The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing.

Chapter 575 Night Raid on the Demon King's Castle

"I plan to launch a night raid on the Demon King's castle."

"……Eh?"

Upon hearing Zun Zun's words, Alice seemed not to quite understand their meaning and subconsciously asked a question.

"The night raid on the Demon King's castle was..."

“That’s right, I’m going to attack the Demon King right now.”

"Well!"

The girl immediately showed a slightly surprised expression.

This battle was a resounding victory. Not only were many of the Demon King's troops wiped out, but the kingdom's side suffered no casualties whatsoever—yes, no dead or wounded.

How did the kingdom, which was clearly the weaker party and could not even resist the invasion of the Demon King's army, manage to avoid any casualties?

"Hehehe, you can praise me all you want! Call me Lady Aqua!"

"Yes, Lady Aqua!"
"Call me Goddess!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Remember to pray to me every morning and evening from now on, and offer me the most delicious food and drink of your three meals! Why, you ask? Well, it's all thanks to this goddess who contributed the most to this battle! Ahahaha—"

Aqua laughed arrogantly.

Her behavior was really annoying, but it is undeniable that thanks to the help of the stupid goddess, no human casualties were suffered, which is why the Demon King's army chose to retreat.

They probably find it strange too.

Adventurers who were just moments ago seriously injured and on the verge of death were soon back on the battlefield, full of energy. Even the Demon King's army, with its large numbers, could not withstand such a war of attrition.

Therefore, in this battle, the Demon King's army lost at least 5% of its forces. Most of the powerful monsters and quasi-Demon King's army cadres were wiped out by Zun Zun and other reincarnated beings, including Yu Jian Xiang Ye.

"In other words, this is the time when the Demon King's army is at its weakest."

Zun Zun said with a serious expression.

After thinking it over, Darkness said, "Indeed, the Demon King's army went all out but lost half of its forces. Now, only the Demon King's daughter remains as a high-ranking officer. The Demon King's castle is now wide open."

This could be considered the moment when humanity and the Demon King would fight to the death, so the Demon King did not hesitate to send out all his troops.

Although he didn't know why the Demon King hadn't come along, Zun Zun didn't think he was cowardly staying in the Demon King's Castle out of fear; there must be some other reason.

But in any case, now is the best time.

Alice bit her lip, and said softly as if reluctantly, "There's no need to be in such a hurry. At least hold a celebration banquet first—"

"The Demon King's army thinks so too."

Zun Zun interrupted her.

Seeing the girl's puzzled expression, he explained again, "The Demon King's army probably thinks we've won a great victory, so they're holding a celebratory banquet and are leisurely heading back... No, they might be waiting for a chance to launch a surprise attack not far from the city, unwilling to give up."

Having lost half her army, will the Demon King's daughter simply go back willingly?
No, according to the usual pattern, she definitely wants to get back at him, and thinking about it carefully, this is the only opportunity she has.

But don't worry.

As long as people are kept on alert throughout the banquet, the Demon King's army can be prevented from attacking again. With the banquet interrupted twice, the adventurers will surely be even angrier and work even harder.

Similarly, this was exactly what the Venerable One wanted.

The longer the Demon King's army spends here, the later they will return, thus giving them enough time to defeat the Demon King.

"That's how it is, Alice, what do you think?"

Zun Zun explained the pros and cons to her, and Claire nodded repeatedly, clearly agreeing with the explanation. This was undoubtedly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but she did not express her own opinion.

"me……"

"Don't worry, I will definitely defeat the Demon King and come back safely."

He touched the girl's cheek.

Alice was simply worried about Zun Zun's safety, which was why she was so reluctant to part with him. After all, he was going to fight the Demon King, and no matter how confident she was, she couldn't help but feel anxious.

"...I...I understand."

In the end, the girl agreed.

She knew very well that if it were her own willfulness, there was a high probability that Zun Zun would choose to stay, but her personality and status did not allow her to be willful.

However, in contrast—

"Zun Zun, come back safely and play with me, okay?"

"I will."

As a consequence, she will become quite willful afterward.

Zun Zun looked at Claire standing next to Alice and said, "I don't know if the Demon King's army will launch a sneak attack later, so please be vigilant just in case. If they do launch a sneak attack, please hold back the Demon King's army."

“I understand.” Claire nodded seriously. “Then without further ado, I will select a few of the strongest members of the Knights to join you—”

"No, that's not necessary."

Zun Zun shook his head and declined her offer.

The Knights' members are generally around level 40-50, and in terms of strength, they are much stronger than most adventurers. However, they are not of much use in the upcoming high-level battles. Moreover, it is uncertain whether the Demon King's army will attack, so leaving them to guard the capital is the best option.

"Most importantly, this is a decapitation strike, so the fewer the targets, the better."

