384. Crowning (1)
384. Crowning (1)
- 1 -
It was a night near the full moon, yet the moonlight was unusually dark.
Because the clouds had swallowed the moonlight, the top of the Damaretret fortress wall had to rely solely on the faint glow of the magic lamps.
For the soldiers standing guard duty on the wall, such darkness would normally have been a source of resentment.
Today alone was an exception.
"Hey, did you see the new woman who came to the camp yesterday? Whoa... her chest, I mean, how big it was..."
After all, guard duty in a battle already utterly won was little more than a time for nighttime chatter.
"Ah, her? I saw her too. But her face is a bit..."
"What does her face matter, you little shit. You do it with the lights off anyway."
"Hahaha, true. Ah, I'm getting horny. I gotta have a go before my shift ends tomorrow."
A few soldiers cackled as they traded lewd jokes, but not a single person around them tried to stop it.
No, they were lucky just to be left alone.
"Urp! Give me one more shot."
"Here."
"Gulp..."
Because the place was overflowing with soldiers sneaking drinks from hidden liquor stashes, or just flat-out sprawled out and passed out.
"Hey hey, don't drink too much. It's still the front line, you know."
"Whaddya meeean... we've been having nothing but victories for days now... what's there to worry abouuut?"
Everyone had let loose.
"Hey, get up. You've gotta watch the outside at least."
"You know... I'm gonna drink more."
"Ah, seriously. I'm telling your wife when we get back."
Thankfully, even amidst all that, a few were diligently maintaining their guard.
This could barely be called a sight worthy of the Norn Empire's military, which treated its army well and raised it into an elite force.
It was just as the darkness upon the wall deepened.
"...What's that?"
One soldier narrowed his eyes, having spotted something.
"What is it? You see another dumb magical beast or something?"
"No, look over there. Isn't something approaching?"
What the soldier had discovered were two figures approaching from afar.
They walked leisurely and slowly, as if merely out for a stroll under the moonlight.
Watching them, the atmosphere was so peaceful one could forget that this place was a fierce battlefield.
However, this was a warzone, and the direction the two silhouettes were approaching from was the enemy nation of Hilsa.
"Hey! What lunatic is traveling this way in this situation! They're suspicious figures!"
Some of the soldiers who still had their wits about them looked back at their comrades and clicked their tongues.
Even the shouting couldn't rouse the ones who had fallen asleep.
In the end, they hastily formed a squad from those who were still awake and rushed toward the direction the two silhouettes had come from.
"You, stop! Where have you come from!"
A soldier with a loud voice shouted a vigorous warning.
Step. Step.
But the two silhouettes continued their leisurely walk.
As if they hadn't heard a single word.
"...Women?"
Soon, the magic lamps on the wall illuminated the approaching figures.
White and gray. Red eyes and blue eyes.
The white woman leading was clad in a brilliant white officer's uniform, and the woman following was wrapped in a black robe adorned with blue tassels.
They were two women of strikingly different impressions.
If they shared anything in common, it was that both were beautiful to the point of feeling unreal.
Their beauty was enough to instantly seize the eyes and heart of any beholder.
"Go bring the superhumans and mages! Quickly!"
But rather than having their minds swept away by that beauty, the soldiers began doing what they had to do.
At this hour, from the direction of enemy lines, two defenseless persons approaching alone.
They knew from experience what such an unreal situation signified.
"How clever. As expected of an elite force, I suppose."
The voice of the gray woman following behind seeped into the soldiers' ears.
A voice that was low and quiet, yet somehow carried as crisply as magic.
The soldiers' faces turned pale.
The worst premonition was becoming reality.
"That's not it."
The leading white woman muttered quietly.
"With that time... they should have run."
Above both her hands, blood-red mana flickered up like a heat haze.
That impressive power belonged to someone the Norn Imperial Army knew very well.
"Get away!!"
The soldiers, realizing what was coming, tried to scream and scatter, but it was already too late.
