Part 5 of 8
We’re in danger on all sides.
If we don’t do something fast, we’re seriously screwed.
“White!”
As I try to come up with a plan, someone sends me a telepathic message.
It’s the Demon Lord.
“I’ll take care of the fighters, so you do something about that flying saucer’s main gun!”
Do something?
I mean, I’ll try my best, but is that really the kind of thing I can do anything about?
“White one.”
Another voice enters the telepathic conversation. This one must be Potimas.
“Use the weapon I gave you against the enemy’s main gun. That should be enough to destroy it.”
Oh yeah, now that he mentions it, I do have that thing.
The bazooka, the thing Potimas gave me so we could break into the UFO.
The idea was to use it to bust through the UFO’s exterior so we could get inside, so I guess it can probably destroy the UFO’s main gun, too.
I mean, if it can get through the exterior, why not?
But then I’d be using up the bazooka’s only shot on the gun. How are we supposed to get inside?
“But we won’t be able to break in if she does that.”
The Demon Lord raises the same concerns I had.
“Fear not. It is more than powerful enough to destroy the main gun. It will destroy the outer wall along with the emplacement.”
Ahhh.
So it’s gonna blow away the main gun along with the wall behind it, and then we’ll get in through there?
Hrmmm. Is that really gonna work?
Well, I guess I have no choice but to trust him on that right now.
“’Kay.” I answer shortly.
“’Kay?”
“She means ‘okay, no problem.’”
Potimas doesn’t understand my shortened response, so the Demon Lord explains for me.
Yeah, it’s kinda convenient to have her around at times like these, since she usually gets what I’m thinking.
“Gotcha. So we gotta fly on up to that big ol’ gun, right?”
Hyuvan, who was listening to our conversation, confirms our course of action.
I nod.
“You got it, boss! Hang on tight!”
With that, it speeds toward the main gun.
As if guessing our intentions, a bunch of fighters start swarming us.
“Tch!”
“Ignore them—keep going.”
Hyuvan seems concerned about the planes, so I try to tell it to just focus on moving forward.
As the fighters come toward us, I ward them off with Wind Magic.
They’ve got the same barrier as the tank, so my beloved Dark Magic won’t work on them.
Which means I have to use Wind Magic, whether I like it or not.
Seriously, you never know what’s going to come in handy someday.
I figured I might need Fire, Water, and Earth Magic, and I really do use them in everyday life from time to time, but I never imagined I’d need to use any other kinds of magic.
I mean, Dark Magic is more than adequate for attacking.
It’s stronger and faster, since my skill level and experience with it are higher, so it doesn’t make sense to use other kinds of magic that I’m not as used to.
Man, it’s a good thing I still leveled up my other magic skills, though.
This just goes to show that you can never have too many skills.
Even my other totally useless skills might turn out to be my saving grace one day, maybe! At least I hope so.
Seriously, when am I supposed to use Shieldsmanship and junk like that?
Is there even any shield out there that’s stronger than my body?
All right, yeah, I’m getting off topic here. Back to fighting the aircraft.
They must sense something about Hyuvan and me, ’cause they’re coming after us like nobody’s business.
I guess that might be for the best, since it buys the other dragons time to recover, but since I’ve got to destroy the main gun over here, I don’t have time to mess around with these damn planes.
That’s why I told Hyuvan to keep moving forward.
As I knock the pursuing aircraft out of the sky with Wind Magic, we keep heading toward the UFO.
Luckily, the main gun doesn’t seem capable of firing in rapid succession. It appears to still be charging, so there’s no sign that it’s about to fire or anything.
Still, that doesn’t mean we’ve got time to mess around.
If I don’t destroy that main gun before it fires again, our forces on the ground will be wiped out.
That gun was strong enough to blow away a dragon without leaving a trace, so even the strongest part of our ground troops, the queen taratects, would be far from safe.
I can’t afford to miss.
Ugh, if it wasn’t for this UFO’s stupid barrier, I could just teleport right in front of the UFO’s main gun and blow it away with the bazooka, easy as pie.
Normally, I can use Short-Range Teleport to get to anything within eyeshot, but apparently, it doesn’t work like that when that damn mystery barrier is in play.
I guess it’s because Spatial Magic can’t do anything until you’ve designated a point in space for it to work on.
But it’s impossible to designate any space within the barrier. If I try, I’m just wasting energy.
And even if it’s not touching the barrier directly, any space that’s too close to the barrier is still hard to target properly.
The mystery barrier seems to act on space itself, so maybe that’s why.
Dammit, these barriers are a pain in my ass!
Who the hell developed such a dangerous thing?!
It was Potimas, obviously!
I wish that guy would just drop dead already.
Preferably in the past, before he has a chance to develop this damn barrier.
Does anyone have a time machine I could borrow?
I just wanna pop in to whenever Potimas was born and kill him on the spot.
Then the past would get rewritten, so the barrier would stop existing in the present.
Whew. Okay. Time to stop thinking about stupid things and focus on my job.
I can ward off the fighters without a problem, and the Demon Lord is bringing them down left and right while protecting the wyrms, so I should be able to destroy the main gun before it fires its second shot.
