Chapter 190
I was overwhelmed by everything. In that moment, instinctively feeling it, Shaz hesitated, but he knew all too well what the outcome of the battle would be the instant he stepped back.
“Are you going to come at me?”
That’s why he chose to fight, wielding his sword.
“Don’t say something so obvious, young Demon King.”
And a powerful surge of magic rose around him, enough to make the soldiers nearby flinch in surprise.
“I won’t run away.”
While Shaz was facing Seere, he thought that Bine would handle the commanders of the Debata army that were rampaging with the other executives.
If the reinforcements that were on their way arrived, he could crush them with a disadvantageous numerical superiority. The problem was….
‘Before they arrive….’
That Seere von Debata’s legion would fully reach the high ground. They were still surging like a tide, following the five that had breached first.
“Do you think I’ll just let you climb up freely?!”
Shaz shouted powerfully as he moved forward. As strong magic infused his sword, Seere gazed at it for a moment. Then she simply evaluated Shaz’s blade.
“I expected more….”
Red magic enveloped the Blood Tear sword. Her calm blue eyes focused intently on her enemy.
“How pitiful.”
Crackle!!!
Shaz was suddenly startled. The magic infused in Seere’s sword crackled and spread like electricity in all directions. He couldn’t help but be horrified by the sight.
“Magic…backflow?”
It was a phenomenon caused by an excess of available magic, where the total amount of magic infused in a weapon overflowed outward. In other words….
“H-how could a newly adult Demon King…!?”
It meant that the amount of magic Seere operated was overwhelmingly large. Realizing there was no chance of winning, Shaz took a step back. At that, Seere narrowed her eyes and said.
“What will your subordinates do if you retreat?”
Boom!!
As she said that, Seere’s sword plunged into the soldiers maintaining their formation due to Shaz’s retreat. The explosion of magic followed by a shockwave sent the soldiers standing in formation flying.
“Your Majesty, if we go on like this, we will be annihilated…!”
“Cough, but I can’t just retreat….”
Shaz looked around. He hoped Bine would quickly deal with that side and come to assist him. However, Bine also seemed to be….
“What are you doing…?”
He appeared to be struggling quite a bit. Although he was the one pushing the fight, the enemy had the relaxed expression. Just then, Bicon’s foreleg approached Shaz’s line of sight.
“Are you going to let your guard down in the middle of battle?”
Seeing the jet-black sword lifted high, Shaz hurriedly prepared to counterattack.
“Damn…!!!”
The Demon King’s strong magic flowed into his sword. It was certainly not a level to be ignored. This was the strength of the 43rd ranked Demon King.
Yet even as he prepared to clash, Shaz couldn’t be sure. Was this really the correct way to engage? That sense of uncertainty soon became reality.
The red gemstone lodged in the Blood Tear sword emitted a brilliant glow. Complicated sigils began to form above the magically infused blade. Shaz was horrified to recognize the source of those sigils.
“…Ancient Magic?”
“Frenzy.”
『Rábĭes Manus』
The spell activated in an instant. The sword was brought down above Shaz’s head.
It was a powerful strike that would be worthy of calling itself the next Demon King.
Boom!!!
While Shaz faced Seere, Bine, who was supposed to deal with the other commanders, encountered obstacles from the start.
“You bastard….”
“What a pity. You should deal with me quickly.”
The blue-haired man wielding a spear smiled slyly. As he deftly dodged Bine’s strikes, she shouted.
“How long will you keep running away?!”
“Regardless of my low ranking, I am still a Demon King; what’s the harm in being cautious in battle?”
Bine, infuriated, swung her sword, but her opponent skillfully evaded each strike with agile movements. Bine found it strange.
I understand that the executives of Seere von Debata are skilled. But I am a Demon King. The physical capability gap between Demon Kings and the Demon Race is insurmountable.
Yet, why is this man avoiding all my attacks? Although I’m not a martial arts type Demon King… I’m clearly superior in strength and speed. Still, I cannot catch up.
