NOVEL WEB Chapter 213
213. Even If We Know The Danger, There’s Still A Place To Make Our Stand, Isn’t It?
At the castle of Golden Dawn in the Elixir territory, the king, Vaindeck Midlights von Maugaria, twisted his mouth slightly.
In front of him, Zaid, Kyle’s older brother, who was jotting down instructions based on the battle situation, noticed this and looked up.
“Your Majesty, has there been any change in the battle situation?”
At those words, Batista von Helmond, the chief court alchemist with his trademark white beard, also turned his gaze toward Van with interest.
Among the members in this room, only the king could use telepathic communication to check the live footage from the battlefield.
“No, nothing. I was just thinking they’ve taken the bait beautifully.”
“……They’ve come, haven’t they? The self-proclaimed demons.”
Van leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“Yeah. I was worried when Kyle said he wanted to go out there, but after hearing his true intentions…”
“He said that if he became the decoy, the demons and Mother… no, Bella, would show themselves.”
“From the looks of it, even if Kyle hadn’t gone, they might’ve shown up anyway.”
“What do you think? Perhaps they only came out because they saw Kyle from a distance.”
“Could be. We can’t know the enemy’s true intentions, but the fact is, we’ve caught our fish.”
“Indeed.”
Zaid closed his eyes for a moment, then went back to organizing the documents. With the enemy’s main force gone, the urgent paperwork was now finished.
“Zaid. It seems your worries were unfounded, huh?”
Zaid lowered his gaze once more, then looked back at Van.
“I… was planning to propose a strategy to annihilate the enemy in Kyle’s place.”
“But he didn’t need to be told. He came up with the plan and executed it himself.”
“I thought he was… a softer person.”
“It seems he has more talent as a lord than we thought. Kind to allies, ruthless to enemies. Ideal, isn’t it?”
Zaid stopped what he was doing and looked up at the ceiling.
“Perhaps… there’s nothing I can do for Kyle anymore.”
“No. He still can’t handle negotiations with the other nobles. You’ll need to help him with that.”
“……Understood.”
Van let out a soft chuckle.
“Don’t worry. No one thinks you’re unnecessary.”
Then Batista, the court alchemist who had been silent until now, spoke up.
“That’s right. There are too few people who can scold His Majesty without fear. It can’t just be me.”
“Scold…?”
“Call it advice or criticism, the wording doesn’t matter.”
Zaid scratched his cheek, looking slightly embarrassed.
“You’ll keep doing your job. That said, Kyle’s talent as a lord was beyond what I imagined.”
“Perhaps.”
“Heh heh heh. That talent might even surpass Orthros. A happy miscalculation.”
“Surpass Father?”
“Orthros’s talent was indispensable to our kingdom. He was the only noble who truly understood the top priority of reclaiming human territory.”
Zaid hesitated, then lowered his eyes.
“So Father’s repeated, seemingly reckless frontier expansions… they weren’t just demotions?”
“When you were cursed, it was likely Bella’s influence that led to Kyle being sent to the frontier.”
“……I see.”
“Don’t dwell on it. Just keep atoning as you are now. More importantly, Orthros accepted that suggestion because he believed in the importance of frontier expansion.”
“I understand now.”
“Yeah. Orthros fulfilled his duty. And now…”
Van crossed his arms and raised the corner of his mouth again.
“A noble even greater than him has been born. I have high hopes for Kyle.”
“I’ll do my best to support him, even if only a little.”
Van nodded in satisfaction, then straightened his posture.
“Well then, it’s about time for the final battle.”
Van muttered this and focused his attention on the battlefield.
◆
The stage was set in the vast square between the great bridge and the main gate.
Led by Kyle, Alphard’s Holy Knights, Raidoc’s Party, and, as a bonus, me. Of course, the city walls were lined with archers and mages.
Ignoring the bound imperial soldiers, there were only two enemies.
A wasp-like demi-human and the traitor, Bella.
The wasp monster shrugged its shoulders in an oddly casual tone. (Probably.)
“Where’d the imperial soldiers go? Did they all run away or something?”
Its gaze was fixed on Zett Overahl, the bound imperial general.
“……They were annihilated.”
“Huh?”
“I said they were annihilated! Wiped out without a trace! They vanished in a whirlwind of fire!”
“Whoa, seriously? I didn’t think anyone could pull off such a huge spell.”
The wasp guy turned to Eva, his compound eyes reflecting her face countless times.
Raidoc stepped in front of Eva, who was backing away.
“Hey, hey, don’t go making eyes at our precious party member, alright?”
“Raidoc-sama!”
Yeah, Eva’s a mess when it comes to Raidoc. I don’t mind her heart eyes, but Solar’s glaring like crazy.
Even with that exchange, the tension in the air didn’t ease.
“So? What the hell are you?”
