Ch.575575. The Battle of the Beastkin (1)

The monsters of the Demonic Realm are ferocious. They are creatures that have evolved and adapted over centuries in regions covered by dense Magia that humans couldn’t even approach. Naturally, they are far stronger than ordinary specimens.

‘One of the reasons we had to periodically clear the Beltrin Mountains between the Demonic Realm and the County was precisely because of the Demonic Realm.’

Not just because of population increases or territorial disputes within the Beltrin Mountains. When monsters from the Demonic Realm are temporarily pushed toward the Beltrin Mountains due to territorial conflicts, the monsters in the Beltrin Mountains flee downward to the east where the County is located.

The monsters of the Demonic Realm are in a completely different league from ordinary monsters, both in terms of individual strength and the danger they pose as groups.

‘Looking at the current situation though.’

It seems like the Special Operations Unit and Special Task Force could have cleared the Demonic Realm by themselves without our baronial forces’ support.

With such overwhelming power, the Demonic Realm was quickly being stabilized. Hadn’t they already captured all the variant troll groups that had been dominating the central and western parts of the Demonic Realm?

‘And with us here too.’

The situation was ending before we could even see the true combat skills of Siabel and her rival Sharenne.

With two Masters and so many Expert knights with abundant field experience, this outcome was inevitable. Still, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

Now that we had returned to the supply base for a short rest, Siabel, who had been accompanying Sharenne from the beastkin Special Operations Unit, approached Sione and me with a smile.

“Good work. Thanks to the baronial forces, we were able to easily capture the troll groups.”

“What did we do? The troll groups were all captured by Commander Sharenne and Lady Siabel.”

“Brother-in-law, aren’t you flattering us too much?”

Siabel struck my shoulder, saying I was being excessive with my praise.

The impact was surprisingly heavy due to her metal gauntlet, and just as I was startled, Sione appeared to provide supporting fire.

“Flattery? Commander Sharenne and sister took down so many trolls. Even without the baronial forces’ support, they could have cleared everything given enough time…”

“No matter what, that would still be difficult.”

“Really?”

“Thanks to your baronial forces drawing their attention, we were able to move freely. And without Sione’s magic, we wouldn’t have been able to move around inside the Demonic Realm like this.”

“Hmm…”

“Even with that suspicious look on your face, it’s true! There’s still so much Magia lingering here. How could we carry out such an operation without you in these conditions?”

Sione glared at her sister, while Siabel returned a subtle smile of disbelief.

The standoff ended with Siabel raising her hand to thoroughly mess up Sione’s hair. As Sione fixed her hair with a bright, mischievous smile, Siabel finally spoke about our next move.

“Now we’re heading to the eastern sector.”

Hearing her words, I eagerly responded, feeling that the moment had finally arrived.

“Then we should reorganize our formation to focus on exploration rather than clearing.”

After all, there was an area in the east suspected to be the site of an ancient cathedral.

“That’s right. Plus, we’ve already found some suspicious circumstances. You and Sione discovered claw marks from a giant monster near the sanctuary, right?”

Siabel had continued exploring the Demonic Realm while we were handling various matters back at the barony.

“Reports came in that similar traces of that giant monster were found in the east as well.”

I couldn’t help but inwardly cheer at this fortunate discovery.

The monster we encountered near the forgotten sanctuary had the insane ability to overcome death, and it ultimately left me with a miraculous spell.

“So, in about an hour, let’s go search for that sanctuary.”

An hour later, as we began wandering through the Demonic Realm to search for the sanctuary, we finally saw the monster’s traces with our own eyes, just as Siabel had mentioned.

The Special Task Force and I, having seen them before, could accept them calmly. However, our family’s knights were visibly shocked by the overwhelming size of the traces.

“…Claw marks? Even the giant beasts of the north don’t leave such large traces.”

“Judging by the size alone, it looks like sword marks deliberately left by an Expert knight.”

Teia, having experienced the Demonic Realm once before, was accepting it relatively calmly.

But Hanelrn and Trisha displayed expressions full of bewilderment.

“It’s best not to let your guard down at all. The enemy we exterminated last time had the power to overcome death. We don’t know what abilities this one might have.”

“Overcoming death… as expected of the Demonic Realm. There are many interesting things here. If given the chance, I’d like to research them.”

“…Lady Trisha, isn’t how we approach the battle more important right now than interest and research?”

In any case, after the atmosphere lightened somewhat thanks to Trisha’s half-serious joke, we exchanged information about the monster that had absorbed Divine Power and continued our exploration in various places.

Finally, Sharenne, the commander of the beastkin Special Operations Unit who had been quietly searching the surroundings, spoke up.

“From now on, our beastkin Special Operations Unit should be able to track it.”

“Is that true?”

“I’m getting a sense of its territory and where the center might be. Please follow our beastkin tracking from now on.”

The beastkin’s senses had successfully located the creature’s position, and she asked us to trust and follow them.

“Tracking prey and following it to sink our sharp fangs into it—that is the most basic fighting style of us beastkin. We will not disappoint you.”

And there was no one present who would refuse Sharenne and bring shame upon her.

Following Sharenne and the beastkin Special Operations Unit as they moved forward without hesitation, we discovered:

‘She wasn’t just being confident for nothing.’

Not only did ruins appear before us—decayed yet still retaining their ancient glory—but we also encountered a giant wolf that had been curled up taking a nap, now awakened by our noisy approach, glaring at us with its sharp eyes.

“Special Operations Unit!”

Sharenne’s shout, having encountered the monster before anyone else at the front, echoed loudly.

“Prepare for battle!”

She ordered the beastkin to prepare for a coordinated attack.

* * *

The southern part of the Kingdom is famous for its vast plains and wide rivers.

The great families settled in the granary region were known for their unimaginable wealth. In a reception room filled with pure gold ornaments and antique designs belonging to one such family—a viscounty with wealth far exceeding typical viscounty levels—two women sat facing each other.

“Princess Amelie, is that proposal I received earlier certain?”

“Viscountess Cantina, you need not worry about that matter.”

Amelie, who rarely left the royal capital, and Viscountess Cantina—their conversation was extraordinarily bold.

“With Viscountess Cantina’s investment, it can only succeed. Didn’t I tell you?”

Unlike the composed Viscountess Cantina, Amelie’s expression was overflowing with confidence.

She enjoyed the tea prepared by the viscounty, savoring its flavor, and only spoke when the viscountess’s expression was about to contort with impatience.

“In the western part of the Kingdom, not only is there the County of Sianella, but also the County of Velleia. While Velleia has consistently maintained neutrality until now, as I mentioned before.”

“…”

“The County of Velleia has also conveyed their intention to unite under me. A family that has insisted on neutrality for centuries is moving like this because they are certain, don’t you think?”

“Are you truly saying that the County of Velleia has moved?”

The County of Velleia.

Unlike the frontier County of Sianella, this family was located in the western region but closer to the north. They had traditionally served as a bridge between the north and west, maintaining strict neutrality and balancing the two—a family with a long tradition.

The fact that even this family, which had always maintained neutrality and quietly done its duty, had abandoned the symbolic neutrality they had worked hard to build and taken Amelie’s side was not a matter to be taken lightly.

“I can swear by Mana. The Count of Velleia who spoke with me agreed with a bright smile.”

With Amelie’s confident words, Viscountess Cantina finally accepted her proposal.

“From now on, the viscounty will spare no support for Princess Amelie. Then, for communication regarding the plan—”

“The heir of the Velleia family, Noah Velleia.”

Amelie proudly named their most reliable ally.

“He will assist the baroness from now on.”