Kwajijik...!!
The white woman's body was enveloped in an explosive crimson force.
A cloak of blood unfurled behind her, and power gathered into both her hands.
It transformed her body into a colossal spear.
「Red Wall (赤霹)」
In the next moment, a red bolt of lightning shot toward the fortress wall.
Kwang —— !!!
One of Shue's signature techniques.
A ferocious charge that concentrates all power into a single point and hurls the body.
The blood-red dash pierced through the Damaretret fortress gate, which was dozens of meters high, in the blink of an eye.
"The White Vampire has appeared!!"
"Wake up!!"
The soldiers of the citadel were roused in an instant.
The entire citadel began to fall into chaos.
Flutter —
"「Dark Baby's Breath」."
As soon as Shue charged straight ahead, Sonia swung her staff and withdrew the magic she had been casting.
As the veil formed by magically dampening Shue's intense presence was lifted, the numerous shadowed figures hiding behind it revealed themselves.
"Charge — !!"
Kuwaaaah — !!
The first to launch himself into the air following behind Shue was her loyal beastman adjutant, 'Barto'.
Having concealed his true body within a human form, he released the power and shape of a red moon bear as he leaped up onto the wall.
"It's the enemy!!"
"Report this to the General and his staff!"
"A messenger has gone!!"
Kung!!
"Heok...!"
Landing before the commander, he gave no word or warning, only bringing down his fist encased in a massive gauntlet.
"Protect the lieutenant!"
"He's a-already dead!"
The soldiers swarmed toward him, but before they could even reach the commander, nothing but a smear of blood remained pressed into the ground at that spot.
Looking back at the hesitating soldiers, the giant growled.
"Run, you fools."
"Euaaahhh!!"
"Die!!"
"Your spirit is admirable. Die."
Kwajik!
Barto did not bother to chase the fleeing soldiers, crushing only those who still dared to resist.
After repeating that a few times, the soldiers of the Norn Empire were nowhere to be seen on top of the wall.
Because Shue's beastman unit, following behind him, had already occupied the top of the wall.
"Let's go!! Guard Lady Shue and our comrades' rear!"
"Ha!!"
The beastman unit conquered the top of the wall with irresistible momentum.
A typical elite unit was elite precisely because it could follow orders without thinking in a prescribed situation.
In a crucible of chaos like this, where overthinking was inevitable, even an elite unit couldn't do much.
"Just push back the small fry!!"
"Capture the Archbishop and the Grand General!!"
Meanwhile, on the ground, Shue's forces led by Death Knight Ethel and Warrior Simon were spilling through the gate and pouring inside.
"Hi, hiik...! Undead!"
- Grow.
Since it was a battle in the darkness, the undead also fought at full strength, revealing their true forms.
At their very vanguard was Shue.
"The White Demon!!!"
Hearing someone's scream, she ran straight ahead.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!!
At first glance, it looked like an explosive force that would crush everything.
The enemies couldn't even scream, tossed and tumbled like ragdolls struck by the red shockwave.
But observing closely, remarkably little blood was actually spilled there.
It was simply that Shue's power was red and thus appeared brutal.
She was not killing the enemy, but advancing while pushing them back with overwhelming power.
Of course, the place was overflowing with critically wounded men with broken limbs or ruptured organs, but considering her reputation as the 'Blood Demon', it was a surprisingly moderate battlefield.
" — Move."
And so, Shue advanced across the battlefield in a straight line.
Like an unstoppable wave.
- Kyahahaha!
- Kkiyooooo!
Around Shue, dozens of wraiths drifted about, assisting her.
That was the curse Sonia had cast upon Shue.
A curse created by modifying the 'Curse of Avoidance' originally used to ruin interpersonal relationships, 「The Paradoxical Loyal Dog」.
"Keuheok...!"
"H-his strength..."
