The Decisive Battle (3)

As time flowed on, my body slowly began returning to its original form. But the strange sensation atop my head was unmistakably a dragon's horn, the kind the dragons carried, and judging by how my field of vision had changed, my pupils must have transformed as well. Still, now was not the time to dwell on any of that. We were in the middle of a battle with the demons; I could figure out the rest once the fighting was over.

The first order of business was to isolate the women who had become aphrodisiac bombs and then blanket every corner of the area with the power of Purification. Thanks to the effects of Domain of Tranquility, a domain manifested from my authority of Purification, the aphrodisiac no longer dealt meaningful damage to our allies. But we discovered that if anyone touched, or was even brushed by, the bodily fluids coating the women's skin, the effect would spread through their body in mere moments.

"Women! Give me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a woman!"

"Um... I'm, uh, kind of tired... wanna go over there together?"

Worse still, the soldiers who had fallen under the aphrodisiac's sway were showing responses meant to seduce the opposite sex. They were, quite literally, human bombs. To quell this, Ellie, Khan, and I quickly put our heads together, and before long a countermeasure took shape.

"What if we grant your authority of Purification to the shield bearers and have them handle the isolation?"

"Yes. Though of course, I'll have to grant it to the women we've brought in separately."

Ellie said it was a good plan, but that it carried one glaring flaw.

"It's a fine idea, but Hyun — an authority is a power you manifest using your own mana, isn't it?"

"Hyun, it's true you can save people with your authority, but what if you run dry?"

As things stood, roughly ten women were believed to have been sent by Asmodeus. And since I was holding back the aphrodisiac mist that was still spreading even now by sustaining my Domain Proclamation, my mana was trickling away even in the current lull.

"It's all right. I'm no Azure Dragon, but I can use a little of the power of Purification myself."

The one who shored up our plan was none other than Khan. The Four Divine Beasts each governed their own element and authority, but the Azure Dragon and the Black Tortoise shared a common domain: the mastery of 'water.' Khan, as the Black Tortoise's Successor, could therefore wield a measure of Purification as well. Realizing this would ease the burden on me, Ellie settled on the plan at once.

First, to isolate the women scattering the aphrodisiac mist, we entrusted their containment to shield bearers granted the authority of Purification. Since shield bearers wore heavy armor and existed to absorb enemy attacks, their physical contact with others was minimized almost by default. And so now, the battlefield saw the Black Tortoise's power of Purification merging with the Azure Dragon's, pushing back the aphrodisiac's influence, while the shield bearers — invested with our authority — succeeded in isolating the women with ease.

Before long word came that the women had awakened, but Khan and I stayed where we were. Approaching them might reawaken some trauma, and purging their memories with the authority of Purification would do them no real good either — so, being of no use there, the two of us watched from near the forest's entrance to see whether any more of the women would emerge.

Authority was not omnipotent. It was a power higher than anything mortal hands could wield, and in the face of disaster or emergency there was truly nothing better. But leaning on authority was a road without end. It wasn't as though those women could come to me and ask me to use my Purification on them for the rest of their lives just to soothe their trauma. In the end, the fact that we had failed to protect them from the very start had left its scar on them. The only thing we could truly offer them now was the execution of the one who had made them this way — Asmodeus. That would be the last thing we could do for them.

"Hah..."

Before long, Yeon-i, who had gone to tend to the victims in a makeshift tent that had been pitched apart from the rest, came out with a sigh, scratching at the back of her head. Her expression was a tangle of irritation and fury.

"You fucking bastard... he really knows how to boil my blood."

And out of Yeon-i's mouth poured profanity of an unimaginable intensity.

"How are the women?"

At my question, Yeon-i answered.

"They're shaking all over, head to toe. Even just seeing a man nearly sends them into convulsions. If any of you had walked into that tent, you'd all have fainted on the spot."

The psychological damage they had suffered was severe. Yeon-i continued.

"Ellie's assigned healers dedicated to the women for now, and I think she's planning to move them to the territory right away."

