Birth of a Demon City

by Hyougetsu

  I still haven’t fought any warriors stronger than me, so I’m really curious about how strong he is. Also, I heard that Vaito’s supposed to be a really smart general too. He conquered Ryunheit with just 56 werewolves, and he didn’t lose a single soldier. Now that’s amazing! There’s no way I could conquer a city this big with just 56 kentauros.

  Not only that, he’s supposed to be really good at magic too. I don’t really understand magic that well, but that’s what Master said, at least. Oh, and by Master, I of course mean the Great Sage Gomoviroa. I can’t use magic, but I’m still one of Master’s disciples.

  Because Vaito’s a werewolf mage, the Demon Lord gave him the really cool title of Weremage. It’s unbelievable. He’s a strong fighter, a smart tactician, and a skilled mage. The most awesome thing about him, though, is how he governs humans. Vaito used a totally different method than Melly did. He even let the human viceroy keep her position. Can you believe it? And now even the city’s soldiers are on Vaito’s side. I’m serious. I saw them patrolling the city earlier! We kentauros may look the same as humans from the upper half, but really we’re nothing like them. After all, we’re proud demon soldiers. So there’s no way we’d know what humans are thinking.

  I’d heard werewolves were meant to be really demon-like hunters, but apparently Vaito’s not like that. Everyone says he can tell what humans are thinking. At least, that’s what the rumors say. I wonder if he can read minds or something? Can he read my mind? No wonder he’s so trusted by the Demon Lord. He’s amazing.

  I heard the Demon Lord even sent him some of his personal soldiers to help Vaito out. I actually saw them for a few seconds when we were walking through the city. Even Master, the commander of the third regiment, doesn’t have dragonkin soldiers working for her.

  I totally get why everyone calls him the demon army’s strongest vice-commander now. But you know, what surprised me the most was meeting Vaito. It was a heart-pounding experience. Like, he’s just so cool! Even though he’s a famous commander that everyone talks about, he didn’t put on airs or anything. He just talked to me normally! Just thinking about it makes my heart skip a beat! And even though I completely forgot to mention that we had three times as many people coming, he just handled it like it was nothing! I mean he did scold me, but he was really mature about it. That’s why he’s worthy of my respect.

  Oh, and it’s kinda cute how he looks annoyed every time I call him Vaito. The coolest thing, though, was when I asked him for reinforcements. I thought he’d just say no, but he’s actually gonna come fight with us personally! Man, he’s really just way too cool.

  Ah, I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself. The fate of the Kentauros race hinges on this battle. For centuries now, the humans have been expanding their domain, leaving us with less and less space to live. The plains are our home; if the humans turn all of those plains into farmland, we’ll have nowhere left to go.

  I guess demons who live in the forests or mountains don’t have to worry about that as much. That’s probably why kentauros end up fighting with humans more than everyone else. Our elder told me that our numbers have been dwindling. If things keep up like this, we’ll go extinct. We tried to avoid all-out war for as long as we could, but now that it’s come to this, we have no choice.

  Originally, I’d only planned on bringing the 500 warriors of my tribe, but since our future is riding on this, warriors from all the other clans said they wanted to help too. And now we’ve got a full 1500! To be honest, it’s kind of frightening being entrusted with the lives of so many. More than half our race’s warriors are under my command right now. Our fate rests in my hands. One mistake, and I might doom our entire species. It’s terrifying to think about.

  That’s why I begged Vaito for help. He’s so famous, even people who aren’t in the army have heard of him. Every kentauros knows of the Weremage Veight. Though Vaito spends all his time in Ryunheit, so he probably hasn’t even realized that.

  When I told my men Vaito would join the battle, they were so happy. I guess it makes sense; he’s the strongest person in the army after the Demon Lord and the regiment commanders. There’s no greater honor for a kentauros than being able to fight by the side of a seasoned warrior. I’m sure with him around, we’ll be able to fight better than ever.

