Book 20 Chapter 11
Episode 181
The sworn enemy and senior of the mission, Shincheon Kadetpol Knights (13)
“One more up ahead!”
The journey to the great plaza was by no means smooth. Rather, it pushed their condition down to a more desperate state.
This was because reptilians swarmed all over the city of <Shuriganakyus>.
To identify the reptilians hidden invisibly in the sandstorm, their detection abilities had to be pushed to the extreme.
“They’re coming from the side too!”
Amplifying concentration was no different from sprinting with all one’s mental power.
They were literally sprinting!
Fatigue, rapidly draining both physical and mental strength, began to weigh heavily on their entire bodies.
“Damn it… these cursed things, it’s infuriating that they keep regenerating unless their bodies are completely crushed, seriously!”
Also, it was impossible for Kies to clear a path in his usual manner, precisely piercing only vital points and using the minimum necessary force.
Even taking down a single minion required more strength and effort than usual.
When this piled up to hundreds, thousands… tens of thousands, it was only natural for even a hero party, a group of superhumans, to feel their entire bodies become heavy as lead.
“How do they keep coming, no matter how many we defeat? Is there no end to it?”
Shuan bit her lower lip at Lista’s question.
“Because <Larien>, the Lizard Lord’s palace, is buried right beneath <Shuriganakyus>. We haven’t even cleared half of them yet!”
During this time, even as they were being held back like this, the seal on Neigalasu, the Lizard Lord, must be breaking…
Like this…
Like this…
They could never tolerate such a helpless end, but was there truly no other way?
「Hal (Sunrise)!」
「Ra Qus (Burning)!」
「Yoto kushi (Horizon of Darkness)!」
At that moment, a brilliant light swept across the sky above their heads.
That light illuminated everything.
Not only the reptilians’ mimicry ability within the shadows of the sandstorm, but also the evil of annihilation residing in their souls.
“KuAAAAAAAAKKKKKK!”
While the reptilians scattered and disintegrated into sand of evil, the hero party, directly bathed in that light… felt vitality return to their entire bodies!
‘This is like the refreshing feeling of waking up in the morning sun after a deep sleep.’
Chief Cardinal Inrahit was holding the dragon scale of the Light Dragon Haraderiman, conveying its authority as a proxy!
“Lista, it’s the Golden Dragon Legion!”
“Yes! They’re clearing a path for us!”
The Golden Dragon Legion was late in arriving compared to the reinforcements that broke through the North Gate, as they were busy clearing a path for the main allied forces breaking through the West Gate of <Shuriganakyus>.
However!
The reason it had to be that way was to immediately deploy special forces into the city.
“Th-that!”
Crates surrounded by golden barriers descended one after another onto the path that the Dragon Legion had first illuminated and passed through.
They were carried by Wyverns clinging with their hind legs, and as the barrier negated the impact of the descent, the doors soon opened, and special forces poured out from inside.
Special forces referred to elite units specialized in such missions, like the Magic League’s Special Operations Division or Hosen’s Rapid Fire Squad.
“Lyn! We’ve come to heeeeeelp!”
Who was the madman who cupped his hands and let out a powerful roar that shook the city?
“Growl (I like you)!”
“Growl (I like you)!”
As the lionesses amplified their roars, even the reptilians clutched their heads in skull-rattling pain! A master!
Magic arrows poured down onto the neutralized reptilians! The rapid fire of Hosen’s Rapid Fire Squad!
“I, Leonia, always make a cool and chic entrance!”
Oh, this wasn’t a madman, but the princess?
The eyes of all the hero party members narrowed when they confirmed her identity.
Not to be outdone, Leonia also squinted her eyes and stared back at them.
“What, where’s Lyn? I put so much effort into coming here to show Lyn!”
“I had a feeling the princess would come, so I hid Lyn somewhere else!”
“What! What right do you have to monopolize Lyn! I was the first in the world to like Lyn!”
“Wh-what are you talking about?!”
“I cannot simply overlook those words, Princess of Hosen!”
The one who retorted was a third party. To be precise, they were the Special Operations Division mages who had already taken positions on the rooftops and begun a barrage of magic!
The Special Operations Division was an organization comprised of only exceptionally skilled battle mages selected from the Combat Division members!
They possessed deep expertise in combat magic, and their reverence for combat magic was unrivaled.
“Lady Lyn was claimed by our Magic League first.”
