Chapter 188
Chapter 188
Chapter 188
The Secret Organizations Revealed (4)
The capital of the Kingdom of Rohans, Parel.
"COUGH!"
Prince Palsion de Rohans of the Kingdom of Rohans, who had attempted a final desperate struggle dreaming of the kingdom's revival, writhed in the palace courtyard, spitting blood.
"H-How could it be so easy..."
To reclaim the throne stolen by the demons, Palsion had succeeded in contacting his ancestors in the southern continent after countless hardships.
However, the Blue Dragon, an ancient ancestor of the royal family, had already lost interest in worldly affairs.
Perhaps feeling some pity for her descendant who had struggled so hard to find her, she threw three artifacts that were nearly legendary grade in terms of power level.
Though not entirely satisfactory, Palsion and the Golden Dawn Society, having gained considerable power, returned to the Kingdom of Rohans and waited for an opportunity to revolt.
Then, when unidentified monster creatures began appearing throughout the kingdom and started turning cities and villages into ruins, they judged it to be the perfect opportunity.
Originally, the demons wouldn't have cared about such matters, but this time they seemed to consider it quite serious, as many Demon Kings and demons had rushed out of the capital.
Of course, revolting in such a situation was shameful for a national leader, but Palsion and the Golden Dawn Society endured all that humiliation and attacked Demon King Baal with full force.
"How boring."
And they were utterly and miserably defeated.
Palsion was the sole survivor.
Dormel Paon, Sejak Magal, Barto Gomel, and others... the renowned powerhouses of the Golden Dawn Society called the Apostles of Dawn were already corpses scattered in the corners.
No, maintaining their corpses was praiseworthy enough, as most of the deployed personnel had completely disintegrated without even maintaining their forms.
Palsion trembled as he looked up at Baal sitting on the throne.
And he screamed.
"How can you be so strong!"
They had mobilized multiple Sword Masters, multiple Great Magicians, and even legendary-grade artifacts.
Not only that, but before the battle, they had concentrated all the capabilities of the Golden Dawn Society to prepare more than ten 9th Class anti-personnel spells in advance.
They had thought that Baal, whose power was mostly restricted by causality, would never be able to handle it...
Baal still sat on the throne without a single scratch.
"Isn't it natural? It's a difference in class."
"J-Just with such words...!"
They had been fully prepared for the palace to be blown away or part of the capital to be half-destroyed.
However, though the palace might have been partially destroyed, it still retained its majesty and beauty sufficiently, and the capital, while tense from the battle that suddenly broke out in the palace, still maintained its usual appearance.
In other words, it meant the palace battle had proceeded almost one-sidedly.
Baal looked down at Palsion and said.
"Yes, normally... if it had been even half a year ago, you would have brought enough force to deal with someone like me."
"Th-Then why..."
"You were just too unlucky."
A faint smile formed on Baal's lips.
"Causality doesn't just include cause and effect, but also the law of action and reaction."
"What... does that mean?"
"In short, it means Heaven went too wild. They made too many reckless moves just to deal with one human, and thanks to that, the constraints of causality applied to this body have become considerably loose."
It didn't start with beings from Heaven, but began when Apophis, an alien god unrelated to the demon realm, went wild... no, was made to go wild, cutting off the starting point.
After that, there were two cases where Caron and Gardin, beings from Heaven, went wild even at the cost of their annihilation.
Then Raihon and many other gods descended to earth and poured out power to the limits of causality.
Finally, Uriel appeared backed by the power of the Pantheon, putting the finishing touch...
No matter how much they paid the price for that power, it was inevitable that holes would be pierced in causality.
Baal leisurely crossed his legs and said to Palsion.
"You seem to have formed an alliance with him like me, but it seems this side received greater benefits from the alliance with him."
"A-Alliance? Who are you talking about?"
"Ah, never mind if you don't know. Now that Garganta is coming to the front and outer space is about to invade in earnest, interference and surveillance on us will decrease even more. Moreover, the resonator of the Red World that we've been searching for over a hundred years has finally awakened..."
