Chapter 270: Intervention
Translator: Tseirp
There have been repeated skirmishes for nearly ten years since the conflict between the Elimasia Empire and the Rubruk Kingdom began.
At first, Lionel moved from battlefield to battlefield and the forces were evenly matched, but when Lionel actively joined the war, the Rubruk Kingdom’s army gradually began to be pushed back and allowed the Empire to invade.
However, due to the previous Emperor’s death, the war was temporarily suspended and only skirmishes continued.
After the new Emperor consolidated his footing, he once again ordered an invasion of the Rubruk Kingdom and the conflict between the two countries began once again.
That time, Lionel led the Imperial Army’s invasion of the Rubruk Kingdom as the commander-in-chief from the beginning, so they took several villages, towns, and forts on the front lines of the Rubruk Kingdom.
However, the Imperial Army, which had been attacking with great momentum, suddenly stopped its invasion.
The Kingdom Army found it strange, so they sent a spy to the Imperial Army and waited for information.
It turned out that Lionel had disappeared from the battlefield.
In a desperate bid, the Kingdom Army launched an all-out attack on the Imperial Army, but unlike when they attacked, the Empire’s morale was low and they were easily pushed back.
In fact, the situation developed to the point where the territory they had stolen was taken back.
However, the Empire did not simply back down.
The ones sent to the battlefield then were the Imperial special forces that Cloud had turned into demons.
Only a limited number of people within the Empire knew about that, and even those who commanded the army had no idea that they were demonized soldiers.
When the demonized soldiers entered the battlefield, the situation was reversed again but…
Early in the morning, numerous explosions rang out from the fortress built by the Elimasia Empire, and countless plumes of black smoke rose.
The demonized soldiers that Cloud had enslaved suddenly began to show anguish, completely lost their reasoning, and went berserk. They attacked those nearby indiscriminately.
At the same time, the Kingdom Army noticed that something was wrong and decided to immediately send spies to the Imperial Army, but a young knight apparently stopped them.
“There’s no need for that. We’ve already completed our intelligence work. It seems those monster-like strong individuals are rampaging indiscriminately. This is our chance to win.”
The knight had just joined the upper echelons, but his advice was adopted because he was highly trusted by the upper echelons.
It seemed that the Kingdom Army was planning to invade the fort.
The information up to this point was what I heard from the slave trader of the Winged Dragon unit.
I was a little curious as to who the young knight was, but I was more surprised by the fact that information about the Royal Army was transparent to the Imperial Army and the capabilities of the Empire’s intelligence unit.
By the way, Lionel brought not only the Emperor and His Highness, but also Melfina, Ryzak, Gladys, and the slave trader who had been telling us that.
It seemed that the slave trader was used as a navigator to know the exact location of the battlefield, Melfina, who was recovering from illness, was brought aboard by His Highness, Ryzak felt his life was in danger, and Gladys boarded the airship to watch and learn from Lionel.
There were many things I wanted to say, but since his reason for taking the Emperors with him was to bring the war to an end, I decided to relent.
And I was currently waiting on the airship, sitting astride Fornoir.
“…Will it go well?”
“Brrurururu”
“If you don’t mind, please use telepathy.”
‘It’ll be okay because I’m here. You really become weak-willed when there’s nobody around you…’
Fornoir’s tone was as if he was tired of it.
“The only people I can really show my weakness to are Fornoir and my masters. Even now, I feel like running away.”
‘Hah~ I’m not saying you should show your weakness, but you should trust your companions more. Also, since it’s a good time, I’ll say it clearly, it’s not good to be too arrogant.’
“Um…”
‘You didn’t notice? Lately, your tone is becoming sterner and when you ask others to do something, you take on a commanding tone.’
“…”
…Maybe I’m starting to adopt the pattern of a typical disliked boss…
If that’s the case, I’d be really shocked, but putting that aside, Fornoir is an amazing spirit after all, he could see through anything once he regained his power.
‘A strong force is needed to pull a herd, but there are various definitions of force, right? Once this battle is over, be a little more honest and face yourself properly before you lose sight of yourself.’
Face myself… huh?
“……Thank you.”
I thanked Fornoir while thinking that words alone were not enough to express my gratitude.
‘There’s no need to thank me. I’ll be taking your magical power in return.’
Apparently, it was a paid consultation.
I agreed with a wry smile, but I was worried about what would happen next, so I added something.
“Please don’t kill me by taking too much.”
“I know. Don’t worry, I mostly remembered how to use my powers when I defeated that winged dragon.’’
“Ah. Thank you, Fornoir.”
I thought to myself while saying thank you.
True, I don’t think I’ve ever received any counseling since I came to this world.
I thought it was because I would give off the impression that I was unreliable otherwise, partly because I’m young, but rather than wait until I have too much going on, I actually have many people around me who I can discuss it with.
Before I lose sight of myself…
Just as I was feeling a little better, I received a message from the magic communication bead.
“Luciel-sama, the battlefield will soon come into view. I apologize for making you play such a dangerous role, but I appreciate your understanding.’’
“It’s okay because I have a reliable partner here. I believe that Lionel will be able to unite the Imperial Army as the Sen’oni General.”
“I will.”
Shortly after receiving Lionel’s message, the battlefield came into view.
According to the slave trader’s information, the Elimasia Imperial Army and the Rubruk Kingdom Army had already begun a fierce battle.
“This looks like it’s going to be a pain… Dolan, is the main cannon ready?”
“It’s ready to fire anytime.”
“The target is the mountain ahead. Make sure to avoid the battlefield. Please also tell Ryina and Nanya to not shoot at anything apart from winged dragons and monsters.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Target, the mountain ahead… main cannon, fire!!”