"She said she'd take them to the Cumul estate, not back to wherever they lived. She figured that would be best."

She was right. Even if they returned to their families' arms, to those women every man would look like nothing more than a monster right now. The best thing for them really did seem to be ongoing treatment within Cumul Territory.

"And we found out what those bastards did to the women."

"It's lucky one of the victims was fairly strong-willed. If not, we wouldn't have gotten any information at all."

Growling through her teeth, Yeon-i laid bare acts so vile they could barely be spoken aloud — the kind of thing you'd only ever see in the dark corners of the internet back on Earth, now made real.

"The bastard behind this filth is Asmodeus, all right. The moment he saw the forest catch fire, he didn't panic — he grabbed the women by their heads and 'implanted' something into them."

"Ellie and I both believe whatever was implanted is related to the aphrodisiac."

Asmodeus, upon learning that the forest had burned and that someone had seen through his scheme, had planned to use the village women he'd captured to unleash his own power and collapse our battle line.

"So, still no sign of movement from this Asmodeus guy?"

To Yeon-i's question, Khan and I merely nodded. It had been about two hours since we arrived at Elion Forest and set it ablaze. The flames raged ferociously, yet only occasional packs of a few dozen demons came crawling out. The main force had yet to appear.

It was currently three in the afternoon. More than four hours had passed since we fired the forest. The aphrodisiac mist had long since been pushed back by my domain of Purification, and the women carrying it were no longer being sent out either.

With the forest burning around us and the whole ignited region needing to be turned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into a sea of fire, I had layered the Domain of Wind on top of everything else. Even after all that, my mana still had room to spare. It was only possible because the seven wolves were sustaining themselves on the barest minimum of mana. Thinking that I owed them a word of thanks later, I gazed out at the fiercely burning forest.

The front line was enjoying a brief respite. Ellie had judged that the tension of endless waiting — never knowing when the demons might come — could wear the soldiers down more than combat itself. Just as the tide of constant strain had once allowed the Dreamer to slip through our defenses during the Tide of Corruption, she deliberately fostered an atmosphere where a little of that tension could ease. It was ironic. What had stolen away my whole family was 'fire.' And now, fire — the fire consuming the forest to drive out the demons — was the very thing aiding us in return.

Perhaps she noticed it too. Yeon-i, who had claimed the spot beside me during the break, simply took my hand in hers. Earlier, before I came out here, the two of them had been whispering about something... It seemed Ellie had been telling her about my past. She must have realized Yeon-i was someone who would never bring me harm, and so shared it. Of course, even the past Ellie knew wasn't the whole truth.

"What's this? Getting all bashful."

"Th-that was... it was force majeure, okay?!"

Yeon-i, temporarily intoxicated by the aphrodisiac mist earlier, had thrown herself at me with all manner of antics. But I had shielded my body with the authority of Purification on the spot, so nothing came of it — and once she came to her senses, she declared the whole affair taboo. Which was how we'd arrived at this situation.

"Mmhm... you're doing this right in front of me, Hyun? How bold of you."

Of course, Ellie wasn't about to be outdone, and took my right hand as well. And, well... it was a little terrifying. Even so, though the leather gloves they currently wore were cold to the touch, the feelings they passed to me through them were warm.

Watching all of this, Khan sent me a transmission: 'What exactly are you, anyway?'

Yeah, yeah. I'm the bad guy here. Me.

And so the sixth hour of battle arrived.

Then — only when the forest had all but burned to nothing — they finally showed themselves again. Practically boasting, Look, we're the main force! Unlike the others, their very weapons were different, and the aura radiating from them was a demonic miasma far denser than any ordinary demon's. Seeing this, Ellie drew an arrow from her quiver, nocked it, and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"All forces! Battle stations!!"

At Ellie's voice, every soldier resting at the rear, every sentry on watch, every knight tending to their gear — all of them scrambled to readiness and fell into formation. First line, shield bearers. Second line, spearmen, knights, infantry, and cavalry. Third line, archers. That was the shape of our battle order. Ellie, Khan, and I were mixed into the second line — the trump cards meant to rain down devastating attacks.