Baal laughed pleasantly with eyes full of emotion.
"In short, I'm in a very good mood."
This feeling that Baal was experiencing would be difficult for Palsion, sprawled like a bug before his eyes, to understand for the rest of his life.
Originally, it would have been normal to kill Palsion like crushing a bug, but Baal decided to show rare mercy.
"Shall I... spare you?"
"Wh-What?"
"Just as I said. Even though only a shell remains now, isn't one's own life the top priority for all living beings? I'm in such a good mood now that I can forgive even the worst sin of defying me."
"......"
"Am I getting old? I've become quite gentle too. A thousand years ago, this would have been unthinkable..."
"Y-You damn bastard!"
At this bullshit he was hearing for the first time in his life, Palsion screamed until his voice was hoarse.
"Just kill me! After brutally slaughtering my retainers who were like my own life, what's the point!"
"Well... so be it."
"You...!"
SPLAT!
Before he could say anything, Palsion's head was crushed completely.
Looking at the back of Palsion, who had instantly become a corpse, Baal yawned slightly.
"There's only one chance. Should I call it having spirit, or should I call it foolish..."
With Palsion's end, the Golden Dawn Society was effectively annihilated.
Baal slowly rose from his throne and looked at the destroyed palace ceiling.
SNAP!
"Restoration."
As he snapped his fingers and uttered a word, the palace that had been 'partially' destroyed in the battle with the Golden Dawn Society began to return to its pre-battle state.
A large-scale space-time restoration spell that even a 10th Class magician couldn't easily attempt.
But with Baal's current power, it was something possible just by breathing.
"Well then... since I don't want to see the palace destroyed anymore, shall I go out and face the next challengers?"
The Golden Dawn Society wasn't the only one who had challenged during the chaos.
Secret organizations that had been hiding throughout the Kingdom of Rohans, waiting for their chance, had crawled into the capital targeting Baal during this opportunity.
"Agares, Vasago, Gamigin."
SWOOSH!
At Baal's call, three men and women appeared before him.
"You must be itching for action, shall we go stretch our bodies for the first time in a while?"
The muscular man responded to those words.
"Hmph, the one who's been leaving everything to Iblis and Barbatos until now speaks as if he's being considerate."
"Haha, sorry about that. But those guys weren't playing around - they were working, weren't they?"
"Whatever. If you're really sorry, let me fight that human called Rudian later. I'm curious about just how strong this human you rate so highly is."
"Well, if the opportunity arises... Agares, you could probably have quite a good match."
Baal didn't bother to mention who would win or lose.
The result was obvious anyway...
"Then shall we go judge the traitors who violated the territory we've diligently cultivated for the Queen?"
With those words, the presence of the four disappeared from within the palace.
***
"I expected this, but... it's really a mess."
Rudian had headed to the southern continent with his party, but only Rudian and Maria had ultimately arrived.
As soon as they heard from Elli that another secret organization had appeared in northern Morian, they confirmed their names and immediately sent Evangeline and Rowen.
RUMBLE!
"KYAAAAH!"
-How dare mere alien creatures without intelligence!
ROAR!
The Red Dragon's breath burned away the head of the worm-shaped alien creature.
But as soon as one was defeated, another creature rushed at the Red Dragon and began restraining its movements.
-These bastards who only rely on numbers! Hell Fire!
The white flame fireballs that appeared in the Red Dragon's hands began devouring both the caster and the alien creature.
Fortunately, since the dragon scales had a higher melting point than the opponent's skin, the Red Dragon was able to escape from the restraints safely.
-Huff, huff!
GROWL!
@#^&%%$!
Having barely dealt with the alien creature that had been clinging to it, the Red Dragon began sweating cold sweat as dozens of other creatures appeared.
-Th-There are quite a lot.
Looking at the Red Dragon being pushed into a defensive position, Maria spoke up.
"...Should we help?"
