Dictator From Outer Space

Zion was troubled when he heard the news of the war.

He had a tendency to avoid fights, but only when he had a chance of losing.

He thought there was no way he would lose as long as the monstrous lord participated, and he felt a strong desire to go and have some fun.

Stephina from the Ether Research Institute tried to stop him.

“Didn’t the lord tell you to stay here and focus on your research?”

“It doesn’t matter as long as the research is done properly, right? Where else can I find so many things to study than on a battlefield where countless ethers are involved?”

“Can you say that in front of the lord?”

“Listen.”

Now Zion began to justify his words by sitting Stephina down.

“The lord didn’t tell me not to go there. So it doesn’t matter much if I go and have some fun.”

“Well… I don’t know much about war, but there must be a plan, and wouldn’t he be angry if it gets messed up?”

“Maybe I can help him? I’ll show up when the lord is in danger.”

“That could be like sprinkling sand on a burnt bread. I’m not doubting your skills, but there’s not much a mage can do on the battlefield these days.”

It was hard for an ordinary mage to step on the battlefield where dozens or hundreds of Goliaths with powerful magic circles engraved everywhere were running wild.

“Ugh, I shouldn’t have talked to you!”

Zion burst into anger and tried to go outside.

He couldn’t argue back because he couldn’t reveal that he was a dragon.

Lucia, who would have taken his side, was away on a business trip, and the only person he could consult with was Arma.

He kicked the door open and Arma suddenly came in.

“W-what’s going on?”

Zion usually didn’t care about anyone except Leobold or Valgard, but Arma was reluctant to deal with him.

She felt a power that she couldn’t even guess.

He had almost no ether sensitivity, but he seemed to have something more than that.

Not to mention that the monster lord trusted Arma completely, which also made her wary.

She looked like a human, but there was a possibility that she wasn’t.

Well, that didn’t mean that Zion was hostile to Arma.

She bowed her head slightly and asked.

“Can we talk for a moment?”

“What… whatever.”

They walked along the corridor and talked.

The main content was Zion whining.

“I’m frustrated now. How long do I have to hide my identity?”

“How long have you been here?”

“A little over a year?”

“You hid in the floating continent for 200 years, and you find it hard to endure one year?”

He ran out of words.

It was hard to respond when someone who knew his identity and whereabouts well said that.

Fortunately, Arma didn’t seem interested in cornering him, so she quickly changed the topic.

“You seem to want to join this war, but I’m sorry, I can’t allow you.”

“Damn it, how long do I have to hide my identity? Don’t talk about the floating continent.”

“We’ll reveal Zion’s identity soon. But not yet.”

“Soon when?”

“When we win this war and secure Bagran’s foundation. When we don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Hmm… Will that day ever come? You don’t know much about magic, do you?”

“We know at least that it’s not omnipotent. We’ve finished analyzing most of the magic, and now we only have mental magic and dark magic left.”

“Even if you analyze it, activating it is another problem, you know that?”

She nodded calmly.

“We’re not trying to use it ourselves, but to block it. We can just push it with firepower.”

“Firepower… The elves’ magic is also quite powerful.”

“If Zion helps us, we can stop it. But you know you’re a bit weak yourself, right?”

“What? Weak?”

He clenched his eyes and straightened his shoulders, but Arma said indifferently.

“You might not be matched by ordinary people, but our enemies in the future are not ordinary at all. To put it bluntly, can you beat Kairos or Valgard?”

“Uh… damn it.”

Zion knew himself well.

If he had been on the battlefield, he would have chosen to run away rather than fight.

That was his way of life and how he had extended his life so far.

But Arma was telling him that he couldn’t do that anymore.

“Zion has to act as Bagran’s new guardian dragon, or even as the guardian dragon of the human empire. Running away is absolutely unacceptable.”

“So I have to fight back…”

“I know it’s hard for Zion. That’s why we’ll help you.”

“What kind of help?”

Arma presented him with an enhancement plan.

The plan showed a hologram of protecting his whole body with a plasma shield, covering his vital points with a living metal armor, and enhancing his attack.

