【名無しさん】
2026年10月18日
4時49分9秒
| Chapter 116: "The Silver Wedge Pierces the Royal Capital"
The sky over the royal capital Arcadia had begun to pale.
It was the hour when night and morning melt into one another.
In a quiet corner of the still-sleeping city stood an old building. Deep beneath it, in a chamber sealed behind thick stone walls, rough footsteps echoed.
Thud, thud, thud.
At last the door was violently flung open.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “……The target is definitely down there.”
The man who appeared was on one knee, gasping heavily for breath.
His clothes were caked with mud and blood, and a shallow gash ran across his cheek.
His ragged breathing produced a wheezing, grinding sound deep in his chest.
Even so, he raised his face.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “Reporting.”
He was the sole survivor of the Sleeping Sheep operatives who had infiltrated the academy underground with suicidal resolve.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “The target—Louis Adel—is confirmed present.
In the special training chamber beneath the Royal Magic Academy.”
Petelgeuse: “Condition?”
Petelgeuse asked flatly.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “……Unknown.”
Petelgeuse: “Unknown?”
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “Yes.”
The man swallowed, carefully choosing his words.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “We managed to pinpoint the location.
However—”
His voice trembled slightly.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “……That defensive power is abnormal.”
Those waiting in the room turned their eyes toward him.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “Just one girl…… a mage escort completely analyzed (hacked) our anti-magic tactics after seeing them only once.”
Petelgeuse: “Only once?”
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “……Yeah.
Only once.”
The survivor nodded deeply, his face filled with bitterness.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “Sound camouflage, mana disruption, anti-magic equipment—everything.
She completely read every move we made.
The tactics we spent years refining…… as if she had known them from the very beginning.”
A beat of silence.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “The other four are all dead.”
The air in the room grew heavy.
The man clenched his trembling fist.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “One more thing.”
His voice carried a deep fear and exhaustion one would never expect from an assassin who had repeatedly crossed the line of death in the underworld.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “Just gathering intelligence was all we could manage.
Assassination is not a viable method against that target.”
His bloodshot eyes swept over each person in the room one by one.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “On top of that, deeper inside…… there were barriers of an unprecedented level that I cannot believe the royal palace itself laid down.
Breaking through them head-on is impossible.”
Petelgeuse: “……Anything else?”
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “That’s all we could confirm.”
The man pulled a sheet of parchment from his coat and tossed it onto the table.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “The requested ‘information gathering’ and ‘location verification’ have been completed.”
Then he exhaled a long, heavy breath.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “I’m withdrawing from this matter.”
No one stopped him.
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “……That’s all.”
With those words he turned on his heel.
Petelgeuse: “Wait.”
Petelgeuse’s flat voice struck his back.
The man’s steps halted slightly.
Petelgeuse: “Regarding the payment?”
Sleeping Sheep Operative: “……As agreed is fine.”
Petelgeuse: “Understood.”
Petelgeuse nodded without emotion.
Petelgeuse: “Then the contract is complete.”
The man said nothing more and left quickly.
The heavy door closed.
Eventually even his footsteps completely melted into the underground silence and vanished.
Only cold silence remained in the room.
Petelgeuse: “……In exchange for four lives, he brought back solid information.”
Petelgeuse lowered his gaze to the parchment left on the table.
Petelgeuse: “Even for someone from the underworld, the tenacity to fulfill a contract is impressive.”
Gregor: “Indeed.”
Suddenly another voice spoke.
Gregor: “It is precisely because they were capable that we obtained this much information.”
From the deepest part of the room—
from the darkness where even the lamp light did not reach—a terribly rational, temperature-less voice spun words.
Gregor: “At the cost of four lives, they exposed the defense level that is the kingdom’s highest secret.
Extremely capable work.”
The darkness slowly wavered.
Eventually a man stepped out from its depths.
Mid-thirties.
Tall and slender build.
Grayish black hair cut short, wearing a lean dark-navy long coat different from the white-robed members.
White gloves on his hands.
In the ash-blue eyes set in his refined features there was not the slightest human emotion—only the absolute coldness that reflected pure mathematics and logic.
The man approached and calmly looked down at the parchment on the table.
Gregor: “One survivor.”
Petelgeuse: “Yes.”
Gregor: “That is sufficient.”
The man’s expression did not so much as twitch.
Gregor: “The fact that four died itself holds no meaning.
What matters is what we gained through their deaths.”
Petelgeuse narrowed his eyes.
Petelgeuse: “As thorough as ever.
Inspector Gregor.”
The man—ground theater commander of Operation Silver Wedge: Royal Capital Assault.
Battlefield Inspector directly under the Pope, Gregor Weiss.
Gregor: “Emotions are not materials that contribute to the success of an operation.”
Gregor replied flatly and activated the magical device in his hand.
A hard click sounded.
A faint light ran, and a three-dimensional map of the royal capital Arcadia rose into the empty air.
Streets, walls, the royal palace, military facilities, and magical facilities—furthermore, the positions of Silver Wedge units latent throughout the capital flickered as countless points of light.
The magical device 《Battlefield Board》.
It was the key to battlefield analysis, treating the entire royal capital itself as a chessboard.
Gregor: “With this, we can discard without hesitation the half-hearted option of ‘intelligence’.”
Gregor spoke while staring at the Battlefield Board.
Gregor: “It has been confirmed that the target’s defensive power is at a level impossible to break through in localized combat.”
Fingertips wrapped in pure white gloves traced the coordinates of the Royal Magic Academy.
Gregor: “In that case, we simply need to prevent the localized combat environment itself from being established.”
Petelgeuse: “How do you intend to proceed?”
At Petelgeuse’s question, Gregor’s ash-blue eyes slid coldly across the map.
Gregor: “We will switch tactics.
From ‘intelligence’—to ‘chaos (error)’.”
Petelgeuse: “Chaos……”
Gregor: “Yes.”
Gregor indicated the entire royal capital rather than the academy underground, as if enclosing it with his finger.
Gregor: “We will drag every defensive force of the royal capital up to the surface.
Simply force the people protecting that underground to come above ground.”
Petelgeuse: “……In other words, sever the underground itself from the battlefield?”
Gregor: “Exactly.”
Gregor answered immediately.
Gregor: “Defense becomes solid because there is only one target to protect.
Therefore, we simply need to create not one but ten or twenty places that must be protected.”
Petelgeuse narrowed his eyes as if measuring the thoughts of this fellow direct subordinate of the Pope.
Petelgeuse: “Have preparations already been made?”
Gregor: “Of course.”
Gregor turned around.
The Silver Wedge members lined up in the room opened their mouths not once; they merely directed their gazes at him.
Gregor: “I will now convey the operational policy for the forty surface troops on standby and the forty Archdemons.”
When Gregor spoke, the members straightened their postures in unison.
Gregor: “First, individual destruction or seizure of important facilities will be secondary.”
Silver Wedge Member: “Then what takes priority?”
One soldier asked.
Gregor: “The priority target is the securing of young women.”
Gregor answered in a voice without inflection.
Gregor: “There is no need to kill them.
Rather, do not kill them.
Take what they wish to ‘protect’ right before their eyes, and while keeping them alive, humiliate them.”
For an instant the air in the room froze.
A female member could not help but ask back.
Silver Wedge Female Member: “……Women? But that will invite the intense fury of the royal army.”
Gregor: “That is precisely what is convenient.”
Gregor nodded as if explaining something he found utterly uninteresting.
Gregor: “They are a royal army that holds justice and pride.
Rather than killing soldiers head-on, cruelly trampling what they wish to ‘protect’ will far more easily collapse their formation and reason.”
On the Battlefield Board the projected deployment of the royal army appeared.
