Chapter 265: Ignition (7)
Chapter 265: Ignition (7)
Translation: Godtl
When the Monsters' advance began simultaneously.
Most of those standing atop the Barrier had already prepared for death. Naturally, they would.
Even if they won the war, there was no guarantee they would be the ones to survive.
Whether from the Imperial Palace, the knightly orders, the proles, or even Constelle's students.
Each took a deep breath, trying to somehow clear the stench of death from their nostrils.
Kugugugu?
The terror spreading among the humans as the Monsters invaded.
The first to shake off that fear was, of course, the western Barrier where Renzo descended from the sky.
As the overwhelming might of Renzo reduced the Outside Monsters to pulp, people finally regained their senses.
They knew Renzo was also humanity's enemy, but for now, he was a grateful presence slaughtering the Monsters.
And most importantly, they had witnessed proof that the Outside Monsters could indeed be killed.
"Hold your positions! The Monsters are still targeting us!"
The Outside Monsters had split into two groups—those attacking Renzo and those still charging the Barrier. Even divided, their numbers were formidable, but those on the Barrier tightened their grips on their weapons.
The knights' rallying cries, which had barely registered before, now rang clear. Renzo had disrupted the Monsters' flow. That much was undeniable.
But this was only a fraction of the Empire's entire Barrier.
No matter how strong Renzo was, he couldn't—and wouldn't—deal with Monsters beyond his sight.
The Empire's southern Barrier remained unaware of Renzo's intervention.
The Shroud Knights still hadn't shaken off their terror.
'...Will we be okay?'
Malia murmured without realizing it.
Something she hadn't told Frondier.
Some sections of the Barrier were already on the verge of collapse from sheer terror before the Monsters even arrived.
The Shroud Knights' side was in particularly dire straits.
From the shared vision of Sanders, which Malia could access, they were in no state to fight.
Sanders desperately tried to rally them, but it wasn't working. The knights, who should have been bolstering the soldiers' morale, were in such disarray that the troops crumbled alongside them. Elodie, standing beside Sanders, was oddly silent and still.
"Archers! Ready your shots!!"
Sanders shouted. There was no time left to mend the knights' morale. The Monsters surged forward like a tidal wave, and the battle had begun. At least now, the knights would fight with everything they had.
And then.
"...?"
Sanders noticed the surroundings brightening slightly. The sky had been clear from the start, so it wasn't clouds parting. Absently, he looked up.
"...Ah."
His gasp was brief.
The sight above him was familiar.
And one he had missed dearly.
Countless arrows of light streaking across the sky. Not just the hundreds he remembered, but tens of thousands, splitting the heavens.
'Frondier...!'
He had no idea where Frondier was now. The arrows' trajectories were so high that their origin was impossible to discern.
Rain was falling.
A rain that would surely pierce the enemies' hearts.
Sanders knew this clearly, yet there was still something he didn't realize.
This rain wasn't falling only in the south.
"Long time no see."
Hector in Tyburn grinned as he spoke, and Aster nodded.
"...Beautiful."
"Mhm."
Lunia in Krasmier sighed in admiration, while Fairin Zodiac Monty let out a short sound.
Frondier's arrows were a vivid spectacle no one who'd seen them could easily forget.
Constelle, Tyburn, Yeranhes.
Wherever they had appeared in the past, those streaks of light had brought the winds of victory.
And now, at the war's outset, the arrows of light poured down.
Piercing through the Monsters without fail, they revived before everyone's eyes—clearer than ever.
Stronger. Vaster. More precise.
Those who didn't know these arrows rejoiced at the Monsters' deaths.
Those who did, bathed in the hues of the past, drew deep breaths.
"...Frondier."
Someone whispered the name softly.
And in all of them, a weight settled slowly.
"W-wow...!"
Back at the southern Barrier.
One of the Shroud Knights spoke in a drained voice.
"At this rate, the Monsters will all be wiped out, right?"
"We might not even need to fight..."
Their tension eased, and a lax atmosphere spread.
Frondier's arrow was indeed of considerable scale, but at a glance, it was clearly insufficient to wipe out all the monsters.
