Part 5 of 8
“The maid keeps nagging me.” Yes, because you were smoking tobacco near my infant child, Sophia.
“This room smells awful.” Again, you are the one who was smoking in it.
And so on and so forth.
On some occasions, his demands are so absurd that I cannot help thinking he must be doing it on purpose.
Yet if his demands are not met, he immediately throws a tantrum.
All in all, every one of us wants him to leave the mansion as soon as possible.
In fact, I would like to chase him out right now if I could.
However, if I do such a thing without good reason, Ohts is sure to rail against me.
In fact, perhaps that is their aim.
Why else would they send such a ridiculous man as their official emissary?
They must be aiming to provoke us Sariellans into harming one of their own.
Then they can hold that above our heads in whatever they plan to negotiate next.
However, I do not know what their intended next move might be.
Between the two countries, Sariella is far stronger than Ohts.
Ohts is in an alliance with the Renxandt Empire and has connections to the Holy Kingdom of Alleius because of its belief in the Word of God, but even with their backing, I cannot understand why they would set out to provoke us so.
Even though it’s entirely possible that this emissary will cause such problems here that we will gain a bargaining chip instead.
In fact, given the supreme stupidity of the man, that seems the likelier possibility.
I cannot guess what Ohts is thinking.
One must assume it is related to the Nightmare of the Labyrinth, but I did not think them this foolish.
Surely they realize this is not a matter that can be decided through negotiating with us.
Yet the emissary sets out to bother the Nightmare every day without fail.
“That awful insect! How dare it make a fool of me!”
Amazingly, the man is still shouting.
He has been going to see the Nightmare of the Labyrinth each day, claiming it his duty as an emissary.
There, he trespasses into the forest and approaches the creature, demanding that it go over to Ohts.
In a way, perhaps the man deserves some respect for being so bold as to give orders to the mighty Nightmare.
Not that I will be offering him any.
The Nightmare of the Labyrinth has no regard for his orders, of course, and dismisses him in one way or another each day.
Which is why he’s shrieking and stomping about now.
Whenever the man shows up in the forest, he says that the Nightmare goes up into a tree.
Then it stares down at him, unmoving.
No matter what the man says to it, that’s all it does.
However, the emissary seems to take this as being looked down upon, and he gets angrier each time he sees the Nightmare of the Labyrinth.
Even though he is the one who keeps entering the forest, which is closed to trespassers, and haughtily shouting orders at the Nightmare that we can hear from town.
That alone is enough to incur the anger of the common people who worship the Nightmare of the Labyrinth as the Divine Beast.
This man seems to have a gift for making himself disagreeable to anyone and everyone.
We are managing for now, but if this situation continues, someone on one side or the other is bound to reach their limit.
Thankfully, the emissary’s stay is temporary.
I can only hope that no problems occur before he finally leaves.
My hopes fell on deaf ears.
The emissary has died.
In this very mansion, no less.
His cause of death is unknown.
There is not a single scratch on his body; according to his servant who witnessed the death, he simply fell to the floor as suddenly as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Which was why I was woken up quite rudely in the middle of the night.
Now the man’s servants sit in front of me, their faces pale.
“Well? Do you have any ideas as to what might have caused his death?”
The servants nod silently to my question.
However, I can see from the shifting of their eyes that they have no idea.
I heave a pointedly audible sigh.
The servants all tremble in response.
I have a very good idea of the cause of the man’s death.
It is the work of the Nightmare of the Labyrinth.
In fact, this is not the first sudden, mysterious death to occur in this town.
It has happened before in this same mansion, in fact.
A group of suspicious-looking men were found dead here, with no visible wounds whatsoever.
We still do not know who these men were or why they were invading our mansion.
Based on recent events, I suspect they may have been agents of Ohts, but I have no proof of this.
Did they come to assassinate me? To steal confidential documents?
Because the cause of their deaths was so unusual, it seems likely that the culprit was some aberrant outside force.
And when one considers the timing, it seems quite likely that the Nightmare of the Labyrinth is responsible.
However, I do not know why the Nightmare of the Labyrinth would take such an interest in protecting this town.
Surely the creature is not actually the Divine Beast from the legends of the Goddess?
Since it seems to have intelligence to easily match that of a human, there must be some reason behind its actions.
Although it’s possible I think that only because I’m a human myself.
Even if it has the same level of intelligence as a human, that doesn’t mean that a monster like the Nightmare of the Labyrinth would follow the same patterns of thought.
It might have motivations completely different from that of a human.
Which would make it all the stranger that it has chosen to support our town.
But I suppose it doesn’t matter much either way.
Whether it thinks the same way as a human or not, I can’t come up with a single reason for a monster to protect our human town.
Not knowing that is quite frightening indeed.
Especially since the creature in question is an immensely powerful monster.
However, this time I think I understand what the Nightmare of the Labyrinth was after.
