The Demon... King's Princess Kidnapping Cliche (1)
The Demon... King's Princess Kidnapping Cliche (1)
People gathered at the barracks of Plain Occupation Zone 4.
Not only the Red Faction holding the zone, but also those wearing Blue and Green armbands were present.
Those temporarily commanding the groups. And some belonging to the main fighting strength.
They sat around the same round table, keeping each other in check.
"I'll now begin the strategy meeting on the provisional Demon King Castle."
The cadet standing beside the map stuck to the wall cleared his throat and gathered their attention.
He was fourth-year Lee Ju-hyuk, one of the Red Group commanders who'd called this strategy meeting on the Demon King Castle (provisional).
Lee Ju-hyuk swept his gaze over those seated at the round table and spoke.
"Does anyone have a particular approach in mind?"
"No."
"Nothing."
"Nope."
The answers that came back in turn left Lee Ju-hyuk tongue-tied. He blinked, then shut his mouth again.
They were responses that could easily be taken as a bad attitude during a meeting, but honestly, Lee Ju-hyuk had just as little to offer as they did.
"...The whole point is to find that approach, so it makes sense there isn't one yet. I welcome all sorts of opinions."
Still, he couldn't just sit there doing nothing. Lee Ju-hyuk had lost the draw, so he had no choice but to lead the meeting.
"We started our attempts on the Demon King Castle about two hours ago and managed to gather certain pieces of intel."
It wasn't just the Red Faction who'd poked at the Demon King Castle; the Blue and Green Factions had done the same.
They all thought they wanted to gobble up that lone "1" left standing in a tense 3:3:3 battle situation.
And they figured that no matter how sturdy a citadel, there had to be a limit if only one person was guarding it, so they'd been watching for that moment.
But...
"It showed no sign of getting worn down, though?"
"Look, that barrier's gotten even taller. Are those all proper spell workshops...? Ugh..."
"Ugh... the golem's Reinforced Calamity Flame Fist is terrifying..."
Through two hours of attacks, Lee Ha-yul's citadel showed not the slightest hint of crumbling. If anything, the invaders were getting harshly repelled.
Even if they managed to tear down a barrier after great effort, a new one would soon rise, sometimes even expanding its range.
Countless undead and golems spilled out from beyond the barriers, and amid them, a mid-level spirit capable of holding off a hundred cadets by itself raced across the battlefield, assassinating anyone it could.
Even with that massive-scale deployment of troops and spell workshops in full swing, Lee Ha-yul's mana showed no sign of being depleted at all.
"......."
As the collected intel was compiled, silence settled over the round table. Everyone stared at the papers spread across the table and kept their mouths shut.
"...Honestly, isn't this the Headmaster wearing a mask and acting?"
"Pfft, crazy..."
"No, no, but honestly, it's hard to believe..."
A few people swallowed their laughter at the muttering of a cadet who'd been vaporized four times while assaulting the Demon King Castle.
The joke was funny, but also absurd.
That's how unrealistic this fighting strength was.
Bluntly put, that citadel had dealt the cadets an enormous shock.
They knew the Special Admission Cadet was strong. They knew they'd get carved up if they came at him alone.
They'd known ever since he annihilated the Undead Two-Headed Poison Dragon that he surpassed the level of an ordinary Siyoram Cadet.
"But still, who'd have thought hundreds of us charging in wouldn't even get to see his face..."
That was the crux of it.
They'd been poking at him from all sides, and far from being shaken, his attackers had their wrists caught and snapped, then got sent rolling across the ground.
And they still hadn't even seen the face of the person responsible.
That was why they'd gathered in one place.
A sense of danger. And sheer stubborn pride.
Sense of danger.
If those undead, golems, and spirits switched to the offensive and decided to crush one side, the other two would seize the moment and bite.
If that happened, someone was guaranteed to sink.
Stubborn pride.
"Fuck, but still, we've gotta at least see his face..."
"Losing is one thing, but no matter what, not even catching a glimpse of his face is kinda..."
Beyond the practical reasons, there were emotional ones too.
Lee Ju-hyuk inwardly nodded at the indignant expressions worn by the cadets he normally knew.
'Just dividing things up won't cut it...'
