Preparations for the battle progressed steadily. We went over the formation of the forces, our plans for the aftermath, how supplies were being moved and stored, and much, much more. There was a great deal of work to be done.
In the coming battle, the plan was to force a path through to the Demon Queen, fend off Platos and Socrat, who were sure to attack, and finally defeat the Demon Queen herself. To say things would be difficult was an understatement.
We decided only a small group would face the Demon Queen directly, specifically Claire, May, Aleah, Manaria, Lilly, Rod, Misha, Yu, and me—a total of nine people. Until we could reach her, however, we would be escorted by a combined force of soldiers from Bauer and Nur. We couldn’t let our strength be whittled down by Platos and Socrat, much less the swarms of common demons sure to be harrying us along the way.
The issue of the Demon Queen’s dreaded magic barrier still remained, but it seemed Rod had just the thing for it.
“I’m guessing that’s what this is for?” I asked.
“Yep,” Rod replied with a nod, patting the magical tool at his side. The tool was about the size of a large rock that fit in one’s arms, and an incredibly large magic stone was affixed to its backside. On its front, there was a cylindrical extension with another magic stone inlaid upon it. If I had to compare it to something from my modern sensibilities, it sort of resembled a turret you might see atop a tank. “This thing here’s our secret weapon—the large-scale magic construct Focaliseur Magique. But that’s a mouthful, so just the Focalizer is fine.”
“Focaliseur Magique… That means ‘magic converger’ in the old Bauer tongue, right?” Claire said. My girl was just the greatest. You could see her cultured upbringing shining through.
“Okay, so…I’m guessing this thing gathers magic power or something?” I asked.
“That’s about right. Here, take a look at this.” Rod tossed me something.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a magical tool. It gathers magic power from those that hold it and channels it into this thing here for an attack.”
Oh, so it’s like the magic version of a Spirit Bomb, I thought.
“When I fired it at the Demon Queen last time, I used magic power stored up beforehand by the soldiers. It was pretty strong, right?”
“Yes, it was superb,” Claire said.
“Well, this time it’ll be even crazier, as Thane’s helping me gather power from all the citizens of Bauer. We won’t even need to hit her by surprise this time; we can just break through her shield head-on.” A bold declaration. So this was what Rod had been working on all this time.
“But somebody will need to protect the core, won’t they?” Claire said.
“Definitely,” Rod said. “We’ve still got those two demons to take care of before the Demon Queen, right? It’d be a problem if they got to this thing.”
“We can’t put this on the front line then,” I said. “What’s its range?” I recalled it had been fired from quite a distance last time.
“Mmm, at best, around a quarter-mile, I’d say. It can shoot farther, but then accuracy becomes a problem.”
“Then we should probably leave it on the back lines at the start and bring it just within range when we fight the Demon Queen,” Claire said.
“Yeah, I’d say that sounds best. This thing’s strong, but we haven’t been able to mass produce it yet. It’s kind of our one and only prototype.” Rod roughly scratched his head of black hair.
“Wait, isn’t our final battle going to wind up being at the imperial castle? If we’re going to be indoors, then maybe we’ll have to bring it closer,” I said.
“Can’t we just knock down the walls?” Rod asked.
“Oh, dear. If Philine were here, she’d surely be making a face right about now,” Claire said.
That being said, I doubted we’d really care about a building when push came to shove, what with the fate of the world hanging in the balance and all that.
“Was this magical tool your idea, Master Rod?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“Huh. Really…”
“What, why do you look so surprised to hear that?”
“Well, it’s just that I’ve always thought of you as more of the reckless fighter type, not so much as, well, a thinker.”
“That’s rude, Rae,” Claire chided. “Master Rod has always been academically gifted.”
“Nah, I actually agree with Rae here. I’m not really suited for these kinds of things. Even in magic, Thane’s got me outclassed.”
“That checks out,” I said.
“Rae!” Claire chided.
“Aha ha ha! You really don’t hold anything back!” Rod let out an easygoing laugh before continuing. “Y’know, I used to be the kinda guy that put more weight on the strength of an individual rather than that of the group. Never really doubted that belief either, as I had my crazy high magic reserves to convince me I was strong. But my thinking changed during the revolution. I realized that alone, I was weak.”