And at last, the architect of every atrocity made his entrance. His outward form was a beautiful man beyond anything one could have imagined from the battle before — but the overwhelming power and demonic aura rolling off him proved beyond doubt that he was no human.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

When he raised a pair of curved swords, one in each hand, the demon horde advancing toward us halted in perfect unison.

= Cumul Alice. Do you have any idea how long I have waited for this day? Do you know how I felt, forced to let go of a fish already in my grasp and crawl home in misery?! =

To Asmodeus's sophistry, Ellie answered without a flicker of expression.

"Why should I care what's in your heart? Think as hard as you like — all you've ever dreamed of is putting me beneath you. Such a repulsive mind. I have no desire to know it, and no wish to think of it."

= Yes... that's the spirit... I don't care whose woman you are now. You'll be mine soon enough! =

"A man who calls himself 'mine' while deifying his king and leading an army — it was ugly to behold before, but now it's uglier still."

= Yes... prattle on all you like. Your fate is to lie beneath me regardless. =

"...I'm sorry, but."

Ellie wreathed her nocked arrow in sword-fire, drew the bowstring to its fullest, and loosed it forward.

— Thwip!

The arrow struck the foremost demon square in the head, and the creature writhed in the agony of white flame before crumbling to ash and vanishing.

"Because the only man permitted to put me beneath him is one."

= Ha. So it's that Azure Dragon's Successor again. Fine. I'll have him slain and laid at your feet. =

At those words, the army that hadn't so much as twitched since Ellie's first shot surged into motion. Before long, the first line of shield bearers met the demons' weapons head-on, and a thunderous crash rolled across the entire front.

— SLAM!

— CRACK!

Unflinching, Vice-Commander Knight Ha-ji and Knight Cloud held their positions until the line was secured, funneling reinforcements toward any point where the shield bearers faltered. Then, through the gaps between shields, the spearmen thrust their pikes forward, striking at the attackers left wide open mid-swing.

= Kyaak! =

= Ughak! =

Screams erupting from every direction told us the tactic was working beautifully. But an unexpected flood of enemies is always the thing that trips us ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up — and that flood, as ever, was dragging at our heels even now.

Knight Ha-ji's sudden transmission: "The left is in danger! The shield bearers can't hold much longer!"

The shield bearers' strength, already hanging by a thread, was steadily draining away. At that, Ellie gave the order.

"Pull the shield bearers back and distribute the main forces to their assigned positions."

"The Successors will run to the left flank."

The moment the words left her mouth, I leapt onto a wind wolf and tore across the battlefield to the left front. The shield bearers there had been pushed back far worse than those at the center, but they were holding on, barely. They knew that if they collapsed, the entire formation would follow, and they fought desperately to hold the demons back.

"Spirit! Run!"

— Arf!

Carried forward by the momentum of the long charge, I vaulted high over the shield bearers, then wheeled toward my target: the densest knot of demons — the center of the line. With Baram at my side, I plunged straight into it.

The immense impact slammed into the earth, and the countless emerald slashes that followed possessed more than enough power to lay waste to the central front. Stranded alone in the middle like this, I would become their sole target; every demon would now turn its attacks on me. But if I could hold their gaze while Knight Ha-ji restored the left line and struck into the demons' openings, the left would almost certainly hold.

Young-green energy spread wide, blanketing a broad swath of ground, and blades of wind came into being and rained down.

= Aghk! =

= Heuk! =

Demons too slow to dodge the wind blades were skewered in an instant. In the next breath, Knight Ha-ji threw open the path the shield bearers had been holding and sent infantry and knights pouring through, swinging their swords at the demons who had turned their backs to hunt me. Of course, the demons didn't simply take it — they wheeled and swung at the knights and infantry to counter — but from the moment they turned their eyes toward me, their fate was already sealed.

The momentum, once tipped, showed no sign of righting itself, and even though the central and right fronts had taken no real losses, the left front now held a decided advantage in our favor. And into that situation strode the demon we had tried to seal inside the forest with our counterfire campaign.

