[48] : Invasion (I)

World: Elicia.

Residence Avalon.

Beach area.

[***]

Earlier, Aiden had been in a good mood.

He had spent some happy hours with Mukuro in the bath and had also gained a new wife yesterday—someone he had felt something for a long time.

Overall, his mood had been excellent since the previous day.

However, everything changed now.

That 'sound,' so familiar and irritating, appeared suddenly.

While watching the training battle between Leo Pemptos and Salamander, his gaze drifted to a specific direction.

Although he couldn't see anything in the distance, it was clear that the annoying 'sound' came from there.

At the same time, the tearing of the world's barrier could be felt, along with the all-too-familiar sensation of the dimensional rift.

"This feeling… those annoying insects are circling again," murmured Mukuro with a faint hint of disdain, her face marked by an expression of deep disgust.

Clearly, she also recognized both the sensation and the sound or energy emitted by those crystalline creatures.

"[Rasiel]."

Aiden raised his right hand and spoke the name of his [Angel].

Slowly, particles of blue energy materialized, taking the form of a book or grimoire.

Mukuro stepped closer to look at the pages, and her expression darkened as she read what was about to happen.

"So they still dare attempt an invasion like this? It seems the few humanoids that managed to survive the 'last' battle in the dimensional rift have realized I'm not always in this world. They've decided to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack, attempting to purge the other beings while desperately searching for their Queen's 'sound,'" Aiden murmured coldly.

The Phrases had a specific method: they arrived in other worlds by following the 'sound' made by their Queen as she crossed the Dimensional Rift.

However, upon reaching a world, that sound mixed with those of the living beings inhabiting it.

Thus, they had no choice but to purge all other sounds until only their Queen's remained.

Aiden continued reading the global information about the Phrases in his grimoire and, though annoyed, felt relieved to have returned.

The people of this world stood no chance against an invasion of this magnitude.

Perhaps they wouldn't be completely exterminated, but the casualties would be devastating.

The Phrases had launched simultaneous attacks on various nations of the world, and only a few were capable of facing them.

Aside from Touya and his duchy, who had the [Frame Gears], himself with his abilities, and the tribe of fairies strengthened by his guidance, the rest of the nations were weak against an enemy like the Phrases.

Aiden pressed his hands to his forehead just as Leo Pemptos and Salamander returned from the sea area where they had been training, bringing with them the warning about the Phrase.

Wasting no time, Aiden decided to act immediately.

Although his contract with Yog-Sothoth to protect this world had ended long ago, and he had fulfilled his duty, standing idle now that he was aware of the situation was not an option, was it?

"Can you go and find the others? Each will have to go to a location and repel the Phrase from there," he said to Mukuro, who nodded without hesitation.

With a motion of his right hand and using the [Kaleidoscope] magic, Aiden opened a portal to his home in the world of 'Draconic Deus,' tearing space with precision.

"Leave it to Muku. Muku will gather everyone and return in the blink of an eye," Mukuro declared with unshakable confidence before stepping through the portal.

Aiden watched her disappear while continuing to read the information in [Rasiel], leaving the portal open to avoid spending more magical power reopening it later.

While reviewing the grimoire, he confirmed that multiple countries would be attacked by armies of low- and mid-tier Phrases.

For now, there were no signs of high-tier or humanoid ranks.

'They must be lurking in the dimensional rift… Perhaps they're not confident and believe I'm still here? They're being cautious, as expected. After all, I'm their sworn enemy. I've wiped out millions of them, so it's logical for them to act carefully,' Aiden reflected while continuing to analyze the data.

'In any case, they'll fail as always. The only ones who could pose a 'real problem' are the intelligent humanoids; the low-, mid-, and high-tier ones are easy to deceive and can be directed without difficulty to unpopulated areas,' Aiden thought silently.

He had already devised a way to confuse the Phrases' senses.

These creatures followed the 'sound' produced by living beings and attacked any source of that 'sound' to better perceive their Queen's, which was housed within a living being in this world.

