episode_0033

“Tell me, Commander!” The Lone Wolf, Sandalphon, spoke. “Because I’m a fool! Tell this fool, who can do nothing without the Commander’s orders, what to do!”

“Ah, Rain-nim. Please, issue your command.”

“Who to kill and who to save, what to take and what to protect, where to destroy and trample!”

“The path that we, ‘The Black Snake,’ must follow.”

“……Show us.”

Amidst the competing voices of the snakes, a lady with her eyes covered by a black bandage opened her mouth.

“The guiding light illuminated by the Commander.”

As the second-in-command of the organization and a trusted subordinate bearing the name of the Black Sword.

“What you, desire.”

Aria of the Black Sword said.

“…….”

My desire, my command.

I silently turned my head. We were seated in the highest seats of the theater. Beyond, in the sprawling center, the Holy Kingdom’s exhibition was just about to begin.

In the star-blessed nation, the knights of the Holy War, bearing the star’s name, began their parade.

Under the command of Sir Roland, the Divine Spear, leader of the Holy Knight Order, who held the ‘Star Spear’, a holy relic, in his hand.

That Holy Spear is the map and key that leads to the heroes’ tomb. Ergo said so. That was all I knew.

Would obtaining it be the end? What did it mean to be a map and a key? How was it supposed to be activated? I didn’t know. Nor did I need to know. At least not right now.

“We will obtain the holy relic… the map that leads to the mausoleum.”

There was only one thing to do.

“─By any means necessary.”

To track down the disappeared heroes. To find the answer to my current situation.

“No one will be able to obstruct the Commander’s will.”

“Yes, that’s right. Alice won’t let them!”

“Oh ho ho, exactly as you say!”

Aria said. Alice and Freya smiled and replied.

“The Commander’s will…… absolute…….”

Gretel, the girl known as the Witch, mumbled in a shy voice.

“Whatever Rain says…… whatever he orders.”

Along with Gwyn, the man who silently smiled beside her.

The man just kept smiling without saying anything, whether he wanted to or not.

“I’ve been waiting for those words from the beginning, Commander!”

The Lone Wolf, Sandalphon, roared, his wolf’s mane trembling. He bared his unrestrained beast fangs.

Those present here were not limited to people of the Empire. The nationalities of those filling the city of Londinium were no exception.

On this grand international stage that claimed the name of the world, how would the ‘Holy Kingdom,’ which valued honor and chivalry more than anyone, act?

For that reason, the more eyes watching, the better.

The more people to protect, the better.

“……Well, fighting to protect someone isn’t exactly easy.”

“It’s the fate of those who have much to protect.”

“Mmm, those who possess much also have much to lose. This body knows that very well.”

The Dark Elf and the Vampire Lord exchanged words calmly.

Selena of the Dark Moon, Jinjo Scarlet.

As they said, this place was not a battlefield. That’s why I chose this location. I had no intention of fighting fairly.

Boom!

The explosion was the beginning.

They didn’t kill people. But they also didn’t let them escape. They blocked their escape routes and set things ablaze, but never pushed them into uncontrollable chaos.

The simultaneous acts of destruction were sufficient for people to grasp the situation and feel fear and terror.

Screams echoed. Voices of panic and agitation resounded from all directions.

“Scarlet.”

“Leave it to me, Commander.”

With that, I called the name of the vampire there. The girl with blood-red hair, known as the Vampire Lord, the Jinjo.

“ .”

Jinjo Scarlet chanted softly. With her chant, a red veil, as if a crimson filter had been placed over the scene, covered the area.

It was a barrier spell, a type of Blood Magic—a unique skill system in the game that only the ‘Vampire’ race could use, separate from their class.

The scene was one of burning twilight, as the explosive fires mingled with the crimson barrier.

With that scene behind them, the rest of the subordinates also moved.

To fulfill their respective roles according to the pre-arranged plan.

─A mighty wolf’s roar echoed. As if leaping down from the stands onto the stage. A man in a neat suit, perfectly fitting his swollen, colossal body that easily exceeded 2 meters, appeared.

Roaring and howling with a wolf’s face befitting the name ‘Beastman’.

The Lone Wolf, Sandalphon, was there.

Right there, in the exhibition hall where the Holy Kingdom was displaying and flaunting its military might before the world.

Taking the vanguard, willing to bear everyone’s wounds alone, ahead of anyone else.

“Stop playing pretend!!”

The wolf howled and roared. It was a thunderous roar that echoed loudly enough for everyone in the Crystal Palace to hear.

Before him, his opponents did not panic. They too were the Holy Kingdom’s strongest force, capable of being deployed in public—elites who bore the name of the Holy War, just like their title suggested.

Moreover, they were the 1st Knight Order ‘Tannhäuser’ and the 2nd Knight Order ‘Orion,’ considered the top elites within the Holy Knight Order.

