"My lord?"

  "Yes?"

  "None of them were Hrekdroog."

  "What?!"

  "Look."

  They expected at least one of them to transform into a decapitated, freakish-looking monster with black, scaly skin, a body as thin as someone with severe anorexia, and a head devoid of eyes and ears, but with a mouth like a snake's. But the four bodies remained human, despite their prolonged vigil. Another two minutes passed, yet there was no change.

  "Goddammit!" Reth paced, hand under chin. "Okay... Shit! What are we going to tell their families?"

  "They died in the explosion. We can even show them the crater as evidence if they don't believe us, but I doubt the sound went unnoticed."

  "No. If someone finds their body, they will know how they really died. These mages are headless not turned into mush."

  Elas remains quiet for a few seconds before saying. "I have an idea. With your order, my lord, I can throw them into the hole here. There is no end in sight. No one will find them."

  "You have my permission. Do it."

  Vargha stares blankly at the two men, as they concocted their plan.

  Fucking Cowards. Our protagonist said. Commit manslaughter and now trying to cover it up. Some king you are, Reth.

  But he couldn't care less about any of this. His sole focus is on amassing more soul soldiers and growing stronger. By the looks of it, he already has two. If this was the Bastard’s way of making amends for putting him into the body of a futanari without consent, then our protagonist is undoubtedly grateful. Though not a huge fan of the futanari kink, he is simply thrilled to be a necromancer, like his favorite necromancer.

  He could already say the iconic word now if he wanted to. His inner fanboy is screaming with excitement. And given the soldiers had no cap number, it could only mean one thing: He could recruit as many souls as he desired. These Nenniaidae are just overpowered. Not to mention, the sensation of power is almost absolute in this new body. He feels so tough that he believes that if hit with a planet destroying attack, Vargha will come out of it unscathed.

  Vargha’s appearance is a testament to the danger of judging someone by outward looks alone. Her body exudes a gentle, feminine energy, graceful and elegant. Yet, beneath that exterior lay a formidable power capable of immense destruction.

  "Now, thats out of the way, Elas, how do you explain the dark mana? Who put it in the Reincarnation Spell?"

  "I don't know, my lord. Maybe it wasn't with us? Maybe the Hrekdroog stayed in the shadows to avoid detection, infused its evil magic into the spell, and tried to escape but was killed by the explosion."

  "It’s possible. Though I highly doubt it died from the explosion. Those damn things are tough as nails...” Lord Reth then groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Ugh! What a shitshow. We were supposed to reincarnate heroes, but now we have four of the best mages dead.”

  “Don’t worry, my lord. We can still win this war against the demons without them. Though if we want to try the Reincarnation Spell again, we’ll need mages strong enough to do it.”

  “It took us five years to find them,” Reth grunted through gritted teeth. “Let’s just get back to Dugria. Vargha can-" He turned, expecting her to be still have been on her pillar, but the Nenniaidae had already stepped onto their pillar and joined them. "Oh, never mind. Let’s go, Elas."

  "Yes, my lord."

  Elas is tall as hell. Our protagonist said, as Vargha looks up at the man. Didn't the message say I'm six feet? But he's a whole foot taller. His armor looks pretty cool, and he must be quite strong to wield a sword like that. He could make a good soul soldier. No, he'd be a great soldier after the 1000% buff... Wait, stop! Why am I thinking about killing him? He's an Adventurer. I shouldn't be thinking of killing Adventurers. Wouldn't that make me a villain? The demons they'll show me will most likely be stronger.

  Damn. He was contemplating premeditated murder. But it would be nice for him to be part of her army. Maybe he'll kill Elas after the demons become her soul soldiers. He’s already treating her like royalty. What's the harm in shooting a Death Beam between his eyebrows and making him even more powerful? Yes, he'll thank her. He will definitely thank his mistress. Just. One. Shot, and...

  No! He can't make an enemy out of a nation the day he gets reincarnated.

