Ｓｉｄｅ: Mako
The Wing of Order advanced eastward through the crimson sky as the sun set.
Fortress City Byakkot, the city where the White Tiger Army, one of the Four Gods protecting the Imperial Capital Arrogentia, was stationed, was smaller than I had imagined.
“Huh? Maybe only White Tiger Army personnel live here?”
“Well, it’s kind of like U.S. military bases abroad, so I don’t think it’s that strange.”
“But at this rate, it’s not even a town, just a slightly large village, isn’t it?”
Yet, there’s this unnaturally tall tower rising up on the westernmost side.
“So that’s Fortress City Byakkot. It’s nowhere near the scale of a city.”
“It looks like they brought their families to the base and made it livable.”
“It does have a U.S. military base feel to it. I bet the Divine Emperor thought of it.”
It seems His Majesty and the others also find this so-called city questionable.
Well, at U.S. military bases abroad, families live there to prevent soldiers from being assigned alone. This fortress city probably follows the same logic.
I don’t know if that makes sense in Abaricia, unlike on Earth where it’s an overseas posting.
More importantly, the problem is that it looks entirely like a village at first glance, making it difficult to identify military facilities.
“If we get a little closer, they’ll probably come out to intercept us. Why don’t we just defeat them?”
“If we attack carelessly, we might involve civilians. They might have turned into demons, but we can’t be sure.”
“That’s probably the safest option. In that case, Yamato, I’m sorry, but I’ll leave it to you.”
“Understood.”
Well, it’s true that to “take down” Fortress City Byakkot, we don’t necessarily need to attack the city itself.
The main reason for attacking Fortress City Byakkot is to avoid being sandwiched during the siege of Arrogentia. So, just reducing the number of soldiers should be enough.
There are concerns, but our top priority is defeating the Divine Emperor, so we can postpone deciding on this.
“Alright, Rex, stop the Wing of Order once the intercept force from Byakkot is confirmed. Remain vigilant of the surroundings.”
“Yes, sir!”
Still, being completely unguarded is out of the question, so Emperor Reinhardt doesn’t forget to instruct Rex.
After confirming that, I decided to follow Yamato.
I don’t intend to fight, but I need to generate Claus Solaris and Agatholam.
Although I don’t need to generate Engraving Divine Artifacts, I believe Claus Solaris and Agatholam should also get accustomed to the Gradia Continent before fighting the Divine Emperor.
Leaving the main bridge with Yamato and the others, we returned to our assigned VIP room and ascended the stairs to the roof balcony.
While taking in the full view of Fortress City Byakkot in the distance, Yamato and I activated the Dual Heart Fusion Technique, generating the Engraving Divine Artifacts Sacred Sword Claus Solaris and Sacred Wing Agatholam.
“They can probably see us from over there too, so it should be soon, right?”
“They said they’re elites, so that’s probably it.”
As it’s getting dark, it’s hard to make out Byakkot’s situation.
So, I’ve dispatched Eagle Eye to confirm, and as Prim and Mana said, I can see the soldiers moving frantically.
Ah, that unnaturally tall building must be the military headquarters, also serving as a watchtower.
There are Chimeras too, but they are species we’ve encountered before, so there’s no need to investigate them further.
“Shall we go soon?”
“Yes.”
“I hope it goes well.”
“There were no problems on the Philia Continent, but Layered Magic is delicate.”
“And this time, it’s the three of us—you, Meena, and Yamato—so if we judge it’s impossible, we need to cancel immediately, otherwise it’ll be dangerous.”
The Layered Magic we’re trying this time is to be used by Yamato, Meena, and Flam together, and it’s named Crystal Disaster Line.
Meena deploys her Wide Mirror Shield as a spherical barrier, Yamato coats the inside with ice magic to increase its strength, and Flam unleashes Tidal Disaster. However, the ice magic also acts like a mirror, reflecting Tidal Disaster.
Furthermore, additional Tidal Disasters can be fired from the starting point of the Wide Mirror Shield, making evasion and even defense meaningless.
It seems to have been inspired by my Starlight Circle, but it was initially developed as a new Layered Magic for Meena and Flam.
Unfortunately, it was impossible for just the two of them, so Yamato joined them to make it a team of three, but even then, they were barely managing, I recall.
But precisely because of that, it was discovered that Layered Magic can be used by more than three people. In addition to Crystal Disaster Line, another Layered Magic, designated for the final battle, has also been completed.