Revenge.
“So? Why were all of you awake at such an hour?”
The time is well past midnight.
It is still pitch-dark outside, with some time before the sky begins to turn blue.
Unless the man was on night watch, he ought to have been sleeping.
It is highly suspicious that he was awake.
All the more so since he normally drank enough to fill a small tub before going to bed.
“W-well, you see…”
One servant is obviously very flustered.
His reaction is so over-the-top that I’m tempted to wonder if he’s acting, but judging by his pallor, it’s clearly the truth.
If he can invoke such a pale face by acting, the man deserves to be in leading roles onstage.
The servants look at one another uncertainly, clearly wondering whether to admit the truth or make some excuse. Unfortunately for them, however, I’m already in the know.
A watchman informed me that a group of people had attacked the Nightmare of the Labyrinth.
I have little doubt they were assassins sent by these servants’ now-dead master.
The circumstantial evidence alone is more than sufficient.
He must have been planning to make the Nightmare of the Labyrinth obey him by force.
Or was he hoping to get rid of it in revenge for ignoring his demands?
Either way, there’s no denying it was an extremely foolish act.
The offenders, incidentally, were quickly dispatched by their would-be victim, the Nightmare.
It is difficult to pity them when they could not perceive the clear difference between their strength and their opponent’s.
Or did they have some reason for not being able to refuse their superior?
If their superior was the emissary, then it would make some sense.
I do feel sorry for those under the employ of an incompetent superior.
Now, how to deal with these remaining servants of the deceased incompetent in question?
One must hope that the subordinates are equally incompetent.
I must attempt to guide them such that Ohts will not raise objections against Sariella for this matter, or at least to keep their anger to a minimum.
When an emissary dies in another country, it is inevitable that the host will receive some degree of blame.
If I cannot create a convincing reason, we will end up owing them a needless debt.
And so, I must have the late man’s servants confess that he attempted to lay a hand on the Nightmare of the Labyrinth and was killed by said monster in retribution.
We cannot change the fact that the emissary died in Sariella, but if he brought it upon himself by making an attempt on a dangerous monster, it will at least lighten the blame placed on us.
And in light of the man’s general behavior, I imagine those who knew him will be quite willing to accept our side of the story.
…At least, I certainly hope so.
I am well aware that all of this is rather wishful thinking.
If Ohts sent that emissary fully knowing this would come to pass, then the situation is dire.
And I am quite disturbed that I do not know what Ohts is attempting to do.
The attack on my wife and child.
The sudden increase in the robber population, clearly influenced by some other country.
The mysterious intruders.
All these signs point to something very bad indeed on the horizon.
And as if to confirm these fears, my spies have informed me that Ohts has been making movements in secret.
There are signs that they are preparing for war.
I did not want to believe this.
The difference in strength between Sariella and Ohts is quite clear.
If a war breaks out, it is bound to end in a Sariella victory.
And Ohts should be just as aware of this as I am.
So does this mean they have some secret means to victory?
Could it be that the Renxandt Empire or the Holy Kingdom of Alleius intends to interfere?
I do not know.
Is Ohts really going to wage war on us?
I do not know this, either.
However, I must do whatever I am able to prevent it.
At the moment, that means getting the servants in front of me to confess.
Though that may not matter much if Ohts really does intend to start a war.
At any rate, it is too early to say whether war will break out.
Perhaps we can still resolve things through negotiation.
Again, wishful thinking, but I must do everything in my power.
I suppose only the Goddess knows what will happen after that.
HERO PARTY VS VAMPIRE PRINCESS
I don’t know much about Sophia.
Not in this world or in our previous one, for that matter.
I know her name there was Shouko Negishi, but if you asked me what kind of person she was, I don’t think I’d be able to say a single thing with certainty.
That’s how little we interacted.
I don’t believe we ever had a real conversation.
In fact, the exchange we just had is probably more conversation than we ever managed in our previous lives.
I don’t know anything about her.
Not then and not now.
I don’t know what she was thinking when she chose to play a part in all this.
But what she’s done is show complete contempt for human life.
She’s helped bring catastrophe down on the people who Julius desperately fought to protect.
I cannot forgive her for that.
So I have to stop her here and now.
I draw my sword and charge with fervor, but she easily deflects my strike with her broadsword.
“Ngh!”
She didn’t have this broadsword until a second ago, when it appeared from her shadow.
I thought it might be Shadow Magic, but that’s not quite right.
It’s probably the effect of some unknown skill of hers.
It seems that she was keeping a broadsword in her shadow somehow, too, just like the man called Merazophis who appeared from it not long ago.
The huge two-handed sword doesn’t seem to suit Sophia’s small frame.
But she’s wielding it with one hand.
My body gets blown back as if I weigh nothing at all.
I quickly twist around in midair to land on my feet, so I don’t take any damage at all.