Gregor: “Let the soldiers guarding the north gate hear the screams from the southern district.
Show the soldiers protecting the palace the citizens fleeing in panic.
And to the soldiers protecting the citizens—make them try to save the people being trampled right before their eyes.”
Gregor’s fingertip stopped.
Gregor: “To dull the soldiers’ judgment, maximize the number of targets that must be protected.
Then they will no longer be able to move rationally as an army.”
Petelgeuse: “……And that will create an opening underground.”
Gregor: “Yes.
We need only prevent the kingdom itself from allocating forces to protect the underground and completely isolate it.”
No one spoke.
It was pure one-hundred-percent demonic logic that incorporated into the calculation formula the most beautiful human emotion—
“I want to protect someone”—
as mud upon the board.
Petelgeuse: “……You are a terrifying man.”
Petelgeuse murmured.
But Gregor’s expression did not change in the slightest.
Gregor: “Terrifying? No.
I am merely rational.”
Petelgeuse: “That is what we call terrifying.”
Gregor: “Is that so.”
He replied with genuine lack of interest and returned his gaze to the Battlefield Board.
Gregor: “War is not merely mutual slaughter.
It is the act of erasing the opponent’s options one by one.
Simply work.”
Petelgeuse remained silent for a while, then finally turned his own eyes to the Battlefield Board as well.
Petelgeuse: “……I see.
I understand.
Then allow me to confirm one point as well.”
Gregor: “Please.”
Petelgeuse: “How far may the forty surface troops serving as diversion be depleted?”
Gregor’s answer came swiftly.
Gregor: “All of them.”
Petelgeuse: “……All of them?”
Gregor: “Even if all forty die, it is acceptable.
They are nothing more than forces for establishing the first stage—the chaos (error) state.”
Without taking his eyes from the Battlefield Board, Gregor now pointed deep underground beneath the academy.
Gregor: “We are the main force.
Even if the surface troops are annihilated, as long as we can reach the now-undermanned underground, that is enough.
What matters is solely the fact that the kingdom’s defensive capacity has been pinned to the surface.”
Petelgeuse: “……Thorough as ever.”
Gregor: “Only as much as necessary.”
Gregor closed the Battlefield Board.
The faint light vanished, leaving only the dim lamp light in the basement once more.
Gregor: “Then.”
He directed his gaze at the members on standby.
Gregor: “First stage—begin.”
They saluted in unison.
Silver Wedge Members: “Understood.”
Silver Wedge Members: “Acknowledged.”
Multiple voices overlapped.
That was all.
No one shouted.
No one grew excited.
An eerie quiet, as if confirming the morning’s routine duties.
One by one the members vanished from the room like shadows.
Petelgeuse, the last remaining, asked a question.
Petelgeuse: “Inspector Gregor.”
Gregor: “What is it?”
Petelgeuse: “……Do you truly regard that target as nothing more than ‘biological resources’?”
Gregor fell silent for only a few seconds, then narrowed his eyes the slightest fraction.
Gregor: “Evaluation is still on hold.
Information is insufficient.”
That was his only reply; he turned his gaze toward empty space.
Gregor: “That is why we will learn from now on.”
Outside the window.
Soft morning light had begun to pour in from the eastern sky of the royal capital Arcadia.
Merchants who had risen early were already standing in the market.
Freshly baked fragrant bread was about to be lined up at the bakery.
Children believed another peaceful morning had come as usual, and the soldiers still sensed no anomaly.
The Saintess too continued praying in the cold underground spring to protect the nation.
And—deep beneath the Royal Magic Academy, Louis Adel continued sleeping without knowing anything.
Until that peaceful morning ended—only a few minutes remained.
Gregor Weiss murmured.
Gregor: “——Now then, shall we measure the kingdom’s defensive capacity.”
A nation so frantically peaceful was about to be cast down into a gruesome hell.
The first move of that process was now—placed upon the board.
The morning of the southern kingdom Arcadia was as beautiful as ever.
In the central market of the capital, the aroma of freshly baked bread just taken from the ovens drifted, and merchants displaying vividly colored vegetables raised their voices so as not to be outdone by the morning’s vitality.
On the stone pavement children ran about weaving between mothers carrying shopping bags, and a short distance away the laughter of young girls enjoying their shopping rode the wind.
Young Girl: “Hey, you were looking at that hair ornament yesterday too, weren’t you?”
Young Girl: “Because it’s cute.”
Young Girl: “Then just buy it.”
Young Girl: “I spent a little too much this month……”
An ordinary peaceful morning that could be found anywhere.
The sky was boundlessly blue, and soft sunlight gently enveloped the entire city.
Old Woman: “Another fine day.”
An old woman looking up at the sky smiled gently.
Merchant: “Yes.
In Arcadia it is always so.”
The merchant beside her laughed in return.
Merchant: “Thanks to the Saintess, after all.”
Everyone knew.
This nation was protected—so they believed.
That was precisely why.
When the sky
“split,”
people even mistook it for some sort of entertainment.
——Bazzz!
Citizen: “……Eh?”
Overhead, an ugly sound rang out as if the membrane of the world itself were being forcibly torn apart.
Smiles vanished one by one from the faces of those who had been looking up at the sky.
Across the clear blue sky ran cracks as if black ink had been splattered.
It was not something that had arisen naturally.
Nor had the barrier been destroyed from outside.
From within the space protected by the barrier, operators already lurking inside had forcibly pried open another entrance.
Citizen: “Wh-what……?”
Citizen: “The sky……”
Citizen: “Hey, that……!”
From beyond the cracks, dense miasma poured down like a waterfall.
The air changed.
The warm morning scent was instantly painted over by a stench resembling decay.
A young girl who had been putting apples into a basket stared blankly up at the sky.
Young Girl: “……What is this?”
The next instant.
From within the crack a massive jet-black mass fell onto the stone pavement.
——Zudooooon!!
Citizen: “Kyaaaaah!”
Citizen: “Uwaaah!”
A ground-shaking rumble that shook the pit of the stomach.
The blast swept the market clean; stalls were blown away.
Wooden crates shattered, vegetables flew through the air, and goods were mercilessly smashed against the stone pavement.
Citizen: “What happened!?”
Citizen: “Run!”
Citizen: “Take the children!”
Citizen: “This way, hurry!”
No one was looking at the sky any longer.
Beyond the dust, a gigantic shadow slowly rose.
A body exceeding three meters.
Goat-like horns.
Massive wings reminiscent of a bat.
Jet-black skin.
And cloudy yellow eyeballs.
Citizen: “……Ah……”
Someone let out a hoarse voice.
The frozen time finally began to move again there.
Citizen: “H-hiiiiiii!”
Citizen: “A magic beast!”
Citizen: “Why is it inside the royal capital!?”
Citizen: “Where are the guards!? The knight order!?”
Citizen: “I don’t know! Just run!”
Pandemonium.
The peaceful market transformed in an instant into a gruesome hell.
People fled in all directions like scattering spiderlings.
Mothers pulled their children’s hands, the elderly fell, merchants abandoned their shops and ran.
Everyone thought the same thing—this place should have been safe.
If it was the royal capital.
If it was inside the barrier.
If it was Arcadia.
However.
The manifested Archdemon did not simply rampage indiscriminately.
Citizen: “……?”
One man looked back while running.
Citizen: “It’s not coming……?”
The monster was not moving.
It was merely looking around.
Its cloudy yellow eyeballs rolled.
It slowly swept its gaze over the fleeing people, those who had fallen, those screaming, mothers clutching children—as if searching for someone specific, as if selecting.
Young Girl: “……What is it looking at?”
A young girl murmured in a trembling voice.
Immediately afterward.
Young Woman: “Kyaaaaah!”
