Alice the Evil – [ダークファンタジー異世界]

255 kilometers south of Azaroth, Abyssal Forest, West Continent, July 11, 23:00.

Operation: Azaroth Typhoon, is a code name for the conquest of all creatures south of the Abyssal Forest. This operation has a simple goal: to gain full control over the entire Abyssal Forest and to gather many new worshippers for Alice.

According to Aether's report, while restoring the damage to the Abyssal Forest caused by Alice's nuclear magic, several locations in the southern Abyssal Forest were not destroyed by Alice's nuclear magic. These locations are inhabited by the strongest monster races in the Abyssal Forest.

Alice also had a premonition that she must gain full control over the Abyssal Forest. Moreover, the Abyssal Forest is an area unclaimed by any country. If Alice wishes to establish a country in the future, this will not be a problem. However, for now, Alice shows no interest in founding a country.

The forces deployed in Operation: Azaroth Typhoon are very different from those deployed in Operation: Azaroth Awakening. For Operation: Azaroth Typhoon, high-level undead and demons were used under Alice's command.

To date, 40% of Azaroth's summoning items have been used for various purposes. However, not all of these summoning items belong to Azaroth, as most of them belong to the guild [Re: Create], one of the top 3 guilds in the game Monsterland.

The planning for Operation: Azaroth Typhoon took less than a day, and the operation was immediately launched with Arina as the head of the forces and Aurelle as her deputy. This operation involved six divisions, consisting of four undead divisions and two demon divisions, with a total of 120,000 troops.

In Operation: Azaroth Awakening, Alice instructed the forces to act non-aggressively. However, in this operation, Alice allowed aggressive actions if any monster race refused to submit and chose to fight Azaroth. This is also why Alice instructed the use of high-level undead and demons.

Within three days of the operation, almost all monster races had submitted to Azaroth, although many monster races saw their populations decrease due to battles with Azaroth's forces. Due to the significant level differences, casualties on Azaroth's side were minimal and could be counted on one hand. These casualties were mainly caused by secret tricks or hidden weapons used by the monster races.

For the time being, the conquered monster races will be taken prisoner and moved to near Azulon City, which is still under construction.

Tonight, Arina was in her tent, still writing several reports that would later be submitted to Alice. Arina appeared very focused on writing the reports, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings.

Not long after, Aurelle entered Arina’s tent, her expression showing concern as she watched Arina busily writing the reports.

“Arina, you should rest, you've been working for 72 hours without a break.”

Arina then stopped writing and turned to look at Aurelle, who had just entered her tent and began to catch her breath.

“Hahh... It’s fine, after all, I don’t need rest.”

Arina resumed writing the report.

“Yes, I also know we don’t need rest, but that only applies to our bodies, not to our minds or our mental state.”

Aurelle then approached Arina and patted her on the shoulder.

“If you keep this up, your mind will become exhausted and it could hinder our current mission.”

After listening to Aurelle's words, Arina stopped writing again and began to stretch.

Overworking is not good, even if one has immunity to physical fatigue.

“Hahhhhhh... Alright...”

“Good...”

Aurelle then sat on the edge of Arina’s bed while Arina continued to sit, leaning back and catching her breath.

“We are now 15 km from the giant chasm and dungeon mentioned in Aether’s report.”

“That’s right, Arina. It can be said that thanks to your skills and planning, we’ve made such rapid progress in a short time.”

The majority of this operation was designed by Arina, although part of it involved advice from Exypno and discussions with Aurelle. The involvement of high-level demons was also significant in planning this operation.

Most of these high-level demons were summoned before the start of Operation: Azaroth Awakening, with the majority being of the Pure Primordial Demon race.

There are about 15 of them, all of whom are now officers in Operation: Azaroth Typhoon. Among them are Mezvia and Kirion, who were subordinates of Exypno during Operation: Azaroth Awakening and accompanied Exypno in discussions with Aurelle and Aether.

