Several minutes had passed since the lords’ surprise attack began.

On the right flank, Deputy Commander Rellington breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that he was still alive.

A demon had saved him, something he never thought possible, but he, being a bastard son, wasn’t elitist at all, so he could only feel satisfied seeing these unlikely allies from his perspective.

On the left flank, several demons were attempting to ambush the deputy commanders or mid-level human soldiers.

Although they tried to support him, another imperial deputy commander plunged a sword into the back of the demon wielding the sword.

At that moment, at the rear of the Presial Kingdom’s army, Prince Absab struck the ground again with his spear, and another shockwave of air reached the imperial camp.

"The enemy is approaching."

"Get ready."

The commanders sent their orders to the deputy commanders, who led the soldiers at the front lines of the imperial army.

The vanguard of the Presial Kingdom’s army had slightly increased the pace of its advance.

To Superior Commander Rasgar Relvin, the nature of the attack was strange. He couldn’t understand what the Presial Kingdom’s army stood to gain from an attack that, while it might decimate the imperial troops somewhat, would inflict even greater losses on them.

However, he was overthinking it, though this did allow him to notice another threat—although it was Mr. Geminis who first spotted it.

Mr. Geminis stood near the gold-and-white military tent where the apostle Alon Rifersten lay asleep.

"Kill the demons who are planning to attack the sleeping soldiers," Mr. Geminis ordered the rest of the apostles.

Although his order came shortly after Prince Absab struck the ground with his spear for the third time, by which point the demons of the "Deep Sleep" guild had already killed some of the soldiers who were still asleep.

Almost the moment the lords’ attacks began, the most skilled demons had infiltrated the camp, sensing the passive presence of humans who appeared to be sleeping—a situation some demons exploited to quickly kill those humans.

"Commanders! Protect the soldiers who remain asleep," Rasgar Relvin ordered.

With his demonic power, Prince Absab was able to use his demonic perception, which allowed him to sense the presence of some demons who had infiltrated the Imperial camp just as the lords’ attack began.

Prince Absab informed his father of this and asked for permission to lead the vanguard of the army.

King Sition granted him command authority, and that was the main reason why the vanguard of the Presial Kingdom’s army had begun to move.

Initially, the plan was to let the traitorous lords see their forces weakened while they took the imperial army by surprise.

Through this attack, they also wanted other lords to understand that King Sition would not tolerate traitors.

However, with the demons infiltrating the imperial camp, Prince Absab decided to act as a diversion so that the demons—whom he considered potential allies—could succeed in their plans.

The moment Mr. Gemini and Commander Superior Rasgar gave the alert order.

The infiltrated demons wasted no time in beginning to flee toward the right and left flanks.

"Now is the moment," thought Prince Absab, who ordered his vanguard to retreat slowly.

...

In the midst of the chaotic open-field battles,

Lord Danev noticed that the vanguard of the Presial Kingdom’s army was slowly retreating. He took this as a sign and ordered without hesitation:

"Retreat!"

"Commanders, lead the retreat."

Lord Danev’s somewhat decimated troops began to fall back.

Amid so much death, Deputy Commander Rellington watched as the demons that had been attacking began to vanish and others retreated.

He saw no possibility of retreat, even though Lord Miller’s troops were already far away and no longer needed support. He knew the chances of escaping were too slim.

"Deputy Commander, retreat," said some soldiers.

"For what? I don’t even have a proper place to return to. Without my troops, I’ll just be despised by that despicable lord," thought Deputy Commander Rellington, who seemed determined to die alongside the few soldiers under his command who were still alive.

Unlike Deputy Commander Rellington, other deputy commanders did attempt to flee, causing even more chaos and disorder among the few troops that had been protecting Lord Miller’s retreat.

Prince Absab, who had been paying some attention to the battle at the Imperial camp, had noticed the moment Lord Miller retreated, but he also noticed the presence of those subcommanders who were protecting the lord’s retreat.

Prince Absab, who was holding a spear instead of his usual halberd, infused it with eighth-rank demonic energy and hurled it toward the right flank of the Imperial camp.

Mr. Geminis, who had been watching the Presial Kingdom’s army, saw the powerful spear streaking across the sky, but he didn’t flinch; he struck the ground with his staff, and a massive explosion shook the earth.

The spear, imbued with demonic power, had crashed into a sacred barrier adorned with multiple golden symbols.

The spear exploded, and the sacred barrier did not suffer a single scratch.

"That is a fraction of the Heretic Prince’s power," thought Mr. Geminis, assessing the attack the prince had launched. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

...

Although Prince Absab believed his attack could serve as a distraction—and indeed, it did, momentarily intimidating several imperial soldiers—it also allowed him to grasp the meaning of the words Mephistopheles had spoken to him.

"A barrier formed so quickly can only be the work of someone powerful; that’s why Mephistopheles said that as long as I live, the Presial Kingdom will not fall, but if I attack recklessly, the imperialists must already have a way to neutralize me," thought Prince Absab, who requested another spear.

This time, he hurled the spear imbued with demonic power toward the left side of the imperial camp.

"May those who are destined to survive escape," the prince thought after throwing the second spear.

Boom.

Another massive explosion shook the ground even more violently, but once again the spear was blocked by the sacred barrier, which remained completely unscathed.