Bribed by the Demon Lord Right Before the Ending

■ Self-Strengthening and Two Rivers □

Simultaneous attacks from three sides, not two.

While drawing attention with cavalry at the front and dispersing enemy forces with a separate unit to the south, I took advantage of the weakened inner defenses by riding a wyvern to assault and obliterate the city gate.

The moment the supposedly sturdy Hamburg fortress gates shattered with one blow, the soldiers were thrown into confusion, fumbling on the castle walls. In that time, the Demon King’s Army surged in like a flood through the broken gate.

Though cavalry are known to be less effective near fortifications, once freed from such constraints, they unleash their full potential.

Unfortunately for the defenders, the mage battalion that might have stopped the cavalry was wiped out by my Explosion spell, leaving no one capable of halting their charge.

What followed was a one-sided battle.

A fortress is originally built for purely military purposes, with all facilities and structures designed to withstand enemy interception. Thus, internal defenses tend to be relatively weak.

A fleeing soldier collided with a rhinoceros beastman pursuing him from behind, breaking his spine.

A soldier attempting to resist with his sword became a target for playful imps, quickly turning into a hedgehog before falling.

A spear thrust in desperation failed to scratch the armor of a centaur, only to then pierce the abdomen of its wielder, who was dragged away.

It was as if each human soldier had become a lone wolf among a flock of sheep.

This demonstrates how far superior the combat power of the Demon Tribe is compared to ordinary humans.

Without such large-scale fortresses or geographic and strategic advantages, an equal fight would be nearly impossible.

After destroying the gates, I ascended back into the sky to resume my observer role, replenishing the mana used for Explosion with crystals supplied from our base. Once ready, I surveyed the latecomers entering the fortress.

A striking figure with red hair atop a black Cerberus confidently paraded down the main road.

That’s Dorothea, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Around her lay many scorched corpses, victims not of her magic but of Cerberus’ fiery breath.

Had she personally used magic, there wouldn’t even be ashes left.

I shifted my gaze toward where scattered human soldiers, avoiding the surging demon forces, were heading.

Among the many buildings within the fortress, one stood out as particularly grand.

It must be the residence of the Lord of Hamburg.

Comparatively fortified against other locations, this building already housed surviving human soldiers preparing for defense.

In a sense, it could be described as a small castle within the larger fortress.

A man with a clean-shaven head and a Kaiser beard, likely the Lord of Hamburg, was busily issuing commands to his troops.

Despite the chaos, his swift adaptation of strategy showcased the demeanor of a seasoned commander.

“Upper-left flank has the special unit, lower-right the main force.”

The special unit tasked with disrupting the enemy inside the fortress was performing better than expected.

Though some casualties occurred due to knights wielding aura, most survived and continued to methodically reduce the number of human survivors.

Particularly noteworthy were the beastmen lurking in shadows between buildings, swiftly attacking and cutting off the breath of their targets, much like assassins.

With sharp teeth and claws infused with aura, even armored knights were torn apart like paper.

For the nagas armed with spears and bows, they grabbed humans by the shoulder, ascending to high places before dropping them—a hunting rather than a war tactic.

Soldiers in light armor might escape with broken limbs if lucky, but heavily armored knights often met their end crushed under their own weight.

‘These guys have terrible taste.’

I would have preferred using ranged attacks from the air to exploit the open spaces.

Still, since the special unit was handling things well, I decided to focus on observing the main force instead.

Led by Eva, Dorothea’s adjutant, the reckless cavalry charge tore through the streets, where frenzied demon soldiers began looting without setting fires, mindful of reusing the buildings later.

They showed no mercy to any human soldiers they encountered, slaughtering both those who surrendered and those who resisted, likely viewing them as troublesome burdens consuming food supplies.

Though brutal, I no longer found fault with their actions.

What they did to humans was the same as what humans had done to demons.

From a third-party perspective, they’re all equally bad actors; distinguishing good from evil now feels ambiguous.

In these chaotic times, victory alone defines justice.

Tossing aside the depleted mana crystal, I lowered the wyvern’s altitude from above the clouds.

There was a pretense of conserving strength for emergencies, but continuing this way, my contribution would end with breaking the gates.

That wasn’t exactly what I hoped for.

“Hmm?”

Mid-dive on the wyvern, I suddenly sensed a powerful mana fluctuation.

If it were Dorothea, it wouldn’t have surprised me so much.

However, the source was the southern wall opposite me, indicating at least a 5th-tier magician still remained inside the fortress.

‘Who could it be? I thought everyone at the gate was killed.’

Though unknown, it felt like a direct provocation.

Apparently intrigued as well, Dorothea, en route to the Lord’s residence with heavy escort, abruptly changed direction.

Some of her guards hastily followed, while others continued toward the residence.

Following the residual mana traces, I circled the southern skies of the fortress on my wyvern until finally spotting the magician who had openly dispersed mana moments ago.

Standing atop the corpses of decapitated beastmen and nagas was an elderly gentleman with neatly combed-back silver hair, wearing a silk hat and tailcoat suitable for a gala.

Though he appeared old at first glance, the robust muscles beneath his suit and his upright posture revealed his vitality.

More importantly, I recognized his face—or rather, couldn’t fail to.

He was none other than Baron Louis von Betendorf, one of the three 6th-tier Great Mages in the kingdom and royal advisor.

To my knowledge, Betendorf’s title as a mage was “The Ocean,” specializing in water elements, the bane of fire mages.

Unlike Caldlasth riding his wyvern in the air, Dorothy, delayed by getting lost in an unfamiliar place, arrived later and spotted the leisurely standing elder, curling her lips in competitive excitement.

“We’ve caught a big fish.”

The white-haired elder tipped his navy silk hat politely upon meeting her gaze.

“Nice to meet you, fair lady.”

Dorothy immediately instructed Eva, who had just caught up.

“Take all the soldiers around here and leave.”

“What? Then our guard…”

Frustrated by Eva’s failure to grasp her meaning, Dorothy snapped.

“If you don’t want to lose, get out of here. That old man is a mage on par with me.”

“…Yes!”

That explanation sufficed, so Eva promptly led the accompanying guards to retreat as far as possible.

She knew well what happened when her superior, Dorothy, truly unleashed her magic.

Clack-clack.

Dorothy’s ruby-red heels clicked briskly.

“Name?”

Dorothy asked brashly despite the age difference.

The elder chuckled, placing a hand over his chest.

“I am Louis von Betendorf. And may I inquire about yours, young lady?”

“Dorothy, Dorothy Gale.”

“A fine name indeed.”

Betendorf nodded, raising the short staff in his hand toward her.

“To exchange names freely with an equal mage on the battlefield implies your willingness to accept a date, does it not?”

Dorothy muttered incredulously.

“Hah, you’re a weird old man.”

She shooed Toto, her pet dog, to safety and swept her flame-like crimson hair over her shoulder.

“Don’t hold back. I’ll show you the difference in skill.”