Lily, Smash the Castle!! (T_T)

"Khhak…!"

The last user still standing crumpled to the ground.

All that remained was a man catching the brim of his slightly torn gat and turning it upright again. He swapped his tattered robe for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a brand-new one, then gathered up the talismans he had hurled.

"You otherworlders have grown remarkably strong. To think you'd reach this level…"

He had assumed only Leo, the Sword God, and Lily existed outside the rules — but these ones' abilities were far stronger than he'd expected. So much so that they had fought with the utmost sincerity, as though the title of Cloud Arts Duke itself had been bestowed upon them.

"Hehehe… Rankers aren't just any old rankers, you know… And every one of them got stronger thanks to Lady Lily…"

"Did you say… Lady Lily?"

Thud. Leo walked out, her recovery already complete at some point.

Her body was fully restored, though her mind still looked a touch hazy.

"Understanding mana. Sharing something like that without asking for anything in return… The rankers in the top hundred probably all caught on right awayyy…"

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did hear about it… but I didn't realize it was that significant."

"It totally is. I've gotten crazy strong."

Naphras's blessing had played its part in Leo's growth, but the single biggest factor was Lily's lectures. As far as Leo could feel, she was at least several times stronger than she had been before sitting through them.

She shook her head firmly and drew in a deep breath.

"Whew… Haa… So the orders have come down?"

"Yes. A command to subdue the enemies of the Empire with our full strength."

An imperial order.

And only the Emperor and Duke Hwangyeol possessed the authority to issue one.

—Leo.

"Lady Arne!"

Leo's eyes flashed at the voice that rang beside her ear.

Whoosh! In an instant, her hair and eyes flooded with green.

—Duke Hwangyeol's will has come down, so we're cleared to move now. But you do remember, don't you? I can't move myself?

"Yes!"

The Three Great Dukes were the pillars of the Empire.

Unless the Empire itself stood on the brink of collapse, they never took the field, standing guard over it as its ultimate weapons. Only the Eight Swords beneath them could act for now.

Leo tilted her head as she pulled up the siege warfare window.

"Hmm… Looks like the Twin Moon Duke got beat, and oh? The Battle Blood Duke headed for the Angel Guild?"

—With the Sword God already down, the Battle Blood Duke is the only one left capable of striking the angels at this point.

The Sword God, ever since his defeat at Lily's hands, had revived and done nothing but chase after Lily, and the Twin Moon Duke had already fallen. The imperial knights alone could never handle the Angel Guild, so in a way it was the obvious outcome.

—The Battle Blood Duke moved first, so there's no force remaining on the Extreme Magic side anymore. Apart from the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic herself, that is.

"Are you going to send the Cloud Emissary Duke?"

—Hardly. Striking directly ourselves is a last resort.

The Grand Duke of Extreme Magic and the Spirit Deity Duke were still on the Empire's side, after all. If it were only the two of them, perhaps, but with Duke ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hwangyeol watching with his eyes wide open, an overt attack might drive him to 'choose' one side over the other.

And if that happened, one side would be wiped out to the last soul. No question.

—I know Loberian well. He would stand by and watch the two of us fight. So long as it never harmed the Empire.

"...Huuuh. But I wanna go help Lady Lily, thoughhh."

—Just be patient a little longer. It will happen soon.

"Huh? But you said you couldn't help earlier."

At Leo's question, a bitter laugh drifted in on the wind.

—…You'll understand when the time comes.

It was about the atrocity Karia was about to commit.

"?"

She was only just beginning her slow advance into the heart of the Empire when the alarms blared across the Angel Guild.

"The Battle Blood Duke?"

The news was that Kasar Ronbte, one of the Eight Swords, was assaulting the Angel Guild. Fortunately, three of the archangels were holding him off with everything they had — but the reports said the situation was growing more dire by the minute.

"…Hmm."

I hesitated for a moment before yet another imperial castle.

But the deliberation didn't last long.

KWAAAAANG!!

"Let's charge."

If I let myself get dragged around, I'd never reach the goal I wanted. And my goal was to face the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠person.

"It's not that they don't matter…"

"Everyone's plenty strong. They'll be able to hold him."

I'd only seen them in action a handful of times, but I trusted the Angel Guild's skill. If the Battle Blood Duke was around the level of that glasses-wearing saintess I'd seen back then, then three archangels — maybe one or two more thrown in — would take the win. And at the Twin Moon Duke's level, a single one of them could hold the line.

So I pressed on toward the center of the Empire.

'Any moment now…'

I pulled up the siege map and frowned.

