The Sun Has Tilted (1)
The sun had tilted. That fierce sphere which should always blaze in the same place had sunk slightly into darkness. Demons sensitive to sunlight could all sense the change, and they fell into confusion.
The Demon Realm. Separated from the human world where the empire existed, a place where all sorts of vicious things raged from the human perspective… The home of the sun. They clung to their chaotic minds in this situation that could only be explained in one way, and gathered before the Demon King to devise countermeasures.
Among the Six Swords gathered here, the ones whose faces could not be seen were the 2nd Sword, Yagnus, and Asparug. Asparug had been trapped for a long time in Gorgo’s body, who had broken the Six Swords with a human body. Not coming was expected, but…
As expected, the absence of Yagnus meant their suspicions had become reality. The Demon King was simply sitting on that throne high and close to the sun, looking down at their subordinates. For the Six Swords, such a situation where He remained silent was very familiar.
Someone opened their mouth.
“Have you grasped Yagnus’s whereabouts?”
“He is dead. Faintly, the presence of his soul can be sensed somewhere, but the fact that his body has disappeared is clear.”
“…That is precisely why the sun has tilted.”
The Demon King and his subordinates, the Six Swords, were beings that had scattered from the “Goddess of Evil” who created the sun in the sky. No, that was what only the wicked humans called her. What the demons called her… Should it be the “Goddess of the Sun”?
She, called the Goddess of the Moon by that vicious bitch, had long since died at the hands of the humans’ main god. Yet the sun she had maintained… If the Demon King and the Six Swords existed, it rose and set. The reason was simple. Her body had been torn into the Six Swords, and her soul lived within the Demon King’s body.
Therefore, if they existed, the Goddess of the Sun was not dead. As long as they did not perish, the sun tilting like this would not happen, and disappearing from the sky even less so.
“Could it be, like Asparug’s case, that a human who somehow broke the Six Swords has trapped himself in another dimension?”
“No. That is not it. If that were the case, the sun would not have tilted. Yagnus has completely perished. His soul could not take over the body of whoever broke the sword.”
“Does that make sense?”
“Absolutely not. However, the phenomenon exists.”
But now the situation had broken that paradigm. Even though the Demon King’s summons had been ignored, Yagnus did not come. And the sun had tilted. What did this mean?
“I knew it would come to this. What good is sticking with those human livestock? They have finally achieved a perfect death that no one has managed until now.”
“Even the fact that he died means that if we repeat the method that annihilated Yagnus, we can kill all the Six Swords and extinguish the sun.”
“Hah, this damn…”
“Coincidentally, we have no way of knowing that method right now.”
And with those words, all the Six Swords gathered here were wary of the situation that could arise after all Six Swords were broken. With the sun falling, the world’s flame extinguishing, an era of pure darkness arriving—a hellish time. Spring would fade, and endless winter would repeat in the world. It was the world of the “Eternal Eclipse” that the demons feared most.
Therefore, they united.
“We must find the root and kill the one who discovered that method somehow.”
“Will that be enough? What if the human who found the method passes it on? Those who killed the Goddess of the Sun are cunning.”
“That makes sense too. However, finding the source remains our mission unchanged.”
And when the discussion ended, they all stood at attention, waiting for the approval of their proud light, the Demon King. At this, the Demon King spoke without dragging it out.
“…Have you all met your quotas?”
“Yes, Demon King. Through the Vitagarte grand invasion, the southern expedition, and souls harvested from human farms in the Demon Realm, we have extracted a total of 80,000 heads this month.”
One of the Six Swords confidently reported the massacre they had committed to the Demon King. The Demon King praised him, seemingly satisfied.
“You have leeway. With that amount, the world will not go awry immediately with this level of sun tilting. No need to worry yet.”
The reason the Demon King and the Six Swords unleashed demon armies to hunt humans was for this. To maintain the sun with the magic power contained in human souls. This level of treating them like livestock was originally the purpose of humans… But after the death of the Goddess of the Sun, they had grown arrogant, establishing kingdoms and empires among themselves. Moreover, because of them, even the Six Swords had diminished. It seemed necessary to revise the plan for the upcoming “Grand Harvest,” the great war, in human terms. They had to clearly show the human bastards who was responsible for bringing the four seasons to this world and allowing life to spring forth.
Thus, the Six Swords rushed to report the situation in the human world to the Demon King.
“…Additionally, as a special matter, the human bastards’ Karlank Empire has fallen into chaos.”
“Because the rat who colluded with us, helping with all sorts of information and soul extraction, died, causing a succession crisis. To prevent chaos, the gates of the capital have been locked, it seems.”
“Therefore, this is a golden opportunity. What we should target now is not the outer regions like the North, but the empire itself. Please make a good decision.”
Since such thoughts did not conflict with the Demon King’s grand strategy, the Demon King declared with a smile.
“Good. Let us slightly divert the wyvern riders trampling Vitagarte to press the empire’s main body from elsewhere. Prepare this operation as the full-fledged beginning of the upcoming ‘Grand Harvest.’”
“…We will carry out our duties without deficiency.”
“Also, regarding the method that killed you Six Swords, make sure to investigate thoroughly. It would be good to bring that method before me if possible, and recover Yagnus’s soul to restore the sun.”
Someone, an irregular who broke the laws of the world, had raised its head—an evil that must kill humans, puffing up.
