At the same time Xino Dragon was forced to retreat from the Great Graveyard, the fortress nestled in Black Wind Valley resembled a small boat sailing on calm waters, so tranquil it hardly seemed a battlefield.

The Beastman sentinels on duty yawned, bored as they stared at the distant cliffs, their crossbows now resting against the ramparts.

By the fire near the gate, three Beastmen carrying long halberds had gathered together for an intermittent chat.

"When do you think they'll come?"

"Who knows."

"Maybe they won't come at all."

Just then, the sound of horse hooves came from afar.

The three had just tightened their grip on their halberds when they saw it was the scout sent out by their boss riding a wild boar, and they immediately relaxed their guard.

The city gate cracked open slightly to let in the scout riding the wild boar.

Watching the Beastman scout dismount, Sano Black Hand, commander of the mercenaries of the Crown of Malice, asked in a deep voice,

"What's the situation over there? Why is there no movement at all?"

The Beastman scout grinned as he reported,

"Boss, it's just a bunch of goblins! There's no real army there!"

Sano's brow furrowed slightly, disbelief showing on his face.

Kamu Dragon had personally instructed him to be cautious of the Demon King's forces, yet it turned out to be just a bunch of goblins.

"Goblins? Are you sure?"

Inclined to suspect a trick, Sano watched as the kneeling scout nodded vigorously, declaring confidently,

"I swear to you, I circled around the enemy's perimeter several times, and all I saw were those short, ugly creatures! They were digging holes in the ground and assembling strange things. They don't look like they're going to attack; instead, it seems like they're afraid we'll kill them, haha!"

As he spoke, the scout recalled something further and quickly added,

"Right, it's not all goblins; there's also an Undead Mage there. I didn't dare get too close, but if I'm not mistaken, that guy must be the Demon King himself!"

Hearing that his own scout had even seen the Demon King put Sano's wavering mind gradually at ease.

No commander would place themselves in the midst of expendable troops, not even to lure the enemy deeper; it would just be too risky.

Unless they were a complete amateur.

Sano had a guess forming in his mind.

Perhaps—

Was the Demon King really giving up?

No matter what, the idea that a bunch of goblins could conquer the fortress beneath him seemed far-fetched.

However, as unlikely as it was, he still had to set the right attitude, considering his boss might be watching from somewhere.

Seeing his comrades becoming increasingly lax, he raised his voice and shouted,

"Pull yourselves together, increase alertness! Perhaps our enemies are just waiting for us to relax our guard. I don't want any slip-ups at the last moment!"

"Yes!" Hearing their leader's shout, the group of lax mercenaries suddenly sprang to attention, though even Sano knew they were just going through the motions.

But that was enough.

"I'm going to take a walk around." Sano nodded, dropped a word, and headed towards the main building behind the gate.

It wasn't only the walls that were heavily guarded—the main building of the castle also had patrol teams to thwart any cunning moves by the Demon King.

According to Kamu, it was very possible that the enemy would try to sneak into the castle and cause trouble if a frontal assault failed.

Although he thought sneaking in here was harder than taking it by direct attack, since Kamu had said so, he stayed highly alert.

As he entered the main hall of the castle, he suddenly noticed several coffins in the corner of the hall.

The luxury of the wood alone indicated they were valuable and unlikely to be carelessly placed there.

Doubts arose in Sano's mind, and he stopped a patrolling mercenary to ask,

"What's the deal with those coffins? When were they put here?"

The mercenary hesitated, then shook his head,

"I don't know... I only heard they belong to Lord Xino; Kamu told us not to touch them, just leave them alone."

Hearing it was the master's order, Sano refrained from asking further, redirecting his focus back to overseeing the patrol duties.

Soon he had everything neatly arranged and inspected the castle himself, confirming the fortress's defenses were impregnable.

However, the more confident he was in his troops' defenses, the more an uneasy feeling in his heart intensified with time.

What was still problematic?

The sky?

The ground?

Neither seemed feasible—

He couldn't conceive of any other way that adversary could attack this fortress, and perhaps this unease originated from just that.

Just as Sano shook his head, trying to dismiss the baseless worries from his mind, a deafening explosion suddenly came from the narrow window outside.

Almost simultaneously, in the "night" beyond his field of view, a series of emerald lights suddenly sparked!

What was that?

The stunned Sano had no time to contemplate what had happened before he saw those twelve greenish lights cross several kilometers at a nearly vertical trajectory and explode against the walls of Black Wind Castle.

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