Before long, Sophia and Ariel returned.
The moment they did, Shiro froze as if someone had cast a paralysis spell on her. She immediately sat up straight and quietly smoothed her slightly messy hair, trying her best to at least look presentable on the surface.
But the faint blush on Shiro's cheeks, along with the occasional glance she stole at Ash, still gave away the panic in her heart. Ariel wore a thoughtful expression, while Sophia seemed to be plotting something, deep in thought herself.
And so, in a somewhat delicate atmosphere, the spider carriage continued speeding forward.
At the very front of the army, the enormous giant spider monsters continued leading the way, clearing a path for the marching force.
Thanks to the system's enhancement, the soldiers were far stronger than ordinary humans. They marched until the sun gradually tilted westward and slowly disappeared behind the mountains. Only then did the vast army finally come to a halt and begin setting up camp in an orderly fashion.
Although this forest was originally home to countless monsters, powerful creatures like the Queen Taratect and the giant spider monsters lived here as well.
As a result, the army encountered no attacks from the monsters in the forest along the way. Everything went remarkably smoothly.
Under the glow of the setting sun, countless people busied themselves around their camps, lighting fires and preparing meals. Before long, smoke rose from cooking fires everywhere.
To guard against the elves launching an unexpected night attack, Ash didn't return to the Demon Lord's Castle through spatial magic. Instead, he decided to pitch a tent on a mountaintop in the middle of the army.
Sitting on a large rock beside the campfire, Ash looked at Ariel, who had put on an apron and looked like a little chef, then glanced at Shiro, who was squatting nearby, staring at the ingredients with anticipation.
The sight of a little chef paired with a food-loving girl had become so ordinary that he could hardly feel any different from usual.
"I never thought there'd still be a moment this peaceful on the eve of the final battle."
He sighed and unconsciously looked toward the distant sky.
The night sky in the distance was as gentle and peaceful as ever. Only the autumn evening breeze carried a slight chill as it softly swept across the mountain, making the dry yellow leaves rustle and giving the surroundings a somewhat desolate feeling.
At the foot of the mountain, the spider monsters were as quiet as obedient children. Every one of them moved carefully, afraid of disturbing their master.
In the nearby camp formed by rows upon rows of demon soldiers' tents, the soldiers were equally afraid of those spider monsters. They didn't even dare speak loudly, making the atmosphere both tense and strangely peaceful.
"It'll all be over soon."
At some point, Sophia walked over and sat beside Ash. Following his gaze toward the distance, roughly the direction of the elf village, she suddenly seemed to think of something and casually said in a cheerful tone, "Come to think of it, my hometown is in the neighboring country."
"I know... so aren't you going back to visit?"
"No rush~ No rush~ We're already this close anyway. Let's wait until the war is over, then stop by Keren Territory... and get married together?", She said it so naturally, looking at him expectantly.
Ash quietly turned his head away and looked toward the distant horizon.
"Will we reach the elf village tomorrow?"
"I'm eighteen now. We already agreed before that we'd get married when I turned eighteen. This trip just happens to line up perfectly. And when I went home last year, Mom kept urging me to talk to you about it.
Sophia didn't seem to notice that Ash was trying to change the subject. She kept talking to herself as though she were already imagining their happy married life.
"I just hope it doesn't rain. If it rains, the march will be delayed..."
Ash continued trying to steer the conversation elsewhere while inwardly groaning, desperately thinking of a way to avoid the topic.
"Not denying it means you agree."
The bright smile on Sophia's face gradually froze.
She widened her eyes slightly, leaned far forward, stuck her head closer, and stared blankly at him. Even her voice became a little eerie.
"Right?"
"Uh... I think we should still take our time discussing something like this. Considering the current situation..."
He tried to play dumb, but her gaze startled him enough that he hurriedly searched for an excuse.
Sophia's pupils instantly widened.
"'Take our time'... you really just mean 'take our time'? You're not trying to back out, are you? Wasn't this decided long ago? I've worked so hard since I was little for this moment! And now you're saying we should 'take our time'?"
"I never agreed to it when you were little, did I?"
