Ch.177177. Phoenix (1)

However, during this expedition, while Alicia received the protocol and formalities as the Queen of England from the European Union, unfortunately, she was not able to participate directly in this battle.

“With so many mages casting spells simultaneously, it certainly looks spectacular. Power aside—”

“Indeed. It’s quite a sight.”

“But I can’t even fight. I want to level up.”

Initially, Alicia had planned to participate in the battle herself to accumulate a decent amount of experience points.

As a latecomer to this apocalypse, Alicia had not yet reached level 10, and hunting for level-ups in her homeland of England came with interference from numerous factions.

So she had planned to directly participate in this expedition, free from British political restraints, to gain experience points. However…

“The Lord Protector wouldn’t allow it.”

“That’s the problem. He’s no help to my life at all.”

Unfortunately, the European Union had the Lord Protector, who didn’t want Alicia to advance any further in levels. Since that was his stance, the Saint of Orleans, who had formed a political alliance with him, explicitly ordered that Alicia be excluded from the expedition.

From the Saint’s perspective, Alicia was the Lord Protector’s political opponent, and since the Saint herself had contracted with a special entity, she was highly wary of Bahamut, the being Alicia had contracted with.

Moreover, they had a sufficient justification to convince the public:

For the safety of the young queen, they would keep her in the safest possible location during this expedition. Something along those lines.

“It’s insidious exclusion.”

“I can’t deny that.”

The woman who had appeared confident when facing Alicia, trying to provoke her, was apparently secretly afraid of her, resulting in this utterly insidious exclusion.

But even with Bahamut’s power, Alicia’s political influence was extremely weak, so when those two took such a stance, she had no choice but to comply.

If she resisted forcefully, she might inversely arouse public suspicion, so she remained quiet.

“How boring.”

[Indeed]

So what was there for Alicia to do on this expedition?

She could only ride in the vehicle provided with all its hollow formalities and protocols, watching lower-level Awakened struggle in battle.

“It’s pitiful. Yes, pitiful.”

Of course, at first, Alicia had expectations about watching Awakened from other countries fight.

But contrary to her expectations, the Awakened affiliated with the peacekeeping forces only fought monsters desperately, failing to demonstrate the combat prowess Alicia had anticipated.

So her expectations quickly turned to disappointment, and she felt like strongly protesting to the management, demanding to be allowed to participate in battle herself.

“Why should I watch Awakened who are worse than my royal guard fight?”

“…Don’t you think the royal guard is exceptionally skilled?”

“I don’t care! It’s dull! Boring!”

Of course, there was bound to be an enormous difference in skill between the royal guard, who had received combat training since before the apocalypse, and the Awakened who had been civilians before joining the peacekeeping forces.

Arthur reminded her of this point, but Alicia responded like a child, saying she didn’t care about such things and that it was boring.

Seeing this side of her, one might call her an ordinary teenage girl rather than a queen, but Arthur felt as if he was watching a wild Godzilla complaining of boredom.

True, apart from her position, she did look like an ordinary teenage girl…

‘If the Dragon Priestess rampages, my stomach lining will fly away…’

Since she was a priestess who could summon the dragon deity Bahamut, Arthur simply couldn’t judge her by appearances alone.

As Alicia continued to show this carefree attitude, the Lord Protector, who had been watching her vehicle as if monitoring her, approached her car with a smug expression.

“Hahaha. Is it wise to be so defenseless? A sinister assassin might target your neck, Your Majesty.”

“Well, it seems you can’t go a day without picking a fight. Isn’t that right, Lord Protector?”

As the Lord Protector started to provoke her, Alicia straightened her posture as if welcoming the challenge, and while mocking him for having too much time on his hands…

“Assassins? Of course they’re scary. But if an assassin could even cut the fabric of what I’m wearing now, then by all means. Oh? The Lord Protector is such a pauper without such treasures! Too! Bad!”

She boasted that she wasn’t afraid of assassins at all.

As if showing off the armor she was wearing, she displayed her armor made of mythril, an eternally unchanging metal, with a childish pride that seemed to say, “You don’t have this, do you?”

“…Indeed, it’s a national treasure-class item, that armor.”

“Jealous? Are you? Don’t stare so hard. It doesn’t suit you.”

The Lord Protector could only glare at Alicia with an irritated expression, as if he knew it was impossible to disparage that armor.

It was a fact, but Alicia had used that fact to verbally assault him, and his gaze was filled with resentment.

However, Alicia, as if she didn’t care about such things, began to taunt him like a 10-year-old child, saying he started it first.

To be fair, Alicia herself was an early teenager, so one could say she was acting her age, but since a queen was openly mocking him like this, the Lord Protector’s expression didn’t improve.

“You’re a lucky one.”

“Luck is also a skill, you know? If anything, you’re the lucky one. Hmph.”

So all the Lord Protector could say was that she was a lucky brat, and Alicia retorted that luck was also a skill, and if anything, he was the one who had been lucky.

“If it weren’t for the apocalypse, you would have already been arrested as a delusional traitor.”