If I miss with the bazooka, then we’re totally screwed, so we have to get as close to the UFO as possible so I can fire from a distance where I can’t possibly miss.
…Huh? Wait a second.
Get close to the UFO?
Q: Where am I keeping the bazooka again?
A: In Spatial Storage.
But if I’m near the mystery barrier, I can’t use Spatial Magic.
Well, shit!
I won’t be able to take out the bazooka if I’m too close to the UFO!
And since Hyuvan is a speed-centric dragon, we’re getting closer to the UFO by the second.
It’s practically right under our noses already.
Uh-oh. I gotta take the bazooka out fast!
Panicking, I hurriedly try to pull the bazooka out of Spatial Storage.
It’s stupidly big and long, practically the size of a telephone pole.
Dammit! This thing is huge! How am I supposed to get it out?!
And of course you choose this exact moment to show what you’re made of, you damn grunt!
How are you speeding so close to the UFO without losing a second?
C’mon! Slow it down a little!
I won’t be able to pull out the bazooka!
This is a stupid yet serious predicament I’ve found myself in here.
But somehow, I barely make it in time!
Just as I manage to pull the bazooka out entirely, the effects of the barrier make the entrance to my Spatial Storage disappear.
Geez, that was close.
If that had happened while I was still taking out the bazooka, it might’ve gotten broken in half.
Or, like, gotten split between two dimensions or whatever.
“Nice! You ready, girlie?! Here goes nothin’!”
Seeing that I’ve got the bazooka out, Hyuvan charges right toward the main gun.
Pretending that our plan never came this close to being totally ruined, I put on a blank expression and ready the bazooka.
Seriously, nobody needs to know that the ground troops almost got blown away because of my stupid miscalculation.
Whew. Good thing I made it in time.
Seriously.
I steady the bazooka on my shoulder.
There’s no complicated mechanism involved in firing this thing. All you have to do is pull the trigger.
Although you need to be crazy strong just to be able to hold up this giant thing.
The UFO’s gun is right in front of us.
Even a total noob wouldn’t be able to miss from this distance.
Perfect!
With that decided, I pull the trigger.
Bad move, as it turns out.
Between the stress of what just happened and the relief of making it in time before the second shot could be fired, I guess I was a little too careless.
I stupidly forgot exactly who made the bazooka in my hands.
Light blasts out of the bazooka.
This bazooka is apparently a similar weapon to the UFO and the aircraft, since it shoots a beam of light instead of physical ammo.
Now, that’s all well and good.
The problem is, the light also blasts out of the other end, right toward me.
Uh-oh.
As soon as that thought crosses my mind, I relinquish my tight hold on Hyuvan’s body, shoving off as far away from it as I can.
It’s not like I did that with any real forethought, but it would’ve gotten caught up in it if I stayed there, so I think that was the right move.
Caught up in what, you ask?
The exploding bazooka, that’s what!
The light from the bazooka hits the UFO’s main gun head-on.
True to Potimas’s guarantee, it busts right through the gun and blows through the wall beyond it.
That’s also good.
But the light from the bazooka also blows away the hands I was holding it with.
Not only that, but the shoulder that was supporting it and even my human head.
In fact, my whole damn human half goes flying off, and half my spider body gets blown up right with it.
Luckily, I’m able to avoid any more damage thanks to the fact that I’m now free-falling away from the light.
That also distances me from the barrier’s range enough that I can use magic again.
Forcing myself to stay conscious, I desperately cast Healing Magic on myself.
Thank goodness I learned Miracle Magic, the advanced form of Recovery Magic.
Otherwise, I could never have recovered from half my brain being blown away.
I probably still wouldn’t have died, thanks to my Immortality skill, but I wouldn’t be able to think with my whole head missing.
Even half my brain being gone is a huge problem. It takes time to heal that kind of injury, so I’m not gonna be able to fight for a while.
Obviously, normal Healing Magic takes a lot of time to restore a missing body part.
Especially a complicated organ like the brain.
In fact, if I didn’t have both Immortality and Miracle Magic, I’d be dead right now, wouldn’t I?!
Yeah, I know, that must have been exactly what Potimas was trying to do!
Yes, that bazooka did exactly what he said it would.
It destroyed the main gun and made a hole for us to enter the UFO.
The fact that it’s one use only was true, too.
I mean, obviously you can’t use it a second time if this is what happens!
How are you gonna fire it again when it blows itself up, not to mention takes the person who fired it down with it!
Which means Potimas intended to kill whoever used it—either the Demon Lord or me.
I knew that guy was our enemy!
How evil do you have to be to go after our lives while we’re trying to save the world here?!
Gravity carries me toward the ground.
Most of my power is focused on healing my brain right now, so I can’t reposition myself in midair.
I gotta finish healing my brain before I crash into the ground!
Luckily, it turns out I’m worrying for nothing.
Something catches my body from below.
“You okay, lady?!”
Hyuvan scoops me onto its back right in midair.
Ooh, nice catch, buddy.
I know I called you a grunt and all, but you’re my favorite person in the world right now.
Dashing gallantly to the rescue when I’m in danger? You just gained a massive opinion modifier with me.
I can’t use Telepathy properly just yet, so I tap its back to let it know I’m all right.
“You’re alive! You had me sweatin’ it out that you was dead, you stinkin’ idiot!”