A young woman who had lagged behind and tripped on the stone pavement fell.
Young Woman: “Ouch……!”
She tried to stand, but her legs trembled with fear.
Young Woman: “H-help—”
At that scream the Archdemon’s gaze locked on.
Young Woman: “……!”
The blood drained from the woman’s face in an instant.
Young Woman: “No……”
The monster took one step forward.
Thud.
The stone pavement trembled.
Young Woman: “Don’t come……!”
Another step.
Thud.
Young Woman: “Stop……!”
With speed unsuited to its massive body the monster leaped.
It landed right in front of the woman.
Young Woman: “Nooooo!”
A giant hooked claw was swung down.
The woman instinctively covered her face.
But—.
The blade did not take her life.
The claw merely grazed her slender shoulder and cruelly tore only the fabric of her fine dress.
Riiip.
Young Woman: “……!”
White skin was exposed; the woman’s face twisted in shame and terror.
Young Woman: “Please…… stop……!”
The monster did not answer.
It merely seized her roughly and lifted her up.
Vigilante: “Let her go, monster!”
A shout rang through the market.
Looking back, nearby vigilante men held weapons in their hands.
Vigilante: “Captain, we’ll handle this—!”
Vigilante Captain: “Don’t be reckless!”
Vigilante: “But at this rate!”
Vigilante Captain: “I know!”
Young men gripped blades and clubs.
Vigilante: “We won’t let it do as it likes in our town! Let’s go!”
One dashed forward.
Then two, three followed.
Vigilante: “Let that woman go!”
The moment the man shouted—the Archdemon did not release the woman it held.
With its free arm alone it casually swept sideways as if brushing away an insect.
——Gushah.
A dull crushing sound.
The bodies of the men who had bravely confronted it were smashed against the stone pavement together with sprays of blood.
Citizen: “……Eh”
A blank voice leaked from someone’s mouth.
One blow.
That was all.
The men who had rushed to help had in an instant been turned into silent lumps of meat.
Citizen: “……Ah”
Citizen: “No way……”
Citizen: “That can’t……”
No one could move.
Legs froze.
Throats trembled.
The brain refused even to process what had just occurred before their eyes as reality.
From the eyes of the woman suspended in midair, tears of despair fell one after another.
Young Woman: “……Help me”
It was a hoarse voice.
Young Woman: “Someone…… please……”
Yet no one could approach.
Fear had sewn their feet to the stone pavement.
From the surrounding crowd rose a muddy torrent of terror, of helplessness at being able to do nothing, and of black hatred toward the monster.
——That itself was the supreme nourishment of the demon.
Archdemon: “……Gru, ah……”
A low growl leaked from the Archdemon’s throat.
Its jet-black skin pulsed with a thud.
Citizen: “……What is that?”
Someone muttered.
The mana covering the monster’s body visibly thickened.
With every scream it bathed in.
With every terror it devoured.
With every hatred it sipped.
Its massive body expanded little by little.
Citizen: “Isn’t it…… bigger than before?”
Citizen: “No way……”
Citizen: “Its mana…… is increasing……”
The crowd could not understand.
They did not know what would make it stop.
But the monster before them knew.
The more humans feared, the stronger it became.
The deeper the despair, the stronger still.
Cruelly crushing human dignity itself—that very act endlessly strengthened this abomination.
The worst perpetual motion machine.
Archdemon: “——Aaaaaaah!”
The Archdemon raised a roar filled with joy and gluttony.
Merely hearing that voice caused new screams to rise from the crowd.
Citizen: “It’s coming!”
Citizen: “Run!”
Citizen: “Run!”
Citizen: “Help us!”
Terror spread further, and that terror again became the monster’s power.
This was not mere destruction or slaughter.
It destroyed daily life.
It took someone away.
It trampled those who tried to help.
And it planted despair in the hearts of those who witnessed the scene.
It made humans themselves produce the bait called despair.
——That was the surface tactic of the 《Silver Wedge》.
And there was one who desired this scene.
Somewhere in the royal capital.
A man observing the battle situation from a safe high place.
To him the screams, the terror, the hatred being born here—were all nothing more than numerical values for the operation.
Materials for measuring the enemy’s strength.
Stimuli for drawing out the royal army’s response.
And a means of controlling humans themselves.
Gregor: “I want to protect.”
Gregor: “I must help.”
Gregor: “Do not abandon this place.”
——Such emotions were precisely what he aimed at.
At that moment.
In another place as well, an explosion sounded.
——Dooon!!
Citizen: “Again!”
From outside the market another scream rose.
Even farther.
——Dooooon!!
And beyond that as well.
——Zudon!!
One.
Two.
Three.
Eventually the sounds of destruction spread like a chain reaction across the entire royal capital.
Not only the market.
The north gate of the capital, the vicinity of military facilities, magical facilities, the aristocratic district—in every quarter that could be called the heart of Arcadia, space split one after another and jet-black Archdemons manifested.
Old Man: “……Impossible.”
An old man left behind in the market murmured in a trembling voice.
Old Man: “Throughout the capital……?”
No one could answer.
And—Arcadia’s morning ended.
The market that only a short while earlier had been filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread.
The stone pavement where children had been laughing together.
The street corner where young girls had been enjoying shopping.
All of it was being painted over with flame and screams.
The mad peace—this time truly came to an end.
In the deepest part of the royal palace.
At the entrance of the corridor leading to the “Oracle Spring” where entry by ordinary people was strictly forbidden.
Saintess Sylphie collapsed onto the cold stone pavement as suddenly as a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Sylphie: “……Ah, aah……!”
Maid: “Saintess!?”
The young maid waiting nearby screamed and rushed over.
She hurriedly lifted Sylphie’s shoulders.
Maid: “Stay with me! Saintess!”
Sylphie: “……I’m…… fine……”
Maid: “You are clearly not fine!”
Supporting the thin trembling body, the maid’s eyes filled with tears.
She was not merely a caretaker.
She was the “next Saintess candidate” who would eventually succeed Sylphie.
Maid: “Your face is completely pale…….
I will call a physician.
Immediately—”
Sylphie: “No……”
Maid: “But!”
Sylphie: “……A physician cannot do anything.”
A thin breath leaked from Sylphie’s slender throat.
It hurt.
It burned.
She could not breathe.
Through the kingdom’s barrier—that vast “system”—an unbelievable amount of despair was flowing directly back into Sylphie’s brain.
Clothes being torn.
Pure terror of being seized by a giant arm.
Unbearable loss as those who tried to help were turned into lumps of meat before their eyes.
——The aberrant demons (bugs) that endlessly sucked up those pitch-black negative emotions and expanded their mana.
Sylphie: “……!”
Sylphie’s body jerked violently.
Maid: “Saintess……?”
Sylphie: “I can hear them……”
Maid: “Hear what……?”
Sylphie: “Everyone’s voices……”
Tears traced down her pale cheeks.
Sylphie: “They’re saying they’re scared…… help us……”
The blood drained from the maid’s face as well.
Maid: “……The voices of the capital?”
Sylphie: “Yes……”
Sylphie nodded painfully.
Sylphie: “Everyone there…… is about to die right now.”
Maid: “But the royal army is already moving! If we buy time—”
Sylphie: “There is no time!”
For the first time Sylphie’s voice rang out sharply.
The maid caught her breath.
Sylphie: “They’re feeding on terror…… those monsters (bugs).”
Sylphie clutched her head with both trembling hands.
Sylphie: “The more they fear…… the stronger they become.
If the people who try to help are killed as well, they grow even stronger by that amount…… so…… if we wait for the army to arrive, it will be too late.”
Sylphie forced her body up as if clinging to it.
Before her was the door leading to the Oracle Spring.