With this knowledge, Aiden had developed methods to guide the Phrases to specific locations where he could eliminate them without endangering civilians.

It would be utterly foolish not to take advantage of these creatures' instincts, which oriented solely by following that 'sound.'

For that reason, he had created a spell capable of simulating multiple 'sounds' of living beings concentrated in one place, transmitting them at a frequency the Phrases could detect.

Sensing what seemed to be a large number of prey, the Phrases automatically headed toward the point where the spell was active, ignoring the other 'sounds,' namely, the cities and kingdoms.

Then, Aiden and the girls annihilated them in remote territories, where they couldn't harm civilizations—though the environment always suffered.

That, unfortunately, was inevitable.

"Come forth, my other selves…" Aiden spoke to the air, and his shadow, previously limited to its size reflected by the sun, expanded massively, revealing a dimension within.

From it emerged thousands of figures with white hair and golden eyes.

"You already know the plan… Divide your zones across the rest of the world. Head to the towns attacked by the Phrase, cast the 'sonic essence' spell, and lure those creatures into a portal. Send them to the desert, far from Belfast; that's where we usually face them. But stay away from the border with Hannock and Yulong. That area is under Touya's protection with his [Frame Gears], so leave it to him."

Aiden summoned his time clones with [Zafkiel] and distributed them among the defenseless towns of the world.

He knew those places could barely handle a magical beast without a decent fighter, let alone the Phrase, against whom ordinary magic was ineffective.

For them, a simple fighter wouldn't suffice.

He instructed them to use the 'sonic essence' spell to deceive the Phrases, generating sound waves that imitated the presence of over 100 million living beings.

Thus, they could lure them into a portal that would send them to the desert, where Aiden would annihilate them without endangering any kingdom or country.

In the larger kingdoms and nations, Aiden and the girls would handle the task personally, as the number of Phrases was too high to leave it to the clones.

Meanwhile, Touya was battling around 13,000 Phrases at the border of Hannock and Yulong.

That empire, infamous for its shamelessness, was under attack, and Touya had come to their defense despite the tensions between them.

Aiden wouldn't have ignored the situation either.

After all, the citizens of Yulong weren't to blame for their leaders being so… despicable.

"Now scatter!" Aiden shouted to his clones.

They nodded and teleported immediately to their destinations.

At that exact moment, Mukuro stepped through the portal opened by [Kaleidoscope] and nodded toward Aiden.

Then, one by one, Nia, Kurumi, Miku, Tohka, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Origami, Kotori, Natsumi, Yoshino, and Yoshinon began crossing the portal, preparing for action.

Aiden watched as Kotori frowned, clearly displeased.

She could sense both the 'sound' and the 'presence' of those creatures.

"Let's stop beating around the bush and end this once and for all," Kotori declared with determination, her crimson eyes burning with relentless resolve.

She then looked at Aiden, waiting for him to explain his plan.

However, he simply sent her a telepathic message with all the information and strategy to deal with this invasion.

He did the same with the others.

They all understood the plan immediately, showing no surprise.

After all, this tactic was one Aiden had used countless times in the past whenever the Phrases invaded: deceive them with the 'sound essence' or intercept them in the Dimensional Rift before they broke through the world's barrier.

However, this time the Phrases had already crossed the barrier.

Aiden hadn't dealt with it as he usually did before, and this had allowed them to enter.

Now, the only option left was to deceive them with the 'sound essence' and finish this as quickly as possible.

…

[*]

Kingdom of the Knights of Lestia

Capital City: Lestein

[*]

It was two in the afternoon, and the sky, clear except for a few scattered clouds, offered a tranquil image.

A cool breeze caressed the faces of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of the Knights as life went on as usual.

The kingdom, surrounded by hills and vast plains, was the perfect terrain for training its renowned knights.

Its capital, Lestia, stood as a fortified city with a clearly military design, reinforced by castles and fortresses that underscored its reputation as a bastion of warriors.