All Pure Primordial Demons are level 150, with standard stats. These 15 Pure Primordial Demons were summoned by Alice using the guild treasure transferred by Azaroth, namely [Mythical Item: Scroll of Pure Primordial Legacy].

In the game Monsterland, creatures at level 150 usually have a short duration, lasting only a few hours at most. However, in this world, the summon duration becomes permanent. Naturally, Alice was very grateful for having transferred all the guild treasures to her private base, Azaroth.

Regarding the 120,000 high-level undead and demons divided into six divisions, they were summoned by Arina and Aurelle with Alice's permission, using many of Azaroth’s treasures after the incident in Arclens City.

“Haha... More precisely, it's because of all our hard work.”

Arina refuted Aurelle’s statement, as she believed that everyone involved in this operation contributed to its smooth execution.

“Why don’t you lie down? You should sleep tonight, Arina ~.”

“It feels impolite to talk while lying down, I’ll just sit here,” Arina said with a smile.

“Alright ~ according to the report, there are no signs of monster races around the giant chasm and dungeon.”

At the start of Operation: Azaroth Typhoon, many monster races chose to gather in their dwellings and hold their ground rather than act aggressively due to Arina’s massive army.

“They should be afraid of such a massive force.”

“Aurelle, when do you think Operation: Azaroth Typhoon will be completed?”

“You mean me ~?” Aurelle thought for a moment.

“Well, we don’t yet know how deep the giant chasm is or how dangerous the dungeon near the chasm is. If the chasm is very deep, then this operation will take longer.”

If Arina and Aurelle do not find a solution to conquer the abyss race living in the giant chasm, there will be a deadlock in Operation: Azaroth Typhoon.

“I agree. If both places are dangerous, we also shouldn’t split into two forces and should deploy all six divisions directly.”

Azaroth’s forces have no information about the giant chasm where the Abyss monster race resides or the dungeon. Splitting the forces would be a reckless move since the enemy might be superior.

Without information, not splitting the forces is the right choice.

Not long after, two Royal Liches asked for permission to enter Arina’s tent, and Arina allowed them in. They then served two cups of tea to Arina and Aurelle before leaving the tent.

“The Abyss race... Do you know where this information comes from?” Aurelle asked.

“Yes, this is from Aether’s report combined with the testimonies of nearly all the monster races we conquered.”

After subduing the monster races, including orcs and goblins, Azaroth sought a lot of information from them, especially about the forest's history.

For the monster races, the southern area of the Abyssal Forest is a forbidden zone as it is the abode of the Abyss race. According to history, the Abyss race once fully controlled the Abyssal Forest, and all monster races submitted to them.

However, about 10 years ago, the Abyss race suddenly chose to become passive and isolated themselves in the giant chasm. No one knows this information except the monster races. The remaining strong monster races decided to stay inside the dungeon and have not emerged for the last 10 years.

According to rumors, this is due to a great disaster that is supposed to befall the Abyssal Forest. This prophecy is very similar to the one held by the Goblins and other monster races about an impending disaster.

Some monster races interpret this disaster as a natural calamity, while others interpret it as the arrival of a very dangerous monster. Of course, there are two possible candidates referred to in the prophecy: Alice or the True Abyssal Dragon Lord.

However, the most likely candidate is the True Abyssal Dragon Lord due to the name “Abyssal.”

Naturally, this creature has already been killed by the White Goddess, Alice Vasilissa, and it will likely be used in the heroic tales of the White Goddess.

“I see... It’s very troublesome if they live at the bottom of the chasm.”

"Most of our troops won’t be able to descend into the chasm because they will suffer severe fall damage."

Fall damage is the damage one takes when falling from a height; the higher the fall, the greater the fall damage. However, fall damage mainly affects those who do not have the skill to float in the air.

Almost all players or servants in the game Monsterland rarely suffer fall damage, except for beginner players or servants.

However, if Arina and a few others directly plunge into the chasm, it would be very dangerous due to the lack of information about the enemy. This could increase the risk of death, and Alice does not want to lose her high-level servants or subordinates, as it would be very detrimental.

