Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest-Chapter 392: The Front Line Beckons

Adam stepped into the palace, marvelling at the mana lines pulsing on the walls like veins. The noise of golden cogs spinning and blasting steam accompanied his steps down a cyberpunk-styled corridor until he reached a broad room.

Intricate machinery he couldn’t even begin to grasp, along with sprawling pipes, littered the ground, creating a bizarre maze that melded magic and technology.

Despite his confused admiration, he cut his sightseeing short to lock onto the round table at the center.

Seated there, he saw Michael and Theodor grinning at him like children waiting for praise. In fact, they didn’t even deign to wait.

Michael rose from his seat and opened his arms in grand theatrics. "Welcome to my humble flying bastion, Avalon." He bowed like a comedian on stage. "Do you like it? Are you satisfied with our research?" freёnovelkiss.com

Adam frowned. The name alone felt weird for more than one reason, but whatever. These fools almost came late, and admiration wouldn’t excuse their blunder—even less during wartime.

"You’re late." He pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you have any idea what we thought? Did you forget how to use your lord chat? Or are you taking two ancient gods lightly as you always do?"

Michael paled, but Adam didn’t give him any opportunity to defend himself. "Our lives are on the line. This is no game, Michael. You’d better start acting accordingly, or you won’t like the consequences."

"I-I..." Michael bit his lip, frustration and guilt melding in his trembling voice. "I know it’s a meager excuse, but I was too absorbed in fine-tuning the bastion’s mana absorption and missed Mimi’s messages. It’s my fault. I should have seen them, or better, told her about the delay in advance..."

Theodore patted his friend’s shoulder, sighing. "We forgot the essentials in our quest to make the bastion perfect. I should have reminded you. So, sorry you have to take the blame."

Adam rolled his eyes, almost finding their friendship cute—almost. Still, the corner of his lips curled as he pointed at the horizon. "You know what to do. Drive this bastion in the fairy woods and show me what it can do."

"It won’t disappoint you." Michael tapped on the table as if it was a screen.

Gasses erupted, condensing into a hovering ethereal window displaying the surroundings. Besides it, a real-time map stretching hundreds of kilometers formed.

This time, Adam snapped his mouth closed to muffle an impressed gasp. He wasn’t angry at the two men but had to act firm to maintain discipline. Instead, the truth was... his heart drummed an impatient beat in his ears. He had to see the bastion in action!

Micheal slid his finger on the table, and the bastion shuddered for a second. Flames erupted from tunnels hidden in the rock, making the colossal structure move into the portal.

The moment they crossed it, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers under Adam’s command snapped their gazes at the monstrosity. They clenched their fists around their weapons, trembling. Then their voice exploded through the dense forest into acclamations, their morale reaching an all-time high.

They lacked weaponry? Now, their lord had somehow brought a flying island! They couldn’t lose.

Adam lingered for a second, watching the soldiers’ flushed faces on the screen. Then, he moved toward the exit, waving his hand. "Pilote it well."

A frown creased Michael’s brows. It made no sense for their supreme commander to leave the safety of the bastion. After all, the simplest, most effective, and very first war strategy anyone would think about was to kill the enemy’s leader.

"Why don’t you lead the army from up here? We can add screens to cover almost every front, and they’ll struggle to reach you."

Adam chuckled, yet it sounded more sinister than amused. "But I do want them to reach me. We each have different styles, right? I fight on the front line against the strongest enemies. My soldiers saw my unbending back, and my generals heard my sword dismember our enemies in the past. Unfortunately, things happened, and most died. But for those who patiently awaited my return, it is time to reawaken this memory."

His words stunned Michael into silence. To him—to most lords—this was no different from folly. Watching the setting sun embroidered on Adam’s departing back and the red threads fluttering, he doubted.

Unlike him, Theodor shuddered. He had seen it all, Adam’s charge through their allied armies, how he battled Heracles head-on, and how Drufus had died a fool’s death. He had believed it was folly too... at first. Now, he knew better.

"He’s a veritable monster," he muttered, grabbing his hand to stop it from trembling.

Meanwhile, Adam bolted down the flying island, landing at the forefront beside Garduck. His voice thundered in a single command next.

"March!"

His generals, Mimi, and lieutenants relayed his command with a roar before the ground rumbled under the army’s stomps.

Beasts fled their natural habitat, too terrorised by the humanoid tsunami surging to engulf them in a sea of wildfire. The very trees seemed to lean away from their relentless advance, their rustling leaves almost pleading for mercy. After all, none had ever seen an army as diversified throughout history.

Fortunately, Adam’s sharp and unwavering gaze remained fixed on the horizon, his hands wrapped around his god slayer and hammer in a promise of carnage aimed at the capital. And the capital he began to see. How could he miss it when a tree second only to Yggdrasil pierced the wood’s dense foliage?

His goal was in sight, but if he saw it, the fairies must have seen him, too. No, they had most likely known since he had stepped into their woods and called the retreat. That was why they met no resistance on the way.

’Betting everything on defense? No, Mab said Oberon wouldn’t request help as long as he wasn’t losing...’ He clicked his tongue. ’I need a swift victory, or these pantheons of cheating vultures will rush to behead me.’