Her stare was unsettling enough that Ash had no choice but to choose his words carefully.
"I don't care! You already agreed! I-If... if you're going to go back on your word now, I... I..."
Before she could even finish speaking, the childish and stubborn girl already had tears filling her eyes, and her voice began to choke up.
'How did she grow up this much physically, but her personality is still like a kid?'
Ash couldn't figure it out, but he put that thought aside for the moment. Silently cutting his finger, he placed it into her mouth.
"Just drink a little blood and calm down first."
"Mr. Ash! Do you think I'm the kind of person who'll forgive anything as long as I get blood?"
"It's really not convincing when you're saying that while sucking on it so hard."
"I can't help it! It's too delicious! Is that my fault? No! It has to be your fault!"
Greedily sucking his blood, she straightened up and folded her arms, making the evil in front of her look even more evil, while mumbling like a stubborn child.
Ash could only stare at her before laughing helplessly and shaking his head.
"Yes, yes. It's all my fault, my fault... Just slow down a little..."
Trying to reason with girls was foolish, especially one who was both childish and stubborn. Besides, Sophia was surprisingly easy to coax, so there was no need to argue with her.
After he gave in a little, Sophia's attitude softened as well.
She merely gave a soft snort and continued looking up at him with resentful eyes.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but she somehow looked like she was staring at a heartless man who had abandoned her.
'It's definitely my imagination,' he thought.
After all, the two girls by the campfire behind him had somehow been watching him the entire time.
How was he supposed to answer under those circumstances?
———
When the quiet of midnight silently covered the land, the three girls had all fallen fast asleep.
Ash, however, remained outside, quietly reading the books the Pope had sent him under the dim light of the firewood.
Honestly, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd slept.
Not long after arriving in this world, he'd unexpectedly discovered that he no longer needed sleep.
In fact, the three girls were much the same.
Even Sophia possessed the Status Condition Nullification skill, so from a physical standpoint, none of them actually needed sleep. They simply found sleeping comfortable and naturally did it out of instinct, enjoying the pleasant rest.
Compared to their peaceful side, the soldiers at the foot of the mountain had it much harder.
Every one of them remained on full alert, not daring to lower their guard or sleep peacefully, ready at all times for any sudden situation.
'But no matter how carefully they prepare, no matter how worried they are, the outcome of this war won't change.'
Ash glanced sideways at the tense scene below the mountain, his feelings becoming somewhat complicated as he let out a quiet sigh.
Unlike those soldiers, he'd known from the very beginning that even if the battlefield ran red with blood, it wouldn't change anything.
So this war held no real meaning for either him or these soldiers.
Still, since he'd already promised someone, he intended to see it through even if it was meaningless.
If it had to have some meaning, then it could at least be considered humanity's atonement. It would also wipe out those pests among the elves.
It simply didn't have enough meaning for the world itself.
At most, it would mean fewer parasites and more energy, delaying the end of the world.
"But I probably won't be around by then either."
With a subtle expression, he lowered his head, continued reading the book in his hands, and waited for dawn.
Then, at that moment... he suddenly felt someone gently hug him from behind.
Judging from the soft, flat, and simple feeling against his back, among the three girls here, only Ariel could feel that reassuring.
There was no need to guess.
"Were you thinking something rude just now?"
Ariel's teasing voice suddenly sounded beside his ear as she rested her chin directly on his shoulder.
The intimate posture carried a unique sense of dependence, making him want to hold the girl tightly.
Instead, he quietly closed his book and vaguely denied it, "Nothing like that... I was just wondering why you're still awake so late."
"I'm too excited."
Ariel didn't hide her feelings at all.
Her voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement, like a child about to go on a field trip the next day, too happy to calm down.
"It could be pretty dangerous."
"I know. But just imagining the elves without their barrier, panicking when we attack them, makes me so excited I can't help myself!"
As she spoke, she carried a trace of shyness that couldn't hide her excitement. She quietly sat down in his lap, raised her head to look straight at him, smiled eagerly, and continued, "For all these years, the elves have been causing trouble behind our backs. Now I finally have the chance to fulfill my long-held wish of wiping out the elves and vent all my resentment at once. How could I not be excited? Just imagining it makes me unbelievably happy."
