You Can Enter Freely, But Leaving? Not So Easy (6)
The assassins showed no sign of lowering their weapons. If anything, someone in the garden outside was nocking an arrow aimed right at them.
Pew!
"Gah!"
Jenia responded with agile precision, her arrow killing the man in one shot.
I let out a sigh.
"This won't do."
I immediately cast Suppress.
"Ugh!"
"Kkh!"
"Urgh!"
Seizing the moment while they all trembled in terror, Jenia and I rushed in and subdued them in an instant.
"Thank you."
As the situation wrapped up, Duke Neville approached and expressed his gratitude.
"You saved my life."
"The marquis might send more men. Hurry and take your family to safety."
"You're right. I'll never forget this favor."
"Don't worry about me. I have somewhere urgent to be, so I'll head out first."
"Understood. Let's meet again alive."
Alicia stood at a distance, stealing glances our way. I waved lightly and flashed her a smile. She whipped her head away.
Both Jenia and her... I'm really getting the cold shoulder today.
I turned to Sophia.
"Sophia. Let's head to the northern sanctuary. Open a portal, please."
"Yes."
Moments later, a portal formed in the room, and Sophia, Jenia, and I stepped inside.
At the Laphone family estate, Lady Michelle was peacefully sipping tea with the man sent by Marquis Bishtent.
"If we support the marquis, you'll wipe our bank's debts clean?"
"Once our endeavor succeeds, the current Royal Central Bank will vanish without a trace—debtor lists included. A new central bank will take its place. Nobles with deposits will have them fully protected, and those in debt will start fresh with everything forgiven."
"Our family too...?"
"Yes. Once the new dynasty rises, no more debt worries."
"I see..."
Lady Michelle did some mental calculations, pondered calmly, then finally looked up.
"Very well. The Laphone family stands with the marquis from this moment on."
"Wise choice. Then, if I may be so bold, could we request your immediate cooperation? Our weary soldiers need a hearty meal. We'd like to set up a kitchen and dining area in that front garden you can see."
"Consider it done."
"Thank you for your permission."
After the man left, Lady Michelle gazed out the window and took a deep breath. It was thrilling and nerve-wracking. A high-stakes gamble where everything was on the line—failure meant death, success meant a new life.
"We'll win. We have to..."
She pressed a hand to her trembling chest.
At Buzdra Academy.
"Disappointing."
Principal Robert sat across from the envoy from Marquis Bishtent.
"You fail to grasp the tide of history. The queen will fall soon enough. Is it so hard to support our students?"
"Our academy wants no part in politics. Don't waste my time—leave."
The woman stood abruptly.
"The marquis will remember this."
"We're not backing the queen either. If our students must act, it'll only be if monsters invade this beautiful city."
"Your stubbornness will doom the students."
She stormed out of the principal's office. Robert chuckled, stroking his white beard.
"Whatever the outcome... troubling times indeed."
Northern gate guard post.
"Captain! Is this right!? Word is the east gate bastards sided with the marquis!"
"Quiet! Our job is to protect the queen! That's all that matters!"
Near the northern sanctuary.
Rebels poured endlessly from the portal there.
"Fuck, too many!"
"You bastards!"
"Aaaah! My arm's gone!"
The northern gate guards held firm against the onslaught. If this path broke, the city would be in even greater peril. They'd gritted their teeth and held so far with their own forces, but no guarantees for how long.
If only reinforcements would hurry...
Guard Captain Willis raised his sword high.
"Fight! Hold! Win!"
"Waaaaah!"
The guards, still brimming with energy, roared in response amid the chaos. But Willis knew it wouldn't last.
Damn it, send backup already. What the hell are the inner castle guys doing?
Then it happened.
A portal suddenly ripped open at a distance, and someone leaped out.
"......"
He scanned the surroundings briefly. Once he grasped the situation, he cast a spell without hesitation, freezing the nearby enemies in place, then beat them down mercilessly—using only his sheathed sword, no blade drawn.
Following him, a dark elf he'd never seen before emerged from the portal, providing covering fire. Her arrows snuffed out lives instantly.
"Gurk!"
"Urk!"
"Hik!"
The enemies collapsed one by one, screaming their death throes.