However, I can feel the difference in our power so keenly it’s almost painful.
I charged with all my might, and she parried and brushed me off easily.
It’s safe to assume that Sophia has a skill that can cancel out magic.
In which case, the only way to defeat her will be in a physical fight.
And yet, that brief exchange of blows made one thing clear.
I can’t beat her.
Although I can’t Appraise her, I know that the difference between our stats must be huge.
But I was prepared for that reality.
It’s been obvious that Sophia is way stronger than I am since we first met in the capital.
But even if her stats are higher, I’ll find a way to win.
“Shun! Don’t charge in alone like that!”
Katia steps up by my side.
“Asaka and I will hold off Merazophis. The rest is up to you guys.”
Tagawa and Kushitani face off against Merazophis, who readies himself in turn.
“Shun, I can fight, too.”
Ms. Oka stands up, preparing her bow.
Anna has finished her treatment, which leaves her free to rejoin the front lines, too.
As well as Mr. Hyrince, who was protecting the pair of them.
That’s right.
I’m not alone.
Maybe I can’t do this by myself, but if we all come together, I know we can win.
“Looks like it’s five against two. Hope you don’t mind.”
Hyrince steps forward, his shield braced before him.
“Oh, that’s fine with me. In fact, let’s make it five against one.”
Sophia shoots a look toward the girl behind her.
The girl makes a face but quickly withdraws.
“You don’t seem too worried.”
“I’m not worried in the least,” Sophia responds smoothly.
Hoping to take advantage of her relaxed state, Ms. Oka looses an arrow at Sophia.
A perfect surprise attack in the middle of a conversation.
For a moment, it seems cowardly to me, but I have to remind myself that Ms. Oka is as desperate as the rest of us.
Besides, a surprise attack can’t be dirty if it doesn’t work.
Sophia reaches out with her free hand and catches the arrow.
Her reflexes are terrifying.
There was no need for her to catch the arrow instead of dodging it.
Dodging it would have been quicker and easier, I’m sure.
But she probably decided to catch it in order to make her overwhelming power that much clearer.
However, no matter how clear our disadvantage, there are some fights you can’t back down from.
Hyrince charges, pushing his shield forward.
Sophia tosses the arrow aside and grasps her broadsword with both hands.
Immediately, a metallic clang echoes in the air.
Sophia has caught Hyrince’s rush attack with her broadsword.
Her slim body doesn’t falter an inch, despite Hyrince’s heavy equipment.
But then Katia and I follow up from either side of Hyrince.
My sword and Katia’s rapier plunge toward her at the same time.
Then, for a moment, I don’t understand what’s happened to me.
My vision whirls, and I slam into the ground, unable to quite control my fall.
Confused, I nevertheless leap back to my feet.
There’s a dull pain in my hand, as if it’s going numb.
When I see Katia and Hyrince have been knocked to the ground like I was and Sophia finishing a swing of her sword, I realize what happened.
Sophia used her broadsword to knock all three of us back.
And all in one swing.
It must have hit Hyrince first, then followed through to hit Katia and me seconds later.
Katia hasn’t managed to get up yet, and her rapier lies in pieces on the ground.
Sophia must have been aiming at our weapons.
My sword managed to withstand the blow somehow, but the aftershock caused serious damage to my wrist.
To be honest, it’s practically a miracle that I haven’t let go of my sword.
But what if Sophia had been aiming not at our weapons but directly at us?
The image of Katia and me being sliced in half flashes across my mind.
I shudder for a moment.
She probably could have done it.
Sophia must have deliberately aimed for our weapons to avoid killing us.
Ms. Oka shoots more arrows and Anna casts magic at her, but she dodges the arrow with a slight duck of her head, and the magic gets canceled out before it even reaches her.
“Oh, right. A half elf, is it? How very unusual.”
Sophia’s gaze turns toward Anna.
Hyrince stands up with his shield prepared as if to block her vision, but Sophia still seems to be deep in thought, ignoring him completely.
While she’s distracted, I charge at her with my sword.
But I already know that she’s not really distracted; she just doesn’t care.
Once again, she easily dodges the surprise attack.
I was expecting that much, though.
I immediately alter the trajectory of my sword, cutting back toward Sophia.
Since her broadsword is so large and heavy, it’s not built to make tight turns.
Judging by what I’ve seen of her power so far, she can still move pretty quickly with it, but there must be a limit.
If we can’t beat her with sheer strength, we’ll try besting her with speed!
I move my sword as precisely as I can, carefully controlling my strength.
Using as many sword thrusts as possible, I try to keep the movement of her broadsword in check.
Sure enough, the long broadsword isn’t suited to rapid-fire attacks, and Sophia begins to use the side of her sword to defend herself.
Then Ms. Oka adds in more arrows, pressing her even further.
This time, Sophia has to dodge the arrows, since she can’t afford to catch them.
