Demon King Army, encampment.

“…So in the end, not only did we lose all 50 Big Worms, but the forest we set them in got taken over too, huh.”

“Y-yes. My deepest apologies, Lord Gelbariza.”

The one reporting was a low-ranking demon soldier who had been assigned to manage and operate the Big Worm reinforcements sent this time.

However, Gelbariza simply sighed and didn’t reprimand his subordinate.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Monsters are only good for being roughly guided anyway. Even if you hide them in a forest, once they’re discovered, they’re no different from wild ones. It’s only natural they’d get hunted down by humans. I wasn’t counting on them much to begin with, so don’t sweat it.”

“Ahem. Lord Gelbariza, that is—”

Vice-commander Jeg began to interject.

He was personnel dispatched by Demon King Grigagora.

So naturally, he wouldn’t appreciate complaints about the reinforcements sent under Grigagora’s command.

But before he could finish, Gelbariza cut in first.

“Big Worms, right? That’s all they are. It’s unreasonable to expect those things to be real combat assets. Sure, you can guide them, but they’re not much of a threat to humans anyway. Or what, Jeg? You’ve got some brilliant plan to use them effectively?”

“—Tch… Even so, they were forces under the Demon King. I would prefer you handle them with more care.”

Gelbariza knew it well.

This guy Jeg—he’s definitely strong, but not particularly smart.

He holds a respectable position as vice-commander, but he can’t actually perform any proper supporting duties expected of that role.

'And on top of that, he looks down on us frontline guys like we’re just monkeys, huh? If he really cared about the Demon King, he should at least try a bit harder to hide that attitude, damn it…'

You can judge a superior by the attitude of their subordinates.

So if you intend to maintain proper hierarchy in an organization, it’s only natural that subordinates shouldn’t act in ways that make them hated by those beneath them.

Even someone as rough and uncouth as Gelbariza understands something that simple.

And honestly, it’s because Jeg is like this that Gelbariza can talk back to him like this.

If he were actually sharp, he’d probably have manipulated Gelbariza completely by now.

“Well, losing control of a forest—a geographically advantageous point—does hurt. And even if they’re low-level monsters, it’s still true we lost part of our forces. So—hey, Jeg. There was another ‘delivery’ of monsters, right? What’s the situation with that?”

“Delivery… ahem. Of course, preparations are underway. That said, we cannot deny we are struggling with its violent temperament.”

“Yeah, figures. But as a combat asset, it’s way more reliable than Big Worms, no doubt about that, right?”

If they lose, they lose.

Risking his life for some Demon King he has no loyalty to is out of the question.

But if they can win, then winning is better.

Whether it’s this Demon King or another, having even one more achievement under his belt would make him more valued.

While such thoughts crossed Gelbariza’s mind, Jeg flipped through a stack of papers that seemed to be reports from below.

“The specimen sent to us is something even our Demon King, Lord Grigagora, found troublesome to deal with. If deployed against humans, it will undoubtedly achieve remarkable results.”

'Troublesome to deal with… huh. The way you put that makes it sound like they dumped their unwanted garbage on us frontline guys. This guy’s seriously an idiot.'

He probably doesn’t even think about winning people over.

And yet he thinks this is enough to tie the frontline demons to the Demon King.

As far as Gelbariza is concerned, this vice-commander is a complete failure as a subordinate to the Demon King.

'That said… yeah, I get why they’d have trouble disposing of it. Honestly, I’m impressed they managed to capture it alive instead of killing it.'

The monster listed in the report was called “Ortopasra.”

Even demons would grimace at the sight of it.

In simple terms, it’s a giant octopus-like monster with an even more grotesque appearance, standing at about 16 meters tall.

Its movements are erratic and writhing.

Its surface is slimy, and its body is even softer and more elastic than a typical soft-bodied creature, allowing it to deflect or absorb most physical attacks.

On top of that, the amount of bodily fluid it secretes is absurd.

There’s even a recorded case where a cow captured by one of its tentacles drowned solely from the fluid it secreted.

It also has high resistance to magic.

And its 20 tentacles can all be wielded like whips.

Each strike carries enough power and mass to wipe out an entire company in a single blow.

It has some level of intelligence and can understand words and intent to a degree, but there’s no way it would actually obey commands.

According to the report, even this captured specimen only came under control after rampaging wildly.

“Well, we’ll have to release it so it attacks the humans instead of us, but the problem is there’s no water around here. Ortopasra is a monster that thrives in water. Trying to use it on a battlefield without even a river… feels like they sent the wrong monster.”

“…Perhaps that is precisely why it is easier to handle. In fact, due to the dry conditions in this area, reports say it is relatively docile.”

“Oh? That actually sounded smart for once. Very vice-commander-like. Yeah, that’s probably it. If we tried using it near water, we’d be the ones in danger instead of the humans. In that sense, it works out.”

Using monsters as part of military force has long been a specialty of demonkind.

That said, at best, they can only guide them according to their nature.

It’s not like they can control them exactly as intended.

Because of that, there have been plenty of cases in the past where they tried to use monsters that were too strong, only to have those monsters turn on them immediately after being released.

Even demons exercise extreme caution when deploying monsters.

'So then… we just need to figure out how to deploy an Ortopasra that’s slightly weakened and can’t perform at full strength, but is still more than strong enough to deal serious damage to those humans…'

Gelbariza thinks.

Thinking isn’t his strong suit, but he still thinks.

He doesn’t care about the Big Worms at all.

And even though losing the forest is a strategic setback, it’s not enough to put the Demon King Army at a serious disadvantage.

Still, the fact remains that their plan was seen through and crushed, and they’ve taken one loss.

“I’m not about to lose twice in a row. It wouldn’t be fair if we don’t hand them a loss next… heh heh heh, yeah, let’s make them suffer a bit.”

With that, Gelbariza grins, baring his teeth.

It was the grin of someone who had just come up with a nasty idea—one filled with the kind of malice fitting of the Demon King Army.