"I suppose we should."
When they had previously arrived in the southern continent, they had only sensed presences but couldn't see hide nor hair of any dragons, but now there were five visible in the vicinity alone.
However, the peculiar thing was that they had no intention of cooperating with each other and were all acting individually.
'Dragons' individualism is famous. The original author just embedded the cliché from mass-produced novels.'
That's why such a ridiculous scene was happening... but even so, witnessing it in reality made it impossible to laugh purely.
-You guys... you're those humans who were with Lady Kirchrus!
Then the closest Red Dragon noticed Rudian and Maria's presence and was delighted.
'It seems we're quite famous in dragon society.'
We didn't know the opponent, but the opponent knew us.
That nameless Red Dragon snorted and arrogantly shouted.
-You! Do you dare think of interfering with the dragon race's affairs!
"Not particularly? Then shall we just go? We were going to help..."
-Huh? No, that's not... well...
The Red Dragon, immediately showing signs of panic, opened and closed its mouth while desperately searching for words.
No matter how proud a race they were, when life was at stake, there was no choice.
-I-I'll give you the opportunity to help this Belarumia of the great Red clan, human!
"Maria, let's just go."
"Right."
-W-Wait! Humans!
The Red Dragon who had revealed her name as Belarumia looked back and forth between the approaching alien creatures and this side, then finally broke the proud dignity of the dragon race.
-A-Alright! Help me! I'm in danger because I've used up almost all my magic!
Rudian slightly enhanced his vision to look at the other dragons within his sight.
GLANCE! GLANCE!
As expected, the other dragons also couldn't speak due to their pride but were sending help signals with their eyes.
'This damn race really...'
Judging by how her magic had run out after casting a few high-level spells, the Red Dragon named Belarumia didn't seem very old.
At most, a little over a thousand years old?
And the same went for the surrounding area.
Rudian and Maria silently made eye contact with each other, then simultaneously kicked off from their positions and rushed toward the alien creatures.
And the result was a one-sided massacre that shocked the other dragons.
***
About ten minutes later.
"H-Hmph! You do fight somewhat! I would have been sufficient on my own, but thanks to you, it became a bit easier, I suppose?"
"......"
"......"
As soon as Belarumia polymorphed into human form, those were the first words she uttered toward Rudian and Maria.
Maria rarely clenched her fists and spoke up.
"Rudian, can I hit her?"
"...I understand that feeling intensely, but bear with it. The kindness we showed would become worthless."
If Maria hit her now, her skull would be shattered in one blow.
Having barely bestowed the grace of life upon a dragon, they couldn't become dragon slayers just because a few minutes had passed.
Rudian asked Belarumia.
"Where did the Ancient Dragons go, leaving only rookies like you to fight? No matter how individualistic dragons are, Ancient Dragons wouldn't stay out of such a crisis."
As he said, dragons of Ancient class and above had an obligation to actively participate in racial crises.
"Ah, that's..."
Tapion, a Green Dragon who had been saved by Rudian, spoke with some fear in his eyes.
"While the alien monsters were attacking, some humans attacked the Dragon Hive. Those humans were quite strong, so the elders all rushed to the Hive."
"...Humans?"
The Dragon Hive was none other than the place where hatchlings of each clan were gathered and raised.
Naturally, it was the first place that dragons had to protect unconditionally, regardless of age.
But what kind of group could they be that the Ancient Dragons would abandon protecting other clans and rush there en masse?
'Attacking the Dragon Hive instead of the Hall of Heroes? What the hell are they doing?'
It seemed they needed to go and see the situation.
"Guide me to Kirchrus or Lady Calesta. I need to meet them and hear the full story."
When Rudian mentioned Calesta's name, Belarumia, who was of the same Red clan, lit up with rage in her eyes.
"What? How dare a mere human think of meeting the great Lord of the Red clan..."
"......"
CRACKLE!
At that moment, Maria quietly gathered chaotic energy above her palm.
"...I'll personally guide you there!"