Who the hell are those guys? So damn strong...
Willis caught his breath, staring blankly.
The path cleared. The way to the sanctuary portal.
Every swing of the man's sheathed sword felled dozens; the dark elf's arrows claimed many more.
Willis's men paused their fighting, watching the spectacle in silence.
"Who are they...?"
"I think I've seen that guy before. Who was it... Right! Hero Kang Naru! That divorced hero Kang Naru!"
"Kang Naru? That's my daughter's teacher?!"
Willis gaped in shock.
In that instant, Naru obliterated the sanctuary portal in a flash and shouted loudly.
"Sophia! Eastern sanctuary next!"
"Yes!"
Whirr.
They had come like the wind and vanished just as swiftly.
Willis blinked.
"What was that ease?"
One of his men muttered blankly beside him.
"...Heroes are heroes, huh. Terrifying."
Thanks to Hero Kang Naru's sweeping intervention, the battle tide turned in moments. The guards' morale soared, and they roared together.
"They can't enter the capital anymore! Crush the rest!"
"Charge!"
"Huff... huff...!"
I gazed at the city's panorama from atop a tall building. Shouts, screams, clashing weapons, spurting blood, burning structures—chaos everywhere.
The silver lining: we'd swiftly destroyed all four portals at the cardinal directions. Smashed beyond reactivation, no more enemies pouring into the capital.
Now, just mop up the ones inside, and this ends. But I couldn't do it alone. I needed everyone's help—those fighting to protect Queen Isabella.
All I could do was hope they gave their all in their posts.
"What's next?"
Jenia asked from behind me.
I turned to her. Dust clung to her beautiful silver hair. As I reached to brush it off, she swatted my hand and stepped back.
"Don't touch."
"Just dusting you off."
"I'll handle it."
My little sister. Tingling with attitude since we reunited, but adorable all the same.
"Fine."
She was the daughter of those who cared for me selflessly when I first arrived in this world, lost and confused. Like it or not, I wanted to shower her with endless affection.
"Heading back to the inner castle? Shall I open a portal?"
"Mana still good?"
"Yes, I can manage 3 or 4 more. Thanks to the energy you gave me last night..."
Sophia trailed off with a heavy sigh. Opening portals nonstop without rest had worn her out. I gently stroked her back.
"Just one more."
"Brother!"
Illar's voice boomed from afar. He bounded across rooftops with his massive frame, landing nimbly on our rooftop.
"We're in trouble! We merfolk can't exert ourselves in this heat!"
Sweat poured from Illar's blue body, far more than any human's. Even standing briefly, a puddle formed at his feet.
"Look there. That's why the kids are exhausted and faltering!"
He pointed toward the inner castle. A massive fireball blazed in the sky above like a sun.
The moment I saw it, I knew.
The marquis's mage, countering the merfolk's weakness to heat.
Merfolk shone at sea or underwater. Fighting on land was a massive handicap already; that fireball made it impossible.
"Damn."
From afar, I could see the merfolk being pushed back. Their superior size and unique aquatic attacks held for now, but heavy casualties loomed.
My brow furrowed.
To destroy that fireball, find the caster.
But in this vast capital? By the time I searched, the merfolk would be slaughtered.
Then...
Only one way.
I had my Isle. Not recent ones, but from three years ago, adventuring with Melissa, Ariana, and Rock.
After all that adventuring, did I have no old ones?
Shing.
I finally drew the sword I hadn't unsheathed once today.
I bellowed at the top of my lungs.
"To all fighting for Queen Isabella, I bestow this glorious power upon you!"
Thud!
I slammed the sword into the ground.
At that moment, Marquis Bishtent grinned in satisfaction.
"Well done, Electra. A splendid sun."
"Order your forces to converge on the inner castle at once. Secure the queen, and victory is ours."
"Yes, let's hurry. Can't miss seeing that wench's crumpled face before she dies."
"Hm? That light..."
"What is it?"
The marquis followed Electra's gaze. Far off, at a certain point, a holy light began spreading majestically across the entire city.
"What the hell is that...?"
An inexplicable dread gripped the marquis. Simultaneously, despair etched across Electra's face.
"No... it can't be...!"