The Battle of Falsas

There is a wilderness called Falsas.

Once, it was a rich plain. A narrow river flowed through it, supplying food to the imperial capital. It was a vast breadbasket.

Now, it has become an empty wasteland. Through a certain magical rampage, everything—including the imperial capital—was annihilated.

A space perfectly suited for deploying a large army had appeared there.

The demon army came from the north. They occupied a small hill and prepared for enemies approaching from three directions.

The allied forces approached from those three directions. They set up camp at a sufficient distance.

In terms of supplies, the demon army was at a disadvantage. After all, this was human territory. Even though they had occupied the rear, they still had to feed an army of 500,000—including giants, no less. A war of attrition was out of the question.

On the other hand, the allied forces also needed a quick, decisive battle—though for psychological reasons.

To humans, demons were evil. Allowing them to remain in human territory indefinitely was physiologically intolerable.

However, despite the generals clamoring for a decisive battle, Commander-in-Chief Sion stubbornly insisted on a thorough war of attrition.

Even though they had more than double the enemy's numbers, he didn't believe that alone would be enough to win.

The demon army was composed mainly of goblins, orcs, kobolds, and beastkin—races with high reproductive rates. But there were also a considerable number of races skilled in powerful magic, such as dark elves, vampires, nagas, and three-eyed people.

Additionally, there were giants and trolls who boasted overwhelming physiques. In terms of pure combat strength, he actually thought they were losing.

To this remarkably cool-headed commander, the demon army dispatched a dark elf envoy. Their message: if they were given this devastated land, they would not advance further for the time being.

Naturally, the allied forces rejected this. However, they did not harm the envoy. This was because Sion viewed the demons as equals to be confronted.

In a sense, that was the beginning of mutual understanding.

The standoff lasted ten days.

From the allied forces' side, they could see the demon army's situation to some extent. Particularly noticeable were the giant golems, and the most distinctive among them was a massive, single-eyed blue golem.

While the previous golems resembled armored knights, this golem was more animalistic—like the silhouette of a human who had stripped away everything unnecessary in order to run.

Few knew this, even on the demon side let alone the human side, but this was the Demon King's ultimate weapon—a robot fusing science and magic. Its name: the Demon King's Machine God.

Setting aside the other races and equipment, it was this robot's existence that had stalled the allied forces' movements.

And then, the eleventh day.

What moved first was a unit of the demon army.

Unable to endure their combat impulses—stronger than those of humans—a unit of trolls charged on their own.

The trolls descended the small hill in orderly fashion, despite everything.

Rei clicked her tongue at this, but ordered the entire army to commence the attack.

"Acting on your own! If you're still alive when this is over, I'll whip you!"

Rather, that would be a reward, the staff officers didn't say.

After an exchange of magic between both sides, the battle began.

The humans' magic was primarily directed at the giants breaking through their formations.

And what was even more troublesome for the demons was Casalia's wyvern cavalry.

Explosives using gunpowder, dropped from above, greatly disrupted the demon army's formations.

"Prepare for attacks from above! That's not magic!"

While issuing orders, Rei surveyed the overall battle situation.

The demon army far surpassed the allied forces in charging power. However, once that momentum subsided, they were surrounded and destroyed.

Strong individuals fighting alone were whittled down the same way.

In terms of raw combat strength, the demon army was superior.

But even including the advantage of high ground, against the allied forces' discipline, their numbers were gradually reduced.

Against the confrontation of 500,000 versus 1,200,000, minor tactics after the battle began were meaningless.

When the allied forces began moving their reserve forces from the rear to cut off the demon army's retreat, Rei decided to withdraw.

"Sound the retreat gong! I'm going out in the Machine God!"

The demon army's retreat began.

This was a retreat—not yet a rout. While the outer units were attacked and began to flee in disorder, the inner forces maintained discipline as they moved.

Moreover, a giant blue golem stood as the rearguard.

The golem, wielding a massive halberd, sent an entire human unit flying with a single blow.

"Notify all forces: do not pursue recklessly."

Sion judged that careless pursuit, treating this as a rout, might result in a counterattack.

Indeed, the demon side still maintained sufficient control and was aiming for exactly that.

(So our advance has been stopped after all. Humans are capable.)

Rei muttered internally, though she also thought things wouldn't all go so smoothly.

But in truth, discontent remained among the allied forces.

It was common knowledge that the greatest results were obtained when pursuing a retreating enemy, and that discontent was directed at Sion for stopping them.

In the subsequent rematch between the demons and the allied forces, it would not be Sion commanding.

The demon army retreated to the outskirts of the imperial territory.

There, Rei was greeted by Demon King Ars.

A figure suddenly appeared from the air and landed on the robot's shoulder. That sensation was transmitted through the robot's armor to Rei inside.

The robot's movements were linked to Rei. While keeping the robot walking, Rei went outside.

"Your Majesty!?"

For many demons, this was their first time seeing the Demon King.

Even though they had heard the Demon King was human, he had hardly shown himself to anyone but his close aides for hundreds of years.

"Good work. That must have been difficult."

"I am deeply sorry. To have shown such disgrace while entrusted with Your Majesty's army…"

Rei knelt on the robot's hand.

"War is unpredictable, and the enemy outnumbered us. It couldn't be helped."

Then the Demon King halted the march and began a speech.

It was a calm explanation of the reasons for their defeat—not something meant to raise morale.

However, at the end, he declared this:

"I will fight in the next battle as well."

Nothing could raise the Demon King's army's morale more than that.

Then, before the entire army, the Demon King summoned new robots.

Ten robots of the same model as Rei's. Of these, only one was painted black, while the rest were pure white.

Each time they saw these giant robots, the Demon King's army's morale rose higher.

Three days later, on the same plains of Falsas, a rematch between the Demon King's army and the allied forces took place.

Together with the first battle, this came to be known as "The Battle of Falsas."

And the second battle was an overwhelming victory for the Demon King's army.

The humans could not stop a single one of the Demon King's Machine Gods as they approached, cutting through the wind.

It was an overwhelming trampling of power.

Perhaps if it had been Sion, he might have created walls of flesh to buy time while finding some breakthrough.

But he had already left the camp and headed to the rear due to disagreements with his staff officers.

The army of 1,200,000 fled in panic.

Among those caught in the chaos, there were those who would later rise to new fame.

But here and now, they were nothing but defeated soldiers.

The war cry of the Demon King's army rose.

They had won. They now held this northern region of the empire.

But the allied forces still had over a million troops remaining, and a counterattack was not impossible.

However, the remaining staff officers lacked the ability. They had no strategy.

Filled with regret for dismissing Sion and misdirected resentment, they returned to their countries.

"Now, let's build a nation!"

With the Demon King's declaration, nation-building began.

Canals were dug, land was cultivated, walls were built, and a city was formed.

Through the hands of 500,000, it was completed in mere days.

This was the birth of a city that would later be called Falsas.