Zion was very satisfied with the defense system that blocked the magic flying at his side.

“Does it activate automatically even if I don’t recognize it?”

“Various detection systems are observing Zion’s surroundings, so it’s possible anytime. Most of the mass or magic approaching you can be intercepted.”

“So I only have to block mental magic. And for the attack… Wait, are you going to dissect me?”

“It’s a dissection for enhancement. Don’t worry. The master also enhanced his ether heart in this way.”

“No, I’m against it. You can’t mess with the dragon heart.”

Zion shook his head and tried to run away, but Arma’s hand caught him.

“You won’t die at least. Even if we fail, we’ll research and rebuild your dragon heart.”

“No!”

He tried to resist with all his strength, but she was surprisingly strong.

“I’ll allow you to join the war when the procedure is over.”

“I’m sorry! I was wrong! It’s better not to go to war! No war!”

“Shh. Be quiet.”

Bang!

Zion was dragged away while unconscious.

It was not for nothing that it weighed nearly 100 tons.

While most Goliaths resembled golems with bulky bodies, Leobold’s Goliath had a proportion almost similar to a human.

A knight in black armor.

That’s how his Goliath looked in Count Croitz’s eyes.

‘It’s also quite tall…’

The largest Goliaths on the continent were the Bephar class, but his Goliath seemed to be a head taller than them.

It even looked like a human among dwarves.

‘He only has one weapon. Well, if the rumors are true, he doesn’t need more than that.’

The Goliath with a greatsword made of living metal on his shoulder approached slowly.

The knights around him stepped back, and soon other Goliaths came down from the airship.

Unlike Leobold’s Goliath, they looked like Ose class, but they had a distinctive feature of using living metal armor plates extensively.

“Is that you?”

Count Croitz asked, and Leobold came out as the hatch opened.

“I’m sorry I’m late, commander.”

She was the commander of the war, although there was a separate supreme commander. 

She was in charge of leading the battle on the front line.

She knew that Leobold had joined the war at the request of the crown prince, so she didn’t feel like blaming him.

“Thank you for coming. Then, let’s start the negotiation.”

“A formal procedure.”

“But a necessary one.”

There was a unique culture in Asteria, which was to have a brief negotiation before the war.

They exchanged their demands and then declared war on the spot, and then the battle began.

This custom became entrenched after the emergence of the Goliath weapon.

They were so big and clumsy that they couldn’t use stealth, and since the parties involved in the war were nobles, it became a common practice to act with dignity.

Leobold thought that it would be easy to win if he bombed them when both sides’ leaders gathered for negotiation.

But he didn’t do that because he needed consent.

Thud, thud.

Four Goliaths moved and gathered in one place.

Tirendell, who came out as the representative of Elvrande, asked curiously about the black Goliath.

“I’ve never seen this Goliath before. What kind of model did you modify?”

“Black Knight. It’s a modified Ose class.”

“It looks powerful, but you reduced the weight too much. It will be disadvantageous in grappling.”

“I won’t get hit.”

Tirendell smiled slyly in his cockpit.

Not getting hit was his fighting style.

The Berial class that Elven Knights rode was so light and agile that it was possible to use this tactic.

He couldn’t find anyone who had succeeded in scratching his Goliath for at least decades.

As the conversation dragged on, Count Croitz intervened.

“Then, I’ll deliver our demands as the representative of the alliance.”

“I doubt you’ll accept anything, but I’ll listen anyway.”

“First, you will voluntarily return the branch of Yggdrasil and apologize and compensate Resort and Banover.”

“That’s an impossible request from the start. What’s the second one?”

“Second, you will take responsibility for assassinating numerous royals, including His Majesty the Emperor of our homeland.”

Surprisingly, Tirendell remained silent at this point.

Maybe he felt guilty himself.

Leobold judged that he had nothing to do with Kairos’ case.

“Is there a third one?”

“The last condition. You will announce an apology in the name of King Elvrande and withdraw your border to the west of the borderland. That’s all.”

