424

Episode 424 Let's Use the Most Powerful Power (4)

Equidema's body exploded as it was crushed by a giant palm.

Kwajijijik!

Where the monster had been, only a crushed corpse and blood remained.

Everyone who saw it was paralyzed. Their brains were unable to process what was happening.

Then Giselle stamped her feet and shouted loudly.

"Everyone stand back!"

When training his troops, Giselle paid the most attention to making sure they responded reflexively to his commands.

The training was a great help in this situation. As soon as Giselle finished speaking, everyone around her unconsciously stepped back.

Alpoy immediately hugged Fiote and ran away while emitting magic power. I don't know about anything else, but he really is a great runner.

Meanwhile, the giant hand slowly struck the ground again.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Tsk tsk tsk!

The ground split open and the surrounding area shook as if there was an earthquake.

Even those who had already retreated far away fell over, unable to withstand the shock. Those who were emerging from the cracks burst open.

Even the skilled players, including Jiselle, were unable to keep their balance and were staggering.

People looked in horror at the giant hand emerging from the crack.

"What, what is it!"

"Hey, that kind of thing lives in a crack?"

"The guy who said he couldn't come out before… … ."

The crack had now grown quite large, large enough to burst out several giant monsters, the Equidema.

But if only a hand can barely fit through that wide gap, how big must it be!

People gulped. Everyone turned to look at Giselle without saying anything.

Jiselle took a deep breath and said.

"He is the master of the crack. We have to kill him for the crack to close."

Belinda glanced at the crack and asked.

"So… … I have to wait until that guy comes out?"

"Yes, so that it can be completely closed."

"Equdema is dead, what about the expansion of the rift?"

"With Equidema dead, the territory will shrink. The Crackers can operate within the territory, but… … they probably won't."

Even if I go out, the Crackers will disappear on their own as the area shrinks. So, I can breathe a sigh of relief if I just deal with Equidema right away.

Belinda asked again with a relieved expression.

"Then, even if that guy comes out, if there is no territory, the Crackers won't be able to come out anymore?"

Then Giselle shook her head firmly.

"No, once that guy comes out, territory isn't important anymore."

"What… what does that mean?"

"That guy can move regardless of the area, just like Equidema. And just the energy he has alone can cause at least tens of thousands of monsters to move in this world. They'll be following him around a lot."

He made a face that said he was sick of people.

Even now, the area around the crack is limited, so the crack people are barely being stopped.

But that incredibly huge thing can lead tens of thousands of monsters, so isn't that a moving rift area?

Jiselle chuckled.

"If Equidema is the vanguard, then you could say that guy is the real main force."

"That's not a long-range attack or anything, is it?"

When Belinda asked with an uneasy expression, watching her slowly moving hands, Giselle nodded.

"Fortunately, that's not the case. He's a very tough guy who fights with his body."

"That's fortunate."

If that huge size and strength could even attack from a distance, humanity could be swept away in an instant.

Everyone remained silent, watching the hand slowly slip back into the crack. It was so overwhelming that it was almost as if they had nothing to say.

Belinda, who had been quietly staring at the crack, asked as she passed by.

"Can you catch him?"

"We can catch him. We humans need to become stronger than we are now, but he's not invincible either."

"I see. I guess you've already caught it?"

"No!"

I almost fell for her sudden trick for a moment, but Giselle was not easy.

The atmosphere became awkward for a moment. Belinda narrowed her eyes and pressed Giselle for the first time in a long while.

"How do you know all this? You knew it even before the cracks appeared."

Jiselle spoke confidently, without any shame.

"Laviere told me. The Salvation Church priest I met before."

"… … You know too much about that?"

Everyone nodded at Belinda's words.

Since long ago, Jiselle has known too much on her own.

In the meantime, everyone lived as if everything was going well. Even if I asked, they didn't teach me properly.

But when it came to this situation, I couldn't help but feel curious.

Because the situation has become so much bigger than it was then.

When we first caught Raviere, everyone was with Giselle. I don't remember him saying anything.

But whenever anyone questioned her, Giselle insisted that she had heard it when they first met alone.

Everyone looked at her with suspicion, but Giselle didn't even blink an eye.

He had another secret weapon: the excuse he used against Galvarik.

"I saw it in a book when I was young."

"… … ."

"Everyone, make sure you read a lot of books. Study hard so you don't give it to others."

"… … ."

Belinda folded her arms. She was the one who forced Giselle to read to her since she had been a child and had never read to her.

As a nobleman, I did read some things after I grew up. Most of them were novels, though.

Anyway, Belinda was the maid and governess at the time, and she was in charge of all the books that Giselle read.

There were no strange books about cracks or anything like that. It was the same with the mysterious knowledge that Giselle had known before.

"Are you still going to keep it a secret?"

"Didn't Belinda teach you that a man with many secrets is attractive?"

"… … ."

Belinda began to reflect a little on whether perhaps her upbringing had made Giselle like that.