Of course, they knew the Special Admission Cadet was beyond the norm, but hundreds attacking and still failing to see his face was a serious blow to their pride.
And this was a Tower Entry being broadcast externally. If they were all sent packing like this, even winning the match would be too embarrassing to hold their heads up.
"...Anyway, that's all the intel we've gathered. Let's try to produce a few operational plans based on it."
Lee Ju-hyuk braced both arms on the round table.
"Frankly, it's mortifying to say this after getting beaten down for two or three hours, but if we form a united front, do you really think we can't even break through some spell workshops?"
It wasn't a dashing line, but the truth was that none of the three groups had committed their full strength to the Demon King Castle assault.
Even during all that raiding, a substantial portion of their forces had to guard their occupation zones in case of attacks from other groups, and they had to launch periodic attacks to keep anyone from pulling tricks.
"Let's pool our strength for a bit. We all know we'll be back to punching each other once Occupation Zone 1 falls, but let's just try cooperating until it does."
Even saying this, everyone would still prepare countermeasures. But for now, the point was to join forces on the surface.
"Hmm..."
"Mmm..."
At Lee Ju-hyuk's words, the commanders of the Blue and Green groups also sank into thought.
Currently in this barracks were the three groups' commanders and some of their main fighting strength.
Letting such people inside an occupation zone was risky business.
If they'd been brought all the way here and then went on a rampage, the damage would be considerable.
'Especially those two. They're dangerous.'
Lee Ju-hyuk glanced over the two figures seated at the center of the Blue and Green formations around the table.
Baek A-rin, twisting a strand of blue hair around her finger, and Lee Ji-yeon, arms crossed and leaning back against her chair.
A first-year and a second-year respectively. But behind them hung flashy labels: year top seat, and next successors of the Azure Sea and Taesan.
Their seniors already couldn't stop them. Their skill was tremendous, but when they properly used their unique abilities, most couldn't even get close.
And if Lee Ji-yeon got serious and started pouring out undead from within, it would be extremely, extremely troublesome.
'Even if they rampage, we can probably stop them somehow.'
As a countermeasure, he'd seated Hong Yeon-hwa at the round table. Without environmental advantages, she was outmatched on defense by the two of them, but in a battle starting at close range like this, she held the upper hand.
Even if both rampaged at once, Hong Yeon-hwa could well hold them off.
'And with that blond junior here too, we can block them even more certainly.'
Lee Ju-hyuk's gaze shifted to the cadet sitting beside Hong Yeon-hwa.
Fair blonde hair flowing past her waist, and a figure of breathtaking curves that snatched people's gazes against their will.
Ellia Srade.
Her cohabitation at Lee Ha-yul's mansion had made her name widely known, but during this match, it was her ability that drew attention.
A recovery-type unique ability that encompassed both regeneration and restoration simultaneously, with outstanding output to boot.
On top of that, her enhancement effects worked quite potently, so any battlefield with her on it proceeded with an ease no one could miss.
She couldn't go on a direct rampage like Hong Yeon-hwa, but Ellia was an invisible pillar supporting her allies from the rear.
"...We'll cooperate until Rocky Mountain Occupation Zone is taken."
An answer soon came back. It was the response he'd expected, so Lee Ju-hyuk nodded.
A stalemate of 3:3:3. Right now, with everyone engaged in a battle of nerves and reluctant to commit forces, the best move was to create a new external enemy.
"Anyway, if anyone has a sharp idea, please speak freely."
"......"
"......"
A united front was concluded, one way or another.
But once they got into the actual operational planning, the mouths that had been slowly opening all shut again.
"Well, is there really any particular approach? It's either pushing in from one direction, or attacking from three directions and breaking through. That's about it."
One cadet from the Blue formation spoke up. Indeed, there weren't any other obvious methods.
"Perhaps those junior members over there have a sharp idea?"
After pondering a moment, Lee Ju-hyuk singled out a few and spoke.
Those singled out blinked.
Red Group's Hong Yeon-hwa and Ellia.
Blue formation's Baek A-rin.
Green formation's Lee Ji-yeon.
"Yes, I understand you're all normally quite close to him, so I was wondering if there might be some angle to exploit."
