412. Sunrise (4)
412. Sunrise (4)
- 1 -
The situation unfolding in the Holy Kingdom was not something that could be resolved immediately.
With the gate physically blocked, there simply wasn't enough time to make the journey.
Even riding atop the bone dragon Keltarion, it would take several hours from here to the Holy Kingdom's capital, Kivelt.
But that same Keltarion had already been sent with Yuran and Serica to assist them.
What resolved that hopeless situation was none other than Behemoth herself.
[We need to get there fast? Then ride me, Libertas!]
That one sentence had led to this frantic sprint.
Once Behemoth began to run in earnest, her speed was beyond words—truly overwhelming.
Kwang —— !!
The appearance reminiscent of a giant 'bull' was nowhere to be seen.
Now she had taken the form of a colossal beast of prey clad in jet-black armor, with enormous twin horns sprouting from her head.
She no longer possessed the mountain-shaking massiveness of before, but she traversed the land at a speed incomparable to that time.
A speed that covered a distance that would take a full month by carriage in mere hours.
Yet even this speed was not her full power.
『My head hurts...』
A faint pain was mixed into the voice that resonated through her mind.
It was because the aftereffects of my magic still lingered inside her head.
Without the painkilling spell I'd cast, just running at this speed would have rattled her brain beyond endurance.
I gently stroked her sturdy nape and whispered.
"I'm sorry. Once this is over, I'll heal you properly."
『It's okay! Because I can run!』
Kwakwang —— !!
The ground beneath her feet burst apart again as she shouted brightly.
And immediately after, a 'pressure' beyond imagination pressed down upon us.
"Ugh...!"
Along with Esther's short groan, the surrounding scenery blurred into one color and shot backward.
Kwajijik!
The dense forest was ripped out by the roots and torn apart from the pressure's shockwave alone.
If not for the protective barrier I had deployed enveloping us, the recoil generated by this murderous speed would have flung us away.
But the struggle was worth it.
A sky stained with ashen-gray and dark-crimson light came into view.
It was the sky over the Holy Kingdom's capital, the Holy Emperor's direct dominion of Kivelt.
"Stop."
『Okay!』
Kung!!
At my command, Behemoth dug her four legs in and decelerated.
The first thing I saw upon reaching the battlefield was the sky dyed a strange color.
The dark-red energy emitted from the clash of two opposing Authorities was covering the entire sky.
'... I'll have to properly reward those two later.'
The sight of the four beings clashing in the distant, high firmament was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.
But it was certain that they were fighting with everything they had.
Kurrreung —— !!
A thunderous roar raged across the parched sky without a single bolt of lightning.
The noise, as if space itself were screaming, was proof of that.
I lowered my gaze to somewhere closer.
The first thing that caught my eye was the 'Archduke of Frenzy,' gliding through the void with two massive pairs of wings fluttering.
"Tiamat..."
『Right! It's Tia! Isn't she so pretty!』
Behemoth shouted excitedly.
It was an impression I couldn't quite agree with, but it was understandable if the word 'pretty' also encompassed meanings like 'awe-inspiring' or 'overwhelming.'
Setting aside personal feelings, the sight of the ancient dragon with five heads was so magnificent it could be called mythical.
Around her, known to be both an ancient dragon and a demon dragon, crimson flashes and black shadows writhed chaotically.
Serica and Kamaya, swiftly soaring through the sky, and another demon woman exchanging fierce attacks with them.
'... That's probably Astaroth.'
Fortunately, they still seemed alright.
Serica's side appeared slightly disadvantaged, but they were maintaining a relatively tight balance.
When I lowered my gaze further, a gruesome sight unfolded.
The half-destroyed shrine of the Holy Emperor's direct dominion and the collapsed ramparts.
The high, sturdy white walls once celebrated as artistic masterpieces of Kivelt had mostly turned into heaps of rubble, and it was hard to find any intact streets either.
Kiirrrrr...!
Kyaaaak!!
Prowling through those ruins were only monsters whose reason had been paralyzed.
As if unaware that all their prey had already evacuated to safety, they roamed around pointlessly destroying every corner of the white city.