Maid: “Saintess!”
The maid seized her arm.
Maid: “You mustn’t! If you interfere with the barrier any further—”
The maid’s voice trembled.
Maid: “Your life……!”
At those words Sylphie closed her eyes the slightest fraction.
Sylphie: “……I know.”
She answered softly and, still trembling, turned toward the Oracle Spring.
Sylphie: “While I am still here”
One step.
Sylphie: “Watching someone die without doing anything…… is far more frightening.”
At the edge of the spring Sylphie’s feet stopped.
The “Oracle Spring”—an absolute sanctuary for connecting with the goddess.
No one but the chosen rightful Saintess was permitted even a single step inside.
Maid: “Saintess…… please come back.”
The maid pleaded in a trembling voice.
Sylphie turned around.
She smiled the slightest bit at the maid who looked ready to cry.
Sylphie: “……Don’t you cry too.”
Maid: “But……”
Sylphie: “It’s all right.”
It was a weak smile she herself could scarcely believe.
Sylphie: “……Probably.”
Maid: “That’s not saying it’s all right……”
Sylphie: “Hehe…… you’re right.”
For just an instant the usual girl-like smile returned.
And then—.
With trembling hands Sylphie untied the sash of the pure white holy vestments she wore.
Maid: “……Saintess”
The maid caught her breath.
While clothed one cannot touch the divine will.
“One must enter with only that pure body”—an absolute rule (protocol) continuing from the first generation.
The fallen vestments quietly piled upon the stone pavement.
Without hesitation Sylphie stepped with only her bare body into the ice-cold depths of the spring.
Sylphie: “……Cold”
Her lips trembled slightly.
Even so she advanced.
In the center of the spring.
She looked up at the white-stone statue of the goddess.
A face filled with compassion, eyes quietly closed, both hands held as if accepting everything.
Before it Sylphie firmly clasped both hands before her chest.
Sylphie: “Goddess…… please”
She closed her eyes once.
Sylphie: “Please…… grant me just a little more power.”
And then.
Deep within her spirit she completely tore away the safety device that had been placed upon herself—the limiter meant to protect her life.
Thud.
Her heart made an abnormal sound.
Sylphie: “——I will not allow it”
A fierce pain as if molten lead raced through her entire body.
Sylphie: “No one……”
The remaining quantity of her life was being sucked into the spring’s system with the force of a smashed hourglass.
Sylphie: “In this nation—no one…… will die!”
——Thud!!
In that instant.
From the Oracle Spring a torrent of light exploded outward.
From the underground of the palace to the surface.
Across the entire royal capital.
The torrent of protection raced in all directions like a vast neural network.
The next moment.
Piercing the sky above the royal capital Arcadia, countless “petals of light” fluttered down like a blizzard.
◇
Lucius: “……It has begun again.”
In the royal castle’s operations command room.
King Lucius, who had been issuing sortie orders to the army, was staring at the petals of light that had begun to fall outside the window.
Officer: “Your Majesty?”
An officer at his side called out.
Lucius did not answer.
He merely clenched his fist tightly.
Grit.
His nails dug into his palm and blood seeped out.
Lucius: “I understand well enough that that…… is not merely a beautiful miracle.”
The king’s voice trembled faintly with unsuppressible anger.
Lucius: “That is…… the very blood of an eighteen-year-old girl…… being shed as she carves away her own life at the bottom of a dark underground.”
The officer lowered his eyes painfully.
Officer: “However, without the Saintess—”
Lucius: “I know!”
He raised his voice without meaning to.
Everyone in the room fell silent at once.
Lucius closed his eyes.
Lucius: “……I know.
That is precisely why it infuriates me all the more.”
He clenched his fist again.
Lucius: “In the end…… must we once again cling only to that girl’s life?”
The intense sense of powerlessness and anguish of a ruler shook his massive frame.
Lucius: “We promised to protect her…… yet is it not we who are being protected?”
No one could answer.
◇
It was beautiful.
Countless white flowers shining in the morning light.
To anyone’s eyes it was a miracle.
——Yet.
Into every single petal of that miracle, the life of one girl was being steadily carved away.
The movements of the Archdemons bathed in the petals of light suddenly slowed.
Archdemon: “……Gu, oh……?”
Their massive bodies swayed unnaturally.
The torrent of mana was disrupted; the movement of their wings grew heavy.
Regenerative ability visibly declined, and clear lag appeared even in the activation of magic.
It was as if they had stepped into an invisible quagmire.
Soldier: “……What?”
One soldier muttered blankly.
Soldier: “Their movements……! They’re weakening……!”
Soldier: “Now we can do it!”
The soldiers of the royal army, who had been dyed in despair, all raised their faces at once.
Hope flickered, if only the slightest amount.
Meanwhile—.
◇
Sylphie: “Gehoh…… gahah……!”
In the underground spring.
Sylphie was vomiting bright red blood onto the cold water’s surface.
Maid: “Saintess!”
The maid screamed from the edge of the spring.
Maid: “Please stop already!”
But—she could not step into the spring.
The Oracle Spring still stubbornly rejected any body other than hers.
Maid: “Any more……! You will die!”
The maid’s voice was wet with tears.
Sylphie did not answer.
Overload beyond the limit (overclock)—life was vanishing from within her body at terrifying speed.
Her vision dyed red.
A ringing filled her ears.
Her consciousness had begun to cloud like mud.
Sylphie: “……It hurts”
She murmured softly.
Sylphie: “……It’s painful”
Even so.
She never broke the posture of prayer.
Maid: “Saintess…… please……”
The maid stretched out her hand while crying.
Maid: “It’s enough already.
Leave the rest to the army—”
Sylphie: “……No”
It was a weak voice.
Sylphie: “They haven’t…… disappeared yet.
The petals…… are still in the city.”
Sylphie slowly narrowed her eyes as if looking at a distant place.
Sylphie: “Then…… I too still……”
There her words broke off once.
Even breathing burned her throat.
She wanted to stop praying at once and collapse.
In truth she wanted to run away.
She was afraid.
She did not want to die—.
Yet.
If she collapsed here, those petals would vanish.
The demons whose movements had been restored would once again tear apart the soft flesh of the people, dignity and all.
Sylphie: “……Ah……aah……”
Within the spring dyed red with blood, Sylphie simply never broke the posture of prayer.
Sylphie: “As long as I…… still hold on……”
She coughed violently and somehow forced out the next words.
Sylphie: “I will…… absolutely protect them”
She continued praying.
Her life was carved away.
Blood flowed.
Even so the protection did not vanish.
It was literally a “carving contest of lives.”
Whether her heart would reach its limit and stop first.
Or.
Whether the kingdom’s army would finish off the demons first.
Upon the battlefield now—an absolute time limit from which there could be no turning back had been carved.
There was a man looking down upon the burning royal capital Arcadia from a far height.
The summit of the great clock tower that soared at the navel of the capital.
There was an absolute special seat of silence and overview, completely severed from the hell of pandemonium swirling on the ground.
Below, crimson flames licked buildings clean, and the screams of fleeing people filled the capillary-like streets.
Royal soldiers shouted blood-vomiting war cries, dragged wounded comrades, and struggled with desperate expressions to reform defensive lines.
Yet.
All that reached this cloud-piercing high tower was the faint sound of wind carrying the scent of gunpowder.
Battlefield Inspector directly under the Pope and ground theater commander of Operation Silver Wedge: Royal Capital Assault.
Gregor Weiss.
He did not even glance at the tragic spectacle unfolding at his feet; he coldly stared only at the magical device 《Battlefield Board》 in his hands.
Click, his fingertip touched it.
The three-dimensional projection of the capital’s map flickered coldly in the empty air.