I pile on even more sword attacks, trying to chase her down.
This could work!
But just as that thought crosses my mind, I see Sophia’s foot move out of the corner of my eye.
In the next second, a powerful impact hits my stomach.
“Oof!”
A grunt escapes my mouth, pushed out along with the air in my lungs.
My body is sent flying, but the crash to my back never comes.
Looking up, I see Hyrince’s face.
He must have caught me when I got blown backward.
“You all right?!”
“Yes, thank you.”
I’m not really fine, but I keep that to myself.
My stomach is still throbbing with pain as I quickly remove myself from Hyrince’s arms.
It’s obvious what happened this time.
She kicked me.
I never expected her to be able to throw a kick in that situation.
“Your aim’s not bad, but your swordsmanship is far too prim and proper. You realize that leaves you open to dirty tricks like this, right?”
Sophia’s voice is careless, even bordering on friendly.
Silently, I brandish my sword once more.
She’s right, of course.
I have lots of experience from training and fighting monsters but much less in the way of battling other humans.
That means I’m weak to unexpected attacks and probably easy to read, too.
Now I’m truly, painfully aware that there’s a bigger difference between Sophia and me than I thought.
It’s more than just stats.
She’s seen a lot more bloodshed than I have and fought in far more real battles.
That much is clear, despite how brief our exchange has been so far.
Close by, I can hear the sounds of Tagawa and Kushitani fighting Merazophis.
However, I can’t afford to turn away.
I can’t take my eyes off Sophia for a moment.
If I let my guard down for even one second, I have a terrible feeling that it will all be over.
And yet, I can’t help noticing Katia’s gaze.
Still crouching on the ground, she seems to be trying to tell me something with her eyes.
Recognizing her intentions, I focus all my thoughts on that moment.
“Hmm. Whatever shall I do? I know I’m supposed to kill all the elves except Ms. Oka, but where do half elves factor into that equation?”
Sophia hasn’t noticed.
We’re in the middle of a battle, but her thoughts are clearly elsewhere, without a care in the world.
That’s when Katia completes her magic.
At that moment, I break into a run.
Katia was invoking an Earth Magic spell.
Instead of attacking Sophia directly, it makes the ground below us rumble.
Sophia’s magic nullification ability doesn’t seem to work on magic that moves the ground instead of attacking her directly, so the spell works.
The ground shakes violently, breaking Sophia’s posture ever so slightly.
I aim for that brief opening.
This is the only chance we have left of winning!
Sophia welcomes my determined attack with a smile.
As if she’s mocking us for our pathetic attempts.
But then her smile darkens.
Flying past me, Ms. Oka’s arrow zooms toward Sophia.
She couldn’t have seen it coming, since it was hidden in my shadow.
We didn’t plan this, but Ms. Oka must have picked up on the opening Katia was creating.
Still off her balance, Sophia is unable to dodge the arrow.
She has no choice but to block it with her sword, then try to parry me.
This time, Sophia’s smile disappears entirely.
Because Hyrince’s shield has crashed against her sword.
A shield throw.
Hyrince’s shield isn’t just armor. It’s also an excellent weapon.
The weight of the shield alone makes it a superb blunt weapon, and when it’s thrown, it’s like a cannon.
Hyrince’s shield strikes just as Sophia is trying to regain her stance after blocking Ms. Oka’s arrow.
Even she can’t handle the impact, and the broadsword in her hand goes flying backward.
Now that she’s completely off balance, I swing my sword down toward Sophia’s body.
“You really should have gone for the neck just now, don’t you think?”
The bland remark stuns me into silence.
My sword has definitely struck Sophia’s body.
But she doesn’t seem hurt in the slightest.
It’s being blocked by something hard under my blade.
When I look at Sophia’s neck from incredibly up close, I realize what she means.
The back of her neck is covered by something shiny and metallic.
Just like the hard scales of a wyrm or a dragon.
“That wasn’t half-bad, I’ll admit. It didn’t work, though.”
Sophia aims another kick at me.
I can’t fully defend myself against it, and it knocks me back just like before, until Hyrince catches me once again.
But this time, I can’t pull away from Hyrince and stand up quite yet.
I put all my power into that strike.
Yes, I avoided her vitals so I wouldn’t kill her, but I wasn’t holding anything back.
Yet that attack didn’t cause her a single bit of pain.
She has the upper hand in stats and abilities, and yet we somehow managed to create a brief, perfect opportunity.
But now it’s been rendered meaningless.
If we’d merely failed, we might still be able to create another chance like that.
But it won’t work again.
Magic doesn’t affect Sophia.
So Anna, whose only means of fighting is magic, hasn’t been able to lay a hand on her.
If magic doesn’t work, our only shot is physical attacks.
But an attack with my full strength didn’t work on Sophia.
