Chapter 9
THREE DAYS HAD PASSED since “The Great Wizard Geo Margilus” had led the Shultz clan to Filsand.
Nathan Cer Ladell, court sorcerer of the duchy of Filsand, was a gifted alumnus of the Academy of Sorcery in Shrendal. He was revered as one of the top ten graduates in terms of his ability to use high-level sorcery.
He’d been blessed with the opportunity, ten years prior, to serve in Filsand, and he had continued improving his skills ever since, recording many achievements in battle against daemons and barbarians alike.
Today, this battle-hardened sorcerer was in the command post above the main gate of Filsand. He looked southward from the top of the nearly twenty-meter-tall main gate. He could see the distorted formation of the swarming legion that covered the dry earth, creeping inevitably closer to his position.
Needless to say, the legion that filled his entire field of view was composed entirely of daemons. The daemonic legion had arrived, as unavoidable as the tides. According to the report from the recon team, there were ten thousand of them.
Directly below the main gate, in front of the moat that surrounded the city, the Filsand knights and army stood assembled in formation. Even after spending three days gathering all forces in the vicinity, they hadn’t been able to muster even five thousand.
The Filsand troops were elites. Five thousand would be more than enough if they were fighting humans, for example the Schultz clan or the Seisosand. However, this number would barely stand a chance against the overwhelming daemonic legion.
The legion was roughly made up of eight thousand imps, two thousand fiends, and fifty gigants. Worse, there was a new type of massive daemon, many times larger than a gigant. This might not quite have qualified as a brood event, as had happened twice in history, but it was on a scale that could easily destroy a nation.
“Now then,” the duke intoned. “The rest is up to you.”
“Leave everything to me.”
The duke of Filsand, dressed in black, sat on his throne in the center of the command post. Standing next to him was the person that Nathan feared above all others: the Great Wizard Geo Margilus. The sons of the duke would normally have been here as well, but they’d worked themselves to the point of passing out, and were now recuperating in the castle.
What he’d meant by “up to you” was that in return for the protection of the beleaguered Schultz refugees, Geo had promised he would destroy the approaching daemonic legion on his own.
It’s completely impossible! I have no idea what the mechanism behind his magic is, but the sheer number! No number of dragons or meteors can defeat that many!
Although Nathan had already seen Geo’s magic up close, he thoroughly doubted his ability to keep this promise. In other words, Nathan’s deep knowledge as a sorcerer prevented him from trusting Margilus. It wasn’t only Nathan. The prime minister, the captain of the duke’s guard, and the other officials in the command post above the main gate were thinking the same thing.
But there were some present who trusted him.
“Be careful,” Elisabel whispered.
“Are you sure you don’t need my help?” Diane asked.
“Yes,” Geo insisted. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
Two beautiful girls, the spitting image of each other, both gave their own caring send-off to Margilus. “Good luck.”
“We’re all counting on you.” The third woman in the room graciously bowed to Margilus.
Even Nathan knew the name of the sorceress Clara. What surprised him was that she put her hands together on her chest before bowing. That stance was called the Sacred Bow among sorcerers, and it was etiquette used to express the utmost respect for archmages and high elders.
According to reports from Nathan’s subordinates, this sorceress was from a high-ranking noble family in Shrendal, and thus she was also highly ranked in the Sorcerers’ Guild of Relis City. Such a beautiful, capable woman from a respected family—really, she looked so delicious he could slurp her right up—did not exist in the Filsand court.
And the subject of this beautiful, top-ranked woman’s gesture of gratitude and respect…was not Nathan. That wizard…to blatantly allow such a beautiful woman to pay homage to him in a way that made her look like a servant… What an egregious man…
After their earlier duel, Nathan had been forced to face the infuriating fact that the wizard’s power clearly exceeded his capacity as court sorcerer. Moreover, he got the sinking feeling that he was also a lesser man than Margilus, and Nathan couldn’t hold back his intense jealousy.
“Hey. What’s wrong?” The duke suspiciously asked Nathan, eyeing his sour look.
“Huh?! F-forgive me, my lord.”
“Just because we’re letting Margilus carry the torch here doesn’t mean it’s time to slack off. As a sorcerer, you should be burning Lord Margilus’s magic into your brain.”
