A small number cannot turn the tide of war.
Yeah.
That’s true.
No matter how strong a person is, there are limits.
But…
If that ‘person’ had the strength of a tactical weapon, it would be a different story.
For example, a mage who can turn the wilderness into a hellfire with a single spell, or a fighter who can knock dozens of monsters away with a single punch, or a swordsman who can slice through a horde of monsters with one swing of his sword.
“We won! Aaaaaaaah!”
“Hooray!”
The cheers of soldiers celebrating their survival filled the fortress.
Is the joy of surviving greater than the sorrow of losing comrades? As I looked down at the bodies staining the wilderness from the repaired walls, I pondered the subtly different reactions from each fortress.
“You look troubled.”
“Doesn’t it seem like they’re retreating more easily than expected?”
It was typical for Harpas to remain invisible, commanding from the back and watching, but the lack of tactical changes while the four of us took out most of the second defensive line was strange.
And there was one more thing on my mind.
I kicked the corpse of the bizarre monster with my foot and said, “I had no idea such a monster existed.”
“I’m seeing these guys for the first time too.”
If Kalintz, who would have frequently dealt with monsters, didn’t know them, then nobody would. Crouching down cautiously, I observed the corpse of the odd creature.
Its appearance was simple. Just like the ones I had seen in the rift, its head was entirely replaced by a mass of tentacles. As far as I knew, there were no such monsters in the original story. They bore some similarity to those I had seen in the rift, but…
“A monster I’ve never heard of… I really can’t tell what’s happening.”
“Indeed.”
What’s certain is that something unknown has meddled in the original narrative.
Could this be the ‘True Ending’?
Perhaps the world of the true ending would be different from the vanilla, or rather, the original story, having a third party that didn’t appear before. Even just compiling the information I have gathered so far leads to that conclusion.
The problem is, what the hell is this third party doing?
I don’t know their goals, the scale of their forces, or who’s leading them.
What’s clear is that, whether indirectly or directly, Harpas is connected to them.
What could be the reason for that arrogant demon, especially a high-ranking demon like Harpas, to cooperate with them? The demons wish to claim this world as their own, so it must be related to that.
…But why are demons so eager to devour this land?
Without a sizable ritual, they can’t properly manifest, and even if they do, they can’t fully unleash their power as if it were their homeland, while also having to engage in a power struggle with the gods.
Can’t they just live lavishly in their own territories?
Being a high-ranking demon, wouldn’t they be able to enjoy a comfortable life?
A sudden question gave me a headache. Should I think about it later? With just a tiny bit of information, making a plausible deduction is difficult anyway.
But why is Rue so quiet?
I poked the lately quiet Rue with my finger.
[…What’s wrong?]
“It’s just too quiet.”
[Um, well, it feels nostalgic… is all.]
Nostalgic feeling?
“What does that mean?”
[Um, I’m not sure. It’s just a feeling I’ve been having?]
…Thinking it over, I can’t dismiss the possibility that Rue might be related to this third party. After all, it’s a completely new type of magic book, has self-awareness, and it was discovered where the tentacle monsters were roaming.
“What are you talking about?”
Ah, since others can’t hear what Rue is saying, I have to explain it to them.
“I was just talking with my magic book for a moment.”
“Hmm… You can talk to your magic book?”
“Yes, it can do that.”
“I see.”
Kalintz didn’t raise any objections and let it go as he assumed someone unfamiliar with magic might think, ‘That’s possible.’
“Then how about we head back? We need to move to the next fortress.”
“Looks like we have to get busy again.”
“Still, we can see the end in sight. Once the second defensive line is repaired, we can switch to offense as soon as the reinforcements arrive.”
“I hope that’s the case.”
Kalintz’s face darkened in response to my words. Is he worried about how much blood will be shed?
“Are you worried?”
“I’m worried. How much blood will flow, and if this is only the beginning.”
“But what can we do? We have to fight. While waiting for victory to come at the end.”
“…If I can contribute to that victory, it would be an honor.”
With that said, the old man, once the strongest knight, sheathed his sword.
————————
“Archbishop Pierre. I didn’t expect to see you again like this.”
“I didn’t expect to see you either.”
Did they know each other? I tilted my head while watching Kalintz, the former commandant of the imperial knights, and Archbishop Pierre exchanging greetings with pleasant expressions. To be honest, both of them were NPCs who had little significance in the original story, so I didn’t have much to draw from.
