The Paramere Subjugation Battle (4)
The Paramere Subjugation Battle (4)
In the formation split into four, Ashval Haltz cleared his throat awkwardly.
He was trying to sort out the situation, but the more he tried, the more ambiguous it became.
"So that side is... I mean... Divine Judge Dimona of the Church of Ra. You brought 54 inquisitors with you... and you're currently deserters... correct?"
"Correct."
Dimona nodded crisply. The inquisitors standing behind her murmured among themselves.
"I get why the Serpent Church came, but what's with those mercenaries?"
"Brother, just how far do your connections go?"
"Could that support funding that's been increasing lately... have been thanks to you, Brother?"
"Whoa, damn. Never imagined that."
Ashval let out a sigh. He glanced over at the Serpent Church side.
"So this side is... Estelle, an apostle from the Church of Naga. 46 paladins under her command. You brought the entire paladin order called the Black Scales? And you're also a deserter?"
"Correct."
Estelle nodded with her characteristic expressionless face. The paladins standing behind her murmured among themselves.
"The inquisitors deserted?"
"Why?"
"Dunno. Looks like they tried to abandon Priest Zahard."
"Abandon that kind of talent? They've got no eye for people."
"Let's suggest picking him up while we're at it."
"What would we use a Sun God Church person for?"
"If it's him, couldn't we use him as a housekeeper?"
"Agreed."
Ashval turned his head. He glanced at the last group.
"A mercenary company... hired to rescue someone in Paramer. Total headcount, 512. Correct? And you're the overall commander, Hector."
"Y-yes, that's correct."
"If formal speech feels awkward, you don't have to force it."
"Ah, thank you."
The mercenaries behind Hector murmured among themselves.
"Feels like we came all this way for nothing."
"We came because the commission fee was high, but even the outer wall is a wreck."
"They say there's a monster in there too?"
"Then isn't he obviously dead?"
"We'll probably just pretend to search and then head back."
Ashval rubbed his face. He'd thought this would end with just the Church of Ra deserters, but the scale had grown.
A meaningless sacrifice. Even if they insisted on going in, it wasn't really his place to stop them, but Ashval decided to intervene for now.
"I don't know who this Zahard is, but the inside of Paramer is a wreck. I don't think there are any survivors."
"If that's what you're worried about, he's alive."
All eyes turned. Hector, who had his hood pulled over his head, awkwardly raised his hand.
"We, I mean... we formed something like a contract, so we can at least confirm each other's survival. Captain Zahard is not dead yet, but..."
Dimona collapsed. She slid off her chair.
"I-I knew it! I said it, didn't I! That he's the kind of man who'd survive like a cockroach even if the sky fell!"
Isabella clasped her hands together in prayer.
"Thank you... thank you... Naga..."
The inquisitors and the Serpent Church paladins beamed.
"As expected of him, of course he'd manage!"
"Absolutely! Of course! He's the kind of man who'd come back even if you threw him into hell!"
"I knew it from inside that monster's body..."
"Honestly, I never even thought he was dead. There's no way a man like that would die."
Ashval frowned.
Just what kind of man is this Zahard?
"No... well, fine. He might be alive. But going inside there is a different matter."
Ashval cleared his throat. He gathered their attention.
"Right now, that place is filled with monsters that won't die. Cut them with a sword and they come back. Burn them with fire and it's useless. Even when hit with magic, they recover before long. Going into a place filled with monsters that won't die is, frankly, suicide."
"...You might be right. Going in as we are is, frankly, suicide."
Dimona crawled back up onto her chair.
Ashval nodded.
"So stop this foolishness and give up..."
"So how about we kidnap a monster from inside the inner wall?"
"...Hm?"
"Kidnap one whole and dissect it. As long as it's a living thing, if we can find some weakness, we should be able to kill it. Fortunately, we have Radatok and Rosemary here, who've been through hell and back on the battlefield, plus Apostle Estelle, who is second to none when it comes to Sacred Power. And I'm here too."
