Ch.17759. Another World: Aileutan (3)

Luentz, the capital of Trelia. The situation there was extremely dire.

When my companions and I entered the city, Luentz had already been attacked and was on the verge of falling.

There was no time to waste.

‘The demon beasts have become even stronger!’

As Yuri said, the demon beasts we encountered were far stronger than those we had faced in the Risen territory and on our way here.

Not only were there demon beasts, but also soldiers bearing inverted crosses as their emblem.

They were undoubtedly the heretic army, the Inverse Cross Army, that the Lord of Risen had mentioned. Clad in black knight armor, they clearly possessed abilities surpassing S-class villains.

‘It seems the elite forces of the Inverse Cross Army have launched a surprise attack on Luentz. Let’s hurry.’

I quickly assessed the battle situation in the area.

Upon entering the city, I saw Luentz’s guards and knights in white armor.

They were fighting valiantly, but were being overwhelmingly pushed back by the Inverse Cross Army that had ambushed Luentz.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

I spotted a group of ogres trying to kill a knight. I annihilated them with the Vermilion Bird’s flames.

“Are you alright?”

I asked the knight. Unlike the other soldiers, his armor bore multiple emblems. Judging by the extraordinary aura he emanated, he seemed to be the commander of the knights.

But he was too stunned by the recent attack to answer immediately.

‘Well, his fellow knights just had their heads cut off right beside him.’

The situation was clearly unfavorable for the capital’s forces. I left him behind and moved to another battlefield.

“Thank you for saving me! I am High Knight Ruhels of the Royal Knights…”

I heard someone shouting behind me, but I was in too much of a hurry to respond.

The fierce battle continued for nearly an hour.

When we had managed to turn the tide from disadvantage to an even match, I finally had time to speak with the man called Ruhels.

“Thank you so much! Without all of you, our capital defense forces and the Royal Knights would have been completely annihilated!”

He and the other white-armored knights bowed deeply to us.

Since they all clearly trusted us, there was no need to show them the special identification documents we had received from the Count of Risen.

“Are you truly the Apostles of Arel? The Apostles have saved our lives.”

“I witnessed the holy miracle of Arel with my own eyes! Great Apostles!”

As they all made the sign of the cross while looking at us, I felt rather embarrassed.

“This capital of Trelia seems to be a city with deep faith, like the Vatican,” Arin said. And from the atmosphere, it seemed the Royal Knights were already aware of Arel’s prophecy.

‘That’s why they kept referring to us as Apostles of Arel.’

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t incorrect.

The Eastern Sages and I seemed to be carrying out not only Ayel’s will but Arel’s as well.

So while I was taken aback by the knights praying with clasped hands upon seeing our group, there was no time to dwell on it.

“Could you tell me the current status of the remaining forces in the capital? The numbers seem much smaller than what I heard about the Royal Knights and the capital defense forces from the Count of Risen.”

“That’s…”

“It seems that part of the forces have left the capital. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been pushed back so one-sidedly by the heretic army. Isn’t that right?”

“You… you’ve already figured that out?”

Ruhels and the knights around him were flustered. They were momentarily speechless, but Ruhels, as their senior, quickly composed himself and continued.

“As you said, the elite forces of Trelia’s capital army are engaged in battle with the heretic army that has invaded near the capital. The situation there is also quite dire…”

And it seemed the heretic army had, in turn, targeted the gap left by those elite forces. Ruhels’ expression was one of despair.

“For now, I’ll guide you to our defense forces’ command headquarters. The Cardinal of our Cross Church will also be visiting there! He has been waiting for the Apostles more than anyone…”

I nodded.

‘I hadn’t planned to get involved in a war in another world…’

Our group’s purpose was ultimately to prevent the evil god that would soon descend upon Earth.

The reality facing Ailetan seemed desperate as well, but we didn’t have the luxury to get involved in the affairs here.

However, the Royal Knights of this capital, and their sacred white tiger symbol, Tigris—possibly related to the White Tiger—I couldn’t let them be annihilated. I said to my companions:

“It seems we need to save this capital of Trelia first.”

