Waning Glory
Sayne had finally stepped down from her post as Supreme Commander of the Imperial military.
The reason was simple enough. She had made her intent unmistakable by simply refusing to show up for duty. Deeming the fault to lie entirely with her, and calculating that holding onto her any longer would bring no benefit, the Emperor ultimately permitted her resignation.
And so, the strongest swordmaster in the Empire—no, in the entire world—became nothing more than a civilian, cooping herself up inside her estate without a thing to do.
For her, the only task that remained was delving into the Hero's records.
Yet, a problem had arisen during the process of stepping down from supreme command.
"...In that case, we shall appoint Jacques Lucolson as acting commander for the time being..."
The Emperor had naturally moved to install Jacques Lucolson, the loyal hound of House Luderan, as the acting Supreme Commander. From the Emperor's perspective, it was the sensible course of action. She was already resigning, and if he tried to fill the interim vacancy with someone from his own imperial faction, there was no telling what the Golden Lion might do. The only unforeseen variable was that Sayne no longer trusted Jacques Lucolson.
Or rather, to be precise, she still trusted his loyalty, but looking at him had become unbearable ever since she witnessed him execute the Hero. The mere sight of his face served as a trigger, vividly dredging up the atrocities the Hero had suffered. Thus, when the Emperor attempted to name Jacques Lucolson as acting commander, he was met with Sayne's immediate refusal.
"No. I object."
"...Why?"
The Emperor asked, sounding genuinely flabbergasted. What grievance could she possibly have when he was offering to seat a loyal retainer of her own house as interim commander? What was that foul-tempered Golden Lion plotting now? Was she holding a grudge against him for not begging her harder to stay?
The Emperor ran through countless calculations in his head, but no matter how much he pondered, he could not deduce her angle. While he wracked his brain trying to decipher whatever hidden political message the red-haired duchess before him was dropping, Sayne spoke on, utterly indifferent.
"Appoint Michael Fiona as the Supreme Commander instead."
As the Empire's Third Legion Commander, Michael Fiona was effectively third in the military hierarchy—the closest figure behind First Legion Commander Jacques Lucolson, who was essentially a servant of Luderan, and Devos Serindel, who was currently dispatched on a campaign to capture the Hero. Neither a part of the imperial faction nor closely tied to Luderan, his strictly neutral name sounded remarkably foreign coming from her lips.
"Why recommend him?"
"Frankly speaking, does he not possess greater justification?"
Indeed, the justification was solid. Compared to Devos Serindel, a staunch imperial loyalist, or Jacques Lucolson, widely rumored to be Luderan's hound, Michael Fiona lagged behind in neither age nor experience. Being a neutral party made him almost flawless from an official standpoint.
"Be that as it may..."
The Emperor seriously pondered whether House Luderan had forged some covert alliance with Michael Fiona behind his back. Of course, Sayne could not care less about such paranoia. She simply felt uncomfortable elevating Jacques Lucolson, yet had no desire to hand supreme command to Serindel—who was currently away on assignment and had constantly clashed with her at every turn.
"As I am retiring from the military, I merely thought it would look untoward for my influence to linger over the ranks."
With those words, Sayne swept her long coat behind her and turned to walk away. The Emperor certainly did not think, Ah, Luderan has finally learned humility... Instead, he began dissecting her motives piece by piece, wondering what hidden scheme lay beneath.
Having settled her business, Sayne boarded a carriage and set off toward the Holy Land with a heavy heart.
Though located in the heart of the Imperial Capital, traces of wild, untamed land still lingered around its perimeter. Glancing outside, she suddenly recognized the road beneath her wheels. It was the very spot where he had been killed by the ogre.
Ha. She let out a self-derisive sneer. To think she had acted so high and mighty, only to end up drowning in guilt, unable to even stand back on her own two feet...
Reaching the tower at the center of the Holy Land, she began ascending the stairs one step at a time. As always, it was an arid expanse of pure white. Pristine white stairs, pristine white walls, pristine white ceilings...
A sudden discomfort pressed against her chest.
It's too bright.
She felt too filthy to stand in a place so luminous. But what choice did she have? Discomfort or not, she had to witness his story to the very end. She could not permit herself to turn away from her guilt.
