My Love Debts Are Everywhere!

"Who dares disturb my slumber?"

The cold, detached voice reverberated across the battlefield, sending waves of terror through both the Demon army and the human forces.

Their bodies shook violently, as though their very souls were being rattled by the chilling resonance. Many were overwhelmed by fear, collapsing unconscious where they stood.

Not only humans and demons but even the horses were overwhelmed by the terror of the voice. They whinnied in panic, rearing up wildly and throwing many soldiers from their saddles.

"Damn it! What's happening? Calm down!" one soldier shouted, desperately trying to steady his frenzied horse. His attempts only seemed to agitate it further.

The horse bucked fiercely, hurling its master from the saddle before bolting from the battlefield in terror.

This chaos wasn't limited to one soldier. Across the field, the entire cavalry—both human and demon—was thrown into disarray, their mounts overcome with fear.

"Kaelen, what should we do?" a Demon soldier asked frantically, struggling to calm his panicked horse.

Kaelen, preoccupied with calming his frantic horse, paused briefly, his expression crumpled. Once he had regained control of his mount, he turned to the soldier with a resolute gaze.

"Hold your positions. I'll report to General Leon," he ordered firmly.

Before the soldier could respond, Kaelen tugged on the reins and galloped toward Leon's location, leaving the soldier rooted in place.

Meanwhile, Leon, poised to strike down Jim and Guren, suddenly hesitated.

"What was that voice? Why does my body feel... unsettled?"

he wondered, his surprise evident.

The eerie resonance that echoed across the battlefield seemed to grip his soul, sending an uncharacteristic tremor through him.

Leon glanced down at Luna and Jim and noticed their pale faces.

Narrowing his eyes, he locked his gaze on Jim. His grip on the hilt of the Great Sword of Chaos tightened, his unease transforming into a steely resolve.

"Prime Minister Jim, was that mysterious voice your doing?" Leon inquired coldly, drawing on the power of chaos within him.

The suspicion lingered—Jim might still have a hidden strategy to counter him. That ominous voice had to be part of some scheme to bring him down.

Jim met Leon's gaze with a serious expression and shook his head. "No, it wasn't me," he replied firmly.

Leon's eyebrows arched slightly, but he sensed no deceit in Jim's words. Before he could press further, the ground trembled once more—this time with far greater intensity.

"There's a monster over there!"

A panicked cry erupted from the ranks of humanity's army, drawing the attention of Leon, Jim, and Luna.

They turned to see a towering, humanoid figure rising from beneath the sand.

The figure stood about three meters tall, its pitch-black skin stretched over a thin, bony frame. Its unnaturally long arms hung down to its calves, and its mangled face bore only two piercing eyes and a prominent nose.

Its eerie and frightening appearance struck terror into the hearts of both mankind's and the demons' armies, leaving them trembling in fear.

"Monster! Monster!"

"Damn it! Another one of those monsters appeared over there!"

The appearance of the creature sent panicked cries echoing across the battlefield, as a similar monster emerged near them.

The sudden appearance of the horrifying monsters made Leon, Jim, and Luna immediately tense, their expressions turning serious and wary.

"Arghhh!"

A gut-wrenching roar rang out from beside Jim, and the terrifying monster appeared in an instant.

Jim's eyes widened in fear. Just as he attempted to dodge, the monster grabbed both of his ankles.

"Damn monster!" Jim growled, struggling to free his legs, but the creature's grip was too strong.

His face drained of color, and just as he was about to call for help from Luna, an arrow pierced the monster's head, shattering it into pieces.

Jim let out a sigh of relief and turned to Luna, his eyes filled with gratitude.

"Thank you for the help, Bow Hero Luna," he said sincerely.

Luna nodded silently, lowering her Holy Bow of Celestial Frost, her gaze scanning the chaotic battlefield.

"Prime Minister Jim, what should we do?" she asked carefully.

Jim slowly rose to his feet, his eyes fixed on the ever-growing horde of monsters.

His expression darkened as he replied, "For now, we'll withdraw the army and retreat as far as we can."

The sudden appearance of these terrifying monsters caught Jim off guard, and he couldn't bear the thought of sacrificing his soldiers' lives in vain to these creatures.

Jim's response made Luna furrow her brow slightly, a conflicted expression crossing her otherwise indifferent face.

"If we withdraw our army, what will happen to the people in the nearby towns? Won't they be slaughtered by these monsters later?" Luna voiced her concerns, drawing her bowstring and shooting an approaching monster with deadly accuracy.

"I know that, but..." Jim lowered his gaze, deep in thought.

He had already considered the worst-case scenario, yet the sudden appearance of these monsters felt strangely unnatural.

As he had said before, he couldn't afford to sacrifice the elite forces of the Holy Empire of Elysium. Yet, Luna's words made him reconsider their escape plan.

For the first time, Jim found himself paralyzed by indecision.

Suddenly, the sound of galloping hooves broke his train of thought.

Kaelen pulled his horse to a stop beneath Leon and raised his head to look at him.

"General Leon, what are your orders?" Kaelen asked respectfully.

Leon descended slowly, landing in front of Kaelen's horse. He surveyed the chaos, where the Demon and human armies were locked in battle against an endless swarm of mysterious monsters.

