The Flag of the North
Simon told the Grand Duke everything that had happened.
“What you saw was unmistakably a being on the level of the Three Brothers.”
Whether the North God had been able to field a 'Fourth' all along, or whether it had taken one of the corpses it held in reserve after the Three Brothers died and sent it to Bilkenos, no one could say. One thing was certain, though: just as the Grand Duke had deceived the true range of the Gale Bow, the North God had hidden more than a few cards of its own.
“I was careless.”
Her lips twisted. Her fists were clenched hard enough to crush stone.
“I should have taken more time and prepared for a long campaign.”
“N-no, you didn't! I think you made the best decision possible in that situation.”
[Which brings us to this.]
Pier folded his arms.
[What now, Legion Commanders? This is the moment of choice.]
“…….”
The Grand Duke closed her eyes and thought deeply.
The Fourth was attacking an emptied Bilkenos. And the North God's lair lay beyond several mountain ranges from here. Which side to choose?
Her deliberation stretched on and on. She tilted her head back, paced a full circle around them, ground her teeth. Every minute and second was precious, but the fate of the entire North rested on this one decision. She had no choice but to weigh it with painstaking care.
The Grand Duke turned every possibility over in her mind. And at last—
“I have decided.”
Her mouth opened.
“We return to Bilkenos.”
“W-wait a moment!”
Simon's eyes went wide.
“We sacrificed so much to get this far! And you'd just turn back now?”
“If we leave the Fourth alone, the cost will be beyond anything we've seen so far.”
As things stood, only a handful of defenders led by the butler Godric remained in Bilkenos. And anticipating the undead that would run wild the moment the North God died, most of the North's population had taken shelter in the city. If the Fourth crashed into it now, it would be a massacre.
“My duty is not to destroy the North God. It is to protect the North.”
She closed her eyes.
“Even if I destroyed the North God, what good would it do if there were no people left alive to live in the North? I cannot turn my eyes from my duty.”
Erzebet, who had been listening quietly, gave a slight shrug of her shoulders.
[What of a plan wherein our full forces advance swiftly into the Frost Field and eliminate the North God?]
“That too is impossible, Ancient Undead.”
The state of the Northern army went without saying—it was dire. The march had been thrown together in haste, and their food and winter provisions were on the verge of running out. They had brought just enough to reach the Frost Field, kill the North God, and make it back.
So what would happen if she now led an exhausted army over the mountain ranges, all the way to the new Abyss, and fought a battle there?
“We would be annihilated. Even if we won the battle against the North God, we could never return.”
The Grand Duke slowly raised her arm, as if connecting to the lingering spirits of the undead hovering above the Abyss.
“A blizzard is rising. The North God can command the weather as well. In this kind of storm, communications, teleportation circles, even outside support—none of it can be counted on.”
She lowered her hand and gave a bitter smile.
“Checkmate. I hate to admit it, but this campaign is a failed one. The North God was simply several moves ahead of us. That is all.”
“……Grand Duke.”
Her cloak billowed as she turned her back.
“We retreat. I will have Grand General Ganiro gather the forces and withdraw them in stages. I myself will race ahead to Bilkenos with Hate and the Phantom Knights.”
“…….”
“So in the end, I could not cut the beast's throat, and I remain merely the Grand Duke who made it as far as the Frost Field.”
Right at that moment—
“No.”
Simon stepped forward.
“We will strike the North God. The 7th Legion, alone.”
She froze mid-stride and turned to look at him with astonished eyes.
Every other Ancient Undead fixed their attention on Simon as well.
Simon, too, was a Legion Commander in his own right. He had been following the Grand Duke's orders, but in the end, he held the authority to act independently.
“Insolent thing. Do you even understand what you're saying?”
“Yes.”
Simon understood the Grand Duke's position. Her priority was the North's defense over the North God's destruction.
Even if Simon and the Grand Duke joined forces and destroyed the North God quickly, the Fourth would not stop. A hive-type being like the 'Three Brothers' could think and act on its own. Bilkenos would be destroyed for certain.
Which was why—
“We will strike it, the 7th Legion alone.”
“Reckless!”
She strode over and seized Simon by the shoulders.
“How do you intend to cross the rugged mountain ranges of the Frost Field?”
Simon grinned and pointed to his side.
“With Herseba's 'Geheim.'”
Beside him, the sandy woman perched atop her staff was smiling warmly and waving a hand.
Simon explained the Geheim that Herseba had unleashed this time.
“…….”
The Grand Duke's expression turned grave.
“But you said the Abyss has ten holes. Can your legion alone conquer every one of them?”
“Of course.”
Simon nodded with confidence.
“The legion I inherited from my father has many Ancient Undead. This time, I will liberate the North myself.”
Her pupils trembled.
Yona.
The man who had come to the North, annihilated the North God's forces, and saved her.
She bit her lip hard, then soon smiled and spoke.
“Is your entire strategy dependent on your Ancient Undead?”
“I'll be depending on the Grand Duke and the Northern army too.”
“What?”
Simon spread out his palm.
“You said the North God reacts keenly to your jet-black, right? If you leave to hunt down the 'Fourth,' and the Northern army begins its retreat—what will the North God do?”
She answered without a moment's hesitation.
“It will strike our backs as we withdraw. The North God has always favored that tactic.”
“Exactly. It will send out a portion of the forces guarding itself. It would be the perfect opportunity to annihilate the Northern army. And more than anything—”
Simon pointed at the ground beneath his feet.
“We haven't fallen into a trap. We have, plainly and truly, 'captured' the Abyss. And it's also true that we've drained the North God's forces considerably.”
Simon clenched his fist.
“Crisis is opportunity. I believe this is the only chance we'll ever get to strike at the North God's true headquarters.”
