Ch.956What’s All This Commotion About?

[ Is it acceptable to just cut them down without question or reason? ]

As I gathered the severed head and arm of the female knight next to her body, Hersella suddenly asked me a question. Suggesting that I had been too ruthless in cutting her down.

[ The name Feirus, I too remember it. Was he not the Apostolic Seat, what could be called your archenemy? ]

‘Yes, that’s him.’

Archenemy—an accurate description.

I couldn’t say that all the problems in this world, all the hardships I’ve endured and all the events I’ll face in the future are entirely because of him… but he’s responsible for about 60% of them.

The pest.

[ When the leader of your enemies personally comes as a messenger, you slaughter them without even hearing their message. Are you not curious what they wanted to say? ]

‘Not particularly.’

I glanced down at the female knight’s corpse after cleaning up, then turned my head to look outside the palace and let out a faint sigh.

‘If it was truly important, they’ll come back anyway. It’s not like I killed their actual body.’

I’ll listen then if I feel like it.

Besides, this wasn’t the time to leisurely listen to Feirus’s messages.

Demian not showing up. Feirus suddenly appearing to speak with me. There was clearly some causal relationship between the two.

Though it’s just my speculation, he probably targeted Demian directly while I was tied up fighting ten fairy guardians.

Has he now gone so far as to join hands with the fairies?

As expected of the worst of villains—he seems to have sold off both his human conscience and pride long ago.

‘For now, I need to find Demian first. If the reason he couldn’t come was because of that bastard’s diversion, he might be in serious danger right now.’

I was certain. Feirus had created this diversion by joining hands with the fairies who shared his goal of killing Demian.

It was an obvious conclusion. Otherwise, how could he have timed his diversion to perfectly coincide with the fairy guardians’ attack?

Even I, who was certain the fairies would attack, couldn’t predict the exact date and had been waiting indefinitely… and he just happened to attack at the exact same time?

What kind of coincidence would that be? Not coincidence, but inevitability.

He must have known the attack date in advance. A date that only the fairies of Alvheim would know.

That was the clearest evidence of collusion.

It was a bit surprising that the fairies, who treat humans as dogs and short-lived vermin, would join hands with Feirus…

Well, perhaps he gained their favor by returning Eirnesia, whom he had taken from me, or something similar.

In the brief moment it took to rise and stretch my legs and shoulders, I made this judgment and was convinced, and because I was convinced, I acted immediately.

– KWAAANG!

After kicking off the ground and leaping high into the sky, I spewed Karma flames beneath my feet to fix myself in midair.

The cold night wind blew past. Fixed in the sky like a star, I lowered my gaze and scanned the entire capital’s night view.

To see what happened to the evacuees. Where Demian was fighting and with whom. Whether any fairy detachments remained somewhere.

“…Ha.”

And I was somewhat appalled.

‘What is this? Seriously, it’s a complete disaster.’

…As I looked down at the battlefield spread beneath my feet.

—-

The capital was in chaos.

No, calling it chaos would be an insult to those loyal beasts that have always been humanity’s companions.

So instead of chaos, I should use the otherworldly metaphor of “demon realm.”

Yes.

The capital had become a demon realm.

What on earth had happened outside while I was focusing all my senses on the bloody battle with the guardians?

Destroyed and burning buildings. Collapsed bridges and cracked roads. Soldiers and citizens running urgently.

From outside the walls to the inner districts, there wasn’t a single undamaged area to be found.

“GRWAAARRGH!”

“GRREEAACK!”

The culprits—no, the 140% certain culprits—were roaring and rampaging everywhere.

An army of monsters that looked like magical beasts soaked in sulfuric acid, then kneaded and combined.

Their bodies were so completely covered in dark mana, turning them pitch black, that if Hush’s father were still alive, I wouldn’t be surprised to find him mixed among them.

“They’re coming! Defensive positions! Hold your shields firmly and endure!”

“Glory to Goddess Astraea! In the name of Astika!”

My subordinates, Hestella’s regular army and the Astraea Church’s holy corps, were engaged in fierce battle against them.

“Knights of the Kingdom of Hestella! It’s time to show your skills!”

“Rose Cross Knights, prepare to charge! Let’s take that thing’s head and present it to Commander Leonore!”

Of course, not just soldiers and paladins, but knights too were fighting vigorously.

The Kingdom Knights, selected from skilled soldiers, and the female knights of the Rose Cross that Leonore had trained.

