The Fury of Ashtar
I returned to the mansion and told them everything that had happened in the mausoleum. How one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Berna, had resurrected Eldacrad and used him to attack me. The memories Eldacrad had given me. Every single thing that occurred in that tomb.
“I see. So the names were similar after all. Berna was once Bernoa.”
“Yes.”
“It seems your father gathered what little strength remained after breaking free of Berna’s control and passed those memories to you.”
“Yes. That’s what it looked like.”
Truly worthy of being called a hero. Even in death, he had gathered his final will and given it to me. Thinking about it again sent chills down my spine.
“That damned woman was actually Saint Bernoa?”
Honestly, just hearing the names made them sound alike. Four Heavenly King Berna, Bernoa—when you really think about it, they weren’t that different.
“Shouldn’t we properly manage the mausoleum as well?”
“We should. Since Berna has already broken in once, there’s no guarantee she won’t do it again.”
She had already come once. We couldn’t assume she wouldn’t return. The moment she regained her strength, she could strike again. Judging by what that bitch did, she was obsessed with Eldacrad. She would definitely come back. Now that the Demon King was dead, she would try to use Eldacrad in his place.
“If you leave it to me, I’ll create a barrier.”
“You?”
It would be better if I did it. If I only had to seal the mausoleum the way I had anchored one in the imperial capital, I could finish it in a short time. The mausoleum itself would also need to be rebuilt from scratch.
“Yes. We shouldn’t expand the mausoleum underground. It must be placed entirely above ground. Only then can we properly anchor a barrier and guard it thoroughly.”
Because it had been expanded underground, they hadn’t even noticed when Berna took it over. It needed to be only one floor, with the White Guards stationed above ground as well. That way, if anyone tried to invade, we would know immediately and could respond.
“Understood. We’ll discuss that later. For now, go rest.”
“Yes.”
My right arm had been losing sensation anyway. I needed some rest to control the erosion from the demonic energy.
The head of House Ashtar summoned Katarina. It was obviously because of the mausoleum incident.
“Berna broke into the hero’s mausoleum?”
Katarina learned the full details of the mausoleum event from her husband. Everything their daughter Olivia had gone through. And about the existence of Four Heavenly King Berna.
“Yes. It seems Olivia handled it again with help from the hero’s party.”
“Still, it’s impressive that they haven’t invaded our territory until now.”
The Ashtar Duchy was protected by a barrier on par with the one around the imperial capital. A barrier strong enough to repel anything short of an incursion by Four Heavenly King Pector. And yet it had been Berna, another of the Four Heavenly Kings.
“She must have had some purpose. Who can truly understand what those demons are thinking? This time, it was thanks to you stationing the assassin guild to guard the mansion. I hadn’t even considered they might try something here as well.”
The duke had ordered Katarina to defend the mansion with the assassin guild instead of destroying the entrance to the mausoleum. After hearing Olivia’s story, he realized it had been the right decision. After all, the mansion also contained many of her father Eldacrad’s belongings. They might have tried to take those as well.
“Then you should send people to the Kingdom as well. We need to settle accounts regarding Bernoa.”
“Indeed. The mausoleum must be sealed too.”
“Will you also send someone to the Holy Kingdom to press them on this matter?”
“Hmm. I suppose that would be best. It seems I left too many tasks to you and Rockton while I stepped back from governing.”
While entrusting household affairs to Katarina and Rockton, the duke had largely withdrawn from ruling for some time. But after learning his father’s story, how could he remain idle?
“I will help as much as I can. However, the Holy Kingdom may feign ignorance.”
“They are a bunch with needless pride in their goddess. Even if we only have circumstantial evidence, they will react. And this.”
The duke handed Katarina a tattered piece of cloth.
“This is…”
“A fragment of the cloth Four Heavenly King Berna was wearing. It resembles what the Holy Kingdom produces. Olivia gave it to me. It seems my father stepped on Berna’s clothing while trying to attack her at the very end to save his granddaughter.”
