Chapter 33
“Your Majesty!”
What greeted me upon my return to the imperial palace was none other than Minister Dia, who, with his entire demeanor, seemed to scream, ‘I’ve been overworked.’
“Minister.”
“Your Majesty, leaving so abruptly like that…”
Well, I had only been gone for a day. But leaving without appointing someone to act on my behalf must have been difficult for him.
I’ll have to send him a nice bottle of liquor later.
“What happened while I was away?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. The army of Daman Kingdom has begun its advance.”
The Daman army, huh.
Perhaps it was because I had just faced some utterly absurd monsters earlier, but this news felt almost trivial.
“How many troops do they have?”
“Thirty thousand soldiers, two thousand knights, and two hundred of them are Experts.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Our agents on the ground reported that the current king, who recently lost his father, seems to have lost his rationality...”
“No, it’s more likely that he too has become a puppet of Edelvine. Are there any kingdoms siding with him?”
“None have officially declared their participation yet, but Tamiel has been acting suspiciously as of late.”
“Tamiel? Those savages have ties to Daman? No, wait. Those beasts are unpredictable—they could get involved in any war at any time. They’re more beasts than men.”
I began calculating in my head.
How much power do those Tamiel scum have again?
Unlike other nations, which rely on classes like Masters and Mages, Tamiel’s main force consists of Shamans and Warriors—a slightly more obscure combination that makes it hard to assess their strength.
“Summon Sir Feltz and Sir Kraol. I will discuss this with them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“We greet His Imperial Majesty!”
“Sir Feltz. Sir Kraol. It has been a while. Have you heard of Daman’s declaration of war?”
I wasn’t feeling particularly threatened, but with war approaching, I skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point.
“Yes, we’ve heard. So, Daman has declared war…”
Feltz also looked as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just said.
To march that level of troops against the Empire—clearly, they’d been reduced to Edelvine’s pawns.
“Thirty thousand soldiers? How lowly do they think of us?!”
Kraol, commander of the Magic Corps, turned red as if personally insulted.
Though the Magic Corps hadn’t made a significant mark in the war against the Demonic Forces, it had been credited with rewriting the history of warfare by preventing regular soldiers from intervening. For Daman to march thirty thousand troops against such an Empire—well, his indignation was justified.
“Your Majesty, allow me to mobilize just one unit of the Imperial Knights. Our Magic Corps will crush those arrogant fools to dust.”
I gave a small nod and turned to Feltz.
“Sir Feltz.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Has the Third Unit Commander recovered?”
“While he hasn’t regained his peak strength, he’s more than capable of handling opponents without even a single Master.”
“Good. Let him use this as rehabilitation. Assign the Third Unit to escort the Magic Corps.
Meanwhile, keep the Second Unit on standby in case Tamiel decides to intervene.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Sir Kraol.”
“Yes.”
“Show those who dare to tread upon the Empire’s land why we are an Empire.”
“By your command.”
“Minister Dia.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Do whatever it takes to track down the Roderon scum. I grant you full authority. You may enlist the cooperation of any organization, whether within the Empire or not.”
“Understood, Your Majesty.”
We’ve been dragged along blindly, not even knowing the enemy’s identity until now.
But things will be different from here on, Roderon Edelvine.
“Your Majesty.”
In a hidden lair of Edelvine, somewhere on the continent.
Having completed his mission, Bern returned to report to Roderon.
“I have made contact with the King of Tamiel. They will soon join the war.”
“Well done. Go and rest.”
“Yes.”
Once again donning his mask, Roderon was left alone to reflect on that day.
‘I should have killed Duke Fael back then.’
After being mocked by the Tower Master, he had meticulously prepared this time to ensure the barrier wouldn’t break. He had been confident of success, but Duke Fael turned out to be far stronger than expected.
‘If the King of Anon is also at that level, controlling Anon will be difficult. Controlling Jer is also impractical due to its size.’
As he sank into his thoughts, he was abruptly snapped out of them by a commotion outside.
The sound of repeated collisions echoed, followed by Bern crashing through a wall and landing next to Roderon.
Roderon immediately erected a temporary barrier to cover the room, and ominously glowing jewels appeared in his hands.
“There’s no need to be so cautious. I haven’t come to fight.”
“You… are you a beastkin?”