They were all each group's main strength, and at the same time, people who spent a great deal of time close to Lee Ha-yul.
"A sharp idea, huh..."
"An angle...?"
After blinking for a moment, they exchanged glances. Similar, peculiar expressions. Watching them, it seemed they'd likely thought of similar things.
A strategy against that Demon King Castle... Even in their view, a frontal approach would be extremely difficult.
How much strength would it drain to get past those countless troops and dozens of barriers, and then assault a citadel whose functions were still unknown?
And whether it was even possible within the time limit was doubtful.
"Mmm..."
But for them, there was a way. Strictly speaking, a very easy and overwhelmingly fast way.
Put down their weapons. Clomp clomp over defenselessly and walk right up to the barrier. That's it.
Of course, it was impossible for anyone else. They'd be obliterated by bombardment as they approached, or swept away by troops and killed.
But Hong Yeon-hwa, Ellia, Baek A-rin, and Lee Ji-yeon were different.
— Ha-yul, are you going to hit me...?
...Mutter something roughly like that, and the attacks would stop. The gate would open on its own.
— Ha-yul, you're kind, right? Please open the door~
...Or they could say it like this.
Then it'd be over.
Lee Ha-yul would stop attacking, open the gate of that seemingly impregnable barrier, and pull back his troops.
Hesitantly, nervously gauging the mood, he'd poke his head out between the opened barriers.
If it were Lee Ha-yul, he'd do that for sure. Regardless of whether this match was being broadcast to the world, or whether tremendous rewards were at stake...
"...Who knows? Nothing comes to mind."
"Same for me."
And so, they hedged their words with peculiar expressions. Because that sort of tactic was truly cowardly, and something they couldn't do to Lee Ha-yul.
"I figured as much..."
Lee Ju-hyuk nodded as if he'd just taken a chance shot. Within his realm of common sense, he couldn't picture a future where the citadel opened without resistance.
"Then..."
— Shhhk!
Just as Lee Ju-hyuk was about to continue the meeting, the cloth covering the barracks entrance was yanked roughly open.
The cadet who came bolting in frantically let out a yell.
"Enemy attack—! White formation! Mixed forces of golems, undead, and spirits approaching fast!"
"Huh?"
Everyone exclaimed in shock and shot up from their seats.
Demon King's army had switched to the offensive.
* * *
Plain Occupation Zone 4 turned into utter chaos in an instant. The constructed defensive lines were immediately swarmed by masses of undead and golems.
"Block the golems first! Fight while using spell workshops!"
"They're breaking through! Repairs are too slow! And the effectiveness drops outside a spell workshop!"
"Mages, handle the undead! Everyone else, suppress the golems and spirits first!"
They were on the receiving end of an attack now, not the ones attacking.
The location and role had reversed, but the sickening feeling from that Demon King's army remained the same.
The undead wouldn't go down by ordinary means. Even if a limb was blown off, they'd forcibly reattach it and rise again.
And if you rendered them beyond recovery, they'd detonate along with their mana and blow everything around them away.
The golems were similar. Though they had slowed now that they were far from the spell workshop, no matter how thoroughly you smashed them to pieces, they'd soon rise again from the earth. There was no driving core to disable, which made neutralizing them nearly impossible.
To truly incapacitate them, you'd have to reduce them to nothing, erasing every last trace—and barely a handful of cadets here could manage that.
On top of that, the spirits themselves were essentially half-immortal and couldn't be incapacitated at all.
At best, you might reverse-summon them back to their master's side.
They rose when knocked down, lived when slain.
"Is this really the Demon King's army...?"
"I concur."
Now that the enemy had shifted to the offensive, it was even more sickening. While you were attacking, you could just run away if things went badly; but now, falling back meant losing your foothold.
"Left side, fall back! Calamity Flame coming through!"
"On the right, douse the Azure Sea side with water-attribute magic only!"
"Push the center! Our undead outnumber theirs by far, so use them as meat shields!"
But they weren't going down without a fight. If anything, at this very moment, the cadets were the ones driving back the would-be Demon King's army.
As it happened, the Red Faction had secured this location, setting up temporary spell workshops and a few formal ones. That made it favorable ground.