Indeed, the Lord Protector could only aspire to usurp the throne because of the special circumstances of the apocalypse.

If it weren’t for the apocalypse, the Lord Protector would have been arrested by the royal guard for treason, let alone usurping the throne.

“This is maddening. To think that a puppet queen would have such imperial qualities.”

“Are you bragging about yourself? Don’t tell me you regret it?”

The Lord Protector openly lamented, as if he hadn’t expected her to defy him like this.

To think that someone he thought was a puppet would have such imperial qualities that would hinder him!

At first, Alicia responded by saying he was bragging about himself, but then asked if he regretted it…

“I don’t regret it. Desiring the throne is a man’s instinct. If I had known it would be like this, I should have killed you then, despite the criticism.”

“Wow. You say that so shamelessly. I knew it. Our Lord Protector is still a bastard!”

The Lord Protector not only didn’t regret it but even openly stated that he should have killed her earlier.

Alicia responded with a cold expression, saying she had expected as much, and merely sighed.

Since she had always known what kind of person he was, Alicia had never had expectations for the Lord Protector, and she wasn’t particularly surprised even when he openly expressed his treasonous thoughts.

She simply realized once again that one of them would definitely have to die.

“Your Majesty also knows, doesn’t she? That one of us must die or fall. I’m just being honest.”

“That one of us has to fall… Is that really the only unsophisticated thought you have? Officially, you’re my subject, right? If you just acted as a loyal subject, there wouldn’t be a problem for either of us.”

The Lord Protector also declared that one of them must die, essentially announcing that he would definitely kill Alicia.

In response, Alicia lamented, questioning whether it was necessary to stake their lives on this, saying there was no need to go that far.

After all, the Lord Protector was officially Alicia’s subject, and if he pretended to be loyal, it would be difficult for Alicia to purge him.

As for past events, they could be overlooked with the justification that it was the apocalypse and couldn’t be helped.

“Then I wouldn’t be able to claim the throne.”

“Ah. Right. So you do want to sit on the throne.”

However, even with such a path available, the Lord Protector chose not to take it.

All he could see was the throne and crown that Alicia was sitting on.

“I’d like to just assassinate you right here.”

“Is that possible?”

“I don’t know if I can do it myself. But I think my dragon deity can.”

So before more blood was shed, Alicia openly told the Lord Protector, her assassination target, that she wanted to assassinate him first.

The Lord Protector openly mocked her declaration, but his face turned pale at the mention of Bahamut that followed.

While it might be impossible for Alicia personally, it was entirely possible for Bahamut.

Infamy? If the queen ordered it and staged a coup, anyone who complained would soon disappear.

The Lord Protector wouldn’t be alive anyway, and she could purge all of his collapsed forces to establish a dictatorship solely for the queen.

“That’s quite frightening. But…”

So all the Lord Protector could do was…

“It seems you’re also starting to make your move.”

Send a warning message to Bahamut, who was likely watching this scene.

“Starting, you say. I wonder if the Saint’s words are true.”

After revealing this fact, the Lord Protector immediately left, and at the moment when the monster army was stopping the European Union forces…

“Come forth, my divine beast! For my people, show your glory here!”

With the Saint of Orleans’ powerful declaration, flames began to gather in the sky, soon forming into a single shape.

The blue sky turned red, and what appeared with tremendous light and heat was… a beautiful bird engulfed in flames.

“Is that… a phoenix?”

“It does look like a phoenix.”

[That’s definitely a phoenix no matter how you look at it.]

A being called the phoenix… or the immortal bird.

This being, which was spontaneously called a phoenix by those who saw it, formed from gathered flames into a single shape, immediately let out a powerful cry and threw itself toward the ground.

With a flight that traced a precarious curve, the phoenix began to scatter its feathers on the ground, while the Saint displayed showmanship to the crowd as if to demonstrate her majesty.

“Go. Burn everything. Turn it all to ash. Divine Beast Phoenix.”

With those words, the feathers made of fire that the phoenix had scattered on the battlefield began to explode.

Monsters caught in those explosions instantly turned to ash, and for the Awakened who remained there…

“What’s this? My wounds are healing.”

“A-Amazing!”

It bestowed healing power rather than wounds upon them.

The phoenix demonstrated the power of death to monsters and the power of healing to the Awakened. The Awakened on the battlefield all began to cheer for the phoenix’s glory.

[Those flames also have powerful healing abilities.]

“Yes. It’s amazing.”

Bahamut and Alicia also watched this scene, thinking that the Saint of Orleans had reason to be confident.

[But this method… feels very familiar somehow.]

“Bahamut?”

The problem was that this method really did feel very familiar.

Yes…

[No. Somehow… I mean.]

It noticeably seemed to be copying the exact method Bahamut had used in the past.

After all, wasn’t this the method Bahamut had used with Yuna to gain people’s trust?

Though he was restraining himself now, Bahamut had once used this method to gain Gyeongju and Pohang.

‘Perhaps… though it’s a far-fetched assumption… could that phoenix be an entity like me?’

Was that why?

Bahamut couldn’t help but suspect that the phoenix active on the battlefield might be an entity like himself.