As everyone continued to look at her with suspicious eyes, Jiselle snickered and shook her head.

'Even if I tell you, you won't believe me anyway.'

Actually, I've said it a few times. But I've only gotten more suspicious because I'm lying. It's really tiring.

Jiselle said with a cheerful smile.

"Aside from books, I have some information I've gathered here and there. I'll definitely tell you later, so don't be too upset."

Talking about it now will only cause more confusion. You can talk about it again when the situation stabilizes a little.

Everyone nodded their heads, thinking that was how it was. They didn't feel particularly sad or disappointed.

Up until now, everyone has just trusted and followed Jiselle. They should continue to do so. Then, everything will be resolved.

Arel, who was with the knights, immediately took out a pen and paper from his bosom and scribbled.

"A man with many secrets… … attractive… … notes… … ."

He was a truly excellent disciple who tried to learn Giselle without missing a single thing. Belinda's education was passed on to Arel.

Kaor clicked his tongue at the sight.

"Hey, you even do that… … ."

"yes?"

"No, no."

How could the lord possibly communicate with a believer? I thought it would be better to just leave him to live like that.

Jiselle clapped her hands a few times to lighten the mood and then shouted.

"Okay, this rift is now closed. With Equidema defeated, the area will be reduced and safe for the time being. The Northern Army will move to the next rift."

"Wow!"

What's curious is curious, and what's won is won. Now people are cheering.

The other Northern armies that were waiting would probably be very happy, too. They managed to deal with the rift with almost no damage. It was a feat that no other army in the kingdom had ever achieved.

The guy who's the master of the cracks is a little scary, but we can think about that later.

'The Lord will know the way.'

'I'm sure everything will be resolved then, just like it is now.'

'We just need to trust and follow the Lord.'

This strong belief was the true power of Jiselle, who led the North.

Everyone was ready to return to the camp. Perhaps because of the defeat of Equidema, the blue fog was gradually fading away.

Just before going back, everyone said a word to Fiote. In some ways, he was the one who contributed the most to this operation.

"You are truly amazing!"

"As expected, you are a saint… … no, you are a saint!"

"You're still fine after being attacked like that!"

Fiote scratched his head at the praise from the people.

In fact, he just got hit without doing anything.

At first, I didn't even know why I was right. It was only after I felt the divine power being used as a medium through the holy relic that I came to understand my role and the power of the holy relic.

Giselle's entourage also came and praised Piote.

Equidema was strangely obsessed with Fiote. If it weren't for Fiote, he wouldn't have been caught so easily.

Alpoy proudly told Piote.

"It was something we were able to catch thanks to your and my efforts. Be proud of it."

"… … ."

Everyone nodded. It wasn't exactly a wrong thing to say since Alfoy had thrown it out so openly. Alfoy ended up shouldering all of Fiote's resentment.

Giselle also came over and patted Piote on the shoulder.

"Thank you for your hard work. It was really helpful. Please continue to support me."

"… … ."

Even when he was told that he would be used as bait again, Piote could not refuse. It would certainly be easier to hunt the monster if he were to be bait.

I didn't intend to refuse, but I was curious.

"Why only me… … No, why do those beings hate divine power?"

The monster known as Equidema had a strange hatred for the divine. Even while being hunted, it was obsessed with killing itself.

Fiote wondered why.

Jiselle shrugged and answered.

"Well? Why would that be? Maybe it's something like a warlock or a demon? They just instinctively hate it. I don't know everything about it."

"okay...."

Well, what reason would there be for things that are nonsensical and not even monsters of this world? Perhaps they instinctively show aversion to things that are not allowed in this world.

When everyone understood and nodded, Alpoy grumbled.

"Or maybe I was tricked by the gods here? Like the many people who were tricked by my one-shot magic."

Fiote pouted at the blasphemous remark, but everyone else was holding their stomachs in laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Then I wouldn't like it either."

"Ah, even if you don't like it, you have to admit it. Puhahaha!"

"We're okay because we have a saint!"

What if you don't like divine power? Anyway, Fiote will be the bait from now on.

Everyone enjoyed the joy of victory with that thought in their hearts.

And Giselle felt that there was something plausible about what Alfoy said.

I don't know why though.

* * *

The Northern Army was not the only one to enjoy the joy of victory.

The leaders of the royalist faction, who had been hearing news from the northern army, could not hide their joy at the successive reports of victory.

"As expected, it is the Earl of Fenris!"

"They say they've already dealt with three cracks. That's incredible speed."

"There's almost no damage, right? That's really amazing."

The lords of the fiefdoms where the cracks opened continued to be pushed back. The lords of the fiefdoms where the cracks did not open had to come to their aid.

Even so, it was not possible to stop the countless cracks that were popping up, let alone the Equidema.

In such a situation, the Northern Army's ability to demonstrate overwhelming performance was not just admirable, but truly miraculous.

