Chapter 59 Integration

[Storyteller's POV]

Badump. Badump.

Layland's heart pounded loudly as he stared at the incoming Demon King's Army. He, however, wasn't afraid of the intimidating display the army was showing; he was merely excited at the fact that he would soon be a part of said army.

He had initially thought the 15 heavily armored Legion Commanders and the thousands of Demons and Monsters they led were the whole of the army.

He was already amazed at how many Demons and Monsters comprising the army were, so he was even more amazed when he noticed there were another three groups that were just as many if not more than the first group he saw.

Unlike the first group however, these groups were led by only 7 to 8 different Commanders. He didn't know at that time what kind of Monsters were leading the army or what kind of Monsters were being led, but he would soon figure it out.

"Demon King's Army First General, Lemius greets the Demon King!"

"Demon King's Army Second General, Jovenus greets the Demon King!"

"Demon King's Army Third General, Velucan greets the Demon King!"

"Demon King's Army..."

Every general of the Demon King's Army, who commanded tens of Legion Commanders, stepped forward, took their helmet off, then greeted Ilschevar respectfully.

There were seven of them, but only three of them had a human's head, whereas the rest had an animal's head. All of them, while exuding an overwhelming aura, were kneeling on the ground with their head lowered respectfully.

The tens of thousands of Demons behind them also followed suit the moment they kneeled in front of Ilschevar.

Even though Layland knew he wasn't the one who they were paying their respect to, he still felt awkward as he was standing right beside Ilschevar.

He had also noticed the slight frown on the human-headed Generals' face before they had kneeled, so he didn't feel really comfortable standing there. Regardless, the influence of his Origin allowed him to look like he wasn't bothered at all.

"Arise, my Generals," Ilschevar said with a smile. "I have heard about what you have achieved, and seen how well you have fought in the battle against the humans. For that, I thank you for your amazing endeavor."

"It is nothing but our duty to not betray your expectation, my Liege!" The generals answered in unison.

As Layland carefully inspected the three Generals who had a human's head, he could immediately tell that one of them must be a Demon King Candidate.

The physiological similarities between them and Ilschevar were too hard to ignore, so it was not wrong to think that Ilschevar would only let them become his successor. After all, it would be weird to let a Monster become a Demon King.

For a little bit of context, there was only one "faction" in this world that sided with Demons—the Monsters. Most of them were humanoid, but none of them resembled human other than their stature.

As they had been together with the Demons for too long, people nowadays also categorised them as Demons, while in truth, the group that was called Demon was filled with human-like species.

The only two different things that made Demons different from humans were the horns on their forehead, and their ability to use Origin.

That being said, contrary to popular belief, Demons didn't look horrifying; only Monsters that the people had come to call Demons had a rather unsightly appearance. In fact, most Demons looked just as gorgeous as the Elves.

That trivia, however doesn't really matter, because I have digressed too far.

Now that you have understood the difference between Monsters and Demons, I hope you can already tell that the human-headed Generals are Demons, and the animal-headed ones are Monsters.

"There will be no war with the humans for the time being, so I shall give you the time to rest," Ilschevar spoke after some time. "We, however, can not stop expanding our territory, so I have to send some of you to a Conquest Mission."

Ilschevar glanced at Layland who had been motionless ever since the Generals stood in front of him from the corner of his eyes. He honestly couldn't read what Layland was thinking about, but he was sure Layland wasn't thinking of backing away.

Although he wasn't entirely correct at the fact that Layland wasn't thinking about of backing away, he misunderstood Layland's silence as a sign of his nervousness. In truth, Layland was only observing all of the Generals to look for the possible Demon King Candidate.

"This young one is a newborn Demon." As Ilschevar turned to Layland, all of the Generals looked at him with surprise in their eyes. "He has just successfully Awakened his Origin today, and he needs experiences to grow."

As the Generals were wondering about how there could be a newborn Demon that they hadn't heard about before, Ilschevar pushed Layland slightly forward. The Generals' eyes were instantly planted on him, and they pressured him with their Mana afterwards.

Boom!

Layland felt like his body was about to explode upon being bombarded by the Mana pressure of the Generals. He felt like he was diving underwater for hundreds of feet deep without wearing any equipment on him.

The pressure was suffocating him—it was choking him while also simultaneously trying to burst all of the veins inside his body. His heart pounded loudly in his ears, and he felt his eardrums were about to explode because of it.

Despite the agony he was feeling however, he didn't flinch even once, impressing and also baffling the Generals. He held his head high while hazing at each one of the Generals calmly.

"I am fully aware that I am nothing but a Half-Demo ... I haven't even developed my horns, but I can assure you that my skill topples most of the young Demons here."

As Layland spoke in his deep voice due to the Mask's feature, the Generals' eyes widened in shock. Even the kneeling crowd of Demons and Monsters in their back gasped upon hearing a response coming out from Layland.

Their reason for being that surprised, however, wasn't because of Layland's unexpectedly deep and eerie voice. They were simply surprised that Layland could still speak after being pressured by all of the Demon King's Generals.

Although none of the Generals were really serious in pressuring him, such a thing should never occur. Never had they seen in their life, even once, a newborn Demon could withstand their pressure—let alone talking back to them.

"For you to treat me like this—am I really not welcomed in the army?"

Layland planted his eyes on Jovenus, the Second General, who seemed to be dissatisfied with his presence. He was already sweating profusely because of the intense pressure he was withstanding, but he could keep his eyes remain still.

Silence descended upon the place as the Generals mused about how gutsy Layland, the newborn Demon was. Valeria and Ilschevar, who were looking at the scene, didn't even conceal the small smirk on their face that might imply their favoritism toward Layland.

"Kuhahaha! This kid shouldn't be a newborn Demon!" The Third General, Velucan, slapped his thigh as he laughed humorously. "There is no way a newborn Demon can withstand our pressure, and talk back to us."

"I thought I had said earlier that I was different."

"Indeed, you are different." Velucan, the Garou, the wolf-headed General looked at Layland seriously at his words.

"You are a very talented and a very daring Demon I have ever encountered ... Shall you know what it means to be daring, you wouldn't have dare to behave in such a way."

"If expressing oneself is considered to be daring, I might be considered a madman for being myself, then?"

Layland was cursing himself and his witty mouth inwardly, but he still sounded and looked as righteous as ever. Contrary to what he actually thought of his action, he behaved like he fully believed in everything he said.

'For fuck's sake! Why do I have to act as edgy as my outfit?! I am glad that I have such an amazing Origin, but I am afraid it will lead me to my untimely death soon!' It didn't take him to be Velucan to know how irritating his comment had been.

Having been learning about Demons for two months now, Layland had already understood the Demon's culture thoroughly. He understood well that power equals to authority, so he dreaded the thing Velucan might do to him in the future.

He might be safe today as he was in the presence of Ilschevar, but there was no guarantee he would survive in the army once he joined it. Velucan, who was probably irked by his comment, could kill him in the future, and no one would blame Velucan.

Killing the weaker Demons was a norm for the Demons after all.

"Kuhahaha! Indeed,you are a madman. I applaud you for your guts to talk back to me." Velucan grinned excitedly. "However, I like a madman like you! I am also one myself, you know? Kuhahaha!"

Contrary to the reaction Layland had expected however, instead of holding a grudge against him, Velucan instantly took a liking to him. Said General even went as far as embracing his shoulder like a good friend.