My Slain Dragon Bride

Chapter 237. No Compromise

Luri entered the inner fortress and saw a dimly lit room.

Even a fool would be able to tell that this space had been created by magic after moving a little farther in.

Her silver cat’s eyes stared straight ahead.

Luri stood on the floor for a moment, resting her axe on her shoulder. It did not seem as though she would ever reach the end if she simply kept moving in one direction.

That was what she would have thought if she had been merely walking on ordinary ground.

"Tormenta."

—Yes.

The High-ranking Wind Spirit, capable of speaking human language, obediently answered her.

It was a rare sight that Spirit users could not normally witness.

The spirit was wrapped around her body in case their connection was severed.

"This place seems to have twisted space."

—That is correct. It seems to be a domain created by death.

"Can you find its source?"

Spirits were mysterious beings composed of magic.

They could sense things that even humans, and even dragons, would have difficulty detecting.

—I would be honored to be your eyes.

Hearing that, Luri rose into the air once more.

"Do not dawdle."

Silverwing of the Mobile Brigade.

It was the strongest, but it was also the fastest.

At this very moment, Luri became a silver comet, a wind that cut through everything in sight.

She did not indiscriminately cut down everything.

Her reaction speed and visual acuity were good enough to distinguish between the Allied Forces and the Demon Race.

Countless soldiers from the kingdoms and stragglers merely stared down at the monsters and members of the Demon Race that had been reduced to corpses, unaware that they themselves had been saved.

’What is that...?’

Even so, there was a group that caught Luri’s attention.

Two women were calmly walking through this space.

One was wrapped in a ragged robe, while the other had narrow, half-closed eyes that made it difficult to tell whether they were even open.

’Were people like that here?’

Luri had seen many people while guarding Ferda.

More importantly, she could sense that they were strong.

Were they enemies or allies?

After pondering for a moment, Luri ultimately decided to pass them by.

The silver comet continued moving without rest.

She was fast enough to travel from the Far East to the Empire in just five minutes.

Maintaining that speed, she repeatedly rounded corners until she finally reached the source.

It took her three hours to find it.

Mages operating the Red Circle were gathered in one place, drawing out Mana.

All of them had their eyes focused on a single point.

Seeing their reaction, Luri instinctively closed her eyes.

The trauma was here.

As an experienced warrior, she could visualize the surrounding scenery as clearly with her eyes closed as she could with them open.

She recalled the place where everyone’s gazes were converging and swung her axe toward it with all her strength.

Splat!

It sounded like a fruit bursting with juice.

Luri landed on the floor, avoiding the shower of bodily fluids.

Then the reaction came immediately.

"AAAAAAAH!!"

"Our King!"

"It hurts! It hurts so much!!"

Their joy collapsed into screams of agony as the humans shrieked in pain.

The screams sounded as though they had fallen into the depths of Hell.

Luri could sense it with her instincts.

The Mana that had been blazing within the Circles was gradually fading and crumbling.

Those who had been screaming and howling collapsed while coughing up blood.

Some of them, unwilling to simply die like dogs, set their own bodies ablaze and charged at Luri.

"May the void be with the King!!"

Their eyes emitted a crimson glow as they turned their bodies into bombs.

Of course, it was nothing more than a meaningless gesture against Luri, and she disposed of them in an instant.

A moment later, she felt the space beginning to collapse.

Luri opened her eyes.

Within the red space, a revolting scene unfolded before her.

Her heart felt heavy.

But it was something that had to be done.

’Lord Ferda.’

She had to find Ferda.

Luri had made a promise to Valdrova.

She had promised to bring him home safe and sound.

As Valdrova’s servant, she could not disappoint her.

Though she thought that way, it was not merely a sense of duty driving her.

Luri genuinely worried about Ferda.

She did not want to lose him.

’Let’s move.’

Luri steeled herself and moved forward.

But, as always, an obstacle stood in her way.

"As expected of someone from Silverwind. I can’t believe you intend to break through this with your bare body."

It was Curved Demon.

He tore through space and appeared before Luri.

At that moment, her body moved instinctively.

She acted before she could even consciously understand what was happening.

The moment she saw Curved Demon, she had already decided to kill him, because she had no intention of talking to him and would leave him no opportunity to do so.

That determination made her move incredibly fast, but she could not cut Curved Demon down.

She sliced him perfectly in half, yet his body was replaced by another human.

Curved Demon was also a member of the Legion and had become immortal.

"I understand perfectly well that you have no intention of talking. In any case, this isn’t exactly a matter that requires a conversation."

The space around Luri twisted.

The shockwaves created as the area contracted and expanded tried to tear away parts of Luri’s body.

