***
The plan to delay supplies from the Land of the Elements had been in the works for half a year.
Under the command of King Krytrik of the Four Heavens, we would sow discord on the continent, not on the battlefield.
Kuhora, one of King Krytrik's direct reports, was ordered to hold back the Elemental Lands until the demon army was victorious.
You've traveled far from the battlefields of war, but you've traveled far too far to be a fringe, and you've traveled far to reach this resource-rich land.
He sets up a forward base without revealing himself as a demon soldier, and tries to recruit talented people from other directions who have no ties to him.
Kuhora's skill at reading the tide and maneuvering in and out of situations made this possible.
It wasn't something he could do just by being strong.
That's why he's known as one of the most favored demons.
He was a demon who was so concerned about the safety of his subordinates that he would kill them with his own hands if they didn't understand the importance of information, and he was so sincere about learning the location of those who might pose a threat to him.
Kuhora's methods are somewhat incongruous for a demon with a strong-is-right mentality.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought of the things he had endured for this mission.
Weak subjects were forced to hide in the dirtiest of places because of the interference of good guys with good intentions, heads were bowed to those less than a fist's length away for cooperation, and she had to bear the brunt of the stress of her subordinates.
Kuhora knew all too well the importance of this operation, which she had steadfastly pursued despite the odds.
What if the body she had possessed had been male instead of female?
If that had been the case, he would have taken the stronger man's approach, but now that he was in a female body, he was glad that he had been able to get away with it.
And so, the long-awaited yesterday.
I checked on the city commander, who was away training despite the fact that we were in the midst of a war, and orchestrated a timed attack on the Elemental's village with a bunch of ignorant Chuzaras.
And not just to delay supplies, but to enlist the Zituas to dig tunnels inside the Elementals' country.
We had prepared to spy on them on the small scale, and to invade them on the large scale.
I was ready.
"I can't reach him."
I slipped out of the council chambers around lunchtime and waited, but Bo-ok didn't respond. Even though she was new, she didn't look like she'd skip a report.
She's so motivated that she's been doing well so far.
"Was she attacked by a shaman?"
She'd said she'd be the first to contact me if the shaman made a move, but she'd gotten to him before then.
"Chit, I was too complacent."
She's supposed to be able to pinpoint their location in real time without being seen by the shrine maiden.
Instead, Kuhora was busy running away in a panic to avoid detection.
"If you're going to do this, you might as well tell me to stay underground."
The whole premise was misguided. A mistake in judgment that came from hearing about the shrine maiden's abilities but not having experienced them firsthand.
"I should have been honest and told her I couldn't take a single village. I should have told her to take care of herself on the ground and let the Chu'jara hordes attack the city."
With her communications cut off from her allies on the other side, Kuhora thought quickly, trying to move on to her next plan.
"Damn shaman bitch. It's been a while since I've heard of a snowstorm in the demon realm. I wonder if there was some sort of intervention from the natural woods, but if so, all the villages that should have been evacuated to the city were left unguarded."
Kuhora was in charge of the current operation, as he was currently working hard in the field.
"Eh-! This is such an important operation, and we've been so careful and cautious, but...! You idiots don't even understand the benefits of Mercury!"
The ignorant subordinates shouted that they should have just charged, but he felt like retorting that he, the commander, would have been running around in the middle of the enemy's territory with all this trouble.
"You're using the races of the continent to attack us because we demons can't invade because of the bonds created by the natural trees, and even though I warned you when you first arrived here, one of your idiots crossed the bonds without thinking, unnecessarily raising the elementals' guard!"
The surroundings glared angrily at the already backsliding bastard. The preparation period was too long for the failure of the operation to be attributed to the fact that they hadn't just aimed for supply support, but also to the fact that they had waited to lower the alert level.
"That's fair enough, I've been giving you guys too much credit, but why the hell is a shrine maiden who's supposed to be in the Demon Realm here!"
They had a plan B or C if things went wrong, but what was happening now was nonsense.
The mere presence of a shrine maiden was enough to derail their plans.
They would have to wonder if they could escape with their lives intact, let alone their plan.