  But I guess I shouldn’t be relying on Vaito for everything... I need to pull myself together. I’ll pile up as much experience as I can, and then become a splendid general like Vaito! Maybe he’ll praise me if I do a good job during the battle.

  ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊

  All of the generals participating in the upcoming battle were called to Ryunheit to hold one final strategy meeting. We borrowed one of the viceroy’s rooms to use as our conference center, and began to strategize.

  “Does anyone happen to know how sturdy Thuvan’s front gate is?”

  Melaine, Queen of all Vampires, rested her cheek in her hand as she spoke. She was Master’s number one disciple, and a skilled necromancer in her own right. On top of that, she wasn’t a half bad diplomat or strategist, either. However, she had absolutely no knowledge of tactics.

  “Melaine, think back to how big the gate in your city was.”

  “Bernheinen just had an iron grille gate...”

  Bernheinen was an old city, more famous for its scenery than anything else. Which meant that for quite some time, the demons had had no interest in it. Because of that, a simple gate had sufficed. If Thuvan’s gate was as small as Ryunheit’s, we’d be able to just assault it head-on. But because the city was Meraldia’s industrial hub, I had no doubt they’d keep it well-guarded with state-of-the-art technology. Taking the city wouldn’t be that easy.

  Melaine’s biggest strength lay in her ability to convert humans into her vampire servants, but that was also the only thing she was capable of. Ideally she’d be able to sneak in, bite their commander, and have him betray his city from the inside. However, while vampires in this world weren’t weak to sunlight or holy crosses, neither could they transform into bats or fly in the sky. In fact, they were basically just bloodsucking humans.

  “Veight, I know that look. You just thought I’m going to be useless in this fight, didn’t you?”

  “Nope, not at all.”

  “Even if we can’t break down the gate, can’t you just jump over it and use that...Soul Shaker spell of yours or whatever to beat everyone, Vaito?” Firnir, Master’s newest disciple, asked casually. It was her first time being in a city, and she was currently enamored by the peculiar scent of the windows’ glass.

  “That’s really just meant to be used in magic duels. It has a short range, and I can’t cast it in succession, so it wouldn’t really work for a large battle.”

  Besides, I’d read reports of the massive ballistae sitting on Thuvan’s walls. Werewolf or not, even I’d die if a bolt the size of a javelin pierced me.

  “As I feared, we have no choice but to send out the undead soldiers first and overwhelm the gates,” muttered the Great Sage Gomoviroa.

  Since she could summon undead no matter where she was, she was basically a mobile reinforcement base. That being said, 100 soldiers were the most she could create in a day, and that was if she ignored all her other duties. If taking the city cost us 1000 Bone Spears, she’d be tied up for 10 whole days replacing them. And naturally, we couldn’t have one of our commanders leave her other responsibilities for that long.

  The problem was, no one in the demon army had any experience with siege warfare. I guess it wasn’t surprising, considering for the past few decades they’d just been skirmishing with the humans’ subjugation forces. They hadn’t had any opportunities to assault a castle or city, so it stood to reason that they had no knowledge of it.

  Though it wasn’t as if the humans had any real experience with siege warfare, either. It had been quite some time since the Meraldia unification wars, and no one had invaded a city since. However, my biggest concern was the same one that the other commanders here had: the relative rigidity of
our forces. While kentauros were skilled fighters, they couldn’t dismount within a city. Obviously not, seeing as their lower halves were part of them. That still put them at a disadvantage against Thuvan’s mounted archers though, since they could dismount within the city and become regular foot archers.

  It was this difference in adaptability that had led past demon armies to be defeated by human soldiers time and time again. Come to think of it, there was this one game I played back in my old life where all the demon units had restrictions on their equipment and low overall growth rates. They couldn’t change classes, either.

  Thuvan’s main streets were wide to accommodate all the raw material they needed to import into the city, but the rest of the city was a chaotic mess of side streets and workshops all jumbled together. For kentauros who needed space to maneuver, it was the worst kind of terrain. Once we breached the main gate, Firnir’s forces would have a hard time. Hence, it was imperative that we at least take the gates with minimal casualties.

