Chapter 79 – Oh My. It’s Chaos

Oh My. It’s Chaos

“…Well. I guess I’ve finally realized. That the Demon Lord I loved is already dead.”
Helion muttered incomprehensible words.
Seeing my bewildered expression, he let out a short sigh and said to me.

“…If you still can’t believe me, then cast a suggestion spell on me. You can do that, can’t you? I’ll stay still.”
‘Ah.’
Come to think of it, there was such a method. Of course, from my position, there’s no reason to refuse.

“Alright. Wait.”
As I placed my hand on his heart, thin threads of magic emanating from my hand wrapped around his heart.
The magical threads connected to his consciousness would immediately burst his heart if he tried to betray me or take any action with the intention of harming me.

Throughout this process, Helion quietly accepted the magic without any resistance.
“It’s done. I’m a bit surprised you accepted it so readily.”

“Will you believe me now? We don’t have time. Erdas’s plan must be nearing its final stages by now.”
There was a slight edge to Helion’s words.
It was probably an unspoken complaint about whether all this was really necessary. I don’t particularly care.

“…For now, I’ll believe you.”
The reason I decided to cooperate with him is because I’m in such a desperate situation.
Even if his actions turn out to be a trap calculated under meticulous planning, I’m willing to endure it.

“Then, take my hand.”
Helion extended his hand to me.
…Of course, it wasn’t a handshake meaning ‘let’s do well together from now on’, but for teleportation magic. It’s easier to teleport together with someone you’re in physical contact with.

“What are you waiting for? Take it.”
“…I’ll just hold the tip of your finger.”
“Sigh. Do as you like.”

Finally, Helion looked at me incredulously as I really just lightly held the tip of his finger, and said.
“Erdas’s base is in the capital. First, we’ll go to the capital, then I’ll guide you to Erdas’s base. …My teleportation magic isn’t as precise as yours.”

I was a bit surprised that Erdas’s base was in the capital, but soon accepted it.
The saying “it’s darkest under the lamp” doesn’t exist for nothing.

“Don’t think about trying anything. I’ll burst you if you do.”
“How scary.”

Meanwhile, Pfel and Cherni were waiting for Ariel in the temple she had left.
“Waaaaaaah!!!!”

They looked at each other as they faintly heard sounds coming from outside. It’s rare for sounds to be heard through the windows even when inside a building.
Especially if it’s not temporary, but a continuous sound.

“It’s noisy outside. I’ll go out for a moment… Oh? Lady Riste?”
Just as Cherni was about to go outside to see what was happening, Riste entered the hospital room with a serious expression.
Her expression was stiff as if something had happened.

Ignoring Pfel and Cherni’s greetings, Riste turned her eyes to the bed where Ariel had been lying. The bed was empty.
“Pfel, Cherni. Oh no. Where did Ariel go? At a time like this…”

“She, she suddenly left just now. I think she went out to look for Saya.”
“Sister Riste. You don’t look well…”

Hearing that Ariel had left the hospital room, Riste bit her lip hard. A trickle of blood from her bitten lip wet the floor.
“Si-Sister. You’re bleeding…”

“It’s fine. Anyway, there’s a small commotion outside. Just in case, you two wait here. Absolutely.”
…After that, Riste left the hospital room again.

“So-Something seems to be happening. Pfel…”
“Yes. For now, we should wait here as she said. Ariel might come back too.”
“I guess so…?”

Just then, a man with a huge body wearing armor to match entered the hospital room.
“I am Celestian priest, assigned to be your guard. Please take care of me.”

The man who introduced himself as Celestian priest.
Cherni, who is usually uncomfortable with priests, trembled and greeted him after seeing the huge cross he was holding in his hand.

“Ni-Nice to meet you. By the way, what’s happening outside?”
…Celestian priest spoke with a hardened expression at Cherni’s words.
“Unidentified rioters have appeared in the capital. Of course, this place is safe, so don’t worry.”

‘What in the world…’
After teleporting to the capital with Helion, I rubbed my eyes and opened them again at the scene unfolding before me.
…But the same scene was still unfolding before my eyes.