“You? Weak?” I asked.
“Yeah. You two made that revolution possible by borrowing the strength of many, including me. You did something together that would have been impossible for any of us alone.”
Perhaps Rod’s decision to leave the royal family and join the army had also stemmed from this epiphany.
“I originally started developing this magic as a way to beat Manaria in a rematch,” he said. “But I realized there was no way I could beat her alone, so I changed my perspective a bit, yeah? I figure even if I can’t win on my own, I can at least make sure Bauer won’t lose anytime soon.”
“But couldn’t Manaria use Spellbreaker on this?” I asked.
“Doubt it,” he replied. “This magic uses the power of multiple people. It won’t be easy to analyze its structure, or even its mixed energies for that matter.”
“Wow. You actually have thought about this.”
“You seriously expect nothing from me, eh? Ha ha ha!”
I wasn’t trying to joke around, though; I was just genuinely surprised.
“In the end, my Focalizer’s being used on somebody other than Manaria, but that’s all right. The Demon Queen’s stronger than her, so I’d say she’s still a worthy target.”
“We’re counting on you, Master Rod. We’ll have no way of breaking the Demon Queen’s barrier without this,” Claire said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll knock some sense into that other Rae all right.” He smiled broadly, then seemed to think of something. “Oh, yeah, the Demon Queen is another Rae, isn’t she?”
“That’s right. Is something wrong?” Claire asked.
“No, it’s just that… This Rae’s all head over heels with Claire, but I might have a chance with a different one.”
“Master Rod, you still haven’t given up on me?” I asked.
“Why would I?” he asked, seeming genuinely confused.
Good God, this is why I can’t stand these arrogant types…
“In a sense, the Demon Queen is far and away more infatuated with Miss Claire than me,” I said. “Don’t you remember what you saw in that virtual reality TAIM showed us?”
“Oh, that recording thing? Yeah, I remember. But weren’t her fading feelings for Claire also kinda the reason she’s ending the world?”
“I suppose.”
“Then sparking some new love within her might just be what we need! Once she realizes there’s more worth living for than Claire alone, she’ll think twice about ending the world.”
That thought hadn’t even occurred to me. But I had a feeling that the Demon Queen, who’d remained devoted to a single woman for several hundred million years, wasn’t going to have a change of heart this late in the game. There was also another factor to consider. “Master Rod, for the umpteenth time, the Demon Queen and I like women,” I said. “You, a man, have no chance with us.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. Besides, getting in the way of yuri as a male is a huge death flag.”
“Huh? Yuri? Death flag?” Confusion filled Rod’s face as he tried to make sense of my nerdy otaku lingo.
“Ignore her, Master Rod. It’s just her usual nonsense,” Claire said.
“Right. Ignore it I will, then. I’m looking forward to this coming battle…in a lot of ways.”
“Jeez, this man can adapt to anything, just in the worst ways possible…” I groaned.
“Hm? Did you say something, Rae?”
“I said you sure can adapt to anything, Master Rod.”
“Ha ha ha, really? Wow, I never thought I’d be praised by you of all people.”
I wasn’t praising you, though, I thought with a cold glare.
Rod’s expression abruptly turned serious. “You might call it old-fashioned, but I believe men are at their best when they’re protecting the woman they care for. Claire has you to protect her, but the Demon Queen doesn’t have anyone fighting for her right now. That’s just a little too sorry a sight for me.”
“Master Rod…”
“I dunno how I’m going to do it, but I wanna try and help her if I can.”
I couldn’t muster a response to that. His thinking was alien to me. In my world, Claire was everything, and anything that threatened Claire was a bitter enemy. I had no intention of showing mercy to my enemies, but Rod somehow found room for compassion toward his foes.
I wasn’t the type to believe strict differences existed between genders but rather between people as individuals. This difference in thought between me and Rod wasn’t a difference between man and woman but a difference between Rod, the man who would never change until the day he died, and me, the woman who hadn’t changed even after death.