Chapter 83
"Abel-san! Are you all right?!"
"Somehow, yeah!"
Abel answered Linfia as he kicked a skeleton away.
The battle line, which had been holding off the enemy's half-encirclement in a curved formation, collapsed.
Leo chose not to retreat and instead set up a ring formation centered around himself.
As a result, they were almost completely surrounded, but they succeeded in holding their ground while conserving their strength.
However, being surrounded left them no time to rest, and the top adventurers and Imperial Knights, including Linfia and Abel, were fighting desperately just to hold out.
"Linfia, how long is this going to last?"
"I think they'll make their move soon, but..."
"Even you don't know?"
Abel looked around as he said this.
Little by little, their allies were beginning to fall. They had managed to pull them inside the ring, so there had been no deaths yet, but at this rate, there would soon be no one left who could fight.
"It would help if those who retreated had the sense to come back."
"No use counting on those who got cold feet."
Around a thousand people had gathered under Leo.
The remaining thousand had retreated when the battle line collapsed.
Most of them were knights, while many of the adventurers had remained under Leo. The difference in mindset between the adventurers who had joined the raid quest of their own accord and the knights dispatched at their lords' orders had become apparent.
Of course, many knights had stayed behind as well, but Abel could not help thinking that the situation would have been different if the knights who had retreated were still there.
What especially rubbed Abel the wrong way was that several of the Imperial Knights who should have been at Leo's side were no longer there.
"Tch! We never should have taken a request like this! Ever since we got here, it's been one miserable thing after another!"
"Then why don't you run?"
"Don't be ridiculous. We're adventurers. Can we abandon a request once we've accepted it?"
"Isn't this outside the scope of the request?"
"Our request is to protect the village. And the best way to deal with this monster is to protect that prince, right?"
The party members nearby agreed with Abel.
Unlike Abel, who was counted among the more seasoned adventurers, the other members of his party were covered in wounds. Even so, they wore smiles.
Abel knew there was no point in looking gloomy in a situation where they were staring death in the face.
"Leader! When this is over, tell the prince to give us a bigger reward!"
"Yeah, exactly! This isn't worth the pay!"
"You're absolutely right. We'll do that."
Just as Abel and the others were trading lighthearted banter,
Leo, standing at the center of the ring, muttered,
"They've come."
At the same time, a cavalry unit was approaching from the north.
It was part of the knights who had retreated.
"Break the ring formation! Charge Bassau! Everyone, follow me!!"
Leo led the knights he had held in reserve in a charge toward Bassau.
The cavalry unit that had come from the north also charged into the skeleton army, following Leo, and plunged inside.
"Hey, hey!? What's going on!? Did they change their minds!?"
"This was part of Prince Leonart's plan."
"Plan?"
"He deliberately pulled some of the Imperial Knights out of the battle and had them lead the knights who had retreated. Some of those knights probably withdrew because they were swept along by the retreat, while others didn't understand the situation."
"They managed to do that in all that chaos...?"
"In that situation, retreat is the first thing that comes to mind. But Prince Leonart had ruled out retreat from the beginning. That's why he was able to calmly make his next move."
"It would've been easier for us if they'd just run away."
"Indeed. As expected of someone aiming for the imperial throne."
After assessing Leo this way, Linfia went after him.
Leo cut open a path from the front, and the knights following him widened it. The adventurers then advanced along the path.
Their destination was Bassau, where a black sphere floated in the air.
■■■
"Your Highness! Fall back! You've done enough!"
"This is nowhere near enough!"
An Imperial Knight urged Leo, who was leading from the front, to fall back, but Leo stubbornly refused to relinquish the lead.
He cut down skeletons with the ferocity of a lion, opening a path ahead.
Morale had risen sufficiently. All that remained was for the Imperial Knights to take over.
The separate unit was also drawing near, and once they joined up, their momentum would increase even further.
There seemed to be no reason for Leo to keep pushing himself.
"Then at least move into the second or third rank!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Those knights and adventurers thrown together—I was the one who put them in danger! And they're still following me! It's because I'm leading from the front! Who would follow someone shouting orders from a safe zone!?"
The Imperial Knight whom Leo had rebuked was left speechless.
Leo had shown them a side of himself completely unlike the image they had held of him until then.
Though he was skilled in martial arts, Leo had never seemed ferocious. Everyone had seen him as a gentle, well-bred prince.
But now, as he charged at the head of the force, he looked every inch a commander of an army.
"Your Highness..."
"Just follow me! We'll break through here, no matter what!"
With that, Leo spurred his horse onward.
Then the separate unit joined them, and the momentum of Leo and his men grew even stronger.
Bassau, which had only been visible in the distance, was now close enough to see clearly.
"Bassau is close! Everyone, give it everything you've got!"
Just as Leo gave the order, someone swung a sword at him.
Leo managed to block the blow, but his horse was brought to a stop.
When Leo came to a stop, the entire force stopped as well.
They were in the middle of a sea of monsters.
Stopping meant death.
Leo tried to hurry onward, but the man standing in front of him would not let him pass.
"Who are you!?"
"Heh... Who do you think I am?"
The man who spoke was dressed in black.
He was the instructor who had killed Dennis in the mansion's basement, but his eyes were now completely black.
Even the parts that should have retained their normal color had gone black.
The man was clearly abnormal, but Leo was even more troubled by the man's overwhelming strength.
He was beyond anything the word "strong" could describe.
Seeing Leo struggle, the Imperial Knights nearby joined the fight, but even together they couldn't overpower him.
"Tch!? What the hell is this guy!?"
"How can someone this strong be here!?"
Neither Leo nor the Imperial Knights—the Empire's elite—were ordinary fighters.
Yet even several of them attacking together couldn't leave a scratch on him.
His prowess was enough to make his name resound throughout the world.
"Who are you?"
Leo asked again.
He asked because the surrounding skeletons hadn't even made a move to attack the man.
"If you're asking my name, why don't you start by giving yours?"
"...Leonart Leakes Adler. The Empire's Eighth Prince."
"I see. Royalty. Then I shall introduce myself as well. My name is Balam. In your human terminology, I am a demon."
"A demon!?"
It was a shocking statement.
Demons were believed to be inhabitants of another world—the Demon Realm—and, in most cases, beings with power far exceeding that of humans.
It was said that mages had summoned them several times, bringing calamity to the continent, and that the Demon King once defeated by a hero had also been a demon.
That demon had appeared in this land.
Why?
"Don't tell me... these monsters came from the Demon Realm...?"
"Correct. These are the vanguard. A summoning gate connecting the Demon Realm and this land has opened in the center of this city. Before long, countless demons will come here. You have no tomorrow."
"Then we'll close it!"
Leo lunged at Balam with his sword, but Balam caught it with ease.
"Give up. There is no way to seal it."
"Unfortunately, I just decided not to give up!"
"Heh. Foolish. It is already too late."
"—Not necessarily."
A clear voice rang out.
At that same moment, Balam's left hand went flying.
Balam hastily put some distance between them and looked at the person who had severed his left hand.
"A woman... Who are you?"
"Lieselotte Leakes Adler, Marshal of the Imperial Army. Leo's older sister."
"Sister...!?"
Leo's eyes widened as he stared at Liese, whom he had not seen in a long time.
A fierce aura surrounded her as her blue cloak fluttered.
That was exactly the Liese from Leo's memories.