Red points of light were Archdemons.
Blue points were the royal army.
Yellow were helpless civilians—furthermore, countless fine rays of light depicted in real time the evacuation routes, unit movement vectors, mana waveforms, and fluctuations in barrier strength.
The vast heart of the nation that was the royal capital had become a complete chessboard upon his palm.
Communications Soldier: “Northern district, fourth defensive line is falling back!”
Communications Soldier: “Request for reinforcements from the central market! Civilian evacuation is delayed!”
Communications Soldier: “East gate, second company of the royal army has arrived!”
Communications Soldier: “Combat has begun in the southern district as well! ……Archdemons still operational!”
From the communications soldiers behind him, reports resembling screams flew one after another.
Yet Gregor did not so much as twitch.
On the contrary—.
Gregor: “……Fufu”
His thin lips curved the slightest fraction.
Aide: “Is something the matter?”
The aide asked fearfully.
Gregor: “Yes.”
Gregor answered cheerfully while watching the blue points of light wriggling upon the Battlefield Board.
Gregor: “They are moving far more humanly than planned.”
Aide: “……Humanly?”
Gregor: “Yes.”
His fingertip slid through space and enlarged one theater.
The eastern district.
There the blue points of light—royal soldiers—had broken their orderly ranks and scattered into the narrow alleys like spiderlings.
Gregor: “According to the textbook, the third platoon should have advanced north along this main avenue and struck the Archdemon’s flank.”
Aide: “But…… they are not moving.”
Gregor: “Exactly.”
Gregor’s ash-blue eyes narrowed with pleasure.
Gregor: “They discarded the military optimal solution and chose to help those being trampled before their eyes.”
On the Battlefield Board the blue points of light were abandoning their original defensive lines one after another as if being sucked toward the yellow points of light—the groups of screaming civilians.
The aide caught his breath and fell silent.
Gregor cheerfully traced with his fingertip the flow of the formation that was collapsing in chain reaction.
Gregor: “First platoon, five men departed.
Second platoon, three.
Third platoon…… fourteen.”
Aide: “That many……”
Gregor: “Yes.”
Gregor’s mouth formed a clear sneer.
Gregor: “For the sake of saving a single helpless life, fourteen soldiers abandoned their posts.”
Aide: “But is that not the natural action for soldiers of the kingdom?”
Gregor: “Yes, exactly so.”
Gregor nodded magnanimously.
Gregor: “As humans they are extremely correct.
……That is precisely why it is interesting.”
The aide’s face stiffened.
Gregor: “Humans can choose what is right.
However—what is right is not necessarily the correct answer on the battlefield.”
Upon the Battlefield Board.
One blue point of light strayed from the planned defensive line.
Then another, and yet another.
The royal army’s defensive line that should have been solid collapsed little by little like a dike crumbling from an ant’s hole.
Gregor: “Humans are strong.”
Gregor murmured as if singing.
Gregor: “For the sake of protecting someone they will not even spare their own lives.
Then we need only multiply that ‘thing they wish to protect’ infinitely.”
In that tone there was neither anger nor hatred, nor even the sadism of looking down on others.
There was only the pure, inorganic intellectual curiosity of a scholar observing bacteria wriggling upon a petri dish.
Gregor’s fingertip slid elegantly across the Battlefield Board.
Gregor: “Injure one and ten will move.
Move ten and the formation of a hundred collapses.”
He gazed entranced at the points of light upon the board.
Gregor: “Simply by exposing a few women as bait upon the board, a solid army has voluntarily fallen into functional failure.
……Superb cost-performance.”
The aide continued in a pale face.
Aide: “That chaos…… makes it easier for our main force to pass through, does it not?”
Gregor: “Your observation is correct.”
Gregor nodded with satisfaction.
At that moment.
Communication: 『Report from the northern district!』
A urgent voice burst from the communication magical device.
Communication: 『One Archdemon, attrition rate 80 percent! Movement significantly slowed by the influence of the Saintess’s protection!』
Communication: “The royal army has begun a full assault!”
Communication: 『We can push through!』
From beyond the noise rang the desperate war cries of the royal soldiers.
Communication: 『——One Archdemon destroyed!』
The moment the report arrived, the blue points of light on the kingdom’s side pushed the front line forward all at once.
For only the slightest, only an instant.
A vivid hope was born upon the quagmire battlefield.
Yet Gregor merely looked down upon that scene coldly.
Gregor: “……One, destroyed.”
The aide exhaled as if relieved.
Aide: “With this we can somewhat restore the front—”
Gregor: “Not yet.”
Aide: “Eh?”
Gregor stated.
Gregor: “They are about to fight ‘once more’.”
Aide: “……Once more?”
The moment the aide raised his face.
The red point of light that should have vanished from the Battlefield Board dyed black and viscous and began to pulse again.
Aide: “……What is that?”
Footage from the site was projected onto the communication sphere.
The corpse of the fallen Archdemon.
From its split chest black mana like coal tar erupted like a geyser.
It crawled across the ground, mixed with the sea of blood, and slipped slimily into the gaps of the stone pavement.
And at the center of that filth a sinister blood-colored magic circle rose.
Soldier: “Fall back!”
Soldier: “Get away from the corpse!”
Soldier: “Mana reaction, surging!”
The despair-filled shouts of the royal soldiers.
Immediately after—.
——Zuoon!
The black magic circle detonated.
From the flying fragments of flesh and mana, new aberrant demons crawled out.
One.
Two.
Three.
And several more.
As if the very “death” of the giant demon that had been struck down had been a repulsive womb giving birth to the next calamity.
Aide: “Wha……!”
The aide was speechless; his face went deathly pale.
Gregor did not even show surprise.
Gregor: “Of course.”
Aide: “……Of course?”
Gregor: “Archdemons are not merely giant targets.”
Upon the Battlefield Board new red points of light proliferated one after another.
Gregor: “A mechanism (system) is built in whereby, when the power of a contracted demon is stored to the limit and then released all at once upon annihilation, the residual mana and flesh serve as a seedbed to resummon multiple lower demons.”
Aide: “In other words…… even if one is defeated, the battle does not end?”
Gregor: “Yes.”
Gregor’s fingertip affectionately traced the proliferated red points of light.
Gregor: “Rather, the very moment of despair after the hard-won victory is when the battlefield becomes most beautifully disordered.”
The aide swallowed a trembling breath.
Aide: “……You calculated this from the beginning……? But with this method the precious Archdemons will be completely lost……”
Gregor: “Consumables.”
Gregor stated coolly and callously.
Gregor: “So what of it? Even if all forty are lost, it is acceptable.
What we require is not the survival of the demons or the expansion of military gains.”
His ash-blue eyes fixed straight upon the underground of the capital—the coordinates of the Royal Magic Academy.
Gregor: “How many forces the royal army commits to a single localized battle and becomes pinned down.
Twelve men moved to defeat one Archdemon.”
Aide: “……”
Gregor: “Those twelve are delayed by the multiple demons that crawl out next.
In the meantime no soldiers from other districts are directed as reinforcements.
And in another district helpless people are attacked again, drawing yet more forces.”
The aide’s face convulsed.
Aide: “……Surely not throughout the entire capital……?”
Gregor: “Yes.”
Gregor nodded.
Gregor: “From the beginning the board has been designed so that this would occur.”
In the north of the capital one, in the east two, in the center three—each time one was defeated a new magic circle deployed and red points proliferated.
Blue points scattered; yellow points fled in panic.
All of it danced simultaneously upon his palm a perfect rondo of destruction.
Gregor: “This is what war is.”
Gregor murmured in ecstasy.
Gregor: “Defeating the enemy is not the only military gain.
How many humans were moved in order to defeat that enemy.