That means neither magical nor physical attacks can touch her.
If neither of them will work, if her defenses are that invincible, how are we supposed to fight her?
For the first time, I feel the horror of being truly helpless.
MACHINATIONS IN MOTION
This annoying guy kept bugging the crap out of me, so I maybe kinda sorta killed him.
Oopsie!
I mean, if he was just being annoying, that’d be one thing, but what do you expect if you’re gonna try and attack me?
Sure, it was enough of a pain when he kept showing up every day, blathering on at me, then getting pissed off before going home for whatever reason.
I still don’t fully understand the language here, so there were some parts that went over my head, but mostly he was just being snooty and saying stuff like, “You are my pet now! Obey me!”
Like, did you really think that was gonna work?
Was this guy right in the head?
And then while I’m just staring at him blankly, the guy starts throwing a fit.
What was there to get mad about anyway?
It’s just like with the girl who used to pester me in my old life. Why does me staring at people in confused silence always piss them off?
I don’t get it.
Then, just as I was getting really sick of this stupid old guy sticking his nose in my business every day, he ordered some of his subordinates to attack me.
He probably intended to kidnap me by force or whatever, but I honestly feel kinda bad for the poor thugs he sent to do the deed.
They never stood a chance of kidnapping me.
Did they know that and set out with a sense of resignation to see their duty through to the end, or were they just stupid?
Well, either way, I wiped ’em all out.
While I was at it, I wrapped things up by using my Evil Eyes to dispose of the old guy who sent them.
Next thing you know, the town’s in an uproar.
It turns out this guy was some kind of big shot from another country or something.
Since he died in this town under suspicious circumstances, it could end up being a whole international incident for the country this town is in, I guess.
The lord and his right-hand man looked pretty stressed out while they were talking about it.
I’m sorry, okay?
I guess this is kinda my fault.
But look, I don’t regret it one bit!
If someone tries to get me, I’ll get ’em right back!
That’s just how I roll!
Besides, I’m sure one stupid old guy kicking the bucket isn’t gonna be that big of a deal.
Well, boy, was I wrong about that.
It’s been a few days since that guy died.
Things have taken a bit of an unexpected turn.
More specifically, the people are preparing for battle now.
Like, what the hell?!
Why?!
A bunch of soldiers and stuff have been gathering in town.
There’s been lots of logistical talk, too. Seems like everyone’s rarin’ for a fight.
They’re totally gearing up to go to war.
The only person who seems bothered by this is the lord of the town.
It seems like he was hoping to avoid war if at all possible, but instead now he’s stuck on the front lines.
Everyone else’s morale is super-high.
How did things even end up like this?
Well, nothing to do with me, that’s for sure.
Yep. I’ve definitely got nothing to do with it.
I haven’t heard anyone talking about beating down those bastards who tried to steal their Divine Beast or anything like that.
Nope, definitely not.
Ugh. Unreal.
It seems like the reason for the war is ’cause I offed that annoying old guy.
His country, which I guess is called Ohts or whatever, has always had a bad relationship with this one, which is called Sariella.
It seems to be about a difference in religious beliefs or something, but I don’t really know the details.
So Mr. Cool Guy from Ohts is dead.
The cause: me.
If he’d just been attacked and killed by some ordinary monster, they might’ve been able to work things out, but right now Sariella sees me as some kind of Divine Beast, so it’s playing out sort of like this:
Your Divine Beast whacked one of our guys; what are ya gonna do about it?
Don’t play dumb; your goon tried to lay a hand on our Divine Beast first.
What’s that, wise guy? You wanna go?
Bring it on, asshole!
That’s the gist of the exchange, as far as I can tell.
They probably weren’t talking like old-timey mobsters, but seriously, you get the idea.
Ha…ha…ha.
How stupid can these people get?
Don’t go to war over something like that. No waaay.
What a half-assed reason!
I’m getting culture shock over how easily these people decide to kill one another!
I mean, we’re not talking about a little brawl here.
This is war, all right?
Should you really be starting a war so casually?
I mean, I guess it’s not my place to say that as an outsider, and it’s not like I can really say it to them anyway.
But I’m not really a total outsider here, either.
In fact, I’m in the weird position of being both an outsider and kind of involved at the same time.
Hmm. Hmmmm.
What should I do now?
I mean, if they wanna go to war, normally I’d say they can go right ahead, but I feel kind of weird about it when it’s happening because of me.
Right, right.
I know, okay?
Yes, I’m technically the cause, but that was really just an excuse.
If you think about it, there’s no way they’d send such an annoying little man to do an important job like bringing me to their country.
The only explanation is that he was a pawn sent here to cause trouble between the two countries.
Once that plan went south, they’d use it as a justification to attack Sariella.
I guess they got what they wanted.
As proof, the lord who’s been working so hard to avoid a war has finally given up.
From what I hear, troops are already gathering in Ohts.
