On the Brink (3)
At Karna's words that a legion was on the move, Erinn's expression hardened. She wasn't the only one. From Letisia on down through the rest of her party — and Albrecht as well — every one of them was taking the situation with deadly seriousness.
Ah.
Albrecht already knew. This was the main story branch that kicked in after the Obelisk appearance event. When he'd left the party, he'd figured he was done having any real connection to the main storyline of Dungeon in Evil — but Erinn and her companions showing up again had dragged him right back into it.
Whether he ought to be glad about that or not, he honestly couldn't say. Still thinking it over, Albrecht spoke up.
"Which legion is it that's moving?"
The Demon King's army didn't have just one legion.
Besides the Magic Legion led by the master of the Obelisk that had appeared before, there were six more.
The Oblivion Legion.
The Dream Legion.
The Predation Legion.
The Dark Moon Legion.
The Apocalyptic Legion.
And the Ruin Legion.
Seven legions in total served under the Demon King, and every last one of them boasted enough power to wipe a nation off the map.
Without the Heroes and the other exceptional champions standing against them, the human nations might well have lost their very shape by now — trampled and despoiled under those armies' boots.
Of course, a few countries with truly formidable military strength and national power might have held out. But even they would never have retained the stature they enjoyed now. That much was certain.
Just as every nation's strength differed, so did each legion's. The ones rated weakest in combat power were the Dark Moon Legion and the Oblivion Legion; the mightiest were the Apocalyptic Legion and the Ruin Legion.
So which legion had moved was more important than anything else. Even the so-called weakest of them — the Dark Moon Legion and the Oblivion Legion — could still topple a mid-sized nation overnight.
To Albrecht's question, Karna answered simply.
"The Oblivion Legion."
Hearing that, Albrecht felt a surge of certainty. The broad strokes of the story still hadn't changed.
He'd worried a little that his leaving the party — and Erinn's group getting stuck in the Shah Zar Kingdom — might have thrown things off. But fortunately, it seemed nothing of the sort had happened.
"The Oblivion Legion, huh…"
"Something annoying is on the move."
Letisia had it right. In terms of raw power, the Oblivion Legion was clearly the weakest of the seven — but the problem was the power they wielded.
Each of the Demon King's legions took its name from the epithet of the commander who led it, and true to the name "Oblivion," the ability of the one who commanded that legion had everything to do with erasing memories.
In Dungeon in Evil, the curse had been implemented by resetting the growth of any afflicted character. That was because it was a game, though… now that this was reality, it might well erase memories for real.
Of course, a curse was still a product of mana, and anyone who could resist mana would naturally shrug off the damage. But…
As if it were that easy.
How powerful the mana of a commander who led an entire legion would be went without saying… resisting it was never going to be simple.
Which was why victims of memory loss at the hands of the Oblivion Legion's commander cropped up every time she made a move.
People said those struck by the Oblivion Legion Commander's curse were the most pitiful souls on the front lines.
They forgot their memories. Forgot their families. Forgot the people they loved — and still, because the enemy stood right in front of them, they never left the front. They just kept fighting. Even the most cold-hearted person couldn't help but feel compassion watching that.
"…Annoying as she is, if she really is on the move, that's good news~."
Erinn said.
"How many people do you think are suffering because of that bitch? If we play this right, we might even take her out this time~♡"
"Right."
The "aid" Karna had spoken of to Erinn wasn't support to hold the front line.
Even with the Oblivion Legion on the move, the people fighting on the front weren't so weak that the line would collapse overnight. And with a Hero like Karna joining them, holding the line was more than doable.
The reason Karna had come asking Erinn — who operated with the Dern Empire as her base — for aid was something else entirely.
"I want to crush the Oblivion Legion this time."
He was talking about wiping the Oblivion Legion out. Erinn narrowed her eyes slightly. Then, a thoughtful look on her face, she glanced around at the others.
Her party members met her gaze with looks that said they'd follow whatever she decided. Only Clara and Albrecht still hadn't made up their minds.
"…This isn't something I can just decide on my own. I need the Empire's permission. The people upstairs can be surprisingly picky~♡"
"Do you really think the Dern Empire will send you?"
The reason Erinn operated in the rear rather than on the front lines — despite ranking among the strongest of all the Heroes — came down to the geography of her home nation, the Dern Empire.
The Dern Empire sat well removed from the front lines known as the Demon Frontier, one of the few countries where the threat of that border didn't reach them directly.
For a nation like that to commit its irreplaceable Hero, Erinn, to the front lines was something no one could realistically expect. Erinn was a power the Empire could not replace, and the Empire had no reason to sacrifice her.
