Ch.200[Chapter 200] Gacha Land 4-1

When Jugashvili purged Vyacheslav and continued the battle, what was happening at the foot of the hill?

As one might expect, all teams except Sir Dominic’s were cursing Sir Dominic’s team.

“This is irritating.”

A giant man holding a thick, massive iron cannon grumbled as he scattered salt on the ground.

He was dressed only in a loincloth with his hair tied up in a topknot like a sumo wrestler, and possessed the belly and weight necessary to smoothly distribute the recoil of his massive cannon.

“Well, if we pour in more gunpowder, we should be able to manage somehow, right?”

Next to him stood a comically-shaped hunchback with a bald head, extremely long twin braids that dragged on the ground, and goggles. The basket on his back was filled with sticks tied with firecrackers.

“That’s right. For once, our intentions align today.”

A man wearing a conical hat standing right beside them spoke.

He raised his matchlock gun and fired a shot toward the hill.

Sir Dominic on the hill blocked the bullet with his shield, but as if the bullet had been merely a decoy, a lump of pitch immediately assaulted Sir Dominic.

A masked figure had attached a net containing a lump of pitch to the end of his fishing rod and set it on fire.

Just as those on the hill had turned the area below into an inferno with firebombs, these people were planning to turn the hilltop into a hell of flames.

Currently, there were a total of 13 parties in this stage, with 42 people remaining.

According to the rules, all parties were supposed to be hostile to each other, but with Sir Dominic’s party currently dominating, the actual situation had become Sir Dominic’s party versus everyone else.

Four members of Sir Dominic’s party… no, three now after the recent purge, against the remaining 39 people.

It should have been a disadvantageous fight for the side with only three people, but the other parties were merely watching each other cautiously, making the situation increasingly favorable for Sir Dominic’s party.

At the very least, the ranged dealers from Dragon Clan and Serpent Clan were making some effort, but even that was insufficient to break through Sir Dominic’s iron-like defense.

“Tanks really need a nerf,” sighed the Dragon Clan archer.

If the situation continued as it was, it was obvious that Sir Dominic’s party would win with the fastest time and the highest score difference.

However, there wasn’t any particularly good solution either.

The Dragon Clan archer’s sigh contained all of that frustration and helplessness.

It was then.

A thief from the Serpent Clan looked around and suddenly shouted in surprise.

“W-what is that?”

“What? What’s going on?”

A person wearing a Tengu mask approached, lifting a wooden cannon.

“T-t-there!”

The thief pointed toward the opposite forest.

Everyone nearby turned their gaze toward the forest.

And there—

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

With a cracking sound, a giant Chihuahua with three heads appeared.

“!”

“My Demon Lord! I’ve told you so many times not to pick up just anything!”

“White Raven, forgive my sins. White Raven, forgive my sins…”

“Ah, now my ears will be pierced! Enough! Enough! Even the White Raven would be annoyed and angry at this point!”

The three-headed monster carrying Princess Teu Le Vante, the two-headed Demon Lord, along with Arkus and Ogreson dangling from the monster’s mouth, and the Chief of Staff following while scolding the Demon Lord.

…

At the edge of the forest.

The Demon Lord finally stopped as the Chief of Staff caught up.

The Chief of Staff approached the Demon Lord and began to lecture her.

“So, Demon Lord, we came here today to learn how to win through underhanded means, not to take a walk.”

“!”

“Please put away that expression as if you just realized it. I’ve already mentioned this fifteen times.”

The Demon Lord appealed to the Chief of Staff with an innocent face, but the Chief of Staff was an extremely strict demon when it came to education.

“Above all, what are those? A skinny priest and a swordsman who looks like an ogre’s cousin? Why on earth did you pick them up?”

The Chief of Staff burst out in anger at the Demon Lord.

Normally, the Chief of Staff would have spoken gently so as not to startle the Demon Lord, but today was a day for education, so he was being somewhat strict.

“?”

The Demon Lord tilted her head as if wondering if she was being scolded for picking up the three-headed Chihuahua.

“No, the monster is fine. There are even academic papers saying that pets help with emotional development, and such a cute and docile monster is rare.”

The monster released Arkus and Ogreson and began viciously biting and clawing at a nearby log, displaying its aggression.

However, surprisingly, the three-headed monster seemed to be docile and acceptable from the perspective of the strict Chief of Staff.

“!”

The Demon Lord’s expression brightened again.

And she looked at the Chief of Staff with an expression that seemed to ask, ‘So I can keep it?’

“Of course. But those… it would be better to discard them.”

The Chief of Staff gave permission for the Demon Lord to keep the monster while glaring at Arkus and Ogreson.

“…”

The Demon Lord began to ponder slightly.

In truth, Arkus and Ogreson were just extras for Demon Lord Teu Le Vante.

She had simply picked them up along with the monster by chance.

However, the Demon Lord had an incredibly grand plan—though from the Chief of Staff’s perspective, it was sloppy and messy.

The plan was to gather as many collaboration event participants as possible into her party to maximize her score.

“!”

The Demon Lord immediately began explaining this amazing plan to the Chief of Staff through gestures.

However, the Chief of Staff dismissed the Demon Lord’s plan with a single sentence.

“With your power and my power combined, no one will be able to climb the hill anyway, so why do we need more people?”

“…!”

The Demon Lord looked up at the Chief of Staff with an expression of realization.