“If not for Duke Kalintz’s cooperation, how much damage would we have suffered by now…”
“Ahem.”
“Haha, it’s also thanks to Merlin and Geren’s cooperation. And… Sir Quartz as well.”
But the look in their eyes hinted at, ‘Why are you here?’
Ah, I am Karina’s escort knight. As lost as I was wandering around, my duties were starting to confuse me, but I managed to speak.
“I have come to hunt Harpas.”
“What? Harpas? I must have misheard.”
“What a bold one you are! I’ve never seen someone actively going after a demon in my lifetime!”
“If it weren’t for him, I’d probably be staring at my granddaughter by now.”
“I too would have just been showing off in the principal’s office.”
The elderly men fixed their satisfied gazes on me.
It feels burdensome when they look at me like that. I was just thinking of bringing in some powerful NPCs to take down Harpas. Just judging purely by power, I had three equivalents to Renny on my side.
“I feel like you have become quite impressive while I wasn’t looking.”
“It just happened that way. More importantly, for now, it’s vital to restore the second defensive line as quickly as possible and advance.”
“What do you mean? Advance?”
Did they not even consider switching to offense? Given that the expeditionary forces were merely holding out against those monster creatures, this is only natural, but it meant I needed to be more assertive about my opinion.
While a brief gap forms in the enemy’s forces, it becomes our chance to recover the first defensive line. We need to push the enemies all the way to the western edge and locate Harpas. If we leave Harpas alone, we’ll just end up being manipulated.
…And to end Harpas, I had to mobilize all available means.
To catch the strengthened Harpas compared to the original, I had to gather more power than the protagonist ever received. If Karina were all right, the difficulty would have been much lower, but… I couldn’t wish for that.
“If we don’t take down Harpas, we will lose this war.”
I calmly explained what I had heard from the phoenix. The explanation was basically that Harpas had become stronger, but as I formed flames from the phoenix in my palm, the atmosphere in the meeting room grew even more serious.
“Harpas… wasn’t that the one defeated by the first saint and her companions?”
“To think we must capture such a demon…”
“We have no choice.”
If we don’t capture him, the empire and everything might get annihilated. We have to strike when our forces are intact and push forward.
Ugh. Is there a way to strike from behind?
“Another mountain to climb.”
“But we have to give it a shot! I’m curious how strong that demon is!”
“For now, let’s put that issue aside and think about how to restore our line.”
We ceased our conversation and gathered closely around the large map spread out on the conference table. The map, which seemed to widely enlarge the western region of the empire, was marked with red lines.
“This is the current second defensive line. It’s wider than the first, so it’s difficult to defend.”
The red lines drawn by Archbishop Pierre were sinuous like waves. It had some natural fortification due to being near a gorge, but it was spread too wide, making movement cumbersome.
“We’ve moved upward, recovering the defense line from the southern end to here. This is the last fortress, so we’ve taken considerable losses.”
“It’s a relief to hear that, but the problem is we have too few soldiers. Moreover, due to the harsh environment in the western area, the population is low, and the quality of the soldiers isn’t that spectacular.”
“Hmm. How many troops has the Kalon Church brought?”
Kalintz, accustomed to these matters, posed the question, and Archbishop Pierre promptly replied.
“Just over three thousand.”
“The number of monsters we captured is roughly five thousand. Considering the ones that will be positioned in the first defensive line, the remaining foes could exceed ten thousand.”
“Whether it’s ten or a hundred thousand, we can just crush them, right?”
“Don’t say foolish things. Tsk. If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have brought you along.”
“What? You little weakling!”
“Calm down, Geren. We’re in a meeting, after all.”
“Is there any news about reinforcements coming from the empire?”
“None.”
“So it means we may have to overcome this crisis solely with the forces from the Kalon Church and the west.”
Damn those imperial soldiers.
“Gathering them is the problem, then.”
“No, I can take care of that. I’ve left signal stones at every fortress we’ve passed. The civilian evacuation should be completed by now…”
“What does that mean?”
“It means it’s possible to gather the forces needed to recover the first defensive line. The issue is… we’ll have to engage in a siege battle. Even if the monsters are our enemies, it won’t be an easy fight.”
“Ah, don’t worry about that.”
At my words, everyone turned to look at me.
I glanced around at the people staring at me, then spoke.
“It’s always easier to break things than to make them.”
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