*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The explosions echoed endlessly around the Imperial Palace.
I recognized that familiar sound and tremble from far away.
It was the self-destruct technique of the Asylum.
Not just one or two, but dozens… no, possibly hundreds were clashing against the barrier.
If they were attacking, it surely wasn’t just the Asylum.
It was just a prelude to the Majin’s infiltration into the barrier.
That much was certain.
With the Inquisitor, the Asylum, and the Majin…
It felt like the Power Rangers had shown up.
*Gulp… This is gonna be tough…*
My mind went blank, and I felt a chill creep up my spine.
If I hadn’t pressured Festia.
If I hadn’t stationed troops at the Papal Palace…
*It would have been even harder.*
Had I done that, the situation would have deteriorated even further.
I shook my head to stop those useless thoughts.
Right now, I had the advantage.
With the troops occupying the Papal Palace, the Inquisitor was on the verge of being neutralized, prompting an urgent attack on my part.
In terms of psychology and tactics, it was me, not the enemy, who had the upper hand.
Even if it wasn’t true, I decided to think that way.
*How many Majin would attack?*
The number of Majin.
That was the key point.
It would be great if it was just Tiltitz, but the probability of that was low.
Tiltitz had a record of overwhelmingly defeating me when I wasn’t even a Majin, so she wouldn’t show up alone.
So, did she recruit the Traveler?
I hoped Alexia wouldn’t fall for it, but that was just my personal desire.
I had to assume the worst-case scenario.
*I might have to face three Majin.*
Magic flooded out, and my field of vision changed suddenly.
In no time, I had left the Imperial University, floating above the Imperial Palace.
The palace’s heavy artillery aimed at the suddenly appearing flying object but soon turned away once it recognized me.
*Shall I try to imitate a Majin?*
I saw fanatics charging toward the palace from all directions like madmen.
The guards tried desperately to stop them, but it was futile.
There were just too many of them.
I caught sight of those disgusting bugs entering my field of vision one by one.
I should be able to capture them all without collateral damage.
With that thought, I unfolded a spell that was a combination of light and electric elements.
I had never learned or deployed this spell before, but it flowed smoothly.
It was the original spell I had devised just for this moment.
I had sensed a day like this would come, but I never imagined it would be today.
*Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way!*
*Thud…!*
As I mowed down the fanatics, Pelaine gulped.
They never stopped.
Even when their upper and lower bodies separated, they crawled with their arms, trying to get as close to the barrier as possible.
And then, when they seemed unable to approach the barrier…
*“Where do you think you’re going?”*
*“Gah! Urgh!”*
*“Get away from that guy…”*
*Boom!*
Instantly, they self-destructed, dragging the guards down with them.
The palace guard was a place where only the elite knights who excelled gathered.
Even they were dying helplessly.
If they didn’t sacrifice their lives, the barrier of the palace would break.
An unreasonable battle, forced to trade simple procedures for fanatics and the top elite soldiers.
Amidst that, Pelaine held her sword tightly, glaring with her eyes that couldn’t quite see due to the shards flying.
There were still many fanatics charging in from who knew where.
If necessary, they could sacrifice their lives…
*“Oh. I really, really don’t want to die…”*
In the past, I thought I could willingly die for the Empire, for my comrades, for Schlus.
But now, I didn’t want to die.
I wanted to survive and see the future Schlus was envisioning with my own eyes.
I was by their side.
But right now, I had to defend the palace, even if it meant sacrificing this body.
Steeling myself, Pelaine gritted her teeth.
Just as she was about to roar to raise her fighting spirit…
*“Huh?”*
Suddenly, a dazzling light poured down from the sky.
It wasn’t just Pelaine who looked up in surprise.
The fanatics charging in also tilted their heads to figure out what it was, but they couldn’t recognize anything due to the blinding light and just squinted.
*“Huh…”*
Pelaine barely opened her eyes and caught sight of a figure floating in the sky.
At that moment, the light began to fade.
No, it wasn’t fading.
The source split into dozens, hundreds of fragments in an instant.
Those light rays began descending toward the ground.
Like something alive, as if actively chasing something, they plotted a red trajectory down…
*“Gah?! ”*
*“Aaaah!”*
In an instant, they struck the fanatics.
Not a single one was missed, not a single errant strike; only the fanatics were hit.
Those that charged in like a herd collapsed in an instant, becoming a mountain of corpses before the guards.
*“Damn it…”*
There was still a problem left.
The already dead corpses began to glow red one by one, inflating.
The self-destruct technique activates regardless of the survival of the caster.
