The Empire's Four Corners Are a Living Hell (2)
The Karlank Empire is the empire of light and the sun. Though humanity's chief deity was undoubtedly the Moon Goddess, the Karlank Empire—by far the most powerful nation humanity had ever built—simply declared itself so. Even if that directly contradicted their own faith.
And most people would probably agree. That it was by no means arrogance.
After all, never in history had the human realm been this strong. Humans, who were nothing more than fuel to sustain the sun, had once lived like cattle in the horrific and brutal Demon Realm, slaughtered like cows and pigs…
The fact that they had driven the demons who treated them that way completely beyond their borders, freeing themselves from that fate, was something no other nation had accomplished as thoroughly as Karlank.
And with the help of the Aregor family, they had erected enormous mage towers across the empire’s east, west, south, and north. Led by those four towers, they intercepted the demon armies that constantly invaded to reclaim their land.
Only then did the world split in two.
The lands beyond the towers’ reach—lands the light of Karlank could not touch, lands that could not be reclaimed. That was what the Demon Realm truly was.
But if you turned the statement around, it meant something else entirely.
Karlank had merely driven the demons out of the empire. At any moment, they could face another invasion and collapse overnight.
Especially after their bitter defeat three hundred years ago. The demon armies, who had been grinding their teeth in frustration while desperately strengthening their forces to the point where even their sphincters clenched tight, saw cutting the throat of Karlank as their eternal unfinished business.
Rather than dealing with Vitagarde, whom they considered nothing more than their dog, it made far more sense to rip out the master’s neck.
Yet the reason they had always targeted the North until now was simple: demons endured the cold far better than humans, giving them the advantage on any battlefield.
But now, with the capital thrown into chaos by the Crown Prince’s vacancy, there was no reason to hold back.
The demon army that had shifted its advance from the North to the East was overflowing with morale. And the East had been literally torn apart like a slaughtered dog.
While peaceful events unfolded at Sigmund Academy in the heart of the empire, the front line spread before the Eastern mage tower—the Golden Tower—was a living hell reminiscent of the North in its worst days.
What made it even worse was that the East had once been traditional imperial territory. A direct highway leading all the way to the capital had been built there. If this place fell, the invasion route to the capital would be wide open. It was a hopeless situation.
Yet whether humans were desperate or not, the demon army that had seized the momentum was relentless and cruel.
The one commanding the demon forces on the Eastern front was one of the Six Swords: Aimur.
According to what the demons captured by humans had said, he was a man called the Strongest Sword of the Demon Race, pure martial power incarnate.
The Eastern Legion Commander had cast a spell on every soldier facing him, using the magic power near the tower to deflect iron fragments, all in an attempt to break the Six Swords.
But—
"Slay."
With a single slash, space itself was severed. The entire company of one hundred and fifty soldiers maintaining their formation—upper and lower bodies split apart—became nothing but chunks of meat.
No matter how many people you threw at him, it was impossible to win.
Therefore, the final report on this stalemate read as follows.
“────Reporting, sir. The main force has been annihilated. This is no longer a matter that can be resolved by waiting for supplies, and we are surrounded so we cannot even use what we have. The rear support unit has also been completely wiped out.”
The face of the adjutant to Legion Commander Leberant of the Eastern Sun Army, who was delivering the report, was smeared with soot and someone else’s blood.
But perhaps because he had seen such sights too many times these past few weeks, Leberant showed little surprise. He simply nodded, his blood-soaked cloak dragging behind him.
“…I already know.”
“……The reinforcements from the North have not yet—”
“Don’t hold onto pointless expectations. We have never once supported them. Do you really think those arrogant bastards would move just because the Emperor ordered it?”
“Damn it, isn’t that exactly what an order is for?! This is all the imperial family’s fault! Didn’t the current Karlank endlessly reject the Eastern Army’s requests for reinforcements just a few months ago?! Does Karlank even intend to maintain the empire anymore?!”
“…I agree. But that is not for us to judge, Adjutant. Our role here is over.”
“……You mean the order to defend the Golden Tower to the last.”
“Yes. At least that one thing—we held it until our army was destroyed, didn’t we?”
Leberant let out a hoarse, bitter laugh.
“You’ve all worked hard. It’s time to scurry away like rats.”
“But General, we cannot retreat like this! We still have one cavalry battalion left as our final trump card! I request permission for one last charge to turn the tide!”
“That’s suicide. I kept them in reserve to open a retreat path. That option is off the table.”
“Losing the Golden Tower to them would be even worse! If that happens, my homeland—the East, the highway…! The empire—!”
“…Who said we were going to lose it? Don’t worry. I’ve already coordinated with the Tower Master.”
“—With Lady Ciel, sir?”
The moment the adjutant tilted his head in confusion, a tremendous vortex of magical power erupted from the center of the Golden Tower in the distance, where it had been shooting down the demon army’s aerial cavalry with golden beams.
The ground trembled.
A golden wind spread in all directions.