They were entertaining foolish thoughts.
A baseless hope that another arrow might come flying.
'...Haa.'
Elodie let out a sigh.
The beam of light shot by Frondier had firmly supported most of the Barrier with immense trust and responsibility. But it couldn't do the same for every location.
For a dog with rotting gums, even that would be useless.
What would save them wasn't Frondier's arrow.
Nor was it Elodie's magic.
"??."
Elodie's lips, which had remained silent until now, parted.
As if she had been waiting for that arrow to come flying.
As if she had known it all along.
Watching the battlefield where the arrow pierced through the monsters, Elodie infused her quiet voice with mana.
"Knights of the Shroud."
"...?"
The dazed gazes of the knights, who had been blankly staring at the battlefield, turned toward Elodie.
"Let's make a bet."
"A bet...?"
Elodie recalled the tales of Frondier's exploits that Sanders had told her.
She decided to imitate Frondier.
Frondier had used a wager to inspire knights who were exhausted beyond measure. But it didn't fit the current situation.
Elodie declared coldly.
"I will bet..."
Her gaze, subtly cast backward, landed on each of them one by one.
"...that every single one of you here will die."
"Wha—!"
"Not just you. Once you perish, the monsters that breach this Barrier will indiscriminately slaughter your families and friends. I am certain of that future."
At Elodie's words, all their eyes trembled.
There was no 'after' fleeing from this Barrier. This war wasn't some simple territorial dispute between the Empire and another region. Defeat meant the Empire's annihilation. Not a single one of their family members would survive.
There wasn't a single fool among these knights who didn't understand that. That was why, despite their shattered morale, they stood before this Barrier instead of fleeing.
"For this wager, I'll stake ten million Quir per knight."
Ten million Quir.
A sum roughly equivalent to the price of the 'Viper Steel' Elodie had obtained earlier.
To Elodie, that was the worth of a single Shroud Knight before her eyes.
"If any of you survive, I'll pay it."
The current Shroud Knights were far too weak.
Not in skill or ability, but in spirit.
If the wager Frondier had offered in Tyburn had given them hope and dreams...
Elodie would give these disoriented souls real despair and wrath.
Elodie de Ines Richae.
She wasn't as lively as Sybil, nor as kind as Aten. She lacked Quinier's talent for understanding people's hearts and winning their affection.
And yet.
"...Who."
A voice boiling up from the depths of their beings.
"WHO THE HELL SAYS WE'LL DIE HERE?!"
"URRRGHHH!!"
The Aura of the Shroud Knights surged wildly, just as it had during their glorious past.
Though the faces of the Shroud Knights now were vastly different from those of that era, they had received the same training and education passed down through their long tradition. Their fundamental aspirations were no different from those of their leader, Sanders.
Elodie wasn't bright, kind, or merciful.
But at this moment, the Shroud Knights needed Elodie more than anyone else.
"...Hmm."
Even Elodie could feel the intensity of the Shroud Knights' morale, yet she maintained her cold gaze and turned her head forward again.
"I assume each of you knows the soldiers under your command? Their lives are worth ten thousand Quir apiece."
"Shut up! We don't need that bullshit to get moving!"
"I truly will pay it."
Elodie's eyes remained dry and stern.
"After all, this fervor won't last more than a fleeting moment. Might as well dangle money like a carrot."
"...This bitch just keeps getting worse!"
Just as one knight, eyes bloodshot, lunged forward—
"Enough!"
Sanders stopped him.
Sanders issued a command to the entire group.
"The arrow rain will cease soon! Prepare for the second wave!"
At this, the knights checked beyond the Barrier. Their wrathful momentum was now fully directed at the monsters outside.
The knights each shouted to the soldiers under their command.
"Kill every last one of those bastards coming at us!!"
"They're worthless trash that drop from a single arrow!"
As they roused the soldiers' morale, Sanders approached Elodie.
"You're volunteering to play the villain."
"Anyone would have done the same."
Elodie replied impassively.
Sanders couldn't help but doubt her answer. 'Is that really the case?' Taking on a role that invites hatred is anything but easy.
"I used to be afraid of being hated too."