Reaching the top of the stairs, she arrived at the chamber where her companions were gathered. Peria came into view.
"Ah, you're here."
Brushing back her shimmering indigo hair, Peria cast a spell upon Sayne—magic to accelerate cognitive perception. In simple terms, it made the world feel as though it were moving far more slowly. It was an essential spell if they were to witness all of the Hero's extensive records in a short amount of time.
Before long, the companions were assembled, and the crystal sphere began to glow. Under a spell as heavy as ever—and heavier than it had ever felt before—Sayne began to gaze into his memories.
"So what you're saying is... Varen Fortress fell out of nowhere?"
Einzel stared in sheer disbelief at the man delivering the report.
With a grim expression, the man replied, "Yes. It was taken in a single day by Grandis, Corps Commander of the Demon King, and the legion under her command."
"What the hell did they do for a fortress to fall in a single day?!"
Einzel was dumbfounded. Fallen in one day? An entire fortress?
By nature, defenders held an overwhelming advantage over besiegers. Genom had known this all too well and attacked rashly, allowing Einzel—after dying multiple times—to exploit that desperation and strike him down. And now, what? A fortified garrison breached in a single day while defending? It felt like he was listening to a sick joke.
"...Regrettably, reports indicate there were no tactical blunders on our part. Simply that... the enemy commander was far too powerful."
Deep down, the Empire tended to look down on the Demon King's army. It was only natural. Up until now, the Empire had secured victory against the demons without a single defeat. Though most of those victories were the result of the Hero assassinating demon commanders, there had even been an occasion where the Imperial Army swept away a demon force entirely on their own.
Because the Empire had grown overconfident in its might, this defeat struck like a devastating thunderbolt. Just what kind of monster was this corps commander that a fortress could collapse in an instant?
"...They say the enemy commander obliterated the fortress ramparts with a single dark magic spell."
Einzel's face drained of color. What? A fortress wall layered with every defensive warding magic known to man, wiped out in a single blast?
"...Are you telling me to go recapture that thing...?"
Einzel seriously contemplated punching the man right in the face. Genom had at least focused on him personally, allowing Einzel to gradually carve out an opening. But a commander like this? She wouldn't even need to aim; simply annihilating the entire vicinity would kill him on the spot. While his Death Regression was excruciatingly agonizing, it could at least forge a path to victory if there was even the slimmest shred of possibility. But here, there didn't seem to be any possibility whatsoever. Throwing himself against a monster capable of obliterating fortress walls in one strike wouldn't be a battle—it would just be an endless loop of suicides.
"N-No, no, absolutely not! We would never ask the Hero to face such a monster."
"Right?" Einzel breathed an inward sigh of relief. Exactly. What could a half-baked Expert like him possibly do against such an overwhelming monstrosity?
"What we ask of you is merely the rescue of the routed survivors."
As Einzel listened to the details, the routed soldiers fleeing Varen Fortress were currently being pursued by enemy forces; his task was simply to secure their retreat.
With a grave look, Einzel asked, "...Is the enemy commander among those pursuing them?"
If so, that wouldn't be any different from being asked to retake the fortress. Escaping from a monster like that would be an absolute impossibility.
"No. For some reason, the enemy commander, Grandis, holed herself up inside the fortress immediately after taking it."
"Phew. Well, that's a relief, at least." Einzel let out a breath. He was saved.
"However, an undead army created by Grandis continues to hound them relentlessly."
"Are you insane?!"
Einzel couldn't hold back any longer and yelled at the top of his lungs. What? Outrun an undead pursuit?
Hailing from a rural village, Einzel had possessed little book-learning, but he had made sure to study up on the undead after becoming the Hero. While undead might be somewhat sluggish, they never tired, making them devastatingly lethal in chases. Trying to retreat from an enemy like that was practically the same as being told to wipe out every last undead pursuing them.
"S-Still, the Hero's party includes the Saintess, does it not?"
The Saintess—a priest who had reached the realm of Master. Without question, her power reigned absolute against the undead.
"Well, that's true, but..."
"Though there are reports that the enemy ranks include a Death Knight..."
"You crazy bastard!"
Einzel planted his fist square into the man's face.