Chapter 174: Front Line(2)
Chapter 174: Front Line(2)
A red sunset settled over the sky.
The Emperor of the Empire stood in the highest room of the capital, looking down at the city below. It was a familiar sight he had seen his entire life.
Gazing out the window, the Emperor spoke softly.
“So the hero’s true identity isn’t the hero of the Empire… but the hero of Astria?”
The old knight replied to the Emperor’s bitter words.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Hah… It would have been better not to know. It only hurts to know about a festering wound.”
“Unrequited love is always painful, Your Majesty.”
“I told you, it’s not unrequited love.”
The Emperor knew Lina. He had met her at a ball before she became the hero and had fallen for her at first sight.
“Was the message delivered successfully? That we have no intention of fighting Astria.”
“Yes.”
“I never thought I’d end up using the spies we planted in Astria like this.”
It was then, as the Emperor and the old knight were talking, that an alien sensation swept through the room. The Emperor and the old knight knew this feeling all too well.
It was the sensation they felt whenever their uninvited guest arrived.
When the Emperor turned around, he saw a man shrouded in black smoke. His face, his build, nothing could be seen clearly.
The Emperor and the old knight called him ‘Shadow.’
He was the man the Emperor wanted to drive out of the Imperial Palace more than anyone.
Shadow spoke in an irritated voice.
“You’ve done something foolish, Emperor.”
“…”
For a creature who moved so furtively, hiding behind the scenes, his intelligence network was astonishingly fast.
The Emperor retorted to Shadow’s accusation.
“I don’t recall being told I couldn’t make contact with the hero.”
“I’m not asking about you contacting the hero. I’m talking about you helping the hero. Who told you to send her a message?”
“…”
“Don’t you dare move on your own, you’re nothing but a puppet.”
The Emperor, a man who wielded absolute power in the Empire.
But it meant nothing to Shadow. Just as he’d said, the Emperor was merely his puppet.
And it wasn’t just the current Emperor.
The previous Emperor, and the one before him, had all been nothing more than Shadow’s puppets.
That undying monster had hidden behind the Imperial Family, ruling the Empire alongside history itself.
My father’s last words were to never defy Shadow.
And now, that same Shadow was angry.
The Emperor was a little taken aback.
That bastard Shadow was the very definition of arrogant; he never paid the slightest attention to anything the Emperor did.
As long as he followed the orders Shadow gave him, he was left alone.
The meaning behind that attitude was simple: No matter what you do, you can’t do anything to me.
The Emperor didn’t like that one bit.
Is that arrogant bastard really getting this sensitive over me helping the hero a little?
Then again, she wasn’t called the hero for nothing, but he couldn’t help but find Shadow’s reaction unfamiliar.
“My apologies. I will be more careful from now on.”
The Emperor was intrigued by this first glimpse of Shadow’s anger.
“But isn’t a being like you getting a little too hung up on such a trivial matter?”
The Emperor even resorted to flattery, something he rarely did, to fish for information.
“The hero is not to be taken lightly. Especially not as long as she possesses the Spirit Sword Endymion.”
“The Spirit Sword?”
“You don’t need to know.”
Would it kill you to say a little more? Damn bastard, anyway.
“From now on, act with caution regarding the hero, Emperor.”
“I shall do so.”
Shadow vanished into thin air.
It wasn’t teleportation. He literally just disappeared.
The Emperor had scoured the entire Empire for anyone who knew that technique, but he had found no one.
“Whew. Is he finally gone?”
“You’ve endured much, Your Majesty.”
“Yes. I’ve endured a great deal. But you know, whenever Shadow appears, you stop your usual fooling around and get all quiet. It’s rather annoying, you know?”
“This old man still has many lingering attachments to this world.”
The Emperor chuckled at the old knight’s words.
Though he said that, the Emperor had no doubt that the loyal man would fulfill his duty as a knight at any moment.
“More importantly, what will you do about the hero? Shall we cancel all ongoing operations?”
“No. Continue them. But be even more covert and careful than before.”
