<w:bottom w:space="0" w:sz="0" w:val="nil"><w:right w:space="0" w:sz="0" w:val="nil"><w:between w:space="0" w:sz="0" w:val="nil"><w:shd w:fill="auto" w:val="clear"><w:spacing w:after="0" w:before="0" w:line="276" w:linerule="auto"><w:ind w:left="0" w:right="0" w:firstline="0"><w:jc w:val="left"><w:rpr><w:rfonts w:ascii="Arial" w:cs="Arial" w:eastasia="Arial" w:hansi="Arial"><w:b w:val="0"><w:bcs w:val="0"><w:i w:val="0"><w:ics w:val="0"><w:smallcaps w:val="0"><w:strike w:val="0"><w:color w:val="000000"><w:sz w:val="22"><w:szcs w:val="22"><w:u w:val="none"><w:shd w:fill="auto" w:val="clear"><w:vertalign w:val="baseline"><w:sectpr><w:pgsz w:h="16834" w:w="11909" w:orient="portrait"><w:pgmar w:bottom="1440" w:top="1440" w:left="1440" w:right="1440" w:header="720" w:footer="720"><w:pgnumtype w:start="1"><w:bookmarkstart w:colfirst="0" w:collast="0" w:=""><w:bookmarkend w:=""><w:r w:rsiddel="00000000" w:rsidr="00000000" w:rsidrpr="00000000"><w:rpr><w:rfonts w:ascii="Arial" w:cs="Arial" w:eastasia="Arial" w:hansi="Arial"><w:b w:val="0"><w:bcs w:val="0"><w:i w:val="0"><w:ics w:val="0"><w:smallcaps w:val="0"><w:strike w:val="0"><w:color w:val="000000"><w:sz w:val="52"><w:szcs w:val="52"><w:u w:val="none"><w:shd w:fill="auto" w:val="clear"><w:vertalign w:val="baseline"><w:rtl w:val="0"><w:t xml:space="preserve">Tab 1 Chapter 185Revealing Secret Organizations (1) Duke Bellatrix, Sonya Bluephil, was essentially the second-in-command of the Morian Empire at this point in time. Originally counted as one of the Empire's Three Pillars through personal military prowess alone and called the greatest magician, but her true ability lay in politics. Through the rise of the demon race and the war with the Kingdom of Rohans, Sonya had elevated her family to the Empire's most prestigious noble house, surpassing the distinguished noble families of the Empire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠such as the Delphione ducal house, the Hellas ducal house, and the Constantin Count house. Of course, Sonya, who knew the inner workings to some extent, didn't truly believe that Bellatrix had seized hegemony. However, even so, on the surface, Bellatrix was renowned as the greatest noble house with an unrivaled trinity of military power, financial resources, and manpower that no one could covet. "KYAAAHHH!" "Save me, save me!" Sonya, who had lived with pride in that fact until now, was painfully realizing today that her pride was being shattered to pieces. "Your Grace the Duke! Attack magic isn't working at all!" "Damn it, aura doesn't work well either! What the hell are those creatures?" The scene Sonya was experiencing now was completely overturning all the common sense she had built up until now. "What... am I looking at right now?" When she first heard the report that strange creatures had suddenly appeared throughout the Empire, Sonya's heart was rather excited. Magicians are creatures that live and die by curiosity. If something beyond her knowledge had appeared, it was naturally no different from the emergence of experimental subjects to satisfy her thirst for knowledge. At first, she judged that just some strong magical beasts had appeared. However, when she heard the report that 500 provincial troops who had gone to subdue them were completely annihilated in less than 5 minutes, Sonya felt that something was going wrong. But Sonya had what she was confident was a thoroughly prepared force of ten thousand, and she had borrowed her family's proud magician corps and two of the central Five Great Knight Orders, so she thought it would be sufficient for subduing the strange creatures. However, as those forces became their single meal... she faced reality. "Th-that... can't be dealt with by an army." The identity of the strange creatures that Sonya confirmed was something that embodied despair and disaster. The moment she saw her confidently deployed defensive line shattered by their single charge, Sonya desperately raised her voice and shouted. "Withdraw all forces! The knight orders too!" "If we withdraw the forces, those things will invade other cities and devour the citizens!" "Even using aura barely leaves scratches on them! Magic below 6th class doesn't work at all! Before the citizens, all the soldiers will be devoured!" The strange creatures all had peculiar textures and forms that couldn't be seen in this world. There were forms with hundreds of tentacles extending