Indeed, as the Chief of Staff said, whether they had many people or few, the Demon Lord’s party conquering the hill was a foregone conclusion.

If that was the case, the thought suddenly crossed the Demon Lord’s mind that having fewer people might be more fun than having many.

The Demon Lord’s eyebrows tilted as if angry.

“A Demon Lord, indeed. White Raven, can you believe it? A Demon Lord. The king of demons!”

“Ah, now you’re becoming more annoying than the Demon Lord! Enough! Enough! That’s enough to make even the White Raven irritated!”

The Demon Lord approached Arkus and Ogreson with a dignified gait, or at least as dignified as she could manage.

Then she raised her evil and soft hand, summoned a black, sharp, ominous blade, and pointed it at Arkus.

“…As expected. You reveal your true nature, King of Demons. You may have tried to deceive us with your cute appearance, but I, who am blessed by the White Raven, am not fooled by your exterior! Even if I die, the White Raven watches over me—”

Arkus, frightened by the blade made of demonic energy, began to talk more.

Ogreson closed his eyes, thinking that what was inevitable had finally come.

Perhaps the Demon Lord would cruelly kill Arkus and Ogreson.

Demons would have killed those with no value as hostages in such a way.

Arkus and Ogreson, though in different ways, were prepared to accept death.

Of course, that preparation turned out to be a wasted effort.

“?”

The Demon Lord looked at Arkus and Ogreson strangely.

In fact, the Demon Lord was no longer interested in them.

The Demon Lord’s only interest was the three-headed Chihuahua, and she was thinking only of detaching some of her demonic power and implanting it into the Chihuahua to include it in her reward table.

All of this was just a misunderstanding on the part of Arkus and Ogreson.

The Demon Lord put a part of her demonic energy into the giant monster.

Now this monster would be in the Demon Lord’s reward table when the stage ended.

“Well done, Demon Lord. Of course, you’ll feed the monster, bathe it, and take care of it, right?”

“?”

The Demon Lord tilted her head.

Her expression suggested that as a greedy Demon Lord, she should only enjoy cute and pleasant things, not take on such responsibilities.

“…As expected of the Demon Lord! Even the previous Demon Lord would be surprised by such wickedness.”

The Chief of Staff gave the Demon Lord a standing ovation with a pleased expression.

Truly irresponsible pleasure!

“!”

The Demon Lord climbed back onto the monster’s back.

The monster smelled a bit like a wet dog, but the Demon Lord liked its unexpectedly cozy feel.

Having received the Chief of Staff’s permission, Demon Lord Teu Le Vante, who wanted to take this monster home as soon as possible, urged the Chief of Staff to go conquer the hill immediately.

“Of course, Demon Lord. Let’s bring destruction and chaos to this stage!”

The Chief of Staff shed tears of emotion at the gallant… well, not really gallant, but somewhat gallant appearance.

The Demon Lord and the Chief of Staff instantly ran from the outskirts of the forest toward the hill as if flying.

Leaving Arkus and Ogreson behind.

“…What should we do now?”

Ogreson said with an awkward expression, looking in the direction the Demon Lord had run.

“Don’t ask. I feel like dying of embarrassment.”

Arkus snapped with a reddened face.

He was recalling all the shameful behavior up until now.

“By the way—”

Bishop Arkus changed the subject to hide his embarrassment.

“It seems we need to conquer that hill to end this war.”

Arkus continued with an unnecessarily solemn tone.

“My goodness. Are you the same person who was whimpering just a moment ago?”

Ogreson chided Arkus as if in disbelief.

Arkus’s face turned red again.

“That’s not what’s important!”

Arkus yelled at Ogreson.

“Look there! Look at that hill! Don’t you see something?”

Arkus pointed at the hill, intending to change the subject with an optimistic thought that there must be something there.

“What are you talking about… Oh, there is something.”

Ogreson had smirked, thinking Arkus was trying to change the subject, but looking at the hill, he realized there really was something there.

“That looks… very familiar…”

Ogreson squinted his eyes to look more closely at whatever was on the hill.

A white yew and raven emblem on a brown background.

Ogreson’s eyes widened.

It was an emblem he knew well.

“My goodness. Bishop? How did you find that? Do you have eyes as good as an eagle’s? Or was it the whisper of the Holy Spirit?”

Ogreson grabbed Bishop Arkus’s shoulders and shook him vigorously.

“What, what?”

Bishop Arkus couldn’t understand Ogreson’s behavior.

What on earth was in the direction Bishop Arkus had pointed?

“It’s the emblem of the Margrave of Ferallant!”

Ogreson exclaimed.

“And it’s the old county’s coat of arms!”

Bishop Arkus’s eyes widened at Ogreson’s exclamation.

He understood the implication of Ogreson’s words.

The emblem of the County of Ferallant had changed before and after the Great Invasion.

The emblem had been changed once to symbolize overcoming the damage from the Great Invasion and rebuilding.

Therefore, someone using the old emblem was likely from before the Great Invasion.

And as far as they knew, only the bloodline, vassals, and knights of the Count of Ferallant during the Great Invasion could use the old Ferallant emblem.

Arkus recalled once more that this was the Hall of Warriors.

That meant that the person using the Ferallant emblem here was likely a knight, and there was only one knight from Ferallant confirmed to exist in the Hall of Warriors.

That was Sir Dominic.

Arkus hurriedly turned his head to look at the hill.

The flag of Ferallant was still fluttering there.