Chapter 122
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Calamity of the Capital
"Ahn! Ahh! Holy Warrior...♥ Hic...♥"
"Urk...!"
In the Holy Warrior's private quarters at the Goddess's Sword headquarters, the wild cries of passion finally died down. Brayden and one imperial woman lay sprawled naked across the bed, gasping for breath.
The woman, utterly spent, clung to Brayden's side as they caught their breath together. But Brayden paid her no mind, his gaze fixed blankly on the ceiling.
Even in the heat of their coupling, stray thoughts had kept intruding on his mind.
'Maybe I should have just locked her up back then, even if it meant forcing her...'
The person on his mind was none other than his lover, Celine.
She had returned after a full month away, come straight to find him, heard the full story, and stormed out with eyes blazing in hatred. Yet he still considered her his lover.
Aside from the upper echelons of the various realms and the members of the Goddess's Sword, hardly anyone knew Celine's face. And since she had been officially declared dead, even if she went around claiming to be Celine, she'd just be dismissed as a lunatic. She had nowhere else to go.
In the end, with no other options, she'd have no choice but to return to the only place she could—the Goddess's Sword headquarters.
What worried Brayden was whether her wounded pride would lead her to cause some incident while throwing this tantrum out in the world.
He had no desire to deal with cleaning up any needless rumors spreading in the outside world.
A faint regret lingered in his mind: perhaps he should have steeled his resolve back then, detained her by force as she tried to leave, and patiently talked things through until they resolved it.
The young imperial woman who had just shared his bed noticed his distant expression. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his chest.
"Mwah...♥ Holy Warrior? What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing at all. Just mulling over the various tasks ahead."
"Honestly... I love how dedicated you are, but right now, pay a little more attention to me."
"Hahaha, how rude of me. My apologies. Then, as atonement, this time I'll make sure you—"
Knock knock knock.
The moment Brayden's hands began caressing her body again, a knock echoed from the door.
A voice urgently calling for him followed right after.
"H-Holy Warrior! Holy Warrior!"
The woman hastily burrowed under the covers to hide her body, peeking out only with her face. Brayden threw on a light nightshirt, ran a hand through his hair, and opened the door.
"What is it?"
"I-It’s a disaster! In the sky... up in the capital's sky...! Y-You have to see it for yourself!"
Brayden strode to the window at once, yanked back the curtains, and peered outside.
His eyes flew wide open.
"W-What... What the hell is that?!"
Not far off loomed the capital of the Andras Empire.
Hovering over it was a black dragon of unmistakably enormous size, soaring through the skies and spewing flames down at the city.
"A... dragon?! What dragon is that...? There are only supposed to be three dragons in this world... And I've never even heard of a black dragon! What is that thing?!"
"W-We don't know! We're trying to assess the situation, but we have no idea what it is..."
"When did it show up?"
"About thirty minutes ago, sir."
"Thirty minutes...? And the Empire hasn't even sent a request for aid? What the hell are they doing?!"
"That's the thing... The communication crystals are working fine, but no matter how many times we reach out to the Empire, there's no response."
"Tch..."
Brayden left the woman on the bed and hurriedly dressed.
"Miss, it would be safest if you stay here."
"H-Holy Warrior... What is that monster...?"
"Leave it to me. As the one chosen by the Goddess, I'll deal with that beast somehow."
Brayden felt a twinge of unease, but he wasn't uncertain of himself.
Aside from the initial rumors after his investiture as Holy Warrior—which hadn't been favorable—there had been no failures in his life.
He had overcome every foe and flawlessly handled every call for aid.
Brayden geared up and issued orders to the man at his door.
"Assemble all available personnel immediately. I'll handle that monster in the sky—you lot evacuate the capital's citizens. I'm heading out right away, so hurry."
"Yes, sir!"
He had no idea why the Empire hadn't requested aid despite that monster rampaging overhead. But given its black color, it couldn't be one of the three dragons from myth—the Goddess's first creations.
Which meant he could win.
No matter how menacing it looked or how massive it was, he had never lost to any monster.
And if he stepped in while the Empire failed to contain it—and succeeded in slaying it—then no useless rumors about him would ever spread again, no matter what.
That would pave the way for an even more satisfying life than the one he had now.
Imagining that future, Brayden prepared to deploy.
Emperor Aurelius of the Andras Empire had deployed defensive barriers against the monster's assault and issued a proclamation for citizens to gather at designated safe zones and avoid moving elsewhere for protection.
With the massive black dragon visibly soaring overhead and incinerating buildings, the capital's residents screamed and bolted for the emperor's designated spots without a second thought...
Rumble rumble rumble—
"W-What is this? This red mist..."
"Gahk... W-Wait... Can't... breathe..."
"S-Save me..."