like those of jellyfish, with eyeballs attached to each tentacle. There were also centipede-form creatures resembling Rock Eaters, with hundreds of teeth in their maws. Their number was only 50, but the defensive line created by concentrating the Empire's resources against just those 50 was pathetically breached. "Sword Experts must be top-grade or higher! Magicians must be 6th class or higher! Psychics the same! Everyone else retreat!" Sonya essentially abandoned command and gave only crucial orders while desperately blocking the enemy's path at the front line. "Somehow guide them so they can't reach cities or villages! And contact the capital to summon Count Matheus and all the elite of the Psychic Tower!" In Sonya's judgment, those below a certain level were nothing more than food for them, no matter how many there were. 'Monsters that require 8th class magic bombardment to deal even somewhat effective damage...!' With current forces, even holding them back was overwhelming. Moreover, hearing that such creatures had appeared not only here but throughout the Empire made her feel dizzy. 'I don't know whose doing this is, but if we can't deal with it properly... the Morian Empire will perish!' Fortunately in this desperate situation, compared to their overwhelming physical abilities, the strange creatures had almost no special abilities. They only had the instinct to prey on humans themselves, and weren't moving under someone's control. 'The damage will be great, but... we can avoid a situation where national functions are paralyzed.' Already in that short time, several cities had been annihilated and hundreds of thousands of innocent citizens had suffered. What was fortunate was that the Morian Empire's regular army was still deployed at the border regions and had little chance of encountering them. According to the Magic Tower's report, those monsters had appeared simultaneously throughout the continent, not just in the Morian Empire, making it truly a continental disaster beyond nations. 'Is this the demons' doing? No, I don't feel any magical energy characteristic of magical beasts from those things...' Rather, they were emanating a sticky, nauseating strange power more than magical energy. 'If we can't stop them, we must somehow reduce their numbers. We absolutely cannot let those bastards into the capital. If that happens, the Empire is finished.' As Sonya was making such desperate resolutions. "There you are, Duke Sonya." "Count Matheus!" Before she knew it, Matheus Kepler and the elders of the Psychic Tower had approached Sonya's vicinity. "The damage is indeed severe." "How fortunate. I was about to request support from you, but you came first." Although she didn't know how Matheus in the capital had learned of the seriousness of this situation, their joining was like a thousand troops and ten thousand horses. As expected, the elders of the Psychic Tower immediately deployed their power upon joining and began driving back the strange creatures. As Sonya was finally catching her breath, Matheus approached her and said this. "Mm, actually I received contact from Maria." "Maria? You mean Maria Kepler, the vice tower master of the Psychic Tower?" "Actually, Rudian originally tried to contact you first... but since Gray is still in training and you were on the front lines, contact couldn't be reached." "...That kid?" She had certainly given her son Gray an artifact for constant communication... While she was worried whether something had happened to her son, Matheus continued speaking. "Maria said those are monsters from outer space, not creatures of this planet." "......!" As a high-ranking magician herself, she fully understood what Matheus was saying. Summoning monsters from outer space was the greatest taboo in the magical world, even more than summoning magical beasts. She never thought such extraterrestrial beings would appear in such large numbers, not just one or two, so it was understandable that Sonya had struggled to identify their nature. "It seems Rudian is somehow related to their appearance." What truly shocked her came after Matheus's next words. "It appears the heavenly gods have intervened in this matter. And to destroy humanity at that." "Ha, haha... You're joking, right?" Matheus smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I wish it were a joke too." "......" Whether magicians or psychics, all humans on this