The Decisive Battle (4)

Author's note: The first half of this chapter unfolds from Ellie's point of view on the central front. I've marked the section where the story returns to the protagonist's point of view, so rest assured and enjoy!

With the left front falling into disadvantage, Hyun rushed off to reinforce it at once.

Afterward, we set our shield bearers in the front rank, and at intervals I ordered a lane opened through their line so the spearmen and infantry could strike at the demons without taking the brunt of the damage themselves.

"Lord Kan! If you please."

"Of course."

At my command, Kan crushed the stronger foes for us, time and time again.

He focused on the supreme demons — the monsters our soldiers couldn't bring down quickly enough on their own.

Yeon-i, hiding among the soldiers, swung her sword like a woman possessed across the battlefield, wielding the blade art she had built from Hyun's advice.

"Die!"

= You wretch...! He... He will dominate you..! =

"Go ahead and try."

Thus, using Yeon-i and Kan together with a shield-led defensive line, we began gnawing away, bit by bit, at the swarming horde of demons.

On the left front as well, thanks to Hyun's efforts, the line was visibly steadying by the minute.

If this keeps up, I couldn't ask for anything more.

I drew an arrow from my quiver, wreathed it in White Flame, nocked it, and drew the string taut.

My target: Creta's Nightmare, a supreme demon.

The moment my arrow flew, a golden wave surged up from the front rank.

Struck by the arrow, Creta's Nightmare burned in white flame, writhed in agony across the ground, and died — but our front rank, swallowed by the golden wave in the same instant, lay coated in glittering gold dust, unable to move.

And then — he came strolling leisurely out between the demons, dressed in a gentleman's suit, a golden longsword held in his left hand.

= Strutting about so proudly after felling nothing more than high-tier and supreme demons... it blinds the eyes. =

The fedora on his head was attire fit for nothing on a battlefield, yet not a single soul among us could bring themselves to raise a weapon against him.

My survival instinct was screaming.

Run.

But I was the commander here. The one giving the orders.

If I run, everything is over!

With that thought, I forced my trembling hand to move, coating an arrow in White Flame, and took aim at him.

But a bow is the weapon that reads its wielder's heart most faithfully of all.

A weapon that trembles in fear the moment its bearer knows tension or terror, one that cannot be loosed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠freely when its master shakes.

As if to prove it, my hand trembled endlessly under the crushing pressure and fear.

- Rattle... rattle...

Needless to say, I couldn't hold my aim. I never fired; I simply kept the string drawn.

I still could not loose the arrow.

In the end —

he found me before I found the courage to release it.

And with a smile that crawled over my skin, he spoke in a low murmur.

= There you are, our liege's queen. We've all been waiting for you... I do wonder what your blood will taste like. =

Then he swept off his hat with a mockery of courtesy and introduced himself.

= A pleasure to meet you, you filthy humans. I am Ranked Twenty-Fifth of the Hierarchy. Glasya-Labolas. =

Polite words — but the immense pressure radiating from him was nothing a gentleman had any right to carry.

The instant Glasya-Labolas swept his sword forward with blinding speed —

"AAAAAGH!!"

"Healers! HEALERS!!!"

The shield line parted like soft cloth.

Shields split in two, and every soldier behind them died in a single stroke.

"No!"

I finally recovered my senses and loosed an arrow at him —

only for it to be absurdly swallowed by a pillar of gold that erupted from nowhere.

Even White Flame could do no more than melt the surface of the pillar.

Having brushed aside my white fire as though it were nothing, he hurled something golden — and shattered my bow precisely where he aimed.

What he had fired was a small lump of gold.

With that tiny lump, he had struck my bow dead center.

They meant to take me alive — it was no different from demanding my surrender, aiming with such care to destroy my bow alone.

= Still you resist? I had no wish to be scolded by His Majesty... but I suppose a rougher method wouldn't be amiss. =

Reading the look in my eyes, Glasya-Labolas began walking toward me, step by deliberate step.

There was no longer any hiding behind the soldiers.

...Hyun. I'm sorry.

But I'll hold out as long as I can.

So hurry. Please.

I don't want anyone but you.

- Sliiing!

The beloved sword at my hip bared itself.

A silver light revealed itself to the world.

By now the sun had sunk low, and in the gathering dark —

the advantage was ours no longer.

Time was not on our side either.

Here he comes!

The one who cut off his headlong rush toward me was none other than Kan.

