Can We Make It Back Alive?

Outside the inner city, after Ferda vanished at Gokma’s hands, Gokma vanished without a trace as well.

Though three people had been assigned as escorts, all three had effectively failed.

It couldn’t be helped.

When magic was involved, all they could do was take the blow in his place—and even that had been so overwhelming they hadn’t had time to do it.

They had suffered an attack they had no choice but to endure.

They had to think of it that way.

But Luri couldn’t.

‘I failed.’

She had only one thought when she joined this operation.

To bring Ferda safely home.

It was her job to make Valdrova laugh and converse again without even realizing anything had happened.

But that had collapsed so futilely.

‘Am I…… incapable of protecting anyone on my own?’

A wave of self-loathing surged over her.

It soon became a swamp and tried to drag Luri down.

“Do not blame yourself.”

Zed, who was beside her, spoke.

“If it’s him, he’ll undoubtedly be fine.”

“I’m not blaming myself.”

Luri shot Zed and Arwen an insolent glare.

“I’m not the only one who failed, yet you two look awfully carefree.”

“I’m troubled too. So is Sir Consilius here.”

“Don’t call me Sir Consilius…… No, for now, let’s focus on rescuing Regent Ferda.”

Ferda had been dragged away by summoning magic.

But no one thought Ferda had died.

He was a man who had entered a dragon’s jaws several times and leaped back out.

At the very least, he was not the sort of man who would die pointlessly without even giving them time to rescue him.

“You said he was invited to the castle, so he must have entered the inner city. To do that, we’ll have to enter the inner city as well.”

“We don’t know what they’ll do, so we must find him as quickly as possible.”

Luri continued speaking as she raised her wings stiffly.

“I’ll go in first and find Ferda. If I match your pace, we might be too late.”

“There’ll be those eyeballs inside…… Are you sure that’s okay?”

Having already experienced it, Arwen couldn’t help feeling afraid right now.

Though Luri had experienced it longer ago, the sensation was just as vivid to Luri as though it had happened yesterday.

It was a nightmare Luri never wanted to experience again.

“It doesn’t matter.”

For Luri, who was in the midst of a nightmare, even such fear was meaningless.

Arwen realized that Luri was growing impatient and tried to persuade her again.

“It would be best to move with us and search for Regent Ferda—.”

Whoosh!

Luri shot into the inner city like an arrow.

Zed and Arwen stared blankly after her for a long while before saying,

“Let’s move too. At a relatively slower pace.”

Despite running at full speed, they entered the inner city feeling like tortoises before a rabbit.

The moment they entered the inner city, silence settled over the place.

It shouldn’t have been silent.

The Allied and Imperial armies had already flooded into the inner city, so where had all those people gone?

“If we set foot here…….”

“Something will definitely happen, one hundred percent.”

The mage who could have supported them had already been abducted, and their greatest fighter had entered the inner city on her own.

It was not an ideal situation for two knights to enter.

However, there was chivalry in Arwen’s heart, so Arwen could not retreat.

“Shall we try to do something, somehow, for now?”

Zed took a deep breath and opened his eyes wide.

Zed’s irises began to glow with a red light, and the moment the wavering space met Zed’s gaze, it scattered.

The endless space that had unfolded before Arwen’s eyes returned to the shape of an ordinary inner city.

‘So this is how frightening the Red-Eyed are.’

Arwen had only recently learned Zed’s secret.

Until Zed revealed that he was a member of the Red-Eyed, Arwen had thought of him as little more than a nimble-handed wastrel.

No, Arwen had not even believed him when he revealed it.

‘Who would believe someone who spouted nonsense about sleeping with a Swordmaster, then claimed to be Red-Eyed?’

This was Zed’s fault.

Even if he was absurdly unpredictable, there ought to be some limit.

“This is no ordinary place.”

Zed, who was illuminating the path, spoke.

“What is?”

“Even though I’m diligently dispelling the magic, the most I can do is clear a path for us. So this is what entering a black mage’s domain feels like?”

Despite the cold sweat on Zed’s face, a smile settled across it.

“If we get our direction right, we might be able to rescue the regent first.”

“That is good to hear.”

