404. Daybreak (1)
404. Daybreak (1)
- 1 -
The veranda of Hylash Royal Castle.
There, a man and a woman sat side by side, enjoying tea.
They were not lovers, however. Though they might be rivals.
A woman in a splendid Western Continental-style dress lifted her teacup with elegance.
A subtle fragrance drifted across the veranda.
As Asmodeus's red lips touched the porcelain cup's rim, a faint mark lingered, then gradually faded.
The man beside her glanced her way and set down his own cup.
"Are you not needed elsewhere? To go and help."
A calm voice that concealed a probing intent.
Asmodeus turned her head.
A strange light flickered in the man's green eyes as he looked directly at her.
That same light flowed over his black suit, giving it the fleeting appearance of a dark green suit.
"Why would I?"
She retorted, resting her chin on her crossed knee.
Her voluptuous chest spilled between her arms and touched her thighs.
"Did you not have a certain fondness for her?"
She was a figure that would capture the eyes of any man, yet there was not a single waver in Leviathan's gaze.
Just as it had been in the days when she had playfully tried to seduce him.
The Duke of Lust chuckled and answered.
"Indeed. I do."
"Then why are you not helping?"
Asmodeus turned her head and looked down over the veranda.
The atmosphere in Hylash was extremely chaotic.
The energy of the great chaos unfolding in the Holy Kingdom was spreading across the continent.
"Don't ask a question when you already know the answer. It's schadenfreude."
Asmodeus's voice was filled with certainty.
She set her teacup on the table and smiled.
"It's true that the Lord-class are powerful beings. Considered by total power alone, they're on par with you and me."
It stung her pride a little, but facts were facts.
However...
"Libertas won't collapse."
She paused for a moment and touched the bracelet on her wrist.
The golden accessory sparkled in the sunlight.
"She and her 'possessions' are more than enough."
The enemies are strong, that's true.
But Libertas's side is not lacking either.
She has herself and her four Lord-class demon beasts, plus the elite-grade monster army she seems to have raised, and the human army.
"If I go help her now, it's no different from stealing credit. There was one variable, but it's gone."
If they were facing both at once, perhaps, but now the two Lord-class are split and moving for their own pleasure.
It was understandable.
They likely believe they have no rivals on the entire continent, and the frustrating shackles that sealed them for a thousand years have finally been released.
But it was a foolish act.
Utterly like a monster, like a beast... a supremely foolish act.
"And in the first place, we're already helping her, aren't we? Just by standing firm on this land and showing our power, those bastards can't approach this side recklessly. Right?"
"...Hmph."
Leviathan looked at her silently, then let out a faint scoff and turned his head away.
It was the attitude of someone acknowledging that his mere existence was a subtle hindrance and check, exactly as Asmodeus had said.
"...How cute."
The two grand dukes thus enjoyed their leisure and held their positions.
Then, at some moment, their gazes simultaneously shifted to one place.
Asmodeus's eyes shone with both astonishment and interest.
"Oh my. What's this? You felt it too?"
"I felt it."
Leviathan, who had risen from his seat, stepped forward and grasped the railing of Hylash Royal Castle.
Where his gaze went was the eastern sky, to the pure white radiance blooming beyond.
"Has it been two hundred years?"
"Indeed. She's really creating a great many interesting things, our junior."
Over the two's pupils, a light mixed with interest and wariness began to flicker.
- 2 -
Tiamat checked her own condition.
'It's a fatal wound.'
Both her 'core', the center of her mana, and her 'heart', the core of her body, had been slightly wounded.
She could afford to be complacent against humans, but against the enemy before her, she couldn't guarantee anything.
The pure white legion that had suddenly appeared in the sky.
They were not opponents to be taken lightly, neither by capacity of power nor by compatibility.
Watching her, the man at the vanguard smiled pleasantly and spoke.
『It's been a while, monster lizard. Looks like you're struggling? Did I hit you a bit too hard?』
Five pairs of wings.
The topmost pair covered the upper body as if protecting it, the second and third pairs fluttered gracefully, and the fourth and fifth rested as if wrapping around the waist and legs.
Although she had seen it only once, Tiamat clearly remembered what that appearance signified.
An Apostle of the Goddess.
The form of a high-ranking angel, possessing the most powerful strength among them.
『But you're not saying anything. Don't tell me you've forgotten me? Well, it's been a thousand years, so I suppose that's to be expected.』
Even that figure was detestable, but a far more loathsome sight was attached to that face.
The face of a diabolically handsome man, smiling with one corner of his lips twisted upward.
It was a face Tiamat could never forget.
『You bastard...!!!!』
Tiamat ground her teeth.
There was no way she could forget. She couldn't forget.
How could she forget?
[Sleep well, lizard lady. I would have liked to violate you once before bed, but it's a bit of a shame.]
The one who, at the very last moment, drove a spear into her heart and sealed her.
That despicable, disgusting face.
Though his hair was bleached nearly white and his pupils dyed pitch-black...
That grudge would never be erased.
『Adrian...!!』
The one called 'Adrian' was gripping a spear in each hand.
In his left hand was a crimson long spear as if bleeding.
In his right hand was a pure white short spear as if frozen.
He laughed scornfully, resting the short spear on his shoulder, looking down at Tiamat.
That too was a familiar sight.
『Heh heh! So, you remembered? How nice.』
The laughter that spilled from the Archangel's lips shook the entire sky.
A pressure so intense that merely hearing it made the skin prickle.
