Ch.134134. The Defense of Kairos (1)

“The Saint… The Saint has arrived!!”

The news of Isis’s arrival on the battlefield spread instantly on the wind. A soldier who had been waiting for death with his abdomen pierced by a Crawler looked back and forth between Isis and his own body with a bewildered expression, unsure of what had happened.

“My wound… it’s healed.”

Has her healing magic grown stronger? It wasn’t this powerful before. Nella stared at Isis with a dazed expression. The golden mana spread gently and widely, raising the wounded one by one. The soldiers rose from their positions as if entranced and gripped their weapons again.

“Fight. I am behind you.”

The royal guards positioned themselves on both sides to escort Isis. It wasn’t just the healing magic that had grown stronger. Nella thought to herself as she watched the Saint encouraging the soldiers with a firm yet gentle voice. The monsters that had climbed up the wall were instantly thrown back down by the soldiers Isis had healed. The soldiers’ battle cries drowned out the monsters’ screams.

“…For the time being, there won’t be any gaps in the wall’s defense.”

Nella sighed with relief. The barricade was half-destroyed, but the soldiers’ momentum was intense enough to make up for it.

“It’s been a while, Nella. Are you injured anywhere?”

Isis’s voice reached Nella’s ears. Nella turned her head, suppressing the urge to sigh again. Though they had both left the hero’s party, they hadn’t been on good terms even when they were in it together. To be precise, their relationship had been quite hostile. They had constantly been at odds like a hero and a mercenary.

“Don’t worry about me. Go treat those fallen knights over there. I’m not hurt.”

Nella waved her hand dismissively, but Isis strode toward her purposefully. Thinking she might be picking another fight, Nella slightly hunched her shoulders, but Isis’s hand carefully touched her cheek. As healing mana seeped into her body, the stinging sensation on her cheek disappeared.

“Be careful. If you get injured and have to be evacuated, the entire defense line will collapse.”

“No one ever worries about me.”

Nella grumbled, but she didn’t seem particularly displeased. If the Saint had expressed concern for her well-being, she probably would have exploded in anger. Nella blasted the head off a monster climbing the wall, then turned back to Isis.

“So, why are you alone here like this? Where did you leave Ilroy?”

“He’s still in meditation. When I heard war had broken out, I thought at least I should come first.”

Nella slightly furrowed her brow.

“Are there any signs of him waking up? Did he leave any message?”

“Only what he said before entering meditation.”

Isis’s expression was full of worry as she shook her head. The relationship between the Saint and Ilroy couldn’t have been very good either. No, wasn’t it Isis who unilaterally despised Ilroy? Something must have happened between them again. Even in the midst of the intense battle, Nella found herself thinking about such irrelevant matters.

“Shouldn’t we wake him up?”

“We don’t need to be hasty. In the end, all of this will only be resolved when he awakens from his meditation.”

Isis looked at the anxious Nella for a moment before speaking.

“We should believe in the hero, but we shouldn’t depend on him. Seeking him out just because we’re momentarily cornered is like walking into a trap of our own accord.”

“…You’ve learned to speak quite like a Saint.”

Nella said with half-mockery. Isis’s expression soured briefly before returning to normal. There was no sharp response like before. It seemed Nella alone had failed to grow.

“I’ll heal the wounded as they appear, but preventing injuries should be the priority. You understand, right?”

“Fine. Go check on other areas quickly.”

She was still trapped in the past. While the present and reality were approaching in the worst possible form right before her eyes. Nella clenched and unclenched her fist.

“…Whatever.”

Her mana took form and spread out. Ice spears floated in the air, forming a carpet. A chunk of mana was carved out from Nella’s heart. Her mind questioned whether she could handle creating a barrier later if she consumed mana like this now, but Nella didn’t answer the voice in her head.

She had to handle it.

Nella tightly clenched her outstretched hand, and the ice spears rained down like a downpour on the monsters’ heads. The sound of flesh being torn and crushed, the monsters’ screams and death throes could be heard. With a sound like tens of thousands of glass panes shattering at once, the ice spears crashed into the ground.

“If I can’t handle this much, we’re all dead anyway.”

==

Agnes watched as Laura descended to the ground. The 7th Circle Archmage was sweating profusely. Her assistant came forward with a handkerchief, but Laura pushed the assistant away and stood firmly. Her grand magic had completely reversed the unfavorable battle situation.

“I’ll recover for a moment, Your Majesty. Please preserve your royal body.”

Agnes snorted at Laura who spoke while catching her breath.

“Laura, this is a battlefield. One where the fate of our country hangs in the balance. Don’t tell me to preserve my royal body again. What does my single body matter when this land and its people are being crushed?”

Optimal physical condition. Agnes’s body was perfectly tuned. The battle on the wall was intensifying. The monsters were trying to climb up more viciously than the Agui, and the soldiers were desperately stopping them by throwing themselves forward. Agnes drew her sword.

“Rest as much as you need. I will hold until you are ready again.”

“Your Majesty, please…”

“Enough. Focus on recovery instead of worrying about me. You know that’s the way to protect me. Besides…”

Agnes slightly raised the corner of her mouth, giving Laura a provocative smile. Laura tilted her head, not understanding why the queen was making such an expression.

“I am stronger than you.”

“That remains to be seen.”

Laura’s response returned to her usual lisp as she bristled.

