Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Capital Invasion (2)
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The imperial capital was peaceful.
Even if Zaksen turned into hell.
Even if traveling merchants became food for the monsters.
Even if a dark sorcerer appeared in some village and performed a wicked human sacrifice.
At the very least, the capital remained peaceful.
Until today.
"Mom, what is that...?"
"Don't talk about it, just run!!"
"Damn it, isn't the capital supposed to be safe!!"
Countless people were sprinting down the main avenue.
The scene was pure chaos.
It wouldn't have been strange if someone had been trampled to death in the panic.
The only reason that hadn't happened was thanks to the knights and guards shouting themselves hoarse.
"Everyone, return to your homes, lock your doors, and wait!!"
"We'll take care of those things, so don't worry!!"
"You there, we'll move your carriage later, so get inside for now!!!"
Under the lead of the Imperial 1st Knight Order, composed of scions from prestigious families,
the guards were directing the evacuation.
The citizens trusted them and shuffled along on trembling legs.
And overhead, rotting bone fragments were flying about.
"Damn... ."
'What the hell is the Magic Tower doing? The protective barrier is broken—there's a limit to slacking off!'
'We can't do anything against aerial monsters!'
Even the mighty Imperial 1st Knight Order couldn't hide their agitation.
No matter how fierce they were, they were still knights in the end.
The sky was not their domain.
If those skull wyverns decided to dive-bomb the ground...
The capital would reek of rotting corpses for a while.
A shiver ran down their spines.
'...But why aren't they attacking right away?'
There was one fortunate yet strange thing here.
The wyverns were just circling in the sky.
As if searching for something.
"Hmph, we smashed the barrier somehow... ."
'But that Yi Hyun guy hasn't shown his face at all.'
[Overhaul Mod - 'Virginity Purge' is being applied.]
'Why has this been popping up nonstop since just now?'
...It would have been quite the sight to see her reaction upon realizing the reason.
Unfortunately, she—no, no one—grasped this truth.
It was impossible for mortals to notice the whims of a transcendent being.
So Citri decided to do the best she could.
'I'll dump five thousand of these here, turn all the corpses into zombies, and if they just hand over that Yi Hyun guy, I'll leave! That's what I'll scream at them.'
She kept pouring out monsters endlessly.
The Empire wasn't some toothless tiger; it could hold out for a few days, but that was it—just a few days.
Once death and zombies started rampant in the capital, they wouldn't last.
'That damn Hero isn't in the Empire anymore, so no one here can match me. They'll have no choice but to accept... .'
"And it's seriously annoying that he's still here."
Yet the reason she kept searching instead of bombing was because she didn't even want to wait those few days.
She wanted to wrap it up as fast as possible and leave.
It was because the Virginity Purge mod was flipping her off, telling her to get lost already.
But neither Citri nor even the Imperial Princess had a clue.
"They're still not attacking? Why?"
"Maybe they're trying to gauge our forces?"
"No, Your Majesty. Demons don't have the concept of reconnaissance."
"Then... ."
"It might be a trap. Hoping we'll let our guard down and hand over Yi Hyun."
Thus, Imperial Princess Liriana speculated:
Citri's reason for assaulting the capital was to kill Yi Hyun.
But for some reason, she had no intention of directly attacking the capital itself.
Killing Yi Hyun was her top priority, so she was keeping her forces intact for that goal.
It was reasoning quite close to the truth.
"Then wouldn't handing him over be the worst option?"
"Your Majesty, do you have doubts?"
"That bitch's target is Yi Hyun, and what we must protect is Yi Hyun. Keeping him out of it feels like the best move."
Empress Luna's eyes narrowed.
She was exceptionally skilled in politics, but as a trade-off, she judged everything by its value.
It didn't sit well with her to throw the Empire's most valuable asset into danger.
Liriana didn't twitch an eyebrow.
"Think of it like chess. Sometimes you have to send an important piece into peril."
"In chess terms, he's the king right now, isn't he? If the king dies, it's game over."
"For an ordinary piece, yes. But he's surrounded by countless knights, and he can take pieces from afar."
Knight Yi Hyun was an outrageous monster.
They were also out of spec, and as long as the king didn't go out...
Catching him was impossible.
"Then Citri herself will have to ambush him."
"Yes. The moment she sets foot in the capital... victory is ours."
"Because we have a 'Saintess'."
And, though probably unbeknownst even to the demons,
behind that king lurked a conditional top-tier queen.
The Imperial Princess smiled with ecstatic glee.
"That devil will surely ambush Yi Hyun. If we strike then, the Empire's skies will know peace once more... ."
"Sigh, I really don't wanna go like this. Did getting her head chopped by the Hero give me trauma or something?"
In truth, Citri had zero intention of entering the capital.
But no one knew that yet.
Liriana simply believed Yi Hyun would handle it.
'Yi Hyun, avenge Zaksen.'
And while everyone mulled it over,
'This ain't working.'
"My babies, go ahead and drop dead all at once."
Citri, who had been agonizing, finally ordered the aerial assault...
"Now's the time, Yi Hyun!"
"Yes!!"
'Contribution points!!!'
And the man who had been waiting for that moment finally sortied.
The sky was filled with skull wyverns.
He wordlessly raised his assault rifle.
The selector was already set to full-auto.
'Half bones, half sky, lots of contribution points.'
And he fired.
No—he raked it across them.
A deafening roar echoed endlessly in his ears.
-Bratatatata!!!!
'I have no idea why an assault rifle makes this noise when firing.'
There was a slight point of curiosity, but anyway.
Thanks to that, the flying skeletons in the sky began plummeting to the ground like hail.