The roads, meticulously maintained, facilitated the quick movement of troops and caravans.

Everything seemed calm, just another ordinary day.

But that peace was shattered when a guard stationed on one of the watchtowers spotted something on the southern horizon, where the plains stretched endlessly.

Dressed in the characteristic armor of the knights, the guard squinted, trying to focus on what he saw in the distance: an immense dust cloud rising against the horizon.

At first, he thought it was just that: a dust cloud stirred by the wind, as often happened in the lowlands. He was about to look away when something stopped him.

Grabbing a broken tool that served as a telescope, he saw it.

He began to sweat cold, his stomach churned with nerves, and he stood frozen at the sight of something he had never seen before.

The Phrases were marching toward the capital.

They could be distinguished in all sorts of forms: from insects and worms speeding forward with their crimson cores glowing to Phrases soaring through the sky, taking varied shapes such as manta rays, winged worms, beetles, and more.

The other guards also noticed it and quickly sent messengers to alert the kingdom's army.

They, however, could only stay there, waiting for reinforcements.

With every passing second, the tension grew, as the red dots on the horizon continued to multiply.

…

From the sky, Natsumi calmly observed the scene.

She could see how the entire kingdom was mobilizing: civilians, farmers, and training soldiers were being evacuated behind the walls protecting the capital.

On top of the walls, numerous archers gathered, while below, squires assembled.

She also spotted what appeared to be generals and, among them, the kingdom's former king.

It didn't surprise her much; she knew Galen Yunia Lestia had been a "powerful" adventurer.

However, upon observing his expression, Natsumi realized he had come here solely to die defending his kingdom's capital.

Natsumi had been sent to this location by Aiden to intercept the Phrase advancing in this area.

From above, she watched the massive army of over 100,000 creatures marching toward the Kingdom of the Knights' capital and thought, somewhat ironically, that this world was lucky Aiden was fond of it.

After all, he wasn't obligated to help since his deal with Yog-Sothoth had been fulfilled.

But then again, that was precisely what she liked about him.

Meanwhile, the others were scattered across the rest of the attacked nations.

They and Aiden's clones had already begun intercepting the Phrases.

It wasn't as if the entire world was under attack, but the creatures had carefully chosen specific areas under the command of the humanoids.

As for Aiden, he had gone to the desert, the place where the Phrases would be teleported.

There, he was erecting barriers to prevent them from escaping, preparing the battlefield.

Natsumi, flying among the clouds on her broomstick, [Haniel], descended slowly until she was low enough for the soldiers to see her.

Ignoring the astonished looks of those watching a "child" flying on a broomstick, she advanced toward those who appeared to be the generals.

"Go and summon your former king, Galen," Natsumi ordered in a cold, authoritative tone, addressing the soldier in imposing armor who clearly held the rank of general.

As she spoke, she watched the Phrase army draw closer and closer to the capital's walls.

She thought it was fortunate they were still far away; otherwise, this kingdom wouldn't have had time to organize a defense and would already be defenseless.

The general to whom Natsumi spoke was stunned for two reasons.

First, because he was perplexed to see a child flying in the air.

In this world, almost no one could do such a thing unless they had limbs that allowed it, like fairies or winged demi-humans.

Second, because he recognized Natsumi.

In the army's barracks, there was a portrait where she appeared alongside Aiden and others.

That portrait had been there for years, since he was a child.

Galen, the former king of the Knights' Kingdom, had always warned them never to offend the people in that picture.

"Is it possible that you are Natsumi, the 'witch'?" the general asked cautiously, while the soldiers behind him, equally bewildered, widened their eyes in shock.

"Exactly. Now, call that pervert unless you'd rather die because of those things," Natsumi replied indifferently, pointing toward the enemy army. "I need to give him some orders and a few tips. So bring his perverted ass here immediately."

As she spoke, Natsumi recalled the young man she had met at the adventurers' guild, who now, inevitably, must have been an old man.

