West of Solfea.

This was where the forces of the Hyades Republic had gathered.

The moment word of the Demon Empire's advance reached them, the Republic did not hesitate. Legions were mobilised, banners raised, and an iron tide of soldiers marched straight toward Solfea. They came not as mere allies, but as a bulwark—steel and will made manifest—reinforcing the defences of House Solaris.

At their head stood the Grand Marshal of the Hyades Army, Gerrick Ironblood.

Before him stretched a vast battlefield waiting to ignite, where thousands of demons clawed and surged like a living storm at the edge of Solfea's borders.

Their howls carried on the wind, a constant reminder that war was no longer approaching—it had arrived.

Gerrick stood firm, unmoving as a mountain, yet far from calm. His muscles twitched beneath his armour, every fibre of his being screaming to charge forward, to meet the enemy head-on and drown the field in blood and steel.

But he did not move.

This was Solaris land. And here, even a man like Gerrick Ironblood had to yield.

For now, he would wait… and obey the Grand Commander's orders.

"Old man, when can we attack?"

Gerrick spoke into a mana crystal, to which he got an immediate reply.

"We're not going on the offensive. Our main priority is to protect the lines… and wait until the divines show up."

"Tch, so we're essentially sitting ducks?"

"We play to our advantages, young'un. Didn't they teach that in military school?"

Alrock jokingly chastised the Grand Marshal, who chuckled off the insult.

"Bah, I don't know when you went to military school, but it was probably during the Stone Age, old man! Haven't you learnt that sometimes, offence is the best defence?"

"Don't be too eager, young'un. The Hyades Republic will get a chance to shine. Besides, the…"

Before Alrock could finish his thought, the sky itself seemed to tremble.

Beyond the horizon, the Demon Empire's army, forces that should have held their ground, surged forward without warning, crashing toward the Hyades host like a devouring swarm of locusts.

At the forefront came the demons: wolves with ember-lit eyes, lions wreathed in shadow, and towering warbears that shook the earth with every step.

A suffocating miasma of demonic energy rolled with them, spilling across the battlefield like a living storm. Behind this vanguard marched the Empire's corrupted faithful.

Cultists—once human, now twisted by forbidden rites—wove intricate spells mid-charge, their incantations tearing through the air. Alongside them thundered colossal, demonised knights astride spectral warhorses, their ghostly mounts leaving trails of frost and ash in their wake.

Together, their advance formed a crushing tide of malice, an oppressive force that weighed upon the very soul.

Even the battle-hardened Grand Marshal, a man forged in countless wars, felt the pressure coil around his chest.

And yet, as the storm bore down upon him, Gerrick merely scoffed. Lifting the mana crystal to his lips, he replied.

"Well, looks like we can't reminisce about the past anymore."

"... have they begun?"

"Give us the order, Grand Commander."

"Hah… Defend your position, Gerrick. Let's fight for the fate of humanity."

"Yes, sir!"

Gerrick slipped the mana crystal into his pocket, his expression hardening as he began to bark orders with razor-sharp authority.

At once, the elevated war cannons groaned into position, their massive frames adjusting with thunderous weight as they locked onto the advancing horde. In their wake, the supporting mages of the Hyades Army raised their staves in unison.

Arcane light flared, and within moments, thousands of intricate magic circles bloomed across the sky—layer upon layer of power humming with destructive intent. Below, archers and marksmen moved with drilled precision, taking their designated positions along the line. Bows were drawn, crosshairs steadied—every eye fixed on the oncoming tide, every breath measured, every shot waiting to be loosed.

And finally…

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The moment the demons stepped onto the grounds before the defensive line, numerous explosions took them all out. Before the Demon Empire arrived, the Hyades Republic had set down hundreds of mines, not to eradicate the charging army, but to cause confusion and disorient the demons.

And sure enough, the Demon Army's momentum stalled, allowing the Hyades Republic to launch their first defensive assault.

"Fire!"

Gerrick bellowed, and the bombardment followed.

Arcane missiles fell from the skies like meteor showers while arrows and bullets sniped their targets. Fire surged from the battlefield, burning almost all of the weaker demons who dared to set foot within Solfea. The bombardment continued for almost ten minutes, and it wasn't until all of the mines had been detonated and all of the arrows exhausted that the battlefield slowly simmered into a calm.

Thus far, there haven't been any casualties on the Hyades Army. Meanwhile, all the demons that had emerged from the Demon Empire during the first wave had been wiped out.

On paper, it was a massive win for the Hyades Republic.

Alas… that was just a false hope.

