Chapter 214 : To the Usurpers (4)
Chapter 214: To the Usurpers (4)
At the exact moment the Centre Assault Force, led by Eugene Carter, successfully destroyed the Erosion Pillar,
the assault force in the capital, Arfe, found itself unable to advance against the endless stream of elite enemy forces.
“There! Fall back! Retreat to Arten Weapon Shop!”
“Y-Yes! Team 3, retreating to the weapon shop!”
“Team 5! Stay close and provide covering fire!”
“Yes!”
“Hurry! Move!”
“WAAAAAH—!”
“WAAAAAAH—!”
While Team 3, which had attempted a flanking assault, retreated, Team 5 blocked the enemy's counterattack with a barrage of Magic Missiles.
Colonel Eric Belfort, the leader of Team 3, immediately checked his men's condition as soon as they completed their retreat.
“Dan! How's the wound?”
“I can still walk, Team Leader!”
“Go get treatment first, then come back. We'll leave the interceptor position vacant until we reorganize. Alpen, help him.”
“Yes.”
“Sorry... I'll be relying on you.”
“Forget it. Let's hurry.”
The explosions and monstrous shrieks echoing from every direction had left his ears ringing, but this wasn't the time to worry about something like tinnitus.
After quickly surveying the battlefield, Belfort headed over to report to the commander of the Special Operations Force.
“Reporting Team 3's situation, Commander!”
“...Well? Think we can break through?”
“With our current strength, it won't be easy. There are three Beasts estimated to be A+ Rank. On top of that, they rarely act independently, making them difficult to separate. If we had just five more A-Rank or higher Awakeners fighting together, we could break through in ten minutes, but...”
“Hmm. The detached forces still haven't returned. Very well. Stand by for further orders.”
“Yes, sir!”
After Belfort left, Team 7, led by Colonel Anthony, stepped forward with their report.
“We've managed to deplete about thirty percent of it, but going beyond that is proving difficult.”
“...I see.”
“Even so, we're continuing the bombardment to keep forcing it to focus on restoring the barrier.”
“How much longer can you maintain that?”
“...Around another twenty minutes.”
“......”
“My apologies, Commander.”
“No. I'll come up with another solution during that time. You may return.”
“Yes.”
After hearing reports from Teams 10 and 11, responsible for logistics; Teams 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8, responsible for the front line; and Teams 5, 7, and 9, responsible for interception and rear support, Lieutenant General Alvin reached a single conclusion.
“We... may have to give up.”
Since he couldn't accurately assess the situations in the other regions, judging solely by the conditions in the capital, the enemy's plan had, frankly, almost succeeded here.
There were over twenty A-Rank or higher Beasts.
More than sixty B-Rank Beasts.
Even the remaining Beasts averaged C-Rank.
Because of that, they couldn't focus entirely on destroying the barrier.
Even so, the Special Operations Force was a specialized unit that had experienced every kind of Beast battle imaginable.
Although they failed to complete the assault, they had minimized casualties.
That alone had required tremendous resolve from Alvin.
Their opponents were Beasts.
Half-measures would only increase the casualties.
Even if it meant suffering some losses, they had to exterminate them thoroughly and decisively.
That was the ironclad rule of Beast warfare.
'...If this were the final battle.'
Terrifyingly, the enemy still hadn't revealed all of its forces.
Most importantly, they had absolutely no idea where the Platinum Dawn Society's troops were preparing to strike.
Thinking about the consecutive battles that would follow, Alvin wanted to preserve as much of his force as possible.
But only up to this point.
Even though this battle was nothing more than the opening engagement...
He never imagined he'd be forced to commit everything already.
It wasn't difficult to understand why.
No one had expected something like this to happen in the middle of the capital.
That was why their response had been delayed.
Why reinforcements were taking so long to arrive.
This wasn't a situation where they could simply hold out while waiting for support.
Even if it meant becoming completely combat ineffective for more than two hours afterward, there was no other choice.
At the very least, they had to tear apart every major Beast so the bombardment of the pillar could continue uninterrupted.
Having steeled himself, Alvin gave his adjutant a brief signal.
The adjutant immediately ordered the five frontline teams to provide covering support.
At the same time, blue Aura erupted from Lieutenant General Alvin's entire body.
“Strengthen your defenses so our allies aren't caught in the blast.
I'm going in.”
Exactly five minutes later, after hundreds of magic shells rained down upon the battlefield, an enormous cloud of dust engulfed the area.
At the very moment Lieutenant General Alvin personally entered the battle to destroy the Erosion Pillar, Royal Guard Commander Rugier Rosberg devoted all his strength to holding the Imperial Palace's main gate instead of trying to exhaust the barrier.
SKREEEECH!
SCREEECH!
Lightly wiping the blood from Ascalon, the Holy Sword—his highest-grade Artifact—he let out a faint sigh.
At least two hundred Beasts.
Their average rank was C+.
Even Rugier, the Empire's strongest assault commander and guardian, couldn't avoid becoming exhausted while fighting alone.
Just as the commander of the Special Operations Force had done on the opposite side, Rugier was also preparing for a prolonged battle in his own way.
“...Haa.”
He had preserved as much of his strength as possible while single-handedly blocking the wide main gate,
but he was finally reaching his limit.
The Special Operations Force and the Defense Force would soon arrive in large numbers.
Reinforcements from Carvena and Mallet would also arrive before long.
He would entrust the defense of the main gate to them temporarily, recover his strength, and return in perfect condition.
