Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Celestial (1)
The flames of Hellfire didn't stop after burning only the intended head.
With tremendous force, it devoured the serpent's body and didn't cease its momentum until it turned into black ash.
If it had been the usual Archbishop who could freely manipulate the evil god's divine power, Hellfire could have been manageable, but once Elvin had severed the head and thought had ceased, the Archbishop's body was nothing but an excessively large target.
"Yeah, this is how it should be."
Watching the Archbishop's form collapse with its entire body turned to charcoal, Gray smiled with satisfaction.
"As expected, only that woman was abnormally strong...!"
"Well... I understand."
The scene where Maria had neutralized Hellfire with one hand still remained as trauma in Gray's heart.
At that moment, Rudian's eyes met with Luciella's.
She also nodded, agreeing with Rudian's opinion.
Simultaneously, both of them kicked off from their positions.
Their target was the two bishops who were floundering helplessly beside the Archbishop.
"You, you bastards!"
The bishops, judging that this was no longer a situation to conserve their strength, began to explode with power to transform into serpent beastmen like the Archbishop.
But Rudian had no intention of letting that happen.
"Attacking during transformation is 'the rule.'"
It would be foolish to wait until the transformation was complete in the first place.
The transformation-type villains were too kind, so they got beaten by the protagonists, damn it!
SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Rudian and Luciella, matching their breathing perfectly, immediately slashed the throats of the bishops who were rapidly swelling up.
"Gack!"
"Gurk!"
If the bishops had been rich in combat experience, they wouldn't have attempted transformation with enemies right in front of them.
Though they had received plenty of power from their god through sacrificial offerings, when it came to actually wielding that power, they were worse than novice magicians.
'That's the limitation of those who use faith as their source of power.'
THUD!
Rudian shook off the poisonous blood and looked to the side.
She too was cleanly severing the bishop's neck with skillful technique and retrieving her blade.
Including the giant serpent beastman whose entire body had burned but still maintained its form, plus the corpses of those who had died mid-transformation - three in total.
"This should be enough material to bring down the Countess."
Even if they tried to deny the fact of colluding with the cult, it would be sufficient to accuse them of raising such monsters and plotting rebellion.
"How about we worry about that old man before bringing down the Countess?"
"Old man? Ah!"
"He got caught up in the Hellfire, he's not really dead, is he?"
"Probably... Not."
The Dark Knight's armor possessed the strongest defensive power capable of withstanding even Solar Flare, one of the 9th-class fire-type ultimate spells.
But thinking about it... The reason one could survive even after being hit by that was perhaps only because the wearer was a being from the underworld...
Seeing Rudian's voice growing smaller, Gray also began to feel a slight unease rising.
"Why, why don't you sound confident in your answer?"
"First... Let's check on senior's condition."
Rudian gulped nervously as he checked on Elvin's state, sprawled near the Archbishop's corpse.
'...Thank goodness.'
Fortunately, Elvin was fine.
Though he had lost consciousness from the shock, thanks to the armor's protective function, he had avoided the disaster of being toasted by Hellfire's heat.
Less than ten minutes later, Elvin regained consciousness and sighed while rubbing the back of his head.
"Damn, when I failed at breaking my fall and hit my head, I thought I was a goner for sure... But somehow I survived."
"It all went according to plan. I'm glad you're safe."
"......"
Though Gray was looking this way with disbelief from the side, Rudian cheerfully ignored it.
"So what do we do now?"
"First, we need to bring down the lord of Southwood. We have to keep dealing with the Apophis Cult, so we can't leave such an unstable element in our rear."
"How? Just with us?"
"We could do it, but let's request support."
Rudian said to Gray, who was still glaring at them.
"Gray, you brought a means to contact Lady Sonya, right?"
"How did you know that too?"
"That son-loving lady wouldn't have sent you out without any means of communication."
Though sometimes greed might surpass affection, being the magic family Bellatrix, she would have sent him with thorough preparation.
"Ugh...!"
Gray made a groaning sound as he pulled out a rectangular plate with magic power swirling around it from his bag.
It wasn't just a simple plate but had a design similar to a smartphone, which felt refreshing after a long time.
Soon, when Gray infused magic power into the plate and operated it, something like a hologram appeared.
And within a few minutes, Sonya's figure suddenly appeared inside it.
-Ahhh, What's the matter?
"Mo... No, Head of House."
Gray tried to address Sonya as usual but quickly came to his senses and coughed several times.
"I'm contacting you to report on Countess Southwood's treasonous acts."
"Southwood? Ah, that woman whose greed is packed up to her chin?"
Rudian desperately suppressed the urge to retort, 'In terms of greed, you're quite similar yourself.'
"Yes, my brother will give you the detailed explanation."
Taking the baton, Rudian reported that Heidi Southwood had colluded with the cult and was kidnapping adventurers to offer them as sacrifices to the evil god.
Finally, he showed the Archbishop's giant corpse lying there as evidence to conclude his report.
Sonya let out a weak moan upon seeing the Archbishop's corpse.
-Hmm, it's much larger than even the Ancient Cobra of the Great Forest... It can certainly be called a monster.
"We need forces for an immediate judgment of Countess Southwood by imperial decree. Can you send them?"
At those words, Sonya slightly frowned.
-Just you guys would be enough to flip that place over, wouldn't it? Do we really need to send forces? As you know, the useful ones have been sent to the battlefield, so we don't have that many forces remaining.
"We don't plan to stay here long either. And showing that central authority is directly passing judgment will cause less confusion."
-Ugh, that's true, but...
Sonya deliberated for a while before arranging an alternative.
-Alright. I'll speak to His Majesty first and have him dispatch some of the remaining knight orders and magic corps. After expelling the countess, we'll also need administrators to govern in their place, so we'll need personnel for that too.