Hey, I’m not an idiot, and I don’t stink.
Ahhh, my spider brain is finally intact again.
Boy, Miracle Magic is crazy, restoring half my brain in such a short time after it was blown away like that.
Guess they don’t call it “Miracle” for nothin’.
“Hang in there! I’ll find someone in a jiff who can use Healing Magic!”
Hyuvan’s all worked up now. Sorry, pal, but I’m already on it.
It seems like it’s about to turn around and leave, so I stop it with a telepathic message.
“It’s okay. I can heal myself.”
We can’t turn back now.
I’ve gotta bust into that UFO right away.
“What? You sure?”
“I’m sure. Please bring me there.”
I point at the UFO with a spider leg.
I should be able to finish healing by the time we get back up there, so it’s no problem.
Right, I’ve got a job to do.
I’ve gotta get my revenge on the dirty bastard who’s on his way into the UFO right now!
Heh-heh. Just you wait, Potimas!
I’ll make you pay for trying to kill me!
THE VAMPIRE MISTRESS AND HER SERVANT DISCUSS POTIMAS
“The more MA energy you use, the shorter the planet’s life span gets. People didn’t know that back then, so they mistook it for an unknown source of limitless energy and used it to their little hearts’ content. That’s what put their civilization on the path to destruction.”
“Such grave foolishness. They must not have held a speck of the wisdom you described, young miss.”
“I told you, we can’t blame them. A certain bastard deliberately set them up, remember?”
“Young miss, you must not use such crass language. Even if he is a bastard.”
“What else am I supposed to call him?”
“You have a point, but still…”
“That bastard killed my parents and tried to kill both of us, too.”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“And Ariel told us that he’s always been a bastard, even in ancient times when that civilization still existed. If that’s not a bona fide bastard, then what is?”
“I understand your feelings, but I do not think it befits a lady to say ‘bastard’ so many times.”
“Oh? Me, a lady? Goodness…”
(The young miss is embarrassed.)
“…Do you think they’re all right up there?”
“We need not worry about Lady Ariel and Lady White, I am sure. Although I am a bit concerned for Miss Ael and company.”
“But they’re with Potimas, remember? I wouldn’t be surprised if that bastard tries to stab them in the back.”
“That certainly is possible. However, I am sure that Lady Ariel and Lady White will be prepared for such an eventuality.”
“Right. You’re right, of course.”
“Besides, even that man would surely not attempt such foolishness when the world is at stake, no?”
“Yeah right. Potimas is a bona fide bastard, remember? Whether the world’s in danger or not, he’d gladly betray someone if given the chance.”
“My apologies. I confess I thought the same thing, but I did not wish to say so.”
“Right? This is the same guy who discovered MA energy and convinced humans to use it even though he knew that could destroy everything. Why would he care if the world’s in danger or not?”
“Indeed. I suppose there is no reason he would be concerned for the fate of the world now when he is the very same man who endangered it in the past.”
“Not to mention, isn’t he the one who developed that UFO in the first place? How many times does he have to put the world in danger of destruction before he’s satisfied?”
“I suspect he will continue to do so until he dies.”
“What a scary thought. But the scariest thing is that you’re probably right.”
RESTRAINT
“Hrmph. So you survived, eh?”
When I reach the UFO, I receive this brazen greeting from Potimas.
We’re currently entering the UFO through the hole where the main gun used to be.
Amid the whirling dust and debris, Potimas looks completely calm.
“Hey, what’s the big idea, punk? If you was behind that kablooey, you ain’t gettin’ off scot-free!”
Hyuvan glares at Potimas menacingly, but the elf is defiant.
“Do you really need me to explain it to you?”
Potimas’s attitude only makes Hyuvan’s rage even more intense.
It could’ve easily gotten caught up in the explosion of the bazooka if I hadn’t jumped away, so I can understand why it’s so angry.
The dragon that carried Potimas here joins Hyuvan in directing powerful anger toward Potimas.
And of course, I’m plenty pissed off myself.
Yet, despite the furious gazes focused on him, Potimas’s lax attitude doesn’t change.
“So what yer sayin’ is, you went and did that on purpose. That right?”
Hyuvan’s Telepathy carries the weight of a final warning.
Potimas snorts. “And what if I did?”
Clearly, he’s not about to apologize.
The only response he gets is an attack.
Hyuvan’s claws rake through the air where Potimas was standing just seconds ago.
However, the dragon’s roar of frustration tells me that didn’t go the way it hoped.
“Oh dear. That was close.”
Potimas is now standing a short distance away from Hyuvan.
He dodged the attack of a dragon specialized in speed.
And judging by the way he’s brushing the dust off his clothes, it didn’t take a lot of effort.
…This guy’s totally a narcissist.
Every damn move he makes comes off as smug somehow.
“Tch. Lucky break. I won’t miss next time.”
Hyuvan gets ready to attack again, but Potimas holds up a hand to stop it.
“Are you sure about that? If you were to dispose of me now, it would make dealing with the GMA bomb far more difficult.”
“But not impossible, pal.”
“However, no one but I will be able to do it quickly. Who’s to say that the bomb won’t be dropped while someone else is trying to figure it out? Or that they won’t accidentally set it off in the process? Is it really in your best interest to harm the only person guaranteed not to run such risks?”