"The dungeon seems like a good target to prioritize."

"Yes, I agree, Aurelle. I also plan to move our camp about one kilometer from the dungeon entrance and the giant chasm."

"Tomorrow? Didn’t we just set up camp here?"

Aurelle was slightly surprised and furrowed her brow.

“Yes, we need to move quickly.”

“Alright, I won’t refuse the leader’s orders. Oh, by the way, the two monster races in that dungeon are the Abyssal Oni and Abyssal Gargoyle.”

“Right, there’s no detailed information about them. I plan to send a reconnaissance team into the dungeon first.”

“I see. What about the message we sent to them?”

About a day ago, Arina decided to use several undead messengers with a terrifyingly intimidating aura. These undead messengers were sent into the dungeon and the giant chasm, but there was no response from any of them.

Arina assumes that these last three monster races are more intelligent compared to other monster races.

“No response.”

“How dare they…” Aurelle gritted her teeth, her expression slightly irritated.

“Well… What can we do? If they don’t want to send representatives to negotiate, then we will visit them with our entire army.”

“Oh, by the way, what about the reconnaissance team? Have you already sent them?”

“They will arrive shortly. And what about our logistics routes?”

“I’ve secured them. If there’s a major war with these three monster races, we won’t lack logistics, whether it’s war supplies or necessities.”

“Good…”

Amid the intense conversation between Arina and Aurelle, suddenly, a female voice was heard from outside Arina’s tent.

“Arina-sama, sorry to interrupt, I bring news.”

“Come in.”

A woman with long purple hair and a captivating face entered the tent. Her eyes were red like ruby gemstones, with vertical yellow pupils like those of a wild animal.

She stood about 185 cm tall, with a strong, spear-like build, smooth skin, and fairly long nails. This woman also had fangs and wore a black coat with white fur around her neck.

She also wore gloves, with a very neat outfit resembling a suit, emphasizing her status as a high-ranking officer in the army.

She is Mezvia, a Pure Primordial Demon, who previously served as the treasurer during Operation: Azaroth Awakening.

Upon entering the tent, Mezvia stomped her right foot and then knelt without bowing her head. This unique tradition arose accidentally due to Alice, specifically the tradition of stomping the foot.

Initially, Arina had observed Alice stomping her foot on several formal occasions, particularly when inspecting the troops before the commencement of Operation: Azaroth Awakening and Operation: Azaroth Typhoon.

Naturally, Alice's subordinates mimicked this behavior, interpreting the right foot stomp as a symbol of respect given to superiors or subordinates. However, this was an exception when it came to Alice, as it was deemed disrespectful.

“Arina-sama, Aurelle-sama, sorry to disturb you. The Ghost races have arrived,” said Mezvia.

“I see. Is there any message from Exypno or Aether?”

“Yes, Exypno-sama has left a message asking to avoid causing many casualties among the Ghost races that have been sent.”

“Alright then, split the Ghost races into two groups, and send them into the giant chasm and the dungeon.”

“Understood, Arina-sama. Are there any other orders?”

“And... send Kirion along with the Ghost races to the giant chasm,” said Arina, with a slightly heavy tone.

Arina’s expression also seemed very uncomfortable and as if burdened by something.

“Ara ~ Are you sure about sending Kirion, Arina? If Kirion dies, Alice-sama will be furious ~”

Kirion, like Mezvia, is a Pure Primordial Demon but male. He served as Exypno's aide in the previous operation.

Hearing Aurelle’s question made Arina’s expression even more sour; this was indeed a high-risk gamble. Arina clenched her fist and steeled her resolve.

“My decision is final.”

“Alright then, Arina-sama, I shall take my leave.”

Mezvia then left Arina and Aurelle.

“Wow ~ Are you sure about this, Arina?”

“Yes, I won’t involve you if it fails.”

“Thank you very much. And you haven’t forgotten to give something to Kirion to help him escape from a dire situation, have you?”

“That has been taken care of.”