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Chapter 83. Victory

 

"To think... you had such a hidden weapon... I never expected that."

"...You're a persistent man."

[Demiurge], which had pierced through Frodil's chest, had already reverted to the shape of a cloak. From Jeremiah's perspective, it may have looked like I had pulled out a spear from nowhere to stab Frodil in the chest, but Frodil must have clearly seen the cloak transform into a spear.

I thought I had pierced his heart, but it seemed I was slightly off. However, it looks like a major blood vessel was damaged, and it seems to have pierced his lung. Even if left alone, he'll likely lose strength soon.

"Azurite... has the stone... been shattered?"

"With this, no more time-reversal... unless you have something hidden."

"Heh... I don't have the luxury... to hide anything in a fight with you."

He talks as if I had the luxury to hide something... but it was quite a close fight for me. When he first rewound time, I was about to take a hit that would have pierced my face, and even after that, he kept doing all sorts of reckless things. The only reason I managed to win with so few injuries was because Jeremiah jumped in, creating a two-on-one situation.

"The end will come... eventually... struggle if you must..."

With an expression that seemed both mocking and concerned, Frodil closed his eyes, leaving those words behind.

Elemia watched as the sword of judgment, Michael, which she had been holding, vanished, then turned her gaze to me.

"It seems he's dead. The sword that activated on him has disappeared."

"Can you use it like that?"

Your grimoire really doesn't make any sense.

"No matter the reason, we've killed the country's Minister of the Interior... we'll need to come up with a pretty good excuse."

"Before that, we need to deal with the Dragon Squad... or rather, the main forces of the Western countries that should be arriving soon."

"That shouldn't be a problem. To avoid the Elgrant Empire and come here, they have to cross an enormous distance by ship. That's why they sent the Dragon Squad ahead to paralyze the nation's core with a surprise attack."

It was us who led them to do that, though.

"The Western countries moved according to our plan, but what about the others?"

"I've confirmed that they're in motion."

"I see... then let's hurry up and wipe out the Dragon Squad."

"Right... Fortunately, thanks to all the division leaders of the Magic Knights being here, the damage caused by the Dragon Squad is minimal, so let's wrap this up quickly."

With that, Elemia ran off toward the area where the Magic Knights were fighting the Dragon Squad. I intended to follow her, but... for some reason, I couldn't just leave Frodil's corpse as it was.

"...I'm sorry."

I don't entirely disagree with the strong nation he aimed for. I don't think his goal was in a completely different direction. That's why I feel guilty that one of us had to disappear after clashing... but I can't afford to stop.

"Ivy!"

"What is it?"

I called out to Ivy, who was attacking the Dragon Squad from above the arena, and directed my gaze to Frodil's corpse.

"...Is it okay?"

"Just evacuate it."

I couldn't just leave his corpse here. With Ivy's grimoire, moving it should be easy, so I'll leave it to her.

I targeted the most elaborately armored member of the Dragon Squad flying overhead and took off. Since he was focused on fighting the Magic Knights, he wasn't aware of me at all, so I was able to approach him without any caution.

"What, who are you!?"

"Die."

I unleashed the magical power stored in [Yaldabaoth] from when Frodil last rewound time, obliterating the Dragon and the man who seemed to be the leader. Generally, when a proper military force loses its leader in a surprise attack, there's a moment of confusion. And the division leaders of the Magic Knights are too skilled to miss that opening.

"[Ramiel]"

The moment the Dragon Squad's movements slowed, Riester-san disappeared with a flash of lightning and took down two dragons flying in the sky.

"Theodore, there are quite a few enemies outside the arena as well. While the Dragon Squad seems to be concentrated here, I've received reports that the main enemy force is approaching the port."

"...What about the Elgrant Empire?"

"It seems they're also in a state of confusion after being attacked in passing."

"I see."

If the final setup goes well, it should be over.

I'll leave the enemies in the arena to the Magic Knights and head outside quickly.

"Stop! The Magic Knights aren't allowed outside. I am of the Allied Lime Nation—"

"I'm not in the mood for that right now."

My mood took a serious dive after killing Frodil. I appreciate the formal introduction, but I'll just kill him and push through.

"Ugh!? So much youthful vigor... but to be so ignorant of a knight's manners... you'll taste it yourself, you barbaric kingdom brat!"

"Out of my way."

He seemed to be trying to activate something like a grimoire, but with one swing of [Yaldabaoth], his lower body was separated from his upper body.

It seems he didn't want us to go outside the arena, but that's probably because they wanted to hold down the Magic Knights with the Dragon Squad while somehow having the main force capture the capital. However, I don't see any signs of the capital being in turmoil.

"Theodore!"

"...Princess Elissa? I thought you had escaped."

"In a situation like this, how could I run away alone?"

No, you're royalty, so you should just escape.

"More importantly, it's here."

Here? Oh, you mean the countermeasure against the Western countries.

From the south of the capital, I could see the fleet of the Western countries... specifically, the Lucas Alliance, coming around. And to stop their main force, the troops of the Curia Kingdom were deployed... and from even further south of the Lucas Alliance, I could see the flag of the Kroster Kingdom approaching.

"The Kroster Kingdom made it in time."

"Yes... this pretty much guarantees our victory."

We were the ones who told the Western countries the route they could take by ship to invade while avoiding the Elgrant Empire. And we were the ones who informed the Elgrant Empire of the timing, leading them to launch a surprise attack from behind at sea... although, being hit a bit before that was unexpected. Lastly... it was us who had secretly requested the cooperation of the Kroster Kingdom in advance. Well, I used Princess Elissa's name for that.

The reason we involved the Elgrant Empire and the Kroster Kingdom was to prevent the Kuria Kingdom from being able to unilaterally exploit both countries. They wouldn't be able to act high-handedly toward the countries that helped defend their homeland... especially now that Frodil, the extremist right-winger, is gone, leaving only the opportunistic nobles and the moderate king in Kuria.

"Sigh... treason and the assassination of the Minister of the Interior..."

"Hey, are you okay?"

"If I end up being wanted, I guess I'll go on a journey around the Western countries."

Seriously.