I'm Not Your Husband, You Evil Dragon!

Sara stepped forward, her gaze moving from the lowest-ranking officers to the Elite divisions, then toward Shadow Crow and finally the five captains standing at the front. Thousands of people waited for her to explain why nearly every important division of the Liebus Agency had suddenly been gathered inside a hall that hadn’t been opened for years.

When she finally spoke, Sara didn’t shout. Her voice remained controlled, but the seriousness behind it was enough to make those closest to the command platform straighten instinctively.

"The demonic army has crossed our border."

For several seconds, nobody reacted.

The words were simple enough to understand, yet their meaning seemed to take longer to settle inside the minds of everyone listening. Even the five captains immediately turned their full attention toward Sara, their expressions becoming noticeably more serious.

Then the War Hall erupted into confusion.

"What?"

"An army?!"

"How is that possible?"

"Since when?!"

Thousands of voices gradually began overlapping as officers turned toward one another. They had expected something dangerous when they were summoned into the War Hall, perhaps a massive demon-hunting operation or an emergency deployment against a newly discovered stronghold, but nobody had expected to hear that an entire demonic army had already entered Liebus territory.

Even the captains hadn’t been aware of it.

Fiona’s expression hardened as she looked toward Sara, while Lily exchanged a serious glance with Raven. Elga and Erika forgot about their injuries for a moment as their attention settled completely upon the Chief.

The confusion among the soldiers only continued growing.

Sara could sense their fear beginning to rise alongside it.

Her expression hardened.

A controlled wave of her aura suddenly spread throughout the War Hall.

It wasn’t powerful enough to harm anyone, but it carried enough pressure to crush almost every conversation at once. Officers who had been speaking immediately closed their mouths, while several younger recruits instinctively straightened when Sara’s presence swept over them.

Within seconds, thousands of voices had disappeared.

Sara waited until every eye had returned to her before turning slightly toward the enormous tactical display behind the central platform.

"Monday. Show them."

The artificial intelligence responded immediately.

"Yes, Chief."

The enormous display behind Sara came alive.

At first, the soldiers saw nothing except the dark surface of an ocean beneath the night sky. Coordinates, satellite timestamps and military tracking information appeared along the edges of the screen before Monday enlarged one particular region.

Then the first image appeared.

A naval vessel floated helplessly upon the ocean.

Or what remained of one.

The massive ship had been destroyed so violently that portions of its structure were barely recognizable. Sections of the hull had disappeared beneath the water, debris covered the surrounding ocean, and the casualty information appearing beside the image made several officers’ expressions change immediately.

Sara allowed them to look before speaking.

"Last night, we lost contact with a fully operational Usa naval vessel. There was no distress call explaining what attacked them, no prolonged battle and no useful visual recording of the enemy responsible."

Monday changed the display.

Satellite imagery replaced the destroyed ship, showing a wide section of the Pacific Ocean marked with several tracking indicators. Most of the route remained empty, however, with only two points highlighted clearly.

"Our satellites couldn’t continuously track whatever destroyed that vessel because the targets remained beneath the ocean for almost the entire journey. We only confirmed their presence twice, during the brief periods when something surfaced."

Sara pointed toward the first marker.

"The first confirmed appearance was here, in the Pacific."

Monday enlarged the image before moving toward the second location.

This time, what appeared upon the display created a considerably different reaction throughout the War Hall.

It was an island.

Or at least, it had once been an island.

A massive portion had been carved away so completely that the remaining land looked unnaturally severed. The destruction didn’t resemble bombardment or any ordinary natural disaster. Something enormous appeared to have passed directly through it, leaving behind a trail that continued toward the ocean.

Several officers who had previously been frightened now stared at the display without saying anything.

Even the captains became more attentive.

Sara continued while Monday displayed the estimated path between both confirmed sightings.

"The second time our satellites located them was when they surfaced near this island. Whatever is traveling with those demons passed through it, and this was what remained afterward."

The route expanded across the screen.

Pacific Ocean.

The path continued onward until another projected line appeared, moving toward the Atlantic and ultimately toward Liebus territory.

"After comparing both sightings, their direction of movement, the destruction left behind and their current speed, we have a reasonably accurate estimate of where they’re going."

Sara turned away from the display and faced the soldiers again.

"They’re coming here."

The atmosphere inside the War Hall changed immediately.

Nobody needed to ask why nearly ten thousand Agency personnel had been summoned anymore.

Yet Sara wasn’t finished.

