Chapter 508: Fall (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 508: Fall (1)
Two red skies hung over the battlefield. Where Zephyrin stood, the Red Abyss was also unfolding.
The Wraith Squad, having pursued Zephyrin, had poured all their strength into suppressing her, but they had yet to land a single meaningful blow.
‘To think a monster like this was acting as a spy, posing as a 3rd-class researcher until just recently…!’
‘The signal flare went off a long time ago. What’s the status over there?’
‘That battle is dragging on, too. Besides, that black power looks like Spirit Energy… Is the 12th Flagbearer personally fighting?’
‘We need support from Squads 4, 5, 6, and the main force. I have a bad feeling about this.’
Zephyrin was successfully pinning down the Wraith Squad, even though she wasn't using her full power. She had to avoid Zipple deducing her identity, and besides, the Leader’s condition remained poor. Her proficiency with the axe-sword—a style she had once clumsily imitated as a joke back at the Black King Mountain Fortress—was now so polished that those unfamiliar with her might have mistaken her for Luna.
However, Zephyrin was just as perplexed as the Wraith Squad.
‘What is that? It’s not Spirit Energy; it’s Chaos. And it’s not Yona Runcandel’s Chaos, either… Lord Jin, what in the world is going on?’
The sword energy Joshua was desperately firing from the edge of Romin Forest looked almost exactly like Spirit Energy. Zephyrin, however, recognized instantly that it was something else entirely.
‘I doubt the one using Chaos is the 4th Flagbearer or a Black Knight. It must be the 2nd Flagbearer… It’s unpleasantly similar to that woman’s power.’
That wasn't the only thing that felt wrong.
Zephyrin knew the situation behind her, in the Sota Desert, was not going well.
The thunderstorm generated by the ship Gruneil was gradually shrinking. Conversely, the Kozec and Zipple’s dragons were regaining their composure.
‘After coming this far, I’ll be too frustrated to sleep if I don’t get those items from Lord Jin. Then again, given their idiocy, it’s unlikely the Caligo siblings will manage to seize his belongings. What should I do…?’
Zephyrin’s gaze shifted back toward Joshua.
She noticed something strange about the battle over there. Aside from the power of Chaos unleashed by Joshua, there was no sign of Spirit Energy, Aura, or Azure Fire.
The implication was clear.
‘The 2nd Flagbearer was left to fight alone…?’
Two possibilities immediately came to mind.
First, by using the power of Chaos, the 2nd Flagbearer could hold off the Wraith Squad by himself and then rejoin the retreating Runcandels.
Second, he was a sacrifice.
Whether it was the former or the latter, the important fact was that Joshua was alone.
‘Perhaps this could be a backup plan.’
Rescue Joshua, take him hostage, and use him as a bargaining chip with the Runcandels for the items later. Zephyrin quickly came to a decision.
Thwack!
Deflecting a blade of the Red Abyss that lunged at her back, Zephyrin pulled a signal flare from her robes.
*
“Aaaah! Vice Captain! Help! Is help coming?! When is help getting here?!”
Ainas Caligo, the second princess of the great Caligo family, had been screaming like that ever since her grand sortie from the Gruneil.
Cold sweat trickled down Vishkel’s forehead as he watched her.
It wasn't just because he had already mentally categorized Ainas as the female demon version of Bubar. It was because, despite her incredibly undignified behavior, she was performing surprisingly well.
The fact that she was still alive after so much time had passed since the battle began was proof enough of her capability.
Of course, that didn't mean Vishkel held Ainas’s martial prowess in high regard.
‘…Her survival skills are practically cockroach-like. Even that resembles that disgusting fatso.’
The reason Ainas had been shrieking for help wasn't that she was engaged in a proper exchange of blows.
It was her transcendent regeneration, a trait unique to high-ranking demons.
Even if her body exploded, her head was severed, or her limbs were torn apart, she recovered in an instant, continuing to grate on the nerves of both Vishkel and their enemies.
“I have no idea what that thing is, Lord Hedo,” Octavia said with a shrug. While Vishkel associated Ainas with Bubar, Octavia felt she bore a resemblance to Sandra.
“…I am also puzzled. She is far too different from the demon I fought earlier.”
Octavia showed no sign of doubting Hedo’s lie. He felt a slight pang of guilt toward her.
“That demon is a bit of a joke, but honestly, the ship Gruneil is… shocking.”
A single ship that didn't even seem to be in perfect condition, and one dim-witted demon with nothing but good regeneration.
Octavia was barely coming to terms with the fact that these two things had held out this long against the main force she led.
“It is a ship that survived the Sword Emperor’s blade. Looking at the vessel’s majesty, it seems that blade hasn't dulled. Still, they seem to be losing ground now.”
“If you hadn't destroyed its armor and shields, Lord Hedo, the battle would still be a stalemate. Had it not been for the demon that injured you, we would have secured victory long ago.”
As she said, the Gruneil was now riddled with damage. About half of the protrusions that generated the thunderstorm had lost their function, and its cannons, save for the main battery, were no longer a threat.