Hyuvan growls unhappily.
Potimas is basically using himself as a hostage. And unfortunately, it’s working.
The Demon Lord does have the plans for the UFO and the bomb, so it wouldn’t be impossible to disable the bomb with those as a guide.
But I have to admit that none of us will be able to do it as quickly as the man who developed these weapons in the first place.
If we want to be absolutely sure this will go smoothly, this guy is our best bet.
Even if he’s not the safest or most optimal choice.
“What is your role, you so-called dragons? You exist to keep this world running smoothly, do you not? Think about it, then. Is destroying me right now in a fit of anger really what’s best for this world or not?”
Potimas spreads his hands melodramatically.
As soon as it hears the words “so-called dragons,” Hyuvan reluctantly backs down.
Hyuvan’s grunt-like attitude makes it seem stupid, and I’m pretty sure it is, but it does understand its place.
If it puts its emotions aside, it can easily conclude that it wouldn’t make sense to kill Potimas now.
Although I’m not sure if letting him live is necessarily a wise move, either…
But considering its role and responsibilities, Hyuvan can’t kill Potimas.
And Potimas knows that, which is why he’s being a huge asshole about it.
“How will your precious boss feel if you doom the world to destruction simply because you threw a tantrum over being nearly killed?”
Since Hyuvan can’t respond, Potimas just keeps fanning the flames.
“It’s not myself I’m mad about, pal. But you owe the white one an apology, if you ask me.”
Oh my gosh. Hyuvan’s not mad on its own behalf; it’s mad because I almost died?
This is one hunky dragon! Pretty cool for a lowly grunt.
If I were a dragon myself, I’d probably fall for it.
I’m not, though, so we’re safe.
“Ridiculous. We have been enemies from the start. What is wrong with attempting to get a leg up on your enemies?”
“You trash! Stickin’ to your guns, huh?!”
Hyuvan bares its fangs at the unapologetic elf.
However, because of its position, Hyuvan can’t lay a hand on him.
That’s got nothing to do with me, though.
And if the man himself says there’s nothing wrong with trying to get a leg up on your enemy, that goes for me, too, right?
“Hnnngh?!”
Since Potimas is totally focused on Hyuvan, I swing my giant scythe at him.
My body’s already been restored to full power thanks to my Miracle Magic.
On top of that, the UFO’s mystery barrier seems to affect only its exterior, not the interior.
In other words, I can use my skills in here no problem.
I should be able to fight to my full capabilities.
Which means I can catch Potimas off guard with a surprise attack and finish him before he has a chance to activate that barrier!
Potimas barely dodges the first attack.
But after that, he has no chance to dodge the second swing.
Gotcha!
But my confidence turns out to be in vain.
My scythe freezes in the air mid-swing.
The scythe and my body have been stopped by thread so thin, it’s nearly invisible.
There’s only one person who can pull that off.
“White, I get how you feel and all, but could you hold off for now?”
The Demon Lord is walking up behind me.
It’s not a surprise, though. Thanks to Detection, I already knew the Demon Lord was inside the UFO.
But I wanted to see what she was going to do, so I’d been ignoring her.
Looks like she’s planning on keeping Potimas alive until this whole affair is dealt with.
Hmm. If that’s what she wants, I guess I’ll go along with it for now.
I use Short-Range Teleport to free myself from the thread.
That might seem like an excessive use of Teleport, but honestly, that’s the only way I can escape from the Demon Lord’s thread.
For a moment after I free myself, the Demon Lord looks panicked, but she calms down when she sees I’m not going to do anything else.
“Honestly. You ought to at least discipline your spawn properly.”
Potimas grumbles as he brushes some dusts his clothes.
That attitude pisses me off. If the Demon Lord hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve had his head.
But then the cocky elf suddenly sinks to the floor.
That’s not a metaphor or a joke. Literally, his body just sinks to the floor.
“You’re the one who needs to be disciplined, don’t you think?”
The culprit who sank Potimas to the floor, the Demon Lord herself, stands on his back.
In the blink of an eye, she used a move sort of like a judo throw to smash him onto the floor, then pinned him down so hard that he actually made an indent in the floor.
What an incredible, almost pointlessly polished move.
It might be even more impressive that Potimas didn’t take any damage, despite being slammed to the ground.
However, that’s only physical damage we’re talking about.
Considering how enormous his ego seems to be, I’m sure being put in such a position must be humiliating to him.
“If you try to pull any more funny business, I’m going to kill you on the spot. Got it?”
“Hmph. If you think you can get by without me, go right ahead.”
“So that means you are planning on more funny business?”
“If you let your guard down, certainly.”
This guy just casually stated that he plans to betray us if he gets the chance.
No, I guess counting him as an ally was a mistake in the first place.
Are we sure we shouldn’t just kill him right now?
“Oh yeah? Go ahead and try it, then.”
The Demon Lord’s voice is low and threatening.
She must have put more weight on her foot, too; the floor starts cracking underneath him.
But Potimas’s expression is as cool as ever, as if he doesn’t even feel pain.
Well, I guess a cyborg body doesn’t need a sense of pain, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t include such a feature, but I would’ve liked to see him struggle and suffer.
