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–––Lacus’ viewpoint

“Things are going swimmingly this time.”

I almost wanted to laugh at myself for saying that out loud. Lord Trianf had given me an earful after my fight with Lapis in Strom before.

“This is your last chance. If you can’t defeat Lumielle, you’ll pay with your life for your failures.”

I could only nod weakly, my face pale from hearing such harsh words from Lord Trianf, who I deeply respected and adored so much. Lumiere was one of the Gods human revered, the God of Light and Justice to be precise. If we successfully took down Lumielle, the country housing that God’s biggest temple, the morale of human society as a whole would fall. They were the country best equipped to fight demons after all.

We demons did not really see them as a major threat though. They were merely a bit trickier to take down than other countries, that was it. Being able to take down that country in a swift time would still be a big achievement for a Demon King, so Trianf had been planning something for many years, and that was about to bear fruit now. I was selected to lead the army to complete the last step, so I had to make sure we succeeded. This was my last chance after all.

“Lady Lacus, we just got news from the frontline. They’ve spotted the enemy, a group of holy knights as we expected.”
“Good. Proceed as planned.”
“Understood.”

Lord Trianf gave me an army of three thousand specifically selected demon soldiers, as well as roughly the same number of monsters under their control. I did not feel the best having to take down an entire country with such a small army, but we could not afford to take more soldiers, as we still had to defend the advances of other Demon Kings. Not to mention that we were still recovering from our defeat in Strom.

I watched as my aide gave more detailed instructions and placed my hand on my favorite sword’s hilt.

–––Meria’s viewpoint

The time finally arrived. I could barely contain the joy seeing things proceed just the way I had planned for so many long years. I almost wanted to hug whatever stranger I found on the street.

Hearing this city filled with evil and vice disguised as peace be called a holy city was so revolting I wanted to throw up. The time had finally come to bury that pope pretending to be a goody-two-shoes, and Freya who never had to face any hardships and pretended to be a saint.

We already had gained control over ten thousand villagers, and their numbers just kept going up. They all would happily storm the mansions of nobles and torture them to death. It was amusing watching them switch sides to be the ones taking wealth away, but that did not mean I liked them. They were just as greedy as the people I hated, and they would be the ones dying once the holy city fell.

“Everyone, listen up!”

My voice and face were identical to Freya’s, and all the people went silent to listen to me. They were so funny, At some point they started overlapping Freya over me, getting the idea that I was the true saint setting them free. All stupid ideas, the thought they were being manipulated did not even cross their minds. They were exactly the same as Freya and the pope, and my enemies. I faked a smile and kept those emotions hidden.

“The capital is finally in reach. Now we can capture this vile city that robbed us of everything and never spared a second thought. It’s time to make them pay for everything!”

“Yeahhhh!”
“Our victory is finally in sight!”
“Lady Meria! Our saint!”

All of them raised their weapons and chanted my name in ecstasy. We had only gotten this far thanks to our advantage in numbers, and the fact that the knights and soldiers were always softer against civilians, we never had to fight properly. But these idiots could not even notice that, assuming it was all thanks to their own efforts.

But that was only on the way here. The knights would likely be merciless when defending the capital, their holy city. Even if we outnumbered them, they actually knew how to fight. Most of our army would be trampled over and killed without being able to resist, but that was alright. Having them attack and kill each other was the true objective of my group.

Compared to the knights of the capital, we did not even have a proper formation. Their difference in skill was almost laughable. These villagers really had to be idiots to believe they could win like this.

“We’ll have to fight powerful and skilled knights here, but don’t fret! An army of demons is coming to our aid from the west!”

Unrest spread through the villagers the moment they heard the word demons. But I smiled gently to reassure them.

“Not all demons are our enemies. They’ve already been helping us make this uprising a success. Even if a time comes when our ideas clash, they’re valuable allies now. Their army is powerful, and if we crush the city between us, attacking from the east while they come from the west, the capital will fall without issue. And then tomorrow we can forge an alliance for everyone to live in peace.”

I unsheath my sword and hold it up, reflecting the sun off the blade to make it shine brightly.

“Now let us fight this holy war. If we win, everything will be ours! We’ll share the wealth and glory of victory alike!”

A maddening cheer came from the villagers and they looked at the knights waiting for us.

“Attack!”

As soon as I shouted that, the villagers rushed forward against the knights while raising a maddening battle cry mixed with the neighing of horses and their thundering footsteps. I was already looking forward to seeing just how many of them would survive. Though even if they did manage to take over the city, a second battle against the demons awaited them. I wonder just how ridiculous their faces will look once they realize they were led by the nose this entire time. Imagining that, I silently went a different way from everyone.