“Sir Kraol, why that expression?”
Charles, commander of the 3rd Unit of the Imperial Knights, asked Kraol as he gazed at the advancing army of Daman, which was kicking up a cloud of dust in the distance.
This guy isn’t the type to get scared by something like this, so why does he look like that?
“It’s because I’m disgusted. To think I’d live to see a massive army marching toward the Empire again.”
“Ah…”
Charles realized he had misspoken after hearing Kraol’s response.
In the past, when the Demon King’s army advanced on the Empire—
Their superior magic abilities and resistance to magic had rendered the Magic Corps helpless, forcing them to retreat.
Now, seeing the army advancing in formation brought those memories flooding back.
“Listen up.”
When Kraol muttered softly yet clearly, the entire Magic Corps responded in unison.
“Yes!”
“Let’s begin.”
With those words, Kraol began drawing a magic circle.
A magic circle so vast it stretched beyond the Daman Kingdom army and covered the entire visible area.
It was a circle so intricate that ordinary magicians couldn’t even begin to decipher it, and even seasoned mages would struggle to replicate it. Yet Kraol drew it without a single pause.
The Daman army seemed to have magicians of their own, as shields appeared above their troops. However, neither Kraol nor the Magic Corps paid them any attention, continuing their work with unwavering focus.
The other mages of the Magic Corps drew auxiliary magic circles beneath Kraol’s. Lower-level magicians then filled those circles with mana.
Before long, the completed magic circle began to emanate a foreboding aura so palpable that even those untrained in magic could sense its ominous power. Yet, the Daman army pressed forward undeterred.
Had they divided their forces into smaller units, things might not have been so easy.
But those fools seemed to have forgotten why regular soldiers had vanished from battlefields in the first place.
With a brief moment of pity for the soldiers who would die due to their idiotic nobles, Kraol uttered the activation phrase for the magic circle.
“…Cataclysm.”
And then, the heavens split apart.
“Damn it.”
Soldier Mil cursed under his breath as he trudged forward.
“Crazy imperial bastards.”
How could so-called envoys assassinate a king in his own palace? Was such a thing even conceivable?
Mil wasn’t particularly patriotic, but even he couldn’t suppress his anger at the thought of his king being killed by those imperial scum.
Of course, that anger alone wasn’t enough to make him volunteer for war. But what choice did he have when the nobles ordered him to fight?
“There! The enemy!”
Just as Mil wondered how far they’d marched today, the knight commander’s shout broke the silence.
Though Mil, positioned in the middle ranks, couldn’t see anything, the brief announcement was enough to put him and his fellow soldiers on edge.
Sensing the unease among the troops, the commander quickly added:
“The enemy numbers no more than five hundred! We, on the other hand, are thirty thousand strong! There’s no chance of defeat—fight bravely, and great rewards await those who distinguish themselves!”
What? Only five hundred?
The soldiers relaxed slightly upon hearing the numbers.
Five hundred.
Not even a tenth of their army.
No matter how strong those imperial scum were, how could they possibly overcome such a numerical disparity?
Of course, Daman’s commanders were deeply uneasy about the presence of five hundred imperial knights, but they didn’t let it show, worried about undermining their army’s morale.
“What’s that?”
A soldier’s voice drew their attention skyward.
“Magic circle…?”
Looking up, they saw that the magic circle stretched across the entire visible sky.
Even the commanders couldn’t hide their unease at the sight.
At that moment, the staffs of the magicians scattered throughout the army began to glow, forming a thin barrier above the soldiers’ heads.
“Do not fear! We have magicians of our own!”
The commanders raised their voices to restore order, and the soldiers’ panic subsided somewhat.
Unfortunately, that calm didn’t last long.
“…Cataclysm.”
The activation phrase, unheard by the Daman army, unleashed the calamity.
It began with a single bolt of lightning.
A blue flash struck with a crackling sound, incinerating a soldier a short distance from Mil without leaving him even a moment to scream.
“What…?”
The soldier who had been joking with Mil just moments ago was now a charred corpse.
The shield above their heads already had gaping holes.
“What the hell is…”
More bolts of lightning rained down, each strike claiming another life.
When Mil looked up at the sky again, his vision was filled with countless blue lightning bolts.
That was the last memory he ever had.