At that moment, a tremendous noise erupted next to her. Bine flinched and turned to look. And….
“Shaz?!”
The young Demon King was seen collapsing under the strength of Seere. With white hair flowing, Seere cast a cold glance at Bine.
In an instant, she prepared to block a strike aimed at her, but Seere didn’t move. She merely issued a command to her subordinate in a disdainful voice.
“Stop playing around and finish her, Baruna.”
“Baruna…?”
Bine paused for a moment. That name was familiar. She suddenly recalled it. Baruna, the aide of Lin El Lazine, who was once known as Seir’s death-bringing sword.
“…The Fighter?”
The Fighter, Baruna.
The moment she recalled that name, Bine understood why Baruna had been able to evade all her attacks. He had frequently crossed the front lines under the command of the former Demon King Seir. Predicting and avoiding her attacks was not an issue for him.
As his fangs grew sharp and large, and his eyes started glowing red, Baruna swung his spear.
“Let’s have some real fun, Bine.”
“You insolent… No matter how exceptional you are, you are still a member of the Demon Race…!!”
Bine charged at Baruna, swinging her sword, but Baruna effortlessly deflected her strike.
“Ugh… Why!!?”
Bine began to chase Baruna, who appeared to be unfazed and in control, but never once did her sword touch him.
Ching! Ching!! Ching!!!
The exchanged blows continued. While it appeared that Bine led the initiative, she was the one growing increasingly fatigued. Even though Bine had the first attack and control, she was wasting her strength and stamina as she continued to pressure him.
“While strength and speed are important, it seems you don’t realize that the most crucial factor is technique.”
In an instant, Baruna’s gaze focused on a single point. And as Bine brought her sword down, he too struck with his spear.
Whoosh!!!
Before Bine’s sword could make contact, Ritchie’s longer spear pierced her side first. Because of that, Bine staggered and was forced to retreat.
“…Cough, you…!”
“See? This is why you allow someone like me to get an opening.”
Once he seized an opportunity, the battle demon did not let go of it. He swiftly withdrew the spear that had stabbed her side and thrust it into her shoulder.
“Ugh…!”
After piercing her shoulder, the spear pulled out again, this time stabbing her in the abdomen. The spear then pierced into her thigh, and after that, Bine was riddled with wounds.
“Cough…!!”
There was no hesitation in his movements. Bine collapsed forward. In a seamless motion, Baruna had taken down a Demon King and bowed his head toward Seere.
“Let’s proceed. I will clear the way.”
“No. The vice-captain can rest.”
Seere replied.
“The reinforcements have arrived.”
Upon finishing that line, countless soldiers’ feet came into Bine’s view. While time was drawn out for the initial five, the main force had already arrived.
Seere lifted her sword high and declared.
“Leave not a single one alive.”
“Yes!!!”
“Slaughter them all.”
With Shaz and Bine collapsing as they held the high ground, the forces that had previously ambushed in the gorge and those who reached the right high ground had no way to respond.
Especially the demise of the Demon Kings, who were like the center point, was fatal, and the soldiers who had lost their commander could hardly fight effectively. Even the well-prepared main force had been breached, and thus those dispirited soldiers, now missing their geographical advantage, could not hope to fight.
“A retreat, then.”
“It seems they plan to regroup at the 42nd floor.”
So, they chose to retreat. Even if it meant abandoning their base, they resolved to join forces and take revenge for their fallen leaders.
Seeing the retreating enemy, Seere commanded Celestia.
“Celestia, pursue them as much as possible and reduce their numbers. If they turn around and try to clash head-on, don’t engage.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
With Celestia in charge of pursuing the remnants, Seere looked around. And she saw Nahun’s operational directive sheets. A small number would serve as a siege engine, creating chaos in the battlefield while the main force followed behind. Seere found this plan very pleasing.
“The Teacher believes in me.”
The fact that such a strategy was devised meant that Nahun trusted Seere’s military might. It indicated that they had entrusted a plan requiring overwhelming force to Seere.