“Regardless, we must bring this to a close quickly. The situation over by Romin Forest seems unusual as well,” Octavia said as she gathered her mana. The dragons gathered their breath once more, and the mages prepared another large-scale chain magic spell.
‘This is the limit. A few more attacks of this caliber, and escape will be impossible.’
Unlike the battle at the Sword Emperor Castle, the Leader wasn't here to restore the Gruneil to its original state.
‘Lady Zephyrin, please, hurry…!’
The moment Vishkel gritted his teeth and pleaded in his mind, a signal flare exploded far off in the sky above Romin Forest. It was the one Zephyrin had fired.
The members of Zipple immediately recognized that it wasn't one of their signals.
‘Finally!’
Ainas also saw the flare and thrust her greatsword toward the sky.
“Ooh! It’s Grand Duke Zephyrin’s signal! I don’t know what it is, but the Grand Duke pulled it off! As expected of our Grand Duke! Let’s get out of here, Vice Captain!”
Vreeeeeeeeeee—!
A sharp, metallic whirring erupted from the Gruneil’s power source. It was the sound of the energy they had been conserving while taking a beating until now.
Anyone who had operated a Kozec knew what that sound meant: the ship was about to initiate full-speed flight.
“They’re trying to flee? They still have that much power left after being broken like that?!” Octavia shouted, her brow furrowing.
Everyone knew the Gruneil’s goal was to buy time. However, Zipple had believed they could completely destroy it as long as the Leader himself didn't appear, as he had during the attack on the Sword Emperor Castle.
“Uh, hey, hey! Vice Captain! Vice Captain? I’m still down here!”
Vishkel seemed to have no intention of rescuing Ainas Caligo.
It wasn't just because he disliked her; it was because slowing down to let her board would create a fatal opening.
‘If you die, so be it. If you’re taken prisoner, I’ll rescue you through negotiations, Ainas Caligo. But please, be lucky enough to survive on your own. I’d rather not waste a bargaining chip unnecessarily.’
Ainas ran frantically toward the Gruneil, which had just begun to turn its hull.
She was tossed around and blown apart by the Kozec’s cannons, Hedo’s sword energy, the mages’ attack spells, and the dragons’ breath, making it impossible for her to get close.
“Vice Captaaaaain! You forgot me—ack! No, wait—urgh! Gack! Take me… with you!”
Turning toward Romin Forest, the Gruneil concentrated all its remaining power into its rear shields and acceleration. The Kozec couldn't match its speed. While the dragons barely kept up and fired their breath, they did little damage.
The massive barriers deployed by the mages shattered as they collided with the Gruneil’s prow.
At that moment, Hedo launched himself forward with explosive force, leaping toward the escaping ship.
“Whoa!”
Ainas, who was standing in his path, was sent flying by the shockwave of his acceleration. Octavia conjured a whirlwind of mana to assist Hedo’s leap.
Swaaaa—!
The longsword Vail, suspended in mid-air, vomited twenty streaks of sword light like a storm.
As Octavia had said, had it not been for his injury, Hedo’s swordsmanship would have surely shattered the Gruneil’s rear shield and stopped it from reaching full speed.
‘Was it a bit too shallow?’
The sword light only managed to graze the rear shield by a hair’s breadth.
Simultaneously, the heat and gale spewed by the Gruneil’s engines engulfed Hedo and the pursuing dragons. Even in that chaos, Hedo scattered his sword light in all directions to protect the dragons, allowing them to descend and narrowly avoid the impact.
Ainas, however, was once again blown away to parts unknown by the Gruneil’s shockwave.
“Pursue them!” Octavia shouted, her eyes burning with murderous intent as she caught Hedo on the prow of the Kozec.
*
Meanwhile, beyond Romin Forest, at the central border of the Lutero Magic Federation.
A woman in a pure-white dress flicked blood from her greatsword. The man before her was covered in stabs and gashes, his left arm missing, gasping for breath.
It was Bianca Caligo, the first princess of the Caligo family, and the Black Knight Mon.
‘He suddenly stopped moving…’
Mon had encountered her while escaping the shipyard. Unable to shake her off after her sudden attack, he had been fighting her until now.
No, could it even be called a fight? It was an utterly one-sided slaughter. Even though his stamina was depleted from the battle at the shipyard, Mon was certain: Bianca was an opponent he could never hope to defeat, even at his peak.
The only reason Mon was still alive was that Bianca had suddenly stopped her assault, as if struck by a sudden thought.
‘Are the ones who escaped to the Magic Tower… alright? I have to get away from this monster and request support from the family. I have to. But what on earth is she staring at so intently?’
Bianca was looking at the signal flare Zephyrin had fired.
“Uh, oh, that… the Grand Duke’s signal. I have to go. What should I do…”
Her voice was slurred and slow. Bianca was conflicted.
Should she finish killing the human in front of her before leaving, or should she just go as fast as possible?
“The Grand Duke’s… words come first. I’ll get in trouble if I don’t obey. You’re lucky, human. And it was fun.”
With those words, Bianca skipped away toward Romin Forest.
For someone claiming it was such an important signal, and possessing such incredible physical ability that she could have crushed him in an instant, it was a mystery why… she was skipping away so leisurely.