I guess seeing him crushed to the ground like this does help a little, but not enough to satisfy me, y’know?
There’s definitely still a lot of anger pent up in my chest.
My body’s fixed now, but my clothes got destroyed, for one thing.
I’m wearing a spare outfit, but the one I had on before was one of my favorites, I’ll have you know!
“Hey, White. You wanna step on him, too?”
You better believe I do!
Leave it to the Demon Lord. She really gets me!
The Demon Lord removes her foot from Potimas’s back, so I stomp on him instead.
He tries to get away, of course, but that’s not gonna happen!
I pin down his back with one leg, then step on his head with the other.
Can’t forget to grind my foot into his face, too, of course.
“Rrrgh!”
Potimas emits a groan, possibly from humiliation.
He’s trying to squirm out from under me, but my feet have him pinned firmly to the ground.
It’s convenient having so many legs at times like these.
The only problem is that my feet actually end in pretty sharp claws, so I have to be careful not to stab right into him.
Wait. Is it really a problem if I do stab him?
“Oh whoopsie, I jabbed you a little by mistake, sorry~” I can totally get away with that right now!
Let’s get down to it, then!
Just then, my eyes suddenly fall on Potimas’s lower half.
And a divine revelation descends on me!
Hang on, though. This might be too evil even for me!
But now that I’ve had the idea, I can’t help it!
I’ve just gotta do it!
My third leg stabs right into you-know-what!
“Wha—?! Why, you!”
“Pffft!”
Potimas lets out a particularly dramatic reaction to that, causing the Demon Lord to snicker.
I did it. Oh, I did it, all right!
Aaaah!
What did I do, you ask? I stabbed his butt, that’s what.
Since he’s a cyborg, Potimas didn’t have a butthole, so I figured why not make one for him?
So I did! You’re welcome.
Potimas quakes uncontrollably with indignation, while the Demon Lord bursts out laughing.
Hyuvan and the rest of the dragons, on the other hand, look pretty freaked out.
“Yikes. This chick’s crazy.”
“Big bro, are we gonna have to start calling this lady Ms. White from now on or what?”
“We can’t ever get on her bad side, that’s for sure. She’s a demon, a white demon!”
Hyuvan, the dragon that was carrying Potimas, and the one that was carrying the Demon Lord all make their own comments.
They’re using Telepathy for a private exchange that only they’re supposed to be able to hear, but that stuff doesn’t escape my Detection, you know!
Come on—even I don’t do stuff like this normally.
“Bwa-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Whew… Aaah-ha-ha-ha-ha!”
The Demon Lord is smacking the floor and wheezing with laughter.
At this rate, she might actually bust right through the floor.
Well, I’m pretty satisfied that I got my sweet revenge, so I’ll take my feet off him now.
When I pull up the one that was jabbed into his butt, Potimas’s body twitches, making my victory all the sweeter. It causes the Demon Lord to burst out laughing all over again, but it’s worth it.
As soon as I remove my feet, Potimas scrambles away like a bat out of hell.
“It has been many an age since… No, this may even be the first time that I have been treated so disgracefully.”
Potimas’s normally composed expression is contorted with rage.
“I shall kill you. This I swear. And in the most gruesome manner I can imagine at that.”
Aw, shucks. A vow of violence for little old me?
Thanks, ol’ chap.
“Unfortunately, now is not that time. As I said before, I shall gladly make an attempt on your lives if given the chance, but right now, resolving this situation takes precedence.”
Potimas closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, calming himself.
“Until said situation is resolved, I shall let this incident slide. Consider yourself fortunate.”
Potimas’s dramatic statement makes the Demon Lord start snickering again.
I can’t blame her. Lines like that are pretty in character for this guy, but in this particular situation, it’s just hilarious.
Like, he’s clearly trying to hang on to his last shred of dignity.
That only makes it even funnier, especially to the Demon Lord, apparently.
“And you. How long do you intend to roll around laughing like an imbecile? Consider our situation.”
He’s not wrong, but since he’s saying that with such a sour look on his face, it clearly just sounds like he’s taking out his anger on the Demon Lord.
Amazing! Potimas’s credibility as a big shot is going down by the second!
At this rate, his stock’s gonna plummet so fast that they’ll have to stop selling shares!
“Ahhh…ha-ha…whew. Heh. That was hilarious all right.”
The Demon Lord wheezes as she tries to recover.
She’s definitely still smirking, to the point where it looks like she might bust a gut again at any second, but somehow she manages to pull herself together.
“Ha… Okay, where were we? If we let our guards down, you’ll kill us or whatever? I guess we’ll just have to rip you another new butthole whenever that happens. Pffft!”
The Demon Lord starts laughing all over again at her own joke.
“Enough already.”
I guess I can’t blame Potimas for losing his patience.
We’re not getting anywhere at this rate.
Although I’m the one who caused it in the first place (and I can’t say I regret it).
But considering the current situation and all, we should probably move on already.
“All right, all right. Let’s get down to business.”
The Demon Lord suppresses her smile, nodding seriously.
I can still see the corners of her lips twitching, but I’ll let it slide.