"You're telling me to move without the Empire's permission?"
"Are you operating under the Empire's permission right now?"
At Karna's question, Erinn's mouth snapped shut. She wasn't. There simply hadn't been any orders from the Empire lately, so she'd been making use of her free time. That was all.
"I'll wait two days."
Karna said.
"I have no right to force you onto the battlefield. Whatever you choose is your freedom. But…"
Karna picked up the Holy Spear he'd set on the ground. No one had given him permission, but this time not a single party member moved to stop him.
"As a Hero, I have no intention of letting an opportunity to weaken the Demon King's forces slip away."
With those words, Karna brushed past Erinn. Sharti bowed her head in farewell to Erinn and the others, then followed after him.
"If you mean to join the fight, come to the inn on Fifth Avenue in the commercial district in two days. Erinn."
Leaving only that behind, Karna vanished at an unhurried pace.
…Feels like a storm just blew through.
A minute ago he'd been acting like he wanted us dead, and now he walks off leaving a speech worthy of a Hero. That was always his character, but seeing it in person hits differently.
So this is what a character you can't quite hate even when he's being a pain looks like.
Everything about the way Karna carried himself boiled down to "justice." The barrage of questions he'd thrown at us before trying to fight us earlier had been the same.
And the proposal he'd just made to Erinn was no different. He didn't force anything. But he spoke from the sense of justice a Hero was supposed to hold.
A Hero exists to slay the Demon King. Naturally, weakening the Demon King's forces is part of the job.
Erinn stood there wrestling with it for a moment. She couldn't make the call easily. Of course she couldn't.
Ordinarily the party wouldn't have opposed her, and she'd have been happy to move out — but the situation was different now.
When I left the party, Clara left with me. Clara might have had the smallest role in the group, but the fact remained that their combat strength had taken a hit.
Moving without orders from above, and with their forces weakened on top of it — no wonder she was torn.
"…Erinn."
That was when Freya called her name.
"Let's go. Like Hero Karna said, this might be a chance we never get again."
"…"
"The Empire never gave us any orders anyway… We can just say we had business near the front lines and got caught up in a battle, right? And if we bring back results, they won't really have anything to say…"
"…I'm not hesitating because I'm worried that woman will throw a fit."
…Throw a fit?
By "that woman," she had to mean the Minister of Military Affairs who was always trying to keep Erinn in check…
…Judging by how she puts it, she really can't stand her.
I don't think I've ever seen Erinn hate someone this much. So if it wasn't the higher-ups she was worried about, was she factoring in the drop in combat strength?
Clara leaving shouldn't have been that big a deal — or so I was thinking, when Erinn spoke again.
"What scares me is that the Curse of Oblivion could hit any of you."
"…"
"I'm fine. People chosen as Heroes get all kinds of blessings stuck to them through their holy relics."
Erinn was fine. I understood that immediately. Her status window showed a whole collection of blessings among her traits.
But…
"You guys aren't, though."
What Erinn was worried about were the other three — Freya, Ser-Aria, and Letisia. None of them had particularly high magic resistance, and none of them carried any special blessing that would help.
Freya had the Blessing of Purity, and Ser-Aria had the Blessing of the Forest, but neither trait had much to do with resisting curses. The Blessing of Purity protected a Saintess's chastity, and the Blessing of the Forest was exactly what it sounded like — a blessing provided by the forest, the kind that manifested in the great woodlands where elves lived.
Out on the front lines they called the Demon Frontier, those traits didn't pack much of a punch. Freya pressed her lips together. Letisia, not wanting to be the one holding everyone back, spoke up.
"…Erinn, I'll be fine."
"Pwahaha! Listen to you!"
Ser-Aria was right there with her.
"From the moment I decided to follow you, I was already prepared for something like this. Don't you think you're treating us a little too much like ordinary people?"
"She's right. Even if I get hurt or something…"
"…I'm not hesitating because I'm dismissing your resolve."
Erinn's voice was honest, and a little hollow.
"……I'm scared. That's why."
"…What?"
Ser-Aria, who'd been laughing so cheerfully a second ago, went quiet. Letisia looked briefly startled and started to ask again — but she seemed to realize almost at once why Erinn would say something like that.
And listening in, I understood too.
If any one of the party members fell under the Curse of Oblivion, that person wouldn't die… but for Erinn and the others, it would be no different from losing a comrade. Every shared memory would be gone.
That was what she was afraid of. And where that fear came from was something anyone who wasn't a complete idiot could figure out immediately.
"……"
It was Clara and me.