"What you’re seeing isn’t consistent with the movement of a small demon group. There are too many disturbances beneath the ocean, too many separate signatures moving together and far too much organized movement for me to believe we’re dealing with several demons acting independently."

Her crimson eyes slowly traveled across the soldiers.

"We don’t know their exact numbers yet, and I’m not going to stand here and give you numbers I can’t confirm."

Sara paused before delivering the part that mattered.

"But everything we have tells us the same thing."

Her voice became colder.

"This is a full-scale demonic army."

That confirmation struck considerably harder now.

The first murmur eventually emerged from among the veteran officers, where an older soldier stared toward the enormous display before looking back at Sara.

"A full army... coming toward Liebus?"

Another veteran beside him struggled to hide his concern as he studied the ruined island still visible behind their Chief.

"How many are we talking about? Hundreds? Thousands?"

Those questions were enough to break the silence.

The murmuring slowly spread from one section of the hall to another. Younger officers began turning toward their squad leaders for answers, while veterans exchanged increasingly serious looks with one another. Even the Medical Corps and Urban Damage Control teams became restless as they finally understood why so many support personnel had been summoned alongside the combat divisions.

"Did they already attack somewhere else?"

"Are civilians being evacuated?"

"How many demons are coming?"

"Does the military know?"

"What the hell did that to the island?"

Each question created several more, and within moments the quiet murmuring of a few soldiers had become the overlapping voices of hundreds. The enormous size of the War Hall only amplified the noise until conversations from thousands of people began blending together.

Even the captains couldn’t completely hide their reactions.

Fiona’s eyes remained fixed upon the projected route stretching across the ocean. She had expected a major operation when she saw how many divisions were gathered here, but now the urgency behind the summons finally made complete sense.

So that’s why she called everyone.

Erika’s expression became equally serious despite the bandages still hidden beneath portions of her uniform. Elga stopped looking around the chamber and focused completely on Sara, while Lily’s earlier curiosity disappeared as she realized that the younger officers beneath her command might soon be entering an actual battlefield.

Raven remained the quietest among them, but her eyes had already begun studying the people around her.

Because beneath all the confusion, something considerably more dangerous was spreading.

Fear.

Sara could sense it.

At first, it was concentrated among the youngest officers. Their voices became quicker as they asked one another questions nobody could answer, while several began glancing toward the sealed doors as though suddenly remembering that they were standing inside an underground war chamber.

Then that fear began reaching the others.

One nervous question became ten. Ten became hundreds, and the more people spoke without receiving answers, the more frightening their own imaginations became. Some began wondering whether cities had already fallen, while others questioned whether the Agency had summoned this many people because the situation was already beyond control.

Sara’s expression gradually hardened.

She understood their fear.

Many of these officers had never experienced a true war. Most had spent their careers fighting demons through organized missions where several officers surrounded a single target, while stronger demons were left to senior teams, Elite Officers or captains.

Tonight would be different.

But understanding their fear didn’t mean she would allow it to control them.

"SILENCE!"

Sara’s voice exploded throughout the War Hall.

The command struck the chamber with enough force that thousands of conversations died almost simultaneously. Officers immediately turned toward the central platform, and within seconds, the enormous hall that had been filled with nervous whispers became completely silent.

Sara slowly looked across them.

Thousands of eyes were now watching her.

"I can feel your fear from where I’m standing. I can hear you asking one another whether you’ll survive tonight, whether the enemy is too numerous, whether this is really a war and whether you should be afraid."

She paused, allowing her gaze to travel across the younger officers in the rear sections before moving toward the veterans and Elite Officers closer to the front.

"Yes. Demons have entered our territory. Yes, there are more of them approaching than most of you have ever seen together. But right now, the thing disappointing me isn’t the army coming toward Liebus."

Sara’s eyes narrowed.

"It’s you."

Several officers stiffened.

"How can you already be terrified of an enemy that hasn’t even reached our shores?"

Nobody answered.

Sara stepped forward, her voice remaining firm rather than comforting.

"I know many of you have never fought in a war. I’m not going to stand here and pretend otherwise. Some of you have spent your entire careers fighting one demon with five officers standing beside you. Some needed ten. Some of you have never faced anything stronger than the targets assigned to your patrol teams, and tonight you may look across the battlefield and see not one demon..."

She raised her hand toward the enormous ocean display.

"...but hundreds."

The silence inside the War Hall became heavier.

"You may see thousands."

