Imp to Demon King: A Journey of Conquest

Chapter 270 The Capital Under Siege



As undercurrents rocked mortals and godly matters alike, time continued its unstoppable march. Merciless in its fleeting nature, yet carrying the promise of a better, united future, Adam continued to cleave a path toward his unavoidable conquest.

Each passing day was the theater of new bloody raids. Magic creatures fell like leaves, their bodies repurposed to arm the ever-expanding army. Fierce demons and elven archers rose from their cores, tightening the noose of invasion around the Oikos kingdom.

Much worse, Adam swept the market clean of cores daily, increasing his ranks without limit now that living space wasn't a problem anymore.

A week later, a fiery sea of fifteen thousand demons swallowed the three western cities, cutting Oikos from its last shred of supplies.

Left with its center and witnessing the horrible number, the kingdom's nobles entered a state of unrest.

Under Ikarion's orders and led by Melarkos, they launched a vicious strike on Harmony, a vain attempt to invert the war's dynamic.

Gilgamesh had foreseen their petty strategy before the idea even took shape in their minds.

And so, the kingdom's pride bled again as they suffered another crushing defeat.

The most fearsome memory the survivors prayed to forget was that of a towering, black-haired man. The light that had blinded them, the earth rising all around and the single blow that had decimated their ranks burned itself into their trembling hearts. Even now, they could hear their dead comrades' agonising screams and smell the thick stench of blood in their sleep.

After that, the kingdom doubled its weapon production and conscription efforts. In his desperation, Ikarion armed men, women, and teenagers too young to lift a sword. Fear stuck to the capital's walls and seized the populace by the gut, but he would not let his legacy be its ruin.

On the other side of the battlefield, Adam leaned over the westernmost city's walls, the peaceful voices of citizens bartering and buying fresh bread and meat filling the air.

The morning sun's rays sparkled on his dark hair, a soothing breeze ruffling his long leather coat. He scrutinised the emerald plain and the gray mountain range that pierced the clouds like a natural rampart against the wilderness.

Two weeks had passed, and looking back at everything he did, he couldn't help but sigh. His studies proved more complex than estimated.

Even with Surtr's guidance, grasping the fundamentals of plasma manipulation would take him some time—another month and a half, perhaps more. Applying this knowledge? He didn't dare think about it yet.

Perhaps the blazing giant was right. A millennium would be the minimum to succeed. But would he live that long? Even with Excalibur's scabbard slowing his ageing, he shook his head.

"I'm almost tempted to go to that pace," he muttered, half-joking. Yet, the idea stuck to his thoughts. Why couldn't he go under the realms after evolving a few times? After all, he'd become immensely powerful by then.

'Why not if it can hasten my progress and if the risks are acceptable?'

He massaged his brow, shoving the idea aside. It wouldn't happen before years, and the present took priority.

Instead, his eyes brushed over his interface. Although he had joined many raids, the level column only displayed a disappointing seventy-three and a horrible 5.5 million XP to reach the next level.

"No trace of tier six bosses, either."

With a frustrated sigh, he craned his neck back, his eyes rolling as he gazed at the bright blue sky.

A moment later, his eyes narrowed into determined slits.

"It only leaves the king to increase my tier." He turned to the northeast, a vicious grin splitting his face. "Death is knocking at your doors, Ikarion. And it will happen sooner than anything you could have foreseen."

An ominous sneer reverberated next as the ground rumbled by the mountain range.

Dust clouds rose in a swirling dance around its peaks as creatures passed the kingdom's defenses and stepped onto the plain. Their footsteps—an echo of unavoidable doom—filled the air as Adam's grin broadened.

Dark shades of green skins drowned the emerald grass, while a few bore subtle draconic traits like Maven.

His gaze lingered on the bulky orc leading the march. Demonic engravings pulsed on his leather armor as his ghostly-white skin caught the sunlight. Strapped on his back, a scarlet two-handed cleaver filled the air with a faint scent of blood, the proof of his victorious campaign.

Adam leapt down the wall and smiled before the proud orc.

"Exactly two weeks. Well done, Vrashnak."

Vrashnak raised his fist, commanding the procession to a halt with the simple gesture.

He smiled back and raised his palms.