But it felt unsettling. Having entered a place like this, could things really proceed so smoothly?

As though to prove that his concern was not unfounded, an anomaly occurred.

Rumble!!

The floor, which had certainly been solid when they stepped on it, collapsed beneath Arwen and Zed.

The moment Zed felt gravity pulling at the soles of his feet, he leaped clear of the area.

“Ugh!”

“Arwen!?”

However, Arwen, who was relatively heavier and slower, could not get away.

Arwen fell through it.

Boom!

The drop was about the height of a single step, and he could still see Arwen.

“Damn it all…….”

Adrenaline raced through Arwen.

Arwen quickly got to his feet and gripped his sword.

From the thick darkness before Arwen came sinister breathing sounds.

They were monsters.

Grrr—!

Krrk!

There weren’t merely one or two of them.

There were more than thirty, judging by their breathing alone.

To make matters worse, the collapsed floor was returning to its original position.

What had collapsed was one of the castle’s traps.

As Arwen watched the only escape route close, Lyudmila’s face came to mind.

Arwen did not need to think deeply about why.

Arwen knew death was imminent.

“Zed!”

Engulfed in death’s mire, Arwen shouted.

“Find Regent Ferda!”

The shadows closing in around Arwen lunged toward Arwen at the same time as the shout.

Arwen thought,

How many of these bastards can I take with me?

-Kieeeek!!

Three of them flew at Arwen simultaneously.

Arwen was a veteran knight from the Far East, well versed in combat.

Arwen focused every ounce of aura at the tip of the sword and forged it into a sharp form capable of cutting even steel.

Slice!

Arwen somehow cut down two of them, but couldn’t defend his exposed back.

Contrary to the expectation of excruciating pain, Arwen felt no impact.

That was because something descending from the hole had pierced the monster’s head.

Arwen turned his head.

Zed was standing there.

When Arwen gave Zed an incredulous look, Zed shrugged.

“That’s just how it turned out.”

Arwen let out a sigh.

Unlike the sigh that escaped Arwen’s lips, hope blossomed on Arwen’s face.

“Just don’t die.”

“Ha, worry about yourself.”

Arwen gripped the longsword firmly, while Zed adjusted his grip on his dagger.

Once their view opened up, they could see even more.

The number they had estimated at thirty had been far off.

There were easily more than twice that many.

They thought,

Could they really make it back alive from here?

* * *

The Allied Nations.

As soon as the barrier collapsed, they entered through the inner city’s western gate.

As expected, King Hudret was the first to enter.

He was the first to face the threats and was capably fulfilling the role of vanguard.

But that did not last long.

When he felt that it had grown quiet behind him, he turned around and found that the armies of the other kingdoms following him had completely disappeared.

It wasn’t as though they intended to leave Hudret in the lurch; there was no sign of the reinforcements that were supposed to follow.

The mage’s domain had quietly swallowed them whole.

“Mage, how is the assessment going?”

“It’s still……. It’s difficult to properly determine the terrain.”

The mage following behind Hudret fumbled helplessly.

The adjutant beside him frowned.

“What could be so difficult that you’re dawdling like this?”

“I’m sorry. I want to solve it quickly too, but this isn’t going as…….”

King Hudret glared at the adjutant who was berating the mage for him.

“Are you a mage?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked if you were a mage.”

“Wh-why would I be?”

“Then shut your mouth. Unless you want your tongue cut out.”

The mage exploring the terrain was an expert with experience as an adventurer.

Since something was bound to happen in the inner city, King Hudret had brought him along as a precaution.

With even such an expert unable to overcome the situation, they had no choice but to rely on him even more.

At the same time, he could understand the adjutant’s feelings.

There was nothing to see ahead, nothing behind them either, and they never knew when or where monsters would spring out.

Moreover, if someone lost their life, their corpse would give birth to a powerful undead monster, so the adjutant could not help but grow impatient.

“For now, tell me roughly what you’ve learned. Are we actually moving?”

“Yes. We are certainly walking through some kind of space. However, it may be a space where distortion magic is intricately intertwined.”

“How do we escape such a place?”

“We have no choice but to destroy the artifact maintaining the magic’s power or kill the caster.”