But it was already too late.
Just as Pelaine hurriedly lunged backward and crouched…
*Crisp…! Sizzle…!*
*“Huh?”*
The corpses suddenly writhed, their red light fading.
With the smell of something burning, the corpses that had been wriggling for a while were now emitting smoke and settling down.
*‘They burned all the internal circuits?*’
Seeing that scene, Pelaine instantly understood what had happened.
The flashes that penetrated the bodies of the fanatics burned their internal circuits using their mana as fuel.
Until the self-destruct technique could no longer be activated.
But the problem was that internal circuits differ in shape and position for each person.
This meant that the caster analyzed the internal circuits of hundreds of people simultaneously.
That was impossible for a human body.
*“Huh…”*
A laugh escaped from Pelaine’s lips as she looked up at the sky.
Since the sunlight surrounded the figure as a halo, I couldn’t see anything but its silhouette, but the scabbard on my right waist made it easy to identify who it was.
So reassuring and strong.
And so…
*Boom!*
*“Huh?”*
At that moment, an explosion in the air knocked the black figure away.
Watching it fall away, Pelaine froze with her mouth agape.
*
*“Ugh…”*
Not a single part of my body was uninjured.
I barely got up, clutching my aching abdomen.
Looking up at the sky, there was a thick smoke where I had just been.
*‘I got hit by the Annihilation Cannon.’*
What hit me was none other than the Annihilation Cannon installed for the institutional defense.
As a victim who had already experienced it once, I could confidently say that.
Just as I was grasping the situation after sweeping away the fanatics honing in on the palace, Iris’s urgent voice came through communications.
She said I was going to die.
In the very near future.
At that moment, I felt a surge of instinct that my entire body was on high alert, quickly spinning around.
There was no way I could have sensed a projectile moving faster than sound without activating ‘Selection and Concentration.’
Perhaps it was instinct ingrained in my subconscious from going through battle multiple times.
By then, the projectile had already flown into my sight.
Then suddenly, a barrier expanded, and the projectile exploded in mid-air, shattering the barrier.
It must have been Erica’s barrier.
Thanks to the barrier absorbing most of the explosive force and my hands guarding my face, I wasn’t injured at all.
If my internal circuits didn’t have terminal hardening abilities, my face would have been completely smashed by now.
*“Ugh…”*
My limbs felt like jelly.
My skin was all peeled off, revealing what looked like well-mixed spicy pork inside.
In this state, there was no way a low-grade recovery potion could fix me.
[Shop]
[You can use shop coins to purchase items.]
[Coins available: 24]
[Low-grade Recovery Potion] 2 coins
[High-grade Recovery Potion] 5 coins
I could only buy four high-grade recovery potions…
That would only treat my limbs.
The situation was gradually worsening.
The anti-air artillery was seized by the enemy.
The Annihilation Cannons would have been heavily guarded within the fortress, so the Majin must have quietly sneaked in and broken them before handing them over to the Asylum.
I couldn’t ascertain how many Annihilation Cannons had been stolen.
If those cannons turned their sights not at the sky but at the Imperial Palace…?
*“That can’t happen.”*
I had to launch a swift counterattack.
Being severely injured and having my skin peeled off wouldn’t impede my movements too much; I could hold on.
With a Majin’s recovery rate, I could recover quickly within hours.
Thanks to my lingering weak human mentality, it felt like I was dying, but I had to endure.
I hadn’t saved shop coins just to use them here.
*“What can’t happen?”*
*“…”*
It was a familiar voice.
The moment I sensed that beautiful yet hateful voice, a chill ran down my spine, and I tensed up.
It was Tiltitz.
Tiltitz, dressed in human clothes, walked out from the alley with her hands behind her back.
*“You seem to have gotten hurt badly. Wouldn’t it be better to go get healing from Saintess Iris?”*
*“Shut your mouth.”*
*“Your words are rather coarse. You weren’t this rude when I saw you at the Majin meeting last time.”*
*“You, on the other hand, seem to be overly relaxed compared to then. You don’t even know your own future.”*
*“Who is it that doesn’t know their own future?”*
*“…”*
*Stomp, stomp.*
As heavy footsteps approached, I tensed up.
No matter how much of a Majin you were, you couldn’t identify someone just by their footsteps, but right now, I had a strong instinct.
An instinct that a lethal threat was approaching.
*“Ah, damn…”*
Soon, a man shouldering a longsword emerged from the dark alley.
That face was no stranger to me.
The Majin Traveler.
And the Majin Tiltitz.
Both of the Majin stood before me.
