An attack would never succeed without a well-prepared plan. In the end, Jyu, Taffie, and several mystical creatures under Mamba devised a strategy to defeat Alber.
In truth, Elveryn, Cobra, and Mamba knew the layout of the demon palace very well. Previously, they had lived there long enough alongside the former king, Elveryn's father.
This layout was important for all alliance members to understand so that they could infiltrate easily. They agreed the attack would be carried out at midnight when all inhabitants of the demon palace were fast asleep.
"My troops and I number 15 people. That means we only have a force of 17. Meanwhile, in the demon palace, there are more than 100 soldiers consisting of Devil and Arabai-level mystical creatures," said Mamba.
Their numbers were truly unbalanced. But fortunately, they had Taffie.
"Leave those low-level soldiers to me. With my abilities, I can match them."
"How?" Cobra grew curious.
"My demon can multiply itself as I wish."
"The risk?"
"That's my business! You all focus on fighting Alber."
One problem was solved. With Karakura's ability, more than 100 soldiers would be easy to handle. Then who would be capable of facing Alber?
This question immediately appeared in all of their minds. His strength alone was troublesome; fighting him would truly push them to the brink of death.
"Let me be the one to strike him down. This is my responsibility for the chaos that has occurred," said Jyu confidently.
"My troops and I are ready to help, even at the cost of our lives," replied Mamba.
Taffie shook his head, as if disagreeing with the plan.
"Jyu, let Mamba and his troops handle Alber. You focus on finding your demon curse."
Everyone agreed to the plan. Cobra and Mamba, along with their troops, immediately departed. Jyu and Elveryn remained by Taffie's side.
"In this battle, I will be busy fighting the demon palace soldiers, meaning I won't be doing much fighting inside the palace," he said firmly.
Jyu was slightly confused by his senior's meaning. "What do you mean?"
"Jyu! Like it or not, if you meet Sizhi, you must kill her. Never hesitate!" Taffie said firmly with a sharp gaze.
---
Jyu felt uneasy about Taffie's demand. Killing Sizhi was very difficult for him, especially since he himself had not yet heard the truth directly from Sizhi. Jyu felt like he wanted to ask her directly about Alber.
Now Jyu chose to move away from Taffie, thinking only of Sizhi. He sat casually on cone-shaped rocks not far from the cave. Jyu could only observe his surroundings; before the dimensional portal opened, mystical creatures must have been busy hunting and killing each other. But now they were flocking in and out of the dimensional portal to hunt humans. Was human flesh truly that delicious to them?
In the middle of his thoughts, Jyu was startled by Cobra's arrival. The ancient mystical creature sat beside him, observing the starving monsters.
"Sir Cobra, you seem strong. Would you be willing to train me?"
Cobra could only laugh upon hearing the request.
"Hey, we are demons, we are mystical creatures. How could a human become a disciple of a demon?"
In truth, Jyu just wanted to train to become stronger, no matter who the teacher was. But Cobra still adhered to the old rules that demons and humans could not live side by side. There would be tragedy if it happened, just as there is now. The dimensional portal made humans and demons live side by side. Humans were the victims.
However, that didn't mean demons couldn't be teachers. Jyu realized that, which was why he forced Cobra to train him.
"Just train me a little. I have to become stronger now."
"I can't!" Cobra said flatly.
"In this world, strength is determined by killing instinct. The stronger your killing instinct, the greater power you can gain instantly. This is the power system within demons like us. This is all I can teach you."
Jyu digested these words for quite some time; killing instinct had to be truly strong. "I think that's easy," he muttered.
"You'd better rest to recover. This battle will be very heavy, we might not survive," said Cobra.
Once again, Jyu could only remain silent. How could he meditate when his mind was in chaos, thinking about Sizhi? Jyu was responsible for killing his friend, could he really be that heartless?
"Sir Cobra! What do you think about traitors? What punishment suits them?"
"You mean your friend Sizhi?"
Jyu nodded.
"In truth, the punishment for traitors is death. There is nothing better than that."
"That's the problem. Can I kill my own friend? We're not close friends, but she is my only friend now. From the academy to carrying out this mission, I've always been with her. I feel unable to pass judgment on her."
"It is indeed difficult, but that is the law. You betray, you lose your life."
---
The day of the attack on the demon palace had arrived. Everyone was prepared, Taffie didn't want to be left behind either. Now he wore a prosthetic leg made of a staff, and his severed arm was replaced with a sword. Now Taffie had two weapons to tear apart his enemies.
Everyone was very enthusiastic about carrying out this assault. Today marked the end of the rebels' suffering. And today would also be the end of Jyu and Taffie's journey in the Darkent realm. Win or lose, today was the day that would decide it all.
Now, everyone had departed, leaving Elveryn and several mystical creatures still hiding inside the cave.
This time, they would infiltrate through a secret tunnel that had been Mamba's escape route when saving Cobra and Jyu. Quickly, they headed there to reach the demon palace as soon as possible.
"Stay alert, we're close now," said Mamba when they reached the tunnel.
Finally, they arrived near the prison where Jyu, Taffie, and Cobra had been held. According to the plan, Taffie would launch an assault accompanied by one of Mamba's subordinates.
Meanwhile, Jyu, Mamba, and the rest of the troops would infiltrate to strike Alber and search for Kuma's curse directly.
But Cobra, as the most senior warrior, felt something was off. The demon palace was quiet, with only one or two guards visible. Was this a trap?
Taffie felt it too, "Wait! Don't move yet!"
"You're right! I think they have already discovered our presence."
"Let's change the strategy, send one or two people to infiltrate first. If something happens, immediately send a signal so we can all launch the assault."
"I'll go," said Taffie.
"Hide!" said one of Mamba's subordinates when he saw someone appear from behind the demon palace.
In an instant, Jyu and his group hid and camouflaged themselves behind the palace walls.
"Jyu, Taffie, is that you?" said a woman—it was Sizhi.