“Demon King, regarding that investigation, would you entrust it to me, Vincent?”
“Yes. Since we must restore the tilted sun, it is right to leave this matter to the master of celestial magic.”
“…I will definitely accomplish it.”
Another of the Six Swords, clad in white robes, paid respects to the existence of the sun he revered with a dignified salute, hand on chest.
***
North, Vitagarte. Due to the shocking offensive of the demon army over the past few months, a total mobilization order had been declared in the territory. Given the vast land, countless cities were isolated without contact, and just as many had been destroyed. At least, by mobilizing all the capabilities of the Grand Duchy, they had established a defensive line in front of the capital “Fralbert” and somehow prevented the fall of the capital…
“Damn it, hold the line—!”
“Deploy the grand magic. Secure your lives from the wyverns, deal with the surging skull knights somehow—!”
“How do we do this? How, how do we do this… I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die…”
This battlefield, barely maintained by harvesting people from the fields for months, was now nothing but hell. The wyvern flock that had been seventy had been shot down but kept increasing in numbers, pouring out over one hundred twenty every day.
Kwaaang—!!
And every time they flew in the sky, the walls collapsed due to the vacuum waves from their wing joints. Due to the deaths of shield soldiers unable to maintain formation, blood flowed on the ground, but the harsh winter immediately froze it, causing red screams to echo throughout Fralbert. To the end of the horizon: corpses. Fire. Screams. The stench of decay.
But in the midst of it, someone was quietly throwing himself into the fray.
“Lord, Lord Lexus!”
Black military uniform hardened with blood. A half-burnt wolf fur coat. An existence of blood and ice, entangled with sword marks and tooth marks. Lexus von Vitagarte. The current Grand Duke of the North, formerly the Tiger of the North. But at this point, when everything his ancestors and he had protected was shattering into pieces, he had turned into a madman. No. Rather, he was originally such a being.
As he took a step, he said, “Ah, that damn Moon God has sent his dogs again.”
Then the surrounding air cooled as if howling. He raised his weapon toward the sky. “I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them. I’ll kill them all—. I won’t just stand by and watch those damn demon bastards who turned my territory to ashes.”
—Boom.
Then, no sound was made. Instead, several wyverns froze in midair and fell one after another. When his command fell, winter descended. And at that moment, he swung the mace he held and threw it into the sky.
Kwaaaang—!!
Cold exploded, and endless frost raged. One wyvern struck by the mace that had clearly been swung from the ground exploded without even screaming.
“Lord Lexus, the formation is collapsing! Please, retreat…”
“Retreat? If you spout such nonsense in front of me, I’ll rip out your tongue. I’ll gouge out your eyes so you cannot see the world.”
“B-but…”
“All troops, charge.”
“Your Grace…?”
“Follow me, charge.”
His alias “Tiger” was not because it was written in the family crest. It was an alias corresponding to his record of survival on the battlefields he had traversed.
Clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop—! Riding his proud warhorse at great speed, he grabbed the massive body of one wyvern that had fallen to the ground with his hand…
Kwang—!
While mounted on the horse, he threw it straight at the distant demon army group. Snow flew. Flesh flew.
And in the midst of it, a boy watching all this from the distant royal castle walls trembled and collapsed. He did not know that at that moment, by the Demon King’s will, the command “Maintain lull. All troops withdraw” had been issued to Vitagarte. The old king, still rampaging on the battlefield, mad with slaughter and rage. Watching his father, Abel, Karalin’s half-brother, was simply engulfed in fear.
“Ah, no… I, like that… I… like that… cannot…”
His standing on the battlefield had almost been canceled due to Shagalor’s strong opposition, but it was something thrown upon him by his father’s hand, who had urged him to lead in person, at least in the form of observation, to not lose public support. However, what he could do here, where countless lives crossed between heaven and this world…
Drip—. Was just wetting himself in the rear. But even at this moment, he could not feel ashamed. Because the words “military officer” and “blue blood” felt like a luxury; he was merely a weak boy before war.
“That… is Father’s? That’s the weight I have to bear…? I cannot… Fuck.”
When those words left his mouth, Abel’s eyes were completely shattered. It was pure fear, and denial of himself.
“How… how could Sister do such things…?”
With a dazed mind, Abel chewed over this hellish time. Therefore, soon, Lexus, returning from the charge that drove away the demon horde, said simply, “…You’re soft. Weak to the core.”
“…Ah, Father!”
“I thought I had given birth to a son, but I gave birth to a dog. Get back to the castle and do not come again. I do not want to see you until you become a good officer.”
“No, no, Father! Ha… Please give me one more chance. I can do it…!”
Receiving the Grand Duchy of Vitagarte was not such an easy thing. And the officers of Vitagarte watching all this also thought the same.
“…Lady Karalin would have been better.”
“Lord Abel is merely mediocre. No, incompetent.”
“The North is finished. There is no future in sight.”
They were all, in common, looking for someone. “When Lady and Lord of Steel were here, at least it was not like this. Even if we died, we could burn our lives without shame, thinking it was for the North.”
“But now? For that piss-pants prince. There is no need, no reward in fading like flames.”
“If they return, we could regain the old vigor…”
Although they did not know that this front would soon enter a lull, at least they could painfully realize one thing on this front. In the harsh North, a leader’s incompetence was something absolutely unacceptable. Abel was definitely not leader material.