“Magic power charge at 80%, main cannon firing!”
Immediately after the airship began to glow red, the light began to flow forward, forming a magic circle.
When the magic circle was completed, the light converged in the center of the magic circle and extended in a straight line toward the target mountain.
“Hold on tight.”
Immediately after Fornoir began to fly into the sky, the main cannon that hit the mountain caused a loud boom and a blast wave washed over the battlefield, completely stopping movement on the battlefield.
Then, their gazes turned toward the mountain and the airship that had released the shot.
Then, as Fornoir started descending at a rapid pace, I felt their gazes turn toward me.
I aimed my Illusion staff at the target and started chanting with all the magical power I had while using the magic crystal ball.
【O Holy Dragon, become the light that dispels everything, consume all curses and impurities, and purify the evil souls with salvation】
I continued to fill the Illusion staff with magical power, and when the Holy Dragon was large enough to be visible from below, I released it.
It seemed that neither the armies, nor any of the demonized special forces, had expected intervention from the air.
Even when the enormous Holy Dragon attacked, no one moved, regardless of whether they were the imperial army, the kingdom army, or the special forces.
I released additional Holy Dragons.
By then, people finally started running away from the Holy Dragons, but the Holy Dragon mercilessly swallowed them up.
‘They’re coming.’
Perhaps acting out of instinct, the members of the special forces who had not yet been engulfed approached me.
If they had stayed in place and get swallowed, they wouldn’t have to feel any pain, so it was really unfortunate.
The demonized soldiers fired magic and threw weapons that they picked up from all around them, but they weren’t able to hit Fornoir.
After dodging all of them and getting even closer, Fornoir’s aimed laser beam pierced through the special forces, and they were swallowed up by the Holy Dragon that arrived after that.
“We didn’t miss any demonized soldiers, right?”
‘Perhaps we just can’t see them, but I don’t think sense any other reactions. Should we return to the sky?”
“No, I want you to continue ahead toward the headquarters of the Rubruk Kingdom army.”
“Won’t that be dangerous?”
“I left the Empire to Lionel, and even if the Rubruk Kingdom were to attack, you would protect me, right?”
“If they attack, it’s okay to retaliate, right?”
I’d like to think that it was just my imagination that Fornoir sounded a little happy for some reason.
“Please refrain from killing them.”
‘I know.’
And Fornoir never touched the ground, but instead ran across the sky, aiming for the main base of the Ruburg Kingdom’s army.
After flying to a certain height, both armies began to notice something strange.
The demonized soldiers who had lost their sanity have returned to their original forms and regained their sense of reason, and those from both armies who were swallowed by the Holy Dragon, apart from missing limbs, had all their wounds completely healed. So of course, they noticed.
‘By the way, isn’t it about time you come forward?’
“Yeah, it might be the right time. The battlefield has come to a stop and everyone seems to be paying attention to us, so I think it’s time to declare the reason for our intervention.”
I took out a magic tool for amplifying sound from my magic bag.
I never thought that I would end up using something on the battlefield that Lionel was planning to use in the imperial capital, but since I’m using it now, it won’t go to waste.
With a wry smile, I announced my name.
“My name is Luciel. I am a former S-class healer, and currently the Sage.”
I came forward, but there was little response.
“You may think it is unethical for me to intervene in the war, but I came across the terrible taboo of the Empire’s dark research institutes turning humans into demons, so earlier today I destroyed the Empire’s research institutes and the people in charge of them turned into demons as well so I subdued them.’’
The armies started to stir.
The Imperial Army probably couldn’t believe that the capital had been breached.
And the Kingdom Army seemed surprised when they heard the reason why the demons went berserk.
“However, that did not mean that all the demons and demonized soldiers disappeared and the threat was gone. It seems that there is a country that is conducting similar research, and if that is true, I will nip it in the bud as it poses a threat to humanity.”
It seemed like no one was going to attack me.
At that time, I saw Wisdom-dono, whom I met in Nelldal, and for some reason, he was smiling bitterly.
That bothered me a little, but I continued, seemingly having turned it into a speech.
“Therefore, to have the Empire that researched and implemented the taboo of demonization take responsibility for it, we have decided to ban it from initiating all combat except for self-defense.”
Immediately after that, several attacks were launched at me and Fornoir, but of course, they didn’t hit, and I announced to the Ruburk Kingdom army the conditions that Lionel had brought to end the attack.
“Currently, the Empire is prepared to make a cease-fire agreement with the Rubruk Kingdom. As proof of that, we have brought the Emperor of the Elimasia Empire and his successor, His Highness Albert, to this battlefield.”
Then, the attacks stopped all at once.
Then, just in time, a gong, the signal for retreat, sounded from the imperial fort, and the imperial soldiers retreated.
A voice called out from below.
“Luciel-sama, may I ask for an explanation?”
“Sure. Wisdom-dono is involved too. But before that, let me first speak with the commander-in-chief of the Kingdom’s Army.”
“I understand. Are you not going to descend any further?”
“I’m a timid person, so being surrounded by so many people would make me fearful.”
I still didn’t know what would happen.
“Understood. The entire army will retreat. Act quickly.”
The soldiers then began to retreat all at once.
As I watched the scene in amazement, Wisdom-dono said with a wry smile.
“There is a separate commander-in-chief, but I am the one in charge of this army.”
“…I guess you got promoted.”
As I replied, I learned that Wisdom-dono was quite skilled.
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Otaku Hikikomori
Thanks for the treat.
Lhyra
Thank you!!~