“We’ll just call it even for now, okay? We’re not gonna be able to work together as a team, but we can at least pool our resources here. You’ve got the know-how to deal with these machines, and we’ve got our serious firepower. So we’ll just use each other. Instead of trying to play nice, we’ll just assume we’re going to stab each other in the back. Any objections?”
“None.”
None? Really?!
Are we seriously okay with this?
The fate of the world is at stake—you know that, right?
But I guess it’s not like we can just start trusting Potimas now.
Huh? Wait a sec.
Depending on how you look at it, isn’t this kind of a three-way battle?
The Demon Lord and I are basically in a cold war right now.
And Potimas is obviously an enemy to both of us.
Since he called me “the Demon Lord’s spawn” earlier, he must not realize that the Demon Lord and I are actually enemies with a shaky truce.
Depending on how this goes, couldn’t I use Potimas to get rid of the Demon Lord once and for all?
But that also means that if I’m not careful, she could do the same thing to me.
And Potimas’s aggro is totally concentrated on me right now…
Oh geez.
I guess I have to be even more careful than I thought.
Oh, I know! I can have Hyuvan run interference for me.
“Dragons, you guys can go back and make sure we keep control of the skies, ’kay? You don’t need to do anything crazy, just help our troops on the ground keep the advantage.”
“You got it, boss. You gonna be okay, though?”
“Yeah, we’re fine.”
We are certainly not fine!
“If you say so. Be careful in there!”
With that, Hyuvan and the other dragons take off into the skies.
Now it’s just the Demon Lord, Potimas, and me.
Not exactly my ideal situation.
“Okay, let’s get moving. Looks like there’s a welcome party waiting for us first, though.”
The Demon Lord scowls into the UFO.
A small army of robots is approaching from within.
Looks like they kept plenty of troops on board to deal with any intruders.
THE STRUGGLE OF THE PONTIFF’S GROUND FORCES
In the distance, I see a great number of machines approaching, creating an enormous cloud of dust.
I swallow my spit in an attempt to soothe my parched throat, but it has little effect in the dry air of this wasteland.
It appears I am more nervous than I realized.
As the pontiff of the Word of God religion, there is no reason I should be part of this battle.
As I stand under the pressure of the battlefield, I realize all too clearly that I am a politician, not a commander.
Or perhaps I should say remember, not realize.
Long ago, before the Word of God religion became such a large organization, I commanded an army once.
However, I soon learned that I had no talent for war.
As it is a role that uses one’s mind, I thought I should at least be able to feign it adequately. Yet, when it came time to enter the battlefield, I found I was nothing more than a scarecrow.
There are times, such as this one, when I have no other choice but to participate, but otherwise I prefer to leave it to my more talented subordinates.
The right person, the right place, the right time.
This should not be my battlefield.
But this time, there is meaning behind my presence here.
Before me stand the knights of the Word of God.
There are thirty thousand of them, all told.
Normally, they are meant to stay at the Word of God’s focal point, the Holy Kingdom of Alleius, as the strongest line of defense.
But these are the only men I could mobilize on such short notice.
As a result, the Holy Kingdom has been left virtually defenseless.
Furthermore, it is very likely that many knights will make the ultimate sacrifice in the coming battle, meaning that Alleius’s military might will be vastly depleted.
Coupled with our recent failed attempt at invading Sariella, we are suffering so many losses that the kingdom itself could crumble.
However, we are in no position to hold back.
The fate of the world hangs in the balance.
I, of all people, cannot bring anything short of my full forces to such a battle.
Even if others might forgive it, I myself would not.
This is all so I can keep my vow to do anything it takes for the sake of humanity.
Even if I must sacrifice my “power” in the form of the Word of God organization, I will gladly do so if it means humanity is protected.
And if it will raise my knights’ morale, then I cannot hesitate to be present at this battlefield, either.
Even if I am a subpar commander, my presence gives these knights strength.
If I am to send these people to their deaths, the least I can do is offer them that small comfort.
I cannot simply sit around when the world is in peril.
“Thank you for gathering here today, all of you.”
My amplified voice reaches every knight.
“The forces you are about to fight are far stronger than any monsters you have faced; this battle will likely be the fiercest you have ever encountered.”
The knights listen intently, hanging on to my every word.
“Your opponents are the vanguard of evil creatures who once felled our god. The surviving creatures have returned to attempt to destroy the world once more. Know that the very survival of our world depends on the outcome of this battle!”
When I finish my speech, the knights raise a battle cry so loud, it almost seems to shake the earth itself.
These knights are devout believers in the Word of God.
Normally, this situation would make no sense to most people, but they have absolute trust in the words of their pontiff.
This is my “power.”
I know all too well that I am exploiting these people, in a way.
But the time when I felt guilt for such a thing has long since passed.
I have no hesitation about sending them to near-certain death.
“Charge!”
On my order, the knights raise another yell and rush forward.
But then an explosive roar drowns out their cries.
The wind blows so violently that I’m forced to shut my eyes.
When I attempt to open them again, another gale blows into my face.
But in the moment that my eyes are open, I see the mechanical soldiers’ formation falling apart.
The machines are being crushed and annihilated along with the very ground.
And more attacks mercilessly follow.