“I ain’t got no obligation to answer to humans. But I’ll tell you this—I serve the great demon lord, Gloutis.”
So he’s really a demon, huh? I shouldn’t take the enemy’s word for it, but there’s no doubt now. They were supposed to have been wiped out ages ago.
And yet, a servant of Gloutis? There are still guys like this around!?
If he’s leaking information, it must mean something.
Perhaps reaching the same conclusion, Alphard and the Holy Knights tightened their defense around Kyle.
Raidoc asked in a light tone.
“So? Why’s this demon lord working with the empire?”
“Huh? Why does that matter? Let’s just say our interests aligned.”
“Interests? How does attacking the kingdom align with a demon’s interests?”
A straight-up question, but the demon, seemingly lacking any resistance to provocation, spilled it easily.
“Hahaha! Isn’t it obvious? It’s because humans will suffer, and many will die! Your screams! Your cries! Your wails! Your pleas! That’s the best entertainment for demons! What else would it be!?”
Speechless.
Not just me, but everyone here. Everyone watching through communication magic was left speechless.
“……I see. Now I understand why our ancestors worked so hard to exterminate the demons.”
“Hah! We ain’t extinct! It took time, but the era of demons is coming back! A wonderful world filled with human screams!”
Yeah. This is bad.
If demons were just some special demi-humans, maybe coexistence would’ve been possible, but these things are fundamentally incompatible with humans.
Instinct tells me. Not a single one of them can be left alive.
“Seriously… I even disguised myself as a human to gather intel. The imperial army’s pathetic.”
Then Alphard spoke in a stern voice.
“Disguised as a human… So it’s true. You’re Lucas Lindblum, aren’t you?”
What!? Lucas!?
That empire adventurer we met in Mizuho, the womanizer!?
“Heh… You figured it out?”
“I regret not realizing sooner, but it’s clear from your behavior.”
“Then let me complain a bit. None of the tactics I got from you guys were any help.”
Tactics you got from us?
Ah! That conversation we had with Raidoc!
Perhaps reaching the same conclusion, Raidoc shrugged.
“Ah. Maybe it was my advice. About siege warfare and such.”
“Yeah, that’s it. No way you knew my true identity back then, right?”
“Sadly, no. I just answered honestly. It’s just that the Mizuho Divine Kingdom and Kyle-sama were too good.”
“Tch! So it’s that brat Kyle’s fault! I should’ve killed him first instead of listening to Bella!”
Alright. You’re dead.
As I silently resolved this, a hysterical voice erupted. It was Bella, Kyle’s stepmother, screaming while clawing at her head.
“This isn’t what we agreed on! You promised to take Golden Dawn and eventually crush the kingdom! To turn Kyle’s lands into wastelands!”
The wasp demon waved his insect-like hand dismissively.
“I didn’t think the imperial soldiers would be this weak.”
“What!?”
“Stop screeching. The soldiers were taken out by that mage over there… and, well, the guys here.”
“How do you know that?”
“Annoying marks on you guys.”
The demon was probably looking at our crests.
“Proof that ancient humans stole our power.”
What does that mean?
“Whatever. I’m pissed my plans got messed up. I’ll just kill all of you, and that’ll settle it.”
“Well, that’s fine. …Oh, but don’t kill Kyle. That one needs to suffer something worse than death.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
So they planned to kill us from the start.
No wonder they’re so loose-lipped. That said, if they know we nearly wiped out the imperial army and still think they can win, this guy must be pretty confident in his skills.
“You’re pretty casual about killing us all.”
“Hah! You think you can beat a noble demon lord with some stolen marks!? How naive, Raidoc!”
With a shout, the demon kicked off the ground.
“Die!”
“You first!”
The demon’s punch was met by Raidoc’s orichalcum sword, sparks flying. How hard is that bug’s arm!?
“Raidoc!”
Solar immediately fired a barrage of arrows in support, but the wasp guy shot them all down with needles from his long stinger.
“No way!”
Not only that, the needles kept going straight toward Solar.
I tried to put up a rainbow barrier, but Marilyn moved faster.
“[Divine Breath Holy Domain]!”
A massive magic circle appeared beneath the rear guard, centered on Solar and Marilyn. A wall of magical energy formed around its perimeter, deflecting the demon’s needles.
From within the barrier, Eva pointed her arm at the demon.
“[White Freezing Blade Flash Slash]!”
A massive blade of ice, twice her height, shot forward.
“Tch!”
The demon clicked his tongue, dodged the blade, and backed away from Raidoc.
Damn. That barrier magic lets allies’ attacks through?
Marilyn’s gotten way stronger too, even if she’s in the backline.
The demon and Raidoc’s group faced off again.
I couldn’t help but think—thank goodness Jitaro isn’t here. He’d definitely say something like, “We’ve won.”
We don’t need any weird flags right now!