“Ha ha…” Nathan broke out in a cold sweat and bowed to the duke. He looked back out at the daemonic legion. Even in the pitch-black army, one massive figure stood out. It was the supermassive daemon that the recon team had reported.
What the hell am I thinking… This unprecedented threat is almost on top of us, and I’m feeling jealous about a woman…?
“Phantom Horse.” Seizing Nathan’s confusion as an opportunity, Geo chanted his spell and conjured up his jet-black horse. The duke’s guards and officials chattered quietly to each other.
But then again…I was able to forget my fear—no, I was able to forget daemons even existed, if only for a moment.
“Now, you all wait here. I’ll take care of this.”
It was because of that man. It was because I felt confident, knowing that this man is our ally.
Nathan silently watched the wizard straddle the black horse and fly away into the sky.
✦ ✦ ✦
“H-hey, they’ll b-be here s-soon.” Vike, a spear-wielding soldier of the Filsand infantry, spoke in a shaky voice to Bond, another soldier in their line.
“G-g-gotcha,” Bond replied.
They’d joined the army three years earlier and had had the bad luck to be stationed on the front line of today’s three thousand-soldier infantry unit formation. They had battle experience, and they made a reasonable salary, which kept their families comfortable. There was no thought in their mind of running away.
Even so, they couldn’t ignore their fear. The spectacle of a black wall rushing at them was what nightmares were made of.
“What the hell is that? That huge thing?! It’s bigger than the statue of the duke in the town square!”
In fact, it would have dwarfed the statue of the duke that had long stood over Filsand’s central green. Even within the black wall of daemons, its massive figure towered high above, higher than the city walls.
Its legs were thick and stout, its arms long and muscular. It stayed hunched over, and mostly walked on all fours. Its movements were slow and labored, like those of giant, but if it made it all the way to them, it could easily destroy the city walls.
It may be easy to forget because of the distraction of the supermassive daemon, but there were also fifty gigants, each half as tall as the city’s defenses, and over two thousand fiends, each with the fighting power of twenty human soldiers.
“Are you really, really sure it’s going to be okay? One time, I watched half my squadron get crushed by a single fiend,” Bond worried.
“Th-the duke is watching… I-I’m sure it’s fine…probably,” Vike tried to reassure him, but he wasn’t so sure himself. Going off how their commanding officer had explained things to them before the battle, the duke’s guest, the “amazing sorcerer,” would defeat most of the daemonic legion. The job of the army was to take care of any stray daemons and ensure that none managed to get away.
“L-Look, that sorcerer who summoned the dragon to the castle is about to do something, right?!”
“Yeah. Probably…”
Rumor had it that Elisabel’s fiancé had summoned a dragon to his duel with the court sorcerer and the captain of the duke’s guard. It had been spreading far and wide among the Filsand people.
There’s no way he’s there. What if the duke in the command post is a fake, and we’re stuck here…?
“Raaargh!”
Vike’s thoughts were interrupted by not only the air, but even the ground shaking at the supermassive daemon’s roar.
“Reeee!”
“Gyaaah!”
“Gra-gaaah!”
“Skreee!”
The daemonic legion cried out in hatred, as if joining in chorus with the supermassive daemon’s roar. An infinite number of lights started shining within the black wall formation. Vike knew instinctively that those were the eyes of the daemons.
The supermassive daemon stretched its long arms high. The moment it dropped them in the direction of Filsand, countless murderous daemons would probably begin their attack.
“Th-they’re coming.”
“L-Let’s kill ’em!”
“We won’t just lie down and die.”
Anyone living in the duchy of Filsand would candidly admit that the duke that ruled them was an evil villain. However, it was obvious in the do-or-die expressions of the soldiers like Vike that the Filsand infantry weren’t outlaws. They were soldiers. Almost reflexively, they reached for their spears.
Just then…
Vike caught sight of some sort of white, glowing masses passing over their heads, which left eight trails behind.
There was a pyoom sound, like the rushing of a powerful wind, as the trails flew by.
The eight streaks of light pierced the heart of the daemonic legion, centered on the supermassive daemon.
And then Vike couldn’t see anything but a wall of white.