"Lady Alice. If you're captured, it's game over. Pull yourself together and command the line. The hour for you to draw that sword has not yet come."

= Accursed whelp of the Four Divine Beasts! Come forth! How dare you block the road of the king's herald, who walks bearing his sovereign's command! =

At his words, I turned my gaze to him and spoke quietly.

"Shut it. Your breath reeks."

= Humans are always a problem the moment they open their mouths! =

- KRAKOOM!!!

Spear met sword — yet the sound that rolled across the entire battlefield was not steel striking steel.

It was the sound of something colossal colliding with something colossal, thundering to every corner of the field.

"Shield bearers, reform the line and protect the infantry and spearmen! Reform, now!"

At my command, the soldiers who had been being cut down helplessly rebuilt their front rank and began fighting back against the high-tier and supreme demons assailing them.

On the right front, Count Cloud had given his orders, and on the left, Count Haji had arrived with reinforcements — I could see the shield bearers closing in from both sides.

"HAAH!"

- CLANG! KAANG!

And now Yeon-i, too, joined the fight against Glasya-Labolas, pressing him hard — but the moment I took up my sword again to command the line and my soldiers —

- Tk!

he appeared, mounted on a green wolf.

He dropped down before me as though to shield me, barring the way forward with his sword leveled ahead.

In one of his hands gleamed a sword with a sky-blue blade.

And the look in his eyes, as I met them, was brimming over with fury.

While I had been away, the front rank had been driven to the verge of annihilation.

Kan and Yeon-i had thrown themselves onto Glasya-Labolas, stemming his advance.

But he brushed aside Kan's spear with effortless strength, and with Kan's weapon knocked away, he seized him by the throat and hurled him forward.

- KRAKOOM!

"Hagh...! Fuck... how is he this strong..!"

Kan tried to rise, cursing, but the impact had been severe enough that he couldn't get up where he'd landed, and simply stared at me instead.

I sent him a wordless thanks through telepathy and took my stance.

- Crackle!!

Current bloomed along my blade; I detonated my cutting force and charged straight ahead.

- CRACKLE-BOOM!!

Gold and lightning collided, each striving to devour the other.

= So you are the accursed descendant of the Blue Serpent His Majesty spoke of. =

"....."

- Crack!

- CRACKLE-BOOM!!

Lightning wrapped around the center of the front line, carving out a space of ivory.

Not the amber of ordinary lightning — ivory.

I drove forward, raining another lightning slash down on him — and once again he tried to block it the same way as before.

"Sorry, but the same trick doesn't work twice."

I swung my current-laden blade into the gold — and Glasya-Labolas, sealed inside his own golden shell, came into contact with it.

= AAAAAGH!!! =

He shuddered from head to toe, every fiber of his body howling in agony.

= Wh...why?! I blocked your attack, didn't I..!! =

Back in high school, I once read a book.

It was about metals.

It said that depending on which elements formed a metal's structure, its conductivity for heat and electric current rose or fell.

And the gold he conjured was the third most conductive metal there is.

He should count himself fortunate that the metal at his command was neither silver nor copper.

Those conduct far better than gold ever could.

I had wondered whether conductivity would even mean anything for gold forged by an authority rather than nature — but judging by his reaction, the effect was tremendous.

= You... you bastard... what have you done...!! =

Of course — on the Hung Continent, where magic had advanced far further than science ever did, there was no chance in hell any of them knew a thing about conductivity.

"I didn't do anything, actually. So quit the theatrics and get up. This isn't over yet."

Glasya-Labolas ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠probably assumed I'd pulled some clever trick.

But I genuinely hadn't done a thing.

= Insolent wretch! =

He forged a cluster of golden spears above his head and hurled the whole set down at me.

- KAANG!

I parried the thrust aimed at my left flank.

Then, sweeping upward the spear lunging for my chest, I poured a ferocious current through it and shattered the thing outright.

And as Glasya-Labolas hammered at me with his golden spears, there was one person he had completely overlooked.

"Kindling Flame Sword Art, First Sword."

"Zhuangzi's Dream."

Red hair billowing, she struck — and Glasya-Labolas scrambled to parry her attack, but what he cut down was merely the illusion Yeon-i had woven.

Naturally, her real blade never lost its momentum, and it carved a wound into his body.

= Hahk..! These bastards are double-teaming me! =

In the instant he whirled to swing his sword back at her —

"Hey."