continent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠affirmed the existence of gods. But to them, gods were merely beings in unreachable clouds that they would never encounter, never beings that directly influenced their lives like this. "Those bastards... What the hell are they doing wandering around...!" "Mm, may I continue?" At Matheus's words, Sonya forgot she had been pulling her hair and opened her eyes wide. "Don't tell me... there's more?" "Unfortunately, yes." "Can't I not listen?" "Someone of your position can't do that." Matheus clicked his tongue slightly at Sonya's reality-escape unbecoming of a high-ranking magician. Well, Matheus himself had felt similarly when he heard the whole story from Maria. "First, this situation will be resolved quickly. Rudian used a powerful move, so please just prevent contact between those monsters and civilians as much as possible." "That's... a very curious statement. What method could there be to quickly eliminate those things that appeared throughout the Empire..." "Hmm... I don't know that well either..." Matheus recited exactly what his daughter Maria had conveyed. "She said not to be surprised no matter what happens." WHIRRRRRR! At the same time, dozens of Elysion units revealed themselves from beyond the sky. *** "Arrived at designated location." "Confirmed total of 52 summoned extraterrestrial life forms." "Commencing annihilation." CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! About 30 Elysion units appeared on the battlefield. Though fewer than the number of extraterrestrial creatures, the intimidating presence they spread was absolutely not inferior to their opponents. Among them, Elli, the hive mind, noticed the presence of Sonya and Matheus. "Confirmed as Master's acquaintances." "Caution regarding collateral damage spread." "Commencing focused bombardment." Along with the sound of energy charging, dozens of Starlight Blasters fired directly at the extraterrestrial creatures rampaging on the ground. CRACKCRACKCRACK! #@$%@$%! The extraterrestrial creatures that could no longer advance due to the efforts of Sonya and the Psychic Empire elders were exposed to the Elysions' focused bombardment and began taking one-sided beatings. And from the premium seats not far from there, Matheus and Sonya blinked their eyes and opened their mouths. "......" "What... am I looking at right now?" Sonya, who repeated the same words she had said when the extraterrestrial creatures were rampaging, slightly rubbed her eyes at the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surreal scene that had changed from fantasy to science fiction. "I thought it wasn't time to retire yet, but was that a mistake?" "...Get a grip. That's undeniably reality." Same outfit, same face. Not only had dozens of such beings appeared, but they were incinerating with tremendous firepower the monsters that they had struggled just to hold back. "Anyway, that must be what my daughter was talking about. To understand that situation, we'll really need to have many conversations... hmm?" "Greetings, you two." In the situation that had transformed into a battlefield where only the screams of extraterrestrial creatures and the firing sounds of blasters existed. Matheus discovered one unit approaching them. "...Who are you?" An individual with clearly different attire from the others opened her mouth toward them. "I am designated ESON-00000, commonly called Elli. I came here by order of Master, Rudian." "Eason... what?" At the peculiar name he was hearing for the first time, Matheus made a confused expression. "It reads as ESON zero-zero-zero-zero-zero... but please just call me Elli. That's my real name now." "I see... should I call you Miss ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Elli?" "Yes, that's correct. Individual designation Matheus Kepler." "......" "Hmm....." Sonya and Matheus pondered how to speak upon seeing Elli. After a brief contemplation, Matheus barely managed to open his mouth. "So... your master is Rudian?" "That's correct, but is there some problem?" "......" It wasn't anything else... the outfit Elli was currently wearing was the problem. Right now Elli was wearing a maid outfit, and specifically the short-hemmed version that certain aristocrats with particular tastes secretly preferred. 'Surely... he didn't make my daughter wear something like that?' Such an ominous thought suddenly began to enter Matheus's mind.