Maurice shouted, pounding his chest.

"I knew he could do it! As expected, he's my nephew, so he's been extraordinary since long ago! I cherished him so much!"

"… … ."

The royalist nobles looked as if they had chewed bitterly at Maurice's words.

When I couldn't catch it and was impatient, the person suddenly changed. I became like that from the moment I started receiving support.

Still, it was a bit awkward to say anything since he was giving power to Jiselle as the commander of the royal army.

The Marquis of Branford nodded as he received the reports that kept coming in.

"That's good. The royal forces will be able to focus more of their efforts on keeping the south in check."

Currently, the armies of each territory were all moving to prevent the rift. So, the responsibility of restraining the south could only be the responsibility of the royal army.

In fact, some of the royal army had to move to deal with the cracks. However, since the northern army was so superior, they had the luxury of sending all of the royal army to the southern front.

The Marquis of Branford looked around at the nobles and said:

"The only one who can easily deal with the internal rift is the Northern Army. So, we must give them all authority and provide them with as much support as possible."

Everyone nodded. There was no reason to object. The only hope now was the Northern Army.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the territories near the current cracks were economically paralyzed. The territories that were trading with those territories were also increasingly experiencing problems.

It wasn't just that trade was blocked, but everyone was operating their military in earnest, so it was inevitable that money would be spent.

In short, it means that the economic situation of the entire kingdom is getting worse.

If this were to happen, the ability to maintain power in the war against the Duke would inevitably decline.

The Marquis of Branford continued, looking at the Earl of Aylesburgh.

"Don't forget to produce as many medicines as possible and distribute them to various places, especially those requested by Earl Fenris. Is production proceeding without any problems?"

The wealthy Earl of Ailsver, along with other nobles, were in charge of producing the medicine.

Count Ailsburgh took out a document and stammered an explanation of the current situation.

"Uh… … So… … Medicine for the epidemic… … We've procured as many materials as possible… … and distributed them to all the royal troops near the capital… … but some territories… … are still short on materials… … So my wife told me… … ."

Although the head of the household is the Countess of Ailsburgh and is present as a leader, the actual work is carried out by his wife, Meriel.

She would take care of everything and notify her husband.

The nobles who knew that looked at Count Ailsburg with bored expressions. Count Ailsburg sensed their gaze and said.

"Why, what? Let's not do that when you know all about my circumstances. Huh? What, you guys are not that different from me?"

"Experience."

The nobles coughed and looked away. In fact, they didn't really have anything to do other than providing materials, manpower, and expenses.

I wish Meriel could attend the meeting in person, but she is very busy right now, working with Rosalind on the production of the potion.

The Marquis of Branford, who was the only one concentrating on the report, frowned.

"Why are you saying there's a shortage of materials? Didn't you tell me to get them by any means necessary?"

"That's… … . The fairy's blessing is such an expensive and rare material… … that no one wants to give it away… … ."

"If you can't even provide that kind of support properly, then what on earth are you planning to do?"

bang!

The Marquis of Branford became angry and hit the table hard.

The cracks are resolved by Fenris, and the production of the potion is handled by Meriel and Rosaline. The direction of the state of affairs is determined by the Marquis of Branford.

Anyway, all the people left did was sit still and listen to reports on the situation.

So, other nobles must put forth all their resources, troops, and money they have. This is because only by pooling everyone's strength can we overcome this difficulty.

As the Marquis of Branford's anger seemed to grow, Maurice sighed and took a small bottle out of his bosom.

"But is this really effective? Is it true that it causes epidemics? It would take a huge amount of money to get the quantity right. Right now, the entire royalist faction is investing so much money that it's shaking."

As Morris put the bottle down, the purple liquid inside sloshed. It was the preventative and curative agent for the epidemic that Giselle had spoken of.

Although Giselle insisted that it be made, everyone was skeptical about its necessity.

If the epidemic really didn't spread, everyone would suffer huge losses, so everyone had no choice but to be passive.

The nobleman next to the Marquis of Branford spoke.

"But didn't the priest of the Salvation Church confess to having plotted such a plot? So we're going ahead with it, trusting Earl Fenris."

"Ha, but isn't this a bit creepy? The source of the mixture is unknown, and its effectiveness hasn't even been proven… … . We don't even know if the epidemic is really spreading or not."

"Didn't you just say that the Earl of Fenris is like your nephew? I guess I'll have to believe you."

"Oh my, in this world where a son kills his father to seize power, how can I trust him just because he's my nephew? What if I eat this and it goes wrong? Huh?"

'Oh, what are you going to do, you punk?'

The nobleman turned his face away to hide his irritation. There was something about this ignorant fellow that always made conversations go strangely.

As Maurice was complaining like that, a knight came rushing in and shouted.

"Hey, a plague is spreading throughout the kingdom!"

Everyone's expressions hardened at the sudden news.

Morris opened the bottle in front of him faster than anyone else and drank the medicine.