God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 241: Episode _Ruler of the Battlefield (3)

5.

Grokile continued to roam the land, steadily bolstering his demonic forces.

The process was time-consuming; it took a while just to locate gates where a large amount of demonic energy had accumulated, and even longer to wait at each one for the warlocks’ mana to recharge. But seeing the growing number of demons, the effort was far from pointless.

In just three days of travel, hadn’t they already summoned nearly twenty low-rank and two mid-rank demons?

Of course, on a true battlefield, their numbers would be a mere drop in the ocean, but because these weren’t normal gates connecting the Demon World and the continent, the demons could wield their full, unrestricted power.

Viewed that way, it was an enormous boost to their fighting strength.

Naturally, demons weren’t the only things that emerged.

“Grrr.”

“We failed this time, Lord Grokile.”

“Hm. I see.”

The warlocks’ incantations were clumsy, and their mana reserves were barely sufficient. The crucial factor was the amount of dark magic built up in the Gate, but that wasn’t something they could measure. Even Grokile could only sense it vaguely, so failures were common.

Even when all the conditions were met, sometimes a monster would cross over from the Demon World instead of a demon. Monsters from the Demon World were still considerably stronger than those native to the continent, so he could simply add them to his forces, but it was still a bit of a letdown.

“We will continue this for another week. We’ll gather as many as we can, then join the battlefield.”

“Yes, Lord Grokile.”

Regardless, the important thing was that they were building up their forces, even if only little by little. They were increasing their combat power, ensuring that more blood would be spilled in the coming war.

And then, they would open it.

The true Gate between the Demon World and the continent.

“But Lord Grokile, if we keep summoning demons like this, the Celestial Realm will notice sooner or later. Will that be all right?” one of the mid-rank demons asked, a thought suddenly occurring to him as they moved.

He wasn’t as massive as Grokile, but his muscular body was solid enough to prove that demons were a race born for battle. It was a concern grave enough to etch worry across his otherwise confident, chiseled features.

Grokile paused for a moment as well.

It wasn’t something he had failed to consider. In fact, it had been the very first thing he’d worried about when he realized his power was unrestricted.

The clause of the pact between the Celestial and Demon Worlds was clear: when crossing into the Middle Realm, they would be subject to a restriction on their strength.

Was it really acceptable to violate that clause?

Crossing over through improper means was his own choice, of course. However, doing so risked turning the Demon World’s invasion of the continent into a full-blown war between the Demon World and the Celestial Realm, fought on continental soil.

It would be a clash of polar opposites, and no one could guarantee which side would prevail. The continent would be caught in the crossfire, a consequence neither the Demon World nor the Celestial Realm would spare a thought for.

He was confident he wouldn’t lose, but there was a crucial point to consider. Even if they fought and won, there would be almost no humans left.

In that case, conquering the continent would be meaningless.

Therefore, they had to avoid friction with the Celestial Realm. Fortunately, unlike the Demon World, the Celestial Realm placed great importance on rules and principles. As long as they didn’t provide a reason to intervene, they should be fine.

He nodded carefully. “We will have to be cautious. But it doesn’t matter. Right now, I am the only one on this continent who can use the dark magic of the gates to summon demons beyond normal authority. As long as I don’t summon anything above an upper-rank demon, we won’t be discovered.”

“Yes, understood.”

Then, he suddenly remembered the day he himself had been summoned. He had thought a warlock had summoned him through a contract, but in reality, an Enhancer had enhanced a Gate, allowing him to pass through. He recalled the rotten luck that led him to stamp his seal on a contract, tying him completely to a human he was forced to hunt alongside for an entire month.

Back then, that human had clearly been summoning monsters by enhancing gates.

’That shouldn’t have anything to do with this... right?’

The methods were similar, but what the humans had done was Enhancement, while what the warlocks were doing now was a ritual based on dark magic. Surely the Celestial Realm wouldn’t rashly interfere, declaring it the demons’ doing, just because monsters from the Demon World were crossing over through enhanced gates.

No, of course not. If they were going to, they would have shown up long ago. For a whole month, that human had summoned monsters from the Demon World several times a day.

Besides, after summoning him, Han Simin hadn’t summoned a single demon since. Not even a low-rank one.

Therefore, Grokile came to a conclusion.

’It was just luck.’

He desperately wanted to deny the reality of his situation—that he’d been ensnared by rotten luck, forced into a contract, and was now being worked like a slave. But after observing for a month, he had to concede that Han Simin’s Enhancement ability was nothing more than a fluke.

Because of this conclusion, he paid little attention to Han Simin’s actions. After all, the man wouldn’t be able to summon any more demons. It would be nice if he could, but if some uncontrollable fool started summoning demons indiscriminately, things could easily spiral into the exact scenario he feared.

“It will be fine.”

“Sir?”

“It’s nothing.”

He decided to trust.

To trust Han Simin.

An upper-rank demon had just committed the most foolish act in the world.

*

“What is this place? The Human Realm?”

“Whoa. What the hell? Why are demons popping out?”

“...What is this?”

“What do you mean, what? I’m a man of my word. I told you I’d give you one day of level-up time as a reward for every hundred warlocks you killed, remember?”

“But this is supposed to be only for the warlocks...”

“Hey! Doubting me again? Looks like your mental training is still lacking, huh?”

“N-no, sir.”

From the Gate infused with demonic energy, thirty low-rank demons burst out in a flash of light. For the special detachment surrounding the Gate, the situation was utterly absurd.