'It's her!' the general mentally exclaimed, feeling a spark of hope.

Galen had told him long ago that this group used to call him that and that they were old acquaintances of his from the time he was an adventurer. They had crossed paths numerous times at the adventurers' guild.

'If she's here, maybe we can fend off those strange creatures. But… what exactly are those things?' the general wondered silently, casting an inquisitive glance at one of his subordinates.

"Go and fetch Galen-sama immediately! Inform him that the 'Witch' from Hero Aiden Avalon's group is requesting his presence!" he ordered firmly, raising his voice slightly.

"Y-Yes, sir!" the soldier responded, nodding quickly before running toward a specific point, urgently making his way through the crowd.

The general turned his gaze back to Natsumi, who was still floating in the air, sitting on her broom, [Haniel], and looking into the distance with an enigmatic expression.

'She hasn't changed at all,' he thought as he observed her closely.

The portrait of her, commissioned by Galen about fifty years ago, still faithfully reflected the young woman now before him. It was a rare sight to witness such a renowned figure.

Just as Aiden was famous worldwide, the others (Mukuro, Nia, Kurumi, Miku, Tohka, Kaguya, Yuzuru, Origami, Kotori, Natsumi, and Yoshino/Yoshinon) were also renowned—not only as Aiden's fiancées and wives but also as top-ranking adventurers in the guild with formidable and legendary skills.

The general, lost in his thoughts, was abruptly interrupted by the sound of footsteps and a voice that resonated behind him.

"Hohohoho! What a pleasant surprise to see you again, Lady Natsumi. I thought these old bones would never have the honor of seeing your face again. Although I must admit, your arrival is a relief… I have no idea how to face those things."

Galen, an old man in knightly armor that denoted his experience, greeted Natsumi with a tired smile and then turned his gaze toward the Phrases ominously approaching in the distance.

He had never faced enemies of that kind and was completely unaware of the other side's abilities. And, according to the watchtower reports, there were more than 100,000 of them.

Even so, as a second-highest-ranking adventurer, he stepped forward to defend his kingdom. In any case, he was already old, and if those creatures broke through, the Knights' Kingdom would cease to exist.

At least he had the relief of having convinced his children and his granddaughter Hilde to escape safely.

Galen looked at Natsumi, and Natsumi returned the gaze to the old man.

"You haven't changed at all, Lady Natsumi," the elderly Galen murmured, his gaze distant, convinced she must be a fairy or something similar.

"I'll take that as a compliment, old pervert," Natsumi replied with a mocking smile, tossing her hair with exaggerated elegance.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Galen replied with a slight smile, though it quickly faded as his face took on a more serious air.

"Now, could you tell me what those things are and why you're here? To be honest, I have no idea what they are or how to fight them. I was prepared to march toward certain death, losing many of my men… perhaps all of them. But with your arrival, maybe this kingdom has a chance, however slim, to survive. So, I beg you, could you explain to me why you're here?" Galen asked, his gaze laden with a mix of hope and resignation, like someone who had already resigned himself to losing everything he had fought for.

The Phrases outnumbered them, and although they were defending their ground with some "advantage," those creatures were far too strange.

Some could fly, and the larger ones were at least five meters tall… and that didn't include any high-class ones he hadn't seen yet.

Natsumi looked at the old man, who seemed ready to die. She remembered the young man she had met at the adventurers' guild, along with Aiden and the others, and couldn't help but think about how time had left its mark.

"Those things are Phrases," Natsumi explained with a disinterested gesture, pointing at the army from her position. Then she frowned, her disgust reflected in every word.

"Think of them as simple bugs that only know how to destroy every living being they encounter."

She paused, crossing her arms with an air of superiority before continuing:

"As for my arrival… Aiden sent me to take care of this. They aren't enemies you can handle, and that's all you need to know for now. I don't have time to waste chatting about irrelevant things."