The more people there are, the harder it is to command and manage them, and the more likely unforeseen events will occur. Therefore, only a small number of elite troops are needed this time. Besides Zun Zun and his group, we also need… “Yu Jian, interested in forming a team?”

"...I couldn't ask for more!"

After a slight surprise, the invited demon swordsman accepted without hesitation. Being a modern-day ninja, he had a touch of chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) at his core and was quite interested in defeating the Demon King.

Zun Zun didn't invite people randomly.

First, the proportion of archmages in this team is too high. Second, the team members all have shortcomings in various aspects. According to the position allocation, a sword master is urgently needed to support the team.

After careful consideration, only the third-ranked adventurer in the kingdom, Mikage Hibiki, is suitable. Most importantly, everyone knows him well.

After receiving the invitation, Mikami turned to her two companions and said, "Clematis, Fio, this mission is to defeat the Demon King, so I can't—"

"No, we want to be with Hibiki!"

"That's right! We're a team!"

The spear-wielding girl and the thief girl said this one after another, determined to go along. However, Mitsuki Hibiki seemed unable to refuse and turned to Zun Zun for help.

"You can go if you want, but safety is a concern..."

"We will protect ourselves!"

Don't underestimate us!

Back in the Crimson Demon Village, Zun Zun heard from Mikami Hibiki that his two companions had secretly gone to a neighboring country to take on missions and level up in order to catch up with him. Although they were still weaker than Zun Zun, they were much stronger than the average knight order.

The other two have also been assigned to relatively good jobs, which should be able to play a role to some extent.

But I didn't care about them anymore.

Zun Zun looked at his companion, who was now slumped helplessly on You You's back after unleashing a series of explosive spells.

"Huihui".

"I'm going!"

"But--"

"I want to go!!!"

The Red Demon Clan's stubbornness was on full display at this moment.

Why insist on pushing yourself when you've exhausted all your magic and physical strength? You're just a burden.

I would never say things like that.

He knew perfectly well that Megumin's main reason for leaving the village to become an adventurer was to use explosion magic to help him become the Demon Lord. If he abandoned her here, he would surely be blamed for the rest of his life.

"Alright, then come with me. Also, drink this potion."

"Ugh...it's so bitter!"

A bottle of medicine was forcibly shoved into Huihui's mouth, and her little face immediately contorted in pain. This was the price she had to pay for her rapid recovery.

There's not much to say about Aqua and Kazuma Sato. Their purpose in coming to this world was to defeat the Demon King. Despite many unexpected events and detours, they finally arrived at this moment.

Darkness, upon learning that he was going to the Demon King's castle, became so excited that his face turned red, and he muttered things like, "Gulp, kill me!" and "I am a Knight of the Cross, a shield to protect my comrades, and I will never admit defeat!"

As for the Night of the Sword's Resonance...

He didn't flirt with his two female companions, but instead bowed repeatedly to someone dressed in full armor, humbly pleading with them.

As expected, divine artifacts cannot possess their own consciousness, otherwise they would end up like this. To be controlled by something as insignificant as Saint Kai, he's truly pathetic.

However, with Saint Kai's help, and with the invincible magic sword Gram in his hand, although he might not be able to defeat the Demon King, he would have the strength to compete with two or three of the Demon King's military officers.

Everyone is making preparations with gongs and drums.

Before long, the decapitation squad gathered in a conference room. The members included several members of the Zun Zun squad, Mikami Hibiki, and his two companions. These were all the people who were going to defeat the Demon King.

Finally donning his Saint-Clad armor, Hibiki Yoru pulled out a map, laid it flat on the table, and gestured to everyone.

"Let's start planning how to get to the Demon King's castle. First of all, the royal capital is the closest place to the Demon King's castle. As long as we set off from here, there will be many supply points along the way. We can reach it as early as tomorrow night—"

"No, that's too slow. Let's just use teleportation magic to get there."

"……ah!?"

Mikazuki Hibiki, who had been interrupted, looked completely puzzled.

Zun Zun explained, "The Crimson Demon Clan has a tradition of picnicking in the outskirts of the Demon King's Castle every year, and many Crimson Demons set up teleportation points there. Although I didn't set one up, there happens to be another Crimson Demon in the capital who did."

"...You mean you're really good at it?"

Youyou realized that the only Crimson Demon Clan member who hadn't left was the Crimson Demon Clan's top writer, who was still gathering material in the capital.

If I ask her for help, I can easily get to the Demon King's Castle, which will undoubtedly save a lot of time.

"Wait, wait a minute! I think I remember now."

Mikami Hibiki raised her hand to interrupt them, saying, "I seem to have heard that the Crimson Demon Clan often harasses the Demon King's Castle, picnicking there and then constantly releasing magic to harass them, and they don't even clean up when they leave... This, this can't be true, right?"

"........."

"Hello--!"

Sometimes, I really feel sorry for the Demon King, having encountered such a group of mentally unstable red demons.

(End of this chapter)