The man with the green spear had slipped out of concealment and clamped a hand around his throat.

= Kghk..! =

"You threw me into the dirt earlier, didn't you? So now, I'll—"

- KRAKOOM!

"—plant you into the ground."

= AGH! =

He shrieked and struggled, but the golden spears impaling him dealt Kan no wound worth the name.

Despite the spears running him through, the grip around the demon's throat only tightened.

Xuanwu doesn't take the form of a tortoise for nothing.

However unassuming he might look, Kan is the one who wields the strongest defense among the Four Divine Beasts.

By the very nature of his authority, even a hail of golden spears sunk into his flesh is merely offset, in part.

"Doesn't hurt. Stab me all you like."

= Haha! The moment my spear touches you, you'll turn into a golden statue, frozen and unable to move! Let's see how long you can endure that! =

"Kan. Step aside."

At my word, Kan released the throat he'd been clutching.

And Glasya-Labolas immediately sealed himself inside a shell of gold, refusing to come out.

It was presumably a decision to shelter himself behind the golden barrier while he healed his wounds.

But the move he'd made was the worst blunder imaginable.

That golden shell was fated to become not his shield, but his prison.

A cage of electricity, tingling over every inch of his body.

The instant I swung my blade, laden with an overwhelming torrent of current, forward, the lightning crashed down like a falling bolt and delivered a devastating shock to the golden shell.

The barrier, unable to withstand the current, exploded — and Glasya-Labolas crawled out of the wreckage a shattered, half-dead wreck.

= Hagh... hagh...! =

The sight of him crawling was almost too comical.

The gentleman's finery he'd worn to mock us was already in tatters; it had long since ceased to serve as clothing at all.

Around him, infantrymen and spearmen leveled their weapons at Glasya-Labolas — and he, apparently infuriated at being seen in such a state by beings he considered inferior,

= DIE, ALL OF YOU!!! Become my soldiers!!! =

unleashed a final flare of gold, seeking to engulf them all —

- KRAKOOM!!!

— and my lightning bolt snuffed that golden glitter out in an instant.

Between the shock of the bolt and the wounds he'd taken inside his own golden cage, Glasya-Labolas could do nothing at all; he simply breathed, unable to move.

I walked up to him, step by step, and spoke.

"How does it feel? The view from below, defeated by the 'lesser races' you look down on."

= You...! What in the world... did you do....! =

"Your power over gold doesn't work on me. As long as I command current and lightning, you will never beat me."

= Impossible...! I am... I am INVINCIBLE...!!! =

He flung his arm forward as though to seize something —

and what came out of him was not golden metal, but only red blood.

One of the soldiers, unable to stomach his words any longer, had driven his spear straight into the demon then and there.

= ...The King... will not let this pass unpunished...! =

"Tell him to come. Killing him is my goal anyway."

= ...You will never... His Majesty... will... =

He just kept stoking the fire in my chest.

Murdering all those people wasn't enough — he had to set his sights on Ellie, too.

Beaten half to death, and the only words out of his mouth were a curse that Asmodeus would win...?

He should have begged for his life instead.

"Then at least I'd have sent you off with a little less pain."

A blade forged of lightning plunged down from above, pinning his hands and feet fast.

= Wh...what! If you mean to kill me, then KILL me!! Successor of the Azure Dragon!! =

"Sorry, but having lost someone precious to me once, I have no intention of letting it happen again. No matter how great the power you demons hold."

"Even if it meant breaking my own body to pieces, I was going to kill you."

Fueled by that fury, currents emerged around me with a sound like snapping bone.

- Crackle! Crack!

"So hold still, and find out for yourself as their spears and swords run you through — just how vile the things you meant to do to us really were."

When I raised my hand and brought it down, the soldiers began to attack Glasya-Labolas with the spears and swords in their grip.

Rage at the comrades he had taken from them made their weapons fall all the fiercer —

and before long, Glasya-Labolas, bleeding out from a thousand cuts, crumbled into dust and was gone.

The moment I felt him die, I dismissed Wrath of the Firmament and the rest of my lightning authorities.

I took a long, slow breath and smoothed the storm inside me.

I couldn't let Ellie, Yeon-i, or Kan see me wearing rage on my face — and I had no wish to worry them, either, by letting the dragon's anatomy surface where Ellie and the others could see it.

Still, how many times in a single day had I used Domain Proclamation?

Back when Ellie awakened White Flame and I learned her fire devoured mana as fuel, I'd considered going to fetch an artifact or a Hwandan elixir in case she ever ran low...

