Chapter 33

"Tell me, Chief!"

Sandalphon said.

"For I am a fool, a fool who can do nothing without your command, tell me what to do!"

"Alas, Mr. Rain. Please give me orders."

"Who to kill and who to spare, what to take and what to keep, where to destroy and where to trample!"

"The way we, the Black Snake, must go."

"...Show us."

Amidst the chorus of snake voices, a woman with black bandages covering her eyes spoke up.

"The milestone that the leader is pointing out."

As the organization's second in command and a henchman who bore the name of the Black Sword.

"What you wish."

Aria of the Black Sword said.

"...."

My wish, my command.

I turned my head in silence. We were sitting in the highest seats of the theater. Beyond us, center stage, the display of the Holy Kingdom was about to begin.

In a country blessed by the stars, the Crusader Knights in the name of the stars began to line up.

Under the command of the Crusader Knight Captain, Lord Roland, who holds the holy relic, the Star Spear.

That spear is the map and the key to the Tomb of the Heroes. That's what Ergo said. That's all I know.

Once I get my hands on it, will that be the end of it? What does it mean to be a map and a key, and how do I make it work? I couldn't know. I didn't need to know. At least for now.

"We'll get the map to the mausoleum...and the relic."

There was only one thing to do.

"─At all costs."

To track down the missing heroes and get answers to my current situation.

"No one will stand in your way."

"Yes, you're right. Alice won't let that happen!"

"Ohhhhhh, you're right!"

Aria said as Alice and Freya smiled and replied.

"The word of the chief... absolute...."

Gretel, the girl with the title of witch, croaked in a shy voice.

"I will do...as Rain tells me to do."

With Gwyn, the man, laughing wordlessly by her side.

The man said nothing, just smiled. Whether he wanted to or not.

"I've been waiting for that from the beginning, Master!"

Sandalfon exclaimed, ruffling his wolf's mane and baring the teeth of a beast that cannot be concealed.

It is not only the people of the Empire who are here. The nations that fill the streets of Londinium are no exception.

On the international stage, where the world's name is so boldly proclaimed, how would the Holy Kingdom, which values honor and chivalry above all else, behave?

For that, the more eyes that watch, the better.

And the more people to protect, the better.

"...Well, it's not always easy to fight for someone."

"That's the fate of those who have much to protect."

"Mmmm, those with more have more to lose. I know this all too well."

The Dark Elf and the Vampire Lord speak in hushed tones.

Selena of the Dark Moon, Scarlet the Trueborn.

As they say, this is no battlefield, and that's why I chose this place. I had no intention of fighting fair and square.

-Boom!

The explosion was the beginning.

It doesn't kill people but it doesn't let them escape either. It blocks their escape routes, burns them, but never plunges them into chaos beyond repair.

The simultaneous destruction is enough to make them realize what's happening and feel the horror and fear.

Screams echoed, panicked and agitated voices coming from all directions.

"Scarlet."

"Leave it to me, Master."

With that, I called out the names of the Vampire Lord.

"<Blood Moon>."

Scarlet murmured and as she chanted, a red veil enveloped the place, like a blood filter.

A type of blood magic, a unique skill system in the game that only the 'vampire' race can use, independent of class.

The twilight landscape blazed with explosive fire and blood-red crystals.

With their backs to the scene, the rest of the troops moved to fulfill their roles according to the plan they had laid out beforehand.

─The roar of the wolves rang out. As if leaping from the audience and onto the stage. A man in an impeccably tailored suit, well over two meters tall and bulging with bulging muscles.

He roared and howled with the face of a wolf worthy of the name Beastman.

The lone wolf, Sandalfon, was there.

Right there, on the battlefield, where the Holy Kingdom displayed and flaunted their military might before the world.

He was the one who stood above the rest, the one who bore the brunt of everyone's wounds.

"No more child's play!"

The wolf howled, roared, and shouted, a lion's roar that reverberated through the Crystal Palace for all to hear.

In front of him, his opponent did not panic. He is the most powerful force the Holy Kingdom can muster in public, an elite that bears the name of Crusader.

They are Tanhoiser, the First Knights, and Orion, the Second Knights, are considered two of the most elite forces in the Crusader Order.

