Episode 32. Ilgito (1)
“Seri.”
As soon as I opened the door to the noble meeting room and entered, the tax collector who was sitting in the seat of honor stood up. In the noble meeting room, all the nobles of the empire, including Lufen, were gathered, and the S-ranks were no exception.
However, without Thoreau, Ther, and Sirius, there were only four S-class powers.
Even Thoreau and Terr are missing. Surely you didn’t stand on the side of the demons?
“Ah, Prause.”
There was a sense of relief in Seri’s cracked voice, as if she had faced a ray of hope.
When my name was mentioned, everyone in the noble meeting room turned to me. Everyone’s eyes are atrophied somewhere. The atmosphere was chilly and gloomy.
“Prause! Do you know what the situation is like and come now?!”
Inkuro shouted while pointing his finger.
“You shut up. Do you think Prause plays like you?”
Of course, Ella, who is not still, pointed out.
“What?!”
I felt a little relieved to see that he still showed the same attitude even with the end of the human race ahead.
“Prause, where have you been?”
Urca approached cautiously and asked.
“We’ll talk about that later. The situation…… ?”
Sherry, who was approaching me, points to the cube placed in the center of the table. Her surveillance magic showed the Pandemonium across the border.
The hideous giant demon was slowly approaching the castle wall. Looking at the distance, it was a distance that could be reached in one day at the earliest or two days at the latest.
Because they move in units of corps, not individuals, their movement seemed relatively slow.
But looking at it positively, it’s two days. After two days the battle was unavoidable.
“Is it the 2nd Corps?”
Still, if there is something to be comforted about, it is that it is the 2nd Corps led by Lichen.
The demon article that Seri wrote on the delivery scroll.
The 2nd Corps was composed of demons wearing armor rather than heterogeneous forms. All of them were dyed by Lichen.
Lichen was a demon, but he valued chivalry. The official setting was that he fell in love with the sword master of the empire hundreds of years ago, fell in love with his admirable swordsmanship, and followed it.
So you should be able to find gaps compared to other demons.
Besides, I already knew that it was the 2nd Corps that stood at the forefront.
It is no different from a game.
If the devil’s strategy is as I know, there is a way to respond.
The problem is that when responding, the Demon King may change his strategy. Unlike the game scenario here, as the situation changes fluidly, there are various variables.
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I didn’t have the confidence to respond to each one individually.
What’s more, the warriors haven’t come over from the spirit realm yet. There is no way to attack from our side.
You will have to fight as defensively as possible until the warriors arrive, but even that is not an easy situation.
If you attach the 2nd Legion and the Imperial Knights, you will be able to save quite a bit. However, the battle is bound to be ‘lost’.
There may be differences in the number of heads, but the elites of the corps are close to the S-class level.
If you focus all your efforts on the first battle, including Ella, Urca, Incuro, Glare, and Loggia, you will be able to win. If only I could be in charge of Lichen and take care of it.
But there is no next.
If you deal with the 2nd corps, you must deal with the 1st and 3rd corps. However, after blocking the 2nd Corps, it was impossible to enter into battle in a row.
Since there are enlisted soldiers of nobles, even if you fill the head count to deal with the corps, there is no one to deal with the corps commander or vice-commander level.
Especially, the 1st Corps will definitely destroy the Aus territory and advance straight to Pretium. There had to be at least one hero to stop it.
However, in a situation where you don’t know when the hero will come, we must stop the pouring army by ourselves.
In a word, it was a total mess.
“Prause, what should I do?”
The tax collector asks me for advice. I looked around and stood in front of the map of the Empire.
“…… We have to take into account that we have been pushed back at least this far due to this war.”
I said with my finger on the map.
The part touched by the fingertips was as far as the city of Rexton. At least the Rexton territory will suffer damage to the level of scorched earth. Todia and Aus are no exception.
“If the demons dig that far, millions of lives will be lost!”
“I guess so.”
“Prause, is it not possible even though you are here?”
“I cannot stop them alone.”
Until now, whenever I dealt with the demons, I had a chance to win because I had to fight them in the form of a daily battle. If he had come with an army, he wouldn’t have been able to compete against them.
If I could unlock the expression management skill and borrow the power of the World Tree, I might have a chance to win, but I couldn’t expect even this right away.
“Since the demons waged war while prepared to sacrifice, we must also be prepared to sacrifice. If you’re not prepared…… Obviously, humanity will become extinct from this starting point.”
“Do you think there will be hope after being pushed that far, Prause?”
“…… Don’t know But we have to wait until our ‘real’ hope comes.”
“Real hope…… ?”
Obviously, the Demon King would have instructed us to move when the 2nd Army broke the border. In other words, it meant that if the 2nd corps was well blocked, it could buy a lot of time.
However, the question was how long the Aium Kingdom could withstand the 4th Corps, which moved like a detached unit.
“…… Seri, how is the treatment of demons appearing throughout the empire going?”
“The Imperial Knights are taking care of themselves, but I have received reports that people are still dying everywhere. Shall we send more troops there?”
“No. If you send troops, it will be like the demon king moving as he wants. Don’t get too caught up in it.”
“But if left unchecked, people will continue to die.”
It certainly isn’t a good thing to leave it unattended. But no worries.
The fact that demons are disturbing within the empire means that, in other words, the roots of the World Tree within the empire may be in danger.
And there was one person who was very wary of the situation itself. This is a very dissatisfied being with me.
“It’s been a while since I came to the human world, so it’s about time for a reaction… ….”
“Prause!!”
Orient, a being with brown hair and a fairy costume, appeared in the meeting room of the nobility. Yelling at me with all my might made me feel really angry.
“Whoa!”
“What, what?! Suddenly, a woman appeared!”