And all three of them nodded in unison.

Three days passed.

Having received the position of special advisor to the capital defense forces, I succeeded in defending Luentz, the capital of Trelia, together with Flame’s companions.

***

The Royal Knights of Trelia.

Alicia von Schneider, the knight commander who had reached the pinnacle of the order.

Despite being only in her early thirties, her reputation was extraordinary, known as the Sword Duchess not only in the Kingdom of Trelia but throughout western Ailetan.

Her fame extended beyond her swordsmanship to her leadership as commander of the Royal Knights.

But for the past ten days, she had experienced the most disheartening feelings of her life. And three days ago, news from a messenger from the capital had driven her to despair.

‘Great Arel, have you abandoned our Trelia?’

The heretic army had advanced to the very gates of the capital Luentz. The Trelian forces facing them were being pushed back one-sidedly.

Eventually, even the majority of the defense forces guarding the capital were mobilized to stop them.

Even Alicia, the Royal Knight Commander, had left the capital to confront the heretic army. This left only minimal personnel in the capital.

But at that very moment, devastating news arrived that the heretic army’s elite forces had invaded the capital where the military presence was depleted.

In other words, Alicia’s Trelian forces had fallen victim to the enemy’s strategy.

‘But I couldn’t withdraw the forces.’

The Trelian army under her direct command—withdrawing those forces would create a gap in the battalion engaged in full-scale warfare.

That would give the Inverse Cross Army at the doorstep of the capital an opportunity.

But the King of Trelia and the Pope were in the capital. If they were to die, Trelia would lose its center of unity.

It was a dilemma from all angles. But the messenger brought unexpected news.

– The capital Luentz! The defense forces of Luentz are desperately holding back the enemy’s surprise attack!

And a message came from the defense forces’ command:

They would definitely protect the King and the Pope, so do not withdraw forces to the capital.

Though deeply concerned about the capital, Alicia trusted this directive and finally succeeded in forcing the Inverse Cross Army to retreat.

Afterward, Commander Alicia hurriedly returned to the capital with a few knights to escort her.

And it was true. The capital was safe.

‘Did the Royal Knights… our White Knights protect the capital!’

Alicia’s heart swelled with pride.

But when she heard High Knight Ruhels’ report directly, Alicia doubted her ears.

“The Apostles of Arel themselves defended the capital! The miracle they created saved us all!”

With reverent eyes, Ruhels praised someone in front of Alicia.

‘Apostles of Arel? What is Ruhels talking about?’

Of course, she had already heard from the Papal Office that such a prophecy of Arel existed.

But Alicia didn’t believe it. If they had just waited for these apostles who might never appear, Trelia would have perished long ago.

‘But… do the Apostles of Arel really exist?’

Until now, she had scoffed at the prophecy. But now she couldn’t deny it.

Just as the capital was about to fall, they had saved it as if divine grace had truly descended.

“I need to meet them myself.”

“The Apostles have left the command headquarters and are now at the Papal Office. His Holiness the Pope is personally attending to them.”

This made her even more bewildered.

The Pope was a high priest of such status that he stood shoulder to shoulder with the King.

The fact that even the Pope had personally stepped forward was proof that these people were indeed apostles.

‘Was the prophecy… true after all?’

So Alicia headed to the Papal Office with Ruhels.

And when she met those apostles at the Papal Office, she froze in place.

“Lady Alicia? Those are the Apostles. Quickly, to them…”

In the distance, she saw a young man with black hair.

Of course, she had never seen him before. But the moment she looked at him, Alicia felt very strange.

‘Wait. Why am I feeling like this?’

Suddenly, her heart rate increased dramatically. And her face grew hot. She felt suddenly shy about approaching him.

And she felt as if she were being enchanted by that man’s gaze. Unconsciously, she thought he was handsome.

‘Alicia! What are you thinking!’

She couldn’t help but be confused by this sensation she had never felt before.