Of course, the low-rank demons who had gleefully hurled themselves into the Gate felt just as dumbfounded. In fact, if one were to compare, the demons were probably more stunned.

“Who are you? Are you warlocks?”

“Do we look like warlocks to you?”

The demons fell silent.

These pathetic humans were weaker and fewer in number than the warlocks, yet they acted with such arrogance. The demons were speechless. On top of that, these humans seemed to have no restrictions on their power.

“Arrogant humans.”

“Perhaps death will bring you to your senses.”

Their confusion was fleeting, their adaptation even faster. The low-rank demons decided to eliminate the annoyances before them so they could savor the refreshing freedom of the continent a little longer.

Naturally, the special detachment drew their weapons as well.

Low-rank demons.

This was the first time any of them had faced one head-on. They couldn’t help but feel tense. However, it wasn’t as if they had no chance of winning.

According to the history books, the Imperial Knights and the Temple’s elite paladins were both strong enough to defeat mid-rank demons in single combat without any support. With Han Simin’s special training and the priests accompanying them, this was a perfectly winnable fight.

“With the priests’ heals and blessings, and our silver-laced weapons, we can—”

The paladins, who had been weighing their odds, suddenly faltered. Their silver-laced weapons and armor had been confiscated long ago.

Their gazes slid involuntarily toward Han Simin, but his eyes were fixed on the clear blue sky above—a clear sign he had no intention of returning them.

They briefly suspected he might actually be planning to stiff them, but there was no time to voice that suspicion. Daring to doubt him out loud would obviously subject them to another six hours of “mental training,” which was really just brainwashing and psychic assault. They decided to grit their teeth and fight.

VMMM.

At least they still had the priests’ buffs. And they had the ordinary iron swords they had looted from the castle.

The low-rank demons and the special detachment clashed.

It was a historic moment. Excluding the unofficial incident where the upper-rank demon Grokile had been beaten senseless by Han Simin, this was the first time in hundreds of years that demons had set foot in the Human Realm and clashed with humans.

It was a nerve-racking moment.

Blades met.

And were thrown back.

Both sides recoiled.

The special detachment had gained the upper hand, but the low-rank demons’ ferocity was not to be underestimated.

The expressions on the detachment’s faces darkened. They didn’t feel like they were going to lose, but for them, this battle was only the beginning. First, the war against the warlocks, and then the subsequent demonic invasion of the continent. They hoped to stop it, but in the worst-case scenario, they might even have to face the Demon King himself.

Yet here they were, only barely gaining an advantage against mere low-rank demons. How were they supposed to avert the continent’s crisis at this rate?

“Pray.”

FLASH.

“Aaaargh!”

As they were lost in thought, trying to divine the future, a pure white light suddenly poured down from the sky. With it came the agonized screams of the low-rank demons.

No one in the special detachment failed to recognize the opportunity. Shaking off their distracting thoughts, their steps grew light as their swords swung. The low-rank demons, unable to resist, simply took the blows.

In an instant, all thirty of them collapsed.

At the same time, everyone turned toward the source of the light. There, hanging off Han Simin’s arm and giggling, was the Saintess.

“Don’t be too grateful. This is just a little service I’m providing in return for the lives you gave me. I can keep up this level of service until the day we part ways.”

The detachment remained silent.

Han Simin waved his hand. The NPCs, who had no idea about the mechanism behind Squeaker’s skill, simply tilted their heads in puzzlement but offered their thanks nonetheless.

’Right. We aren’t defending the continent alone.’

It stung their pride a little, but where else would they get to kill demons so easily? With the Saintess’s excellent support, landing the finishing blow was what teamwork was all about.

As Han Simin was collecting the demon corpses, he glanced over at the knights. “You guys level up?”

The knights looked confused.

The paladins had no idea what he meant, but the Imperial Knights quickly shook their heads.

“Figures. You won’t get enough EXP from this. Let’s keep going with about +7.”

They still didn’t understand what he meant. However, no one refused his offer of a reward for having thrown away their pride and convictions to don black robes and slaughter warlocks.

Hammer in hand, Han Simin set off, casually creating the very situation Grokile so feared. The special detachment followed behind him, their faces beaming with happiness.

Meanwhile, not a single one of them questioned what Han Simin had mentioned earlier—the “price” he had received for their lives.

That was, in fact, his farewell.

A farewell to the armor and weapons they had turned in and stuffed into his pockets.

*

A report was delivered to the Heavenly King.

“Your Majesty the Heavenly King, demons are crossing over to the continent.”

“Demons, you say. Has the time come so soon?” 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“Yes. The warlocks are waging war to open a Gate between the continent and the Demon World.”

“Hm. What are their chances of victory?”

“Factoring in the variable of the Adventurers, the warlocks’ odds of victory are not high.”

“In that case, there is no need for us to intervene.”

“However, we have detected abnormal traces of dark magic in certain parts of the continent.”

“Abnormal? Then that means...”

“At present, it has been confirmed that one upper-rank demon has crossed over to the continent without any restrictions. That demon is summoning low-rank demons, and elsewhere, indiscriminate, abnormal gates to the Demon World are being generated.”

“Hm. They are overstepping their bounds.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then we must respond in kind. Dispatch an upper-rank angel.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Heavenly King.”

“Request the Temple’s cooperation. First, eliminate the one opening gates indiscriminately, then make contact with the upper-rank demon.”

And so, at the hands of the one Grokile despised most, his greatest fears were about to become reality.

*