“Ha ha ha, we did it!” she said with a smile, throwing both hands into the air.
Oscar and the others exchanged glances, then smiled back at her and gave Miledi a series of high fives.
Down below in the palace, the battle between the Holy Templar Knights and the Liberators was nearing its end.
Most of the captains and vice-captains had been slain, and the two Paladins, Torres and Seys, finally showed an opening when they looked up at the sky, dumbfounded.
“Surprised that all your comrades are dead?” Badd asked, decapitating Torres with his scythe.
“You finally showed an opening,” Chris said, slaying Seys in the same moment.
The only captain-class knight left among the Holy Templar Knights was Lelei, but she was heavily wounded, had lost her weapon, and was struggling to command the two hundred knights remaining under her command.
The Liberators had lost a considerable number of men as well, and most of them had fully depleted their Metal Batlams and other defensive tools, but their morale was far higher. Exhausted as they were, their will to resist Ehit to the very end continued to give them strength.
Just then, a voice rang out across the battlefield, saying, “Everyone, this is Miledi Reisen, the leader of the Liberators, the anti-church resistance group.”
Badd and the others grinned upon hearing that.
Meanwhile, the remaining knights looked desolately up at the sky through the hole in the castle walls. There, they saw...
On the eastern side of the city, Lestina and her personal troops were protecting the trees around the central plaza.
“These guys are such a pain,” Lestina muttered as she cut down another knight. No matter how many of them she took down, more just kept on suicidally charging forward, screaming about their devotion to Ehit and their love of martyrdom.
“General, we received a message from the Liberators! There’s a family of three nearby that failed to evacuate!”
“What?!”
Just then, Lestina spotted a couple and their young daughter sprinting out of an alleyway. They must have thought the central plaza was safe, which was why they’d come this way. Unfortunately, with Lac Elain’s barrier up, it was impossible to get inside. Moreover, the knights were still looking for opportunities to take civilians hostage and use them against the Liberators.
“Get them!”
Two of the knights chased after the family. For a moment, they thought aid had finally come, but then they saw the madness in the knights’ eyes and their hope turned to despair.
Of course, they’d obviously been taught to give their lives for Ehit if necessary, just like every other citizen, but the couple still huddled protectively over their daughter.
“God, what a pain!”
There was a boom and a blistering wave of heat erupted before them, causing the parents to hug their daughter even tighter. But while they shut their eyes, the little girl saw what was going on through the gap in her parents’ arms. A blazing demon was standing in front of the family, protecting them from the knights’ attacks with her flaming twin swords. Meanwhile, the demon’s subordinates pincered the knights and took them out.
Panting, Lestina took a Summoning Circle out of her Treasure Trove and turned back to the family. The girl could clearly make out Lestina’s flaming red hair and dark skin.
“So pretty...” she muttered.
“Hm?”
Lestina had expected the girl to react with fear, confusion, and disgust like every other civilian she’d saved until now. She was so surprised by the girl’s praise that for a moment she forgot to activate the Summoning Circle.
While Lestina was frozen, the girl untangled herself from her parents’ arms and ran over. Lestina staggered backward, looking more shaken than she had when fighting the knights. The girl then took a small rock out of her pocket. It was a perfectly ordinary stone, though it was vaguely shaped like a heart.
“Here!”
“Wh-What?! What are you planning?!”
“Thank you for saving me, pretty lady!”
The girl took Lestina’s hand and placed the rock in it.
Lestina stared at the rock in confusion. She felt like she should say something in response, but couldn’t think of what. After glancing around awkwardly, she finally said, “H-Hmph. I’ll take the present, but don’t misunderstand! I’m still a proud member of the demon race! I feel nothing for you puny humans!”
She blushed with embarrassment and didn’t even notice the pointed stares her subordinates gave her.
Are you really gonna say that to a kid, General?
Just then, Miledi Reisen’s voice rang out across the battlefield.
“Woooooow!” the young girl said, looking up at the sky.
Miledi and her six companions were hovering above the north end of the capital’s central plaza, the sun and the Divine Mountain at their backs. The fact that all seven of them were translucent made it clear to Lestina that they were projecting holograms of themselves from somewhere.
“We have vanquished the pope, his Paladins, and even God’s Apostles.”
The commotion in the plaza died down and even the knights who’d been trying to break their way in stopped to listen to Miledi’s words.
“What does vanquish mean?” the little girl asked.
“It means she beat the bad guys,” Lestina explained, deciding to wait a little before activating the Summoning Circle. For some reason, she wanted to listen to Miledi’s speech with the girl by her side.
Around the same time, the battle at the east gate was winding down.
“Haaah, haaah, thanks for coming to the rescue, Hero.”
“Haaah, haaah, and thank you for the assist, General Elga.”
Reinheit and Elga were both on their knees, the corpses of Ajeen and Eddy lying before them.
“Can you stand?” Reinheit asked.
“Ha ha, I’m afraid these old bones are at their limit.”