No matter how tricky they were as aerial foes,
they meant nothing against the pinnacle of modern civilization.
"Yi Hyun, hold fire for a moment! 2nd Knight Order, all members—eliminate them without damaging civilian homes!"
"""Yes!!!"""
Supporting him like this had to be the Imperial 2nd Knight Order.
Blanc used her Blessing to leap into the sky repeatedly, shattering the falling bone chunks.
It oddly evoked memories of those classic building-smashing games.
"Hraaah!!"
"Captain Hilde, you're such a reliable sword in times like this!!"
The other knights weren't idle either.
They charged the fragments and smacked them into the avenue so they wouldn't hit homes.
Hilde went further, swinging her hammer to pulverize them into bone dust.
It was so cool and bold that even I, a guy, was impressed,
"Hyaaah!!"
"But why do you have to strip to do it!!"
"I know it's weird, but it's an emergency! I can't fight if I'm pissed!"
"I thought I was the one who found you cool a second ago!!"
At some point, she had stripped off her signature armor and was fighting bare.
Her nipples were literally flapping as she bounded everywhere.
Anyone turned on by that would be a total psycho, obviously.
'Getting horny again... Maybe buy Common Sense Alteration Milking Technique with today's contribution points and have some fun.'
Anyway, I was the idlest one there.
Everyone else was running themselves ragged.
I just clicked the assault rifle's trigger.
This was why ADCs got treated like nobility.
"Yi Hyun, next!"
"Got it~."
'If I clear about half, that should do it, right?'
Of course, I wasn't overestimating myself.
No matter how much I used super acceleration, it was still just an assault rifle. The farthest I'd shot in the military was 200 meters.
How was I supposed to hit all those filling the sky?
It was only easy to hit now because they were so dense, but soon accuracy would tank...
-Whiiiish, screeeee!!
"......!!!? Yi Hyun, head that way!!"
"O."
At that moment, the wyverns banked and charged straight at me.
They seemed intent on smashing me flat with their mass.
I could almost hear them yelling 'Tenno Heika Banzai!!' but whatever.
'Even rough shots will hit now. Better yet.'
"Seraphina, I'm gonna use a lot of mana."
Buttstock firmly against shoulder, complete.
Imperial 1st Knight Order Captain Seraphina, mounted on back, complete.
"It'll be inefficient and tiring, you sure?"
Seraphina's Blessing was 'Mana Sharing'.
She could transfer her own or others' mana to me.
Efficiency depended on intimacy with the target, and we were still awkward, so...
Waste would be massive, but...
"A hundred mages dedicated to you are on standby. Worst case, the Sage can step in too."
"Nice, Empire style!!"
That efficiency issue only mattered for external ops.
This was the Empire's home base, the capital.
Mana batteries arrived on call.
"Our 1st Knight Order still has half its members injured, and some retired back to their hometowns... ."
"...... ."
'Sorry about the unicorns. But I can't fix that either.'
As a trade-off, the 1st Knight Order's forces were severely depleted.
Seraphina was glancing around nervously too.
But it was unavoidable.
I ignored it and hosed down bullets.
-Bratatatata!!!!
"Go down, you fakes!!"
To beat me, bring the original.
The one spewing blue flames from one eye, the kind that makes you yell 'WA!!' just looking at it.
[Excess experience points are being converted to tribute... .]
'Or you're just my contribution points!!'
I squeezed the trigger until my finger went white.
Full power for the first time since possession.
Mana drained so fast it made me dizzy.
Mana was decent at 7.3, yet this much.
It showed how all-out I was going, but,
[Mana recovered: 1,580.]
"Damn, passed out already? Next!!"
"Yes!!"
Seraphina stuck right to my back.
Mana she relayed from other mages.
Thanks to that, I went full Musou.
The horde charging in fell powerlessly, raining down like hail around us.
"...!! Dangerous."
"It's fine, Blanc will... ."
"Yi Hyun! You okay!!?"
"She's coming to save us. Yeah, I'm good."
Even the 2nd Knight Order couldn't deflect all the debris; a few houses collapsed.
But it was fine.
The residents had all been evacuated elsewhere already.
Collapsed houses? The Empress would handle it with some 'business as usual' decree.
"Huff, huff... Feels like I've got about 500 down."
"Yi Hyun, you're amazing!!"
"Now we just wait for the demon to show?"
Having shredded them like a chainsaw, the sky was much clearer.
Some still flew, but just a handful.
My farming outpaced their reinforcements.
A brief peace settled in.
"Phew, where's Citri?"
"Being watched from the walls. Apparently glaring from a hill."
"Huh? Why no ambush?"
"No idea. I thought that demon was strong enough to overpower me, so she'd definitely strike... ."
"Tch, annoying."
The Imperial Princess had boasted, 'You're just bait to lure Citri in; we'll handle the rest.'
Guess boss fights weren't freebies.
"So what now? Wait till they tire out?"
"No choice. Citri's on another level from those small fry."
"Agreed. Can't win her head-on."
The mood soured in real time.
The high from my rampage faded; faces grew grim.
That Citri demon must be insanely strong.
"No clue why she's not coming. Did the Princess misjudge, or do they have issues too...?"
"......O?"
'Wait, is it because of that?'
And in that instant,
an idea flashed in my mind.
"Can you hold her without anyone dying?"
"Yi Hyun? If I go solo, I could buy maybe 30 minutes. But alone."
"How about just 3 minutes to tie her feet?"
"...Pardon?"
A gamble just between Blanc and me.
Risky, success uncertain.
But if it worked...
"We might catch Citri."