“Hoo. I thought you might say that.”
“It’s just how it is. When you get to my age, being told not to do something just makes you want to do it more.”
“Your Majesty, you are not a defiant five-year-old.”
“I’m a defiant thirty-five-year-old. Heh heh.”
The Emperor, apparently pleased with his own joke, laughed to himself. The old knight simply shook his head at the sight.
At the same time the Emperor and Shadow were meeting, Kerry finally arrived at the promised border region. The sun was setting here as well.
The forest was dense, so he couldn’t grasp the full details of the battle, but he could feel the distinct, eerie aura that the undead emitted.
More than anything, the sound of a giant’s footsteps echoed through the woods.
Thump. Thump.
With each footstep, startled birds took flight from the trees.
Lifting his gaze, the sight of a colossal ghoul told him that the messengers’ reports had been no lie.
The giant ghoul looked like it had been made by mashing together chunks of rotten flesh. Fuck. It looks disgusting as hell.
“Princess. We’re here. You can get down now.”
Arwen was still caressing Kerry’s ear, gazing at it with a glazed, sensual look in her eyes.
“Princess?”
Arwen, lost in the sensation of stroking his ear, finally replied.
“Yes? W-What did you say, Sir Kerry?”
“I said we’ve arrived.”
“Ah… yes…”
Arwen climbed down from his back with a look of disappointment.
By the standards of elves, for whom ears and cunts are on the same level, the drawn-out pseudo-sexual act was finally over.
Now on the ground, Arwen’s face was flushed bright red.
She stared at Kerry’s ear with a look of longing.
She’d been touching it the entire way here; how much more did she want to touch it?
More importantly, where is Lina?
He had honestly expected the situation to be mostly wrapped up by the time he arrived, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
He had no idea what the circumstances were.
Just as he concluded that finding Lina was the first step to understanding the situation, she appeared, as if on cue. The rest of the party followed in a line behind her.
“Sir Kerry!”
“Husband!”
“Kerry!”
Luckily, it seemed they had all been nearby. The three of them already showed signs of having been in a fight.
So it wasn’t that they hadn’t found the enemy. Then what was the problem?
This should have been over by now.
“Lady Lina. Is there a problem?”
“Yes. Things have gotten a bit troublesome.”
“Could you explain in detail…?”
“Please wait a moment, Sir Kerry.”
Uncharacteristically, Lina cut Kerry off and approached Arwen.
“What’s wrong with Princess Arwen?”
“What’s wrong with her?”
Lina’s reply was a bit baffling.
“I think she has a fever. Her face is incredibly red.”
Lina, with a serious expression, began to worry about something completely irrelevant.
She even took off her glove and placed her hand on Arwen’s forehead.
“Her forehead is burning up. Could you have caught a cold, Princess Arwen?”
“…”
That’s probably just because she’s turned on.
She had gotten quite worked up from the pseudo-sexual act of touching my ear on the way here.
The Saintess, who knew the truth, just shook her head as she watched.
“…I’m fine! Lady Hero.”
Arwen’s innocent eyes sparkled.
Looking up at Lina, Arwen looked for all the world like a naive elf princess, seeing the world for the first time.
It was as if her panting and gasping while touching Kerry’s ear moments ago had been a lie.
“Princess. If you are in pain, you don’t have to hide it.”
“I’m really fine… This is just… nothing. Haha.”
Lina made a fuss, telling the Saintess to check on Arwen. Victoria and Natasha also began to look genuinely concerned.
All the while, Arwen, with her innocent face, just kept repeating, ‘I’m really okay.’
The rest of the party would never imagine that this innocent princess is just flustered from doing something lewd.
Once the commotion with Arwen subsided, Kerry was finally able to get an explanation.
“So, the situation right now is that the enemies have spread out to deliberately avoid being wiped out all at once. And because of that, we’re losing time, is that right?”
“Yes. It will be night soon, and I believe they are aiming for that.”
Ghouls grow stronger at night. On top of that, the lack of light makes them harder to see and leaves one vulnerable to ambushes.