How much time was made to be spent.
What was made to be protected, what was made to be discarded.
And—how many options were stolen from the opponent.”
A dark gleam of pleasure resided in Gregor’s eyes.
It was an abnormal heat as if he loved and enjoyed above all else the way the humans upon the board danced madly exactly according to the demonic formula (program) he had constructed.
Gregor: “The creature called human…… is truly wonderful.”
He chuckled deep in his throat.
Gregor: “Mere orders alone would never make them move so beautifully.”
Royal soldiers rescued wounded comrades.
Protected civilians.
Took the hands of crying children.
Became shields for those who lagged behind.
Hated evil, feared, grew angry.
All those noble and muddy emotions were converted upon the Battlefield Board into nothing more than “movement vectors of points of light.”
Gregor: “Therefore I—”
Gregor looked down upon the entire burning capital with the gaze of a ruler.
Gregor: “Utilize their ‘virtues’ so that they willingly become pieces upon the board.”
The aide standing behind him had his throat constricted by fear and could no longer speak.
To this man, soldiers staking their lives, innocent civilians, the praying Saintess, even the demons he employed—were all nothing more than inorganic pieces placed upon the board.
No—what was more terrifying still was that the moments when the pieces desperately struggled and exploded with emotion, he enjoyed from the bottom of his heart as
“supreme entertainment.”
He was not insane.
He lacked even the recognition that he was not sane.
He simply fundamentally lacked the function of seeing humans as humans.
Communications Soldier: “……Inspector”
A communications soldier reported in a trembling voice.
Communication: 『Eastern district, third company of the royal army has left the front line to rescue civilians!』
Gregor: “Record it.”
Communication: 『Central market, the defeated Archdemon has summoned a new swarm of demons!』
Gregor: “Continue monitoring the development as is.”
Communication: 『North gate, the royal army is pushing back with astonishing tenacity!』
Gregor: “It does not matter.”
Communication: 『However, by completely destroying one of the enemies, the aftereffects—』
Gregor: “I understand everything.”
Gregor lowered an entranced gaze to the center of the Battlefield Board.
Countless points of light.
Endlessly proliferating red.
Blue that dispersed and wore away in localized battles.
Yellow fleeing in despair.
And—beautiful white light spreading like a blizzard so as to cover that entire tragic board.
The protection carved from the Saintess’s life.
Gregor: “……Now then”
Gregor Weiss.
The reaper upon the board slowly made the gesture of moving the next piece in midair.
Gregor: “Protect more.”
That voice was gentle and calm to a degree one would never believe belonged to one gazing upon the hell that had appeared.
Gregor: “Save more, carve away your own lives.”
The fingertip sliding through the air stopped dead.
Gregor: “And—”
His ash-blue eyes narrowed with frantic quiet and cruelty.
Gregor: “Until that noble kindness completely kills all of you.
……Let us thoroughly keep you company.”
Somewhere in the capital another eardrum-rupturing explosion occurred.
Red points of light proliferated; blue points of light scattered.
The battlefield of despair expanded without limit.
And—while looking down upon it all from an absolute height, the reaper simply continued to smile elegantly.
Royal Army Operations Command Room.
It had by now become a scene of carnage where angry shouts and near-screaming reports flew without pause.
Messenger: “Eastern district, third company has left the front line to rescue civilians!”
Messenger: “Southern district, one Archdemon destroyed! ……However, numerous demons have appeared from the corpse! First platoon is isolated!”
Messenger: “Central market, evacuation route cut off! Women and children are stranded!”
Messenger: “Western district magical facility, barrier output has fallen below 40 percent!”
Messenger: “Request for reinforcements from the north gate! The second battalion alone cannot hold!”
Desperate reports piled up one after another.
Before one finished the next arrived.
Upon the giant map of the capital placed in the center of the operations room countless pieces were arranged.
Red for Archdemons, blue for the royal army, yellow for evacuating civilians.
Those points of light were moving at an abnormal speed that overturned military common sense.
The captain stared at the board with the feeling that all the blood had drained from his body.
It was the worst.
No, even the word “worst” was lukewarm.
Captain: “Why……”
The captain ground his back teeth.
Captain: “Why do those bastards deliberately fight in such an ‘inefficient’ manner!?”
The aide tried to answer.
But before he could, another messenger raised his voice.
Messenger: “Report from the southern district! Immediately after destroying an Archdemon, five demons of a different type appeared! Currently the second platoon is engaged!”
Captain: “……Again.”
The captain clenched his fist.
They were not directly striking the army’s important facilities.
Nor were they targeting the palace.
And yet only the capital’s defensive lines were collapsing before their eyes.
Captain: “What is the enemy…… aiming for?”
Aide: “I do not know.”
The aide answered bitterly.
Aide: “However, they are clearly ‘selecting’ humans to attack.
The Archdemons are prioritizing civilians…… especially young women over military facilities or defensive positions.”
A deep wrinkle was carved between the captain’s brows.
Captain: “……Why.”
Aide: “The reason is unknown.
Yet because of that—”
The aide indicated another point of light with a trembling finger.
There blue points of light were straying from their planned routes.
Aide: “Royal soldiers are leaving their posts one after another.
Fifth company of the eastern district has broken formation! The same is occurring at the central market! Even part of the forces at the north gate are turning to rescue!”
The captain lost his words.
He understood the reason all too well.
People were being attacked before their eyes.
Children were screaming.
Women who had lagged behind were present.
Citizens seeking help were present—ordering them to abandon those was something the soldiers of this nation could never do.
Aide: “……Captain”
The aide opened his mouth hesitantly.
Aide: “If we consider only military rationality, we should abandon some of the civilians and rebuild the defensive lines.
At this rate we will be defeated in detail.”
Captain: “……I know.”
Aide: “Captain!”
Captain: “I know!!”
The captain’s angry shout rang through the room.
Yet its echo soon faded.
He himself understood it painfully well.
If he issued colder orders, the front could be restored.
If he abandoned the civilians, the soldiers could return to their original posts.
And if forces were concentrated at one point, the possibility of defeating the Archdemons would rise.
As war that was the correct course.
But—.
Captain: “……Can we?”
The captain murmured as if spitting blood.
Captain: “Can we order them…… to abandon the children screaming before their eyes?”
No one could answer.
From afar another low explosion sounded.
One red point of light upon the map moved to another district.
Immediately afterward multiple blue points of light wriggled in pursuit.
The captain closed his eyes painfully.
Captain: “……I do not care if the formation collapses.”
Aide: “Captain!?”
Captain: “Support the isolated units.
Save even one more civilian.”
He placed his hands upon the round table and forced out the words.
Captain: “I know it too! At this rate everyone will die! ……Even so, if it means abandoning the people seeking help before our eyes, then for what purpose do we hold swords!”
Aide: “……Understood!”
The aide saluted with desperate resolve.
Aide: “Transmit to all units! Priority on rescuing isolated units! Secure evacuation routes for the civilians!”
The messenger soldiers moved all at once.
While watching their backs the captain ground his teeth.
Whether right or wrong—it was neither.
Simply help the humans before one’s eyes.
That was the habit (program) dyed into the soldiers of this nation.
And now that very virtue was being most deeply utilized by the enemy.
The more they tried to uphold justice, the deeper they sank into the worst trap the enemy had prepared.
As if some invisible being had seized them by the scruff of the neck.
◇
Around the same time.
Above ground at the Royal Magic Academy.
In a deserted, silent corridor, Emeraldia Aurelia—Tia—was staring fixedly at the battlefield outside the window.
The burning sky.
The Saintess’s light raining down upon the city.
And the explosions of mana flickering everywhere in the capital.
Each one was eroding the capital like a red wound.
Catherine: “……A terrible spectacle.”
