Deon Hardt's drinking capacity was five bottles of alcohol with an alcohol content of 25%. To be exact, his memory stops after he drank the last of five bottles.
He was the type of person who gets drunk all of a sudden, so up until that point, he didn't have the slightest sign of being drunk and his mind was always fine.
It has never changed from the moment he first drank alcohol.
Not once.
Then why did his personality change even when he's not drunk?
Demon chuckled as he lifted the bottle of alcohol in his hand to his mouth.
'If you put the key back into a locked door, it will inevitably open.'
Alcohol and drugs were a kind of 'key'.
On the battlefield, Deon Hardt gave himself two extremely divided personalities in order to survive and to maintain his sanity. The medium for that process was none other than alcohol and drugs.
It was natural for a wall built with alcohol and drugs to become weak due to alcohol and drugs.
Because of this, when Deon Hardt drank alcohol, even in small amounts, he could not control the two personalities he had shared overflowing over the wall.
In the end, 'quantity' was not the problem, but 'alcohol' was the problem.
He never really tried to hide it, and it's not the kind of thing that can be hidden, so it was understandable that others would notice and try to take advantage of it, but...
'I never thought it would be this blatant.'
At first glance, it must be the Demon King.
He didn't really think about why he did this. Because it's obvious.
It must have been a waste of time. The Emperor was moving boldly and faster than expected, and the time for the hero's birth was getting closer. In addition, the monsters were increasing faster and faster...
However, if he ignored the monsters and let them increase uncontrollably, he would be caught by the ankles when he really needed to move.
Even now, protests were coming in from other races asking him to do something about the monsters, so what can we do? The only way to do this was to send Deon to deal with it and return as quickly as possible to minimize the hole in the standby power.
So, Deon Hardt.
'I was taken advantage of.'
He was used by the Demon King. And in a very unpleasant way.
He felt bad, but there was nothing he can do in this situation.
Deon, who had skillfully put aside his thoughts about him, lowered his eyes.
'Now that Dvelania moves like that, there's only one thing I can do.'
Open the door like this and go out and deal with those monsters.
That's what the Demon King wanted, and the board had already been made perfectly.
But before that.
Crash!!
He threw the empty liquor bottle onto the floor of the carriage and pulled out his dagger. Ben's body was pushed against the wall of the carriage, stepping on sharp pieces of glass that shattered and bounced wildly.
Deon, with his left arm pressed against Ben's chest and the dagger in his right hand aimed at his throat, looked straight into his eyes and growled.
"You've earned the credit and effort you've put in, so I'll overlook this just this once. There is no next time."
"..."
"I'll decide when to step out."
The bright red eyes, soaked in the unique energy of a crazy person, shone with blatant displeasure.
He'd rather swing it himself, and he had no intention of letting someone else swing him.
Deon's eyes seemed to contain murderous intent at first glance, as the feeling of being exposed like this, not willingly, was worse than expected.
Ben's eyes twitched as he instinctively felt that his life could be in danger if he touched it wrongly. Even if that wasn't the case, he couldn't even react when a dagger was pointed at his throat a little while ago, so his stiff body gained even more strength.
Deon glared at him with fierce eyes, then shrugged and slowly backed away.
"Think carefully whose doctor you are."
Even though he was the doctor handed over by the Demon King, in the end, Ben was currently Deon's doctor. But what doctor would recommend alcohol to a weak patient?
He actually caused harm to the patient he was supposed to be caring for.
As if he belatedly remembered that fact, Ben's body stiffened. Deon, who was looking down at his face as he stiffened in shame, snorted and stepped back.
"Well... I wasn't expecting much in the first place."
Ben's eyes widened in shock, but Deon opened the carriage door and left without even looking at him.
An enormous number of monsters were seen rushing in like a tide on a wide plain. Due to the activities of the 2nd Corps, many monsters were being turned into pieces of meat, but even more were coming in.
Dvelania, who saw him, lifted the thread that had embroidered the air and raised her voice.
"Demon, it was a calculation mistake! There were more monsters than we thought! What should we do?"
The red eyes wet down, saw the remains of the falling monsters, and then went up again.
"We should step down first, right? The second city is close by, so why not go there? At this rate, it seems like it will be difficult to escape, but..."
"..."
One more look at the monsters.
The corners of his mouth went up.
"So... are you going to risk a lot of damage now and go through these monsters and get to the second city? Do you just leave it to chance whether they come after us or whether the remaining monsters cross the territory of this race?"
"Oh, that's not what I meant..."
If they ran away as she said, they would sustain the damage, fail in their mission, and end up sending a bomb to another city so that they can die together. Then, when even that city became dangerous, it is truly the worst.
Dvelania faced bright red eyes and waved her hand with a pale face.
"There is a Corps Commander in the second city! Oh no. Sorry, Demon. I was short-thinking. I stopped because I was in a hurry..."
"I heard that a Corps Commander was stationed in the city as well."
However, because one Corps Commander was in charge of two cities, the corps were divided and deployed. No matter how great the Corps Commander was, how much help a corps that has been cut in half could do against such a large number was limited.
"Why are you looking for a solution there?"
"Yes?"
"Ben has a communication stone, right?"
"Yes? Ah, ah, yes!"
Ben, who got off the carriage and was looking at the situation, nodded in surprise.
He clearly remembered because when they were leaving, Ed packed their bags right in front of their eyes, urging us rather than threatening them to take good care of Demon. So, the communication stone around here... ah, he found it.
"Here it is!"
"Can I use this to send video communication to the Demon King?"