But she possessed the visual acuity and judgment to perceive such attacks, as well as the speed to evade them.

Even so, she could not display the same aggressiveness she had shown during their first encounter.

’Trauma.’

The anxiety that those eyeballs could emerge from anywhere at any time had been etched deeply into her mind.

She had sworn that even if she encountered them again, she would escape.

But actually facing them felt no different from sticking her neck into an executioner’s noose.

She had to avoid them somehow.

Even so, Curved Demon was steadily being sliced apart by Luri’s axe.

Whenever that happened, he would reappear, and Luri would continue cutting him down again and again.

The battle was overwhelmingly advantageous to Curved Demon.

He already knew the weakness that could break Luri.

And he was skilled at devising tricks that could draw her into his trap.

By the time Luri had become thoroughly accustomed to cutting down the human forms he endlessly presented, when she began thinking that the one she was cutting down this time was simply another of countless sacrificial victims, Curved Demon struck at her weakness.

"Ugh!"

Where a head should have been, there was a gigantic eye.

It pierced into Luri’s mind and instantly dragged her into memories of regret.

’Damn it, again...!’

Luri staggered.

But unlike the first time, she tried to resist.

Now that she had something precious to protect, she tried to cast away the past.

Yet the past was something that could not be escaped.

It seemed to whisper those words to her.

Soon, countless eyes surrounded Luri, encircling her so that she could not escape.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion rang out.

The illusion Luri had been seeing completely disappeared, leaving behind nothing but liquid and fragments.

Beside her was something that looked like two cylindrical barrels bound together.

A Magitech Shotgun.

Unlike the ones used by the knights, this shotgun had a golden sheen.

There was only one person who could wield a golden shotgun.

The Moving Fortress, Alberdo.

"So it was you, Alberdo. I almost didn’t recognize you without that armor."

"..."

What he was wearing was a heavy cavalry armor different from his usual one, but the enormous Club in his hand was like his very alter ego.

"I have dropped countless humans and creatures into my space. Nine out of ten—no, ninety-nine out of a hundred—feel helpless and give up."

"..."

"But no matter how many times I drop you, you somehow manage to cast it all off. It is truly ironic."

"..."

"Why are you so obsessed with me?"

He did not answer.

Instead, he raised the shotgun in his hands.

BOOM!

The human body collapsed into a mass of bright-red blood and flesh.

Curved Demon appeared again some distance away.

"You’ve come this far, so I suppose you deserve a reward as well."

Curved Demon’s eyes changed.

The aura that had been scattered around him in carefree amusement was sucked toward his center, as though everything had suddenly become a vacuum.

His red eyes gleamed strangely, and the air grew cold.

Luri’s mind continued calculating.

At first, she had considered leaving Alberdo to deal with him while she went to find Ferda.

But after seeing that gaze, she had no choice but to change her mind.

’I have to keep this man occupied somehow.’

With that thought, she tightened her grip on her axe and unleashed Dragon Fear at him.

Curved Demon was no longer smiling.

"I shall indulge you and your companions for a while."

***

Ureas had been resurrected.

Within Gamigin’s domain, he had regained his form through the power of the Necromancer.

After death, his body had become free.

His form could no longer be called human.

Where his legs should have been, tentacles writhed and twisted, stretching freely to toy with his opponents.

"GAAAAH!"

The green flames possessed terrifying power.

Even the slightest touch against flesh or armor caused the green flames to grow uncontrollably, devouring everything in their path.

The battle, which had been overwhelmingly favorable to Count Rooster, changed in an instant.

After his body had been reduced to ash and he had lost his physical form, even being cut apart repeatedly by a silver sword could not kill him.

One knight threw himself forward, willing to die, and once again attempted to drive the holy relic of the faith into Ureas’s heart.

"By the name of Alte, I shall purify you, you filthy monster... Huh?"

Ureas’s body seemed to scatter into ash, but instead of collapsing as it had before, his form returned.

—Kahahahahaha!! What a pathetic little trick!!

Ureas burst into laughter, mocking the knight.

Then, deliberately showing him what he was doing, he grabbed the holy relic and drove it into the man’s heart instead.

"The holy relic of the faith...!?"

"What kind of monster is this...?!"

Even Count Rooster’s previously relaxed eyes had changed.

Now, he had to risk his life to fight the creature.

This was his chance.

Ferda tried to slip away while they were distracted.

"Don’t let the Regent escape!"

Even in the midst of the chaos, Count Rooster did not leave Ferda alone.

The holy relics of the faith were not limited to those already embedded in their chests.

For another plan, they had prepared additional items, which they began taking out one by one.