"It's the job of the Sasa Brigadier to figure that out.
"Puck-!
-."
Kuhora cracked the man's head for arguing so unproductively.
"Then shut up and do what I tell you to do!"
He's been crossing the line a lot lately, but he's been waiting for the other shoe to drop, so he kills him with sarcasm.
"So, you have the same opinion as this idiot?"
You don't want to mess with an idiot, no matter how stupid he is.
Kuhora isn't stupid enough to take it out on his men when things don't go his way.
He was merely setting an example to keep them in line, even though he was the boss and they were crawling all over him for the occasional romp to relieve stress.
"Ha-ha. I should have emphasized the importance of the operation more and brought in good people. Why did you come to an operation where people who should be on the battlefield are using their brains?"
It's a commander's discernment and ability to deploy the right people at the right time.
But it's not as easy as fighting a winning battle every time, so it's the skill of the deployed commander to fix the problems that arise.
"No, this is a tactical meeting," he said, "does anybody have a good idea, with a mouth that knows how to do anything but eat and talk?"
It was Kuhora's job to preserve the objective and execute the plan accordingly.
"Krul, what about attacking the city?"
"With just a few Chu'jaras, when we have our commander back and a shaman on the walls?"
If the city's commander defends it, it's a lost cause.
They don't need the Chu'jaras to do that, they don't need themselves.
We didn't even capture enough to get to the front lines, and it would have been dignified to at least delay the supplies.
It was the only way to preserve power and harass the enemy, even if it was a hassle.
"Then we'll just have to storm in.
"Bam!
Crook?!"
"You stupid bastard, did you forget that we were camped here because the boundaries prevented anyone but me from entering?!"
I didn't hesitate to kill the first one because he was just a mouthpiece, but I couldn't afford to weaken his power any further, so I only gave him moderate attention.
"Hah. You're so insensitive, Kritik, only giving a slender Sioux like me such ignorant beasts. Crrrr."
I let out a low growl of irritation.
One-on-one, maybe, but in a group, I honestly had no answer.
My men are useful, but it's still a bit much for you to take them away, claiming they're needed for another operation.
Not that he didn't have his own people, of course, but most of the people assigned to the operation weren't brought in voluntarily, and this was especially true.
"Take it easy, Mr. Kuhora. You're going to ruin your fair skin."
Just as Kuhora's anger had subsided a bit, the humanoid male demon standing to his left slapped him on the shoulder.
"Hmph! Kehyo, you're so funny, too. This body is merely a possession, and my gender is asexual, more like male."
"Does love have a gender?"
"Ew, gross."
Knowing it was flattery, but not disliking it, Kuhora chalked it up to the length of time he'd been possessing and parasitizing a female body.
"So, did you hear anything from Kritik?"
The shrine maiden's appearance was an urgent matter. Information had barely reached his lieutenant in the Land of the Elements, and he had no doubt that the lieutenant had relayed it to the demon army outside the council.
"Well."
He rubbed her shoulder deftly, his words muffled and quiet in her ear.
"...Yeah."
If it had been just the two of them, Kuhora would have let her embarrassment show, but she kept her expression in check as she considered the intent of her lieutenant's careful words.
"You are, aren't you? You're quite calm."
Even if it was hard to hide how she felt about the order.
No support. Rather, to keep the shrine maiden tied up at all costs.
"Have you asked Brigadier Sassam for help?"
He asked, just in case, for a commander who had been thrown in like him.
"No, but I did contact him, and he said he would respect your opinion."
"Fucking inspirational...."
Kuhora was pissed that he hadn't been able to help them at all, even though they'd snatched up good talent unlike him.
Especially Yang Bora, whose concessions were almost like coercion.
"Yeah. Respect? Ha! Then I suppose I should send you a gift befitting a Sasam Brigadier like that?"
Suddenly, a sneaky thought occurred to her, and she raised the corners of her mouth conspiratorially.
"Kehyo. The return scroll you had was a spatial return, right?"
"Yes."
The higher the rank or position, the more self-preservation the Demon Lord would take care of, so even if he was only a rank and file Demon Lord, he would have been given a Return Scroll.
