Ch.146The Declining Imperial Family (17)

“This should do.”

Ruide found a suitable spot.

He was sitting on the outer wall of Windsor Castle.

From his vantage point, the soldiers below looked like tiny black dots.

“There are so many of them.”

How many could there be? Ruide tried to count but quickly gave up.

It wasn’t a number that could be counted.

But that didn’t change anything.

Today, all of them would die here.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Ruide felt a sense of déjà vu.

‘When did I start thinking this way so casually?’

Originally, he believed killing people was wrong.

It was natural to think so since they were fellow humans. Now his thinking had changed slightly—he believed it was acceptable to kill those who had committed crimes, but—

‘What crimes have those soldiers committed?’

A rational question arose in his mind.

And simultaneously—

‘Why am I so unbothered by this?’

He had resolved to kill this massive army of hundreds of thousands, yet he felt strangely indifferent.

Even if he were to kill that many cockroaches, he wouldn’t be this calm. At least that would be disgusting.

“…Maybe I’ll just put them to sleep.”

Ruide jumped down from the castle wall.

Fighting here might damage the beautiful buildings of the Fourth Defense Line.

Though evacuations had been completed, he was planning to use the largest magic spell yet, so there was no telling what might happen.

“Hmm…”

As he walked toward the imperial forces, the reality of the situation began to sink in.

Sharp weapons, people with grim expressions.

Their eyes were filled with killing intent.

What if—just what if.

Like with Colon before. If he had only put them to sleep, and if Irene hadn’t anticipated all this, what would have happened to the Fourth Defense Line?

The barrier of the Fourth Defense Line was designed for magical beasts. It could withstand impacts but couldn’t prevent entry.

The Windsor knights were currently stationed at the First and Ninth Defense Lines because of the wave.

The enemy would enter without bloodshed.

Then what would they do?

Would they act like modern soldiers, avoiding civilian casualties and behaving honorably?

No, this was the medieval era.

Ruide wasn’t foolish enough to have such naive thoughts.

This was war. They would plunder, covet, and kill. That’s how war had always been throughout human history.

The people of this world that Ruide had seen—the medieval people he’d observed firsthand—were far more barbaric than modern people might imagine.

‘Among them are knights, nobles, and wizards. There are probably intelligent commoners too. But most of them…’

Most would be barbaric commoners. The outcome was predictable. Even if the commander was a good person, controlling this many people would be impossible.

The people of the North would suffer terribly.

Ruide rubbed his chin. These thoughts made him deeply uncomfortable.

“I should kill them after all.”

His dilemma was resolved.

Ruide smiled brightly and raised his hand toward the sky.

The distance to the army was within identifiable range—close enough for arrows and magic to reach.

At that moment, the army halted its advance.

After some murmuring, a knight at the front shouted in a strained voice.

“Who goes there!”

Despite the considerable distance, his voice was amplified by magic and carried clearly.

Ruide began his incantation internally while using amplification magic to reply.

“The North cannot accommodate so many guests.”

The response came immediately.

“We are here to carry out the Emperor’s orders! If you comply quietly, there will be no unnecessary bloodshed!”

“Lies. Then why did you bring so many?”

“Because Victoria Windsor killed the messenger who came to deliver the imperial decree!”

Ruide felt utter contempt.

‘Such an obvious lie.’

“My family doesn’t kill innocent people without reason. Especially not my mother.”

Irene might have wavered at this.

‘Is this the justification they commonly use during war? Their skill is pathetic.’

But he couldn’t believe that Victoria, of all people, would kill a messenger without reason.

Because Victoria was kind and gentle.

“You, could you be…”

The knight seemed to forget his voice was magically amplified as he muttered to himself.

He must have noticed the word “mother” that Ruide had used.

Only then did they confirm that the distant boy had golden hair and blue eyes.

There was only one person who matched that description.

The youngest son of the Windsor Duchy, Ruide Christopher Windsor.

“W-wait! I request a dialogue!”

The knight’s voice trembled, more important than expected.

He clearly hadn’t anticipated such an important figure would appear.

“Let’s meet in the middle! Our commander says he has something to discuss!”

‘Really now. When it’s hundreds of thousands against one.’

Ruide thought it was an obvious ploy.

They probably intended to capture or kill him after luring him to the middle.

In chess terms, he was like a queen—the only piece that could check the king.

He didn’t know if prisoners had rankings, but if they did, he would be top-tier.

Of course, he was confident he could remain safe even if he followed their request.

But there was no need to do so.

“That’s enough.”

Ruide said coldly.

“The casting just finished.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a blue light enveloped him.

Complex magic circles moved like living things in a circular pattern around him.

The magic circle grew larger. From the soldiers’ perspective, Ruide had appeared as a mere dot, but now the circle behind him matched the size of Windsor Castle.

Even to the untrained eye, it was obvious that a terrifying spell would unfold if left unchecked.

“Reform the ranks! Mages, block the incoming magic! No, everyone use arrows and magic to stop the casting! We absolutely cannot let him complete the incantation!”

The knight was so flustered that his amplification magic was still active.

Ruide sneered. The casting was already complete. In other words, the magic had already been cast.

He had summoned something massive. It just took time to arrive.

Meaning, no one could stop it.

“Fire!”

With so many people, it sounded like thunder.