It was the moment when the fate of one family that had dominated the south was decided in an instant.
"Thank you, Lady Sonya."
-But I'm not sending them to fight. They're purely for show of force, so know that dealing with their retainers is your job.
"Of course."
-I'm hanging up now. I'm busy too.
"Yes, if you have time, please check on Rebecca and the succubi. This communication device won't reach Jester."
-......
It was just a casual remark, but for some reason, what came back was a strange silence.
...What?
Just as Rudian's expression was about to turn slightly odd at that mysterious silence.
-Those girls...
"...Yes?"
-Went on a trip.
Since it seemed like something serious was about to be said, he let out a sigh of relief at such a trivial matter as travel.
"Ah, well, that could happen."
-Abroad.
"What did you say?"
He had momentarily forgotten the common wisdom that when it comes to the Morian Empire, you must listen to the end.
Watching Rudian's jaw drop slightly, Sonya continued with an exasperated tone.
-I'm not in a position to control those kids, so I couldn't force them, but I did try to dissuade them.
"No, no. What the hell was Jester doing? Knowing full well that we're at war right now...!"
-They said their destination was a seaside resort in the west, in an allied country... I don't know if that's the truth. At least Maria went with them, so you don't need to worry about their safety.
"......"
If Maria went with them, then at least he could be at ease.
But wait, Maria left the country at a time like this?
"Wasn't Maria essential military strength for this war? How could she leave the country so easily?"
-Well, that girl is classified as an 8th-class or higher Great Magician under international law, so she can't participate in the war. Originally, the Kingdom of Rohans has also organized their magic corps at an extremely conventional level.
'Ah, international law!'
A very minor setting that had been forgotten until now surfaced from beneath the waters of memory.
Certainly, in this world where all kinds of superhumans run wild, if the power of those participating in war isn't restricted, armies lose their meaning.
Well, they actually were meaningless, but the original author created something called 'international law' to provide a minimal plausibility device that the continent hadn't gone to hell before the original story began.
It was mentioned only once in the original and passed over, and it was such a trivial and useless setting that even Rudian himself had forgotten about it...
-Still, I hoped she would remain in the capital to prepare for emergencies, but for some reason, Count Matheus actively encouraged their travel. Though he was quite considerate, there were no opposing opinions since he said he would fill the gap in military strength as Tower Master himself.
"What on earth...?"
If they had known Maria's true worth, they would never have let her leave the capital.
'No, what the hell are they thinking?'
If even Maria had joined, that trip definitely wasn't decided on impulse.
If they did so despite the special situation of war being right in front of them, there must be a reason.
Rudian scratched his head vigorously as his thoughts became complicated.
'Don't tell me these guys are going to cause trouble?'
***
In any case, there was no way to clean up what had already happened outside his sight.
For now, he could finish what he had started and then slowly investigate the truth.
"They're here."
After emerging from underground, about two hours passed and around fifty people appeared through the teleportation magic circle.
"Greetings, Count Belstad Your Excellency. And Princess Delphione and Young Lord of House Bellatrix."
"Red Falcon?"
"Haha, that's right."
Knights of the Red Falcon, one of the capital's five great knight orders, saluted Rudian with solemn expressions.
"The Captain ordered us to definitely achieve great merit and return this time! Now, please designate where our swords shall flash!"
"Uh..."
At the sight of the knights snorting and steeling their resolve, Rudian and his party looked at each other with troubled expressions.
Sorry to say to them, but...
Since he had made a promise to Sonya, he couldn't... Let them participate in combat.
"......"
"Kyaaaak!"
"They're incredibly skilled fighters! Protect the Countess!"
As soon as the Red Falcon and the Fire Tower's magicians joined, Rudian immediately launched a surprise attack on Southwood Castle, heading for the Countess Castle.
Gray provided support from the rear, while Rudian, Elvin, and Luciella began to take down everyone blocking their path.
"......"
And behind them, the Red Falcon knights who had been burning with fighting spirit became like borrowed barley sacks, unable to participate in combat, following the party's rear.
'The Captain's going to kill us...'
'I wanted to show knightly prowess this time...!'
Following behind the Sword Master, excellent knights were cutting down enemies in an unparalleled display.
It was truly the ideal image that the Red Falcon knights had dreamed of, but there seemed to be no chance for them to show such prowess.
Thus, the Red Falcon entered the office where Heidi Southwood was located without drawing their swords even once.
Surprisingly, Branch Manager Hans had been holding Heidi in place and doing well until now.
"Good work."
"P-President!"
When the knights burst in, the branch manager who had been suffering under Heidi's treatment immediately brightened and hid behind Rudian.
Then Heidi, grasping the situation, widened her eyes.
"What kind of outrageous act is this!"
"Heidi Southwood, including the charge of treason for colluding with the cult to plot against the Empire, as well as the murder of civilians and raising monsters forbidden by Imperial law, I hereby arrest you."
When the arrest warrant bearing the Emperor's seal that the Red Falcon had brought was presented, Heidi's expression twisted like a malevolent spirit.
"How dare you! Even if he's the Emperor, does he think it's possible to browbeat us nobles like this? Do you think you can win the war against the Kingdom of Rohans without the cooperation of the provincial nobles?"
"What nonsense. That's something you should say only after properly concealing evidence. With physical evidence and witnesses all secured, what are you..."
Rudian gestured to the Red Falcon.
"Arrest her."
"Yes! Your Excellency!"
The Red Falcon, finally excited to have something to do, surrounded Heidi.
Though Heidi's knights were certainly skilled fighters befitting a great lord's retainers, they couldn't compare to the central knights in either numbers or quality.