The Great Power of a Click
Indeed, the power of a single Click was magnificent.
Just a Click, and yet...
In a mere few seconds, it had returned every last demon worshipper plaguing Hadion to the embrace of nature.
And after that?
"Young Master Shuren—!"
"Sir Lansville!"
A tearful reunion.
Watching Hadion's retainers embrace one another in joy, I felt deeply proud as a member of Falaon, their elder brother nation, so to speak.
"I shall send word ahead to the Viscount. Let us make haste."
We set out for the castle together with Hadion's soldiers.
Along the way I learned that the situation in the main town was far more dire than I had expected.
"The demons attacked without rest, day and night. Naturally, none of us could sleep a wink either."
"I had heard Hadion Castle was a fortress that would not fall easily."
"Yes. Thanks to that, it was manageable at first."
There was a problem, however.
"Making full use of the defensive advantage, we held out reasonably well. Then requests for aid began pouring in from every corner of the territory."
Mostly from under-towns that had no standing garrison.
For reference, an under-town was a place governed by a single manor knight; the settlements were small enough that the villagers themselves often doubled as a militia.
Some of them don't even have a manor knight.
With the demons' offensive never letting up, those under-towns had no hope of holding out.
"The Viscount willingly dispatched troops. His orders were to protect the under-town residents and help them evacuate. But the moment those forces left..."
"The demons' assault intensified?"
"Yes, exactly."
It could not have been coincidence.
It had to have been the worshippers' scheme all along.
Then what became of the villages that requested aid?
And the soldiers who were sent?
[For now it would be best to focus only on Hadion Castle.]
Yes.
Following the Ancestor's advice, I decided to put everything else out of mind for the moment.
Once we had stabilized Hadion Castle, the rest would sort itself out somehow.
How long did we walk after that?
"There it is."
"Ah!"
In the distance, Hadion Castle came into view.
A fortress clearly larger and more imposing than Falaon's own.
Hmm. Is this right?
[What is it now?]
The walls... aren't they a bit too high?
[...]
A younger brother nation ought to respect and support its elder brother nation, as was only proper.
I made a decision then and there.
Once this crisis was over, I would summon Hadion's retainers and have them raise Falaon's walls higher.
Just as I was settling that resolve—
"Ah! My son—!"
"Father!"
Having received word in advance, Viscount Hadion, king of the vassal state, came out to greet us.
"Welcome. There is much I wish to hear and much I wish to say, but you have come a long way. Unpack first. We can talk afterward."
Viscount Hadion personally escorted us.
After settling into our quarters and taking a quick shower, I headed to the reception room where the Viscount was waiting.
Somehow even the inner castle is bigger than ours...
[Mm. This is a bit much.]
Right?
The Ancestor and I took a leisurely look around Hadion Castle.
Just how much money did Hadion have to live in such luxury?
Had I known, I would have squeezed more war reparations out of them.
In any case.
"Ah, you've arrived."
"Yes."
As we entered the reception room, Viscount Hadion welcomed us warmly.
"Sit. I heard the story from Shuren. Truly, thank you."
"I only did what needed to be done."
There was a price, after all.
"Yes, of course. If Hadion falls, Falaon will not escape unscathed either."
This bastard?
He takes humility like that?
Ancestor, shall I hit him?
[Descendant, please.]
Fortunately, the matter of striking Viscount Hadion never came to pass.
The Viscount recovered, if a little late.
"Even so, I am truly grateful. You have done us a great service. Just now, and I hear you also destroyed the summoning circle in Boderan village?"
"Ah, yes."
"I never expected you to go so far... Truly, thank you. I mean it."
The Viscount continued heaping praise for a while longer.
How he could finally breathe easy, how astonished he was by our strength, and so on.
Meanwhile I found myself in extreme confusion.
Is this really that greedy Viscount?
The same avaricious noble who, coveting a mana-stone vein, had dragged his own people into war just to seize someone else's land?
Well, whatever.
It was not long before the Viscount got to the point.
"You have already done so much, yet there is one more favor I would ask. Could you help my knights destroy the summoning circles near the castle?"
"It is no difficult task."
It was something that needed doing anyway.
Helping a younger brother nation was only natural for an elder brother nation.
"Thank you. Those are the words I wanted to hear. It feels awkward to bring this up in such circumstances, but... I am sorry about what happened during the last territorial war."
"Father put it behind him long ago."
Of course, I had not.
"Haha, that is a relief. Then go rest for now. I plan to hold a modest banquet this evening; please be sure to attend."
"Yes."
Once the conversation ended, I returned straight to my room.
I needed to recharge the Vessel, and there were things to think about.
Rebecca, was it...?
No matter how I turned it over, the "Black Crystal" that vicious worshipper had recovered kept nagging at me.
Leaving behind a classic villain monologue like that, there was no way this was over.
And yet, for some reason—
[Mmm, it is peaceful.]
It really is.
It had already been a full week since we arrived at Hadion Castle.
Peaceful to the point of being almost too peaceful.
A morning that began exactly like any other.
The moment I woke, I summoned the Golticmyu Trio and recharged the Vessel.
After that came training time.
