Chapter 161.
I drove my knee into a magician’s stomach as he demanded more mana stones than the set limit, blocking his mouth with one hand so he couldn’t chant any spells.
"If you can’t even understand a simple rule when you’re told, how are you any better than a beast?"
Unfortunately, I had been assigned to important materials such as arrows and mana stones, so I couldn’t just release them all at once. The policy was to distribute only as much as necessary, so when the magicians used up the mana stones, they kept coming back and bothering me.
"You bastard, do you think you’ll be safe after doing this?!" the army magician said in a muffled voice. I just increased the strength of my grip to completely block him from speaking.
To be honest, acting like this towards an army magician, who would be ranked major at minimum, was tantamount to mutiny...
"Yes yes, of course I’ll be okay. Did you think I wouldn’t know if you tried to magically pull out supplies?”
...But stopping them from stealing supplies was a different story.
If I had been in the same chain of command, I wouldn’t be able to do this. But since army magicians were in a different chain of command, if he wanted to get back at me, he would have to go through my immediate superior, Guild Director Glont. Or he could go through the military police. In either case, the magician would become XXXX, not me. [1]
I’m so glad I have a good superior, I thought. I told the magician, whose eyes were trembling, "I understand how you feel, but I can’t become an idiot who can’t even manage supplies for your convenience.”
As a magician myself, I sympathized. I wouldn’t want to do anything, let alone use magic, when my mana was exhausted. But him trying to steal my supplies was an entirely different story..
Should I release the chirps so the situation with the demons can be sorted out quickly? I thought. Since the chirps were my familiars and shared some of their senses with me, they would let me observe the situation all over the battlefield.
Well, Uncle Bloody likely wouldn’t recognize my chirps with his lack of awareness...
* * *
Orphina quickly walked up to the fortress and asked the lieutenant stationed there, "What’s the current situation?"
"Reporting! We have observed that there are currently about 13,000 demons moving southward."
“Are they coming all at once?”
“That is not the case. We were told that the units roaming through the demon territory occasionally intercepted them and divided them into five groups."
"How many are in each group?"
"The groups are divided into two thousand, three thousand, two thousand, four thousand, and two thousand."
Orphina nodded at the lieutenant. "They did a good job splitting up the enemy. Prepare a reward for the units that intercepted them and their commanders. Also, tell each unit scattered in the demon territory to reduce the number of demons as much as possible through guerrilla warfare and stall for time.”
"Yes!"
No matter how strong the walls of Warrant were, it would be hard to deal with 13,000 regular monsters at once, let alone demons.
Entering the fortress, Orphina approached William, who had already been there. "Come to think of it, most of the creatures swarming here are demons," said Orphina.
William shrugged. "Well, regular monsters are relatively weak, so wouldn’t they have been eaten by the demons?"
"It’s possible, but I don’t know if this is because the witches in the demon territory are playing tricks.” Orphina’s conjecture was that this was the work of the descendants of the witches, who had been driven out by the Holy tribe and caused the Giant-Holy war in the past period of prosperity.
William shook his head. "No, even if they’re witches, messing with the great demons is still too much."
"But isn’t it strange for two great demons to move at the same time?"
"I don’t know about when the Witch of Pride was alive, but the witches of today aren’t as powerful."
The Witch of Pride was a great madosa who had died 120 years ago in the process of subjugating the Demon King. Her lifetime marked a golden age for witches. At that time, they had been prosperous and comparable to the Butterfly tribe. However, after the death of the Witch of Pride, their land had turned into the demon territory and began to fall rapidly.
Orphina turned up her nose at William’s opinion. "But the Witch of Greed might still be alive."
More than 120 years ago, although she had fallen short of the Witch of Pride, the Witch of Greed had also been known as a very powerful madosa. She had also participated in the subjugation of the Demon King, but there was a chance that she was still alive.
"Well, it’s certainly not impossible. After all, my father, who participated in the Demon King subjugation squad, is still healthy,” William said. But then, he shook his head. "No. She would have nothing to gain. My father told me that the Witch of Greed was free-spirited and there was no knowing where she would wander next, but she was always self-interested and would only act for her own personal benefit."
The Witch of Greed had only joined the Demon King subjugation squad because they had offered her what she wanted. It was hard to imagine what she would gain by making multiple great demons move.
"What if the Witch of Greed is one of the 12 Zodiac members?” Orphina guessed.
William’s face paled and he shuddered. "Don’t say such a thing, even as a joke. If the Witch of Greed were still alive, the phrase would be ‘the Five Great Madosas’, not ‘the Four Great Madosas’. I don’t want to deal with a monster like that."
Orphina smiled bitterly. "I don’t want to either. I’m just telling you this because I think it’s a good idea to keep the 12 Zodiacs in mind when looking at this situation,” she said.
William roughly rubbed his head as if he were feeling a headache coming on. He said, "Then isn’t it more reasonable to be suspicious of the Demon King worshippers, rather than the witches and the Witch of Greed?"
The Demon King worshippers were a group of cults who had brought about the advent of the Demon King 120 years ago. Although most of them had been eradicated after the death of the Demon King, they hadn’t been completely wiped out down to the roots.
"Recently, the black magicians caused an uproar in the holy city of Zaharam, and there was the time the Saintess was in the heart of the empire. So I think it’s very plausible," William continued.
Orphina readily agreed with William. "Yes, you’re right.”
Either way, it seemed as if it could be related to the 12 Zodiacs.
"I’m worried about His Highness the Emperor being left alone in the capital," Orphina said, sounding worried.
William smiled and waved her concern off. "What’s there to worry about? The magic circles that protect the palace are horrifyingly monstrous. Don’t worry, even my father, who is one of the Great Madosas, can’t behave recklessly without an access cord."