At the first gathering point, the dark sorcery prepared by Dantalion and Bastol activated, stealing the lives of the assembled people and draining their blood and souls.
Tens of thousands at the first site perished in an instant, their vast quantities of blood and souls absorbed by the ritual's target—Solaris. His severed arm regenerated, not perfectly, but enough to take on a rough shape.
"Not enough yet! Offer more blood and souls! They're nothing but surplus trash unneeded in the new era anyway!"
"Yes, sir!"
The second gathering point fell to the same sorcery, claiming tens of thousands more lives. The capital filled with crimson-black mist, the screams of the dying, and the panicked clamor of other citizens lost in chaos.
By the time Bastol and Dantalion reached the third site,
they spotted Brayden in his ornate armor, fervently directing the citizens' evacuation.
"Isn't that 'Lord Brayden'?"
Brayden spotted the newly arrived Bastol and called out to him.
"Bastol! Perfect timing! The capital's a complete hellscape! Countless dead already! We have to evacuate these people—"
"No need for that."
"What...? Wait, your body... And the one next to you... What the hell is this?!"
Brayden whipped out his sword upon seeing Bastol and Dantalion—in their true forms like the other Underground Vermin—with pitch-black bodies covered in countless eyes and mouths, plus brutish limbs.
"That ominous power... Guess it needs explaining."
"What, now that you're worthless, you'll tell me?"
Bastol's tone shifted completely, and Brayden's eyes trembled as he registered it.
"We decided to hang the Holy Warrior title on you because it suited our purposes. Needed a tool to deceive the masses. Nearly had a heart attack when the Goddess meddled and almost exposed you as a fake to the world."
His reverse scale—being called a 'fake Holy Warrior'—twisted Brayden's face in fury.
"...You're going too far with the jokes."
"Propped up a cocky little punk like you as Holy Warrior, and everything went sideways from the start. The golems we loosed on Fresia Mountain got cleaned up by some bastard beforehand. Would've been a real headache if Vector hadn't played his role as a windbreaker in Libertà."
"......"
Every point struck at Brayden's sore spots; his grip tightened fiercely on his sword.
"Well, after that, you danced to our tune, so thanks for that. So ambitious—even a little nudge from the side, and you ditched your lover without hesitation. Throw you some tribute and women, and you were hooked. Then again, every past Holy Warrior was the same. But now? You're no longer needed for our plans."
The gathering site's citizens murmured in shock at his words.
"A fake...?"
"So those old rumors were true?"
"Ditched his lover...? That Captain Celine? She was supposed to be dead. But he ditched her?"
"Lord Brayden... wasn't really the Holy Warrior?"
As the whispers about him started up again from behind, Brayden screamed in rage.
"Bastol...! I know you're behind this mess! From this moment, I—Brayden, chosen by the Goddess as Holy Warrior—deem you evil and will execute you here and—"
"Chosen by the Goddess? Holy Warrior? Hah."
"Still can't accept it was all just a hollow signboard."
The beastly bulk of Dantalion growled low and charged. Brayden raised his sword in alarm, but...
Krunch!
His 'sacred sword'—flashier and more ornate than most—was shattered by a single punch from Dantalion. Brayden was sent flying far off by the impact.
"Gahk...!"
"You were never chosen by the Goddess. You're no Holy Warrior. Just a run-of-the-mill human—slightly stronger than average, stuffed full of filthy desires, hiding it all behind lies."
"H-Holy Warrior!"
The citizens' screams rang out. Brayden, flung far away, struggled to his feet—but the sword he had trusted as sacred, merely sturdier and flashier iron, lay in ruins.
As Bastol and Dantalion spread their arms, crimson-black mist rose from the third site, slowly strangling the citizens and Brayden alike.
"Guhk... Hahk..."
"Well, as sacrificial fodder, you're worth a bit more than the rabble. Become nourishment for the great one."
"Enough bullshit!"
A massive voice boomed from the sky, and someone plummeted to the ground at tremendous speed.
From the billowing dust rose translucent golden wings, now vastly larger than before, gleaming brightly.
The people cradled in the man's arms took positions in confrontation. Bastol and Dantalion ground their teeth and bellowed.
"You bastard... Holy Warrior...!!!"
"H-Holy Warrior...?"
Brayden, his consciousness fading in pain, stared at the back of the man standing before him.
Beside the brown-haired man fluttered a pink-haired bunnykin, a golden-blonde ponytail elf, a blonde drill-haired human, a red long-haired knight who was his own lover Celine, and even a woman whose hair and entire body gleamed pure white.
"Al...vis..."
With that, Brayden passed out.
Alvis hefted his Light Saber—now twice his own height—and spread his wings wide.
"You lunatics were planning to slaughter all ten million citizens of the capital? That's over now. No more running away. Let's end this right here."