The Strongest in the World Doesn’t Want To Do Anything

54 – Devils

The insignificant country of Gerba.

A middle-aged man, the head of the country, sitting on a shabby throne, considering himself the leader of the nation.

His name was Gerba as well.

Once the king of Terosa, the second in command of the empire, and now deceased.

Driven by ambition, he betrayed him and was granted this barren land by the emperor.

Despite being incompetent and despicable, he possessed the only talent of luck, producing two sons who bore no resemblance to their father.

Among them, the appearance of the eldest son stood out so much that the affectionate advances of women he encountered never ceased. Among these women was Yan-ya Taylor, the daughter of the neighboring and prestigious Taylor Principality.

Upon learning this fact, the conniving rodent, Gerba, demanded that his son get closer to Anya and, as a son who couldn’t miss his chance for social elevation, he actively began to approach Anya as his father desired.

As a result, the two of them made a promise of marriage.

But who could have known that such a sudden event would turn everything into mere bubbles?

Gerba heaved his heavy body and issued orders to the commanding officer awaiting his command.

“Ensure no one from the Taylor Principality comes up this way!”

In truth, Gerba was all too aware of the events that had suddenly unfolded in the Taylor Principality today.

Having frequent discussions for the marriage alliance, it wasn’t difficult for him, even in the strict Taylor Principality, to plant several of his loyal followers.

If he had heard only from Janz Taylor’s lieutenant, he would have undoubtedly dispatched his army.

However, he refused the request for troops, even preparing to sever ties with those they had considered as fortunate, because Gerba, too, had seen the true nature of the entities that had struck the Taylor family.

Having encountered various races and criminals, what he witnessed on Taylor land was more terrifying and gruesome than anything else.

A fear he had never felt before.

Instinctively, Gerba made the simple and foolish choice to seal the border for survival.

“Let none of them come in! The moment it’s breached, it’s the end of everything!”

And so, days passed with Gerba sealing the border.

The Taylor family, persistently demanding the border be opened, stopped sending anyone.

During one of the silent days that followed for Gerba,

One soldier guarding the western border wall nodded off and startled awake at a sudden cold breeze.

Another soldier, observing him, scoffed as if pitying him.

“What on earth were you doing all night to sleep during duty hours?”

“Haha… newlyweds, you see. Go easy on them.”

“Is that so? Keep it in check. Don’t let it interfere with work.”

“Yes, understood.”

The soldier, replying half-heartedly to the reprimand, turned his head back to the ridge he was surveilling.

“Huh?”

Something in the distance was approaching the wall.

Rubbing his eyes to dispel any illusion caused by drowsiness, he looked again, but it was rapidly closing in.

“Hey, sound the alarm!”

“Why? What do you see?”

The senior soldier, who had been nagging him, got up from his nap and approached the one acting flustered.

“Why is there…”

– Swish, thud!

As he extended his head beyond the castle wall, a sharp arrow flew and struck his head accurately.

From the vantage point where the soldier had just become a corpse, a horde started rising.

The flags of that horde, rising like the sun, fluttered vigorously in the wind, raising clouds of dust.

“Te, Terosa! Terosa’s soldiers!”

– Swish, thud!

The same arrow also flew towards the head of the remaining soldier.

***

Rosalia gazed at the burning throne of Gerba. She felt a complex mix of emptiness and anger, knowing that her father had been betrayed to become nothing but a handful of ashes.

Handro, battered and bruised, approached Gerba, who held onto Rosalia’s leg, and slapped his face.

“Argh!”

His teeth broke, scattering in all directions.

Handro’s fist repeatedly struck his face as blood spewed from his mouth.

“That’s enough.”

Handro’s punches stopped at Haganess’s words.

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Gerba, with his face literally crushed, barely held onto his senses.

“Uhh, hoo…”

As Rosalia lowered herself to inspect his face, Gerba, with swollen lips, started mumbling something indistinctly.

“What did you say?”

“Nehinyu sishu hageoryago…”

– Smack!

Rosalia, momentarily overwhelmed by anger at his incomprehensible words, slapped his cheek again. Gerba’s blood-stained face became even more distorted.

“Say it again.”

“Cough… huk…”

With a metallic sound, Gerba, breathing heavily, swallowed the blood pooling in his mouth and attempted to move his lips again.

“You… hek… made a… mistake… battle… wrong… kehk…”

– Smack!

Once again, Rosalia’s palm struck his cheek.

“Mistake? The mistake is what you’ve done. Look, see what’s happening now? The bastards you dirty produced were tortured and killed, and the land you sold our household is all burning.”

The queen took a moment to calm her excitement, catching her breath.

“…It was your mistake. You’re paying the price for it now,” Rosalia’s words finished, and Gerba violently shook his head, his mouth moving again.

“N-not like th-that… If you h-h-have mercy, I won’t do it… Hahaha… Hek hek hek hek hek.”

Gerba continued to mumble incomprehensible sounds, then started laughing as if he had lost his mind, making unpleasant noises.

“I really can’t stand it. We tried to execute you in Terosa, but imagining you gasping for breath during the transfer twisted my feelings. Handro, cut the throat of this filthy bastard. I’ll just carry back the corpse.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Handro nodded in response to the queen’s command, drew a dagger from his belt, and approached Gerba.

“W-what’s this!!”

“Everyone, hold the formation! It’s an ambush!”

“Aaaaargh!”

As Handro was about to strike Gerba’s throat, screams from soldiers in the rear who were dealing with stragglers echoed.

“An ambush?”

Rosalia looked around quickly, trying to assess the situation amidst the chaos.

In the midst of the commotion, Handro, while intending to execute Gerba, raised his sword to protect Rosalia, staying close to her.

Gerba, witnessing this, emitted another unpleasant laughter.

“You all… can’t esca… pe from… a grea… ter force…”

– Thud!

As Gerba knelt on the ground, the terrain beneath him twisted, and a massive black form burst through the ground.

Gerba’s separated torso scattered through the air.

“W-what is that…”

Even Handro, who had experienced countless battles, was left speechless by the sight of this unprecedented entity.

“Aaaargh!”

“Help me!”

“Damn it! Don’t run away, fight!”

At some point, grotesque creatures emerged one by one around the Terosa army, crawling out from the ground to ruthlessly slaughter them.

“Handro… what is all this?”

“Well, probably… it seems to be the reason the Taylor family requested reinforcements.”

Even in such a situation, Handro, who quickly regained composure, expressed his brief thoughts on the unknown entities.

“Soldiers! Protect the queen! Maintain the defensive formation and retreat!”

In the territory of Gerba that had turned into a battlefield in an instant, a small group of soldiers who received orders from Handro surrounded the queen, taking a defensive posture.

Following Handro’s orders, the soldiers gradually cleared escape routes and advanced, but the sounds of tearing flesh and the screams of soldiers continued unabated.

Black entities, appearing from unknown places, one by one, seized the soldiers who were forming ranks and made them disappear.

In this way, the human shields surrounding the queen crumbled miserably, not lasting long.

“Damn! What the hell is all this…”

In the chaos he was experiencing for the first time, both Handro and Rosalia felt a deep fear in their hearts.

“Your Majesty! For now, stay behind me…”

– Thud!

A black object flew towards Handro’s face, momentarily turned away as he guarded Rosalia.

A little later, Handro’s body, now headless, collapsed weakly to the ground.

Rosalia, frozen in place, unable to even scream at the horrifying scene, watched as the black object that had flown towards Handro approached her.

It was a monstrous creature with the head of a goat.

…4