"You’re right. It’s silly to worry about His Highness the Emperor, considering the barriers were designed to ensure his safety even if a meteor fell in the center of the capital.”
Orphina whistled and called her partner, Hargan, before mounting him and saying, “Please support me.”
“Right, just leave it to me!” William pulled a mana stone out of his pocket and threw it outside the fortress while casting magic. In an instant, the stone turned into thousands of ice arrows and poured down toward the demons.
Orphina rode Hargan and charged into the group of demons.
* * *
Clad in soldier’s armor, Lisbon nervously clenched the handle of his sword.
Rosellis lightly slapped Lisbon’s back, saying, "Don’t relax. Even if you’re tired, grit your teeth and swing your sword. And don’t stray from my side. If you do, you’ll die." She raised her axe and shouted, "When the gates open, I’ll take the lead! Only those who can grit their teeth and have the confidence to charge forward should follow!"
At Rosellis’ shout, the adventurers shouted and chanted her nickname. "Bloodstained! Bloodstained! Bloodstained!"
As Rosellis approached the gate with Lisbon, the adventurers made way for her, parting to either side.
At the gate, a female warrior wearing heavy armor and holding a large shield spoke to Rosellis. “Long time no see, Rosellis.”
“Long time no see, Asmona unni.”
Asmona was a platinum plate adventurer nicknamed the Iron Wall. She stood next to Rosellis and asked when she saw the nervous Lisbon, "Who’s the kid next to you?"
"Oh, I’m trying to raise him because he seems to have potential. My father doesn’t show it, but he seems to have taken a liking to the kid too,” said Rosellis.
Asmona looked at Lisbon, surprised. "The guild director who’s famous for his high standards likes him?"
Glont’s discerning eye had a certain reputation: It was said that everyone he took notice of became strong, unless they died too early to reach their potential.
"Then I’ll have to make a note of him in advance. What’s your name, kid?" Asmona asked.
Lisbon greeted her, trying not to forget common courtesy. "My name is Lisbon von Carter."
"My name is Asmona Ticilla. People call me the Iron Wall, so you can call me that too."
"Alright!"
"Don’t be too nervous, but don’t be too relaxed. And don’t freak out," Asmona continued. As soon as she finished talking, trumpets and drums resounded.
"Open the gates!" Rosellis cried.
A soldier waved a red flag from above the gate. Immediately after, the gate opened and the drawbridge lowered, creating a passage across the moat.
"Let’s go!" The moment the gate opened completely, Rosellis was the first to charge out, cleaving a demon’s neck in two with her huge axe.
Asmona and Lisbon followed right behind Rosellis, heading to her side and providing support.
Asmona nagged Rosellis as she blocked the fountain of blood from the demon’s corpse with her shield. "You’re still so bloodthirsty! I told you to change your tactics when dealing with demons! You idiot!"
"It’s okay, it’s okay. I won’t die!" Rosellis swung her axe again and split a demon’s stomach open.
"Fool! This is all deadly poison!"
"I know! But it won’t matter if it doesn’t touch me!" Rosellis wrapped her entire body with mana, creating a layer of mana armor to keep the blood from touching her skin. Then she told Lisbon, “Did you hear that? You’ll die if you’re hit by blood, so be careful.”
“Yes!” As he answered, Lisbon avoided a demon’s attack and stabbed it in the arm. However, the sword bounced off the demon’s tough leather hide.
"Infuse mana into your sword! You won’t even be able to leave a scratch otherwise!" Rosellis yelled as she bisected a demon that was aiming for Lisbon’s back.
Lisbon let out a shout and poured mana into his sword. He slashed at the demons repeatedly, calmly avoiding the splashing blood. Still, the demons’ attacks were fatal to Lisbon, but his attacks only left minor wounds.
Rosellis and Asmona faced demons coming from all sides, but occasionally, Lisbon also had to deal with a large number of demons. Each time, he felt the threat to his life, but he somehow endured. Eventually, Rosellis or Asmona always came to help Lisbon after taking care of their own foes.
Hundreds of birds suddenly appeared from the sky as the battle drew on.
"What?! What are those birds?!" After a long career defending Warrant, Asmona was immediately on guard against the flock of unfamiliar birds, remaining vigilant in case they were a new type of demon. Suddenly, the birds flew up quickly, then swooped down and began to attack the demons.
"That bird!" Rosellis was surprised to see the bird as she cleaved a demon’s head in two with her axe. It was a type of bird she had seen once.
Meanwhile, Lisbon was struggling to fight demons and couldn’t see what was going on around him. His gradually depleting mana and exhausted body were taking a toll on his mental strength. As soon as he reached his limits and left a gap in his defenses, a demon bared its teeth and aimed for his side.
Rosellis quickly threw a portable hand axe, but thought it was too late and broke out in a cold sweat.
Suddenly, a white bird body-slammed the demon who was attacking Lisbon. It was momentarily stunned, and it lost its left eye to Rosellis’s hand axe and screamed. "Krarara!"
Lisbon didn’t miss the opening and stabbed it in the neck with his mana infused sword.
"Huk, huk. Thank you." Lisbon thanked the white bird for saving his life, but the bird hovered around just giving him a disdainful look, as if it were calling him a pathetic fellow. Seeing that, Lisbon felt as if he were being scolded and told to do his job properly.
Den, who was controlling the chirps from afar, sighed as he looked at Lisbon barely hanging on.
* * *
Meanwhile, Leisha and the army magicians were busy intercepting the demons with magic. Then, she looked up into the sky. She was surprised to see white birds swooping down to attack the demons. "Why are those things here?!"
1. Author censored the swear word here.
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