Instead, due to his low rank and stability, he had to use it as a last resort.
"Let's use it on a shrine maiden."
Kuhora casually mentioned the use of such a precious scroll.
"Yes, but isn't that the way to the Sasam Garrison?"
"That's right."
"Then the shrine maiden will go to the Sasam Garrison, won't she?"
"That's right."
Kuhora replied casually to the adjutant who questioned whether what she had heard was correct.
"...Kuhora-sama?"
"Why?"
"You're very ruthless."
"Oh, thank you for the compliment."
The adjutant wasn't the only one who was momentarily speechless at the idea of sending a member of a party of warriors who were said to be comparable to the Four Heavenly Kings to a friendly base as a matter of course, unless it was to capture and transport a shrine maiden without resistance.
Unless you were under Kuhora's direct command, though, there was no guarantee you'd be able to say anything good about it and not end up looking like a dead man walking.
"So, shall we move on to the subject of how to attract the shrine maiden?"
As if the decision had already been made, it was decided to dump the shaman on the other troops without even hearing another opinion.
"Which male is brave enough to fly with her to the Sasam garrison?"
Kuhora didn't expect much, but asked just in case.
"Chits. Pathetic things. Can't you even be bold enough to go out and do something instead of just puffing yourself up in bed?"
No matter how much she provokes them, they only cower.
Even if they accepted and succeeded in going to the 43rd Garrison with the shrine maiden, they would either die at the hands of the shrine maiden or be criticized and killed by their own allies right after they flew out.
"Haha, then we should only let the witch go, but you don't have to do it, do you really not have any of your men who can go with the witch?"
This was an officer's meeting, and all of these men, as stupid as they were in Kuhora's eyes, were commanders at the battalion level.
Even if they were more like generals, with more brute force than tactics.
"Then I'll have to ask the most useless person here to do it-."
Hmph!
"Me, not me, I've been doing well lately without any accidents!"
Despite being in the same demon army, allies are not without their enemies, and the idiot in the middle of the road, a former subordinate of the 43rd Brigade commander and a suspicious one-eyed general, reacts.
"Uh-oh, this is a general."
I'm about to stare him down with the intention of being a deterrent, but the asshole snaps.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
"What's going on?"
He looked up, sharp-eyed instead of annoyed at the commotion outside.
I'd never heard this much commotion before, even though the 44th Garrison was a good distance from the elements and we were told to stay out of the elements, but the fact that I could hear that bell meant something big was going on.
It's fast. Did they just send out a camo one? Who's on duty now?
"Mu, a shrine maiden, a supposed elemental has appeared!"
"What the hell?! Damn it...!"
Hearing the words of the demon who came in to report the situation, Kuhora realized that her plan was seriously going awry.
Had they been caught from behind? No, that couldn't be it.
It was hard for Kuhora to reason coldly that they would have tracked him.
He'd used stealth to avoid detection, traveled in the opposite direction from the base just in case, used three relocation scrolls, and now they'd followed him here?
I didn't want to admit to the shrine maiden that I might have gotten caught, since I was the one who ran away.
No, if she had, she would have captured me first, and she would have found a different way to get here.
But as I bit my nails, a small part of me wondered if it was possible, if the shaman was capable.
"Brigadier, what shall we do?"
"Uh, what can we do? This is your chance to do what you've been dying to do! You guys are supposed to do something!"
Kuhora was overwhelmed by the panicked questions of his subordinates, who were asking him when they could attack. Hana herself was surprised.
"Go! Go out and kill or capture the shrine maiden!"
"Ugh."
Hana frowned as she looked like she was going to attack with her magic at any moment.
"Hah-! Let's see what you're made of."
Despite her relaxed demeanor, it was hard for Kuhora not to feel a stirring of anxiety as she watched her subordinates leave the meeting.
"You'll be fine, I'll protect you, even if it means blowing myself up."
"Thump! Thump!
The two lieutenants stood by Kuhora's side, each expressing their trust. However, Kuhora doubted that even with all of Krytric's men like him gathered together, they would be able to defeat the Four Heavenly Kings.
A shrine maiden of the same caliber as the Four Heavenly Kings had appeared out of nowhere.
