Ch.3837. Party Members (1)

# 37. Party Members (1)

There were countless warriors on that battlefield, but among them, a few stood out brilliantly.

From the Allied Forces, Light Gabriel, the White Knight Commander, and Ray Caris, the Black Knight Commander.

And Agareus, the Commander of the Babylon Knights and the second-in-command of the Babylon Kingdom, was exuding a terrifying killing intent toward them.

Then Agareus, with his purple skin and impressive large horns, opened his mouth.

“Quite useful humans you are. How about coming over to our side?”

Light and Ray let out a scoff at those absurd words.

“Quite an amusing question.”

“Trying to recruit enemy soldiers during a war… aren’t you too open-minded?”

“But I must decline. Although this isn’t my country, I’m not stupid enough to ignore His Majesty the Emperor’s decree.”

Hearing Light’s words, Agareus drew the hideous sword at his waist and said:

“Then I have no choice. You’ll regret that decision now.”

“That remains to be seen.”

Agareus used [Swiftness] to approach them.

-CRASH!-

Light and Ray each summoned [Sword of Radiance] and [Sword of Darkness], blocking Agareus’s attack.

“Not as impressive as I thought.”

Enraged by Light’s arrogant words, Agareus pressed his attack even more fiercely.

No one knew which side the goddess of victory would favor, but one thing was certain: the sun in the sky had not yet tilted in any direction.

And there was no one present who didn’t understand what that meant.

After about three days, there seemed to be no end to the deadly battle.

Both the Allied Forces and the Demon King’s Army had suffered great losses, but neither side would give up.

They squeezed out every last ounce of strength, felling enemy soldiers even when on the brink of death.

“Ugh!…”

Light collapsed to the ground, unable to control his exhausted body.

And the same was true for Ray.

Yes.

The intense battle that had continued for three days finally came to an end.

“Hahaha! You should have surrendered earlier… don’t you think?!”

Agareus’s thunderous voice, full of momentum, echoed through Eden’s devastated downtown area.

That voice was despair to some and hope to others.

The surviving soldiers of the Demon King’s Army felt hope of victory upon hearing that voice.

“Consider it an honor to die by my hand!”

With that booming voice, Agareus’s sword aimed for Light’s neck.

But then.

-CRACK!-

Along with a terrifying cold, Agareus’s sword froze solid.

“Everyone has endured well.”

With a girl’s strong voice, certain figures appeared before the confident Demon King’s Army.

There were only two of them, but that was enough to turn the situation around.

“What a cruel sight.”

Those who heard the silver-haired girl’s voice cheered, and seeing this, a middle-aged man said to her:

“There will be more situations like this in the future. Sad as it is, you’ll need to get used to it.”

The appearance of this father and daughter was like angels descending from heaven for the Allied Forces, and like grim reapers coming to claim them for the Demon King’s Army.

The Emperor said to his daughter:

“I’ll leave this to you.”

With those words, the battlefield instantly froze over.

Despite casting [Ruthless Cold] over such a wide area, her breathing remained steady.

And that marvelous sight was broadcast live around the world through the camera of a journalist who was present.

***

At that moment.

The person responsible for sending that father and daughter to the battlefield was sitting on a sofa, watching her remarkable performance on television.

‘It’s going well.’

As I looked at the scene with a satisfied expression, Elin beside me asked:

“What was supposed to happen originally?”

“They lose there, and about two months later, the Orion Kingdom gets devoured by Babylon.”

After that incident, having lost 100,000 soldiers and two Knight Commanders, the Empire ultimately decides to abandon the Orion Kingdom.

And originally, Rachel would have been captured by Babylon and subjected to terrible things.

“What did you do then?”

“…”

Pathetically, I didn’t have the courage to answer that question.

Of course, even if I did answer…

“I did nothing.”

That would have been my only pathetic response.

“You probably couldn’t do anything.”

“I suppose you could see it that way.”