Of course, this one requires much more delicate tuning than Crystal Disaster Line. It’s a Layered Magic for four people: me, Yamato, Prim, and Athena, so I probably won’t use it.
Ｓｉｄｅ: Yamato
Through the Layered Magic Crystal Disaster Line, used by me, Meena, and Flam, many soldiers of Fortress City Byakkot lost their lives.
This time, Meena focused solely on maintaining the barrier, but Crystal Disaster Line is designed for use within approximately 100 meters in diameter. So, this 500-meter diameter was quite challenging for even Meena.
Flam’s Tidal Disaster also had to be used with up to 20 Tidal Blasters fired simultaneously, which was the limit. So, I felt quite bad, having done the least by just coating it with ice magic.
“As expected, all of them were demons, seeing as they were elites.”
“Yes. That’s why we could defeat them without hesitation. What was unexpected, though, was the small number of Chimeras.”
“Right. There were a decent number of them, but their species were the same as the Chimeras we’ve fought before, so it was a bit anticlimactic.”
The demons that escaped from Crystal Disaster Line were annihilated by Prim, Mana, and Ludia, without a single one left.
It’s truly a lifesaver that Mako deployed Field Cosmos on the battlefield, so we didn’t have to worry about them escaping.
“Still, Layered Magic is amazing, isn’t it? I wish I could have used it too.”
“Even so, Lydia had to withdraw due to pregnancy, so it can’t be helped, can it?”
“I know, but still. It’s been almost a year since it was completed, and I’ve had to put it on hold, so… Oh, and my sister’s pregnancy is, of course, a joyous occasion.”
Ludia says that, but in fact, Lydia and Ludia have also completed their own Layered Magic.
However, before landing on the Gradia Continent, Lydia’s pregnancy was discovered, and she had to be sent back to the Philia Continent.
Princess Elice and Princess Ciel, as well as Beast King Grishina, are also pregnant, but everyone whose pregnancy was discovered before landing on the Gradia Continent has been sent back.
“Then, how about we think about Layered Magic between us? Both Meena and Ludia are good with fire magic, so maybe we can create something similar to the Feather Armor Magic I use.”
“Oh, that sounds interesting!”
A Layered Magic between Prim and Ludia?
Indeed, as Prim says, it might be easier to create if inspired by Prim’s Feather Armor Magic.
Perhaps because she evolved into an Element Class, Layered Magic feels easier to use now. The same applies to Dragon Resonance Magic, which is used with Dragonians.
Therefore, it seems like an interesting Layered Magic could be created between Prim and Ludia.
We were discussing this after defeating the demons when suddenly a stone rolled in front of us.
It seems to have been thrown, but from where?
And who did it…?!
“Give them back! Give me back my father!”
“My brother too! What did we do?!”
At the sight of the children before us.
Judging from their lines, they must be the family of the demons we just defeated.
Certainly, even if they are irreconcilable enemies to us, they are family to those children. It’s no wonder they are glaring at us with anger and hatred.
My heart aches, but this is a situation where we must steel our hearts and act.
“What did we do? Abaricia attacked first. We came seeking retribution… revenge.”
“…What?”
“R-revenge?”
“So what?! Why does my brother have to die because of that!”
Certainly, from the children’s perspective, we must look like unreasonable invaders.
However, from our perspective, Abaricia is the unreasonable invader.
The White Tiger Army might not have been directly involved in the invasion, but the moment they turned into demons, they became enemies we had to eliminate.
This doesn’t change, even if the demons have families.
“It’s because they incorporated Demon Crystals. That has disrupted the balance of the world, to the point where it might be destroyed. That’s why we came from the Philia Continent to defeat the Divine Emperor. You don’t have to understand.”
Some of them are in their early teens, and some are still single digits.
I don’t expect all of them to understand, but still, we can’t let the world be destroyed, so I feel it’s necessary to state our case.
Part of me feels it’s wrong to talk to children like this, but they are clearly shaken, and their judgment is a little impaired.
I’ve done the same with demi-humans numerous times, but when it comes to former humans, even if they’ve become demons, it’s certainly tough.
However, this is just a waypoint, and if we do nothing, the Helios Orb will perish.
Therefore, we came here knowing that some children would become unhappy.
Still, it feels wrong to lay a hand on the children, so we decided to return to the Wing of Order without doing anything.