And this woman, who nonchalantly performed a sudden act of worship, was none other than… Cecil Duren!
“She is the treasure of the magic world! The one who will lead the magic world to a higher realm! We cannot yield her to anyone!”
As the unrest on the Akrad continent largely subsided, she, a member of the Special Operations Division who had been active overseas, also came here.
“Please focus on the battle. The reptilians are swarming.”
Of course, leading that Special Operations Division was Penshion Ludwig, the next heir of the Ludwig Count family!
Although he was her superior in rank, when age groups were similar, honorifics had to be used for the children of the Elector family.
Penshion glanced regretfully at Lista. He was deeply saddened that he couldn't be by her side.
“Manager Penshion, this is not the time to be nervous!”
“Nervous? Me?”
“Imagine. If you properly assist Lady Lyn in this all-out war, how do you think Lady Lyn will react?”
“How would she react…”
Penshion summoned Lyn in his mind. The information of Lyn he had met so far constructed a phantom image.
- A 4-star… talking back?
That phantom arrogantly crossed its arms, humiliating Penshion! A master of molar destruction!
“Ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh-ugh!”
There was no way to express the momentary surge of anger other than through magic.
Otherwise, his molars were on the verge of shattering!
As Penshion’s magic erupted several times more powerfully than usual, the Special Operations Division mages also each recalled their own phantom image of Lyn.
- You are all very excellent mages. I’ll make you my direct subordinates, specially. If you work well, I might even occasionally give you magic lessons.
They didn't know who it was, but anyway, it was the phantom of a peerlessly handsome archmage with long eyelids!
Which world’s Lyn was this?
Flames sparked in the eyes of the Special Operations Division mages. They clenched their fists and even let out shouts!
“Yaaah! Let’s use all the strength we have, even our baby strength!”
“A golden opportunity to earn lots of points with Lady Lyn! Everyone, let’s cheer! Hup-hup-hup-hup!”
“You guys, stop shouting, it’s embarrassing! And I’m your superior, since when was Lyn your superior?!”
Frede laughed in exasperation.
“That brat Lyn, completely popular, huh? Where did my Republic lackeys go? I want some surprise worship too, for once.”
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Soon after, those who appeared, slaughtering reptilians, were the Ronin led by Mucheon Ryuminik!
“If you need that, contact the Musinyeon and request a one-on-one lesson for ‘Ryuminik’s Surprise Worship’ class—”
“—As if I would, you little brat!”
As Frede plunged his pipe into Ryuminik’s crown, reptilians poured out from the opposite path, but… a dazzling sword light instantly cut them down!
This sword technique, it felt somehow familiar!
Because it was the sword technique that formed the foundation of Lista’s swordsmanship. It was the very swordsmanship she had seen since childhood and desperately tried to emulate!
“Go on, hero.”
The elite personal guard of the family, led by the former Sword Saint, Reeland Apeltas!
“The enemy in the front has been annihilated by the Dragon Legion, and the volcanic eruptions at each peak are being desperately held back by the Sasa with miracles. Break through before the reptilians form a wall of flesh again! We’ll take care of the sides!”
It was regrettable that she could not call her father ‘father,’ but the familial bond, which gave her strength just by hearing his voice, felt strangely wonderful anew.
“Everyone, let’s go at full speed!”
“Shuan, you’re slower than those two, so ride behind my broom!”
“Understood!”
In such surging hope, in the hope that victory might be near, they ran with all their might…!
Somewhere, an ominous silence…!
As the clamor faded behind them, and they delved deeper into the sandstorm mixed with volcanic ash, an unsettling stillness pressed down on their entire bodies…!
“The plaza? How much further do we have to go?”
At Frede’s words, Shuan checked the screen of the artifact on her wrist. It was a device that allowed them to pinpoint their current coordinates using triangulation.
“It’s just ahead. Right there, that’s the great plaza!”
“What?”
The next moment, what entered the hero party’s eyes… should it be called a nightmare, or despair…?
“Is this, the plaza?”
A plaza refers to a vast open space formed in the center of a city.
Frede had been to the great plaza of <Shuriganakyus> many times, but something felt unfamiliar.
And no wonder, what kind of plaza in any world would have a magnificent spiral staircase leading underground?
“And what, surely… those are all the Golden Dragon Legion that went ahead?”
At the end of each staircase and plaza, blood-soaked corpses of Golden Dragons lay scattered.
