Chapter 223 : Ribenia Anti-Demon War (4)
Chapter 223: Ribenia Anti-Demon War (4)
Twelve hours had passed since the first Erosion Pillar appeared.
Three hours had passed since the first Gate Beasts emerged.
Several major changes had taken place on the battlefield.
The first was that the endless stream of Beasts had suddenly fallen to fewer than one per minute.
As a result, the number of Gate Beasts, which everyone had believed would inevitably exceed one hundred thousand, stopped increasing just short of ninety thousand.
It was proof of the Imperial Allied Forces' desperate resistance.
The second was that the battle at the Imperial Palace's southern main gate had shifted into a deadlock.
Unlike two hours earlier, when Eugene Carter had single-handedly blocked the Front Line, the greatest reason was that Mastema of Hatred, the enemy commander, could no longer advance.
Having observed the battle from afar for a long time, Robert Bernhardt described it as—
"The fatal weakness that only Mastema could overlook."
— When you're too intelligent, you end up preparing even for variables that don't need preparing. Too much is as bad as too little.
Of course, the great awakenings of Karen Rosefield and Francia Brida had contributed enormously to this outcome.
But if Mastema had simply ignored everything else and forced his way straight into the Imperial Palace...
More than twenty percent of the palace would already have been overrun by Beasts.
Even so, that outcome had only been made possible by the Allied Forces' desperate resistance.
Just as Princess Edel Ribenia had predicted...
If the Imperial regular army failed to arrive within the next thirty minutes...
Their defeat would all but be guaranteed.
Boom!
Boooom!
Even behind the main gate, deafening explosions echoed without pause.
Lea Bronte was completely occupied alongside the rear forces, dealing with both the flying Beasts and the remnants that had broken through the formation.
Thrust!
Despite its short reach, the short spear possessed considerable weight.
Using thrusts rather than swings was far more efficient.
After killing a C-Rank Beast by piercing its core as part of a three-person team, she caught her breath while staring at the sea of soldiers before her.
“Haa... Haa...”
“I need to deliver these items to Instructor as soon as possible.”
Now that the battle lines had already been established, she couldn't exactly run off by herself just to deliver the Artifacts.
Nor could she move the entire team while everyone was so occupied.
So she had resigned herself to fulfilling her Master's request only after eliminating every Beast that appeared nearby.
'...Though the problem is that the Beasts just keep coming without end!'
Just then—
As Lea's formation repeatedly advanced and retreated across a distance of roughly thirty meters...
A single overwhelmingly powerful individual entered their ranks.
Ting! Tiiing! Tiiing!
The Beast's razor-sharp claws failed to pierce the translucent barrier and were all deflected away.
Kyaaaak!
Kyaaaak!
The appearance of such a powerful newcomer instantly drew every Beast's attention.
Then, calmly stepping forward through them...
Executor of Light Luke Honorlight smiled warmly at Lea.
“I'm about to advance into the heart of the battlefield.”
“……”
“Will you accompany me, Miss Bronte?”
.
.
.
At that same moment...
The major border regions in the Empire's west and north were growing increasingly chaotic for entirely different reasons.
“Hey, you there! Move!”
“We can't let the enemy realize we've abandoned this position! Hurry!”
“Yes, sir!”
Command and Control Center of the Legion Headquarters.
Watching the headquarters soldiers moving with perfect discipline, Lieutenant General Vadim Hallahan, Commander of the Imperial Regular Army's 2nd Corps, checked his equipment one final time.
“Vena Ribenia.”
“Yes.”
“Commander.”
“The deployment force will soon be entering Arfe.”
“…I see.”
After hearing the urgent report from his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Vadim gestured toward his staff officers.
“Inform every commanding officer.”
“I'll receive another situation report at twenty hundred hours.”
“Tell them to be prepared.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the staff officers began relaying orders to each subordinate unit, he silently stared at the map inside the command center.
“So…”
“I wonder how our three neighboring countries will respond.”
Among the five corps under his command that faced hostile nations directly...
The 3rd Corps had been the one fully committed to supporting this operation.
Its primary responsibility was defending the border with the Kalte Federation.
Although Princess Edel had personally declared that Kalte would become an ally...
Leaving the border with the strongest neighboring nation under their jurisdiction virtually undefended was no different from committing suicide.
That was why personnel had been withdrawn from the remaining four corps to compensate for the 3rd Corps' shortage.
That redeployment was the source of all the current commotion.
Along the way, several Beastified soldiers had appeared, delaying the deployment by nearly an hour...
But the operation itself hadn't suffered any major setbacks.
The real issue came afterward.
No one was unaware that the Empire had entered an unprecedented period of turmoil.
As for Kalte...
Princess Elisabeth Ribenia had become the Federation's queen.
Princess Edel had also informed their leadership of her intention to establish friendly relations.
At least during this operation...
They would not interfere.
But the remaining two nations—
Bosnus and Hallard—
Were another matter entirely.
'Especially Bosnus.'
'I simply can't believe they'd quietly stand by when they're practically the Empire's sworn enemy.'
The four great powers other than the Ribenia Empire, along with Duel Headquarters, had long insisted that a global war against the Beasts would eventually begin.
No one knew exactly when.
But depending on how humanity prepared for that day...
The future itself would change completely.
Since the great powers had taken that position...
Most regional powers would likely remain cautious and observe the situation.
However...
There would always be reckless fools who saw this explosive situation as an opportunity and chose to invade instead.
“War always walks hand in hand with madness.”