Elodie's gaze momentarily drifted into reminiscence.
"But now, it's fine."
As she murmured quietly, Elodie raised her right hand.
An unusual flow of mana began swirling in her palm.
"Even if countless people who have nothing to do with me come to hate me..."
While whispering these words, the magic gathering in Elodie's right hand stacked layer upon layer, blooming with terrifying power.
Sanders watched in shock.
'This girl... she's casting magic while talking!'
Magic is a fusion of intuition and theory. To perfectly control mana according to the precise theory of spell formulas requires immense concentration. While the theoretical framework of magic is extremely precise, the mages who wield it are not, which is why they use chanting to channel their mana into these precise formulas.
This makes silent casting (without chanting) far more difficult than normal casting. And beyond that, casting magic while speaking unrelated words is exponentially harder. In fact, no mage would even attempt such a thing.
And yet.
"Just one person is enough."
As if these words themselves were her chant.
"If that person has forgiven me..."
Elodie's outstretched right hand aligned with perfect precision, aiming at the swarming monsters.
One of the Five Gods, Rudra.
An arrow of storm born from borrowed divine power.
Elodie's signature technique—the 'Storm Arrow.'
Whoosh.
With a motion as casual as flicking away dust, Elodie hurled the Storm Arrow at the monsters ahead.
"Being hated... it's nothing."
KWAHHHHHHH!!!
Before the storm that seemed capable of reshaping the landscape, she murmured serenely.
"Aster! Head right! Move along the barrier and reinforce the vulnerable sections!"
"Yes!"
Tyburn faced more grueling battles against monsters than other regions, and consequently, the scale of monster attacks was larger. For Tyburn, which had been pushed to the brink of collapse multiple times, monsters were both a persistent grudge and a source of terror.
Because of this, even after being struck by Frondier's arrows, the waves of monsters surged forward relentlessly. Hector and Aster were already embroiled in bloody combat.
Though Hector hadn't been in command for long, he showed a natural talent for leading knights. This was thanks to his extensive experience working shoulder-to-shoulder with other knights after abandoning his privileged position as the son of Ludwig.
'...Aster.'
While continuously issuing orders and slaying monsters himself, Hector stole glances at Aster whenever he had a spare moment.
Part of it was concern—Aster was still a student, with woefully little experience fighting the monsters of the Outside. But another part was anticipation.
Just how powerful was this student whom all of Constelle had their eyes on?
How formidable was Baldur's divine power?
'He fights well, but...'
Contrary to Hector's worries, Aster was holding his own. There was no panic or floundering—he adapted quickly to the situation and grasped the unspoken implications behind Hector's terse commands.
If anything, Hector found this unfamiliar.
He had worried that Aster might lose control of his overwhelming power, but now he found himself with the opposite concern.
'...He moves like a seasoned veteran.'
Aster still hadn't used his divine power. Yet, he wasn't struggling at all.
In other words, there was none of the recklessness or fervor typical of students. Instead, he carried himself like a battle-hardened veteran.
But that was something anyone could achieve with enough experience.
While it was impressive for someone as young as Aster to display such mastery, that wasn't what people expected of him.
No one on the continent would have wanted this from Aster.
What they wanted was a dazzling spectacle—a glorious slaughter of monsters. Every hero Hector knew had fought that way. The 'Zodiacs,' of course, and even Elodie, who was arguably as famous as Aster.
You couldn't blame this on him holding back Baldur's power. There was something about his movements...
Whoosh!
At that moment.
Aster, who had been darting along the barrier, came to an abrupt halt.
His right hand reached over his shoulder and grasped something.
It was a massive spear, nearly as tall as Aster himself.
'An ambush!'
Hector was stunned. From somewhere beyond the barrier, the spear had been hurled with pinpoint accuracy, nearly in a straight line toward Aster.
Only afterward did the overwhelming killing intent directed at Aster become palpable.
Aster looked down from the barrier.
His keen eyesight picked out a figure hidden in the forest.
One of Manggot's Shepherds—Notker.
As those murderous eyes fixed on him with a dark smile, Aster met the gaze, still gripping the spear.
With still an ordinary face, in an ordinary manner.