Ch.503The Battle Begins

======[ Outskirts of Arvil, Demian and Millia ]======

On a road slightly away from the city walls. In the middle of a snowy field where accumulated snow had yet to melt, four men and women intertwined with each other, exuding killing intent.

– Kwaaang!

An explosion shook the earth, and roars and battle cries crossed as blood splattered.

Against the leader of the Council of Dream Utopia, the heretic Eljur and her subordinate, Demian and Millia were engaged in fierce combat, holding their ground.

The middle-aged man’s halberd sliced through arrows shot in spirals, while wolves of blue mana were torn apart as they got caught in Demian’s greatsword.

“Kuooooo!”

A demonic arm sprouting from the middle-aged man’s back stretched toward Demian’s back, but was blocked by two quickly fired arrows, merely grazing his armor.

A flock of illusory eagles conjured by Eljur flew like lightning toward Millia who had revealed an opening.

“This is nothing!”

Millia leaped sideways to avoid the eagles while nocking a new arrow to her bowstring. An eagle caught in the spiral arrow’s current was shattered into pieces, its fragments returning to mana and dissipating.

‘……’

It was a perfect defense, but Millia’s expression wasn’t very bright. She had thirty-four arrows left. Unable to retrieve the arrows she had shot, each arrow spent was painfully felt.

Unlike Eljur who could unleash endless attacks as long as she had mana, once Millia’s arrows were depleted, she would have to draw her rarely used short sword.

—-

“Not bad, quite impressive indeed. Reaching Master level at that age is already surprising, but to be among the top Masters? Is a monster’s subordinate also a monster?”

Eljur, floating slightly in the air, looked down at Millia with a slight frown.

Two children who had reached Master level perhaps half a year ago. She had thought she could dispose of them easily like snacks, but it was taking longer than expected.

‘Perhaps it was a mistake to let Kist chase after that half-elf. I thought Ravins and I would be enough. I didn’t expect them to be this persistent.’

The situation was turning in her favor, but she lacked the power to completely overwhelm them.

Unlike Direyd who focused all his capabilities on destructive power, Eljur specialized in hallucinations and mental magic rather than physical attacks, so she lacked decisive blows.

Giving substance to illusions created with mana wasn’t enough to break through their defenses.

And when she tried to cast mental magic like fear or frenzy, they would immediately drink holy water, rendering the effects almost useless.

They were more troublesome opponents than expected.

“Haaaaat!”

The moment Eljur paused briefly, Demian, seizing the opportunity, violently struck aside Ravins’ halberd, and using the demonic arm reaching toward him as a foothold, leaped toward Eljur, swinging his greatsword.

“How dare you!”

Eljur flew sideways to avoid the greatsword’s trajectory, but Demian also used levitation magic to sharply change his course in mid-air and pursued her. Like lightning drawn to a lightning rod, Demian’s greatsword drove into Eljur’s waist.

– Chwaaak!

Eljur was split in half without even having time to scream.

However, instead of rejoicing in victory, Demian urgently turned his head. He hadn’t felt the sensation of cutting through flesh and bone.

“Another illusion?”

“Of course!”

With a woman’s voice coming from above Demian’s head, the illusion of Eljur split in half melted away like cotton candy thrown into water.

It was an illusion spell deployed in advance while changing her flight path. Demian had been deceived by Eljur’s illusion and had only sliced through empty air.

“A knight trying to leap up and attack a mage? Your recklessness is excessive!”

A torrent of mana followed. Eljur created an illusion of a thunder bird and sent it plunging toward Demian.

“Then come down!”

Demian quickly swung his greatsword as if to counter it, but the lightning-wrapped bird flapped its wings, changing direction and easily avoiding the Master’s blade.

– Kwajijijik!

The thunder bird, circling widely to the side, struck Demian’s armor and scattered lightning.

“Kuuuuk…!”

Demian gritted his teeth and endured the pain of electrocution. Sparks crackled over his armor. Though it was an illusion, the pain of the lightning was real. It wasn’t as powerful as Haschal’s strike, but it was painful enough to make him groan involuntarily.

“Demian-!”

Millia screamed at the sight of Demian falling after being struck by lightning. She wanted to rush over and catch him, but she was busy avoiding Ravins’ halberd targeting her limbs and had no capacity to help Demian.

“Kuu…! Don’t worry, I can handle it!”

Demian rotated his falling body once and landed on the snow, reassuring Millia. It wasn’t bravado. His entire body was tingling, but it was better than being hit by Haschal’s fist.

Demian stood up, straightening his knees, and charged toward Ravins with renewed strength in his arms holding the greatsword. Ravins, who had been pressuring Millia, turned to face Demian, and once again the greatsword and halberd crossed.

“You can handle it? How impudent…!”

Had Demian’s words irritated Eljur? She began to consume the mana she had been saving for contingencies and pressed the two more fiercely.

Wolves of flame charged forward emitting steam, and birds carrying wind blades swarmed from all directions.

The snowy field rose up and transformed into white bears that struck the ground, while lightning snakes crawled across the surface, targeting the ankles of the two.

The fierce battle continued.

‘…This is dangerous. With her flying like that, there’s no way to cut her down. Should I have practiced levitation magic more…!’

Demian gritted his teeth as he glared at Eljur gliding through the air. Even if he tried to jump up and attack, she would fly away to avoid it, leaving him no way to reach her.

Even if he tried to pursue her with levitation magic, his magical skill only allowed him to change direction once, which was his limit. Unless wings suddenly sprouted from his back, his greatsword would never reach Eljur.