Even as he spoke, his chest tightened. A hero of the past who continued to protect Ashtar even after death. He had saved his granddaughter and passed on his will to the current Ashtar. How deep must his resentment have been to break free of Berna’s control, save his granddaughter, and transfer his memories in that brief moment?
“This will serve as evidence.”
“We will need the Holy Kingdom’s cooperation.”
“Cooperation?”
“Where is our second son right now?”
They would need their second son as well now.
“He is defending the southern border.”
“Call him back.”
“What is this about all of a sudden?”
Katarina felt something strange in her husband’s words. Just what was he thinking?
“The Seven Stars’ Light Sword and the hero’s party must also be here. We need to receive as many cannons and firearms as possible from the imperial military.”
Katarina couldn’t understand what her husband was saying.
“Please explain more clearly.”
“After the harvest, if we raise an expeditionary force within Ashtar territory, how many troops can we muster?”
Troops? Katarina listened carefully.
“What do you mean by that?”
“No, not after the harvest. What if we harvest before then?”
If it wasn’t the regular harvest, it meant using the mages’ magic to help reap the crops early. Ashtar had recovered its strength and, in pursuit of its former glory, had pressed the mage division to use blessings to explosively increase grain production. They could harvest crops even before the official harvest season.
“Excluding the minimum garrison needed to defend the territory, we can field at least twenty thousand. Surely you don’t mean…”
Katarina realized the true meaning behind her husband’s words. Even so, she had hoped she was mistaken.
At Katarina’s words, the Duke of Ashtar rose from his seat.
“My father, the hero of the Empire, met a miserable end in the Demon King’s territory—not even in Ashtar territory—betrayed by a whore who spread her legs for the Demon King.”
A hero had died screaming in the Demon King’s lands, betrayed by his own subordinate.
“How unjust must it have been for him to pass on everything he suffered to his granddaughter?”
As his son and the current head of House Ashtar, this was an unbearable humiliation.
The Duke of Ashtar had listened to Olivia’s account of the mausoleum, pondered deeply, and finally made his decision.
“A debt must be repaid.”
They would use Bernoa as justification to demand war supplies and troops from both the Kingdom and the Holy Kingdom. They would also request high-ranking priests capable of resisting the Authority of Corruption. From the imperial military, they would secure large quantities of new weapons.
Yes. The Four Heavenly Kings had dared to make Ashtar their enemy.
The duke had resolved himself.
Ashtar would go to war with the Four Heavenly Kings. He would behead Seto and Berna without fail and offer their heads at his father’s grave.
Rebuilding the mausoleum would take some time. For now, they had created a new barrier centered around it. One strong enough to hold Berna at bay for a while even if she came again. She probably wouldn’t be able to approach for some time. Unless she was a fool, she wouldn’t come to a place where Natalya and—even if only in name—the hero wielding the Holy Sword were present. She had screamed after being hit by my Mana Bullet, so she must have lost quite a bit of power as well.
“But why can’t the Four Heavenly Kings attack all at once?”
It was a question from Noel, who was in my room.
“That’s…”
It was probably because of the Demon King. If my guess was correct, each of the Four Heavenly Kings perceived the Demon King differently. Come to think of it, even when the Demon King was alive, there hadn’t been any large-scale offensives. I had thought the army’s command structure had been somewhat organized under the Demon King, but that had been my mistake. The chain of command had never been unified. That was the best they could manage while he was still alive. As for the current Four Heavenly Kings… well.
“They might be moving according to the Demon King’s orders. But the Demon King is dead, and aside from Pector, the rest can’t make decisions on their own.”
In other words, they were like children. Pector acted according to his own will, and Seto was somewhat manageable, but the other two—Clanice and Berna—had probably been clueless humans from the start. Berna had been a saint, and while I didn’t know what Clanice had been before, her actions marked her as nothing more than an eccentric bitch. Those two had fallen completely for the Demon King and become Four Heavenly Kings, yet they couldn’t even command an army properly and only followed the Demon King’s orders. At first glance, it might look like tragic love or loyalty, but put another way…
They were just incompetent trash.
“That’s amazing.”
“Don’t believe it too much. It’s just my guess.”
But it was the most likely explanation.