Not only that, but their allies are sending reinforcements, too.
They’re practically champing at the bit.
If someone intends from the beginning to start a war, there’s not really anything you can say or do to prevent it.
And they basically used me as a scapegoat to start their little war.
Ugh!
I’m not one to go around telling people when they can or can’t have a war, but if I’m being used in the process, that kinda makes me mad.
Hmm. How am I gonna vent this anger?
Oh, wait. Why don’t I just participate in the war? That’d be pretty simple.
Ohts is the country that used me as a scapegoat, after all.
And that’s who Sariella is about to go to war against.
As their beloved Divine Beast, I can take part in the war to protect Sariella.
Yep, that all checks out.
Besides, if I go to war, that means I’m gonna end up killing lots of people.
Humans give a lot more experience points than monsters.
Mm, I can’t say no to that.
If you look at it that way, war starts to seem like a great way to grind EXP.
I’m nowhere near strong enough to fight the Demon Lord yet.
If I want to get a little closer, well, earning tons of experience isn’t a bad way to do it.
On top of that, if I fight in the war, my fame in Sariella will skyrocket.
The more I think about it, the better it sounds.
If I leave the area of the town, the elves might try to pull something, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
As long as I wipe out all the elves who’re in this town before I leave, I’m sure it’ll be fine.
This plan is perfect.
Too perfect!
Kinda makes me want to pull a nasty face and go, “Just as planned!”
Heh-heh-heh.
My mind is made up. No turning back now.
Time to go to war.
So here we are, reporting live from the battlefield!
Humans, humans, humans, as far as the eye can see!
If I had to put it into words, I’d say it reminds me of a certain Comi-what’s-it event that happens in Japan every summer and winter!
As a side note, I’ve never once set foot on that particular battlefield!
This may surprise some viewers, but do you really think I’d be able to handle such a huge crowd of people?!
I would definitely get overwhelmed and pass out!
In fact, I feel like I could pass out right now!
That’s my report for today!
…Can I pass out now?
I mean, seriously.
The soldiers started moving, so I snuck along to check things out, and bam! Tons and tons of people everywhere.
They’re all clanking around in full armor and equipment, too.
At a glance, it’s hard to say exactly how many people there are, but both sides seem to number in the tens of thousands.
Doesn’t that seem like a lot?
I activate Professor Wisdom’s Detection and get a more precise number.
On the Sariella side, forty-two thousand.
On the side of the Ohts Alliance, fifty-three thousand.
Okay, gotcha.
About half the size of the battle of Sekigahara, then.
Ha-ha…ha.
Waaay too many!
Is this real?!
This is the war you used me as a catalyst for?
’Cause it kind of feels like an all-or-nothing showdown to me.
Oof, this is kinda giving me a stomachache.
Assuming spiders can get stomachaches, anyway.
Yeesh.
This battle is a whole lot bigger than I imagined.
I was kinda expecting more of a teeny little skirmish, but look at what I got instead.
So much for just popping onto the battlefield and swashbuckling around. If I do that here, it’s gonna make things real weird, real fast.
What am I gonna do?
Not to mention, with this many people around, I might seriously pass out.
Maybe I can still go home?
But right as I start seriously considering that, both armies begin advancing.
Even from far away, the echoing battle cries send a shudder through my body.
Y-yikes.
I fought all kinds of monsters in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, but I’ve never seen such a huge war between humans before.
Based on stats alone, these people are all vastly inferior to me, but with their huge numbers, their strength would be nothing to sneeze at.
The armies collide.
If I stand around doing nothing while trying to make up my mind, Sariella is going to lose.
The difference in numbers is too great.
I don’t know what the troops’ stats all look like, but based solely on the size of the armies, Sariella is clearly at a disadvantage.
And the place where they’re fighting is a wide-open plain.
The armies don’t have any fancy formations. They’re just charging right into one another.
From what I can tell, Sariella doesn’t have any way to make up for what they lack in numbers.
Their magic attacks from the rear are definitely lighting up the battlefield, but the scale doesn’t seem like enough to faze the Ohts Alliance too much.
At this rate, Sariella is going to be defeated.
Hrmm.
If Sariella loses here, I feel like that’s gonna be a big pain for me.
The country of Ohts definitely isn’t going to leave me alone.
They blamed the whole war on my existence, after all, so it wouldn’t look good for them if they did nothing about it afterward.
I don’t know how they’d approach me exactly, but I doubt I’ll be getting worshipped like I have been so far.
Yeah, that’s gonna be a problem.
And the easiest way to avoid that problem is to make sure Sariella wins this war.
All right. No time to dillydally.
Let’s do this! Woo!
A woman’s gotta have guts! No point worrying about what other people think!
I literally leap into action, putting myself in the air above where the armies are clashing.
Some of them notice me and are looking up, but I just gotta ignore them. Ignore them!