And…!
In the sky above the plaza, someone was seen smoothly pulling a massive blade from Chief Cardinal Inrahit’s chest.
“Your, Your Excellency─────!”
Lista threw herself forward with all her might, catching the falling Inrahit so he wouldn’t plunge down the stairs.
Of course, the true dragon’s physique and weight were truly commensurate with absolute authority, so the cost was immense.
Because of this action, Lista had to consume the dragon’s blood serum, which she should have used with utmost caution.
“Frede, he’s still alive! Heal him so that super-fast regeneration can proceed!”
“Uh, uh!”
“I will do it!”
At the entrance of the underground staircase, two figures appeared with an imposing presence that seemed to crush the air.
“You’ve finally arrived.”
Lista could never forget the moment of that confrontation on that day, not until the day she died.
Fragments of the past, perhaps…
Information or memories of heroes she had read about in books as a child and seen during her journey were now manifesting before her eyes in a clear physical form.
“Sarandis… Altar… Naisemon… nim…?”
It was so hard even to part her lips that she could only utter each syllable brokenly.
But before arriving here, that is, even before facing that shadow, Lista had already predicted this ominous encounter.
It wasn’t because Simian had told her previously. It was because the Supreme Holy Sword Syrpain had never wailed so desperately before.
“Yes, and you must be Altar Syrpain.”
The phantom of the past, the first hero, the first Feiquaere… carried a presence mixed with black and white.
Light, and abyss.
Was it only the presence?
His appearance was the same; 70% of his uncovered hair was dark blue, while the remaining 30% was white. The dark blue seemed to slowly erode the white.
‘Just his presence makes my whole body tingle. Is my instinct warning me to run? I’ve never felt this way except during battles with the Sea Gate Command and the Annihilation Squad…!’
Frede swallowed dry, gritty saliva and spoke.
‘He’s not the only monster.’
The being standing next to him, a man armed with a miraculous combination of a mage’s robe and a warrior’s armor… exuded an unmercifully powerful force of intellect.
“Why on earth… would someone like you… do such a thing…?”
Lista barely continued her words.
“Since childhood, even before I chose to be a hero, I read and reread the stories of Senior Sarandis! I admired you! Even now, I can’t believe this situation! Why are you trying to awaken the <Forgotten Kings>?”
Then, Sarandis’s eyes gleamed with a light that seemed both sorrowful and mocking.
“Altar Syrpain, have you ever seen a threshing floor in the midst of a harvest?”
His distant hometown, the snow-covered plains of the north, which he could no longer visit, vividly came to Sarandis’s mind.
- Sarandis, this is life. I couldn’t even imagine something like this when I was young.
Even the voice of his grandfather, who, when Sarandis was a girl, placed soil with vigorously wriggling earthworms into her hands.
“When you harvest rice ears, some grains are full and plump, while others are mere husks without any grain. Threshing is necessary to filter those out.”
“…?”
“The current human world is like this. The human world looks plausible on the surface, but most of it is chaff. Those without substance are even taking nutrients that should go to the ears with grains.”
“…!”
“So what should be done? First, harvest all the rice, burn all the chaff… and the process of replanting only the excellent grains is indispensable.”
“…”
“The Lizard Lord, Neigalasu, is the thresher for that purpose. To select and leave only the truly valuable ones on this land. Our goal is to achieve true victory in the Great Abyss War through that selection.”
This time, Lista’s eyes gleamed with profound sorrow and… a brilliant light of conviction.
“That’s wrong, Senior. The first farmer… the providence of creation has already sown only good seeds. It’s just that weeds, the abyss, cleverly mixed in.”
“…”
“No one wants to be chaff. Everyone wants to be valuable and respected.”
The Supreme Holy Sword Syrpain wailed piteously once more.
“Therefore, I will defeat you, Senior.”
The tip of Syrpain’s blade in Lista’s hand was clearly aimed at Naisemon, its twin holy sword, beyond.
“As a junior who became a hero, following Sarandis Altar Naisemon, who respected the value of all people living in this world.”
At that moment, Sarandis felt as if she had met her past self through Lista.
Dizzily, they overlapped.
Her past self, who held onto hope so stubbornly, no, so foolishly blindly… journeying to the ends of the earth with her comrades.
“Correcting a junior who has gone astray is also a senior’s duty, I suppose. Yes, meaningless back-and-forth ends here. Come.”