I felt a lump in my throat at Elin’s touching words.

I suppressed those rising emotions as I continued to watch the broadcast of her massacre on television.

***

A week later.

She finally returned to the Academy.

However, the appearance of the person I saw after a long time was not the usual one I was accustomed to seeing at the Academy.

She came to the Academy not as the usual Diana, but as Elizabeth Michael, who had made a splendid debut a week ago.

That morning, all students gathered in the auditorium, and she addressed them:

“Hello, everyone. I am Diana from Class 3-A.”

Upon hearing this, students began murmuring throughout the auditorium.

“Senior Diana was the Imperial Princess?”

“I thought they looked too similar…”

“I kind of suspected it…”

Those voices soon ceased as she continued speaking.

“I am also Elizabeth Michael, Princess of the Kainis Empire. I apologize for deceiving you all until now.”

Her expression didn’t seem particularly sorry, but that wasn’t important right now.

“However, due to time constraints, I’ll skip that story and get straight to the point.”

At those words, everyone in the auditorium focused their attention on her.

“The Kainis Empire needs many talented individuals. The incident a week ago—you all know about it, right? If we had been just a little later, we might have lost precious talents.”

She continued speaking calmly.

“Such incidents will occur more frequently in the future. Numerous battles will take place, and many people will lose their lives in them, whether we win or lose those battles.”

She looked at those listening attentively and said:

“Nevertheless, we must minimize the number of sacrifices as much as possible, and only the most outstanding warriors among those soldiers can accomplish that.”

Then she said:

“That’s possible through you all. You, the most excellent talents in our Kainis Empire, must fulfill that role.”

It might be burdensome, but it was absolutely true.

“However, it seemed that you were not yet aware of this fact. I think you know better than I do why I think so.”

Many people lowered their heads at her accurate observation.

But she continued regardless:

“I ask you to put in more effort, and I’m planning to recruit more members for my party this time. Those interested can speak to Albert Veros, the vice-leader of our party. That is all.”

I pondered her words again.

‘Those interested can speak to Albert Veros… vice-leader?’

I wondered when I had become the vice-leader and why I had to receive party member applications, but there was nothing I could do about it right now.

As soon as her speech ended, those “interested people” she mentioned began approaching me like zombies.

‘Ah, really… this isn’t right…’

With no other choice, I entered the names of the people who came to me into my phone’s notepad.

***

One minute passed, then two, and somehow three hours had flown by before that cursed party member recruitment finally ended.

After struggling through that chaos for three hours, she approached me.

“I’m sorry for doing this unilaterally without giving you any heads-up.”

“It happens…”

Seeing me dejected, she said in a small voice:

“I’m sorry…”

“It happens… yes…”

Gritting my teeth, I asked her:

“So out of these approximately 3,000 people, how many are we selecting?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

I was genuinely surprised by her response.

Curious about this whole affair, I immediately asked her:

“How are we going to select them?”

“Um…”

“Just tell me. We’re not going to have them fight me and select those who win or come close, are we?”

She asked with a genuinely surprised expression:

“How did you know?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“Why are you so confident about this?”

Incredibly, she maintained a self-assured expression and said:

“I think it’s a good idea, don’t you?”

“Do you think my stamina is infinite?”

“Couldn’t we take breaks in between?”

“I’d have to fight 3,000 people… is this right?”

For whatever reason, she once again spoke with a triumphant expression:

“What about having the three of us—me, Albert, and Elin—team up and fight about 300 people, selecting those who survive until the time limit?”

“Do you actually intend to select anyone?”

Although 300 people might seem like a lot, with her and Elin present, it wouldn’t be difficult to eliminate everyone within the time limit.

“To be honest, no. My goal is simply to motivate the students.”

“Motivate them through failure?”

“Yes, to make them realize how serious their current situation is. I have no intention of selecting party members.”

She looked at me and continued:

“Isn’t Albert alone enough?”