⟨ Full Moon Barrier ⟩
“……Ciel. I pay my respects to your noble sacrifice.”
Leberant’s gaze, as he offered the knight’s salute, fell upon the main gate of the allied base.
There, the Golden Tower Master of the East, dressed in a golden robe, walked out with steady steps.
She had released so much magical power that golden energy flowed backward through her veins, scattering flashes of light everywhere. The sight was utterly unreal.
“Now is the time, Legion Commander.”
But the current Golden Tower Master called Ciel smiled with a bloodstained face.
“Please see to the soldiers’ withdrawal.”
“…Open the rear gate! Deploy the prepared cavalry to clear a path! Discard all heavy gear to increase mobility! And burn the fortress!”
The adjutant, unable to keep up with the situation, shouted over the wall at Ciel as she began to leave.
“What are you saying, Lady Ciel?! We must escape together—!”
“No. It’s alright… As a mage who has lived in the East, this is inevitable.”
“No—!”
“One day, please come back here. Please reclaim our homeland. Inside that noble tower that all my ancestors have served… I will always be here. Waiting for all of you.”
Leaving those words behind, Ciel smiled faintly and flew up to the highest floor of the tower.
The magic she had chosen was the Full Moon Barrier. A forbidden ritual that burned one’s entire body as the price for covering the target with the power of the moon, sealing it so that demons—beings of the sun—could not even dare to touch it.
It was not a medium borrowing power from a constellation. Drawing the moon’s power using only a human body and magical energy was normally impossible even for covering a single small pebble. No one had ever attempted it.
Yet now, Ciel was trying to cover the entire tower using not only her own power but the very essence of the tower itself—the accumulated power of her ancestors and the mages who had served under them.
“O God, please protect the empire.”
At that moment, Aimur, who had not missed the sight, kicked off the ground with explosive force. He swung his blade with enough power to tear his own shoulder apart, slicing Ciel cleanly in half.
But the instant her body split apart—
Ziiiiiing—!
Crack—!
The Full Moon Barrier activated perfectly. A lunar crest was carved into the tower’s walls, radiating light.
Aimur clicked his tongue as he watched.
“Tsk…”
“To draw forth a lunar barrier with nothing but a fragile body that is mere fuel… I acknowledge it. The title of Tower Master was not empty after all.”
However, the only result was that the demon army could not destroy the tower. The fall of the Eastern fortress remained unchanged.
Having secured both tactical and strategic victory, Aimur simply gave his subordinates a blunt order.
“…The rest of you, recover the dead and capture any surviving humans. Send them to the camps.”
This was only natural to the demons.
In the end, those captured as prisoners in the fallen East were loaded onto transport wagons and dragged away to the camps—also known as human farms.
Whether they were children or elders, regardless of gender or disability. Any defeated human who possessed a soul was given no exception.
Leashes were placed around their necks like livestock, and gags were forced into their mouths.
Kyaaaak—!
Even when a young girl who had failed to escape screamed and cried, there was no mercy. A demon soldier, apparently finding her noise as irritating as a pig’s squealing, simply kicked her and threw her into the wagon.
The road leading to the camps was littered with the charred remains of barracks, severed limbs whose owners could no longer be identified, and nothing but cold, congealed blood on the ground.
And so, as he watched the human transport, Aimur quietly muttered a single sentence.
“…I didn’t die today either. Just how long must I continue like this?”
His voice was miserable, as if he desired none of this. His gaze followed the procession of prisoners disappearing into the distance.
But after some time had passed—
“……?”
A loud commotion arose from the very front of the procession, which had become so small it looked like mere dots.
In that instant, dozens of figures who had been hiding somewhere burst out like lightning.
Whoosh—!!
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Shut your mouth, orc.”
Thud—.
Though they appeared as tiny specks that would normally be invisible, Aimur’s eyes and ears—enhanced to their absolute limit by the power of one of the Six Swords—captured the scene vividly.
They were suspicious humans dressed in the attire of hidden assassins.
Among them, a brown-haired woman who appeared to be the leader did not hesitate. She fired a crossbow nearly as large as her own torso straight into the forehead of the lead orc, neutralizing him instantly.
Her subordinates who then rushed out slaughtered the surrounding demons in the blink of an eye.
“Now! We have thirty seconds! Any longer and engagement with one of the Six Swords is expected…!”
“Everyone, grab the hand of the person behind you as quickly as possible! If you’re late, there will be no escape for you—!!”
The moment Aimur saw this, his eyes flashed. He tried to leap straight to the front using explosive leg strength.
“Captain Frau, the signal…!”
“Now!”
The instant his blade reached the tip of the nose of the one called Frau—
Shaaaaak—!!
“Looks like I got one over on you, darling.”
She winked and vanished.
And that wasn’t all. The line of prisoners, who had been holding hands like a human chain without understanding what was happening, began to scatter like ashes from the front and disappear.
“……Hah.”
Aimur had lost most of the captured humans to their scheme.
And he instinctively realized who they were.
“…The resistance.”
They were troublesome bastards indeed.