The effect of this magic that Sonia had created through her own power was to incapacitate those in the vicinity who harbored hostility toward Shue and steal their strength.
If they recklessly tried to resist, they instead suffered grave injuries, forced back as their strength was sapped, as if by fate.
Of course, there might be those unlucky enough to fall on their heads and die, but there was no reason to consider things to that extent.
"What in the world...!"
"Stop them! Get up and stop them!!"
Before their eyes, their target finally appeared.
The Holy Kingdom's Archbishop of Finance Cornelius and Norn's Second Grand General Ulrich.
Upon seeing them, Shue gave a fierce smile.
「Ferocious Peril (凶險)」
Kung —— !
In an instant, the floor where the two commanders stood collapsed.
- 2 -
Fierce battles were raging simultaneously on every front.
Among them, on the northern Kiza-Hinnes border, Yuran had joined up with Esther and was engaging the enemy.
While the soldiers and knights held off the enemies who had crossed the river, the mages and shamans used the grand sorcery they had set up across the entire plain.
「Seven-tailed Soul, Fox Spirit Reign, Heaven and Earth's Mandate (七尾魂 狐靈天下 天地命).」
Hwareuk — !
The Plavet River, which served as the northern border line of Kiza, was shrouded in violet.
The violet flames created by Yuran's foxfire sorcery had begun to burn along the riverbank.
Rather than burning flesh, these flames burrowed into the mind and manifested one's most horrific nightmares.
Within the phantasms blanketing the riverbank, soldiers screamed.
"M-mother...! I'm sorry...!"
"Aaagh...! Get me out!!"
The soldiers of Kakia and the Holy War Army collapsed, screaming into the empty air.
Amidst that hellish sight, Esther's voice resounded.
「"O Lord, here are those in need of care. Grant them a sliver of your remaining mercy."」
Hwa-ak ——
A sacred light intermingled with the violet flames, soothing the soldiers' souls.
This was Esther's effort to mitigate the foxfire's damage to the level of mere unconsciousness.
It was precisely at that moment.
"「Rain of Power」."
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!!
Massive golden pillars poured down from the sky.
Spears intricately crafted from sculpted gold pierced through even Yuran's violet flames.
"You'll have to stop right there."
Following that, a woman descended elegantly from the empty air.
Blonde hair and golden armor, a beautiful woman with a cold smile on her lips.
Seeing her, Yuran muttered with a tense expression.
"'The Golden Queen'...!"
The Golden Queen, Phrygia Midas.
A powerhouse who belonged to the 'Ten Moons' among the Thirteen Stars of the Continent.
She was a monarch-grade alchemist said to wield the greatest force after the 'Three Suns'.
"The chancellor in charge of Leophere's internal affairs and the saintess. Such beautiful ladies... it's a pleasure to meet you."
That voice was sweet, and at the same time, greedy.
Clutching a golden scepter in one hand, she looked down arrogantly at Yuran and Esther.
"I'm generally quite merciful to beauties... but you'll have to retreat from here. You see, I have no wish to allow this."
Beside her, dozens of adventurers belonging to the 'Flag of Glory' approached.
They were members of the giant guild led by Phrygia Midas, which had defended the continent from Dantalion's Demon Realm.
"Why on earth are you here, Golden Queen? Shouldn't you be guarding the border?"
"Ah. That is true. But isn't that the same for you? Saintess Esther."
At Esther's question, Phrygia curved the corners of her eyes and lightly parried.
"Our beautiful and noble saintess, who once frequented the border to subjugate demons, has lately been playing about inland, I hear. And now bearing the name of 'heresy' besides! Wouldn't it be strange not to be curious?"
Esther shut her mouth. Because her words were true.
'But at the same time, they're not the "truth".'
Yuran and Esther knew the woman named Phrygia Midas well.
Because she too had been an enemy in the 'past'.
Phrygia Midas's interest lay solely in wealth and power.
She was someone who didn't concern herself in the slightest with the honor of others.