Especially considering the ominous future in which a Gate would descend upon this area...
He couldn't afford to delay.
Just as Rugier reached that conclusion and slowly began stepping backward—
They appeared.
As though they had materialized out of thin air.
There were nine of them.
Each possessed a distinct appearance, but the one who immediately drew Rugier's attention was the youthful-looking woman standing proudly at the center.
Pale skin.
Crimson lips.
Eyes slowly turning blood-red.
Overwhelming malice radiating openly from her entire body.
And both arms, grotesquely transformed into a dark crimson form.
“......”
Instinctively,
Rugier knew.
It was her.
She was the mastermind behind everything—
Charlotte Platina, President of the Platinum Dawn Society.
“......”
Completely exhausted, charging into a group of enemies was little different from suicide.
And yet, before he even realized it, his body had already begun sprinting toward them.
“I'll handle her.”
“No.
That's unnecessary.”
Stopping the giant subordinate standing to her right, Charlotte stepped forward herself.
Rugier's sword instantly burst into brilliant flames of holy light.
“Divine Pierce!”
A thrusting technique infused with overwhelming divine power.
For most Holy Swordsmen, it was little more than a basic technique.
But Rugier's version existed on an entirely different level.
Because his thrusts never traveled in a straight line.
Whoosh!
The sword tip shot forward like lightning before suddenly distorting, curving through the air like a whip toward Charlotte's neck.
But...
It never reached her.
Creeeak!
Creeeak!
Charlotte's left arm, which had already returned to its original shape, firmly seized Rugier's blade.
“Ghk...!”
At that instant, the giant behind her slammed into Rugier with a body check, sending him flying dozens of meters backward.
He barely managed to roll with the impact and minimize the damage, but all it did was make the overwhelming gap in their strength painfully obvious.
“Come.
Let's make our declaration.”
Without sparing him another glance, Charlotte calmly walked toward the main gate alongside her subordinates.
As Rugier prepared to take up his stance once more, Edel stopped him.
“That's enough, Rugier.”
“But, Princess...!”
“You've held them back long enough.
Now...
it's time for us to fight together.”
.
.
.
At the center of Arfe, where the dying screams of Beasts and the battle cries of people echoed in every direction, the leaders of the two opposing forces stood facing each other across the Imperial Palace's massive main gate.
On one side stood the entire force of the Platinum Dawn Society, led by Charlotte Platina, having come to invade.
Only their elite core executives had revealed themselves here.
Opposing them stood the Imperial Palace's defenders, led by Edel Ribenia, who fought to save the Empire.
More than half of their key figures had yet to arrive.
Without anyone giving a signal, Edel and Charlotte strode forward until they stood face to face.
At that very moment, the Projection Orb prepared by the Platinum Dawn Society began broadcasting throughout the chaotic Empire.
It was a declaration of war, delivered by a woman who had lost everything.
“My name is Charlotte Platina.
I am the leader of the secret organization known as the Platinum Dawn Society, and the iron heel sent to judge you usurpers.
To every citizen of the Empire watching and listening, hear my proclamation.
You are usurpers.
Despicable usurpers.
You know nothing of those your ancestors sacrificed.
No...
you never even tried to know.
There was never any need.
Because you were the ones who possessed everything.
You gained.
We lost.
Did you truly believe this Empire was built solely through your own strength?
While the Kingdom of Livua fell, your ancestors expanded their own power under the pretext of promises they could never keep, and in the end, they even sacrificed the comrades who had trusted them.
All this time, you've cursed those in power, the nobles, the clergy, and the Imperial Family.
You've complained endlessly, asking why you possessed so little.
You are no different from them.
You take for granted everything you obtained by burying us beneath the earth, while lamenting only what you still lack.
You loathsome creatures consumed by greed.
That is why...
you too shall perish, just as they did.
The Empire built upon blood shall perish by their blood.
I, Charlotte Platina, successor to the will of the Divine Archer Olivier Platina, hereby proudly declare that I shall erase everything belonging to House Ribenia, to avenge the fallen Kingdom of Livua, to repay the resentment of every comrade who vanished in vain, and to honor their forgotten souls.”
Perhaps that had been the entire plan from the very beginning.
The Projection Orb shut off the moment her declaration ended.
Edel openly sneered at the hollow spectacle.
“You think that will erase your sins? You joined hands with the Beasts for the sake of revenge. A woman like you will never find salvation, even after death.”
“That's exactly what I wished for.”
“......”
“From the day my brother died beside me...
I had nothing left.”
Her eyes were unbearably dull and empty, yet filled with such unwavering conviction that no words could ever reach her.
“...If your goal is the destruction of the Empire, then destroying that goal is everything to me.”
Edel slowly shook her head and drew her dagger.
“Because that alone...
is the life I chose for myself.”
“Good...
Very well.
History belongs only to the victor.
If either of us wishes to leave even a single line upon its pages, then we must first win.”
Charlotte nodded firmly before signaling the subordinates behind her.
“Trample them, my baptized ones.”
“WOOOOOOOOOO!!”
“Kill them!
Slaughter every last one of them and stain this land with their blood!”
“Yes!”
Edel answered with a shout just as powerful.
“This is the land of our ancestors!
We will protect it!
Everything for the future of the Empire!
Vena Ribenia!”
“Vena Ribenia!”
With the battle cry, “Honor to the Empire!” the Royal Guards charged forward all at once.
Chief Steward Georg and Royal Guard Commander Rugier led the assault.
The clash had begun.