Dimona cracked her knuckles.
"If we put our heads together, we can find a solution. I was originally going to brute-force it, but... now that we know there's a better way, how about cooperating, even if only temporarily? We all have the same goal anyway, don't we?"
Estelle nodded slightly.
"Very well, Divine Judge Dimona. The Serpent Church will cooperate fully."
Hector smacked his lips.
"I don't know how the situation is unfolding, but... as long as we can get the Captain out, anything is fine."
"Now wait just..."
Before Ashval could stop them, the three immediately reached an agreement. It did not take them long to head into the inner fortress and kidnap a monster, either.
A monster, torn apart alive, was bound and transported to the army. Ashval's jaw dropped at a method he hadn't even dared to imagine out of fear.
"No... even trying to catch just one, they swarmed us and we failed... how did you..."
"It was easy. They came apart much more cleanly than I expected."
Dimona raised her hand, covered in rotten blood. She stirred the writhing mass of flesh inside.
"Hmm... there's nothing you could call a core. It's just a mass of flesh."
"The smell is too foul to be just from a lump of meat. There's another cause."
"In my opinion, the driving force moving this thing lies not in the body but in the soul..."
The paladins put their heads together and whispered.
The conclusion came quickly.
"The soul is the problem."
"...The soul, you say?"
"What moves this rotten lump of flesh is a twisted soul. To be precise, fragments of a soul. It's as if souls that were half-digested in a stomach came back out."
Estelle picked up a piece of rotten flesh.
"An organism powered by souls. There are no internal organs. It moves only according to the commands imprinted on it."
"Then doesn't that mean it has no weaknesses?"
"There is a way to deal with it."
Dimona washed her hands in water.
"Apostle Estelle, help me think this through. We need to create a Holy Art. We should modify the purification formula slightly and structure it to purify the defiled soul directly."
"A dedicated Holy Art... it should be possible."
"What if we engrave it directly into the weapon itself?"
"It'll require a somewhat more complex formula, but let's try it."
The paladins murmured among themselves.
"Is that even possible?"
"Ripping apart a standardized Holy Art and modifying it on the spot?"
"That's insane. I couldn't do it even if you gave me decades."
"Saying 'modify it' makes it sound easy, but it's basically the same as creating a whole new Holy Art."
"And on top of that, engraving it directly onto an object?"
"That's insane."
"Is there even a person who can do that?"
The two geniuses put their heads together. Ashval blinked.
He didn't understand what was going on, but things were progressing smoothly.
Just what kind of people are these?
. . .
The elves went flying with every swing of the sword. Flora gasped for breath.
What kind of monster is this?!
His growth rate was too fast. On the first day, he'd been evenly matched with a single elf, but now it was a different story.
Even three of them working together couldn't win. Instead, the speed at which they were sent flying only kept increasing.
And on top of that...
"My clothes keep getting smaller."
Rapid growth.
It was as if his body were growing to match the power overflowing from it. What had clearly been the body of a small boy had now grown into that of a full-fledged young man.
In less than three months of being trapped here, this was how much he had changed. The priest, who could now properly be called a "man," stretched.
Black hair.
A larger frame.
And a muscular back to boot.
The sight of him tapping his sword against his shoulder was no longer cute.
He looked breathtakingly handsome!
Flora had been avoiding Zahard's gaze more and more these days. How should she put it...
Just seeing those unfathomable eyes made her ass twitch. Without realizing it, she would find herself bending over.
Ahh...
I-I want to be spanked.
Spanked by those big hands... until I’m grunting like a sow...
But I can't say it with my own mouth... I'm of the proud Fairy Queen's bloodline, after all...
"What are you doing?"
"Ugh..."
In the first place, she couldn't win. To make him spank her, she would have to subdue him, and that was impossible.
Even when Flora summoned spirits and raised her familiars, they all collapsed.
"I'm no match for you anymore..."