"... Attack. Assume battle stance."

Facing them closest, the Crusader knights were unfazed, and at the word of the officer leading them, they quickly unsheathed their spears and swords and took up positions.

Even in this age of railroads and rolling trains, the old-fashioned, archaic look of the "knight" is stubbornly clinging to life.

With that, the stars began to glow along the armor and blades of the crusaders.

A river of stars meandered along the steel plates of their armor.

Sandalfon, the lone wolf, called out from the meandering star clusters.

"Come, children!"

*

"─Your Majesty."

The girl was blazing red as the setting sun, with a veil of blood falling.

And yet, the dusk here is not the sun she carries. It's a blood moon.

She knew it as soon as she saw it. Soon, her hunch became a certainty.

"The Black Snake...."

The queen says the name calmly. At no time does the queen of this country falter. She can't. She is the country itself.

"Declare a state of emergency for military defense at once. Inform Virginia of the situation."

"Aye, sir."

It was neither the prime minister nor the duke who answered her first. It was Oswald Rabbit, the man in charge of all the departments, the Queen's rabbit, who bowed wordlessly.

Seated beside him, the three Dukes of the Empire, a man and a woman, frowned wordlessly.

"Your Majesty. Perhaps, declaring war is a bit much."

The man with the name of 'Ironblood' spoke on behalf of the three dukes.

Despite the explosions and burning, the three dukes remain seated and make no attempt to rise, as if what's happening is all part of the show.

"Duke of Cromwell, do you recognize their names and think so?"

"I remember fighting with that wolf-headed man over there."

"Then you know them all the more well."

"That's why I'm telling you."

Ironblood Cromwell replied.

"I don't know how many 'snakes' like him have gathered, but they don't seem particularly interested in us, and there's no point in tangling with them."

"From our perspective, there are ample reasons not to move."

"Besides, there's no reason to intervene on behalf of another country's military."

The other two dukes were no different.

They planted their heavy asses in place, unwilling to move an inch.

The fact that this was their country and its capital was a good thing.

*

"...."

As my men moved about, I sat there wordlessly, watching the stage with Aria and Alice by my side as usual.

It was now just the three of us.

I don't know how the Empire will respond, but I'm not going to sit on my hands.

And it's not just the security forces that are being called in to deal with this unexpected situation.

It's the Breton Empire's finest army, the Red Coats, as they're known on the continent.

As the name implies, red-coated troops were everywhere, and so were their cloaked subordinates.

I looked down at a place not too far from here.

As the panicked nobles were being evacuated, a man with red hair approached the red-coated troops escorting them.

"Well, well, well. You're still toiling away today, ignoring the people in favor of the powerful nobles."

Silan said, revealing his serpentine eyes.

"Who are you? Reveal your name and title!"

"Ah, as you can see, I'm Silan, the fourth in rank in the Black Snake. By the way, my tinnitus is a bit embarrassing to say out loud...."

-Bang!

Before he could finish speaking, the muzzle of the rifle spewed fire but it wasn't gunpowder that shot out of the muzzle. It was a Firebolt, the most basic of offensive magic.

At the same time, the power of the magic was by no means the same as that unleashed by a mere mortal, and it wasn't even a single shot. With each pull of the trigger, a shower of flaming bolts followed the rifle.

"No," said the man, "even if you behave so ungentlemanly...."

Through all the burning and sizzling, Silan's mouth never stopped moving. He didn't even show any sign of pain but sure enough, flesh was burning, scorching, and dripping.

"!"

Aaaah!

At that moment, without time to pull the next trigger, the bodies of those present were torn to pieces. They were sliced and diced like sliced bread, and when he was done, they collapsed in a fountain of blood.

"Silan, we're on a mission."

"Of course, sister. It's not like I don't know."

Selena said, standing amidst the 'human pieces' that were now shattered like Legos. Beneath a hooded coat that concealed her identity, a cascade of eerily gleaming blades glowed.

At the same time, the body that was supposed to be burned was completely restored, and Silan turned his neck and made the sound of a bone cracking.

"Still, I don't think we're going to be leaving anytime soon."

Selena of the Dark Moon replied in a tone of incredulity.

"...Don't let your guard down. It's a bad habit of yours."