There were no more guild-affiliated castles left in the north or the center. The remaining castles belonged to no guild, so no Cores had ever spawned inside them — if I wanted to claim them, I'd have to subdue every single one by force first and then occupy them outright.

And even then, there was no way to impose restrictions the way the siege system did.

"Karia… Karia Machelpid…"

Duchy Machelpid, the seat of the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic, belonged to no guild. Naturally, there was no Core to destroy — which was exactly why, even though it straddled the border between north and center, I had ignored it entirely and pressed on into the central region.

'Well, I did travel by wind in the first place.'

I turned my steps around.

Whoosh! Wings of light unfurled, and instead of teleporting, I tore through the air toward my destination at blistering speed.

"I figured she wouldn't come out any other way."

If I barged into the Imperial Palace now, Duke Hwangyeol and Nea would no doubt be waiting to greet me. The Eight Swords under Arne might well turn hostile on me too.

There were things I personally wanted to verify about Duke Hwangyeol as well, but he wasn't my objective today.

I thought back to my conversation with Naphras.

'That wretch… no, the human called Karia almost never comes out. According to her contractor, she's completely absorbed in her experiments — she won't show her face unless something truly extraordinary happens.'

'Then I'll just have to drag her out. By force if I have to.'

'...? And how, exactly?'

Tap. The moment I arrived, I shifted the spear into its hammer form.

Flare! Wings of light burst violently open at my back, spilling radiance in every direction, and the divinity-laden hammer readied itself for destruction.

'Well — if someone wrecks her own house, she'll come out to see, won't she?'

Because home is precious.

The White Savior came down and flattened Duchy Machelpid.

RRRRUMBLE…!

A sound that shook heaven and earth itself rolled across the ducal castle.

It was the sensation — the sheer noise — of absolutely everything coming apart at once.

Before the people of the castle could even recover from their shock and scramble to their feet, a green wind swept them away to somewhere far off.

"Hm?"

"Huh?"

"What just…"

The countless people whisked outside the castle walls in the space of a heartbeat all turned to look back at where they had been standing.

Rumble, rumble…

BOOOM!!!

The vast, magnificent Machelpid Castle was nothing but wreckage now, as though it had been carpet-bombed — and above the ruins, a woman wreathed in pure white divinity touched down.

Lily Elbrit.

The woman who had just brought their home down around their ears gave her hammer a few lazy swings, then brought it crashing down onto the shattered remains once more.

KWAAAAAAAAAANG!!!

"Kyaaah!"

"Run!"

"Khh…! She's insane…!"

The wreckage erupted again, pulverizing into fine dust. The shockwave of the blast seemed to roll all the way out to this distant ground — yet miraculously, not a single person had been hurt.

Instead, one single thought took root in every mind present.

'...She's beautiful.'

Even from this clear distance, the woman pouring out pure white light looked like nothing so much as an angel descended from the heavens.

Crackle…!

And then, as if jealous of that angel, a violet gate tore open in the sky above, and thick, festering malice came pouring down through it.

"How dare you lay waste to my castle…!"

The Grand Duke of Extreme Magic.

The master of the powdered ruins of Machelpid Castle, and the ruler of every soul she had just swept out of harm's way.

Judging by the situation alone, the angel who had so suddenly destroyed the castle was unmistakably evil — and their outraged ruler, unmistakably good.

And yet…

"I'll kill you!!"

Somehow, watching that figure, the line between good and evil seemed to have been drawn in the wrong place.

The truly evil one felt less like the angel, and more like their own master — Karia.

At last, the evil one conjured dozens of violet magic circles in the empty air—

"Uhp!"

The green wind carried them all even farther away, and violet flames roared up to swallow the ground where they had stood.

I had thrown a whole tantrum to lure out the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic — and she hadn't come out.

But if I stormed the Imperial Palace instead, I wouldn't be fighting just her; I'd be facing Duke Hwangyeol and a whole horde of enemies besides. Not that I lacked confidence in winning — they simply weren't today's goal.

The deliberation stretched on… but the solution turned out to be refreshingly simple.

KWAAAAAAAAANG!!!

What if I just kept smashing until she came out?

"How dare you lay waste to my castle…!"

Furious beyond words, the Grand Duke of Extreme Magic revealed herself at last, spitting pure rage.

I turned my head.

Land that hadn't so much been destroyed as simply erased from existence — using the word "destruction" almost felt too generous.

I gazed for a moment at what had once been a castle, then gave a small nod.

'Hm.'

Yeah. She's got every right to be angry.

I flashed her a bright, sweet smile.

"You're one of the Empire's mighty Grand Dukes, after all — surely you can understand, right?"

"I'LL KILL YOU!!"