Croisee was the imperial capital, and the empire one of the three major nations, alongside the kingdom and Holy Principality. The majority of its citizens were beastmen, and over ninety percent of the continent’s beastman population lived there. The most prosperous of its cities was Croisee, and it being where the palace and imperial family were housed, it was surrounded by tall defensive walls both thick and made of stone.
Given that, it should be near impossible for intruders to make it inside, right?
One night in Croisee, a hooded man stood before the only large gate in the city. His hood was pulled down over his face, completely concealing his countenance. Clearly, this man was suspicious.
A gatekeeper had noticed him and approached. “Hey! What are you doing here so late at night?” he asked.
Currently, the second princess was missing, which meant that Croisee’s defenses were even more steeled than usual. While the gatekeepers naturally hadn’t heard of the princess’s kidnapping, the higher-ups had been quite strict with their directions, and it was clear the gatekeepers were on edge.
However, the hooded man ignored the gatekeeper and continued forward, as if he didn’t notice the guard at all.
“This bastard...” Angered that the man hadn’t heard his warning, the gatekeeper grabbed on to his arm. “Did you not hear me tell you to go back—”
“You’re a nuisance. Get out of my way,” said the man, shaking off the gatekeeper’s arm.
The gatekeeper’s anger had reached a breaking point. “You bastard! Don’t think you’ll get away with this! Show me your face! We’ll throw you in the damn dungeons for ignoring the rules like this!” He grabbed on to the man’s hood during this tirade, but the man didn’t panic even when it was pulled off his face. Instead, he simply glared at the gatekeeper, who on the other hand was utterly shocked. “Aaah! Y-You’re... You’re Lord Reveeve, one of the Five Commanders!”
The hooded man must have found this reaction funny given the snort he let out. “Yup, that’s right. I’m in a rush, so I can leave, right?” he asked, still glaring at the gatekeeper. Actually, rather than “ask,” it was more of a demand. He was incredibly intimidating.
“Y-Yes! Of course you can leave, Lord Reveeve! Though, um, please don’t mention this to my superiors...”
The Five Commanders of the empire’s army were the commanders of the strongest military in the continent. Each of them was incredibly mighty, and it was said each could rival a thousand soldiers alone. They also numbered among the few in the empire who were allowed an audience with the emperor.
If others discovered that the gatekeeper had been so rude to such a great man, he’d certainly be punished. If Reveeve reported the incident, the gatekeeper might even be forced to step down from his role, and it was clear from his actions that he was desperate to ensure that didn’t happen.
Reveeve sighed. “Well, whatever. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll give you a pass.”
“Th-Thank you so much!” said the gatekeeper with a deep bow. Then, he let this man known as “Reveeve” exit the city.
Reveeve headed straight for the forest. Then, he stopped a short distance away from the city and confirmed he was alone.
“All right, nobody’s here,” he muttered before transforming from a beastman into a demon. He must have undone some kind of disguise magic.
In other words, his true form was that of a demon.
“It’s fine, now. You there?” he said, speaking to what should have been empty air.
That’s when, suddenly, a man dressed in black appeared from nowhere. “I am, and I have humbly been awaiting you,” he said, kneeling before Reveeve with a somewhat guilty expression.
“What is it?” Reveeve found this odd.
“I-It is nothing. Um, about your plan to assassinate the Hero, Lord Grist...”
“Grist” was Reveeve’s alias—or rather, his real name. Grist, one of the Four Fiends of the demon army. There were none who served under his flag who didn’t know his name.
“Yeah, that’s why I summoned you here. So? It all went well, right?” he asked with a jovial grin.
However, the other man had begun to tremble. Fear filled his eyes as his mouth flapped open and closed. Finally, he managed to speak. “A-As difficult as this is to share this with you, your plan...has failed, Lord Grist.”
“Hmm?” The corners of Grist’s lips twitched. “Hey, I misheard you, right? It sounded like you said the plan failed...” Power began to flow into Grist’s clenched fist. He seemed to just barely be holding on to sanity. “Let me ask you again. Did my plan fail?”
“I-It did...”
“Huh... So it did.” Suddenly, Grist burst out laughing. Surprisingly, maybe he wasn’t that mad? At least, that’s what the other man assumed, and it filled him with relief.
The next moment, Grist’s expression fell as he buried his right fist into the man’s chest, causing a flood of crimson blood to spurt into the air. “Wh-Why, Lord Grist...?”
Grist retracted his hand. Having lost the support that was keeping him standing, the man promptly collapsed on the ground. Copious amounts of blood continued to flow from his chest.
“Damn it! You’re all...!” Grist lifted his right foot into the air and positioned it over the other man’s head.
“Wh-What are you...?” The man tried to speak, but Grist cut off his words by slamming his foot into his head.
“Damn it! Do you know how fucking hard I worked?! I embodied a beastman day in and day out and broke my damn back to earn the emperor’s trust!” Grist slammed his foot into the man’s head over and over. Each time, a cracking sound reverberated in the air as blood spurted from the man’s skull. “Damn it! And here I was thinking that if I did this right, I’d be above the other Four Fiends!”
Grist continued to yell “Damn it!” over and over as he pummeled the man’s skull. His plan had proceeded smoothly for the most part. The Hero’s Party was even weaker than they were expecting, and they even managed to seal the second princess’s magic within a stone to manipulate the monsters. They had even successfully lured away the only S-rank party out of Ishtar with a fake quest to eradicate them! Until then, all had been well.
The only thing left was to trample the Hero and people of Ishtar under the monsters’ feet. Then, his plan would have been complete. The reputations of all Heroes would be blemished, and by continuing to chip away at support for the Heroes, the demons would weaken them, making it even easier for the demon army to attack. Grist had been completely devoted to that plan.
And yet, it had failed.
“Damn it! How did this happen?!”
He just couldn’t understand. He had posted his strongest underlings exactly where it was most advantageous. They wouldn’t have made any mistakes!
“Well, whatever.”
Grist decided to stop thinking. It wouldn’t change the fact he had failed, after all. And right now, he didn’t care about failure anyway. Instead...
“Someone threw a wrench in my plan! I’ve got no idea who this bastard is, but I’ll find him...and kill him with my own two hands!” Grist’s eyes overflowed with madness.