“Hehe~♪”
Seere smiled happily.
#
“Hmm.”
Nahun was also smiling in satisfaction. The report of the battle results brought in by the messenger was a complete victory. They had decisively defeated the enemy without any losses to their own forces, making it a truly flawless battle.
“Well, Ersha.”
As Nahun showed a confident smile, Ersha sighed slightly and said.
“The girl lost this time.”
“Haha, that’s music to my ears.”
“However, it’s likely that such strategies won’t work in the future. Seere’s ranking will rise significantly at the next assembly.”
“Yes, I know.”
Nahun did not intend to deploy such reckless strategies against the higher-ranked Demon Kings either. Even if Seere did not suffer, there was no reason to waste valuable commanders unnecessarily.
“Next is the 43rd floor, I suppose.”
“We can give up on the 43rd floor and prepare at the 42nd floor starting now.”
“Hmmm….”
Nahun lightly stroked his chin. And he asked Ersha.
“We shouldn’t waste any time, right?”
“We need time to observe the enemy’s movements and devise tactics, but the sooner, the better.”
“Right….”
Nahun rose from his seat. Now that the assault on the 44th floor was finished, he planned to head to the scene. He glanced back and said.
“Come along.”
“Yes, of course….”
There stood Iris, still tense. Nahun thought that she still hadn’t become accustomed to this situation. The truth was, it wasn’t that she hadn’t gotten used to it; it was simply that she was frightened of Nahun.
Iris hurriedly followed behind him, while Ersha casually trailed after Nahun.
“Let’s head to the scene and observe the situation.”
“Yes.”
However, the moment they exited the office, Nahun came face-to-face with Cecili.
“Oh, Nahun. Are you going to see the Majesty now?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Well then, could you please hand this over as well?”
Cecili said as she entrusted something to Nahun. It was a small, square box. Nahun tilted his head, wondering what it was.
“It’s pudding.”
“Pudding?”
“I heard the Majesty complaining last time that he can’t have any treats when he goes out to fight. Since it seems we’ve achieved victory, why not let Nahun give it to him as a reward?”
Thinking of pudding even in the battlefield, how very Seere-like. Nahun could not hide his smile that naturally emerged as he replied to Cecili.
“Sure, I’ll hand it over.”
“Thank you, Nahun.”
Nahun gestured for Iris to enter first, and she hesitated a little but finally stepped into the passage. After her, Ersha followed, and Nahun also entered the passage and made his way out.
“Hmm?”
“Nahun, isn’t this the wrong place?”
“Uh…?”
He didn’t know where this was, but it was clear that it wasn’t the 44th floor where Seere was. The entire level was already ablaze. He had come right after hearing the news of victory, yet Seere’s forces couldn’t have devastated the floor to this extent already.
‘What is this? Is there a problem with the movement again?’
But that couldn’t be. Such issues wouldn’t occur simply for moving between floors.
“I used Seere’s magic as the coordinates.”
In fact, Nahun hadn’t made any mistakes. He opened a passage using Seere’s magic as coordinates, and the spell had activated correctly. However, the problem was….
“Uh, why is this happening?”
“What’s that?”
It was the Holy Sword of Iris. It had seemingly misinterpreted something and had become murky. Nahun briefly looked at it, breaking into a cold sweat.
“…This is my magic.”
“What?… Uh….”
“I think I have a grasp on the situation, somehow.”
As Ersha speculated, Nahun too vaguely understood what was happening. And their thoughts were nearly correct.
“Is it because of this…?”
“Yes, it seems like it.”
The Holy Sword caused a magical anomaly, causing the spell to misfire and the destination to be oddly reversed.
“I-I didn’t mean it! Please spare me!!”
Iris dropped to the ground and bowed her head. Nahun waved his hand dismissively, muttering in distress.
“This is really bad….”
What Nahun worried about was not the situation of falling into a strange place.
“If Seere finds out I’ve disappeared again, I can’t even imagine how she’ll react….”
He was anxious about the fury of his beloved.