"Bugs that want to destroy everyone…?" the general murmured beside Galen, staring into the distance as if trying to process the magnitude of what was coming.

Some nearby soldiers had also heard those words and began whispering among themselves.

"Are you really saying you're going to take care of all of them…?" Galen asked, unable to hide his astonishment.

Although he knew Natsumi was powerful, he had never imagined how much. He had always thought that strength lay in Aiden's entire group, not just in her. He couldn't help but ask with a hint of incredulity.

"Doubt all you want, Galen Yunia Lestia, but listen carefully: your entire kingdom must remain on alert for at least the next week. Although my spell is almost perfect, if for any reason one of these bugs manages to escape, it will be your responsibility to face it," Natsumi declared with a calmness that seemed to defy the gravity of her words.

"I've never doubted you, Lady Natsumi… it just caught me off guard, that's all. I never imagined you were this powerful…" Galen confessed, genuine admiration in his voice.

And she wasn't lying. Deep down, she truly thought that.

Natsumi merely shrugged before looking at him again.

"Oh, and I suggest you head to Brunhild and talk to the duke. Try to form some kind of friendly alliance… or, I don't know, maybe betroth your granddaughter to him or something? That guy is practically the only one in this world, aside from us, who has what it takes to face those creatures."

Galen nodded, a bit stiffly.

He remembered how his granddaughter Hilde spent much of her time talking about the duke as her first love.

"I'll speak with the Duke of Brunhild," he finally said, striving to maintain his composure.

"Well, take care, old pervert. For today, your kingdom will remain standing," Natsumi commented with an amused smile and a playful glint in her eyes.

Without waiting for a response, she cast one last glance at the soldiers and Galen before mounting her broom.

In the blink of an eye, she shot off toward the army of Phrases at great speed.

Within a few minutes, she was already about 200 meters from the massive army.

Without wasting time, she activated a "sound essence" spell.

A magic circle began to form in her right hand, adorned with cabalistic runes that glowed intensely.

"[-ᚾ-ᚠ-ᚢ-]" Natsumi murmured.

From the circle emerged a colorless, transparent core that floated in her palm like a living heart.

—Beat!

The "heart" pulsed, and Natsumi wasted no time flying quickly through the army, moving in the opposite direction of the Knights' Kingdom.

Suddenly, as if by magic (because it was), every Phrase marching toward the kingdom heard a new "sound."

A muffled, thunderous roar, as if a hundred million living beings were behind them.

"There, there, stupid bugs… come here," Natsumi muttered with a hint of disdain as she floated gracefully in the air, casting a fleeting but annoyed glance backward.

A smile spread across her face as she saw more than 100,000 Phrases following her like an unstoppable swarm.

After covering a considerable distance, she stopped mid-air and descended almost to the ground.

She placed the "heart" in the center of a clearing and began constructing the trap that would send the bugs directly to the desert where Aiden was.

With the "heart" as the core, she summoned four 100-meter portals surrounding it, forming what looked like a giant cube.

The "heart," placed at the center, emitted a constant sound that attracted the Phrases.

Every time one crossed the cube's threshold, it was instantly teleported.

"And trap completed. That was a piece of cake… Though, well, it's not like these bugs are very smart anyway," Natsumi commented as she rose into the sky to observe the horizon.

Ten minutes passed, and the Phrases began falling into the trap one after another, being transported to the desert.

Natsumi watched the spectacle with indifference.

She could have attacked them directly to reduce their numbers, but she preferred not to destroy the environment.

"Now to wait for all of them to enter…" she murmured, bored, as she crossed her arms and floated in the air.

…

…

…

[***]

End of chapter.

(•_•)

A/N:

Happy New Year, dear reader!

I hope you had a great start to the year, with no problems and, above all, that you enjoyed a special moment with someone dear to you.

Truly, I send you my best wishes.

Seriously, thank you for reading, as always, and for your comments.

They mean so much to me.

Happy New Year once again!

…

Peace out.

*

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