"Yeah, yeah. I think I understand. But you should calm down a little first."
Ash smiled helplessly and shook his head. He gently stroked her smooth short hair, hoping to calm her excitement a little.
However, the moment he finished speaking, Ariel suddenly smiled slyly.
"Of course I'm calm. So, since we still have time, let's talk about what you and Shiro did in the carriage."
"Nothing."
"Don't lie. I'm the best at reading people. Whatever you two did, I want it too!"
Though a little embarrassed, Ariel clearly had no intention of backing down.
Ash unconsciously glanced toward the tent behind them, looking helpless as he quietly tried to persuade her.
"Don't. They're right behind us."
"It's fine~ They're all asleep. We just have to be quiet! Of course, even if we wake them up, I don't care. Hehe~"
Ignoring his objection, Ariel mischievously wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him.
He instinctively wrapped his arms around the girl in his lap.
Though it happened by accident, her clothes became somewhat disheveled during the process.
Before she realized it, Ariel's originally fair face had turned so red it seemed ready to drip blood. Her shy appearance was incredibly charming, and quite a challenge to Ash's self-control.
But because there really were people behind them, they didn't go all the way...
Though in a sense, they were only one final step away.
———
The morning before the decisive battle arrived quietly.
As the sky brightened, the army broke camp once more.
The enormous force moved through the dense forest like a winding dragon.
Although most of the army consisted of infantry, their superhuman physical abilities allowed them to advance rapidly.
By the time the sun began leaning west and was about to set, they successfully arrived at the elf village.
Amid the lush forest, just as the intelligence reports had described, stood a massive barrier completely out of place with the vibrant natural scenery around it.
Because Ariel had previously stationed Queen Taratects throughout the forest to monitor Potimas, the spider monsters killed every elf they encountered without mercy.
As a result, the elves could only travel by teleportation circles whenever they left, spending all other times hiding inside the barrier.
The barrier before them possessed astonishing defensive power.
It seemed to be something Potimas had created using all his wisdom and resources.
It constantly consumed enormous amounts of MA energy to maintain such incredible defensive strength, standing before everyone like an impregnable wall.
Having already learned of their movements, Potimas stood on the other side of the barrier, watching them coldly.
The mocking look on his face made it obvious that he believed they had no way to break through.
Although the barrier blocked all sound and no one could hear what he was saying, judging from his expression and mouth movements, he was probably cursing them quite viciously.
That made Ariel throw a punch.
BOOM!
A powerful shockwave exploded outward.
However... the barrier merely rippled before dispersing the impact, making even Ariel click her tongue.
To be honest, she'd hated this barrier for a very long time.
Normally, she relied almost entirely on the skills she possessed to cast magic.
As for independently constructing spells or breaking magical barriers, she truly wasn't good at either.
After all, all her skill slots had long since been filled, and nearly all of them specialized in close combat.
The end result was that she simply couldn't break the barrier through technique.
Trying to smash it apart by force would consume even more MA energy.
So after all these years, nothing had been accomplished.
"But this definitely isn't my fault! This thing was made specifically to counter me! If I tried to break through, it'd turn into a battle of attrition, and the world would probably end sooner because of it. Gulie is actually great at this kind of thing, but he kept saying he shouldn't interfere and refused to remove it. That's why we're stuck like this now!"
When Ash unconsciously looked at her skeptically, Ariel immediately defended herself, angrily pounding on the barrier while directing all the blame toward Gulie, who was currently leading the Ninth Army.
To be honest, the Ninth Army was second only to the Spider Army in strength.
Although most of the strongest dragons, including the Earth Dragon chief, never learned human form, some dragons and wyrms had.
All of those dragons and wyrms had joined the Ninth Army.
But even after finally deciding to take action and serving as commander of the Ninth Army, Gulie had made it clear that he would only intervene "within reasonable limits" and only obey the Demon Lord's orders within those limits.
Breaking the barrier clearly fell outside those limits.
"Let's not count on that coward."
Even the usually calm Shiro had given up expecting anything from Gulie.