Seriously, if I pay too much attention to that, it’s all over!
Mostly because I would probably faint!
I launch magic toward the Ohts Alliance forces.
My wide-range Dark Magic attack smashes into their army, decimating their forces in one fell swoop.
Ooh.
How many did that just kill? About three thousand?
Just like that, there’s a huge gap in the Ohts forces where people used to be.
Whoosh. The battlefield falls still.
Everyone starts looking at me.
…Did I mess up?
Maybe I went a little too far?
An awkward silence settles painfully over the area.
The battlefield is dead silent, not including a sound that only I can hear: the sound of me leveling up over and over.
Humans really do grant tons of experience.
That one attack seems to have leveled me up quite a bit.
As I sweat it out internally, wondering what to do next, a noise finally breaks the terrible silence.
One of the Ohts Alliance soldiers starts running away.
As soon as one starts fleeing, others quickly follow suit.
The soldiers all scramble to get away as fast as possible.
The Sariella soldiers come back to their senses at that.
In a panic, they start chasing after the fleeing Ohts soldiers.
Chaos ensues.
Some of them hold out, since they seem to have a good commander. Nevertheless, the tides of the battle have now turned completely in Sariella’s favor.
……Just as planned!
Yep, let’s go with that.
My single devastating attack destroyed the Ohts Alliance’s fighting spirit, leading Sariella to victory.
That’s exactly how I pictured this going!
So on that note, I think I’ll get out of here now.
Being the center of attention like this for even a moment longer won’t be good for my mental health.
Considering how much the situation has changed, I doubt Ohts is going to pull a comeback out of a hat.
I’ll just head back early and await the triumphant return of the Sariella soldiers.
With that in mind, I start to activate Teleport.
But then, just as I’m about to use it, I sense something teleporting in front of me first.
Something’s coming.
Now I’m really sweating, in a different way from before.
This particular feeling is all too familiar.
It’s the person I met in the Middle Stratum of the Great Elroe Labyrinth, right after I beat that fire dragon.
That dark man in black.
Why would he be coming at a time like this?
But my premonition turns out to be wrong.
In the worst way possible.
“Sorry to interrupt your fun.”
The girl who appears before me speaks in a casual tone.
“I’m going to have to ask you to die now, okay?”
With a big smile, she sentences me to death.
The alarms in my head sound off at max volume.
Of course they do.
Because the person in front of me is the one who’s been chasing me around all this time.
The Demon Lord, Ariel.
THE DEMON LORD AND THE ADMINISTRATOR
I’ve lived a very long life and come close to death plenty of times.
But I have never fought such a strange opponent before.
I first learned of its existence when I received an emergency request for aid from one of my subordinates, a queen taratect.
According to the report she sent me via Kin Control, she was in danger of being eaten by one of her own children.
I didn’t know what to make of that, but from the queen’s panicked state, I knew this was no small matter.
This came at an important time for me, since I’d just started working as the demon lord, but I can’t turn down a request from my precious kin.
I immediately went to the Great Elroe Labyrinth to get more details from the queen herself.
This left me even more bewildered.
Just as I’d been told before, the culprit was one of the queen’s many offspring.
It left the queen’s side, evolved on its own, and ended up freeing itself of her control.
This is the first time anything so unusual has happened.
However, it’s not necessarily impossible.
There are certainly less system bugs these days, but some of them are still hanging around from when the whole thing started.
I concluded that this must be another such bug and figured the situation would be remedied if I just eliminated the anomaly.
But I was naive.
I haughtily assumed that even if it had evolved a few times, it couldn’t be that big of a deal.
It wasn’t long before I realized my mistake.
I didn’t entirely understand right away why the queen had asked for my help.
“Found it.”
When I found the individual, I soon realized that it was far more dangerous than I thought.
<Appraisal Blocked>
My Appraisal results drove this reality home.
Only Rulers can interfere with Appraisal.
Rulers have ruler skills, and on top of that, they’re connected to the system.
Even the queen hasn’t reached that position, but this individual had done it.
“Hi there. I’m your grandma.”
I jokingly introduced myself, approaching in a friendly manner.
“Sorry to ask this right off the bat, but could you stop attacking the queen now, please?”
Hearing that, the creature tilted its head, then waved a leg from side to side.
It refused.
It must have tilted its head to imply that it didn’t know why I would ask such a thing.
“I see. I suppose I have no choice, then.”
It’s not that it didn’t occur to me to try to bring the Ruler onto my team.
However, I judged that it was too dangerous to leave this thing to its own devices.
If it wasn’t going to listen to me, I’d just have to crush it on the spot.
“Well, that was a short-lived relationship. Good-bye.”
With a swing of my arm, I crushed the individual.
Ruler or not, it hadn’t been alive for that long.
Unable to withstand my attack, it died just about instantly.
