204th Chapter
Though it was a rather pitiful end for an entity that had once been a Lord-class demon, the body of the forcibly merged demon still contained the concentrated power of an evil deity. At the very least, the sheer magnitude of power housed within the demon’s body overwhelmed every being on the battlefield. Yet, the knights of the Empire advanced towards the demon without a flicker of hesitation.
Soon enough, the battle commenced.
Had the demon retained its accumulated skills and cunning from centuries past, the Imperial detachment would have suffered immense casualties. Such was the nature of a Lord-class demon. However, this demon was merely a berserk mass of raw power, having lost its sense of self.
Though it took some time, the Imperial detachment managed to conclude the battle without significant losses. As the remains of the demon disintegrated, Ray chuckled faintly.
Ray found the current situation rather amusing, but the members of the Imperial detachment could not easily erase their serious expressions. After all, upon crossing through the warp gate, they were immediately confronted with an adversary so powerful that it required a collective effort to subdue.
Even the boldest among them couldn’t help but feel an intense sense of caution, knowing full well the devastation that could have occurred had the demon been in a “normal state.”
In any case, the battle was over, and Ray made contact with the Imperial detachment. Dillid Prisland, who had yet to recover his lost arm, approached first, recognizing Ray.
“Ray.”
“Hello there. It’s nice to see you here. Nice to see you too, Sir Shay.”
“It’s fortunate that you’re safe.”
“Well… thanks to you, I managed to survive.”
As Ray smiled lightly, Takaus of the Royal Guard approached him. Despite the casual behavior shown by Dillid and Shay towards Ray, Takaus couldn’t afford to act carelessly. Most of the battered weapons Ray carried belonged to Ernst, and unless someone had earned Ernst’s immense trust, he wouldn’t have allowed such items to be exported in bulk overseas.
“Are you truly the intelligence agent sent by Count Prisland?”
“Uh… yes, that’s correct.”
“If you have any information regarding the current situation, we request that you share it.”
Ray explained what had happened, adding distortions prearranged with Luna.
Takaus looked extremely skeptical after hearing Ray’s explanation, but determining the truthfulness of Ray’s statement wasn’t something to be done here.
“For now, allow me to escort you back to our rear guard.”
Takaus’ primary mission was intelligence gathering. To prevent a recurrence of such a crisis, it was imperative to uncover why the heavens had opened. Since Ray’s group held the most critical evidence, they needed to be protected at all costs.
*
Gilland agonized over what to do after the aftermath of the meteor impact settled.
All communication with higher-ups had been cut off, exacerbating his frustration. The capital of Alimo Kingdom should have been unscathed by the meteor, and the communication artefact was functioning normally, yet he couldn’t understand why no contact was possible.
“Hmph…”
He couldn’t keep searching for unreachable superiors forever. Currently, apart from the knights, the only survivors in Rioshuko were a few mages, clerics, and Comet.
Gilland ordered that those severely injured be treated, while the rest searched for additional survivors.
The results were less than promising. Considering the devastating force of the meteor’s aftershock, ordinary people would have needed to hide in extremely sturdy buildings to survive. Unfortunately, the structures in Rioshuko weren’t built to withstand such forces.
After thoroughly combing the area, they barely managed to rescue five or six severely wounded individuals, including Count Girenhal. However, they did manage to secure quite a bit of supplies during the search. Most of these came from rummaging through collapsed underground warehouses, where bodies were also commonly found.
After consulting with the knight members, Gilland decided they would take a brief rest to replenish their strength before retreating to the rear. Though retreating towards the capital of Alimo didn’t guarantee safety, everyone believed another meteor wouldn’t fall consecutively.
Addressing the surviving knights, Gilland spoke up.
“Is anyone willing to join me in searching the Forbidden Forest? I will accept up to three volunteers.”
“Captain!!”
Leonie erupted in a mix of irritation and anger.
“Are you insane?!”
“The search period is one day. If we don’t achieve results within that time, we’ll return immediately.”
“Why are we even going there?! Whether it’s one day or two, it makes no sense!”
Despite Leonie’s protests, three Silver Cross Knight Order members volunteered for the search operation. All the knights felt indebted to Ron.
Gilland glanced at Comet, just in case.
“What are your plans? Are you moving to Pruwa with the others?”
“Shit…”
Comet muttered under his breath, feeling defeated. When Ron had warned about the kingdom possibly collapsing due to devil worshippers, Comet dismissed it as nonsense. He thought Ron exaggerated the dangers of the Forbidden Forest.
‘I’ve been a fool.’
It dawned on Comet how poorly he had judged the situation due to complacency.
Comet let out a hollow laugh and turned to face Gilland.
“Let’s go together. If we get lucky, maybe we’ll find Ron alive.”
Comet realized his decision was impulsive but chose not to revoke it. He wanted to do something, anything, right away.
When the time came to move after resting, Leonie again loudly protested to Gilland.
“Just go back!! Why risk dying when we’ve barely survived?!”
“It’s something that must be done.”
“Captain!! Dammit, then I’m coming too!!”
“…I won’t permit it. Your abilities are insufficient for such a small-scale operation.”
Leonie wasn’t appointed as deputy captain solely because of her combat prowess. Even if her abilities were deemed sufficient, Gilland had no intention of bringing Leonie along.
Just as Leonie stepped forward, seemingly ready to charge, Gilland raised his arm, sensing movement far away. The knights reflexively drew their swords.