[They're the ones training, though?]
But the experience is shared, isn't it?
Well, that was not the important part right now.
My real concern was this peaceful daily life itself.
Of course the people of Hadion Castle were delighted.
"Is it finally over...?"
"I feel like I can live again."
Who wouldn't, after all?
When demons came pouring in day and night without rest.
Seizing the moment, Viscount Hadion even rallied the residents.
"Behold! Our steadfast ally! Hadion's brother! Young Master Khtun, second son of Falaon, has come! Clearly the demons have tucked tail and fled in fear of the Falaon-Hadion alliance! Endure! Endure, and victory shall come—!"
"Waaaaaah!"
"Hadion! Hadion! Hadion!"
"Falaon! Falaon! Falaon!"
In truth, of course, Viscount Hadion was just as uneasy as anyone.
"Mmm, do you know anything? It is far too quiet for my liking."
"Well, I am not certain either..."
"That demon worshipper recovered the 'Black Crystal'—the medium capable of summoning intelligent entities, correct? Could this be connected?"
"I will look into it."
"Mmm, very well."
Viscount Hadion sent scouts separately to search the area around the castle.
I heard they were checking the summoning circles they had already mapped out.
So they at least knew where the circles were.
[Indeed.]
Apparently they had simply lacked the leeway to destroy them until now.
[But Ren has been silent, has he not?]
He has.
The moment we arrived at Hadion Castle, Ren had gone off saying he would gather information on his own, and there had been no word since.
Had something happened?
[Mages being as elusive as phantoms is nothing new, but given the situation it feels off.]
Hmm.
[Well, what could go wrong? That fellow is no ordinary man either. Do not worry.]
Yes.
Worrying would not produce answers anyway.
I could only do what I was able to do.
After setting the Golticmyu Trio on auto-training, I reviewed my own combat power.
Well, the review was more or less finished once I obtained the Vessel, but...
I needed to organize my thoughts on Click a little further before moving on.
Click.
Or, as the Ancestor called it, the technique known as Giant Slash.
This skill was nothing short of a mana-devouring hippo.
"How much mana does it take at minimum to use Click?"
[Using the Vessel as a baseline, about half.]
Half.
The Vessel's total capacity was 6C (for reference, C stood for "Khtun"—a unit I had invented myself).
In other words, the minimum mana required to unleash Click was 3C.
And to charge 3C?
With my own mana it took roughly twelve hours.
Meaning I had to empty my maximum mana three full times.
They call it Click, but it is hardly a technique you can toss around lightly.
Even at full charge, two uses was the limit.
Even so, Click was undeniably useful.
Assuming I preserved my own mana and used only the Vessel's, firing off a Click did not immediately leave me combat-incapable.
Still, the lack of staying power was a real regret.
"The sustainability is a bit disappointing... Is there anything besides Click? Something weaker is fine—just something I can use more casually."
Against lesser demons, Golgol, Tiktak, Myuhan and the Valhalla Skeletons alone were more than enough.
But if several Devourers showed up?
The Valhalla Skeletons would be doing well just to serve as shields.
It would be nice if Golgol and Brother Myuhan got a bit stronger.
Both were sturdier than the Valhalla Skeletons, yet they still could not transcend the limits of being skeletons.
[What if I simply possess a Valhalla Skeleton instead?]
You, Ancestor?
[Yes. At this point I should be able to handle the mana cost of possession. My mana capacity has increased these past few days as well.]
Hmm. Not a bad idea.
With the Ancestor in control, even a Valhalla Skeleton's body would be more than capable of shining.
Good. I'll mark that down.
I continued thinking through the weak points.
No matter how I look at it, I need to develop the Golticmyu Trio further.
They felt... ambiguous, somehow.
Golgol and Brother Myuhan had skill on par with decent knights, yet because they could not use aura they could never truly challenge a knight.
And Tiktak's value had faded somewhat the moment I acquired the Vessel and the Valhalla Skeletons.
Was there no way to push these three further?
"Hmmm."
This part would require more thought. Their very origins had been based on instinct rather than logic or evidence, so even I had no clear idea how to advance them.
While I was still turning it over—
Knock knock.
Someone came looking for me.
"Sir Ren?"
"We should prepare a little."
"Prepare?"
Appearing after several days, Ren nodded with that same shadowy smile as always.
"Yeah. They're going to come pouring in soon."
Pouring in? What was?
I tilted my head, and another visitor arrived.
"Young Master! The Viscount summons you! He ordered me to bring you at once!"
"..."
What now?
I looked at Ren, who gave a slight nod.
"Let's go for now."
"Ah, yes."
Thus we arrived at Viscount Hadion's reception room.
The Viscount greeted me with a grave expression.
"...You've come. Sit first."
"Ah, yes."
"The scouts have returned. Every summoning circle we had previously identified has vanished. It seems the demon worshippers have all withdrawn."
"That sounds like good news."
"However..."
However?
As I tilted my head, Viscount Hadion continued.
"They appear to have concentrated their forces."
"Pardon?"
"According to the scouts' report, no fewer than tens of thousands of demons have gathered."
So these bastards...
They were gathering their strength?