Sara allowed that reality to settle instead of hiding it from them.

"You’ll hear things you’ve never heard during training. You’ll see officers stronger than you fall. There will be moments when every instinct inside your body tells you to turn around, find somewhere safe and let someone stronger handle it."

Her expression hardened.

"And when that moment comes, I want every one of you to ask yourself one question."

Sara looked directly toward the younger ranks.

"If you run tonight, where exactly are you running?"

A few officers slowly lifted their heads.

"Back home?"

Sara’s voice became quieter, but somehow it carried even farther through the silent chamber.

"To your wife? Your husband? Your parents? Your children?"

She shook her head.

"The enemy isn’t attacking some distant land that you can abandon when things become difficult. They’re coming here. Behind you are the streets you walk every morning, the homes where your families are sleeping and the people who have absolutely no idea that an army is moving toward them."

Sara placed one hand against the command table.

"So tell me. Are you going to run home tonight, look your child in the eyes and say, ’I’m sorry. I was supposed to protect you, but there were too many of them, so I became afraid and ran away’?"

Nobody moved.

"Are you going to tell your family that the uniform you’re wearing only meant something when the enemy was weaker than you?"

The nervous murmuring had completely disappeared now.

One of the younger officers who had been whispering earlier slowly tightened his fingers around his weapon.

Sara noticed.

"I know you’re afraid."

Her tone changed slightly.

This time, there was no disappointment behind it.

"I would be more worried if you weren’t."

Several officers looked toward her in surprise.

"Fear doesn’t make you a coward. Being afraid when thousands of demons are approaching you means you’re still capable of understanding what’s at stake. Courage isn’t standing here and pretending you’re immortal."

Sara’s eyes swept across the chamber.

"Courage is being terrified..."

Her fist slowly tightened.

"...and standing anyway."

Something changed within the War Hall.

It began among the younger officers first. The recruit who had previously wondered whether they were going to die straightened his back, while another beside him stopped staring nervously toward the exit and instead looked toward the red-covered ocean map.

Sara continued.

"And don’t insult yourselves by acting as though you’re standing alone."

She pointed toward the lower-ranked officers.

"You have the person beside you."

Her hand moved toward the Senior Officers.

"You have veterans who have survived battles you haven’t experienced yet."

Then toward the Elite Teams.

"You have some of humanity’s strongest combatants standing between civilians and that army."

Her gaze shifted toward the five captains.

"You have five captains prepared to enter the battlefield with you."

Fiona remained completely composed. Lily stood straighter, while even the injured Elga and Erika showed no hesitation despite the bandages still covering their wounds. Raven merely watched from beside Shadow Crow, but the absolute calm surrounding her unit spoke for itself.

Finally, Sara placed a hand against her own chest.

"And you have me."

The words carried throughout the hall.

"I am not sending ten thousand people toward an enemy while I hide underground and wait for you to return. If you’re fighting tonight, then I’m fighting tonight. If the front line moves forward, I move with it. And if those demons want to reach the people behind us..."

Sara’s crimson eyes sharpened.

"...then they’ll have to come through every single one of us first."

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then somewhere among the lower ranks, a weapon struck firmly against the floor.

Another followed.

Then another.

Within seconds, the sound began spreading throughout the War Hall as frightened officers straightened themselves, veterans raised their heads and thousands of personnel gradually replaced uncertainty with determination.

Sara watched them before allowing one final sentence to leave her lips.

"So be afraid if you need to be. Let your hands shake, let your heart pound, and remember every person waiting for you at home."

Her voice carried clearly across the enormous hall.

"But when those demons reach Liebus tonight, make damn sure the only thing they remember about humanity..."

Sara’s crimson eyes sharpened.

"...is that we didn’t run."

The response came immediately.

Weapons struck against the floor throughout the War Hall as thousands answered their Chief. The sound rolled from the lower-ranked officers toward the veterans, then through the Elite divisions until the enormous chamber seemed to tremble beneath them.

Sara didn’t mistake that response for the disappearance of fear. A speech couldn’t erase the possibility of death, and many of these people were still wondering whether they would see their families tomorrow.

But fear no longer stood alone.

There was courage beside it now.

Sara let the sound continue for several seconds before raising her hand. One section after another became quiet until nearly ten thousand people were once again waiting for her next words.

"There is one more thing you need to know."

The mood shifted almost immediately. Sara looked toward the five captains standing near the front before turning her attention back to the thousands gathered beneath them.