They roared with high morale, gripping their spears and swords, charging at the monsters that the soldiers had stopped, slaughtering them one by one.

“GROOOO!”

“Kuhek…!”

Many were hit and knocked back, but as long as they weren’t killed instantly, the battle priests standing by immediately poured recovery miracles to somehow keep them breathing.

Even if they couldn’t get up and fight again right away, at least they wouldn’t die from their injuries.

“Here, this way!”

“Don’t rush blindly, it’s dangerous! Please follow instructions calmly!”

Some knights and soldiers, instead of fighting monsters, were protecting refugees and escorting them to shelters.

The evacuation drills I had diligently enforced seemed to be paying off—even while fleeing at full speed, their movements were remarkably orderly.

[ Huh, not just the palace then. They’ve launched a full-scale invasion. The scale of forces, the quality of each unit. Impeccable in every way. ]

Hersella let out a laugh like a cough as she observed the chaos below.

I didn’t answer and quickly scanned around to find the whereabouts of those important to me.

– VROOM. VWAAANG…!

“Where did all these damn magical beasts come from?!”

I could find Frider right away.

Among the female knights busily slaughtering monsters, a familiar silver-haired woman was swinging a chainsaw with her coat fluttering.

Every time the high-speed rotating saw blade touched a monster’s body, black blood spurted like a fountain with the sound of bones and flesh being shredded.

“KYUOOOOO!”

– CRUNCH…!

“Tch, unnecessarily tough!”

Some monsters with particularly hard carapaces withstood the chainsaw’s blade and lunged at her, but—

“Shut your mouth!”

Frider put down her chainsaw and pulled out a new weapon from her back, jumped over the monster’s head, and drove the metal stake at the end of the weapon into its crown.

And then.

– KWAAANG!

The monster’s head shook with a thunderous boom.

The metal stake that had been stopped by the carapace penetrated the monster’s skull and protruded from under its jaw, along with fragments of its brain turned to mush by the impact.

After cleanly disposing of one monster, Frider lightly leaped back to the ground, picked up the abandoned chainsaw, and started it again.

– VRRRRRRM!

The chainsaw roared back to life, spinning fiercely with Frider’s roar that made her seem like she had become part werebeast through her research.

…She’ll be fine. Next…

—-

Ophelia’s mansion.

Though called a mansion, that gloomy laboratory reminiscent of a mad scientist’s workshop…

‘It’s completely collapsed. Thoroughly.’

It had turned into a ruin no one would live in even if paid. It looked like a house made of hardened sand instead of bricks that had been swept away by a typhoon.

[ There wasn’t much aboveground anyway, was there? ]

‘That’s true.’

Only the mansion aboveground had collapsed, while the underground space that was the core of the laboratory seemed fine from what I could see.

If the underground laboratory had been destroyed too, the ground itself would have collapsed, creating a sinkhole.

Though there were some cracks in the ground, there was no hole, so it seemed they had been attacked but handled it well.

Of course, down there wasn’t just Ophelia but also Perneisia and Hush, so unless ten guardians attacked like at the palace, they wouldn’t have lost.

I could rest easy about that place too… all that remained was Demian. Where was this bastard and what was he doing that he was nowhere to be seen?

Surely he hadn’t already been defeated and killed, or kidnapped? Surely it wasn’t such a terrible situation…?

A sudden feeling of anxiety. I could only hope it was an excessive concern.

If Demian, whom I had carefully raised, met such a fate before I could properly use him, I might exceed the limits of my anger and fly straight to Alvheim to burn everything in sight, putting everything else aside.

That’s when it happened.

– KWAAAANG!

From the forest about a few hundred meters away from the capital, a pure white radiance shot up with a massive explosion.

[ Look there. That light, isn’t it the radiance of that divine sword Gram or whatever that you gave to Demian? ]

‘…Yes, he’s there.’

Amid the echoing explosions, I narrowed my eyes fiercely at the remnants of holy light turning the forest white.

So he was fighting there.

I couldn’t tell what he was fighting against, but seeing how he was using up the holy sword’s power so liberally, it didn’t seem like an easy opponent.

…Well then, I should make it an easy opponent.

I bent my body slightly toward the forest where the holy light had erupted, then charged forward, spewing Karma flames like a waterfall from behind my legs and back.

Fiercely, like a meteor burning through the night sky. Gathering and regathering my strength depleted from the fierce battle with the guardians.

It took less than a few seconds to arrive.