This brutal assault is the work of the queen taratects: the legendary-class monsters Lady Ariel summoned.
The queen taratects’ breath attacks are what’s currently decimating the machine soldiers.
Few monsters are categorized as legendary class.
It’s a level considered beyond the ability of any humans to fight—essentially a living natural disaster.
Most of them are beings that were made to manage this world, working under the supervision of Lord Black Dragon.
But the queen taratects, which Lady Ariel created, are a notable exception.
Unlike the other legendary-class monsters, which were designed to be such from the beginning, these are base monsters that have evolved to incredible heights.
It’s said that a single one of these powerful beings can ruin an entire nation.
That is the queen taratect: a distinctive monster even among the rare legendary class.
And there are four of them here.
How many human kingdoms could these four monsters destroy?
It’s said that an entire army led by a hero once managed to defeat a single queen taratect.
The hero and most of the army were lost in the process.
Even then, it was a miracle they were able to defeat it at all.
And now four of these almighty monsters are fighting on our side.
I cannot think of a more powerful ally.
The queen taratects take turns mowing down the enemy’s mechanical soldiers with breath attacks.
This causes an unimaginable amount of destruction that stops the charging knights in their tracks.
They have no other choice.
If they kept advancing, they would be caught up in the queen taratects’ destructive rampage.
There is nothing humans such as them can do in the face of such destruction.
Still, I would not complain if the queen taratects alone were to wipe out all our enemies.
Unfortunately, it looks as though we won’t be so lucky.
Large balls of light hurtle toward the queen taratects.
It’s a counterattack from the large “tank” machines, which are advancing right in the face of the queen taratects’ breath attacks.
According to Lady Ariel, these tanks have a magic-inhibiting barrier.
The queen taratects’ breath attack is a magic art, so the barrier renders it useless.
It cannot protect the tanks from collateral damage, like the shock waves knocking them into the air, but a direct attack from Breath has no effect.
And worse, there is little that any humans can do to break through these tanks’ defenses.
The anti-magic barrier is troublesome, but worse yet, the tanks’ armor is simply so sturdy that no human attack could hope to scratch it.
Our only choice is to entrust the tanks to forces other than the knights, like Lady Ariel’s kin or Potimas’s machine weapons.
Indeed, even the smaller machines are a great challenge for the knights.
It takes several of them to even stand a chance at destroying one machine.
These are elite soldiers who have undergone rigorous training, yet there is a limit to their individual strength.
The human race, you see, is terribly weak.
So what is their role in this battle?
Essentially: meat shields.
They are a living wall meant to slow the machine army’s progress.
These knights are not here to defeat the machines but simply to buy time and nothing more.
It is for that small purpose that they die.
The tanks’ attacks force the queen taratects to pause their breath attacks, and the machine soldiers use this chance to resume their advance.
Their numbers have been considerably thinned out by the breath attacks, but because there were so many to begin with, one cannot say that there are few of them remaining now.
These mechanical soldiers now begin to attack the knights.
Their light bullets pierce right through them, fatally injuring most of those in the front ranks.
And yet, the elite knights continue their advance until their very last breath.
When they fall, they fall forward, not one of them retreating.
And the fallen knights are quickly trodden over by the knights who were marching behind them.
Even as corpses begin to cover the ground, my soldiers continue to advance.
If our opponents were living things, perhaps they would feel fear or hesitation at the alarming determination of the knights’ onslaught.
But on this day, we are fighting emotionless machines.
They calmly press forward, firing more light bullets at the knights.
Finally, the two sides clash directly.
The knights charge the machines and eat into their ranks, striking out with sword and shield.
They succeed in destroying a few of the machines this way, but many more of the knights are defeated instead.
It is a natural outcome, since the machines possess greater strength and numbers than the human knights.
No matter how hard they might fight, they cannot make up for this discrepancy.
However, their actions can still buy enough time to allow others to succeed.
One of the tanks, crushing the knights beneath it, is suddenly hit in the side by a powerful attack.
The giant hunk of metal flies through the air and crashes hard into the ground.
Then it continues to roll, destroying any mechanical soldiers in its path.
When it finally stops, there is a dent in its hull so deep, it’s as if it took a direct hit from a cannon.
Another attack hits that same tank, sending it flying even farther away.
In its place stands a young girl, still swinging an indelicate blunt weapon that appears to be a hunk of metal with a handle.
Though she looks out of place on the battlefield, she is actually not a human but a puppet taratect, another of Lady Ariel’s kin.
Despite her innocuous appearance, her kind is one of the strongest of Lady Ariel’s spawn, second only to the queen taratects.
While her face may look cute, each of her six arms is brandishing one of these blunt metal weapons, so I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to misjudge her.
Lady Ariel told me before that even the puppet taratects were unable to match the tanks, but it appears there will be no such concern this time.
The other tanks nearby have already stopped moving, perhaps out of caution toward this new threat, but she strikes all of them anyway.
…Is that entirely necessary?
I would prefer her to focus on the tanks that are currently causing problems, not the ones that are sitting still.
As if hearing my thoughts, another one of the puppet taratects approaches the one still wailing on the stopped tanks and smacks her on the head.
Then the second puppet taratect points at a still-moving tank.