  Vargha sighed quietly. She looked away from the man because the more she stared, the stronger the urge to kill him grew.

  Quit it with the murderous intent. I need to get to Dugria. Fast.

  "Will it take long to get there?"

  "No, ma'am. I'm going to teleport us to where the battle is taking place. It will quite literally be just an instant."

  "Ok, good."

  "Stay close to me, my lord, and miss Vargha." Elas summoned an orb of white light around them, which immediately began to condense into itself like a dying star, until it vanished completely. The forest fell silent, now empty of the three who had been there.

  ***

  The Dugria village used to be a thriving one. Given where the nation is, it was far enough not to experience much demonic invasion. But now that the demon's territory has been stretching further and further, it's their turn to defend against the demon's attempt to colonize. Due to them having generally peaceful lives, they have the weakest Adventurers since they have little to no real battle experience. Sparring is essential when fighting against humans. But Assoriah's main threat isn't humans; it's the demons. For once, humanity is too busy fighting another species that has taken its spot at the top of the food chain to fight amongst themselves. Sadly, due to Dugria not having much experience with fighting powerful monsters, the weakest demons, the Tror'oras, who are Threat Level Silver, are a real problem for them. And currently, 50,000 Tror'oras are invading.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The Tror'oras are giant creatures towering at the same height as Hrekdroog, at seven feet and eleven inches. Like a Hrekdroog, they are freakish looking at what would easily be the perfect monsters in a horror film. Their bodies are skinny with no details to their face, like flesh put over a skeleton. They have pale white, peeling, dry skin with deep rashes covering their entire body. It's as if they are suffering from a severe case of atopic dermatitis. They don’t have lips, so you’d be able to see their mouth full of all canine teeth. From the mouth down to the stomach, their muscles are exposed as if someone wasn’t finished skinning them alive. These atrocious creatures have horns similar to an addax but much thicker and sharper, with four long fingers that possess black nails just as sharp and as long as the blade of kitchen knives and as talons as feet.

  Most of their Rank D to B Adventurers have already been slaughtered and eaten. Leaving only the knights who are trying their best to fend off the demonic force, but they are getting their ass handed to them.

  "There seems to be no end to these fuckers!!!" a knight charges at the nearest demon; the beast tries to impale the warrior in the chest with its long pointy nails, but he side-stepped then swung down his sword onto the monster's wrist.

  He's wearing body armor made of steel with a helmet that, unlike Elas’, doesn’t have horns, and the knight’s face is exposed. Currently caked in dirt and blood, some of it is his and isn’t.

  Thwack!!

  "Augh!!" The demon cries out in pain as its hand lays on the ground.

  "HAHA! Take that, you wretched beast!"

  "Dray, look out!! Behi-!"

  The overconfident knight turns to where the warning came from and 50 yards away is another knight wearing the same type of armor running towards him. Thankfully, Dray was quick enough to see the giant beast coming at him with another crushing strike and block the massive blow with his sword, but the force sent him back. It was also strong enough to knock the wind out of him. It felt like getting hit by a cannon.

  "Gaughk!!"

  And it wasn't what his comrade was warning him about. There was another Tror'oras 20 yards behind him, and now the knight was flying right to him. Dray was too dazed to do anything as the demon he was closing in on had opened its mouth, revealing a forked tongue. It was opened so wide that its pointy chin had reached down to its kneecaps.

  "NOOOOO!!" Dray's comrade desperately threw his sword at the monster, but he was now unarmed. The demon who had punched Dray back with crazy speed had turned his attention onto him, and before that knight could do anything, the demon in one stride closed the distance to stomp onto his head. His armor and body too weak to handle the power of the creature. The gruesome splat sound of his body getting flattened like a pancake filled the air.

  That was the last thing Dray saw before being chomped down on by the other demon. His top half in the monster's mouth while his bottom half had dropped to the ground, entrails exposed and leaking out. The Tro'oras began munching on his meal as chaos goes on all around with screams, cries, and iron ripping through flesh. The thrown sword was caught and eaten by the demon as well before it continued its rampage in the village—killing and eating men, women, and children.