“Your guesses are always right, sis.”
“Are they?”
“Yeah. By the way, is your right arm okay?”
Noel pointed at my right arm. Hmm. It was actually doing pretty well now. After resting a bit, it had healed all at once.
“It’s fine, I guess?”
“Sis, you said you saw the Demon King. And that you took care of it.”
“Yeah.”
“Then what happens to the Demon King from now on?”
That was something I didn’t know either.
“I have no idea.”
“Plus, you absorbed the Demon King’s fragment into your body. Is there a chance you’ll become the Demon King?”
That should be fine. For now, I was the one in control. If anything, the thing had been swallowed by my mana, and I was the one forcibly drawing power from it.
“Since I can control it, there’s no problem.”
Still, if that abyss-like mass was the Demon King, I was curious about the structure of its fragments. Could something like that really become a mere fragment? Come to think of it, Noel was basically cursing me. The chance of me becoming the Demon King was practically zero. If that fragment had truly been Demon King level, it would have devoured me long ago. But it hadn’t. Jerato had said Clanice gave it to him. What could that idiot who only knew a handful of shitty spells possibly understand?
“What if you really do become the Demon King?”
“No, I’m telling you it’s impossible. If it happens, it happens, I guess.”
“Wow, you say that so casually?”
“I’m already living however I want. What would change if I became the Demon King? Besides, it’s not going to happen anyway.”
Wait. This girl… she actually sounded like she was hoping for it.
“No, I’m saying it would be nice. Then I could subjugate you.”
“Then I’d capture you first. Why don’t you just confess already? Are you scared?”
The girl who was supposed to confess to the hero sure talked a lot in front of me.
“Ha! Me, Noel? Scared?”
“Yep.”
“Just wait and see. That guy will fall for my charm eventually.”
She was overflowing with confidence, but would it really happen? Where on earth did that confidence come from?
“Ah, yeah. That confidence of yours is truly impressive.”
“When I was little, all the uncles in the village said I was the prettiest!”
“Ah, that’s because…”
There was only one girl your age in the whole village. I barely held back from saying it out loud.
“Are you staring at my chest again?”
“No. Good luck.”
“I already called him to the back of the mansion, so go watch if you want!”
Noel stomped out of the room. No matter how she looked, I had spent several years in the hero’s party. I was certain. That bastard would never see Noel as a woman. It wasn’t just about her chest. Even if Eugene slept with every other woman, there was one decisive reason why Noel could never be an option.
I stood by the corridor window overlooking the back of the mansion. I cracked the door open slightly and listened.
Noel and the hero were already facing each other.
“I like you, Hero!”
Good. Noel had confessed beautifully. Yes, the confession itself was perfect. Now it was our dear hero’s turn.
The hero, apparently having trained despite his title, was sweating profusely while holding his sword. That guy… surprisingly diligent.
“Noel. You like me?”
The hero had taken the refreshingly direct confession surprisingly well.
“Yes, Hero. So please date me with marriage in mind. You can take the other two as concubines.”
Where did she get that confidence? In terms of brains or combat ability, Noel was overwhelmingly superior, but as for feminine charm… well. Maybe someone who had lived as a man for over twenty years like me would be better.
“Uh. Um. Hoo… Well, I can’t accept that. If you want, we could sleep together, but dating and marriage is a bit much.”
There it was. Noel’s expression looked slightly broken. She clearly hadn’t even considered the possibility of rejection.
“Why?”
“First, your body has many shortcomings when it comes to bearing and raising children.”
If it had been any other girl, he would have said her body was inferior, but the fact that he phrased it this gently showed how much the hero had changed. He was actually showing consideration? Or perhaps because Noel had been acting as the brains of the hero’s party all this time, he couldn’t bring himself to coldly cast her out like he had done to me.
“And?”
“Whenever I look at you, I feel like I’m looking at Noah. It’s hard to see you as a romantic interest.”
Yes. That was exactly it. The reason that guy could never see Noel as a woman.
“Is it truly impossible?”
She had reached the point of desperately pleading.
“Well, I already have someone I like.”
What? He had someone he liked?