The first puppet taratect hesitates, though she seems to understand the second one’s meaning, but then a third one comes and deals her a swift kick.
Were it not for our current circumstance, this would simply be a charming scene of some young girls play fighting.
But these girls represent a powerful fighting force.
They should be battling seriously, not messing around.
More of my knights are losing their lives while these girls jest.
As if to ease my frustration, a queen taratect’s breath attack blasts through the machine soldiers’ rear lines.
It wreaks destruction on the mechanical soldiers, whose advance my knights laid down their lives to halt.
A flying machine speeds toward the queen taratect, but a wyrm knocks it out of the sky before it can attack.
Even now, the wyrms and flying machines are engaging in a fierce battle in the air.
They’ve accomplished their task of delivering Lady Ariel and company onto the enemy flagship, but the wyrms and dragons have no time to rest.
If they were not there to keep the flying machines occupied, no doubt our ground forces would be destroyed from above.
Thanks to the clean sweep of the queen taratects’ breath attacks, things on the ground are going more smoothly than expected.
However, that advantage is a delicate thing indeed.
The knights are currently holding back the machine soldiers’ advances enough that the queen taratects can attack as they wish, but if the machines break through, victory will be far less certain.
I doubt the queen taratects will go down easily, but the machines do have the advantage in numbers, and even a queen taratect is not completely invulnerable.
If the tanks all concentrated their fire on one, even a queen taratect would not escape unharmed.
Right now, the knights must buy time as human shields, allowing the queen and puppet taratects to whittle down the enemy’s numbers.
It will not be easy for the knights, but they must hold fast somehow.
However, the machines Potimas brought also concern me.
Thus far, they have not taken any assertive action.
They simply stay passive, as if waiting for the right moment, only occasionally intercepting enemy machines.
Instead of attacking independently, they primarily provide cover fire to maintain the front lines.
Considering their maker, surely they are capable of more than just this.
In this situation, I am certain that man would have brought more powerful machines.
Especially considering how the times have changed.
Our current enemies may have been created by a scientific culture at the height of its development, but they are now no more than relics that have been stored in underground ruins for countless years.
Yet, Potimas, the same man who designed them, has brought weapons to oppose them that he created a great deal of time later.
Since these machines share the same creator, it stands to reason that the newer ones should be far more powerful.
As long as he did not deliberately bring an inferior model, I cannot imagine that the weapons he chose would lose to these ancient machines.
And yet, they do not take any action of note. Could it be that he is plotting something?
It certainly could.
Knowing that man, I would not doubt it for a second.
The same is true of what happened earlier.
With my Panoptic Vision, I saw that strange creature with the upper body of a human atop that of a spider, the one they call “White,” use the weapon Potimas gave her to destroy the enemy flagship’s main gun. And I saw that same weapon attempt to destroy her, too.
That it injured its wielder so severely was no accident.
It was intended from the start to kill the one who fired it.
Yes, he was after Lady Ariel and Miss White.
He gave them that gun thinking it would be in his best interest to destroy at least one of them.
This was an assassination attempt. Potimas would surely do such a thing.
Even in an emergency as dire as this one.
Fortunately, it appears that Miss White was able to survive, but considering that the blast was powerful enough to destroy that enormous flagship’s cannon, I would not have been surprised if she didn’t.
In fact, it’s likely that Miss White was able to survive only because she has Healing Magic strong enough to quickly recover from even a major loss of body parts.
If Lady Ariel had been the one to use that gun, the worst might have even come to pass.
Lady Ariel is the most powerful being in this world after Lord Black Dragon, but like the queen taratect, she is not entirely invulnerable.
Even she may die.
Which is exactly what Potimas must have been thinking when he set that trap.
This is Potimas, after all. I have no doubt he chose that gun with the confidence that it would be able to kill Lady Ariel.
It is even possible that Lady Ariel handed it off to Miss White because she suspected something was amiss.
Whether that was because she trusted that Miss White would not die in such an event or simply because she did not care whether Miss White died or not, I have no way of knowing.
A white spider.
Healing Magic that can restore even a lost limb or organ.
And enough strength to hold her own in battle even alongside Lady Ariel and the dragons.
With all these hints, it is quite simple to deduce her identity.
The Nightmare of the Labyrinth.
The mysterious spider monster that appeared from the Great Elroe Labyrinth and took up residence in Sariella.
Perhaps she has evolved since then, or perhaps this is simply her true form, but Lady White and the Nightmare of the Labyrinth are almost certainly one and the same.
I doubt there can be more than one such creature in existence.
Even if Lady Ariel did have more of such powerful beings hidden away, I cannot imagine she would not bring them forth for a situation such as this one.
Besides, Lady Ariel herself stated that the Nightmare of the Labyrinth was not her subordinate.
In other words, the Nightmare was never under her control—and could very well have even been her enemy.
At the battle between Ohts and Sariella, the Nightmare was said to be engaged in an intense battle with another being.
Who could hold their own against the Nightmare and happened to be in the area at the time?
I can think of none but Lady Ariel.
To me, that is a sure sign that Lady Ariel and the Nightmare are, or at least were, at odds with each other.
Shortly thereafter, when I encountered Lady Ariel and asked her about the matter, she stated that she “had things under control.”
Part 5 of 8