Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Rift Closers
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The reinforcements sent from the royal family consisted of a total of twenty people, including Asion Gail, Professor Jairen, royal knights, and the chairmen of the Asteron Academy.
And.
"Pardon? The commander?"
Leading them wasn't some nameless knight commander from who-knows-where, but Asion Gail.
"Yeah, just handing off this annoying mess based on that scrap of paper..."
It seemed the royals had pushed Asion Gail into it by dangling the contract.
"Oh, that must've been tough."
"Why does your voice sound so lifeless? Forgot this is all because of who?"
Asion Gail grumbled, clearly dissatisfied, but from my perspective, it was actually a good thing.
Having the academy head as the commander of these forces would make things much easier to maneuver.
Besides, someone of Asion Gail's caliber was perfect for the role anyway.
'I heard he participated in a lot of wars back in the day.'
The royals must have considered those factors when assigning him as commander.
Anyway.
"How do we close the rifts?"
After placating Asion Gail for a good while, I finally brought up the question nagging at me.
The method for closing the rifts.
In a way, it was the most crucial element of this war.
Its success or failure would determine the entire course of the battle.
If we could close all the rifts without issue by the end of the day, we'd wrap up the war smoothly. But if some variable caused a delay...
'Dershion will show up again.'
The same Dershion who'd fled earlier, boosted by Baal's power, would come crawling out of a rift to wreak havoc.
And Dershion was just the start.
There were still the remaining high-ranking demons that hadn't appeared, plus the Legion Commander of Greed, Valefor, and the Legion Commander of Lust, Asmodeus.
All of them would emerge and rampage everywhere.
In short, total chaos.
We had to prevent that at all costs.
And to do that, it was vital to fully understand how to close these rifts.
Seeing my serious expression, Asion Gail spoke in a solemn tone.
"The method for closing the rifts provided by the royals is just one."
He reached into his robes.
A bizarre device soon appeared in his hand.
It was a familiar shape I'd seen plenty of times, but to confirm, I asked.
"What's that?"
"A rift closer. They said all the sharp minds threw themselves into making it."
[Rift Closer].
It was exactly what I'd thought.
'Going with the standard procedure, huh.'
The [Rift Closer] was one of the artifacts optimized for ending wars, used in most conflicts.
A consumable with limited uses, it had to be tuned to the specific war or made from scratch each time, requiring considerable effort to prepare.
Activation often came with various conditions too.
Still, it was the most reliable way to close rifts.
That's why using the [Rift Closer] was considered the textbook method for ending rift wars.
"How does it work? How long until closure? Is this the only closer we have?"
Having a rough idea of what was coming, I pressed Asion Gail for more details.
The more I knew, the fewer variables we'd face.
"...Ask one at a time."
Asion Gail looked annoyed but didn't refuse to answer.
He explained in detail, making sure I fully understood.
How much time passed like that?
"Hmm, that should do it."
I stopped him once I felt I had enough.
Activating the [Rift Closer] for this war wasn't complicated.
Just install it close to the rift and guard it until it activated properly. That was it.
In other words, set it up and buy time.
"Let's go."
No more time to waste, so I urged Asion Gail on.
He knew the situation wasn't leisurely either, and immediately began commanding the royal forces.
"Alright, we're moving out. Everyone follow the instructions I gave earlier."
At that.
Rustle!
The royal forces, who'd been chatting in a group, scattered in an instant.
It seemed he'd briefed them in advance.
Not everyone, though.
"Uh, th-those people... why?"
I looked around in bewilderment.
The moment Asion Gail gave the order, three or four robed figures had surrounded me in a circle.
As far as I knew, they were the academy's chairmen, and having them suddenly stick to me like this was disconcerting.
When I asked about it.
"Aren't you participating in closing the rifts too?"
"Well, yeah..."
"Figured as much, so I told each chairman to guard you."
"Pardon?"
Asion Gail acted like it was the most natural thing.
"No matter the war, we can't lose talent like you here. We protect our academy students."
"...Huh."
That's what he meant.
He'd assigned the chairmen as my escorts, considering the risks.
Honestly, it was ridiculous.
'Chairmen are at least 7th Circle mages. What a waste of firepower.'
Assigning such valuable forces to guard me—me, of all people—was an enormous squandering of resources.
But even thinking that, I couldn't argue.
"Of course, of course. You're right, Academy Head."