“I shall prove it to you now, Laura. Keep your eyes wide open and see for yourself as you recover.”

Agnes ascended the stairs majestically. Knights followed behind the queen. But the aura emanating from the queen with her drawn sword was far stronger than all the knights combined who followed to protect her. The queen had to be alone. The moment the weight was shared, the illusion of being queen would disappear.

“Do not pass before me. I will allow you to guard my side and my back, but I will not forgive anyone who blocks my path. I believe you all know very well what this means.”

Agnes pointed her sword. A monster was blocking the stairway.

“Your Majesty need not handle this.”

As one knight tried to step forward, he was stopped by Agnes’s cold gaze. The queen’s sword was poised before the knight’s Adam’s apple.

“What did you hear me say just now?”

She would not allow it. She would not tolerate those who coveted glory and were already dead when they should have died, yet could not die. Agnes withdrew her sword and extended her foot forward. The queen’s lofty self began to mix with mana, pressing down on the space heavily and secretly like a fragrance.

“Die protecting my back. Do not die blocking my path. I will not say it a third time.”

“I will keep it in mind.”

Agnes’s form blurred and disappeared. Though it had been a while since she had been in actual combat, there was no sign of tension in Agnes. The queen’s movements looked like steps, but she was moving faster than anyone else in that space. There was no waste or excess in her strikes. With each flash of her blade, a monster’s head fell, and the defense formation that was about to collapse stabilized.

“Stand up. Do not forget that your families, lovers, and comrades are behind you.”

The queen’s appearance and a single word awakened the soldiers as much as the Saint’s healing magic and encouragement. They gained hope from Agnes’s overwhelming skill in easily slaughtering the monsters, and felt pride in the fact that she was their ruler.

“And do not forget that I am before you.”

The hero had not arrived. This was the news from the Saint who had led the Holy Kingdom’s reinforcements. So, she would take his responsibility upon herself. Agnes thought as she swung her sword.

“Maintain your formation, allow no gaps, even small ones. Your comrade beside you will die.”

At the queen’s command, the soldiers thrust their spears faster. Agnes then glanced down at the base of the wall. The number of monsters clinging to the wall seemed to be decreasing. Was it because the homunculi were rampaging near the wall, clearing out the monsters? Agnes’s eyes narrowed.

“…No, the number hasn’t actually decreased.”

Agnes shook her head as she muttered to herself. It wasn’t that the numbers had decreased; the intensity of the attack had simply lessened. The monsters that had been surging like a tidal wave were gone, replaced only by sporadic attacks and deaths.

Then, where were the remaining monsters?

Agnes’s body stiffened. Her head whipped around. If they couldn’t break through by spreading out, concentrating on a single point would be the right move. Any intelligent monster would know that much.

The most vulnerable point in this fortress. Where the terrain was flattest and the wall structure was most flimsy. Thud. The sound of a boulder rolling down a mountain was heard. The noise gradually moved away from Agnes’s ears.

“Let’s go to the main gate.”

Agnes said and began to move. Thud. Thud. Thud. The sound of something pounding on the wall was like a giant knocking on the door of his house. Like a slingshot or a catapult, monster bodies were being hurled against the wall. As the receding noise grew closer to the main gate, Agnes’s steps quickened.

“Your Majesty! You must not come here!”

“Move aside.”

Agnes pushed away the soldiers trying to block her path and reached the main gate. There, she had to face her worst fears manifested in the most terrible form.

“What is happening here?”

A black mass was ramming into the main gate. The mass would be crushed and bleed with each impact. Feet, tails, and heads emerged from the mass, wailing. Human screams were buried under bestial death throes and rage-filled roars. The wall was rattling and shaking like a giant cage.

“I don’t know… Suddenly thousands, tens of thousands of monsters appeared and started ramming the walls and gates. The ones that hit first were crushed, then functioned like adhesive, sticking to other monsters… And as more and more of them attached and merged… they became ‘that’.”

The commander seemed to have lost his mind already. Agnes clicked her tongue and walked past the commander to the edge of the wall. A monster sprang up like a spring, aiming for the queen and flying toward her. Before the knights could even react in horror and rush forward, the monsters were already cut into several pieces and falling.

“Some captain-level knights went down below the wall to stop that thing, but…”

They’ve already become one with them. The commander finished his report with those words.

“I will go.”

Thud. The gate shuddered again. A tense silence fell.

“If we wait for grand magic, it will be fine. Since they’re all clustered together, it will be easier to annihilate them.”

“That’s if the wall can hold until then.”

The commander closed his mouth. The escort knights, knowing well that they had neither the justification nor the strength to stop the queen, quietly drew their swords. It was time to die. The knights thought as they drew mana and aura from their hearts.

“Only three follow me. The rest guard the wall.”

There was no need to ask which three. The knights left only the three strongest and stepped back. Agnes closed her eyes tightly and began to form her aura. The queen’s aura, a red like roses, elegantly flowed down her arms and enveloped her sword.

“I’m going.”

With those words, the queen leaped down from the wall without hesitation. Her aura spread like a cape behind her shoulders. The queen’s sword was aimed at the center of the monster mass. Among the heaps of monster flesh, there were what appeared to be human bodies. Armor, heads with wide-open eyes. Arms holding swords. Broken flags.

“I’m sorry.”

The queen briefly apologized to those who would not even return as corpses, then brought down her sword.