She shook her head and sighed, telling everyone not to waste any more attention on him.
Ariel merely smiled helplessly.
She seemed unwilling to defend her old friend any further.
Instead, she smiled, placed a hand on Ash's shoulder, and said expectantly, "From here on, we're counting on you~ I have great expectations for you."
"Haa..."
How had he, an outsider, somehow become everyone's hope?
Honestly, even he didn't understand.
But with everyone's eyes on him, he could only silently place a hand against the barrier.
While analyzing it, he reminded everyone, "Don't forget our objective."
"Don't worry. I've been thinking about it for a long time, so nothing will go wrong. The moment the barrier comes down, the Queen will use the coordinates we already obtained to fire her breath attack and destroy every teleportation circle in the elf village from long range."
Ariel nodded with a smile and agreed.
Those coordinates naturally came from the Word of God Church.
The Pope's side had a reincarnator with the Infinite Communication skill who had deliberately allowed himself to be captured by the elves.
Using the higher-level version of Telepathy that D had granted, Infinite Communication, which could penetrate the barrier and absolutely prevent eavesdropping, he had already informed them of the general situation inside and the barrier's location.
Although he'd been imprisoned in a small area the entire time, he'd been brought there through a teleportation circle, so he could still provide its approximate location.
The books Ash had been reading the previous night were also the accumulated analyses of this barrier compiled by generations of Word of God Church mages over thousands of years.
That's right, nearly all the preparations for this operation had been completed by the Word of God Church.
Although the two sides stood on opposing positions, they weren't absolute enemies.
Potimas, on the other hand, was unquestionably a parasite, the common enemy of everyone.
So the Pope had naturally handed over all the information related to dealing with Potimas to Ash's side.
After all, even with detailed information, humanity lacked the ability to reverse-engineer and break the barrier themselves.
They could only place that hope on Ash and the others.
"Even the weak have their own way of fighting."
As Ash silently recalled the information he'd received days earlier, he slowly poured his magic into the barrier.
His magic followed the reverse analysis path, rapidly eroding the enormous barrier like an invisible current.
The originally emerald-green barrier gradually became stained with a dark color, as though covered by an ominous shadow.
Then, the next moment...
Crack!
With a crisp shattering sound, the barrier finally collapsed under the strain.
It broke apart into countless points of light and disappeared into the air.
At the same time, a massive purple beam shot over the heads of the four of them, racing straight toward the center of the elf village.
A deafening explosion followed.
The entire ground seemed to tremble.
Standing beside where the barrier had been, Potimas stared at the sky in stunned disbelief.
"H-How is this possible? The barrier actually..."
"Haha! Pray all you want!"
Ariel's eyes burned with the fire of revenge.
Like an arrow released from its bow, she burst forward.
She was so fast that in the blink of an eye, one hand had already pierced straight through Potimas's heart.
Blood sprayed into the air.
Warm blood splashed across her originally fair face and slowly ran down her cheeks like bloody marks on a demon's face.
The expression she wore now was completely different from her usual harmless cuteness.
It was pure savagery.
Her features twisted with rage and hatred into something almost terrifying.
"I can finally kill you... Potimas! Wash your neck and wait! Today is the day you die!"
"Guh... ah... y-you..."
Blood continuously poured from Potimas's mouth.
He tried to say something, but his mouth filled with bloody bubbles, and he couldn't manage a complete sentence.
"Good answer. Die!"
Ariel had no intention of letting him continue.
With both hands, she tore his body apart by brute force.
His organs and blood scattered in every direction, splashing across the ground with a thick metallic smell.
His torn corpse collapsed limply to the earth, all life instantly gone.
It was a gruesome scene.
"It finally begins."
Shiro ignored the killing taking place beside her.
She merely looked toward the rising clouds of dust in the distance and quietly closed her eyes.
As for Sophia...
"So I can go kill... elves now? I can, right? I don't have to hold back at all, do I?"
Sophia's face was full of anticipation, simply waiting to throw herself into slaughter.
For a moment, Ash could only hold his head in pain over this very unladylike, indeed, downright battle-hungry, side of her.
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