“You stupid idiot... If it means losing you... I don’t need this power! I could do it without this! I’d defeat the Emperor, I’d defeat anyone else if I had to! Don’t just give me your power and disappear like that... Why... Why...?! Aaaaaaaaaah!”
There was no one left to answer his call. And yet, he screamed.
“Kleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeem!”
†
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
“...Nn...”
“...ah—”
“...Mm.”
“...ah! ...dy Noah!”
“...Huh?”
“Lady Noah!”
Feeling someone shake her body, Noah’s consciousness finally surfaced. She sat up at once.
“Ah! I’m not sleeping! I’m not! I’m almost done filing those documents—”
Her hands blindly fumbled around, but the only thing she felt was the cold floor. Her fingers then slid over fabric, and she found that there was a thick cloak spread under her body. She turned her gaze upward, only to see Maximum gazing into her face, concerned. Utata and Daisy were behind him, visibly surprised.
“Did you just speak in some foreign language...?” Maximum asked her.
Noah felt her cheeks grow hot, then cleared her throat and spoke in the language of Lyferia.
“...Is everyone all right?”
“Yes. At least, we’re fine,” Maximum replied. “We don’t know where the Demon Lord, the Fallen, or Diablo ended up.”
Losing the Demon Lord was a big blow to their combat potential. The Fallen was simply her lackey, Diablo was opposed to teaming up, and Gewalt disappeared somewhere around the time they infiltrated the castle.
“...What about Alan?” Noah looked around.
Maximum’s expression clouded over while Daisy sighed. They didn’t lose their strongest fighter, did they?! No, based on what Maximum had just said...
She heard the footsteps of someone approaching them.
“Hey! I found a passage over that way!”
Alan.
“W-We all tried to stop him!” Daisy said, trying to make excuses. “But that idiot said he’d go on patrol and wouldn’t listen...”
“That’s fine,” Noah replied.
Alan stopped right in front of her.
“Oh, you’re up!” he exclaimed cheerfully.
“...Didn’t I tell you to obey your captain’s orders while I’m away?” she asked him sternly.
“I mean, Maximum was distracted because he was worried about you!” Alan replied defensively. “We kept telling him you were breathing, you weren’t bleeding, and that you were just sleeping, but he just kept going, ‘Lady Noah, Lady Noah.’”
Maximum’s cheeks flushed, “W-Well... Of course I’d be worried about Lady Noah’s well-being.”
“And if we had to wait for you to wake up before we investigated the situation, we’d be on the back foot again!” Alan raised his voice impatiently.
“C-Cut it out, Alan...” Daisy said, slightly distressed. “You’re being too loud. What if the Emperor finds us again?”
“We’re not sneaking thieves!” Alan said, frowning. “We’re here to beat the Emperor down, right?!”
“...Yeah, but like, we can’t,” Utata grumbled. “We need, like, a force three times our size to beat him head-on.”
“Should we bring more troops then?”
They only chose the Palace Knights’ elites for this mission. There were other soldiers in the Order they could bring, but they were weaker than anyone in this group.
“Bringing more people won’t increase our firepower by much,” Noah shook her head. “Especially not against that type of enemy.”
“Then what do we do, Noah?!” Alan asked.
“Well, we didn’t win, but... This is all within my expectations. We don’t have time on our side, though. We needed to know just how large the Empire’s ranks were and what sort of tactics they’d use.”
“You think we’ll make it next time?”
“Of course.”
But as encouraging as her words were, they couldn’t just forget how they nearly died and were forced to flee. Maximum looked at her anxiously, his loyalty just barely overcoming his fear. It seemed Noah would have to explain herself, but they didn’t have much longer to delay.
“The Emperor attacked us sooner than Aira expected, and she’s familiar with the structure of the castle. He went out of his way to take care of us as soon as possible. In other words, he feels that giving us time is dangerous.”
“I agree,” Aira nodded.
“He wouldn’t have gone out of his way like that if he didn’t feel that we were a threat,” Noah continued. “He pretended like we were taking care of his tentacles effectively to lure us into a trap, and we fell for it, even knowing the risks.”
“Huh, you knew we were going into a trap?!” Daisy asked.
Noah nodded.
“I don’t know how the Emperor was watching or listening in on us, so I didn’t say anything... But if we went about it too carefully while avoiding him, it would have taken us too long to get to the Emperor.”
“Yes.”
“And most importantly, if we broke through his traps, we’d know just how powerful the Emperor is.”
“Oh, I see,” Daisy said, bringing her palms together.
“It’s as you say, Lady Noah,” Maximum nodded in understanding. “He lured us to a spot where the tentacles could surround us and attack us from every direction at once. It was to be fatal, but your magic allowed us to escape.”
“So if the Emperor had some ace up his sleeve, he’s already used it?”
“That makes sense.”
“So we can safely assume the Emperor can’t do anything beyond surrounding us with tentacles.”
“Hm, but those squirmy things are pretty strong, you know?” Alan remarked. “Like, I cut and cut them, but they keep growing back. He’ll just surround us while I’m fighting. I could probably manage for myself, but I can’t cover for the weak ones.”
“The only reason you’re still alive is because a ‘weak one’ buffed you to hell and back with her enchantments~” Utata said teasingly.
“Aaah, that’s not what I meant!”
“And don’t call us weak, call us cute! We’re girls, you blockhead!”
“Get off my case!”
Seeing the conversation was going off course, Noah stopped the two of them from bickering any longer.
“Alan’s right,” she said. “If we could handle the Emperor’s tentacles, we wouldn’t have needed to run.”
“So not even you can beat it?! Then what do we do?!”
“Well, to start, we avoid open spaces where he can surround us. Aira, we’re counting on you to show us the way.”
“Yes ma’am.” Aira saluted perfectly, as a former soldier would.
“Alan, we’re counting on you to block the attacks from behind.”
“Just that? You got it, chief.”
“I’ll use my magic to dispatch the tentacles coming at us from ahead. Max, you protect me.”
“I’ll guard you with my life,” Maximum nodded.
“Utata and Daisy, back us up like before.”
“Roger dodger~”
“Leave it to me, Lady Noah!”
It couldn’t be called a concrete plan, but they had to act fast. They’d have to power through it.
“All right! We’re gonna have to be quick, so don’t fall behind!” Noah told them.
They all nodded. They went out through the passage Alan found and discovered that they were in an unused warehouse.
†
They moved ahead, Aira showing them the way.
“Take a right turn after this one!”
Since they’d fallen pretty deep into the castle, they were rather close to the Emperor’s position. That only meant the tentacles’ attacks were much more persistent, though.
“《Magma Eruption》!” Noah called out.