Rank 40 — Raum.

= At last, I meet you! Successor of the Azure Dragon!! =

"Doesn't look like either of us is thrilled about it."

= Because of you...! The trust the King placed in me has been shattered!! =

"So what? That doesn't change the fact that you tried to kill us."

= Hahaha! The strong plundering the weak — what's so wrong about that?! =

"Sure. You'll never understand it your whole life."

So consider dying here your answer. Swiftly cleaving through the wind, my blade swung down — and was stopped cold by Raum's sword.

— CLANG!

= What do you think you'll do with a sword like that?! =

My senses and instincts sharpened further still. Within them, a blade came swinging for my chest —

— CLANG!

Jeongryeong blocked it. Raum reeled, thrown off balance.

= What the hell is this mutt?! =

Then, the instant the sword in his right hand swung for Jeongryeong —

— Shrak!

My blade, faster than thought, sheared cleanly through his arm above the elbow. Panicked, unable even to set his stance, he came at me swinging wildly.

= I'll never forgive you!! Never!! Successor of the Azure Dragon!! =

I slipped through the swords flailing every which way with movements that all but mocked them. Yeon-i had taught me a bit of the Twin-Flower Sword Style, and from all our sparring I'd learned to read her rhythms — so handling his wild swings was no strain at all.

= You... damned whelp!! =

A demon of his rank should have stopped bleeding long before now — but thanks to Wound Aggravation, the passive of Storm's Master, the blood pouring from his arm simply would not clot. Add to that the fury driving him to hack at me without form or reason, and his stamina was bleeding away by the second. I ducked beneath the blade coming for my temple, snapped my upper body back upright, raised my leg — and drove my heel down onto his knee.

= AAAAGH! =

He should have fallen back from the agony, but the impact to his knee must not have been crushing enough; he retreated only a few limping steps.

"Feeling it now? That I'm the stronger one? By your own logic, if I kill you right here, you haven't a word to say, do you?"

= Hah... hah... Fine. I concede my defeat. But the defeat of this battle — that I will not let you take... =

Demon bastards always have to get in one last line before they go. What does keeping quiet ever cost them?

— Shrak!

I took his head without a word. The headless body crumbled into powder. But something about the battlefield was wrong. It was seething — the formation refusing to settle.

"Hold on. What's going on? We won, so why isn't the line recovering? Spirit!"

If the left front had won, the line should have re-formed, the priority shifting to holding back the army still waiting behind it — every unit should have been returning to its position to rebuild the front. But the left flank's shield bearers weren't finding their places. I rushed to Knight Ha-ji and took stock of the situation.

"Successor!"

Knight Ha-ji called my name in a voice taut with urgency. Something had happened. A dread closed over me, and Dragon's Senses and my instincts cried out danger in unison.

"Knight Ha-ji. The line isn't recovering, is it."

"Th-that's... the central front has been breached..!"

What?

Impossible.

"Prioritize re-forming the line and fight defensively as long as you can. I'm heading for the central front — all of it."

"Yes, sir!"

Even with victory secured on the left, the line had failed to recover because the center had been breached at the critical moment, costing us the window to rebuild. I should have noticed far sooner! If I'd known this would happen, I shouldn't have spent my past life doing nothing but playing games — I should have read a book on tactics or two.

Leaving Knight Ha-ji behind, I climbed onto Jeongryeong's back and sprinted for the central front. And the center that greeted me showed a landscape utterly transformed from the one I'd left.

"Why... is this...?"

The central front, littered with shattered shields and snapped spears. The archers worked their hands furiously alongside Ellie, but it wasn't nearly enough; cobbling together what remained of the front line was all they could manage. And before them stretched a hollowed, sunken stretch of ground — where Yeon-i and Khan stood locked in a hard-fought standoff with some demon.

And the newcomer's identity: a psychopath who used gold as his weapon, taking great pleasure in turning living beings into living golden statues and then shattering them. A ranked demon of the 25th.

Glasya-Labolas.