"What can I say? You pressed me for time, so I took drastic measures." A dark chuckle escaped his lips. "I hope you won't mind the demons' loss; most were too weak. At least, the ones remaining are true elites."

Adam raised a brow at the one thousand remaining demons behind Vrashnak. Their eyes gleamed with a feral light, and their movements held restless energy, like caged predators. Not to mention the stats he glimpsed at.

"All in the fifth tier in a short two weeks?" He raised his thumb. "I almost wish I'd lent you more soldiers."

They observed each other for a moment, a silence heavy with suspicion pressing on their shoulders.

"Hahaha. You wish." Vrashnak broke it first, his chuckles dismissing any lingering threat of potential betrayal.

Instead, he jabbed his thumb back toward the amassed orcs and kobolds.

Stay updated via empire

"I gathered this bunch of weaklings on my way here. We should be around fifteen thousand and camped by the mountain yesterday." His eyes blazed with violence. "So, when do we depart? I'm itching to overthrow this shithole they call Oikos."

"You planned it all. I like it." Adam's fist tightened as he pointed toward the northeast. "We'll bury this corrupted kingdom today!"

The soldiers behind raised their fists, their guttural roars causing the air to shake.

Yet, Vrashnak wasn't over. He brought two fingers to his lips and whistled.

The ground rumbled again as heavy stomps upturned the plains. Motes flew everywhere before Vrashnak exploded into laughter.

"You seemed curious about rynadons. So, I brought an entire herd with us!"

As his words echoed, towering creatures howled to a stop before Adam's wide eyes.

Heart drumming in his ears, he reached for one's large head. A hard bony crest met his palm as he observed the three sharp horns poking forward like spears. His hand trailed down to its scaly hide, the thick muscles beneath making him gasp.

'What in the realms is this creature?'

It looked like an unknown war beast—a natural bulldozer designed to impale and crush enemies.

Meanwhile, Vrashnak jumped on one's back and raised his hand.

"Do you know how to ride?" He seized the leather reins and smirked, his tone teasing. "I won't mind carrying a princess behind me."

Adam rolled his eyes. "I didn't know my handsomeness could even captivate males. Humph. Watch how I'll drive it better than you."

Without wasting a second, he leapt on the creature's back and gripped the reins.

'It can't be harder than flying!'

Expectation brimming in his heart, and with a soft pat on the rynadon's side, he pointed a finger forward. "March!"

However, the creature lowered its head and grazed on the plain...

"Hahaha. Better than me, you said?"

Vrashnak lowered his face, a smile so disgusting that Adam gripped his hand, fighting the urge to punch him.

Fortunately, Vrashnak shared the method to make the rynadon obey—to punch it into submission, something he found really orcish.

After a moment, he clapped his hands over the rynadon's cracked scales as it growled to acknowledge him as the boss.

Eager, he commanded the army to march toward Oikos' last three cities.

The realm itself seemed to throb in anticipation as demons flocked toward its center. Five thousand soldiers left the six cities before they melded into two horrifying armies.

With twenty-five thousand men under his command in the west and another twenty thousand east to pincer the kingdom, he whistled a relaxed RPG tune on his rynadon.

He crossed plains and valleys, the large number of soldiers forcing their pace to remain slow. And after half a day, they finally spotted the city south of the capital.

Similar but much larger than Foliaris, he observed the walls before a frown creased his brows.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Only a few determined soldiers handled the magical cannons instead of the thousands he had expected to see.

"So, they gave up their cities to protect the capital? That's a fool's choice."

With the added population and deprived of its logistics, the capital would crumble on itself even if he did nothing. So, why?

"A trap?" He tucked his fingers around his chin, a devious smirk splitting his face as he turned to the army.

"Circle the city and march on the capital!"

He could infer Ikarion's desperate reasoning. What was a city if he could blow it up with the enemy's army inside? After all, he would have lost it, anyway.

Meanwhile, Luna came to the same deduction in the north. Something didn't add up with the empty walls, so she ignored the city to march on the capital. The other generals concurred since it would fall into their hands sooner or later—the order didn't matter.

Just like that, the two armies stomped on the capital's fields, leaving deep footprints in their wake as they sieged the capital's colossal walls—the war entering its ultimate phase.


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.