The conditions were not clear because he thought they wouldn’t listen anyway.

It was just a procedure before declaring war.

Tirendell shook his head to indicate his refusal.

“I answer as Elvrande’s commander. I refuse.”

“Then this is where the war begins.”

“I won’t say it’s an honorable war. But…”

Tirendell inadvertently revealed that he was a beast by saying that.

He liked to act dignified as a knight and couldn’t tolerate elves like Kairos who were obsessed with murder.

He just agreed that Elvrande had to conquer the continent for long-term peace.

“I don’t care how it ends. I came here for one purpose.”

“What is it?”

Count Croitz asked, and Tirendell pointed his sword at Leobold.

“Leobold Vandus. You will die here today.”

Even though he was targeted by the strongest knight on the continent, his expression was relaxed.

“Did the Council order you?”

“No. It’s my will.”

“Then you should have killed me when we first met.”

“I regret it now. I’m glad I have another chance.”

Their fierce conversation ended and the Goliaths returned to their camps.

As soon as they turned their bodies and took their positions, the war would begin.

In the midst of the tension, Count Croitz stood by his side and opened a small hatch and said.

“Don’t die. You promised me.”

“Of course I don’t want to die. I have to hug you after the war.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m the one who hugs you. Not the other way around.”

She didn’t flinch even against him, as a strong woman.

He smiled faintly and closed the hatch.

“I’d like to check that later. Anyway, I wish you luck.”

“Luck…”

Her voice faded and a horn sounded across the battlefield.

Woo woo wooong―

Nearly 1,000 Goliaths lined up and began to advance.

The ground shook as if a small earthquake had occurred.

A large-scale Goliath battle usually consisted of a collision of lines.

They were so big and slow that they couldn’t maneuver, so they naturally formed a shield wall.

Especially for the alliance, since knights from various regions gathered, they couldn’t expect organic cooperation and tactics, so they had more of that aspect.

Thus, their actions were nothing but gathering and advancing, but the advantage of dense formation was still there, and it was dangerous to attack them recklessly.

On the other hand, Elvrande preferred maneuver warfare.

They distracted the enemy’s vanguard with their central army and deployed a small unit with fast mobility to destroy the enemy’s leaders, including the commander.

The Berial class that Elven Knights rode was so light and swift that it was possible to use this tactic.

Thanks to this, the war between humans and elves always followed the same pattern: the humans would fortify their defenses, and the elves would slowly push them back.

In such a situation, individuals did not matter much.

They had to fight as part of a formation, facing the enemy lines. Any independent action would only be a hindrance.

The elven knights also refrained from such behavior, but a few exceptional ones like Tirendell were implicitly allowed to act on their own.

They had the ability to annihilate a whole unit by themselves, so it would be foolish to confine them to a formation and lower their efficiency.

Leobold was also granted such authority.

As the battle began and each unit advanced, Count Kroitz declared.

“You don’t have to stay in formation. Act on your own.”

“Are you sure?”

“It would be stupid to force someone like you into a formation. I’ll take responsibility.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

Leobold closed his hatch completely and erased the sealing magic circle.

The newly constructed ether heart was much better than the previous one.

It operated with multiple layers of ether circuits without any waste.

“A golden human who emits ether, huh? It looks nice, but it’s just a waste of energy.”

The Black Knight looked no different than usual, but if someone brought a measuring device close to him, they would realize that he was fluctuating with an enormous amount of ether.

Leobold also had an assault armor ready in his subspace, which gave him a near-immune level of magic defense.

To inflict damage on him, one had to use pure physical force, not magic. And in that aspect, Leobold had the upper hand.

But the surrounding knights did not know these things. They were slightly disappointed when they saw no ether coming out of his Goliath.

“Count Kroitz also emits ether like that…”

“That ether that colors the Goliath is a symbol of a skilled knight.”

“Maybe he decided that it’s not time to show his real skills yet?”

Ignoring such murmurs, the war began.

Leobold witnessed a Goliath that was emitting dazzling light and showing off its presence.