Ghouls, on the other hand, can see just fine in the dark.
Having grasped the situation, Kerry spoke.
“Lady Lina. If we gather them all in the same place as that giant ghoul, can you annihilate them in one fell swoop?”
“…”
Lina was silent. But Kerry knew. He knew that Lina had a weapon that could make it possible.
You can do it with the Spirit Sword, Lina.
Though he already knew, Kerry checked the Spirit Sword’s status window again just in case.
[Name - Spirit Sword Endymion]
[Grade - Quasi-Mythical Grade]
[Summary - A masterwork sword crafted by the progenitor of the elves. The Spirit Sword has waited long for its master and will do its utmost for them.
The master of the Spirit Sword can temporarily undergo an ‘Awakening of Divine Power.’
Using the awakened divine power, an ‘Area-of-Effect Skill’ can be used.]
Awakening of Divine Power.
When he first saw this, he hadn’t understood what it meant. Divine power was divine power; what kind of awakening was there?
But now, he had a vague idea. In any case, that wasn’t what was important right now.
What was important was that the Spirit Sword could be used to unleash an ‘Area-of-Effect Skill.’
Lina looked at Kerry with a curious expression.
She had been just about to ask Kerry to herd the ghouls for her.
But even without her asking, Kerry had assessed the situation and reached the same conclusion she had.
It was as if he knew everything about her.
“Yes, Sir Kerry. If you can herd the ghouls, I believe I can handle the rest.”
At Lina’s words, Natasha and Victoria wore expressions of doubt.
They had fought alongside Lina and had experienced firsthand that the number of ghouls was no joke.
No matter what anyone said, it was an army large enough to bring down a fortress wall. And there was that giant ghoul, as big as the fortress wall itself.
“You can handle it if we just gather them?”
“Lady Lina? How are you going to kill that many ghouls? It’s about to get dark…”
“Let’s trust Lady Lina, Natasha.”
Lina stared quietly at Kerry. Even her own party members didn’t believe her.
Why did Kerry believe she could exterminate the ghouls right now? It was strange.
Kerry explained the rough outline of the plan to the party.
“…Understood? I will send you all a signal via telepathy. You will herd the ghouls according to my directions.”
The Archmage’s Pendant that Kerry possessed had a built-in telepathy function.
By utilizing the tracking magic from the Magic Storage Orb and telepathy, he could command them efficiently.
“Alright, let’s begin!”
The moment Kerry spoke, the party members kicked off the ground and scattered.
Arwen was among them.
Not wanting to be outdone by the others, she hastily summoned a spirit.
Arwen summoned a wolf-like spirit wreathed in blue flames and climbed onto its back.
Wait, if she could summon a mount… does that mean I didn’t have to carry her?
As Kerry stared at her with a puzzled look, Arwen spoke as if making an excuse.
“U-Uhm… materializing them consumes a lot of mana!”
“I see…”
If that were really true, there’d be no reason for her face to be so red.
Arwen disappeared as if fleeing, her ears red as well.
She would probably find her position according to the plan just fine.
Kerry first used his tracking magic.
His magical skills had been improving day by day, and the radius of his tracking had expanded.
He could now survey this entire forest.
The moment Kerry gripped the Magic Storage Orb, a pulse of mana spread out from him. Simultaneously, a map of the forest was drawn in his mind.
It was transmitted through the mana pulses of every living creature in the forest.
Indeed. Just as Natasha and Victoria had said, the number of ghouls was staggering.
A total of two thousand two hundred and ninety-eight of them, not counting that giant one over there.
Herding that behemoth, bigger than a fortress wall, wouldn’t be easy.
The best plan would be for Lina to tie up the big one’s feet while the others herd the smaller ones toward it.
Kerry sent a telepathic message to the party.
[Is everyone ready?]
At the same time, the excited, boisterous voices of the party echoed in his mind for some reason.
Hearing their excited voices, Kerry couldn’t help but smile. What a bunch of incorrigible women.