The Grand Duke quietly closed her eyes and fell deep into thought. Then she opened her mouth.
“You're still not entirely convincing.”
Simon, who had been striking a pumped-up fighting pose, flinched and hastily lowered his hands.
“S-so you won't permit it?”
“We are equals as Legion Commanders. If you have decided to march, I have no right to stop you. However—”
The Grand Duke turned her head.
“Pluto. Go with them.”
[Eh? But I'm babysitting. Myung?]
“This is important. Follow the 7th Legion's orders.”
[Fine, fine. Myungmyung!]
Pluto came hopping over and landed neatly on Simon's shoulder.
[Looking forward to working with you! Myung!]
Simon's eyes went wide.
“…You're really sending Pluto with us?”
“Of course. The Fourth can be handled by me and Hate alone. And—”
Flap!
She tore open a subspace and drew something out.
Simon's eyes widened.
It was a golden flag.
It was the kind carried by the North's flagbearers, but something set it apart from the ordinary ones.
“I still have one final card up my sleeve.”
She planted the flag in the ground.
“Wh-what is this?”
“Half of my power.”
She lifted the Gale Bow. Instantly, Hate moved, coiling around her body and the bow.
“I will spend it here.”
Fwooooooosh!
She aimed the Gale Bow at the sky above the Abyss and loosed the arrow.
The roaring backlash drove Simon—and even the surrounding Ancient Undead—a step back.
Whoa!
Simon broke out in a cold sweat.
The most powerful arrow he had ever seen the Grand Duke fire. It soared up from the depths of the Abyss, streaked toward the ends of the sky, then shimmered briefly and vanished.
“The moment you fall into crisis, use this flag.”
She pulled the flag from the ground and held it out to Simon.
“Be it the North God or any mighty enemy, if you spend this flag, you can destroy them.”
Simon received it with both hands, reverently.
The Grand Duke had handed over an Ancient Undead in Pluto and even spent half her strength. In effect, she had given Simon everything she could give. The moment his hands closed around her flag, it felt as though her will itself passed into them.
“Simon Polentia. I hereby appoint you Honorary Flagbearer of the North.”
Simon, holding the golden flag, smiled with resolute eyes.
“I will not disappoint you!”
Tap.
She suddenly stepped forward and pressed her forehead against his. Simon was startled, but seeing her earnest expression, he did not pull away.
“……Thank you.”
Her voice trembled thinly.
Countless emotions flowed into him. The humiliation of having to retreat with the North God before her very eyes. The grief for the soldiers who had fallen. Her worry for Simon. And above all, an immense gratitude that he had refused to let her retreat alone.
Simon, too, fought to steady the voice that was trembling with emotion, and grinned bravely.
“Leave it to me.”
Bilkenos.
“Emergency! This is an emergency! Enemy attack!”
“Keep running! Get the children to the shelters!”
The Fourth's sudden assault had thrown Bilkenos into utter chaos.
Screams erupted everywhere. People fled their homes and scrambled toward the shelters, and the narrow road leading to the Grand Duke's castle was jammed with bodies. Warriors snatched up their weapons and sprinted for the city walls.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The walls were shaking. The Fourth was violently ramming them with its head.
Crack-crack-craaack—
The wall swayed precariously.
To describe the Fourth's appearance: it was what you would get if a physically immature infant were turned into a giant. Massive, yet oddly underdeveloped arms. Spindly legs. And a head abnormally huge for its body.
Fortunately, its physical capabilities seemed too poor to climb the walls—but it appeared to be trying to smash straight through them with raw force instead.
“Hold it! Hold the wall no matter what!”
The warriors of the North leapt up onto the ramparts and loosed arrows. Most bounced harmlessly off its skin, but the Fourth seemed to feel at least a sting, flailing its short arms sharply.
“That thing? Looks less impressive than it does, honestly.”
“Right. Probably a failed experiment—something that was meant to become one of the Three Brothers.”
Tap.
Then the Fourth seized its own bloated face with both hands.
Throb— throb—
Its head began to pulse like a beating heart. Veins bulged across its hairless scalp, and the faint shape of a brain pressed out against the skin.
Throb— throb— throb— throb—
Jet-black energy bled out from all over the Fourth's body, forming the shape of a magic circle. The warriors sensed something deeply wrong and stumbled backward.
“Wh-what's happening?!”
“Behind you! Th-the city!”
Grrrrk—!
CRACK!
The houses of Bilkenos's city center began to rise into the sky.
Countless homes froze in midair, all of them suspended and locked in place at once.
“They're coming down!”
Every one of those fragments came crashing down.
A great disaster in the heart of Bilkenos, the largest city in the North. People burst out of their homes and ran, but for some, it was already too late.
CRASHHHH—!
In that instant, a crimson wave swept in.
“?!”
Waves of red that moved as though alive swept away the massive falling debris. They even spread out like umbrellas over people's heads, and began rescuing others before the wreckage could reach them.
“Are you all right?”
Thump.
What dropped from the red wave was a girl with pale violet hair.
“Quickly—use this chance and run!”
“Th-thank you!”
The warriors all stared at her, dumbfounded. She wrapped her body in blood, climbed atop the pillar of a ruined building, and glared up at the Fourth.
“That's enough. I won't forgive you for hurting another single person!”
She spoke with fire burning in her eyes.
But the Fourth was already activating its black magic again, trying to tear the surrounding buildings up into the air.
Camibarez placed a hand on her abdomen and activated a magic circle.
The fruits of this Special Lesson.
Her pupils slowly flooded with crimson.
“If you're going to keep hurting people……!”
One of the things the North God had overlooked.
It was simply this—
“I will fight for the North and for Simon, too!”
There was a vampire of House Urschel in Bilkenos.