Chapter 503: Sweet Poison

— Frey Starlight’s POV —

The eighth day since the second round of this war began.

"The Ultras are acting strangely this time. Their movements are vague, sluggish, full of openings... almost as if they’re not taking the situation seriously at all."

Leaning with one hand on the simple meeting table the soldiers had set up for me, I sat there listening to the report of a certain young man.

He looked close to my age, though he was shorter, with long blond hair and a lean young man ..suited for an assassin.

One of the eight who had chosen to follow me that day. His role wasn’t fixed, but thanks to his speed, I had been using him as a scout.

"Your name is Theo, right? I’d like you to elaborate,"

Ghost Umbra, who was also present, cut in. Theo nodded lazily.

"We’ve ventured deep into enemy territory, as you all know. We’re so far from our allies that the enemies are technically much closer to us. Considering the damage we’ve dealt in the past few days and the growing reputation of Commander Frey Starlight, we can be seen as a legitimate threat."

He laid out the facts bluntly.

"Yet despite that, they haven’t shown any significant response. They’re letting us do as we please... When I scouted ahead to uncover their plans, I found that they were still advancing at the same pace as before."

As if everything we had accomplished these past days was just an illusion.

"When you put it that way, I can’t help but agree,"

said Uriel, who sat to my right, turning to face me.

"The enemy’s behavior is odd. And based on what you told me about that witch, Beatrice... I fear this may be yet another one of her games."

"A game even crueler than the last."

Uriel said those words with a hidden implication .. like she was trying to persuade me to pull back.

Staring at her, then into the void before me, I found myself pondering the current situation.

As was mentioned, things were progressing far too smoothly for us. Suspiciously so.

Uriel was right. This was most likely one of Beatrice’s traps.

The way that demoness played her game—her strategies, her view of life, her preference to toy with others from behind the curtain rather than attack directly...

I couldn’t help but compare her to him .. the other demon who used the same style.

Beatrice... a demon I hadn’t written much about, and yet after clashing with her several times, I became fully aware of her existence.

She was similar to him... to Wesker, the fourth-ranked demon.

She felt like a smaller, lesser version of him.

But even a lesser version of that vile monster... was enough to cause this kind of devastation.

Beatrice alone had pushed the Empire to the brink multiple times. And this time, she wasn’t alone.

The Black Faction of demons had sent numerous high-level figures to stand beside her.

’They won’t join the war... not yet.’

Those were the words of Zibar, the Tenth Rank.

But thinking about it again... I couldn’t help but wonder—when exactly will they?

There’s another war raging behind the scenes right now. What we’re fighting here is merely the outer layer...

A secondary event in a much greater spectacle.

I don’t know who exactly leads the human side of this war, but what I do know for certain is that the demons are far, far stronger.

They are a unified race that the rest of the world once rallied against... and still failed to defeat.

So no .. I’ve never been optimistic about this war, not since the arrival of Zibar and Geppetto.

Their descent shattered everything—scattered all plans.

We’re dancing on the edge of a cliff now. At any moment... it could all flip upside down.

Bringing my attention back to those around me .. Ghost, Uriel, and the eight members of my squad who patiently waited for my decision ..

"We’ll resume our advance into enemy territory starting tomorrow."

The moment I said that, silence swept through the room. Expected, since I had just gone against the flow.

"You’ll get everyone killed that way, Lord Starlight," said the old witch Zenith, a hint of confusion in her tone.

She didn’t seem to oppose the decision itself—she had mentioned not long ago that she was simply searching for a place to die.

Still, she gave her opinion, likely being the most experienced among us.

"At least give us a reason, Lord Starlight... rather than asking us to walk blindly to our deaths,"

This time, it was Celine who spoke, her eyes reflecting the growing doubt within her heart.

Those eight—including Celine—had once shown their willingness to follow me into hell if needed.

But even they weren’t immune to doubt...

And that was only natural.

She asked for a reason, but there was no way she’d ever understand the truth. So I could only respond vaguely.

"I can’t explain my motives to you, but you all need to understand—this is the best decision we can make right now."

Looking each of them in the eye, one by one, I declared:

"I won’t stop any of you if you wish to withdraw. I won’t force anyone to follow me. The only thing I can promise... is that I’ll always be the one leading this war from the front."

The first one the enemies will face. The first to take the blow, the spell, the strike.

All of it will come at me first, because I will always be the one charging ahead.

The soldiers behind me will only ever see my back .. and nothing else.

I will always shoulder the greatest burden. But...

"I won’t guarantee anyone’s life."

I felt the need to make that clear. We were in the middle of a war, after all.

The idea of saving everyone in a war was nothing short of utter foolishness. No matter how strong I was, no matter what I could do... people would die one way or another.

It might sound hypocritical coming from me, but it was the truth.

Perhaps I seemed like I was dragging all these soldiers to their deaths—but that wasn’t necessarily the case.

If monsters like Zibar joined the war, it wouldn’t matter whether someone was at the frontlines or the rear.

Death awaited them either way.

I couldn’t face someone like him at my current level. That’s why I had to grow stronger—fast.

That’s why I was desperate to move forward. The path of blood was my only refuge.

I had no choice but to kill more... more and more enemies. That was my only option.

I didn’t have any brilliant plans, nor any airtight strategies. Against absolute power... against monsters like Beatrice and Wesker, who surpassed me in cunning and intellect—plans were meaningless.

All I could do was keep moving forward and pour everything I had into gaining more power .. nothing else.

"That’s all I have to say. Please relay my decision to the troops. To those who wish to continue, I’m grateful. And to those who choose to run away now, I won’t blame or criticize you. I just want to make this much clear."

With everyone’s eyes on me, including Ghost and Uriel .. both of whom were staring with mixed emotions .. I stood up and left the meeting.