  The other option was of course to send Master’s undead soldiers in. They were disposable, and perfectly capable of fighting in narrow spaces. However, they were also mindless creatures, and could only obey simple commands. They couldn’t differentiate between soldiers and civilians, nor did they have the intelligence to comprehend the meaning of surrender. If we let them loose into the city, it would become a massacre. Our mission was to capture the city, not raze it to the ground.

  If only we’d had a few giant stone-slingers from the second regiment, the main gate would have been no obstacle with their might. Or if we’d had a few dragonkin soldiers from the first regiment, they’d have no problem fighting in the city. Unfortunately, neither regiment was in any position to send over reinforcements.

  Because of their unique characteristics, each race of demons was more or less locked into a particular fighting type. They couldn’t be versatile like human soldiers. My werewolves were relatively more flexible, but there weren’t many of us. The canines wouldn’t be of any use in combat. And frankly speaking, Melaine’s vampires weren’t all that good in a fight either. Plus she had her own city to take care of as well.

  It wasn’t a very favorable situation, but coming up with a strategy regardless was the job of us commanders. The question was, what options were left? There were a few viable strategies for taking down the main gate, but as we didn’t know just how sturdy Thuvan’s walls were, we couldn’t be sure any of them would work. As for occupying the city after that, we had no choice but to send the kentauros in and prepare ourselves for heavy losses. It appeared Firnir had already steeled herself for that.

  Still, she clearly didn’t want to lead her soldiers into death, hence why she gave Melaine a pleading look.

  “Umm, Melly... I mean, Melaine, can’t you just turn Thuvan’s viceroy into a vampire?”

  It looked like she treated Melaine with respect, but not me. Judging from her attitude, Melaine had probably scolded her harshly about it sometime before. Upon closer inspection, I realized there was a small lump on the back of Firnir’s head. That was probably Melaine, huh. Melaine thought about it for a few seconds, but then shook her head sadly.

  “Mmm, I don’t think it’s possible. It worked last time since they didn’t know we were coming, but the humans are ready for us this time. Even if Veight or I tried to sneak in, magic would reveal our true identities pretty easily.”

  There was a reason humans had had the upper hand in these past few centuries of warfare. One of the simplest magic spells was a charm to detect whether or not someone was a demon. It was so easy to use that even apprentices could cast it. That was why our ancestors had left human settlements and created hidden werewolf villages to live in peace.

  In the end, we were unable to come up with a solution, and started reminiscing about our early days training under Master. I could understand everyone’s desire to treat this like a class reunion, but I really wish we could have come up with an effective plan first. It was then that I heard a knock on the door. Before I could reply, Airia timidly stepped into the room.

  “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Ryunheit’s Viceroy, Airia Lutt Aindorf. This may be a little presumptuous of me, but I have prepared dinner for you all. If you would like, please come to the dining hall later.”

  Airia’s arrival got the other girls excited.

  “Veight, you never told me such a pretty girl is Ryunheit’s viceroy! My, she looks so dashing!”

  “Because every time you spot someone you like you try to suck their blood, Melaine. Seriously, you need to stop doing that.”

  If Airia was turned into a vampire, all my careful planning would go to waste. And that was the last thing I needed right now.

  “Master, is Vaito popular with the ladies?”

  “I’m not sure I’d say that. He’s a rather serious-minded man, after all. Oh yes, back when he had just become my apprentice there was a time...”

  Firnir’s face lit up, and she leaned closer to Master. What are you, a middle schooler?

  “Please tell me more, Master.”

  And why’re you taking out a notepad, Firnir? Smiling, Gomoviroa started talking about my dark past.

  “This happened when Veight was around your age. He was practicing exorcism magic when one of the evil spirits he was supposed to purify fell in love with him.”

  “A girl spirit!?”

  “But of course. The spirit of a young human girl, no less. Hoho, that turned into quite the incident.”

  “Master, do you have to tell everyone that story?”

