He unleashed his martial art, swinging his sword down on Doriadanph. And at that moment, eight consecutive slashes cut into Doriadanph’s flesh at once. Blood gushed into the air as Doriadanph’s eyes and mouth widened in a silent, inaudible scream.
†
Raumunus of the Ash’s chestplate flew open, and a girl with short, gray hair popped out of it.
“Aroooooooooo! We’re freeeeeeeeee!”
She was tangled in a mess of tentacles and was mostly naked. She had dog ears, which made her look like a dwarf, but her limbs were muscular and well-formed. A werewolf.
“Kyahahahaha!” Erurenus of the Yellow let out a high-pitched cackle. “He’s dead! Dropped dead! Finally, deadeadead!”
It laughed, swinging the swords in both its hands around manically. But surprisingly, the one to show the most emotion was the otherwise curt pilot of Viridinus of the Emerald, Saya.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” she bellowed, swinging around her mallet.
“Ugh?!” Diablo grabbed hold of Horn and jumped away.
“Ah!” Horn let out a shriek.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Saya kept screaming, and swung down Viridinus’ mallet on Doriadanph’s body with thuds that shook the floor.
Mashed flesh scattered. It was apparent that she didn’t do this for caution’s sake or as a finishing blow. She swung her mallet down time and again, landing one rumbling blow after another.
“Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Die! Die! You’re putrid! Die! Disgusting! Gross! Diediediediediediediedie!”
Diablo could hear the distinct crunching sound of metal creaking and cracking. The joints on the Magimatic Sol’s arm fell apart, squirting out splashes of oil. The mallet snapped and crumbled.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Saya gave one final howl, which gradually broke apart and turned to sobbing.
Diablo had no way of knowing what she’d been through. But whatever it was, her grudge and resentment were palpable. Diablo could hardly recall seeing someone express so much intense hatred.
Someone forced their way through the rows of Imperial soldiers and ran toward them. A silver-haired Kobold girl. She carried a single-edged blade on her waist, but kept her sword sheathed. She didn’t seem to have any will to fight.
“Saya!” she shouted at Viridinus of the Emerald. “Disembark! Open the hatch, hurry! Now isn’t the time to be crying!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Saya kept screaming uncontrollably.
“Lady Aira?” The werewolf girl showing her face out of Raumunus of the Ash whispered.
“Bakki, Toaha, you two disembark too!”
“Huh? What are you saying, Aira?” Erurenus of the Yellow asked, as if quizzical. “We’re finally free. We can fight freely now.”
Erurenus’ pilot was still full of bloodlust. No, if anything, she was even more combative than before. Diablo steeled himself. The enslavement magic should have been gone. If nothing else, the order to ‘kill the intruders’ should have been invalidated by Doriadanph’s death.
But the fact remained that Diablo killed Rikka — their comrade. So if they were to say they wanted to take revenge on him for that...
“Calm down, Toaha!” the Kobold girl, Aira, shouted. “Bakki, help Saya disembark! You can open Viridinus’ hatch with your claws, right?”
“Huh? I, err, I could, but...”
†
More and more people filed into the courtyard.
“Diablo!” A familiar voice called out, prompting Diablo to turn around.
It was Rem, Shera, and Sylvie. They were looking down at them from a balcony overlooking the courtyard. Diablo breathed a sigh of relief.
They’re safe...
“My Lord, thank you for granting your blessing and mercy upon us...” Lumachina, who had apparently been dreading what might happen to them, thanked God for their safety.
“Huh? Wait, isn’t there someone with them?” Horn asked, tilting her head in surprise.
Upon closer inspection, there was someone else there, coiled up in vines, which was probably Sylvie’s handiwork.
A prisoner?
It was a purple-haired girl with a horn growing out of her forehead. An Oni.
Is that a Magimatic Sol pilot?
The thought of Rem and the others fighting a Magimatic Sol filled Diablo with dread. But they seemed to have defeated their opponent, which was reassuring. At Aira’s insistence, Erurenus of the Yellow finally opened its hatch, revealing a Lamia girl submerged within its tentacled confines — Toaha.
She didn’t disembark the unit though, seemingly displeased. Saya was still sobbing uncontrollably like an infant. Raumunus of the Ash used its massive claws to pry Viridinus’ hatch open, but was apparently struggling to do so.
“Just come on out of there already!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Saya didn’t stop weeping.
The girl who gave the three their orders, Aira, stood in front of Diablo. She was clad in the Imperial army’s uniform. Multiple badges were attached to the breast of her coat, but Diablo didn’t know what any of them meant. He assumed she was quite high-ranking, however. If nothing else, she had a higher position than the other pilots.
She was a silver-haired Kobold, which struck Diablo as unusual. From what Diablo could tell, all the Magimatic Sol pilots had hair that matched their unit’s color. Unless they dyed it intentionally, that might have been a precondition for being compatible... Or maybe it was proof of their compatibility, instead.
“The Gelmed Empire’s armed forces captain, Aira Arjana.” She saluted, introducing herself. “Though I suppose this rank will soon be meaningless...”
“Hmph... With your commander and Magimatic Sols gone, your invasion army will soon be ruined.”
“That’s part of what I mean, but... The Gelmed Empire does not forgive deserters. I... don’t think we have anywhere left to go anymore.”
But just as she finished those words, the ground shook. It wasn’t just Diablo, Aira and everyone else looked around in confusion.
An earthquake?
If that was the case, it was a major earthquake at that. The building shook and Castle Grandiose’s spires slanted out of position.
“What is this?! This isn’t an earthquake, this is...!”
This wasn’t the rumblings of a large echo or some kind of explosion either. It was close to the rolling of thunder, but much heavier.
“No...” Aira turned pale. “This is too soon...”
“Mm? You know what’s behind this shaking?!” Diablo asked.
Beads of cold sweat rolled down her forehead, and her expression was stiff with terror.
“It’s... footsteps.”