‘I used too many arrows on the city wall. What should I do…?’

Millia bit her lip to suppress her anxiety as she drew a new arrow from her quiver that was beginning to empty.

The limitations of their chosen tactics were being starkly revealed before a superior opponent.

=======[ Haschal ]=======

A massive bell tower located in the center of the city. If Valkers was still around, he would undoubtedly be there.

I dashed toward the distant bell tower, occasionally acknowledging Lacy’s grumbling about how I should talk more before acting.

Along the way, I knocked unconscious a naked man taking a ten-year-old girl into an alley, and turned into eunuchs those who exposed themselves to me claiming I had been chosen to serve them.

It might have been excessive force against men who were merely brainwashed, but I reflexively kicked them without thinking. Lacy cast healing miracles on them, so they should be fine. Probably.

“The Empire’s monster is targeting our leader! Stop him!”

“For Invidia!”

As the bell tower came within reach, cultists serving Valkers began to appear.

Invidia. Cultists worshipping Invidius, the evil god of envy.

In the original work, they were completely destroyed after being tracked down by paladins, so I never had to face them, but now they were alive and well, a million light years away from the original story.

Until now, that is.

“Hold tight, Lacy! We’re breaking through!”

“Yes. Leave the defense to me!”

My Durandal, infused with my rage, sliced through them like tofu, and Frosting’s claws enjoyed the feast, soaking in the blood of enemies.

They charged as if offering their lives, but even so, they weren’t enough to stop my advance.

Binding spells and curses shattered against my mana resistance, and flying fireballs and ice spikes were blocked by Lacy’s holy light.

I charged forward like a bladed chariot, turning the cultists blocking my path into pools of blood.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Kyeeeek! My stomach! My stomaaaach!”

The screams of cultists filled the city center. It was a sound that improved my mood just by hearing it.

After five minutes of advancing while creating a red river with cultist blood,

Finally, the towering bell tower loomed before me. In front of the tower entrance stood a man, wrapped in dark mana, wielding a long sword and glaring at me.

Dull golden hair with a short beard. Skin color somewhere between brown and black. Thin, thread-like eyes, and geometric tattoos covering his entire forehead and extending below his eyes.

Main, Valkers of Discord was here.

—-

“Valkers…!”

Lacy, who had dismounted from my back, gritted her teeth and glared at Valkers. It was a look like one would give a maggot crawling out of sewer filth.

“The Winter Assassin and the daughter of Elpinel… The rest went after Eljur? Pity. It would have been easier if Ceylon and Demian were here.”

Valkers looked us over and clicked his tongue. It might sound like bravado, but it was probably sincere truth without a single lie.

Considering the effect of one of his three powers, “Alpha Male.”

The power “Alpha Male” bestowed upon Valkers by Invidius was, true to its name, a bizarre power proving his superiority as a male. It was also the foundation of his combat prowess.

It would have no effect on Lacy and me, though.

I’m not sure how it would be implemented in reality, but in the game, “Alpha Male” was a composite power with two effects.

The first effect was a blessing that enhanced his stats by the sum of all stats of males hostile to him.

A power to prove to the world that he was the most superior male.

It wouldn’t be a big problem if all team members except Demian were women of similar level, but for an all-male team, it wouldn’t be strange to be annihilated in an instant.

That’s why I sent Ceylon to deal with Eljur. If Ceylon’s power was added to Valkers’ inherent strength, others might not be able to endure, even if I could.

What’s the second effect, you ask? It’s the domination ability I saw before. The ability to dominate defeated enemies and use them as pawns.

Male members would instantly become Valkers’ puppets, and even females, once defeated, would immediately become his faithful slaves.

The brainwashing technique spread throughout the city was likely a technique created using this power.

Thanks to this “Alpha Male,” the bad ending where players were defeated by Valkers was very popular among players with certain preferences.

Specifically, players who got excited by situations where their women were taken by other men, and those women would physically join with those men while denouncing the players.

…I too once challenged him one-on-one with Demian and was mysteriously defeated.

Then, Demian, who had become his puppet, subdued all the heroines with his own hands and delivered them to Valkers in the ending.

Among players, it was called the “Defeat C***old” ending.

Anyway, my point is that if Lacy and I fight together, the power of “Alpha Male” is meaningless.

In the game, since Demian was the protagonist, he had to be included, but this is reality, so we could simply separate him.

Valkers without the blessing of his power is just a Main at Master level at best, so I had no worry about losing. Even if he had grown stronger through this incident… he would be at most a quasi-Hero level.

So, I just needed to be careful about his other two powers. Of course, I had prepared for those as well.

—-

“I thought you’d be hiding like a rat, but you’re showing yourself openly. Seems like you know well that hiding would be useless?”

I swung Durandal, which was stained red, through the air to shake off the blood, and stepped forward one pace, as if to shield Lacy.

“Yes. I know very well. I never intended to hide from the beginning. It would be meaningless anyway. When the Empire’s dog has caught the scent and come looking, how could hiding my body help me escape?”

Valkers smiled slightly and lit a mana herb in his mouth. It was hard to tell whether his composure came from having something to rely on, or the detachment characteristic of someone who had given up.

Well, it wasn’t my concern anyway.

“Oh, really? Then… let’s see you die by this dog’s bite.”

Durandal, shining with golden seals. Wielding the true silver sword that destroys evil, I charged toward Valkers like a beast.