  "My God! Where the hell are Nol and Levy?!" another knight weaves a strike from the demon before stabbing it in the thigh. The Tror'oras drops to a knee.

  “AHHHHHHHHH!!!.” The rage of all the people these demons have killed is shown through the knight’s primal scream as he leaps in the air, digging his entire blade under the beast's chin, the tip peeking out its skull. But the demon still had enough strength to deliver a mighty blow to his ribs, knocking him to the ground and leaving his sword in the beast's head. "Arugh!! We-we need Adventurers! They are too strong."

  His ribs are broken. His armor is now as helpful as wearing casual clothing since that's all covering him now. The blow destroyed the top half of his armor, exposing the white T-shirt underneath. Also, his helmet was knocked off his head when he hit the ground with a nasty thud.

  I-I hope Lord Thurthamath is okay. Let's hope the explosion I heard earlier was by Elas and not an enemy.

  The knight not only heard the thunderous roar of the combustion but also felt its devastating aftermath. Hearing the explosion despite how far it is to the village is a testament to just how strong it actually was. The shockwave had also managed to reach the village. In turn, knocking every human to the ground, even saving lives, allowing them to avoid an attack from the demons by a hairbreadth.

  The explosion wasn't merely heard and felt in the village; its thunderous roar and seismic shockwaves echoed across all of Assiorah. The sheer force of the blast reverberated through mountains, valleys, and forests, shaking the very foundation of the land. From the highest peaks to the deepest caverns, the power of the explosion was felt by all.

  They are currently outnumbered. Whenever a knight miraculously manages to kill one, there are already multiple they must worry about. And it doesn't help that the battle occurred in the middle of the city. Dead bodies fill the streets, most of them being those of civilians and the weaker Adventurers; homes on each side are destroyed and flattened. Given that the avenue has buildings on each side, the street is basically like a lane. While it's not too narrow to the point the civilians wouldn’t be able to maneuver around freely; the demons have the advantage of using their large size and numbers to smother the fighters.

  The Tror'oras yanked the sword from its head; black blood now dyed the blade. "Die, human." Its voice was unnaturally rough and gravelly, like rubbing two stones together. Fitting for the type of creature he is. It stood over the wounded warrior, staring down with its solid red eyes, and showed him its palm. Immediately, what looked like black flames began conjuring from its palm. The fireball starts to get bigger and bigger, quickly reaching a size bigger than a volleyball.

  I guess this is it. The knight stares as the flames get larger. He knows he won't survive this. These flames are not like the fire he knows. Trying to extinguish it with water is pointless. It turns the human body to dust in seconds. Sorry, Dahlia, Troy, and my precious wife, Frey. I won't be coming back home.

  However, before the knight could say hello to God in the Afterlife, a white light appeared far down the street. It was bright and humming with energy. It quickly got all the demon's attention. That ball of light grew from being no bigger than a human's hand to the size of a seven-foot-tall giant. When it finally dimmed to nothing, Elas, Reth, and Vargha stood in its place.

  The first things that reached into their nostrils were burned flesh and decaying bodies. Only Vargha didn't retch and cringe from the atrocious aroma.

  "UGHK!!” Reth pinched his nose to try to block out the smell. “There's more of them, Elas! They are filling the streets."

  But before Elas could join in the fight, Vargha stepped up.

  "I'll take care of it." She shows no emotion, but our protagonist inside is completely fanboying for what he's about to do.

  AHHHHHH!!!! Here it is!!! The time has come! Okay, okay. Moment of truth. I can finally say the iconic word. Don't screw it up. I got to sound cool and haunting. I got this! NO! Don't think too hard about it, or I'll fuck it up. Just say it normally. Don't fuck it up! Do not fuck it up!

  "I will take care of all of them." She grows a mischievous smirk across her perfect face, but her eyes remain emotionless. "And they will join my army... Arise."