"Yes? It's possible, but... You have to use magic to activate it, so we can't use it..."
"Why is that?"
"The Demon King has issued a ban on magic."
Deon's head tilted to one side for a moment as he let out a short exclamation.
"Even though it's an emergency right now?"
"..."
"I'll go and deal with the monsters. The situation looks a bit difficult…"
Dvelania, who was watching, jumped into the mess again, and Ben cast a spell on the communication stone. Soon, the Demon King's face appeared in the air.
"Ben? What's going on? The guy you're using magic against is... a demon?"
"There is a problem."
"A problem? Show me."
Ben obediently changed his angle. The Demon King, seeing the endless waves of monsters, kept his mouth shut.
"There are more than we expected."
"So... I thought one corps and two Corps Commanders would be enough."
"What should I do?"
"I can't just leave that alone... I'll send support. Just hold on for 15 minutes. You can do it, right?"
"I'll try it. The location is..."
"Okay, I'll take care of it."
Communication was cut off. Deon turned his head and looked at the monsters.
There were so many that it is disgusting to look at them. The number is so high that even surviving, let alone killing or defeating them, was a long shot.
They had to stay here for 15 minutes.
The sight of monsters running and filling the wilderness, as if they were excited by the long-awaited appearance of their prey, was enough to make one feel despair and collapse, but Deon smiled as he strengthened the hand holding the dagger again.
'It's been a while since we've been in a situation like this.'
If he had succumbed to despair and given up, he would not have survived the Eight Year War.
Even in an even more desperate war situation, Deon survived in the end. This situation was no different from then, except that the opponent was monsters. No, monsters were easier opponents than humans.
Deon was confident he would survive this time too.
He walked calmly without even flinching.
As if to provide cover, Dvelania retracted the thread she was swinging and silently landed next to him. But Deon didn't go on a rampage right away.
'If I jump into that situation regardless and become isolated, I will definitely die.'
Being crazy and understanding your capabilities were two different things.
He was crazy to live, not crazy to die.
'Think.'
Even now, the front line was being pushed slowly but steadily.
His specialty is creating fear, not killing. Monsters that were faithful to their instincts will run away as soon as fear overpowered hunger.
'Is it really a good thing for monsters to run away?'
It's good to be able to live right now, but it's also good to think about the future.
Bright red eyes quickly scanned the battlefield. His head spun and he made calculations in an instant. They must hold out and tie the monsters here until help arrives.
Deon, holding a dagger in both hands, called out to Dvelania in a voice that feigned calm.
"I'm going to set a trap. Tell this to your corps."
...
It's called a fish trap. The entrance is shaped like a funnel, so it's easy to get in, but it's hard to get out. Even the direction of the current was a literal trap that helps fish coming in and suppresses and captures fish trying to get out.
Monsters were the fish and currents at the same time.
"Dvelania."
"Start!"
The 2nd Corps unfolded their threads in unison. Each thread was woven and intertwined to form a huge shape.
Since it was a thread that cut when touched, stupid monsters did not even know what it is, but as if they only knew that if they went to a certain location, their bodies would be torn to pieces and they will die, so they naturally followed the thread's guidance and enter the only entrance.
After a while, they will feel that something is strange. But by then it was too late. Because the only exit is blocked by monsters that keep coming.
Deon, who was watching the situation from inside the trap, slowly walked forward. He looked back at Dvelania to see how many steps he had walked and drew a straight line on the floor with his foot.
"Randomly set up threads around here. The purpose is to prevent monsters from entering where you are standing. We also need to have a safe space."
This was a double-edged sword. Monsters couldn't escape this trap, but they couldn't escape either.
This place, meant to trap monsters, could actually become a place to be eaten by monsters.
So, they should do this at least.
"I don't think we'll be able to keep even one animal out because there isn't enough thread..."
"There's no need to install it too tightly. The gap is just enough for us to come and go."
"Yes? I see."
Dvelania, who read Deon's intention to deal with monsters by going back and forth between inside and outside, expressed her disapproval.
"Unless you are a very skilled person, it will not be easy to see the thread... Of course, I am not doubting Demon's skills, but it would be troublesome to worry about such things in a melee..."
"I will take care of that."
"Uh..."
Even though she seemed to be stubborn, she actually knew how to concede based on the atmosphere. Dvelania swallowed down the question she was about to ask without thinking and gave orders to the 2nd Corps she had brought with her.
In today's situation, asking questions carelessly could lead to death.
Dvelania, who was about to move quickly before being criticized for her rudeness, stopped when she received an unexpected reply.
"I'm lucky."
"Yes...? What?"
It was a stupid question. Instead of answering, Deon grinned, fixing his gaze straight ahead.
The excitement that could not be concealed was overflowing in his bright red eyes, where the film of calm had been removed, as if reason was no longer a luxury.
He jumped towards the monsters. Meanwhile, the threads set up by the 2nd Corps naturally passed by, pointed out the most formidable guy, and rushed at them.
Deon suddenly thrust the dagger he was holding into the guy's face and smiled with the corners of his mouth stretched out. A laugh that could not be called normal escaped naturally.
Normal people would have needed extreme concentration to find the thread, but Deon didn't need that.
'If this is luck, it must be luck.'
His eyes, which were naturally weak to light and heat, were accustomed to darkness rather than light as he had refrained from exposure to the outside world.
What did it mean to be unaccustomed to light?
This means that he was sensitive to light.
Therefore, he was able to sensitively catch the moment of the threads of the 2nd Corps minutely reflecting the moonlight, which would have been overlooked by ordinary people.