I tore my eyes away from them and focused my senses on the vanguard of the monster legion.
Just then, a gigantic bone dragon was soaring up with a roar.
Kwaaaaa —— !!
A dark-blue flame erupted from its skeletal maw and swept across the ground, while above its head, a violet foxfire bloomed in full splendor.
Keltarion and Yuran. They were the spearhead of my legion.
"Hold on — !!"
"Lord Astaroth will soon arrive!"
Under Yuran's offensive, the demon army, presumably Astaroth's, was being pushed back helplessly.
Even from a rough glance, there were three dungeon lords who appeared to be at the marquis level, and over twenty at the count level.
Besides that, it was an elite force comprised of numerous high-ranking monsters.
In an ordinary situation, it was a force capable of simultaneously taking on three expeditionary armies of the Empire.
Though not against my army.
『Behold! The power of I, Keltarion, who stands alongside the true Queen of Death!!』
'... I wish he wouldn't say such embarrassing lines.'
Keltarion's words were full of bluster, but his power was not false.
After being reborn as a bone dragon, additional 'improvements' had long since allowed him to regain an Authority rivaling the power he held in life.
That was evident even in his current breath.
Kwarrreung —— !!
A dark-blue breath shot toward two charging demons.
The moment they saw it, the demons flinched and scattered from their positions.
"「Heavenly God Summoning 天神召 - Myriad Transformation Ghost God 萬化鬼神 - All Laws Mastery 萬法通」!"
Yuran, in perfect coordination with Keltarion, was tying down the three marquises and the high-ranking monsters.
As she waved her hand, hundreds of wraiths and ghost-type yokai poured out like a tidal wave, sweeping through the ground forces.
Two count-level demons rushed over frantically to block with all their might, but a corner of the army had already been torn away wholesale.
This was why my heart remained steadfast even though I had only sent the second army here.
She was that kind of woman.
"「Look over here. Leave everything behind.」"
"Press the attack! We finish this here!!"
"Your mistress is waiting for results."
Nirvana, Orea, and Echidna were also encouraging their respective forces and piling up achievements.
"Bes."
As I watched the forces centered around Alraune, Myrmekian, and Lamia penetrate the enemy lines, I tapped the head of Behemoth, who had been showing signs of restlessness for a while now.
My grasp of the situation was complete.
I could not rashly intervene in the battle between the Archdukes and the Heavenly Messengers.
The ground battle had already tilted in my favor.
Then, there was only one place I needed to intervene.
The place that was most precarious, where the balance might collapse.
"Let's go to Tia."
『...! Okay!』
With a brightened expression, Behemoth unfurled gigantic 'wings' from her back.
Kwachang!!
They were 'solid' wings, made of the same material as the armor that covered her entire body, resembling those of an airship.
- 2 -
That place was peaceful.
Sunlight gently beat down, and a mountain breeze swept across the plains.
A woman tending the flower garden was smiling as she watched her fold her crimson feathered wings neatly and alight.
「You've come.」
"Josephine."
Josephine.
A human, but the person she loved.
The only woman who had awakened in her a fierce emotion she had never even felt for her deceased spouse.
A love between a monster queen and a human woman that required overcoming two of the world's barriers... but they had overcome everything and come to be together.
「The flowers have bloomed so beautifully, Lady Kamaya.」
"You are more beautiful."
Seeing Josephine blush and laugh, Kamaya made a vow.
Now, neither war, nor revenge, nor domination... none of it was needed anymore.
If only she remained by her side...
Kwajik!
At that moment, a crimson light flickered like lightning on the distant horizon.
When she raised her head, thinking it might be the sunset, the sky began to swell.
The landscape contorted hideously like an abscess about to burst.
"Josephine!!"
She hurriedly reached out her hand.
To take her beloved and escape from this place.
"Josephine...?"
But the person there was no longer her.
Kkurrrrrk...
A bizarre monstrous form, twisted black.
Beneath the black fluid, the lips still smiled beautifully, but a horrifying voice flowed from that mouth.
「L-love. Love. Love. Love. Love. LoveloveloveloveloveloveloveloveloveloveloveLove」
「Love. I don't.」
Peok!!