And thanks to a significant portion of their main strength being concentrated here, they were pressing back that vicious army with surprising success.
The other key factor was Hong Yeon-hwa's Calamity Flame, which could neutralize both undead and golems.
Before an undead could reattach itself or explode, it was incinerated, corpse and all. The golems were no different. Recovery or not—their foundation and formula arrays were burned away.
Even an undying army blazed away to nothing in an instant before Calamity Flame.
Similarly, the Azure Sea Ice Purity Baek A-rin manifested froze both the regeneration and the entity itself solid, and the undead Lee Ji-yeon raised were qualitatively superior and far more numerous than the enemy's.
Moreover, the spirits seemed utterly powerless against a certain few women.
'Did I turn to offense too late? No. Even if I attack from all sides, I won't be able to steal it.'
'If I stab someone in the back here, I'll be roasted alive by Calamity Flame right after...'
So those who had briefly considered siding with the Demon King's army to recapture occupied territory swiftly thought better of it.
- Wooooong!
"Spirit Assimilation!"
A cry rang out across the one-sided battlefield, and tension rippled through the air.
Spirit Assimilation. A technique that was practically a secret art for spirit casters.
In the previous battles, far too many cadets had been slaughtered by golems that had undergone Spirit Assimilation.
What had been especially shocking was the golem that had once wielded Calamity Flame. Hong Yeon-hwa's eyes blazed as she adjusted her grip on her sword.
- Whooong...
A wind spirit in the shape of a bird alighted upon the golem's helmet.
In the breath of a moment, before anyone could interfere, the spirit seeped into the helmet, and the golem's armor turned a pale green as a fierce gale swept outward.
"Wind Spirit!"
A shouted warning for those who hadn't noticed. Right after, three more spirits descended onto the golem's helmet.
A blue seal, a brown puppy, a yellow wolf.
Water, earth, lightning.
The golem's pitch-black color shifted, and each attribute spread violently in every direction.
The cadets who had studied spirit magic gaped.
"Four Spirit-Assimilated entities!"
"Wait, assimilation can be done on multiples...?"
- Kwa-ruu-ruu-rung!
"Kyaak!"
As if answering one cadet's murmur, the golem fused with the lightning spirit raised its spear high and struck down.
Kwa-ruu-ruu-rung! A volley of lightning bolts crashed down from the clear sky. The bolts, tinged with white, eliminated several cadets in one burst.
"Smash the assimilated golems first!"
Hong Yeon-hwa, Baek A-rin, and Lee Ji-yeon, who had been sweeping aside the enemy's lesser forces, all lunged at the spirit-assimilated golems.
"Haaat!"
Hong Yeon-hwa leaped high into the air and brought her sword, thickly laden with Calamity Flame, crashing down. Her target: the golem infused with the water spirit.
Crack—crunch! The blue-tinged golem forged an enormous shield of ice to block the blade.
The comparatively small sword struck the massive shield. Slice! The sword split the shield in a single stroke and cleaved straight into the golem's forearm.
- Tsssss...
The Calamity Flame evaporated the ice and water coating the armor's surface, melting the deeply dented metal in that one blow.
- Kiiing...
"...Why's it whining like a kicked puppy?"
From inside the golem's helmet came the whimper of a small dog. Hong Yeon-hwa's expression involuntarily turned pained.
She glanced around.
Lee Ji-yeon's face was similarly awkward as she fought the golem holding the earth spirit, and Baek A-rin's expression was just as odd while she attacked the golem housing the lightning spirit.
"...These things can't really attack us, can they?"
Hong Yeon-hwa soon realized that the spirits couldn't properly attack any of them.
At most, they put up a decent-looking counterattack. They couldn't mount an aggressive offensive. Not simply because they lacked the opportunity—their reluctance was plainly obvious.
This was something they hadn't known because they'd stayed to defend headquarters instead of joining the assault on the Demon King's castle.
"Is it because they're influenced by their master?"
Baek A-rin murmured with an odd expression. She tilted her head, watching the golem sever and then regenerate the arm where the freezing had spread.
"Ultimately, Lee Ha-yul must be the one giving the orders, so that could be it. And, what was it... when a contractor raises their rank, the spirits are heavily influenced by the contractor."