『But that's not my name anymore. I've received a very splendid new name.』
『A new name... you say?』
『Yes. With respect and love, I wish for you to call me 'Morr'is'.』
Adrian, no, Morr'is, bowed gracefully with his hand to his chest.
When he raised his head again, there was still a scornful smile on his lips.
『Well, shall we consider the greetings finished here?』
More wicked than noble.
More like a demon than an archangel.
『Now, let's begin the rematch from a thousand years ago. This time for sure...』
His whole body, aimed downward, blazed with pure white light.
『...I'll make you cry beneath me!!』
Flutter——
- Kreeuaaaaarrk!!
The high-ranking angel with five pairs of wings descended from the sky, and the dozens of angels following behind him.
The five-headed dragon opposing them.
In the skies of the Holy Kingdom, the war of the mythic age was reenacted once more.
- 3 -
"Morr'is...!"
"An Archangel...?!"
His identity, delivered by a high-ranking cleric who could strengthen their vision.
The army of the Holy Kingdom could not help but be shaken upon hearing it.
Morr'is.
An angel whose name meant 'Only God may proclaim the End'.
One of the four Archangels serving the Goddess, recorded in the Scriptures.
The Goddess's vanguard and the Archangel who heralds the end.
His existence was both a symbol of salvation and an omen of ill.
For they could not know whether his advent meant salvation or truly a portent of the end.
But Adriana gritted her teeth and shouted to everyone.
"Everyone, snap out of it!!"
It was an irreverent thing to say, but there was no time to be distracted by the Archangel.
The battle between the angels and the demon dragon—
No one knew how far the aftermath of that battle would spread.
"Quickly! We must evacuate the citizens!"
""Yes ma'am!!""
The clerics who had come to their senses spread out in all directions.
The three saintesses, including Adriana, also began running to save people.
"Hurry, this way!"
"A child is trapped under rubble! Please come help here!"
"Those needing treatment, this way! The hymn priests are on standby!"
"The injured, be carried by the holy knights!"
Even Luciana Clementine, who ordinarily never lost her elegance, paid no mind to the dirt and torn clothes as she dug through the collapsed building debris to rescue people.
The fear of death looming right before their eyes had stripped from them all unnecessary pretense.
"Please, stay calm! Don't fall into panic!"
Adriana ran, holding a girl in one arm and an infant in her bosom, shouting.
Her figure dashing through the crowd, drenched in sweat, was the very image of a saintess.
"Huff...!"
After finally evacuating the citizens of the Holy Kingdom to safety, Adriana wiped her forehead and looked up at the sky.
Kwareureureung——!!
White light and black flames crossed.
There, the battle between the angel and the demon dragon continued.
A fierce and majestic battle, as though it would turn the world upside down.
- 4 -
Kwakwakwakwang——!!!
Saturation fire exploded against Behemoth's skin and poured in all directions.
A disaster mixed with acidic fluid, highly toxic gas spores, and curse fragments blanketed the plains and the city.
"Damn it...!"
Just as Shue and Saya were desperately moving to prevent it from falling onto the city—
"「Indeed, human will is the touch of God.」"
'Sunlight' poured down.
Like passing through a black prism, a beautifully waving black light.
And that light formed a giant umbrella.
Kwacheucheucheuk——!!!
The black veil that covered the city in a dome shape shook violently.
But only for a moment.
"Hup...!"
When Esther put more strength into it, the black veil withstood Behemoth's saturation fire.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and instructed.
"That's enough, Ash. Now lower the veil."
"Yes, Master."
An instruction to drop the barrier that was blocking the giant rain of acidic fluid covering the city.
Though it seemed an irrational order at a glance, there was not a moment's hesitation in Esther's obedience.
Chwaak——
"Kyaaak!!"
The rain of fluid fell from the sky.
Amid the screaming of someone terrified, I simply raised my hand and swept it from left to right.
That was enough.
Sarak——
With the sound of a passing wind, the fluid was 'erased' from the air.
To be precise, my shadow had devoured it all.
The saturation attack was carried out by magical power, but the fluid itself was a physical substance, so it was possible.
In other words, if Esther hadn't blocked it once, it would have been difficult to erase it so simply.
"Saya. Shue. Continue what you were doing."
- Yes!!
Vigorous answers from the two retainers.
Their movements had already begun even before my instruction.
Kwakwang!!
- Kuuuooooh——!!
I looked up at Behemoth from the ground, roaring in pain.
『These insects...! It hurts, I said it hurts!!』
'So I'm the only one who can understand what those words mean...'
Earlier I had let Evangeline and Serica hear that voice, but they couldn't understand a single thing it said.
Most likely, the words Behemoth spoke were an ancient language that died out a thousand years ago.
After all, even within a single continent, there are cases where dialects differ by region and can't be understood.
With a gap of a thousand years, it's only natural that the language might have twisted beyond recognition.
But I understood. Even before language, I grasped its 'meaning' directly.
'I'm curious as to why, but...'
I shook my head to shake off the useless curiosity.
That's something I can look into plenty after I've subdued that giant monster.
That is, if I succeed in subduing it.
"Let's go."
After confirming that the First Army troops I had brought were infiltrating the city to rescue survivors and reorganize their lines, I too left the spot and began to move.
Despite its manner of speaking, Behemoth was no fool.
It's simply 'pure'.
Look. Even now.
Kwang——!!
"How dare you."
Didn't Evangeline splendidly cut down one of the bombardments?
It clearly remembered how we had faltered at the earlier bombardment on the city, and was now launching another volley.
"Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped me.
A meeting with an opponent that requires no political calculation.
It had been a really long time... a 'comfortable' fight.