As if she had fallen for someone at first sight, her mind went blank.

‘Pull yourself together, Alicia! I am the commander of the Royal Knights and the head of the Schneider family, which has served the spirit of the great tiger, Tigris! What are you thinking about a man!’

Alicia had never thought of herself as a woman.

If she had, she couldn’t have become the knight commander and the head of Trelia’s prestigious Schneider family as a woman.

But that thought crumbled to pieces.

‘What on earth is happening…’

Unable to just stand there, she barely managed to take a step. The Pope, recognizing her, hurriedly introduced Alicia to those people.

“Apostles, allow me to introduce someone. This is Alicia von Schneider, commander of the Royal Knights, the kingdom’s finest knight and its foremost sword!”

That was true. Alicia, who wouldn’t bat an eye at others’ flattery, now felt extremely embarrassed that this black-haired man was hearing those words.

‘What is this feeling… this emotion…’

It felt as if she had become a frivolous noblewoman with her head full of flowers, capable only of love songs.

At 31, she wasn’t particularly old, but now she felt like she had reverted to a 21-year-old noble lady.

Just then, the young man looked at her and greeted her first.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Min-soo Lee of Flame.”

Even his voice greatly stirred Alicia’s heart. She froze in place.

***

We spent a night at the Papal Office.

Flame’s companions were treated as state guests of Trelia. Additionally, the Pope, the highest leader of the Cross Church in the western continent, officially proclaimed us as Apostles of Arel.

– Arel himself has guided these Apostles to our Trelia. The great light will drive away those evil heretics and the Red Dragon they worship!

So we received unimaginable hospitality from the people of Trelia.

Even the King himself came to us and prostrated himself on the floor to pay respect to the Apostles.

“As the King of Trelia, I express my deepest gratitude for the grace of the great Apostles!”

Having become divine messengers overnight, we couldn’t even wear our normal clothes and had to change into special priestly garments of Trelia.

Then the next day came. When I woke up, I felt very tired.

‘All three of them looked very anxious.’

Naturally, we each received guest quarters in the Papal Office, but somehow Yuri, Soso, and Arin all came to my room with very anxious looks.

So I was on guard for any crisis that might be sensed instinctively as Eastern Sages.

But after spending some time with them under one blanket, I realized.

They were all wary of someone. It wasn’t the instinct of apostles, but the jealousy of women.

‘All three were wary of that knight commander.’

The knight commander named Alicia. Unusually, despite being at the pinnacle of the knighthood, the commander was a woman.

‘In Trelia… no, in western Ailetan, she’s called the Sword Duchess.’

Although Alicia was a woman, her swordsmanship was said to be among the best in the empire. Hence the title Sword Duchess.

And she wasn’t just any knight commander, but the head of the Schneider family, a renowned noble house in Trelia.

‘They say she could aspire to the throne if she wanted.’

Moreover, Alicia was extremely beautiful. I heard she was 31, but when I first saw her, I thought she was in her early twenties.

But for some reason, Alicia couldn’t say anything when she saw me.

‘If-if you need anything, please feel free to tell me! And I’ll have knights escort the Apostles!’

I had a mountain of questions for her.

The white tiger Tigris, symbol of the Royal Knights. And this Tigris was also said to be a great spiritual beast symbolizing the Schneider family.

So this morning, I went directly to the knight commander’s office. I intended to leave my other companions at the Papal Office.

But they all hurried to me early in the morning.

‘Well, Commander Alicia is indeed pretty. Maybe they’re concerned.’

But with my mind full of the power of the White Tiger, the last remaining power, I didn’t even notice her appearance.

Still, I could sense something instinctively. She was an incredibly powerful person. And the power of that divine beast was definitely infused within her.

So I arrived at the Knights’ Headquarters with my companions. There, Alicia, dressed completely differently from yesterday, greeted me personally.

“W-welcome, Great Apostle!”

Surprisingly, instead of knight’s armor, she appeared dressed in the attire of a Trelian noblewoman.