Catherine, leader of the palace investigation team standing beside her, muttered bitterly.
Catherine: “The royal army is completely on the back foot.
Their forces are too dispersed.”
Tia: “That is not it, Catherine.”
Tia answered while keeping her face so close it nearly touched the window glass.
Tia: “They are not dispersing.”
Her emerald eyes coldly captured the entire capital.
Tia: “——They are being made to disperse.”
Catherine: “……Being made to?”
Tia: “Yes.”
Tia’s slender fingertip traced beyond the window glass.
North, east, south, center—countless mana reactions.
Their movements were converted within her brain into one vast formula (program).
Tia: “The placement of the Archdemons.”
Her finger indicated the east.
Tia: “Those mana reactions.”
South.
Tia: “The movement speed of the royal army.”
North.
Tia: “And—the appearance points of the newly generated lower demons.”
Center.
One after another.
Within her brain every phenomenon of the battlefield smoothly connected.
Tia: “……It is strange.”
Catherine: “What is?”
Tia: “There is far too little waste.”
Tia slightly furrowed her brow.
Tia: “If the demons were simply rampaging on instinct, there should be more unevenness in the distribution of mana.
But…… the capital right now is too clean.”
Catherine: “Clean?”
Tia: “Yes.
The attack points do not overlap.
All of them are placed in order to guide the royal army to different locations.”
She calmly read the truth of the battlefield.
Tia: “When soldiers gather too much on one battlefield, the attack is shifted to another district.
When soldiers head there for rescue, the demons are moved to yet another place.
Even if one Archdemon is defeated it does not end.
Because other demons appear from the corpse……”
Tia’s voice gradually lowered.
Tia: “Therefore even the action of ‘defeating the enemy’ is being converted into consumption of forces for the royal army.”
Catherine caught her breath.
Catherine: “……From the beginning?”
Tia: “Yes.
Everything has been calculated.”
At those words Catherine’s expression stiffened.
Catherine: “There is a commander, then?”
Tia: “Yes.”
Catherine: “Where?”
Tia: “I do not know.”
Tia answered honestly.
Tia: “But there must be one.
Demons alone would never move like this.
Someone is deciding the next move while watching human reactions.”
Catherine: “……Human reactions?”
Tia: “Yes.”
Outside the window.
One royal soldier was lifting a fallen woman.
Another soldier left the ranks to cover that soldier.
Yet another moved to protect those two.
A single rescue action gradually broke the battle line.
Tia was watching that.
Tia: “They have incorporated human ‘emotions’ into the calculation formula upon the board.
……That is why the royal army cannot win.”
Catherine: “……Cannot win?”
Tia: “As things stand, yes.”
Tia corrected herself slightly.
Tia: “They are too kind.
When they try to help someone, they become unable to help someone else.
Even so they cannot abandon the person before their eyes.
That is being entirely utilized.”
Catherine clenched her fist in anger.
Catherine: “……Someone high up is looking down upon this entire capital like a game board, is that it?”
Tia: “Yes.”
Tia looked up at the sky.
Tia: “Probably while looking extremely entertained.”
Catherine: “Looking entertained……?”
Tia: “Yes.”
Tia slightly frowned as if finding it thoroughly unpleasant.
Tia: “I dislike people like that.
I too have things I dislike, you know.”
For just an instant.
The usual languid girl-like expression returned.
But immediately her eyes turned back to the battlefield.
Tia: “……Catherine.
Shall we go out as well?”
Catherine placed her hand upon the hilt of the sword at her waist.
Catherine: “Of course.
But the underground……”
Tia: “Leave the underground alone.
There is defensive power far more excessive and vicious than ours assembled there.”
And—Tia looked up at the sky.
The falling petals of light.
The Saintess’s protection covering the entire capital.
It was beautiful.
Yet she could see even what lay beyond it.
Tia: “This light…… the Saintess is overdoing it.”
Catherine: “You can tell?”
Tia: “If one looks at the flow of mana, roughly.”
Tia followed the falling light with her eyes.
Tia: “If the current output continues to be maintained…… it will not last long.”
Catherine’s face stiffened.
Catherine: “That……”
Tia: “Therefore.
Right now dealing with the surface comes first.”
Tia left the window and began to walk.
Catherine followed that back.
Catherine: “Shall we search for the enemy commander?”
Tia: “Later.”
Catherine: “Then?”
Tia: “First we prevent the royal army from breaking any further.”
And—Tia turned around.
In those emerald eyes already resided a cold light that would unravel the causal relations of the battlefield.
Tia: “A calculation formula (program) that utilizes human emotions”
A beat.
Tia: “I will rewrite all of it for them.”
Catherine smiled the slightest fraction.
Catherine: “……I am counting on you, genius mage.”
Tia: “I dislike that way of addressing me.”
Catherine: “I know.”
Tia: “……Then please do not say it.”
Catherine: “I will endeavor to do so.”
Tia: “You fully intend to say it, don’t you.”
The two sets of footsteps echoed through the quiet corridor.
Outside the window the capital was burning today as well.
People screaming.
Soldiers gripping swords.
The Saintess carving away her life in prayer.
And the reaper looking down upon it all from the board.
The kingdom’s proud strongest shield and the genius born once in a thousand years.
The two of them now.
Stepped into the hell dominated by the reaper upon the board.
——The war had only just begun.
Rooftop of the great clock tower.
The royal capital Arcadia was sinking into a sea of flame and despair.
Black smoke rose everywhere, and the crowds of people fleeing through blood-stained streets writhed like tiny ants.
Ringing alarm bells.
Soldiers’ blood-vomiting war cries.
The roar of mana explosions in the distance.
Gregor Weiss looked down upon all of it from a far height.
In his hand was a small communication magical device.
Click, he passed mana through his fingertip.
Petelgeuse: 『……Situation』
From beyond the noise-filled communication Petelgeuse’s cold voice rang.
Gregor: “As planned.”
Gregor lowered his gaze to the 《Battlefield Board》 in his hands.
Upon the three-dimensional projection of the capital countless points of light moved.
Red—the demons released by the 《Silver Wedge》.
Blue—the royal army.
Yellow—citizens fleeing or evacuating.
And the countless calculation lines indicating their movements.
Time, distance, forces, attrition, evacuation routes—everything was converted into numbers and calmly piled upon the board.
Gregor: “First stage (Phase One)—complete.”
Gregor said.
Gregor: “The main force of the royal army, the special forces, as well as the palace forces.
Almost all of them have been completely pinned to the surface.”
A short silence returned from beyond the communication.
Petelgeuse: 『……Attrition?』
Gregor: “Within expected parameters.”
When Gregor moved his fingertip, new numerical values rose at the edge of the Battlefield Board.
Gregor: “There is some attrition among the surface troops, but it is not a problem.
Rather, by voluntarily consuming their own forces they have further simplified the kingdom’s movement lines.”
Petelgeuse: 『Reinforcements to the underground?』
Gregor: “None.”
It was an immediate answer.
Gregor: “At the present moment there exist no idle forces that can head to the underground of the Royal Magic Academy.”
Petelgeuse: 『You believe the royal army has not noticed our true aim?』
Gregor: “Yes.”
A thin smile rose to Gregor’s mouth.
Gregor: “Even if they had noticed, they would be unable to move.”
Petelgeuse: 『……I see』
Gregor: “Humans are creatures that cannot abandon those who desperately seek help in a cruel manner before their eyes.”
Gregor traced the blue points of light upon the board with his fingertip.
Gregor: “From the eastern district to the central market.
From the central market to the north gate.
From the north gate to the rescue of wounded soldiers……”
The points of light moved one after another.
Gregor: “Every one of them is an extremely correct judgment as a human being.
