Several minutes later…
“I have brought him, my lord.”
Shary once again emerged from the shadow with Alexios bound by her shadow whips and cast him down at the foot of the stairs to Leonis’s throne. His expression was pale and screwed up in terror.
“Shary, remember he is royalty. Handle him with more care.”
“Yes, if that is your order, my lord.”
She undid the shadow whip’s hold on him.
“Wh-what… is this? D-Dark Lord?!”
“—Prostrate yourself. You’re in the presence of the Dark Lord.” Shary shot an icy glare at the Emperor’s younger brother, who was stumbling on the floor.
“M-my apologies, Great One!” Alexios scrambled to his feet and gave a vassal’s bow before the throne.
“It’s fine. Raise your head, Alexios,” said Leonis.
“—Yes.” Alexios raised his head ever so slightly.
His expression looked incredibly fatigued. Leonis could easily imagine he was busy with handling the Stampede and got no sleep at all…which did make him feel a bit bad about calling him on such short notice.
“My apologies for calling you, Alexios,” he said out of respect.
“N-no, Great One, not at all…” Alexios hung his head in fear. “Allow me to thank you on behalf of mankind for your assistance in annihilating the Voids this time!”
“Mm…”
He already knew it was Leonis who beat the Divine Dragon who had become a Void Lord.
“—No need for thanks,” Leonis said magnanimously. “All I did was dispose of the vermin that dared invade my kingdom. But I do think I may have been too conspicuous this time. There’s a chance I exposed my existence to your Empire.”
“…I-it is as you say, Great One. My intelligence unit alone will be hard pressed to hide your existence,” Alexios replied, breaking into a cold sweat.
Even though Blackas kept the Central Garden’s surroundings sealed off, the battle was incredibly flashy. Even if no one saw Leonis himself, there was no hiding the fact that something incredibly powerful defeated the Void Lord.
“Well, no matter. I was thinking the time was right anyway.” Leonis sneered under his skull mask.
“…Right for what?” Alexios raised his face to look at Leonis, only for a whip to lash right in front of him.
“Who are you to ask questions of the Dark Lord?! Insolent fool!” Shary chided him.
“M-my apologies!” Alexios prostrated himself again.
“—But that aside, Alexios.” Leonis cleared his throat. “You were not called here to be reprimanded. I come to you seeking information.”
“A-ask anything of me, Great One.”
“Mm. I wish to ask you about the Fourth Assault Garden—”
“…What?!” Alexios raised his voice in disbelief as soon as Leonis said that. “Y-you already know…? You truly are all-knowing, Great One!”
…Know about what? Leonis was puzzled under his mask.
Leonis was only hoping to learn about the Fourth Assault Garden because Elfiné may have been taken there, and also to learn about Count Deinfraude Phillet. It seemed, however, that Alexios was thinking about something else.
“I actually only learned about it a few hours ago. The Empire’s top brass is in a state of confusion over the situation.”
“…Hmm. I’d imagine so.”
Leonis nodded gravely, despite not having the first idea what Alexios was talking about. But sincerely asking for an explanation would damage his Dark Lord’s dignity and could have a negative effect on his authority over Alexios in the future.
“So the situation in the Fourth Assault Garden really is as such, then.”
“Yes, my people are working their hardest to analyze information, but at the moment, we have no grasp on the situation there.”
“…I see. I thought as much,” Leonis said, his grasp on the situation even more meager than Alexios’s.
“My lord, if I may humbly ask…”
“Wh-what?”
“Just what is happening in the Fourth Assault Garden?”
…How would I know?!
Leonis exclaimed to himself, but outwardly said, “Before I answer that, I must know how much of the situation you understand so far. Speak.”
“Ah, I, erm…”
“The Dark Lord asked you a question. Hurry up and answer,” Shary chided again.
“Yes!” Alexios spoke up, intimidated. “E-early morning today, we got a distress signal from the Fourth Assault Garden.”
“…Yes, indeed,” Leonis said, internally surprised.
“The army instantly answered the call, but communications shut down immediately after that, and the Fourth Assault Garden vanished into a Void Reef. The Fifth Assault Garden is deployed in the nearby sea, but it failed to track it. The Fourth Garden’s whereabouts are unknown at present.”
Alexios shook his head.
“I see. That’s all you know, then.”
“Huh…”
Leonis swiftly pieced the information he gave him with what he already knew.
It’s like Elfiné feared…
This was no coincidence. She had said she was about to be used as a key part of some horrible plan. The Fourth Assault Garden going out of control must have been part of the Phillets’ plan, and the Void apostles were working behind them.
And perhaps the Fourth Assault Garden is their stronghold.
He assumed the Voids made their base in the Void World, but…
The Queen of the Realm of Shadows had tried to turn Elysion Academy into her frontline base. So it stood to reason the Voids may have attempted to establish a base in the human world, too.
In which case, this works out well…
So far, the apostles kept giving him the slip, like bothersome flies. But if this as their stronghold, he could go on the offensive and defeat them in one fell swoop.
“It is likely the Fourth Assault Garden fell into my enemies’ hands.”
“…Y-your enemies, Great One?! You don’t mean the Voids, do you?”
“Those are merely a passing calamity. My enemies are the ones manipulating them.”
“Someone manipulating the Voids…?” Alexios cocked his head, confused.
Leonis rose from his throne. “Shary, prepare for combat. Open the Realm of Shadows’ treasure vault.”
“Yes, my lord!” Shary saluted and sank into the shadows.
“For battle…? Great One, what are you…?”
“I told you, didn’t I? The time is right for me to show myself in the open.” Leonis smirked under his skull mask.
✦ ✦ ✦
Riselia lay face up on the ground, gasping, her eyes fixed on the cloudy sky. The True Ancestor’s Dress vanished, and she was once again in her uniform. The Bloody Sword shattered just as it defeated the burning, crimson blood dragon.
“…Did I…fail…?”
The dragon vanished. Did that mean she failed?
“Remember what I told you? If you fail to take control of it, the dragon will devour you.” Veira’s golden eyes peered down at her. “But you survived.”
“Veira… Does that mean…?”
Veira smiled, still looking down at her. “Impressive work. The Dragon Blood acknowledged you as its user.”
“…?!” Riselia’s eyes widened. “R-really…?”
“Yes. You can feel it, can’t you? The great power of the dragons coursing through your body,” Veira said, poking Riselia’s chest with an index finger.
“Ah…”
Her heart throbbed hard, brimming with energy. A great surge of mana was rampaging within her.
“But you’ll need more training before you can utilize it. So prepare yourself.”
“Th-thank you, Veira!”
Riselia tried to get up, but her body was terribly limp.
“Don’t push it. You’re having a hard time controlling your mana as it is.”
“Y-yes…”
But then—
“Dragon Lord.”
Shary emerged from the shadow stretching behind Riselia.
“Oh, Leo’s maid. What is it?”
“My lord sent me on an errand, Dragon Lord. He wishes to ask you for something.”
“Leo, asking something from me?”