Someone's hand pierced through the center of that distorted shape.
『Snap out of it, Kamaya.』
A long, white hand, so delicately beautiful it seemed frail.
The putrid blood dripping from those fingertips tore the sky —
No, it tore the whole world apart.
Chwaaaak —— !!
As the blood dyed the whole world, the sweet illusion shattered like glass.
Josephine's face scattered into the void, and the color of the earth returned to ashen gray.
Only then did Kamaya remember.
That the place she was currently standing was not a flower garden in full bloom, but a battlefield reeking of blood.
"You're awake. Thank goodness."
Not far away, Serica was catching her ragged breath.
Her entire body was covered in blood, and her dark eyes held neither pity nor anger.
Only a faint sense of relief at having saved her comrade resided there.
"... Damn it."
Kamaya nervously peeled off the putrid pinkish chunks of flesh clinging to her own nape.
Her mind had returned, but the sensations of happiness and despair she had felt within the illusion lingered like an afterimage, clawing at her heart.
"I apologize. Just now..."
"It's fine."
Serica clenched her teeth and pulled out the pinkish spear of flesh that had pierced her forearm.
She had been hit by an attack she couldn't dodge while fighting to protect Kamaya, who had fallen into the illusion.
Above their heads, a ghastly presence surged like a whirlwind.
『What touching friendship.』
It was Astaroth.
She gently stroked her own chest and let out an elated breath.
『How did it feel to be loved, Harpy Queen? If you'd just stayed quiet in that world, I was planning to bring that human woman to you, you know.』
A sweet voice that carried the Frenzy, seeping down to the very marrow.
The magic power carried in that voice twisted the space once more, trying to drag them into a deeper, inescapable illusion.
But this time was different.
"I won't fall for it twice."
A darkness deeper than jet-black bloomed at Serica's fingertips.
It was the pure Authority of darkness, learned directly from Libertas, which devoured all illusions and mental magic.
『Fufu, then what will you do? That won't change the fact that you are already dead meat.』
Even so, Astaroth did not lose her leisurely smile.
Serica's face darkened. It was because her words were correct.
She was a Demon Realm lord who had ruled the frontier for hundreds of years, fending off human subjugation attempts.
The difference in their fundamental level was too great.
Serica herself and Kamaya also possessed power that transcended ordinary dungeon lords, but they were outmatched against Astaroth.
Moreover, they themselves had already taken significant damage, while she was unscathed.
'... But.'
Even so, they could not retreat.
If Astaroth were to join hands with Tiamat, there was no being present who could stop them here.
It was said the Archdukes were gaining the upper hand against the Heavenly Messengers, but they did not have the leisure to look away.
They had to hold out somehow until the allies below won.
"Kamaya."
"I'm ready."
Just as the two women were steeling their resolve with grim determination once more.
『Tia...!』
A change occurred.
- 3 -
The heavens, 'her' palace.
Upon the white marble table in the center of 'her' garden, a small, white fist slammed down.
Kung —— !!
At that moment, every space in the heavenly realm quaked.
The entire world, filled with infinite radiance, was shaken.
The light filling every direction was torn to shreds, spewing out flashes of rainbow-like varied colors.
It was because the ruler of this world, the 'Lord', was erupting with violent fury.
『... This bitch...!』
A woman muttering curses toward an opponent she did not know.
'She' glared down at the surface and ground her teeth.
What she was looking at was, to be exact, one single being.
Black hair. Violet eyes.
The woman who had become the protagonist of the battlefield at this very moment.
Libertas.
『How dare... how dare...!!』
Her eyes twisted as they emitted the radiance of the heavens.
A whirlwind of irrepressible emotion raged within her chest.
『... In my garden, how dare she sow her seeds as she pleases...?!』
'Her' voice was like thunder roaring.
All the Heavenly Messengers cowered, waiting for her fury to pass them by.
Jealousy. Insult. Hatred.
And, an obsession with a name she could not forget.
『 — NaiyaNayah —— !!!』
The emotion imbued in her voice burst forth, piercing through the heavenly realm and toward every dimension.
Until it could be heard by the ears of the 'One Who Watches from Outside.'