“……Enemy attack. Assume battle formation.”

The Holy Knights facing them at the closest proximity did not panic. Along with the words of their commanding officer, they all adjusted their spears and swords and assumed their stances.

Even in this era of railroads and speeding trains, they stubbornly clung to the old-fashioned and antiquated image of ‘knights.’

With that, starlight began to shimmer along the Holy Knights’ armor and blades.

Like a river of stars coiling and flowing along the steel plates of their armor.

Before the swirling starlight, the Lone Wolf, Sandalphon, shouted.

“Come, you youngsters!”

*

“─Your Majesty.”

The girl was there.

In that place, burning red like the sunset, where a crimson veil had descended.

Yet, the twilight here was not the sun she bore. It was the crimson moon.

I could instinctively tell at a glance. Soon, that intuition turned into conviction.

“‘The Black Snake’ is…….”

The Queen calmly spoke the name. Calmly, without agitation. At no time did the Queen of this nation falter. She could not falter, for she herself was the nation.

“Immediately declare a Class A military defense situation. And notify the Virginia, currently in the sky, of the situation.”

“Understood.”

The first to respond to her words was neither the Prime Minister nor a Duke. It was Oswald Rabbit, the official in charge of a mere department, known as the Queen’s Rabbit, who silently bowed his head.

Along with him, the Empire’s Three Great Dukes—three men and women—seated beside the Queen, silently frowned.

“Your Majesty. It seems declaring Class A might be a bit excessive, perhaps?”

Representing the Three Dukes, the man named ‘Iron-Blooded Duke’ spoke.

Even as explosions erupted and fires burned everywhere, the Three Dukes remained seated, showing no intention of standing up.

As if they considered the current situation merely part of the spectacle.

“Duke Cromwell, do you still think so, even knowing their names?”

“I recall fighting that wolf-headed man over there.”

“Then you should know even better.”

“That is precisely why I am saying this.”

The Iron-Blooded Duke Cromwell replied.

“Even if I don’t know how many ‘snakes’ like him have gathered, they don’t seem particularly interested in us. There’s no benefit in getting involved with them.”

“From our perspective, there’s ample reason not to intervene.”

“More importantly, there’s no reason to intervene for another nation’s military.”

Calmly completing their calculations of profit and loss. The other two dukes were no different.

As if glued to their seats, showing no intention of moving an inch.

The fact that this was their homeland and the nation’s capital seemed to be of no concern to their voices.

*

“…….”

Even as my subordinates moved, I sat there silently, watching the stage.

As always, with Aria and Alice guarding my side.

Soon, it was just the three of us left there.

I didn’t know how the Empire would respond, but they certainly wouldn’t remain idle.

Furthermore, what was being deployed in this sudden situation was no mere security force.

It was the Bretona Empire’s proud army, the continent’s strongest military, known as the Red Coats.

As their name suggested, units in red coats moved everywhere, and my hidden subordinates also made their move.

I looked down at a place not too far from here.

As the panicking nobles were being evacuated, a man approached the red-clad unit escorting them. He was a man with the same red hair.

“Well, well, well. Looks like today you’re once again abandoning the common folk and working hard for the powerful nobles, aren’t you?”

Silan said, revealing his snake-like, tripartite eyes.

“Who are you! State your name and rank!”

“Ah, as you can see, I am Silan, the 4th-ranked member of ‘The Black Snake.’ My epithet, by the way, is a bit too embarrassing to say myself……”

Bang!

Without a moment to finish his words, the rifle barrel spat fire. However, what was fired beyond the muzzle was not gunpowder.

It was a Firebolt, a basic yet effective offensive spell.

At the same time, the spell’s power was far beyond what any ordinary mage could cast, and it wasn’t even a single shot. Each pull of the trigger sent a barrage of burning crossbow bolts from the rifle.

“Seriously, can’t a person speak without such ungentlemanly behavior……”

Even as he burned and smoldered, Silan’s mouth didn’t stop. He didn’t even show any signs of pain. But clearly, his flesh was burning, blistering, and oozing.

“!”

Slice!

Just then, without a moment to pull the next trigger, the bodies of those present were sliced apart. They were finely minced into pieces, as if being sliced, and only after being cut did they collapse, gushing blood like a fountain.

Becoming hundreds, thousands of blocks.

“Silan, you’re on a mission.”

“Of course, Big Sis. It’s not like I don’t know that.”

Among the ‘human pieces’ that had been shattered like Lego, Selena spoke. Beneath her hooded coat, which concealed her identity, the chilling gleam of her blade shone.

Meanwhile, with his burnt flesh perfectly restored, Silan turned his neck, making a cracking sound.

“Still, I don’t think there’s any need for us to get involved right away.”

Selena of the Dark Moon replied in an incredulous voice.

“……Don’t be complacent. That’s your bad habit.”