Oil.

Holy oil blessed by Alte.

When a torch soaked in the holy oil was lit, golden flames rose into the air.

Ferda’s shadow completely lost its power.

’Damn it.’

This was the problem with Barbatos’s Shadow Arts.

It displayed tremendous power when used covertly, but it was far too weak in a direct confrontation.

Once an opponent prepared a means of countering it without allowing it to be used covertly, it became utterly powerless.

But Ferda was a Mage.

As long as he could move his fingers and mouth, Mages were the kind of people who could find a way to escape.

Moreover, despite having endured every kind of malice, he had survived until the very end.

Ferda concentrated the Magic Aura surrounding his body in front of himself and shaped it into a shield.

Then he molded the Mana gathered in his Staff into the shape of a huge bomb.

And he slammed it down toward himself.

BOOM!

As a result, Ferda’s body was propelled backward, allowing him to shake off the soldiers pursuing him.

Using one’s own offensive magic as propulsion was a foolish act.

A Mage’s body was not as sturdy as a knight’s, and merely rolling three times like that would be enough to break at least one bone.

But Ferda had no need to worry about that.

The instant he escaped the flames of the holy oil, Ferda’s body melted into the shadows.

"The Regent Ferda used Black Magic!!"

"Regent Valdrova is a Demon Follower! Show him no mercy!"

Everyone was watching, but there was nothing else he could do now.

With the flames of the holy oil having neutralized his Shadow Arts, the only path left was to evade them.

Ferda had to move while avoiding their pursuit.

’At a time like this, what I need is...’

The first person who instinctively came to mind was Luri.

What was she doing?

He remembered the determination in those young eyes.

It was reassuring, but he was also worried that she might be crushed beneath the weight of it.

’Zed and Arwen...’

The two of them had decent swordsmanship and abilities.

Zed, in particular, possessed the distinctive eyes of the Red-Eyed Clan, making him the one who could be most effective in breaking through this situation.

It would have been nice if at least those two were here.

’I really have grown weak.’

It was hard to believe that this was the same Ferda who had once believed there was nothing in this world worth trusting.

Ferda steeled himself.

He was the only one who could overcome this situation, and he had to believe that.

Relying on luck would only lead to death.

Ferda moved.

’Where should I go once I get out of here?’

Should he kill the sacrifices to weaken King Heinkel?

Or should he immediately storm into the throne room and attack?

’The latter would be suicide.’

At least if Luri, Zed, and Arwen were there, he might barely be able to see a way through.

His priority was to weaken King Heinkel as much as possible.

Just as he was about to leave, someone recognized Ferda and called out to him.

"Re-Regent Ferda...?"

Ferda turned his head.

A knight, barely clinging to life, was leaning against the wall.

"Who are you?"

"I’m a Kingdom knight from the Allied Forces..."

"Where are your comrades?"

"They’re all dead... And soon I will... join them..."

"I see."

As Ferda turned to leave again, the knight grabbed his wrist.

With a desperate voice, he shouted,

"King Heinkel is dead... We managed to achieve victory by using all the holy relics... But... but the problem is...! It didn’t end with his death!"

"What do you mean?"

"Save the King... in the throne room... They... if you are too late..."

The knight could not finish his sentence before death claimed him.

Ferda placed the symbol of the faith that the corpse carried into its mouth so that it could not be resurrected.

’King Heinkel is dead?’

Was he really dead?

Ferda could not imagine that the man who had turned all the people of his own domain into batteries could die so easily.

’But he said something was happening after his death...’

Could King Heinkel be bait?

Like Ureas, Gamigin’s Black Magic became even stronger and more vicious after death.

’I cannot afford to be careless.’

He had to take the risk.

Ferda headed toward the throne room.

Monsters and members of the Demon Race moved to block Ferda’s path, but none of them were his match.

At last, he reached the throne room and opened the door.

Just as the knight had said, signs of a fierce battle were scattered throughout the throne room.

Those who had once been called elite soldiers had been smashed against the walls, torn apart, and left sprawled across the floor as their bodies slowly grew cold.

All of them had likely come running to protect the King and fight for the King’s ideals.

Did they even know?

That their deaths were disappearing meaninglessly upon that faded carpet.

"Die!"

"The book is mine!"

"Do you think I’ll hand it over to pathetic things like you?!"

The Kings who had survived until the very end were stabbing daggers into one another.

There was no swordsmanship, nor any sophisticated combat technique designed to exploit an opponent’s opening.

They simply had their eyes rolled back as they repeatedly plunged daggers into each other’s bodies.

There were four Kingpins.

One space between each of them.

There would be no compromise.

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