“No matter its purpose.”
“So long as no one speaks of righteousness, I won't object to whatever reason they choose for waging war…”
“But accepting their justification…”
“And accepting defeat…”
“Are two completely different things.”
Lieutenant General Vadim glanced once toward the dark clouds filling the sky before briskly setting off.
Twenty minutes later...
The specially organized Imperial Regular Army Special Operations Force finally clashed with the Gate Beasts.
“Waaaaah!”
“Waaaaah!”
The cheers were so loud they had become nothing more than noise.
Yet not a single person present frowned.
The Allied Forces had already reached the limits of their endurance.
At such a desperate moment...
The arrival of a regular army whose numbers exceeded the Allied Forces by more than double...
Seemed nothing short of a miracle.
Even the Special Task Force Commander and the Defense Commander, both of whom had always maintained hostile attitudes toward the regular army...
Had no choice but to abandon those views during this operation.
“…Those devils suddenly look like gods.”
“I couldn't agree more.”
Even for the Imperial Guards, who had been fighting longer than anyone else...
The sight was deeply moving.
The Captain of the Imperial Guards and the Chief Steward of the Imperial Household, neither of whom usually displayed emotion, now wore expressions filled with relief.
Glancing at them, Edel shouted,
“This is our first and last chance to counterattack!”
“We have to overwhelm them!”
“Of course!”
“The mages of Duel and the believers of Dellowell are holding the rear!”
“Imperial Guards, charge!”
“Yes!”
.
.
.
At the same time...
“So…”
“Either they suppressed the situation faster than expected…”
“Or they rooted out the infiltrators more quickly than I anticipated.”
“It seems the Beastification Drug failed to inflict any serious damage.”
Clang!
Claaang!
While single-handedly exchanging blows with Francia Brida—whose combat ability now far surpassed anything she'd displayed before—
Mastema analyzed the state of the war in real time.
Beasts were collective spiritual entities that shared all instincts and consciousness.
Their ability to assess a battlefield was incomparably faster and more accurate than humanity's.
What especially concerned him was the combat analysis of the enemy's major forces, gathered through the A-Rank and higher Beasts.
And that was precisely the part he couldn't understand.
He had already predicted this general flow of events back when he still inhabited Charlotte's body.
With both a Regressor and a Transmigrator among the enemy...
Naturally, they would prepare every defense possible.
The Gate Beasts were more than enough to reduce the capital Arfe and the Imperial Palace to ruins.
But only if the Imperial regular army failed to arrive.
The Ribenia Empire had always maintained an isolationist foreign policy.
It had barely interacted even with Duel Headquarters.
Because of that...
It had been forced to station enormous numbers of soldiers along its borders as a deterrent.
The Imperial regular army was the result.
Since they had to prepare for a two-front war...
Withdrawing the entire regular army had never been an option.
At most...
He had estimated they could spare ten percent.
Moving twenty thousand soldiers all the way here was no easy task.
Even if preparations had begun long ago...
The march alone would require more than an entire day.
That was why Charlotte and Mastema had devised a short-term strategy.
Capture the capital and the Imperial Palace within a single day...
Then prepare for a second battle against the regular army.
Naturally...
Even this had merely been Mastema's second-best plan.
The Empire had been rotting from within for years.
Allowing it to continue destroying itself over the long term would have yielded a far greater chance of victory.
'...If only Alu hadn't issued that command.'
When the Creator gave an order...
A creation's role was not to question it.
Even so...
He remained convinced.
A prolonged war offered higher odds of victory.
But even in a short war...
Their chances of losing were virtually nonexistent.
After all...
Since the days of the Kingdom of Rubea...
The Ribenia Empire had consistently distanced itself from the Guardian Gods.
To unite its people during an age of chaos...
To forge a national identity...
The Empire had established the new religion known as the Ribenia Orthodoxy.
In doing so...
It rejected every other faith as false.
Perhaps it had been a desperate measure taken for the Empire's survival.
But it had been the wrong decision.
The Guardian Faith, represented by the faith of Paladion...
Was humanity's one and only strategy for standing against the Beasts.
Once they denied that truth...
He had believed there was no possible way for them to win.
“…Just when did you manage to cultivate this many seeds, Abrel?!”
And yet...
Here they were.
Successors.
Not half-finished ones, either.
Five successors who had already fully bloomed.
Among them...
Three women especially caught Mastema's attention.
Francia Brida—
Successor of Soldera, the Divine Sword and Guardian God of Swords.
Karen Rosefield—
Successor of Akasha, the legendary Dark Mage and Guardian Deity of Blood.
And...
Rubia Magnus—
Successor of Eugene Carter, the Savior at the End of Ruin.
Because the Ribenia Empire possessed the weakest influence of Abrel among all the great powers...
Mastema had been certain there wouldn't be a single person capable of standing against him.
Yet...
Even now...
As he faced the young woman matching him blow for blow...
Killing intent overflowed from him.
“Merely inheriting Soldera's power isn't enough to surpass me...!”
Gripping Francia's Permanent Crimson Blade tightly with both hands...
He unleashed dozens of Needle Magic spells from the magic circles blooming across the ground.
But naturally...
Not a single spear reached the girl.
Ting! Tiiing!
Because Karen stepped in front of Francia as though she had been waiting for that very moment...
And deflected every spell with her own body.
“If the technique belongs to humans…”
“Then it's not impossible to deal with.”
“Especially when it's only conventional magic.”
Five Divine Magic spells cast by Rubia had been layered upon Karen's entire body.