Clang!
Everyone waited silently as a group emerged from the dust-filled air, approaching Rioshuko. Many wore armor emblazoned with the insignia of the Empire and the royal family.
Among them, Ray, who had disguised his face, acknowledged Gilland.
“Ah, meeting again here, Captain. Looks like I managed to escape the Forbidden Forest before being surrounded.”
“Ron…?”
Ray waved and gazed at the devastated Rioshuko. Though his stay hadn’t been long, he had experienced how many people lived and expressed themselves here.
Now, the city was filled only with the smell of dust, burning, and blood.
Clearing his emotions with a slight furrowing of his brow, Ray turned to Comet, who despite his disguise appeared dissatisfied.
“So, you managed to survive as well.”
“Hah!”
Comet burst into laughter, finding the absurdity of surviving the meteor impact and returning with elite imperial forces hilarious. Reflecting on the fact that he had mocked Ray upon their first meeting made him break out in cold sweat.
Meanwhile, Gilland questioned Takaus while keeping an eye on the imperial detachment.
“Did His Highness approve of the Empire’s military operations?”
Although it seemed like an inflexible question, it was essential for a kingdom knight to confirm.
Takaus responded calmly without showing emotion.
“After witnessing the existence of the meteor, the King of Alimo evacuated to the Empire via the warp gate.”
That single sentence carried much meaning. Sighs erupted around them, and Gilland couldn’t argue further. While it was right to protect the leadership from total annihilation, the feelings of those below were a separate matter.
Takaus, checking the flow of mana in the air, turned to Ray.
“With our entry into a safe zone, we shall return to carry out our remaining duties.”
“Thank you. Wishing you good fortune.”
“Head toward the warp gate near Pruwa. Our forces should be guarding it currently.”
After giving this advice, Takaus split part of the detachment’s forces to escort Ray’s group. Together with the survivors of Rioshuko, Ray’s group set off toward the warp gate.
As things began winding down, Ray whispered to Luna, whom he carried.
“You’ve worked hard, Luna. This feels like we’ve been wandering too long. It would be nice to finally return home.”
*
An unprecedented event—the collision of a meteor—had occurred.
The Empire was also placed on high alert, and amidst the chaos, Ernst requested a private audience with Crown Prince Poibos.
Poibos accepted the request and waited briefly for Ernst, letting out a hollow laugh in the meantime.
Not long ago, Ernst had asked Poibos to pressure the kingdom into assisting with the rescue of an intelligence agent. The external justification for pressuring the kingdom was the concealment of the existence of the underground city.
Poibos agreed and gathered numerous high-ranking imperial forces near the warp gate, which was more of a show of force intended to intimidate the Alimo Kingdom.
If the Alimo Kingdom backed down, Poibos planned to deploy additional troops to the Forbidden Forest either from the kingdom or the empire.
‘This was supposed to create a debt with Count Prisland…’
However, a meteor suddenly struck the kingdom.
Due to Ernst’s request, high-ranking imperial forces were already gathered near the warp gate, allowing Poibos to quickly launch a military operation with an elite unit.
Without Ernst’s request, the empire would have taken significantly longer to assemble a detachment in such an urgent situation.
‘It’s difficult to consider this creating a debt with Count Prisland.’
Poibos mulled over a slight regret.
But after the private audience with Ernst, all such trivial thoughts vanished.
“…Haha.”
While inspecting the silver-white sword presented by Ernst, Poibos burst into laughter.
Though he should have maintained his dignity as emperor, laughter escaped involuntarily.
“The previous emperor both guarded against and infinitely trusted the count. I think I understand his sentiments now.”
Ernst never hesitated to scheme for his own benefit but always exercised caution to avoid harming the emperor or the empire.
Ernst always prioritized the emperor and the empire in his actions.
With the exception of the assassination of the second prince.
“An imperial new sword, is it…”
As Poibos infused a bit of mana into Moros, the already radiant blade shone even brighter.
Had the possession of the imperial sword by another noble not been immediately disclosed, it would have constituted an unforgivable major crime.
However, there was a need to apply the standards of a Swordmaster to a Swordmaster.
Though it took some time, Ernst returned Moros to Poibos at the most crucial moment.
Through this, Poibos neutralized his greatest weakness and gained momentum to lead the empire.
Though Ernst would never openly admit it,
If Moros were genuine, this debt would be incredibly costly.
Still, if this were all, Poibos could have happily laughed it off.
However, there was one more issue.
After reading the report placed before him, Poibos eyed Ernst with suspicion.
“This… isn’t exaggerated, is it?”
“I swear on my house and honor. There’s no exaggeration or distortion.”
Participated in the Locust extermination campaign.
Solo-eliminated the apostate First Prince who became an Apostle.
Prevented the expansion of the devil-worshipping faction in the Rubia Kingdom.
Had he succeeded, he would have thwarted Eridanus and the traitors’ attempt to bisect the empire in the “Albemina Warp Gate Battle.”
And if the testimony is true, this time he stopped a meteor from colliding with the central region of the Alimo Kingdom and wiped out the demonic cultists who sought to conquer it.
Lastly,
The age of the person reported in the document.
Nineteen years old.
Even children’s storybooks shouldn’t be written like this; they’d get criticized.
Taking a deep breath after re-reading the report from the beginning, Poibos sighed heavily.
“This is quite… troublesome.”
Annihilation (4)