"I told you that your captains will fight beside you. I told you that I will stand on that battlefield with you, and I meant every word."

She paused.

"But I won’t be the one leading this war."

This time, the silence that followed was different.

Several younger officers exchanged confused looks, while the veterans became noticeably more attentive. Sara Venom was their Chief. Five captains were already present, and even the Holy Saint stood beside her.

If Sara wasn’t taking command, then who possibly outranked everyone gathered here?

It didn’t take long for the rumors from last night to return.

The mysterious woman who had appeared inside headquarters.

The battle that had left both Elga and Erika injured.

The whispers claiming that two captains had challenged a single Supreme Ruler and been defeated.

The young officer who had mentioned those rumors earlier slowly looked toward his companions.

"It can’t be..."

His friends didn’t answer him. Their attention had already returned to Sara, especially when they noticed her glance briefly toward Elga and Erika.

"Some of you have probably heard the rumors spreading through headquarters since last night. Some believed them, while others assumed frightened officers had exaggerated what they saw."

Sara’s expression remained completely serious.

"They didn’t."

A quiet tension passed through the War Hall.

Elga remained motionless despite the bandages around her body, while Erika’s expression hardened slightly. Neither captain attempted to deny what Sara had just confirmed.

Sara continued.

"The person who will lead us tonight is someone whose strength I have witnessed myself. Someone powerful enough that the enemy approaching our country isn’t something she fears."

Her crimson eyes slowly moved toward the enormous reinforced entrance.

"I’ve fought demons for longer than most of you have been alive. I’ve watched them enter human territory, destroy cities, slaughter families and disappear while believing there would never be anyone powerful enough to make them regret it."

Her voice became colder.

"Tonight, I want them to regret it."

Several soldiers tightened their grips around their weapons.

"And I’m certain that under her command, we’ll drive every last demon from this land."

Sister Mary remained silent beside Sara. Unlike the thousands staring toward the platform in confusion, she already knew exactly whose name was coming.

"We’ll remind them that Liebus isn’t their hunting ground. We’ll show them what happens when they cross our borders with an army and believe humanity will simply wait to be slaughtered."

Sara’s crimson eyes narrowed.

"And when this battle ends, I want the Demon King himself to understand exactly how powerful the people he chose to provoke have become."

The War Hall went completely silent.

The earlier excitement disappeared beneath anticipation as nearly ten thousand people turned toward the reinforced entrance. Even those who hadn’t heard the rumors could understand from the reactions of the captains that whoever was about to enter wasn’t an ordinary commander.

Sara turned toward Monday’s interface.

"Monday."

"Awaiting command, Chief."

Sara kept her eyes on the entrance.

"Open the doors."

The first security lock disengaged with a heavy mechanical sound. Then another followed, and another, until the enormous reinforced doors slowly began separating down the middle.

Elga’s posture immediately stiffened.

Erika instinctively glanced toward the entrance, the memory of yesterday’s battle still painfully fresh beneath the bandages covering her wounds. Fiona noticed both of their reactions, while Raven’s eyes narrowed with quiet interest.

Sister Mary simply lowered her head.

Before the doors had even fully opened, something changed inside the War Hall.

The younger officers couldn’t immediately understand what they were feeling. It wasn’t merely mana or killing intent, and no attack had been launched against them. Yet their bodies instinctively recognized that whatever stood beyond those doors existed on an entirely different level from the people gathered inside.

Monday’s voice echoed through the sudden silence.

"Supreme Authority recognized."

The enormous doors continued opening as brilliant light from the corridor spilled across the floor, stretching between the rows of gathered soldiers.

"All personnel, prepare to receive the Supreme Authority."

Several officers stopped breathing.

Supreme Authority?

The words alone were enough to destroy whatever doubt remained among those who had dismissed the rumors. There truly was someone whose authority stood even above their Chief.

Sara straightened her posture.

When she spoke again, the familiar casualness in her voice had completely disappeared, replaced by a degree of respect that many of the soldiers had never heard from her before.

"The commander who will lead us into tonight’s war..."

Thousands of eyes remained fixed upon the widening entrance.

Sara lowered her head slightly.

"...has arrived."

A figure finally became visible beyond the blinding corridor light.

Silver hair moved gently behind her as she stepped toward the entrance, but with the light at her back, her face remained hidden from nearly everyone inside.

Sara’s voice echoed through the War Hall.

"All personnel..."

She bowed.

"...receive Her Majesty."

To Be Continued...

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