly. They should arrive in this area with my troops in three days, so we have enough time to finish everything here.

”I should do this before I donʼt have time.” I fly away from the battlefield. Thereʼs something I want to do, but I donʼt want to waste mana during the war doing it.

So Iʼll do it now when I have time to recover the mana. I move as far as possible from the battlefield, going to the farthest corner of the territory near a coastal cliff.

”This seems good enough.” I land at the peak of the cliff and start using earth element mana to create a simple castle structure.

The castle is grand in appearance and style, but itʼs completely empty inside, with the throne room being the only well-made and complete place because thatʼs where the fight will start.

”Only a complete idiot would fight in their own house.” No demon king should fight in their own castle, thatʼs the stupidest thing of all. With the fight, the castle will obviously be destroyed.

If itʼs to maintain the cool castle fight style, just create a fake castle. Itʼs so simple. In seconds, I created an aesthetically beautiful and ominous-looking castle that can be discarded as soon as the fight begins.

”Iʼll teleport the heroes to the throne room...” With this, I can ensure that weʼll fight alone in the scenario Iʼve chosen and the location Iʼve chosen. It will be fun, even if the castle is going to be destroyed.

”But... I donʼt like the cliff, it disadvantages my true form... I prefer a 100% flat place...” I murmur, bothered by the cliff below. Soon I stomp the ground with extreme force, using magic to raise the soil for at least two kilometers.

”Perfect!” With this, I level the entire area around for at least 1.5 kilometers, having a perfect arena for the fight. Of course, the tremor slightly damaged the castle, but itʼs disposable, so it doesnʼt matter.

”This castle doesnʼt even look like itʼs made of earth, stone, and sand...” I really did an excellent job, and now I can go back to my troops after creating the teleportation circle on the throne room floor.