So the fact that she had come here could only mean there was 'another reason'.
'Obviously...'
'Right?'
They even knew full well what that reason was.
Yuran and Esther locked eyes.
"I will take charge. You go finish your 'revenge'."
At Yuran's words, Esther sent a look of gratitude.
It was a gaze filled with absolute trust, without a shred of doubt in her power.
"Huh? Now, you two..."
Catching that gaze, Phrygia's brow contorted fiercely.
She was a monarch-grade adventurer counted among the top even within the Thirteen Stars of the Continent.
What was more, by her side stood high-rank superhumans like the 'Olas Couple', along with bodyguards she particularly favored.
"Are you saying you can handle me alone...?"
And so, it was utterly incomprehensible.
This reality of being disrespected.
"Hah, that croc-head never once said such a thing."
In the end, she decided to momentarily forget her original purpose for coming here.
'I had intended to just handle things moderately and then slip away...!'
The pride of a monarch-grade adventurer sometimes took precedence over all else.
"I'll teach you a lesson. My cheeky and pretty little sister."
"Go ahead and try."
Of course...
"You golden sow."
"...!!!"
Yuran never cared about her pride to begin with.
- 3 -
"Spare me, spare me...!"
"Kkuuaaaak!!"
Meanwhile, in the west, on the Leophere-Zenota border, a bloody massacre was unfolding.
Kung! Kung! Kung!
Along with the drumbeats that shook the entire plain, the black cavalry dashed forth, reaping lives.
At their head was Elena sen Leoper, the general, warrior, and steel wings of Leophere.
While this was what Elena and Serica had wished for, it was absolutely not by their intention.
[I heard there are many beautiful whores above this country! A woman who became an archbishop and a political powerhouse, and an archduchess so out of her mind clinging to that woman, what a remarkable place!]
[Wahahaha!]
No one could have expected that one of the adventurers belonging to the Holy War Army would issue such a provocation.
A frenzy born from arrogance, drunk on a string of easy victories.
[... What did you say?]
[I am too dismayed to even tell you...]
And on top of that, it had happened to be right before Elena arrived here.
That there were far more casualties here than elsewhere could only be called an unavoidable outcome.
Dugudugudugu —— !!!
A beautiful Black Knight with jet-black light streaming from her eyes and a contingent of black-armored cavalry following her trampled the whole plain under their raging hooves.
- Curse your own foolishness and arrogance as you die. You trash.
The golden-haired, crimson-eyed woman who had risen into the sky used her full magical power even as blood dripped from the corners of her lips and eyes.
Along with her specialty, Blood Magic, she summoned a dark spirit and seized the mana of the entire area.
Her all-out control stripped the use of magic from everyone except herself.
"What the hell are those things?!"
"Magic isn't working!"
Winning a fight with one's mana bound was difficult no matter how resourceful one might be.
"「Glory of the heavens...」"
The Holy Kingdom's army, led by the Western Archbishop Rodrigo, struggled to resist based on their holy power, but...
Peok!
"Geck!"
Elena and her cavalry, who had already cut the encampment in half and rushed through, ended the western war by smashing his head and knocking him unconscious.
The remaining place was the 'Alraune Queen's Swamp' south of Orbis, where the Southern Archbishop Clotilda was.
But the battle there ended in mere minutes.
Kwadeudeudeudeuk ——— !!!
A colossal flash of light carved another stream into the ground beside the river running through the swamp.
"Surrender."
"...I will..."
Those who witnessed that phenomenon could not dare think of resisting.
Because Evangeline's face was utterly expressionless even after using such power.
Evangeline hid her slightly trembling hand.
It was far less than last time, but it was true she had slightly overexerted herself.
She sheathed her sword and looked northward.
Toward where her beloved master, who would be meeting the enemy's main commanders by now, was.
'I wish to see you soon.'
Though the time they had been apart was not even a few days, her longing deepened even in that very moment.