People are frightened by the sudden presence and stand up. Knights stand in front as if protecting nobles.
“Look at this!”
Orient violently threw one of her heads in front of me. At the grotesque sight, people around him groan and frown.
He has white skin like white jade, pointy ears like an elf, and even red eyes.
It was a vampire.
All of the elite troops in the Legion under Harbito are vampires, so this guy must be an elite too. However, seeing that he easily gave up his life, the Spirit King was indeed the Spirit King.
“Welcome, Orient.”
“Come here…… ? Can’t you understand the situation right now?”
Orient grabs me by the collar and frowns. Ariel, who was next to her, hurriedly grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Orient, calm down.”
“Ariel, this guy needs to be beaten. Because of the child, the world tree…….”
Orient belatedly looked at the people around her, lowered her voice, and snapped her fingers to block her. It’s definitely not something to talk about in front of other people watching.
“Do you really want to search? Do you know how many I killed to protect the roots of the World Tree?”
“Calm down.”
“You are not even a real hero…… ! For a moment… ….”
The arm holding her by the collar slightly loses strength.
“You can’t believe you took the Guardian of the Sanctuary expecting this far? To use me?”
“…… It wasn’t entirely predictable.”
I didn’t even think that the war between man and horse would happen so quickly. But.
“You are the only spirit king in this world who can use your power without a contractor, so I thought you could use it in a dangerous moment.”
In the process of division, the original spirit king transferred the fragments of the World Tree to Orient. Thanks to that, Orient was able to block Peremus and Pero with their natural strength without a contract.
I thought I could use it anytime in an emergency. I didn’t know it would be written this way.
“Anyway, since you’re here, I want you to deal with the demons while protecting the roots of the World Tree.”
“Why should I do it for you?”
“You must be well aware that if the human world collapses, protecting the roots of the World Tree will mean nothing, right? Besides, don’t you, the contractor, know better what the heroes are like right now?”
“… ….”
She didn’t say anything.
As if she couldn’t bear to deny it, she glared at me with her mouth tightly shut. Having nothing to say is like affirming my words, so it will only hurt your pride.
“There is one thing I ask of you. Put an end to the disturbance within the empire.”
“…… It’s really useless, I just rolled my hair well……. Tsk. All right. Internal disturbances are handled by me. Is that enough?”
“One more. How is the equipment I ask you to make?”
“It is incomplete for a long time. Why?”
“Concentrate on making it from now on. To increase the number of uses even once.”
Even in preparation for future battles, I needed those crafting artifacts.
“How come you seem to be asked to do more than World Tree… ….”
I ignored her words lightly and marked various places with ink on the map on the table.
“Release the barrier.”
Orient looks at me disapprovingly and snaps her fingers to break the barrier.
I approached the tax collector who was looking at us in bewilderment and held out a map.
“Collector, please mark the cleared area.”
Seri blankly nodded her head.
“By the way, who is that person?”
“Orient. He is the king of the spirits of the earth.”
“Dah, the spirit king of the earth?!”
“In regards to internal disturbance, I will use this guy. So don’t mind the guys rampaging on the inside.”
She said, “As expected, Prause… …. Great.” ‘ She admired, and she drew an ‘X’ over the circle she had marked on the map.
She handed over the map with all the marks to Orient. She takes it like a snatch and glares at me.
“This is debt.”
As she said that, she looked at Ariel and took her hand. Ariel looked at Orient, puzzled.
“Orient…… ?”
“Go, you have a lot of trouble. Going out with this guy.”
“What is this guy like?”
“See you later.”
She was ignored.
“Yes. Be careful.”
“Go quickly.”
“Hey! It’s noisy, testimony!”
While thumping all the way, Orient disappears. Not to mention Orient’s skills, he’ll take care of the 2nd Corps before they reach the wall.
“…… So, Prause, what are you going to do with the swarming troops over there?”
Rexton, who had been watching quietly, asked quietly.
“It will be difficult to deal with. All we have to do is buy time. Even if it means sacrificing millions of people.”
At my words, I heard Lufen and other nobles gasping. Serena and the other S-classes also gave a somewhat unsatisfactory response.
But it can’t be helped.
What is needed right now is not emotions. It is reason that can make a cold judgment.
“Of course, I won’t stop you if you say you will. Certainly, an S-class, magic combination, and the Imperial Knights might be able to stop it. However, keep in mind that the power coming now is only about a quarter of that of the demons. Spending most of the Empire’s power on a quarter is not a good move.”
Human War is quite different from modern warfare.
It couldn’t be a protracted war over many years.
The reason is simply that demons, unlike humans, do not take a break.
In other words, the demons don’t even give us a chance to rest. That’s why they can’t withstand the aftermath that will come back after pouring all their energy into it.
I looked around the room, which had become gloomy again, and scratched my head embarrassingly.
“…… I’m just saying my thoughts anyway. It’s up to you whether you accept it. By the way, I plan to deal with the commander of the 2nd corps.”
If you are the commander of the 2nd corps, you will definitely be able to seize the opportunity. It was annoying that the corps commander and deputy corps commander moved almost like one body, but it wasn’t impossible. If I put my all into it, the chances of winning won’t be small.
“The commander of the 2nd corps…… ?”
“Isn’t that reckless?”
“It’s okay. I’m going to hit it moderately and fall. I’ll leave it up to you how many troops to send. But send it assuming that most of them will die.”
Is there a more terrible choice than sending them to the battlefield knowing they will die?
But it’s impossible.
If you were asked to consider whether to abandon a hundred knights or a million imperial citizens, everyone would definitely choose the former.
Besides, war was not something that could be waged without sacrifice. Even more so if the other side had already prepared for death.