694. The Boss's Mercy

The orange afterglow was fading from the streets of Cold Bay Fortress.

Squads of Demon Race soldiers who had laid down their weapons were escorted by Fungal Fortress Soldiers, converging from every street corner. A Puji was wrapped around each captive, ready to Self-Destruct the moment they snapped its tentacles.

After a few examples had been made, the Demon Race soldiers all drooped their heads and accepted reality.

Deep within the city, ripples of spellcasting magic and scattered cries of battle still rang out from time to time. Those were small groups of enemies still stubbornly resisting after the city had fallen, but they could no longer affect the overall situation.

Norris walked along the main road, looking around.

"This is the Empire..." he murmured, a little emotional.

Before joining the Mushroom Garden, he had never been on a real battlefield. But in taverns, he had heard far too many stories about the Empire from Adventurers who had traveled far and wide.

Although he knew plenty of it was mixed with bragging, some of it had to be true.

They would poison the water sources of human settlements, threaten nobles with their families' lives to make them act as inside agents, and drag people away to be turned into Blood Cattle—

In those stories, the Demon Race of the Empire were sinister, cunning, cruel, and almost unbeatable.

And now, he had taken an Empire city with almost no effort at all. Those unbeatable Demon Race either had come over to their side, or had been herded onto the square like pigs and sheep waiting for slaughter.

They had beaten the Empire's army in field battles before, and by a crushing margin at that.

But defending and attacking felt different.

Standing on a wall and repelling enemies was one thing; walking