“Help me!!!! Fire!!!!”
“My, my shop…!”
…It felt like we had teleported to a battlefield rather than the capital, but the burning buildings looked familiar. One of them was the shop where I bought Saya’s shoes.

“Stop those rioters!!!! Protect the citizens! The knights will arrive soon!”
“Damn it. When is the support coming…!”
Citizens fleeing in panic while screaming, and guards evacuating them. Among those commanding them was the familiar face of Mr. Henri.

…And what caused this devastation was a group of familiar hooded figures.
“Overthrow the fake magicians!!! Witness the truth!!!!”
“Hi-Hic, I’m overflowing with power…! This is true magic!”
“Graaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!”

Looking at the faces of those causing the riot was quite a sight.
Among them were some who turned to ash suddenly after firing magic recklessly without proper output control, while others were just writhing in pain and screaming with their eyes rolled back.

It seemed that Erdas had applied some kind of brainwashing. The numbers were quite large too. At a glance, over a hundred.
“Urgh…”

After half-crushing the hooded figures trying to harm the citizens, I approached Mr. Henri to understand the situation.
“Lady Ariel?”
Mr. Henri, who was commanding at the top of his lungs, called my name in surprise when he saw my face.

“Mr. Henri? What on earth is happening?”
“Currently, hooded figures presumed to be members of the Truth Church have simultaneously started a riot within the capital.”

“For now, the stationed military and our guard personnel are attempting to suppress them, but for some reason, some of them are using magic, which is causing difficulties.”
“Where did Marian go?”

“She left me in charge here and moved to command other areas.”
“…”
After finishing his brief conversation with me, Mr. Henri moved to command his personnel again.

It was about two hours ago that I left the temple after regaining consciousness. Is it possible for something like this to happen in such a short time?
“…It seems to have already started. Let’s hurry. I’ll move us to Erdas’s base.”

He said that and reached out his hand to me again.
“Alright. Let’s go.”

I hesitated for a moment to take his hand, worried about Pfel and Cherni who would be in the temple, but soon grasped it.
…They should be safe with the temple’s guard force, which rivals the imperial knights in military power.

More than that, I’m sorry but Saya’s problem was more urgent now. I needed to rescue Saya from Erdas’s clutches as soon as possible.
“The army has joined! Everyone, form ranks!”
“Guards, prioritize evacuating citizens!”

Fortunately, the imperial army had joined and started to suppress them to some extent.
The Empire is not such an easy group to deal with. They can be thrown into confusion, but it’s not easy to bring them down.

And to begin with, I didn’t think Erdas would have done this with the real intention of bringing down the Empire.
There must be another reason. A reason why he had to throw the Empire into confusion by doing this.

‘…For example, to divert attention from what he’s about to do.’
Helion seemed to know what Erdas’s plan was, but there wasn’t even time to press him.
We’re about to raid his base anyway. I’ll find out directly then.

Finally, after subduing all the hooded figures in sight, I headed towards Erdas’s base with Helion.

“Milene. Where did you go? I’ve been looking for you for a while.”
After confirming Milene’s arrival, Erdas turned his head back and continued writing the magic formulas densely covering the wall.
Because of this, he failed to notice that Milene’s atmosphere was somewhat unusual.

“Um, Erdas-nim.”
A cold and subdued voice unlike her.
“What is it? Hurry up and move. The moment for the birth of the god of magic is almost here. We can’t let them interfere, can we?”

There was a hint of irritation in Erdas’s words. Irritation towards Milene who wasn’t following his instructions.
Usually, Milene would obediently follow Erdas’s instructions at this level. But this time was different.

“Can the god of magic resurrect dead people? For example, my parents?”
At Milene’s words, Erdas momentarily stopped his hand gesture of engraving formulas. Then, after seeming to think for a moment and choosing his words, he spoke gently to Milene.

“…You’re saying strange things out of nowhere. Your parents are still alive, aren’t they?”
“Please answer me.”
“…It might be possible. Magic has infinite possibilities, after all.”

After finishing his words, Erdas walked back towards the altar, and Milene quietly stared at his back.
“Kyahat.”
And she approached behind him, so stealthily that Erdas didn’t notice.
Very slowly.