As it turned out, I was the one who'd need them first.

My reserves had grown far vaster than before, and yet even now I could feel the shortfall — proof enough of just what a ravenous monster Domain Proclamation was when it came to eating mana.

Still ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— two Proclamations, and a Rank 25 and a Rank 40 both slain. Decent value for the cost, I'd say.

The battle was tipping decisively our way.

The biggest reason: the Ranked Demons who served as their vice-commanders had drowned in their own arrogance, barging into our formations on their own to attack, been caught in combined assaults, and been knocked out of the fight one after another.

From where Asmodeus stood, nothing could infuriate him more.

These were subordinates he would have kept close at his side — and they had each dismissed the humans as beneath them, charged into our lines alone, and died for it.

But the battlefield keeps changing.

Night was coming.

The sun had already half-hidden itself; it was only summer, with its slightly longer days, that kept sunset at bay this long.

Nightfall was close.

In the dark, we were at a far greater disadvantage.

To keep our vision clear, we needed bright light — while demons, barring extreme circumstances, could move freely through the dark.

Ellie, our commander, understood this perfectly, and at once had the formations set and fires lit around the perimeter to hold back the gloom.

During the battle planning, Kan had proposed using a magic lamp artifact — an illumination item — once night fell, in case the fighting dragged on.

Ellie had shot the idea down immediately.

Her argument: the gap in price was far too large, and the gap in practical efficiency just as wide.

Lighting artifacts were undeniably brighter, and outperformed bonfires at illuminating the surroundings.

But their durability and duration were wretched — and worse, an artifact's glow could be shattered by a single ranged demon attack, making the whole position fatally vulnerable to ambushes.

Kan conceded the point, and so the bonfires became our tools for holding back the dark.

Perhaps the demons knew that darkness was when they could rampage most freely — or perhaps Asmodeus had given them some separate order.

Either way, not one of them attacked as the darkness settled over the ground.

While we waited, I channeled the Authority of Life and the Authority of Purification into water, brewing something like a crude healing draught to pass around.

The question I'd asked myself was simple: what could be used with minimal mana, deployed urgently, and applied to the widest range of needs? The answer was water steeped in my authorities.

The one who proposed it, surprisingly, was Yeon-i.

"Can't you apply your authorities to objects?"

"...I've never actually tried..?"

"Then try it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Just as she said, my authorities took hold on objects and natural features alike.

I imbued the water with my power and handed it out to the wounded — and the injured began walking the fast road to recovery.

The healers practically wept for joy — we're saved! — and when they threw their arms around one another in celebration, the healing tents came down, and Ellie called for me.

"Hyun. Could you spare me a moment?"

What's this about?

She almost never called for me without reason.

"Sure."

I followed her out of the tent, and then into the separate command tent that had been set aside for the officers.

"What is it?"

Ellie said nothing for a moment — so I took her hand, and simply kept waiting for her words.

In the end, she asked for one thing.

"...Hyun, please... could you hold me, just for a bit..? Earlier, I..."

The Ranked Demons each wielded far too much power.

Had I not been the one to face them, even Kan and Yeon-i's combined assault might well have ended in defeat.

When a being of such overwhelming strength bore down on you deliberately, even Ellie — a veteran who had held the post of Order Commander — was swallowed whole by fear and intimidation.

She had taken the aura of a high-ranked demon head-on, straight into her body.

Her flesh trembled against her will, yet she had done everything in her power to keep her mind and command the army.

When I mentioned this to her, Ellie said,

"Th...that was... Lord Kan told me I needed to pull myself together..."

But the truth, I think, is that in that moment Ellie gave everything she had.

When a person falls into true, total panic, nothing anyone says reaches their ears at all.

If you're about to die, where would you find the room to listen to someone else's voice?

Yet in that sliver of time, she had gathered herself, shouldered her fear and the crushing pressure on responsibility alone, and even drawn her sword to stand against him.

First things first — let's ease some of that tension carved into her body.

Breathing a thread of purifying energy into her, I held her quietly inside her tent, doing whatever I could to blunt even a fraction of the fear she carried.

Perhaps because of that effort, it wasn't long before Ellie could shake the terror off entirely.

We still didn't know.

We didn't know what foul work Asmodeus was weaving as he crept toward our front line.

The final battle that would erupt out of the darkness — we had not yet sensed it coming at all.