Tirendell was running straight towards him in a straight line.

***

Tirendell’s Goliath was a modified model of Belial-class, which was designed to reproduce his specialty of agile movements. 

He put a lot of effort into modifying the joints with magic circles to make them smoother and changing the chest to fit a higher-output core.

Thanks to that, his Goliath had higher output than other Belial-class models and was harder to handle.

The higher core output also put more strain on the ether heart.

By now, it had become almost like a custom model that only Tirendell could pilot.

The appearance also changed a lot, but it still paled in comparison to the Black Knight.

It was covered with dark metal that looked like living metal and was quite tall, looking down on other Goliaths.

‘He has quite a presence.’

Tirendell threw his weapon as he ran, transforming it into a spear.

The kinetic energy of the Goliath was added to the spear, tearing through the air.

Bang!

The spearhead broke through the sound barrier, creating a loud noise.

A poor Goliath that was standing in the middle had its abdomen completely pierced and fell down.

But the spear did not lose its energy and continued to charge at Leobold.

It was too fast for the surrounding knights to react.

But the Black Knight simply caught the spear with his hand.

The living metal spearhead crumpled and a shockwave blew behind him.

The Black Knight only shook his upper body slightly as a price for stopping the spear.

‘Did he use a barrier to reduce the power of the spear? Even so!’

Tirendell could not stop once he started his charge.

He unleashed indiscriminate attacks on the numerous Goliaths that blocked his way to Leobold.

None of them could withstand the fierce attacks that poured out of his living metal twin swords.

If they raised their shields, they were shattered. If they rushed at him with their bodies, they were instantly smashed and stopped working.

It was like watching a storm made of blades.

‘He certainly has confidence.’

His pure skill was definitely superior to Kairoz and slightly inferior to Balgard.

He probably hadn’t shown his real skill yet, but Balgard had Albion.

‘Tirendell, the elven knight of Elvrande… I’m sorry, but you have to become a pawn.’

Leobold had no intention of killing him.

It was easy to kill him, but he had a better use for him.

He was supposed to be a device to shake the foundation of Elvrande after his defeat and return.

That’s why he needed to taste a very bitter defeat on this battlefield.

He wouldn’t kill him, but he would have to suffer a defeat worse than death.

‘It’s up to your will to overcome that, Tirendell.’

Leobold stared at Tirendell’s Goliath, which had arrived at close range.

He jumped into the air to increase his destructive power, but it was a clear mistake against Leobold.

He chose to counter him head-on instead of avoiding him.

‘If you don’t want to die, dodge.’

He swung his six-meter-long sword, aiming at both ends of the Belial-class Goliath.

Tirendell tried to block it with his twin swords, but he realized that he shouldn’t have done that.

There was a dreadful ether attached to the sword.

‘I’ll die if I block it!’

He instinctively sensed his own death and threw his swords away, using the recoil to fly backwards.

His sturdy twin swords were cut in half and the Belial-class Goliath barely escaped from the range.

The sword swept through the air completely and created a shockwave.

‘…’

Tirendell’s face was twisted as he landed behind.

He didn’t expect Leobold’s ether sensitivity to be better than his own.

He grabbed the swords that his subordinates threw at him and muttered.

“You’re impressive, but the result won’t change. You’re a threat to the peace of the continent. So you should die quietly! Why don’t you understand that?”

It seemed that Tirendell’s idea was to surrender quickly and receive the elves’ management.

Leobold smirked slightly.

“So you want me to enter your autonomous region and become a toy for Kairoz’s madness? How many lives do I have to give him every day to satisfy him? Five thousand? Ten thousand?”

Since Kairoz had actually massacred hundreds of people in one night, Tirendell couldn’t refute it while gritting his teeth.

The elves and humans were too far apart to talk about peace now.

“…I’ll take over as the governor of the autonomous region. Then they won’t be able to run wild anymore.”

“That’s your way of achieving peace in your own way. I don’t agree with that.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

Leobold lifted his sword.

“I’ll crush you with overwhelming power. I’ll show you that from now on.”