Or so I’d thought.
But the attack on the queen continued.
An attack that eroded the soul directly, which no skill should have been able to do.
I killed the source, yet the attack persisted.
I don’t know what kind of tricks it used, but that meant it wasn’t dead.
Since then, I’ve been chasing it all over.
I’ve been doing so despite the fact that I’m at a huge disadvantage, since the individual is a master of Teleport magic.
On top of that, there have been signs that it can track my movements.
Even with Kin Control, I can grasp only a vague idea of where the queen might be, never mind this creature.
There’s nothing more pointless than chasing something you can never catch up with.
And doing something that I know is pointless is incredibly tiring.
In the meantime, we lost not only the queen’s subordinates but even my own puppet taratects.
It would be dangerous to keep warring against that thing.
Yet the all-important queen kept getting attacked, with no way of escaping.
Then the queen died.
I had known for a while that it was the most likely outcome, but when I actually lost one of my queens, it tore open a hole in my heart.
One of my own kin who’d fought alongside me for so many years, gone.
This was a huge loss.
I went to the Bottom Stratum of the Great Elroe Labyrinth, where the queen died.
But I couldn’t even find her body anywhere.
My soul trembled.
A powerful rage that I hadn’t felt in ages burned in my heart.
Never.
I’d never forgive it for this.
I’m going to destroy that thing, and not just because it turned its soul-eroding fangs on me.
Luckily, this attack is much weaker than the one on the queen.
Even my soul, already on the verge of death, can bear it for now.
“You seem to be having quite a bit of trouble.”
In the Bottom Stratum, an earth dragon spoke to me with Telepathy.
It was the guardian of this area, the leader of the earth dragons, earth dragon Gakia.
Behind him were some of the strongest of the already powerful earth dragons.
And I sensed fierce hostility rolling off them toward me.
“And what if I am? You know if you interfere with me you’ll be violating the pact, right?”
“That was an agreement between you and our lord. We will obey the lord’s orders, of course, but unfortunately we have not been ordered not to oppose you.”
I thought back to the lord of the earth dragons, Gülie.
Clearly, he hadn’t disciplined his subordinates properly.
“How very shrewd. So? What makes you want to fight me so badly that you’d even go against your lord’s orders?”
“Do you not agree that it is time for the old to be culled?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“A new wind is blowing. You are the oldest Divine Beast. Should we elders not withdraw from this world to make way for the new?”
Was the “new wind” he was blathering about that individual I’d been fighting?
“You’re joking. So what, then—we leave everything up to the newbies? That’s how we got into this situation in the first place. Why else would someone as ancient as me have to start getting involved?”
If so, then this wasn’t a joke at all.
Did he know why that strange individual was born?
There was no way something like that just came about naturally.
I had to assume there was a reason behind it.
Did these guys know what it was?
“Eldest Divine Beast. We cannot understand why you are after that being. However, we infer that you are being cornered. Is that being the one who has cornered you? Or are we gravely mistaken?”
I knew it.
These guys knew about that thing.
They knew, and they had expectations of it.
What in the world was that individual?
“That being’s strength is so great that it has managed to defeat our brethren. You cannot simply expect to arrive late on the scene and easily harm it.”
“See, this is the problem with dragons…”
Dragons, especially earth dragons, value strength way too highly. They respect anyone strong, no matter who it is.
Even if the strength in question was being used to kill their own kin.
“Such strength must be treated with reverence. That being, especially, has grown to be able to defeat our brethren in such a short time.”
Reverence?
For that thing?
“No waaay.”
These words spilled out of my mouth unbidden.
It caught even me off guard.
What did I just say?
Something felt strange, as if someone else’s thoughts had crept into my own.
I was being encroached on.
That individual’s attack on my soul was slowly but surely eating me from the inside.
Me, who rules over Gluttony, being consumed.
Noticing the irony, I couldn’t help but scratch my head irritably.
“So? Are you guys going to back off or what?”
That irritation leaked into my attitude toward the dragons.
“We shall not. We, too, are old creatures, ripe to be destroyed. I cannot think of a more beautifully fitting stage for our end than buying time against the eldest Divine Beast.”
“Speak for yourself. I still intend to devour everything.”
My word was as good as a promise.
I took a step forward to devour the earth dragons.
That was some time ago now.
It’s all but impossible to sense the passage of time in the darkness of the labyrinth, so I have no idea how long it’s been since our battle first began.
“Magnificent.”
Earth dragon Gakia collapses.
“I could say the same for you.”
They really were magnificent.
Despite the huge difference in strength between us, Gakia and his earth dragons gave me a run for my money.
Aside from the unique opponent I’m dealing with right now, it has been quite a long time since I struggled this much in a direct confrontation.
“I am…satisfied.”
The light fades from Gakia’s eyes.
His long life has finally come to an end.
Part 5 of 8