"Still not enough."
"Couldn't you take down the monster outside now?"
"Who, me? That'd be like an egg smashing into a rock. I'd be the egg, and my shell would shatter before I even reached it."
Zahard swung his sword through the empty air. Flora's hair fluttered in the surging wind pressure.
"...If you still can't take it down at that level... just how strong is it?"
"It's the one that brought down an entire city by itself. Wouldn't it be stranger if it were weak?"
"W-well, that's true, but..."
Aris.
Whenever Flora thought of that name, she grew gloomy. Anyone who had read the entire diary couldn't help it.
"She's a pitiful child..."
"Don't feel sorry for her. She's someone we have to kill."
"Isn't there... another way?"
"There is, actually."
"R-really?!"
"But I'm going to kill her."
"Why?!"
"Because it's damn complicated. Killing her is easier. If possible, I'm planning to blast her with Paramer's magical siege cannon first, then drive a sword into her heart."
The way Zahard gauged the empty air showed he was serious. Flora shook her head.
"I-if there's a way to save her... shouldn't we save her? She's a victim too. A child who lived her whole life bound to the Clock Tower..."
"You want to cling to petty sympathy and die?"
"B-but there's a way... so..."
"Want me to tell you what the complicated method is?"
"What is it?"
Zahard sat down. Their eyes met, and Flora hastily turned her head away.
"The first step is restraining Aris's monster. Once we go outside, there'll probably be a giant monster. We have to bind all its limbs so it can't move."
"...And then?"
"If you make a hole near its chest, Aris is inside. You forcibly pull her out."
"That's simpler than I thought."
"After that, we have to fight Aris. The giant monster contains half of Aris's power. Aris herself has the other half. It'll be a grueling fight."
"Can't you just win?"
"You think it's as easy as saying it? And that's not the end. To save Aris, you have to completely separate Aris from the monster while she's subdued. You could call it a second separation."
Zahard dropped his sword to the floor with a thud.
"Getting to the first separation requires outside help, and that restraint has to be maintained... To reach the second separation, we have to hold Aris down for a long time. On top of that, we need help from a third party. It becomes a battle of endurance. You think breaking the bond between their souls is easy? It might barely be possible with an apostle here, but there's no way someone like that would come."
"...Ugh... still..."
"And on top of that, Aris needs the will to live. Think about it. If we tear even the monster away from her, would she still want to live? It would be like taking away her only chance at freedom."
"Ughhh..."
"For all those reasons, Aris's death sentence is all but certain. Don't even dream of saving her. We all live only if we kill her. You have an obligation to take the Tear of Yggdrasil back to your homeland, don't you?"
"That's true, but..."
Flora hugged the diary to her chest. She let out a sigh.
"Then... hypothetically. Really hypothetically... if all those complicated conditions were met... would you still kill Aris then?"
"As if that would happen. It's obvious no reinforcements are coming."
"But there's still a one-in-a-million chance. What if you're wrong, Savior? What if people outside are working desperately to save you?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
"I-I'm telling you to just imagine it for once! Th-that's right! Let's make a deal! With me! If all the conditions are met... how about trying to save Aris then?"
Zahard stared at her for a long moment. He fell silent, looking troubled, then scratched his head roughly.
"Well... if all those circumstances somehow lined up... there'd be no particular reason to kill her. And if I did save Aris, she could be useful..."
After deliberating, Zahard glared at Flora.
"And what would you give me in return?"
"Ah... um..."
Flora smiled awkwardly.
"H-how about me?"
"Get lost."
"Whyyyyyyyyy?!"
"A deal has to make sense... what would I do with a masochistic elf who likes getting spanked?"
"I-I-I-I-I don't like it that much, okay?!"
"Yeah. Not happening."
Zahard shrugged.
"It's not going to happen anyway. It's so impossible that I'd refuse even if the Fairy Queen herself asked. It's not like an army is going to come swarming from outside... there's no way it'll happen."