Episode 281. Hero(2)
Arya and I decided to strike first against Pope Branden.
I ordered Roman to advance the 3rd Division to the Monarch Principality.
Since the attack was made right after my visit to the Festia mansion, the Vatican is convinced of Festia’s betrayal and will retaliate…
There was nothing I could do about it.
I’ll do my best to protect you, but if the Heretic Questioner suddenly teleports in and cuts off Celine’s head, you’ll have to consider it self-inflicted.
“Schluss! I heard you called me!”
“Uh uh. Wait a minute.”
“Are you finally going to need my help!”
“That’s right…”
As soon as the door opened, Einz appeared with a curious face and shouted excitedly.
She called Einz to her palace not because she needed help, but because she wanted to protect him, but she allowed herself to think as she wished.
“You blindly called me to the palace like this… I have to go to the next class.”
“Imperial University is closed today.”
“What? Why?”
“There is a danger of a great battle.”
Erica’s face, who had been sitting with her legs crossed and whining curtly all along, began to turn white.
On the other hand, Iris, who was sitting next to her, looked calm.
It was Iris who suggested gathering them all in the imperial palace in the first place.
I couldn’t hear a detailed explanation, but it seemed that the system would be attacked in the future.
Recently, I was suffering because I couldn’t see the future at all, and it was fortunate that future poetry came back.
The current imperial palace was literally the strongest fortress.
As usual, it was all the more so because all the monsters were gathered together.
Her empire’s best sword, Fellain, her power tree that surpasses her, and even her demon, me.
Although he was a bit frightened, if he combined his strength with the magicians, he could easily repel the attacks of the Heretic Questioners.
“But why did you bring him?”
“·······.”
Erica pointed at a corner of her room and tilted her head.
There, Celica was slightly off, stamping her feet awkwardly.
“Is it helpful…?”
“I brought it because I was able to contact you. It’s the safest here.”
“No, can I use the imperial palace as my personal refuge?”
“·······.”
I don’t know how long it’s been since the personality controversy broke out and he’s doing this again.
The imperial palace isn’t usually spacious, so why not bring in one more person?
As Erica is using the imperial palace as her personal refuge, she is just plain dissatisfied.
“Oops… No, Mr. Heinkel. Your Majesty wants only Heinkel to come in.”
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“Okay. Everyone just wait a little bit.”
At Emilia’s call, I hurriedly headed towards her inner room.
Anyway, Emilia in a suit, not a maid’s uniform, was so fresh that I passed by her and she stopped inadvertently.
“What are the glasses?”
“I just… I’m a secretary today… I thought it wouldn’t suit me… Yo…”
“It suits you. Great. Why did I only know this now. I feel like I’ve lost money.”
“It’s okay… Let’s go in quickly…”
Leaving behind Emilia who desperately pushed me away, I entered the room.
Inside, the atmosphere was quite serious.
With a map spread out on the large desk in the center, Roman and Aria greeted me with serious expressions.
“How’s the situation?”
“General Marshal. You explain.”
“Yes. Currently, the 3rd and 1st Divisions are besieging the Duchy of Monarch, and the 1st and 8th Regiments are on their way to Sophia Cathedral through the North and South Gates, respectively.”
The Monarch Duchy was completely surrounded by the Imperial Army, and not a single rat could escape.
In the meantime, contact with the Duke of Monarch was lost.
The mission must have been attacked.
Judging that the Vatican had the will to fight, Arya gave up negotiations and immediately resorted to force.
– This is the headquarters of the 8th Regiment. City Hall. Occupation completed. There was no resistance.
-1St Regiment Headquarters, occupied the duke’s official residence has been completed. There are traces of battle, but the duke’s figure has not been found. We will continue our search.
-Leave a small number of occupants, and the rest will march towards Sophia Cathedral.
As soon as the report came in via communication, Roman’s staff was busy manipulating the map’s spell.
Then the shape of the map changed, and he reflected the occupation status of the 8th and 1st regiments in real time.
The occupation was quick and smooth.
I wondered if it would be okay.
The main facilities and fortresses of the principality were taken over without any resistance, and the only thing left was the Sophia Cathedral.
In an instant, the 8th and 1st Regiments surrounded Sophia Cathedral, and other units besieging the Principality began to enter the Principality one by one.
“Are you planning to hold a sit-in in the cathedral?”
Aria’s expression crumpled.
The enemy was taking an incomprehensible countermeasure.
Abandoning all the walls and fortresses that are good for defending against attacks, and holding out in the cathedral?
Since Sophia Cathedral was built solely for beauty, Mercury had little advantage.
Rather, the attacking side had an advantage.
I wondered if Pope Branden had abandoned the cathedral and fled long ago.
-8 Regiment. Enter Sophia Cathedral through the back gate.
-1St Regiment. Break through the front door.
Then communication was cut off for a while.
For 10 minutes there was no news, only silence.