That is precisely why—they will never reach the underground.”
Petelgeuse: 『……』
Petelgeuse said nothing.
Gregor looked down upon the entire burning capital.
In that scenery there was flame.
There were screams.
There were corpses.
There were the figures of soldiers running mud-covered in a desperate attempt to help someone.
And yet in his ash-blue eyes there was only a strangely calm and inorganic light.
Gregor: “The board is in order.”
Quietly—as if finishing the morning’s document confirmation.
Gregor: “——Secure the target.”
Petelgeuse: 『Well done』
A short word of appreciation.
With that alone the communication cut off.
Click, Gregor switched off the magical device’s output and put it away in his coat.
He looked at the 《Battlefield Board》 once more.
The blue points of light of the royal army were still moving desperately.
To help someone.
To protect someone.
While calmly watching each of those noble movements—.
Gregor: “……Now then”
Gregor smiled faintly.
Gregor: “The surface front 《here》…… shall I enjoy it a little longer for myself.”
Somewhere in the capital another large explosion occurred.
One more red light increased upon the Battlefield Board.
Gregor looked at it and simply quietly waited for the next move.
The reaper upon the board continued watching so as to enjoy the end of the mad peace to the very last.
◇
Around the same time.
Within the grounds of the Royal Magic Academy.
Before the hidden staircase leading to the deep underground.
Petelgeuse gripped the communication magical device.
Click, the flow of mana ceased.
Petelgeuse: “……It seems the surface is finished.”
He murmured and put the magical device away in his coat.
Behind him were seven elite members of the 《Silver Wedge》 selected directly by the Pope.
Not one of them opened their mouth or showed any unnecessary movement.
They merely coldly stared at the dark underground staircase before them.
Further behind them.
Eight Archdemons lined up as if forcing their massive bodies into the narrow staircase.
Even while rubbing their shoulders against the walls, those aberrant monsters (bugs) waited with eerie quiet.
The eight elite including Petelgeuse and the eight demons prepared for a frontal breakthrough of the unprecedented defensive power of the Royal Magic Academy underground.
That itself was the “main blade” committed to this operation.
Petelgeuse: “Our comrades on the surface”
Petelgeuse fixed his gaze upon the entrance to the dark underground.
Petelgeuse: “Have staked their own lives to create time and a path for us.”
The seven members listened.
Petelgeuse: “For us to stop here would render their sacrifice meaningless.”
Silver Wedge Elite: “……Exactly so.”
Petelgeuse: “Then let us advance.”
Silver Wedge Elite: “Yes!”
Seven voices overlapped.
In those eyes there was no fear of death.
There was only pure one-hundred-percent fanaticism toward the god and the Pope.
Petelgeuse directed his gaze toward the far end of the underground staircase.
Petelgeuse: “From this point we transition to the second stage (Phase Two).
The objective does not change.”
It was a quiet voice.
Petelgeuse: “Secure the ‘Calculation God.’
And—correct the principle (system) of the world.”
Silver Wedge Elite: “
“——Yes!”
”
Eight humans and eight demons descended into the dark underground staircase.
Footsteps echoed.
One step.
Another step.
The uproar of the surface gradually receded.
Eventually even the capital’s alarm bells, the soldiers’ war cries, and the sounds of the burning city were completely shut out beyond the thick bedrock.
What remained was only the cold silence of the underground.
◇
——Yet.
They still did not know.
Further beyond this staircase.
In the special training chamber where the most vicious and most unreasonable “monsters” of the capital dwelled, a single boy was sleeping without knowing anything.
And—.
That other “monsters” had already begun to move solely to protect that boy’s sleep.
Zuzun…….
The aftershock of a surface explosion slightly shook the ceiling of the deep underground training chamber.
Serina: “……”
Serina, who had been sitting on the sofa, twitched her brow in displeasure.
In her hand was tea.
Upon her lap—was Louis.
Louis: “……Nn”
The boy knew nothing.
That the capital above ground was wrapped in the flames of war, that the Silver Wedge was infiltrating the underground aiming for him.
He simply continued sleeping deeply upon Serina’s lap, breathing regularly.
Zuzun…….
Again the ceiling shook slightly.
Serina’s brow moved clearly this time.
Serina: “……Noisy.”
It was a voice as cold as ice.
With that single word the air in the room froze in an instant to absolute zero.
Rosetta and Agreas, who had been waiting behind, immediately dropped to one knee.
Rosetta: “My deepest apologies, Lady Serina.”
Rosetta lowered her head deeply.
Rosetta: “It appears…… the vermin above ground have forgotten their manners and are making a racket.”
Agreas also narrowed his red eyes.
Agreas: “Truly most unpleasant.”
Serina answered nothing.
She merely gently stroked Louis’s silver hair with her fingertips and softly placed both hands over his ears.
Serina: “What will we do if Louis-kun wakes up?”
That voice was far too kind.
Serina: “He worked so hard…… and finally managed to fall asleep.”
Once more a faint vibration arrived from above ground.
Zuzun…….
Serina: “……”
Serina slowly raised her face.
From her blue eyes the warmth of a girl completely vanished.
Serina: “Hurry.”
One word.
Serina: “Make it quiet.”
Rosetta: “——Understood.”
Rosetta stood.
The hem of her maid uniform quietly fluttered.
She directed her gaze at the three special-class combat maids waiting behind.
Rosetta: “Iris.”
Iris: “Yes, Head Maid.”
A maid uniform embroidered with silver thread.
A posture without waste.
Special-class combat maid—Iris stepped forward one pace.
Rosetta: “Go above ground.
‘Clean up’ the source of the noise.”
Iris’s expression did not change.
Iris: “Not a single one left—cleanly, yes?”
Rosetta: “Yes.”
Iris: “As you will.”
In that instant.
Iris’s figure vanished without a sound.
At the same time Agreas directed his gaze toward the dense shadow behind himself.
Agreas: “Valefor.”
Valefor: “Yes.”
From within the shadow a giant demon appeared as if crawling out.
Higher demon—Valefor.
Responding to his master’s call, he twisted his mouth into deep pleasure.
Agreas: “You go as well.”
Valefor: “Understood.”
Agreas: “Do not transmit vibration to this underground a second time.”
Agreas’s red eyes narrowed coldly.
Agreas: “There is no need to leave them intact.”
Valefor: “……As you will.”
Valefor laughed.
In that smile there was not a fragment of sympathy for those currently killing and being killed by the royal army above ground.
There was only pure bloodlust.
Valefor: “I shall go clean up the fools who disturbed my master’s peaceful sleep.”
Darkness wrapped his massive body, and then—he vanished.
Special-class combat maid.
Higher demon.
Combat power of a level that would make even a full battalion of the royal army despair if forced to confront it with all their strength—was now released above ground not for the sake of ending the war or protecting the capital.
For only one reason: “to stop the noise that disturbed Louis’s peaceful sleep.”
Louis: “……Nn”
Upon her lap Louis shifted slightly in his sleep.
Serina’s expression once again softened with affection.
Serina: “It’s all right.”
While stroking his silver hair she whispered gently.
Serina: “It’s all right, Louis-kun.
It will be quiet soon.”
The boy did not answer.
He simply continued the quiet breathing of deep sleep.
Above ground soldiers carved away their lives, citizens fled, the Saintess continued praying while burning her own life.
Underground a fanatical special force advanced aiming for him.
Knowing none of it, Louis simply slept.
And.
For the sake of protecting that sleep, another thoroughly unreasonable war (cleaning) was now—about to begin.
The battle surrounding the sleeping Calculation God had begun to roll in a direction of chaos that no one could predict.
Chapter 16: "The Silver Wedge Pierces the Royal Capital" — End
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