Normally, it would have been wise to retreat, but my heart and steps were not in it to waste my base, my men, and the plans I had made.
"Krul, you mean against the shaman?"
"Yes."
Kehyo's grip on her shoulders tightened, and her voice sounded determined, and she felt her instinctive fear diminish slightly.
"Quite right. Even a shrine maiden can't help being here alone. Or maybe it's a trick or a bucket!"
Kuhora, a shrine maiden of the elemental race, but with a name that doesn't fit with her race, the Dark Harvester, considers the possibilities. At first, she didn't think much of it, wondering if she had caused the base to be discovered, but then she calmly calculated the options and thought about how to respond.
"Let's go out and check it out."
""Yes!"
With two servants who replied in a loud voice, Kuhora left the tent and headed toward the shrine maiden's location.
"Kwaaang!!!
"Huh?!"
'Pook! Kwagwagwang!!!'
"Catch her! Catch her!"
"How can I catch it if I can't see it?!"
"Catch it or we all die!"
Even without a minion to tell you what's going on, you'd expect it.
At best, the traps you've set up don't seem to be doing their job as they explode with a lot of noise, and your subordinates are screaming in frustration as they struggle to stop the shrine maiden.
"Ha-! So where the hell is she?"
The demon horses that were sent to watch the hidden entrance and the demon horses that were sent to patrol returned, but they were unable to locate her.
They look ahead to see if they can make a guess from the noise.
"There! There's the target.
"Pooh-pooh!
Kaaaak!"
The sound now came from the rear.
"Battalion Commander Kron is down!"
"Over here! Here's the shaman...!"
Another shout, this time from the left, then the right.
"Didn't the Brigadier give you any orders?!"
"He only told me to stop it, huh! We're already here."
The men collapsed in a heap.
And the source was getting closer and closer to Kuhora.
"Crazy...!"
This was the power of the shrine maiden?
"Makku, bring a hostage and stall for time! Kehyo, you're good with anyone, find someone who can use the Return Scroll with the shrine maiden!"
Feeling that there was no time to delay any longer, Kuhora hurriedly gave his orders. In response, the two lieutenants split up, while Kuhora remained stealthy, ready to use the last of the relocation scrolls at any moment.
Damn it, damn it, damn it, what the hell is a shrine maiden in the demon realm doing here!
She fumed nervously, trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible. They were going through all this trouble because they still hadn't gotten into the Elemental Realm, and their enemies were Kuhora, who felt it was incongruous that a being of her caliber was casually tearing through their base.
Sui
Kuhora's body gradually blends in with nature. She doesn't just become invisible, but disappears to the point where you wonder if she was never there in the first place.
Let's see how strong the shrine maiden is before we judge her. We don't deserve to see Mr. Krytrik if we run away before we've gotten this far.
The Demon Army is no exception to the rule of conserving manpower, and while the Commander's Code teaches us to tear up the scroll and flee if we encounter an enemy we can't handle, I'm not a coward enough to run tail-first from an enemy I've never seen, even if Kuhora has carefully positioned herself here.
Not even a shrine maiden could kill me in one fell swoop. And I won't just die. I'll just leave this body behind.
Kuhora's form may have disappeared, but she hasn't ceased to exist, so I move carefully, leaving traces of her past behind me.
Still, Kuhora traveled silently, using the body of the elemental she had possessed to keep her footsteps from being heard in the noisy surroundings.
What if I see the shrine maiden? I don't think I can catch her in this state, and she'll probably destroy the traps I've set. This is crazy. I don't know how Kritik ordered me to tie that thing down.
I was a little motivated to try until I heard the order, but then the shrine maiden burst in and I changed my mind.
Foolish.
I have the scrolls to get me out of here, but my minions can't....
A bad feeling of foreboding rises in her stomach as she realizes that the act of binding her feet is only possible with someone she can handle, not someone she can't even touch. But Kuhora didn't want to believe it until the very end.
"It's you."
"...?!!"
Her lips open in astonishment. She almost missed the scroll.
This fiction piece was written for promotional purposes.
This article has been translated by deepl.