Chapter 279
East of Symposion.
Raigl Territory, located in the central region of the Holy Empire, had descended into chaos because of the unidentified monsters pouring in from the west.
“Kieeeeeek!”
“Graaaaaaaaa!”
Flying monsters covering the reddened sky screamed sharply as they attacked the soldiers on top of the fortress walls.
Inside the walls, enormous monsters tore through the ground and brutally slaughtered the soldiers who were desperately moving supplies.
There were many soldiers who resisted, but they had no way to deal with the monsters inside the walls, which were overwhelmingly stronger than those outside.
“U-Uaaagh!”
“Fall back!”
“No!
Hold your position!”
The chain of command was changing in real time.
Amidst the chaos, all Palador Raigl, the lord of the territory, could do was grip his sword and defeat even a single high-ranking monster.
“My Lord!
You must retreat!”
A retainer protecting him shouted desperately, but Palador was too busy fighting the enormous monster in front of him.
“Kyaaaaaak!”
“Hup!”
With a powerful downward slash, the monster approaching with its mouth wide open was split in two.
“Haaah…… Haaah……”
His breathing became rough.
Only after defeating a monster equal to him in strength did his field of vision widen.
“……”
Deafening screams.
The cries of soldiers coming from every direction.
Collapsed fortress walls.
And ink-black monsters squeezing through the gaps.
It was nothing short of a nightmare.
“Is this really Raigl?”
Raigl, which had endured even the most threatening Demon King's army assaults throughout history, was now standing on the brink of destruction.
It wasn't as though they had taken the evacuation order from the capital lightly or neglected preparations for an attack.
Learning from their previous battles against the Demon King's army, they had prepared as much as possible in a short period of time.
They had quickly conscripted soldiers and placed skilled knights on the front lines.
“And yet, how……”
Raigl Territory had the strongest forces among the three fronts.
If this was happening here, then what about Wadsworth on the weaker northern front and Elchisco on the southern front?
They had probably already been reduced to ruins because they could not withstand the assault of those terrifying monsters.
A disaster that humans could not deal with.
The monsters devouring Raigl Territory were something close to that.
From the far end of his vision, the floating island that appeared to be the source of the disaster approached with an overwhelming presence.
Even if they somehow stopped the current attack, Palador could not help wondering whether they would even be given a next chance.
Rumble, rumble—
“Kiaaaaaaa!”
With another earth-shaking roar, an enormous monster burst out of the ground.
“Ha……”
Palador Raigl, an eight-star holy knight, stared at the creature.
It was the same kind of monster he had just barely defeated with all his strength.
His spirit finally broke.
He stood there frozen in despair.
“God has abandoned us.
Raigl……
The Holy Empire is coming to an end……”
It was at that moment, as he stared blankly at the approaching monster, that—
“Get out of the way!
Lord Raigl!”
A voice suddenly rang out from above his head.
The next moment, the crown of the monster about to devour Palador split in half, spraying ink-like blood everywhere.
Shraaaaaa!
A fountain of black blood exploded in all directions.
And standing in front of Palador was—
“C-Cardinal Gracia……
Your Eminence?!”
“……”
Cardinal Gracia Delleda.
She should have been in the capital, Istiren.
Yet she was standing proudly in front of Palador, holding a blue-steel axe.
“How did Your Eminence come here…… Hup!”
“What are you doing, Lord Raigl?”
“Ugh!
At least let go of me first……!”
Despite being much taller and larger than her, Palador struggled pathetically after Gracia grabbed him by the collar.
“Before you complain to me, fix that stupid look in your eyes.
You are the Grand Lord of Raigl, yet you are despairing over something this insignificant……
Tsk.”
Gracia shoved him away by the collar, causing Palador's massive body to stumble backward.
“How……
How did Your Eminence……”
“Can't you see?
Reinforcements.”
“But Your Eminence is supposed to protect the capital, are you not?”
“That was the original plan.
But the capital has already completed its evacuation preparations.
And when reports came that something like that had appeared in the borderlands, how could I simply stay there?”
Cardinal Gracia clicked her tongue as she looked toward the floating island at the edge of her vision and rested the axe on her shoulder.
“Do you know what that thing is, Your Eminence?”
“I do not.
But even at a glance, I can tell that it threatens the survival of this country even more than the Demon King's army.”
“……We cannot hold out.
That thing is destruction itself.
That ominous presence, and the monsters it is producing……
Even someone like Your Eminence……”
“Then endure.”
Gracia turned around, a sharp light appearing in her deep sea-colored eyes.
“No……
Can't Your Eminence see that?!
Do you really think humans can defeat that unknown thing with our own strength?!”
Palador Raigl was right.
Gracia could feel it herself.
The closer that bizarre and ominous floating island came, the more clearly she could picture the destruction of Raigl.
And the destruction of the entire Holy Empire.
“But if this is all we can do, then we must do our best.”
Gracia's gaze hardened.
There was a man who had foreseen this entire situation.
Because he had predicted what was coming, she firmly believed that he would eliminate this living disaster and save the Holy Empire from the brink of destruction.
Shing—
That was why, for the sake of the peaceful days that would return someday, she had come to this battlefield with her axe in hand.
She intended to save even one more person.
“I will give you one piece of hopeful news to that gloomy face of yours.
The Red Cross Knights and the Holy Lance Knights have each headed toward Wadsworth and Elchisco.
And……”
Clank, clank—
Step.
Step.
Dozens of footsteps echoed.
Along with them, a group of knights appeared.
Every inquisitor from the Inquisition Department had arrived at the battlefield.
“Your Eminence.
Give us your holy command.”
“My subordinates and I have just arrived at Raigl.
The headquarters has not abandoned Raigl yet.
So raise your sword, Marquis Raigl.”
“……”
Palador Raigl quietly stared at Gracia's faint smile.
Slowly, the look in his eyes began to change.
Step.
Step.
Glenn walked through the passage toward the deepest part of Symposion together with Radeo.
All he could see was the blue light stretching to the end of his vision and the dark passageway.
Fortunately, there were no more monsters blocking their path.
“It seems that the enormous beast you fought outside Symposion was the only creature guarding this place.”
Radeo spoke.
But Glenn was touching his lips with a rather serious expression.
“……Don't you think it's strange?”
“What do you mean?”
“If they have the ability to create that many monsters, doesn't it seem strange that the gatekeeper protecting this place is merely a nine-star monster?”
“Are you suggesting that there might be more monsters like that?
Hmm……”
At Glenn's question, Radeo also seemed to think for a moment as he crossed his arms.
His muscular bronze-colored arms bulged as he folded them together.
It was quite an impressive sight.
“……Why are you taking so long to think?”
“I was simply wondering what Nox would do.”
“If it were Nox?”
“That is correct.
If it were him, he would never have needed to perform such crude acts in the first place.
He would have acted himself.”
A strange light appeared in Glenn's eyes.
“It really is strange, isn't it?”