"Same as always, loyal to a fault. Heh heh heh."
The chairmen surrounding me all nodded in agreement.
"Heh heh, nice to meet you."
One made eye contact and smiled casually.
It was clear nothing I said would sway them.
Fine, whatever.
But one question arose here.
"What about Kayla? And Thompson? Oh, Roan's here too, right?"
I wasn't the only academy student in this war.
Me, Thompson, Kayla. And Roan too.
That meant several people to look after.
But had he already thought of that?
"I've already sent two to Kayla, so no worries."
Asion Gail waved it off like it was obvious.
"Oh, really...?"
Looks like his claim about protecting academy students wasn't just talk.
"What about Roan and the old man?"
"Roan's at the age to fly solo. Thompson... he's fine."
"Pardon?"
"He's tough, isn't he? That guy doesn't get hurt easily."
Asion Gail had plausible answers for every follow-up.
Fair enough, Thompson was sturdy.
Even most knights couldn't match his durability.
And Roan didn't need help, which made sense.
"I know 'cause I've hit him."
"..."
The chilling addition made me pretend I didn't hear it.
That was the moment I realized Thompson's fear of the academy head wasn't my imagination.
***
The operation kicked off swiftly.
There were nine rifts to close.
That was the total minus the one Dershion had entered and sealed behind him.
Of those, I headed to the fifth rift, trailed by the chairmen.
Elbert, who was supposed to join here, had been injured, making this the most urgent spot for support.
And it was the closest to the third rift we'd just handled.
Thanks to that, I received the [Rift Closer] from Asion Gail first.
With only this one closer ready so far, we had to close rifts quickly and pass it on.
Tadadak, tadadak! Tatak!
We arrived at the fifth rift.
I'd worried since the main forces had been absent for a while, but the situation was better than expected.
Kieek! Kieeek!
"Die!"
Slash!
Even without a commander, the soldiers were giving their all in their roles.
The high-ranking demon had already been slain by the knights, and the number of demons spilling from the rift was being managed well.
"First things first..."
Thwack!
I rushed to the rift, dug a shallow hole in the ground, and planted the [Rift Closer].
A long beam of light shot upward, signaling activation.
Piiing!
It stretched endlessly, like a high-tech signal fire with no end in sight.
And gradually.
Ching, ching, ching...
The beam began tinting black.
The [Rift Closer] was sucking in the surrounding demonic energy for the closure process.
'Good. Now we just hold out.'
As I thought that, the soldiers spotted me near the rift and erupted in cheers.
"A mage! That mage is here!"
"D-Does that mean we just need to hold a bit longer...?"
"Uahaha! Nothing to fear now!"
For some reason, my presence seemed to ignite hope in them.
No need to ruin the mood, so I flashed a grin and shouted.
"We're closing the rift now! They say it'll take an hour, so just hold the line with everything you've got until then!"
At that.
"Uoooo!"
"Wipe 'em out!"
The weary soldiers' faces lit up.
Their morale surged.
Even those resting jumped up, desperately moving to protect the [Rift Closer].
Though they wouldn't really need to do much.
Kieeek!
Gurgle! Gurgle! Gurgle!
Demons swarming like a pack, sensing the [Rift Closer].
But.
Boom! Bang! Boomboom!
They turned to gray ash mid-charge.
The academy chairmen assigned as my escorts had swept them away with magic.
As expected, but exceeding even that—their power was overwhelming.
To the point I didn't need to lift a finger.
'...Definitely 7th Circle, right?'
If my memory served, chairmen were typically high-ranking 7th Circle mages.
Yet their performance here rivaled 8th Circle.
Each spell matched Dershion's level.
And they timed their casts perfectly, like veterans who'd synced countless times.
"You all seem pretty used to handling spells like this?"
When I asked with a hint of suspicion, one chairman still glued to my side replied.
"Ah, we fought in a lot of wars back when we were young. This is second nature now."
"Wars? All of you?"
"Yeah, didn't know? The academy head too. We all partied together. What they call parties these days."
Ah, that explained it.
These folks were war-hardened veterans—battle masters who'd seen it all.
Knowing that only made me feel more stifled.
No matter how I looked at it, it was a massive waste of talent.
'People like this guarding me? Four of them, no less?'
Special treatment was nice, but I couldn't fathom Asion Gail's intentions.