"...Well, that's kind of touching."
When Lee Ji-yeon's murmur drifted over from a distance, Baek A-rin giggled.
"I'm openly touched. *Haa,* I'll have to feed him well after this."
"Uh... that phrasing of yours?"
They had enough leeway for light banter. Even as they felt those strange sentiments, they diligently continued the fight.
'...Why did he shift to the offensive?'
At the same time, questions circled their minds.
Lee Ha-yul, who had been wholly focused on defense, had gone on the offensive.
What was the reason? Did he intend to snatch the occupied territories in the late game? Certainly, if he tied up the main force here and concentrated attacks elsewhere, he had a chance.
But the flame-lineage ability users stationed at each occupied zone had reported no news of any attack.
Then, was he planning to overrun this place? Given how much of their main strength was assembled here, that didn't seem likely. Besides, it didn't look like Lee Ha-yul had committed his forces fully.
'What is his real objective...'
"Oh."
That was when a cadet's gasp reached the ears of those who had sharpened their senses for combat.
He was a Detection-type ability user who belonged to the Red Faction. He seemed to be groping for something for a moment, and then his eyes shot wide open.
"S-Self-destruct! The golem—!"
"What?"
The cadet who'd been guarding him nearby asked again. But before an answer could come, countless yellow lines traced themselves across the surface of the golem fighting at the front.
That was the cross-section of a complex and intricate spell formula. A 'Scattershot Ray' that Lee Ha-yul had personally modified, pushing its output to an extreme.
"Gah! Self-destruct!"
"You sons of— get back!"
The golem's surface flared brightly. At the surging mana, the cadets nearby recoiled in terror, kicked off the ground backward, and threw up defensive measures.
- KWA-GA-GA-GA-GANG!
The 'Scattershot Ray' that had been flying in like a sniper shot manifested right before their eyes. The golem's body detonated as hundreds of rays rained across the battlefield.
The earth vibrated with a thunderous roar. Eyes instinctively narrowed against the light that filled every direction.
- Crackle-crackle-crackle!
Even amid the noise crushed by the blast, the sound of lightning bursting reached the ears of a few skilled individuals.
Immediately after, from beyond their perception, a Lightning Energy bolt shot in at supersonic speed. The few who sensed the presence accelerating and surging toward them with terrifying momentum gasped and braced for impact.
"Huh?"
Most couldn't react in time. Ellia, who had been healing the wounded at the rear in real time, gaped.
Suddenly, something coiled around her whole body, and a sensation of weightlessness took hold. A rough wind buffeted her.
The moment she realized, Ellia clutched her pendant—then, struck by a thought that suddenly surfaced, her eyes went round.
'Oh?'
The pendant hadn't activated automatically. Ever since she'd entered the Tower of Growth, this pendant had always protected Ellia from danger.
But it wasn't doing so now. And the texture wrapping around her body was deeply familiar.
A texture that, without her realizing it, made her feel safe and even lifted her spirits. The faintly seeping pure affection and obsession...
After a brief moment, her vision, dyed in light, returned. Ellia immediately looked down.
She could see the ground and the tiny figures of people growing distant.
And she could see the familiar blue cloth wound around her body.
It was the Sky Wing Feather, the artifact that had become one of Lee Ha-yul's defining traits.
Right now, it was acting as another wing for the bird-shaped lightning energy construct, while simultaneously wrapping around Ellia's entire body and carrying her away safely and swiftly.
"...Heh."
At the sudden, kidnap-like turn of events, Ellia let out a soft, beaming laugh.
* * *
The lightning spirit that had snatched Ellia sped into the distance. It moved so fast that afterimages trailed in its wake. At the end of its path, the small outline of Rocky Mountain was visible.
"Shit..."
Several Red Faction cadets, their precious recovery asset stolen away, screeched in dismay.
In that brief interval,
Hong Yeon-hwa, having finished off her golem and staring blankly at the lightning spirit as it shot across the sky, suddenly twisted her expression into a scowl.
"What the hell, why am I not getting taken?"
Whoosh! The Calamity Flame clinging to her blade flickered thick and sticky.