Something flew toward him in such numbers that the sky turned black.

Various spells and what seemed like thousands of arrows.

However, they didn’t even activate Ruide’s barrier.

They all stopped before reaching him.

“Im-impossible.”

The knight collapsed to his knees.

Ruide waved his hand in the air.

The projectiles aimed at him changed direction.

“B-barrier! Cast a barrier!”

‘Since I received them, I should return them twofold.’

Blue flames erupted from one of Ruide’s eyes.

The redirected projectiles shot toward the soldiers, almost disappearing in their speed.

BOOM! CRASH!

“AAAAARGH!”

“Save me!”

The projectiles exploded like bombs among the imperial soldiers who were as numerous as a swarm of bees.

It was like being under an air raid from fighter jets.

The soldiers’ terrible screams could be heard even without magic.

The sight of them in confusion and fear, running in disarray.

It wasn’t a scene that an ordinary civilian possessor could endure—

But Ruide was more serene than ever.

‘Strange. This feeling.’

Ruide clutched his chest with vacant eyes.

‘Could this be the true nature of the “indolent Ruide”?’

Come to think of it—

He had killed people several times without feeling anything.

Simply dismissing it as “they deserved to die” seemed insufficient for the weight of human life.

“…I guess it’s better this way.”

Ruide looked up again.

This was nothing so far.

He had merely responded to the enemy’s attack.

“It” was coming—what he had summoned.

Ruide suddenly realized he hadn’t named this spell.

‘That was close.’

For a mage, naming a spell is an important act.

Without a name, he would have to spend a long time incanting the next time he used this spell.

Fortunately, he had already thought of a name.

Ruide whispered softly.

“Armageddon.”

The sky, which had been pitch black until now, shone brilliantly.

Everyone looked up.

Until just a moment ago, they had been screaming and in chaos, but—

Those who saw “it” couldn’t say a word.

A massive rock that seemed to cover the entire sky.

No, could it even be called a rock?

A gigantic object wrapped in flames like red-hot lava was approaching at high speed.

Though they had never experienced such magic before, the outcome if that enormous object fell was obvious.

No one could speak in the face of its overwhelming presence.

Except for one person—Ruide, the caster.

“So it actually works.”

Ruide felt uneasy.

He knew it would work, but seeing it with his own eyes made it feel different.

To think he could summon an asteroid.

Still, he learned something new from this.

This world he was standing on.

It must exist somewhere in space.

‘But still.’

Ruide wore a disgusted expression.

It was absurd to say after summoning it himself, but it was much larger than he had expected.

It looked like it might threaten not just the 230,000 people here, but the entire planet.

‘This won’t do.’

He seemed to have overdone it.

An asteroid wasn’t necessary just to kill tens of thousands of people.

Ruide reflected on his excess as he stretched his hand toward the void.

The asteroid fell faster than he had anticipated.

Because of its enormous size, it was probably much further away than it appeared, but that was enough.

Already, winds so strong that it was difficult to stand blew across the ground.

The snow covering the ground melted from the heat.

And by the time they realized this—

“…The 5th Magic.”

Among the 230,000 soldiers, no one remained alive.

Only the black ashes on the ground gave any faint indication that they had ever existed.

“Cancel.”

Ruide clenched his fist.

The asteroid that could have brought about the end of this world disappeared in Ruide’s hand.

“Is it over now?”

Ruide sighed.

It was good that he had placed a barrier over the entire North from the beginning, having decided to use a large spell.

Otherwise, the beautiful snowy plains of the North would have all melted, creating a sea.

Ruide glanced at the black ashes once, then briefly looked at his small hand.

“Still no reaction at all.”

He closed his eyes momentarily, then walked away without looking back.

He planned to return to the First Defense Line.

‘I wonder what Damon and Hersy are doing.’

The same went for the other Academy students.

He felt like he had neglected them too much.

After all, he was the Academy’s chief professor.

“Pfft.”

Ruide laughed at the thought that had just crossed his mind.

“What am I saying, after killing everyone just now. I sounded a bit like Irene.”

Anyway, he should go meet them.

Though he wasn’t sure what to do yet—

Among the people he had just killed, there were surely family members of Academy students.

He should apologize.

In the black ashes that were hard to believe had once been living beings.

Something stirred.

It was a lump.

A lump made of ashes.

—Hissss.

Ashes gathered around the lump.

They rose upward, writhing to form a shape.

It was the shape of a person.

Hands formed, a face took shape. Hair sprouted, and clothes appeared.

The ashes had transformed into a living person.

The commander of the South. The Empire’s hero.

Count Oppenheimer, rumored to have lived perhaps a thousand years.

Sheffield muttered as he stared at the spot where Ruide had just disappeared.

“…Non-standard. Ruide Christopher Windsor.”

A rather provocative phrase from the investigation of the current Windsor generation.

He had thought it was an exaggerated description given the weakened state of the Empire, but…

He confirmed through this opportunity that it wasn’t exaggerated at all.

“He’s a far more dangerous individual than imagined. To think he possesses power rivaling that of Dellin. I must report this to the Emperor.”

Count Sheffield’s eyes sank deeply.

He too turned and walked away.

His destination was the Imperial Palace.

More precisely, a single individual.

The Emperor.

He headed toward the only human he acknowledged.