We still hadn’t been able to come up with a workable plan to draw Rebirth out of hiding. However, as we continued to mull our options, we were attacked yet again. The alarm bell echoed throughout the royal capital, signaling approaching enemies.
After assembling at the guard station, we mobilized to engage the invaders.
“Ugh. Again?” Spinoza clicked her tongue in weary annoyance. “When is this gonna end...?”
“We can’t handle this much longer...”
With no end in sight to the fighting, the guards were absolutely exhausted in both body and mind.
“Just a little longer, everyone! We’ve got to hold out a little longer!”
Seira was doing her best to encourage them to stay motivated, but even that would only last so much longer. Their spirits might even break with the very next raid.
We need to make this our last battle—no matter what.
Rebirth’s slime soldiers were an immortal army that came back to life every time they were defeated. They were both powerful and fearsome—but in truth, they were just as stymied by us as we were by them.
With my defense power, we could withstand every attack they could dish out. It would’ve been practically impossible for us to lose as long as I was out on the battlefield.
As I was running toward the front gate with the rest of the Fifth, we suddenly heard an explosion coming from a street off in the distance.
“Whoa! What the hell was that?!” Spinoza bellowed.
We heard the sound of screams, and townspeople suddenly came running in our direction.
“Hey, what happened?” I asked.
“A demon! There’s a demon in the city!”
“What...?”
A demon—here inside the royal capital? Did we let one of them get through?
No... The sentries would’ve noticed for sure. So then, what about the barrier—they couldn’t have destroyed it, right?
Either way, we were just about to start mounting our defense. This is the worst possible timing.
Except—that makes it sound like a coincidence. They probably planned it this way.
“Where is this demon, exactly?” I asked.
“Over there!”
We headed to the location the citizen pointed out to us—and the sight we saw when we turned the corner made our hearts skip a beat.
The streets had been turned into piles of rubble. There was no trace of the cityscape remaining.
And yet, a lone figure stood in the middle of that shattered vista.
“Leobolt? Is that you...?!”
It was indeed him. There were horns protruding from his forehead, and sinister-looking magical symbols had appeared all over his body. He looked like a demon through and through—but that face of his was unmistakable.
“We couldn’t find you anywhere,” I murmured. “So you ended up giving in to the dark side and becoming a demon, then...?”
We unsheathed our weapons and entered into battle stances.
“Did Rebirth convince you to do this?” I asked.
Leobolt didn’t respond, but his silence seemed to indicate I had been right on the mark.
“Why would you do such a thing...?”
Leobolt was a more honest and straightforward man than anyone else I knew. He had always been working toward a singular purpose: defending the Orb of Light to protect the world. Yet, in spite of that, he had ended up turning into a demon.
“This is all for the sake of accomplishing my goal,” he replied.
“Your goal?”
“Yes. I have a noble cause behind me—that of saving the world.”
“How on earth does this lead to saving the world?”
I looked at the debris littering the area around us. Entire buildings had been leveled, and scattered fires had broken out. The townspeople were screaming, running frantically this way and that.
“This world is wrong,” Leobolt stated. “There is no need for a world where rightness goes unrewarded. So I shall destroy it and rebuild it anew.”
“And that’s why you’ve switched sides to the demons?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Sounds more like a whiny bitchfit to me,” Spinoza spat. “Things didn’t go the way ya wanted, so ya threw a li’l temper tantrum about it. What a dumbass—quit actin’ like a giant baby.”
“Please, Leobolt!” Seira pleaded. “You need to reconsider all of this!”
“That won’t help. Nothing we say will change his mind,” I said solemnly. “He’s a demon now. That means he’s already made his choice, and he’s ready to follow through with it.”
“Sieg... I’m pretty sure I know what the enemy is doing,” Fam interrupted.
“They’re probably trying to lock the capital in a pincer attack from both the outside and the inside,” I agreed.
If we left Leobolt to his own devices, the guards and knights who had gone to the front gate to engage Rebirth’s forces would be vulnerable to attack from behind. Not only that, the people of the capital would be at risk of further injury. We couldn’t afford to let either of those things happen.
“Spinoza, Seira, Fam, all of you head over to the front gate.”
“What about you, Sarge?”
“I’ll hold him off.”
If we wanted to fight toe-to-toe with Rebirth’s army, we needed the heavy hitters of the Fifth Squadron. If all of us stayed back to deal with Leobolt, it was quite possible the enemy would breach the front gates. If that happened, huge quantities of monsters would cascade into the capital, causing countless casualties.
“Whoa, hold on. You sure you’re gonna be okay alone?” Spinoza eyed me.
“Yeah. I’ll meet back up with you all soon.”
“Gotcha.”
“Leave the front lines to us!”
“Best of luck, then...”
Spinoza, Seira, and Fam, respectively, left me their sentiments and turned around, dashing off toward the front gates to wait for Rebirth’s army.
“I think not.”
Leobolt leaped upon the three women as soon as they turned their backs on him.
But that wasn’t going to work for him.
“Forgetting about someone, Leobolt?”
He let out a surprised grunt. His attacks had been redirected toward me.
Iron Target.
My skill had already been active. As I took his attempted backstabbing head-on, the rest of the Fifth ran off toward the gate.
“So they got away...” Leobolt spat, clicking his tongue spitefully. “But that matters not. My task, Sieg, is to hold you at bay. For without you, Astaroth’s front line will crumble.”
“Then I’ll just need to wrap things up with you quickly.”
“That will prove easier said than done.”
We flashed grins at each other.
Face-to-face with my opponent, I brought up my sword.
“Let’s get our little showdown started, Leobolt.”