We just stared at the map without saying a word, waiting for the report.
Soon, the communication flew in with a crackling, low sound quality.
-Arm······ Arm regiment. You have arrested Pope Branden Heinkel. All 12 cardinals have also been arrested.
-1St Regiment. You have received the surrender of 8 Heretic Questioners. We will continue our search for the Cathedral.
It was embarrassing.
The Pope lowered his tail in an instant like this?
Gathering 8 Heretic Questioners together and surrendering without any resistance?
I thought something was wrong.
Looking at Roman at that time, it was unusual to have a conversation with the staff with serious faces.
After the short conversation, Roman returned to the map.
“It seems that the communication magic spell has been stolen.”
“Then the report just now…”
“Yes. It was a deception by the enemy.”
“Then what happened to the troops that entered the cathedral?”
“No contact. Seeing that they haven’t been expelled from the cathedral even after the communication spell has been stolen, it looks like they’ve been annihilated.”
“·······.”
Work has grown a lot.
Two regiments were annihilated without a chance to send a rescue signal.
Anyway, it seemed like an elaborate trap had been set up inside.
Then there was no other way.
“I can’t help it.”
“Yes, you bastard. You can’t do it yourself-“
“Let’s wipe out the cathedral with the annihilator.”
“Huh…?”
Aria’s face, who urgently held my hand, was stained with a light of bewilderment.
“Didn’t you mean to go there yourself?”
“Am I crazy? Come and die. Why did you crawl in when you dug a trap? Isn’t it a annihilation gun designed to be used at this time? If you push it away, it will be clean.”
“That’s true, but… Ummm…”
Aria seemed to be in silence for a while, contemplating.
Tapping on her desk and hoping to keep her eyes closed for three minutes.
Arya opened her bright eyes and said to Roman.
“Marshal. How is the rescue of the 8th and 1st regiments?”
“We’re having difficulties. Even the squad that went in to rescue them are all out of touch… Even if we announce that we’re giving up rescue, no one will criticize us, Your Majesty.”
“Is there an airship ready to take off?”
“Yes. Airships from the 1st Division can take off within 30 minutes.”
“I’m going to use the annihilator. Wipe the Cathedral off the map.”
“I will obey your order. We will start with the introduction of the villagers while the airship is preparing for takeoff.”
It started.
Arya let out a big sigh and shook her head with her impatient face.
No matter how much she sticks with her enemies, she wouldn’t be willing to push away the Holy See, which has been a support for mankind for thousands of years.
Still, I couldn’t help it.
This is the surest and neatest way.
I couldn’t increase the sacrifice by pushing more troops into the trap that sucked up the elite troops of the Imperial Army in an instant.
‘If Pope Brandon is inside, it will evaporate without a trace.’
Something was not right.
Anyway, isn’t he the same man as my father who gave me his last name?
He ended up killing the man.
The one with the authority to command is Arya, so I’m not going to kill her myself, but…
Still, the weird feeling didn’t change.
-The airship has arrived over the Monarch Principality.
-Sophia Cathedral, you have entered the range of annihilators. Currently warming up the gun barrel… Preheating is over. You can shoot at any time.
“Your Majesty. Now, Your Majesty just needs to give orders.”
“Shoot.”
“Command confirmed.”
Arya ordered without hesitation.
At the same time, Roman and his staff were busy giving orders, and the firing of the annihilation guns began.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on mana.
Then the vast expanse overlooking the cathedral came into view.
It was the view that the eagle, who had once engraved a spell on his heart, was watching in real time.
So she was the flying Erwin.
“Discharge.”
Quang!
At that moment, the sharing of hearing stopped with a roar.
My eardrums must have ruptured because the eagle was flying right next to the airship.
The flash of light that shot down from the airship hit the cathedral directly.
Then an explosion erupted in silence, engulfing the cathedral in an instant in flames and smoke.
About 10 seconds had passed since then.
Where the smoke cleared, the beautiful cathedral was no longer there.
Only a pile of rubble remained.
When I opened my eyes again, the cathedral marked in the middle of the map had been changed to a half-destroyed image.
“A hit. We’ve confirmed that everything has collapsed above the ground floor. Would you like to search the basement?”
“No. There is no need to take the risk. Just keep the siege. If you think you’re going to starve to death, won’t you crawl out?”
“I will follow your orders.”
It was a good decision.
The cathedral was said to be wider at the bottom than at the top, so there was a high probability that the trap was underground.
We’d rather lay siege to the wreckage than expend our forces.
“Ghm. It’s so embarrassing. I can’t tell if the Pope is dead or not.”
“For now-“
aaa
At that time, a loud siren sounded throughout the imperial palace.
It was a familiar sound.
That’s also true, because I described it with real sounds as a motif.
Air Raid Alert.
It was an announcement that the island’s air defenses had detected something.
It seemed that a counterattack was about to begin.