"They're sacrificing numbers to whittle down our defence."

Gerrick instantly guessed the Demon Empire's motives.

While the defences set by the Hyades Republic were strong, the resources needed to upkeep it wasn't infinite. The mines were a one-time use perishable tactic. The projectiles they used needed time to be replenished. And the mana of the mages wasn't infinite.

The first ten minutes already exhausted a large portion of Gerrick's defences.

And all the while… the Demon Empire hadn't sent a single elite.

"Looks like regular tactics won't work against mindless brutes like them…"

In war, sending one's men to death was a fool's endeavour. Unfortunately, the Demon Empire didn't have that restriction. They had millions of demons who would charge endlessly into battle like mindless brutes, making it near impossible for Gerrick to break the Demon Army's resolve.

"Let's move to phase two then."

Fortunately, Alrock and Gerrick had planned for a scenario like this.

As the next wave of demons thundered forward, Gerrick's command rang out, and the Hyades Army fell back in perfect order, retreating to their designated positions.

To the oncoming horde, it looked like a fracture in the line—an opening begging to be exploited.

The demons took the bait.

With mindless ferocity, they surged into the gap, pouring into the space the Hyades forces had deliberately abandoned. More than ten thousand of them flooded forward—until the ground beneath their feet suddenly gave way.

With a deafening crack, the earth collapsed into a vast, jagged ravine. Demons tumbled into the chasm in droves, bodies crashing against rock and each other. Some were crushed on impact, their forms broken upon the stone, but the majority endured, scrambling and snarling as they sought a way out.

They never got the chance.

At Gerrick's signal, the mages acted. Torrents of conjured water roared into the ravine, rising with unnatural speed until the chasm became a churning flood.

Many demons drowned, dragged under by the relentless current—but others fought through it, swimming with savage determination, still intent on the charge.

That was when the second wave of magicians stepped forward. Lightning answered their call. Bolts of searing thunder crashed down into the water, turning the entire ravine into a writhing field of death. The current became a conduit, carrying the devastating energy through every submerged body. In an instant, the chasm lit up with blinding brilliance.

And just like that, ten thousand demons were reduced to smouldering corpses, their charge annihilated.

In the aftermath, as the last echoes of thunder faded, the Hyades Army gained what it needed most… Time to reload, regroup, and prepare for what was still to come.

"Quickly! It won't be long until they send their third wave!"

The Demon Empire may have lost its first and second waves, but it was just a drop of water in the bucket that was their army. It wouldn't take long before they sent their third wave charging over. But by then, the next layer of defence would be prepared, and the Hyades Army would be ready… at least, that was what the plan was supposed to be.

As the army was reloading its ammunition, a comet descended like heaven's judgment.

It struck the very heart of the Hyades formation.

The impact was absolute—ground and stone vaporised in an instant, a crater blooming where ranks had stood mere seconds before. Shock rippled through the lines as the Knights surged forward, instinctively shielding the army's most vital assets.

Alas… it was too late.

Snaking strands of black lightning lashed out from the epicentre, hunting with malignant intent. It coiled and pursued like a living curse, refusing to be outrun, refusing to be blocked—claiming the Knights one by one, granting them swift and merciless death wherever they fled.

At the same time, a dense black mist seeped across the battlefield, thick and suffocating. It clung to metal and wood alike, corroding everything it touched. War cannons sagged and dissolved, their reinforced frames melting into ruin, while stockpiled munitions and long-range weapons were rendered useless in moments.

And then—the final blow.

The ravine, once a killing field of electrified water, froze solid in an instant.

Ice spread with unnatural speed, sealing the chasm and forging a path where none should exist. Across that frozen grave, the third wave of demons advanced unimpeded. Gerrick stood amidst the unravelling of his carefully laid defences, his gaze fixed on the figure at the centre of it all—the one who had fallen like a comet and shattered his plans.

A man stepped forward.

Handsome, with ashen-grey hair and venomous green eyes that gleamed with something far from human. His right arm was wholly demonised, grotesque and pulsating, oozing a foul miasma that warped and corrupted the very air around it.

But none of that was what unsettled Gerrick most.

Because he knew that man.

The scorn of the Ironblood House.

The man who murdered good men for fun, defiled their families, and betrayed humanity to become an Apostle of the Demon Cult.

"Samael!"

"Heh, long time no see…"

Clenching his fists, the Apostle of Chaos sent a deadly greeting. A fistful of demonic energy, one that opened a hole within the Hyades Army's defences. Gerrick paused in horror as he stared right at the man he once called kin.

"But unfortunately… our reunion won't be sweet."