“Can we do either of those now?”

“If the caster possesses enough mana to expand it to this size…… we’re more likely to die first.”

“You’re honest.”

King Hudret said it with an interested huff.

“You may have come in as you pleased, but you won’t be leaving as you please. There was a reason he let us in so readily. Did King Heinkel have a plan?”

Then what were they to do?

It was while he was pondering that question for a moment.

The exploration mage flinched and trembled while concentrating.

“Something is approaching.”

“These monster bastards never get tired of coming.”

“That…… It isn’t a monster! I think it’s a person!”

Even if it was a person, something about it felt off.

King Hudret gave an order.

“Prepare for battle, for now.”

A moment later, someone came into King Hudret’s view.

Recognizing who it was, he sheathed his sword and approached.

“I see the battle-hardened veteran himself on the battlefield, Sir Rooster.”

Oldin Rooster.

He was a man whose face was covered in scars, making the nickname Battle-Hardened Veteran especially fitting.

“We meet here, King Hudret.”

“Indeed. Have you lost your way as well?”

“I suppose so. Finding you first in such a strange way would suggest as much.”

Count Rooster thought for a moment before speaking again.

“By any chance, have you seen the Second Prince?”

“The Second Prince? You mean Ureas? You’re an Imperial; you’d know better. Why ask me?”

“I heard that an Imperial soldier last saw Ureas in this direction. I followed that path and ended up meeting you.”

“That soldier must have been mistaken. Uncertain information is worse than none, tsk.”

“Or perhaps he’s been circling around this area. In any case, thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me. Aren’t we both going around in circles right now?”

King Hudret smiled and held out his hand to Count Rooster.

“What do you say? It might be wise to come along with us this time.”

It was a subtle request for cooperation.

However, Count Rooster looked down at the offered hand before saying,

“There’s no need to make an offer you don’t mean. I was operating as an independent unit even within the Imperial Army, and I prefer it that way. More importantly, you have business of your own, don’t you, King Hudret?”

“Of course. I’ll take that as a polite refusal.”

“Then.”

Count Rooster turned his army around and moved off in another direction.

King Hudret watched him go before speaking.

“But, Sir Rooster.”

“Yes.”

Count Rooster stopped walking.

“When did you become so concerned for the Second Prince? When I first saw you, I thought it wouldn’t be strange if you killed him at any moment.”

“……”

“Was that a mistaken impression?”

Count Rooster silently stared at King Hudret.

The royal guards raised their swords toward him.

They were veterans, so they immediately recognized the killing intent radiating from Count Rooster.

He said,

“A soldier’s duty is to devote himself to his country.”

King Hudret wore a relaxed expression before grinning.

“It’s none of my concern. I hope you find him.”

“Thank you.”

Rooster once again led his men off somewhere.

His silhouette disappeared into the darkness, and as the others vanished one by one, the silence returned, as quiet as the grave.

“It seems the darkness is the problem with this damn place.”

King Hudret changed the subject.

“There’s no other way. I suppose we’ll have to use that.”

“Here?”

His subordinates reacted to the mention of it.

“Didn’t His Holiness the Pope urge us to use it only when there was a decisive battle?”

“He meant it would be most effective then. If he had anticipated a situation like this, he would have told us to use it at once.”

“If we don’t use it at the decisive moment, others may seize that magic.”

“Would I use it if that meant acting like fools who can’t tell shit from piss?”

Hudret chuckled as he pulled something out of his pocket.

It was a golden case about the size of a necklace case, with the emblem of the faith engraved in its center.

Its shape unmistakably represented a dragon, and there was only one group that officially worshiped dragons.

The Hierarchy of Faith and Light.

The Golden Dragon, Odragrasado.

Hudret opened the case to reveal its contents.

The moment the case opened, golden light poured out, its intensity enough to restore color to everything in the area.

A scale was what produced that light.

A scale containing Odragrasado’s blessing.

A sacred relic that even the Pope of Odragrasado could not use lay in his hand.

“To be honest, I’m dying to see how powerful this really is.”

King Hudret clenched the scale tightly.

At the same time, golden light burst forth.