"If left unchecked, these monsters could spread throughout the Desert of Chaos and even threaten nearby towns. If that happens, the danger will be catastrophic," Leon said indifferently.

Turning to Kaelen, he gave the order, "I'm commanding the entire army to eliminate them."

Kaelen's eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing the order.

At first, he had expected Leon to call for a retreat, but instead, the command was to eradicate the monsters. Furthermore, the purpose of this order was to protect the nearby towns inhabited by humans.

Despite his surprise, Kaelen did not question Leon's decision. He nodded firmly.

"As you command!" Kaelen replied eagerly.

He grasped the saddle strap and immediately turned his horse toward the Demon army's ranks.

As Leon watched Kaelen depart, his gaze shifted to Jim and Guren. Killing intent smoldered within him, but he quickly suppressed it, focusing instead on the monsters.

"There's still time for my revenge, but for now, I must eliminate these mysterious monsters,"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Leon muttered, then vanished from sight.

Luna and Jim fell silent, an awkward tension settling between them.

Leon's decision to focus on eradicating the monsters felt like a slap to Jim, who had planned to retreat. More importantly, Leon's order was clearly aimed at preventing the monsters from spreading into human territory—a responsibility that Jim felt should fall to them.

Luna broke the silence, her voice calm. "So, are we still retreating?"

Jim paused, took a deep breath, and then answered firmly, "No. We'll fight and eliminate every last one of these monsters."

Luna's expression remained unchanged, but a faint smile tugged at her lips.

Without further hesitation, they moved to join the battle.

***

*Boom!*

Chaos power erupted from Leon's body, and with each swing of his sword, the monsters before him were obliterated. No matter how many appeared, they disintegrated into dust beneath his strikes.

Yet, their numbers never seemed to dwindle. For every ten he killed, fifteen more emerged from the sand, as if they were endless.

A slight frown creased Leon's brow as he realized this, and with a single motion, he dispatched the last monster before him.

"If this keeps up, the chaos energy in my body will be drained, and the Demon army will be exhausted before they can eliminate all the monsters," Leon muttered grimly.

Had that happened, they would have fallen prey to these monsters.

Taking a deep breath, Leon charged toward the next wave, closing his eyes.

"Miranda, do you hear me?" he called.

"I hear you, master," Miranda replied.

Leon exhaled in relief and opened his eyes just as ten monsters lunged at him.

His expression hardened instantly. The chaos energy surged into the blade of the Great Sword of Chaos as he swung it in a deadly diagonal and horizontal slash.

*Whoosh!*

Two slashes of black light shot toward the horde of monsters, blasting them away in an instant.

Leon didn't lower his guard, his eyes catching the sight of twenty monsters suddenly turning and charging toward him.

"They must have been drawn by the sound of my attack," Leon muttered coldly.

Without hesitation, he moved to intercept them, cutting them down with swift strikes.

After scanning the area for one hundred meters, Leon confirmed there were no more monsters left.

Satisfied, he closed his eyes once more and asked, "Do you know where these monsters came from?"

The appearance of these creatures was highly unusual, and Leon couldn't fathom why they would appear in the Valley of the Dead.

To make things even more perplexing, their forms resembled zombies from the fantasy stories of his previous world. Neither in the real world nor in the ancient archives had he ever encountered such a creature. Undoubtedly, they were a new breed of monster.

Upon hearing Leon's question, Miranda fell silent for a moment, taking a deep breath. Then, a soft yet serious voice echoed in Leon's mind.

"Master, they aren't actually monsters. They are the souls of living beings that have turned into monsters," Miranda replied, shocking Leon instantly.

"Souls of living beings?" Leon's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes, they were once living beings, like demons and humans. But after their deaths, their souls were trapped in the Desert of Chaos and transformed into these monsters," Miranda explained.

Leon's heart skipped a beat at this revelation. He gazed at the monsters, now clashing with the demon and human armies, his expression filled with astonishment.

Suddenly, a realization struck him, and he asked, "In that case, is the title of the Desert of Chaos as the 'Purgatory of Dead Souls' actually true?"

"Though it may sound exaggerated, that title is largely accurate. It was given by Demon Emperor Amon Crimson over 7,000 years ago," Miranda responded.

Leon was once again stunned by her words, falling silent as he processed the information.

After a moment, he regained his composure and asked, "Then can you tell me why these souls turned into monsters? There must be a reason, right?"

"Argh!"

A monster suddenly appeared beneath him, grabbing his ankle.

Leon's eyes turned cold as he swiftly stomped on the creature's head, crushing it to pieces.

Instead of answering his question, Miranda posed an unexpected one. "Master, do you know why the desert is called the Desert of Chaos?"

Leon paused, thinking for a moment before shaking his head.

"I don't know, Miranda," he replied.

The Desert of Chaos had existed for millennia, and there were no ancient records explaining the true origin of its name.

Miranda sighed softly before answering with calm, gentle certainty. "It's called the Desert of Chaos because it's the place where the Evil God was sealed by the Hero of Mankind, Luminus Troya, and the Demon Emperor, Amon Crimson."