  To be honest, it had been kinda scary having a spirit stalker. Before I knew it, she’d snuck into my room and tried to possess me so that we would be together forever. The whole issue could have been resolved if I’d let Master exorcise her, but I’d taken pity on her and tried to convince her to move on peacefully instead. It had taken a full week. It was thanks to that incident that she’d decided I had no aptitude for necromancy. In her own words, “While understanding the feelings of spirits is important, you must learn to keep your sympathy in moderation.”

  Well it wasn’t my fault! Memories of my past life made it hard to just ignore her! Firnir looked at me and sighed.

  “Vaito...if you’re kind to every girl you meet, you’ll just end up hurting them, you know?”

  Look, that isn’t my fault. I looked up ruefully and saw Melaine grinning at me.

  “But you know, that spirit was totally his type. She looked kind of like you actually, Firnir.”

  “Really!?”

  I waved my hands in dismissal.

  “Firnir looks nothing like her! Not one bit!”

  In truth, I’d been too busy trying to get rid of her back then to get a good look at her face. Still, it was better to deny any similarities, just in case. Firnir’s face fell as she heard my rejection. See, this is all your fault, Melaine.

  “Really? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure.”

  Besides, wouldn’t it be insulting to Firnir if I likened her to a ghost? Better to resolve the misunderstanding now.

  “You are way cuter than she was, so don’t worry.”

  At that, the entire room fell silent.

  “Huh? What?”

  Seeing her confusion, I hurriedly clarified.

  “I mean look, there’s no way a dead person could look cuter than a living one, right? Like, you’re all healthy and stuff, and you’ve got a way more agreeable personality and everything.”

  For some reason, my attempts to smooth things over seemed to be making it worse. Firnir blushed and went quiet. Now it looks like I’m sexually harassing her! I guess praising her hadn’t been the right move here. Melaine broke the silence with a pointed cough.

  “Is that how you got Airia to fall for you too?”

  She was glaring coldly at me.

  “What...do you mean?”

  “Oh, nothing. I’m sure an upstanding werewolf such as yourself is no womanizer.”

  T
here was something dangerous about the way Melaine was grinning. It just keeps getting worse.

  “Look, Lady Airia’s an important ally and strategic partner! We need her if we’re going to coexist with the humans! So stop saying those kinds of suggestive things! You’re being rude to her!”

  “So she’s your life partner after all, Vaito!?”

  “Don’t twist my words either!”

  The two of them continued teasing me about my relationship with Airia for some time afterwards.

  I lost my chance to convince them to try a different strategy, but whatever, I don’t even care anymore. Besides, it’d probably be impossible to teach a bunch of mages how to run a siege... In the first place, I wasn’t all that versed in siege tactics myself. Though the demon army had grown exponentially in scope, it lacked talented officers.

  Next time I see the Demon Lord, I need to tell him to start teaching all his units how to run sieges. This is something our army needs. As I finished my preparations, I swore to myself that I’d ask him, no matter the consequences.

  The next day, our army departed for Thuvan. Command of the operation had been given to Firnir the Swift Gale. The bulk of the invasion force consisted of the 1500 kentauros she’d brought with her. Melaine, queen of the vampires, led the army’s reserves. She’d summoned 300 wax corpses to function as emergency reinforcements. Furthermore, my master, Gomoviroa, had summoned 1000 skeleton soldiers to serve as cannon fodder. Lastly, I’d brought along the 2000 Bone Spears she’d given me before to serve as ambush troops. All told, our army numbered close to 5000 troops.

  On the other hand, Thuvan’s population was roughly 5000. My guess was, their garrison usually consisted of roughly 150 to 200 mounted archers. And since I’d annihilated 50 of them in the battle a few weeks ago, they were likely undermanned. Mounted archers weren’t easy to train. There was likely a good number of militia soldiers as well, but I couldn’t begin to guess their exact numbers. Half the city’s population was men, and I’d guess about half of those men were young and fit and willing enough to serve, so they had maybe around 1000 or so? According to the reports I’d read, all citizens of Thuvan trained with the crossbow, so most of them were skilled archers.