Leave a comment

–––Fuzzura’s viewpoint

I could not feel anything as I watched the Holy City fall. Usually we demons relished in the destruction of human cities, feasting upon the blood of all the humans there. Their pain, their screams, their cries as they died, all of that showed us we had done a good job. But now…

“Those aren’t our soldiers, the enemy was already weakened by civil war, and their main army was crushed by Trianf’s stupidity. It would’ve been weird if we didn’t win, and this just doesn’t get me excited…”

Lumielle had a large number of priests and holy knights, the natural enemies of demons, so now that they had been defeated, we demons had a large advantage when invading the rest of the human countries. But this was mostly monopolized by Piagio, the Demon King that fused with a human emperor, and my master Aprila did not gain as much.

But knowing Aprila, she probably already had other plans in the works that I was not told about, and her power could grow as well. Either way, my rank was not high enough to be told about such things, and I was mostly a pawn scouting foreign land.

I watched the black knights mercilessly slaughtering the people from the city, it was like they had no emotions. The emperor had brought them here, and they were far stronger than any of the common knights and soldiers. I had already lost count of the number of knights from Lumielle that had been killed by them already, their corpses strewn around. But still…

“Those guys still give me the creeps. I was told they’re humans successfully Compounded with low class monsters… but does that get rid of their emotions too?”

I had not heard a single word from their mouth since the fight started until now. They were like flesh golems that only knew how to fulfill their master’s orders. Everyone who was old and had little use was killed, and only the younger humans who could be used as materials for more black knights, or women who could serve as breeding recipients. The black knights seemed deaf to the cries of families, chaining and taking away those who were useful.

“At this rate everyone in Lumielle will die.”

All I cared now was to learn which country would be targeted next once the emperor heard Lumielle was conquered.

–––Sorciere’s viewpoint

“Lumielle has fallen.”

Everyone was still training here when I relayed the news, and all of them looked at me in confusion.

“Fallen..?”

Ciel recovered first and asked what I meant, but my answer did not change.

“It means exactly that. Lumielle has been destroyed. They were weakened by civil war, then they were distracted by a demon attack, and Leble took advantage of that. Their capital is ruined, the large temple reduced to a pile of rubble, and most of the people have been captured or killed.”
“That can’t be…”

Luvias muttered in shock. She was the princess of Bordaule, a neighboring country of Lumielle, so those news were especially important for her, and I could tell she had been affected the most after hearing that.

“…Who did it?”

Lapis was the next one to talk, her low voice clearly loaded with anger. Considering her memories from three centuries ago she likely still had some attachment to Lumielle, so I could imagine she was hardly holding back from flying there to see the current situation.

“It was Leble, and their black knights. They easily took over the capital.”
“Didn’t we already fight them in Bordaule, and then Lapis’ magic crushed the remaining ones in Leble’s Palace?!”
“I don’t think that was all of them. No one keeps their entire army in a single location.”

Usually all troops gathered in a single location only before a major battle. But that hardly ever happened right at the emperor’s palace. Usually they marched ahead and grouped together on the way. A large number of black knights had been killed in Bordaule, and the majority of those left were in the palace, but maybe there had been way more of them in other locations than we expected… Or maybe they had increased their number through other means.

“And what happened with Freya? Where is she?”

Diaria’s voice was filled with dread as she asked next, she was probably anticipating the worst. The other girls also looked downcast, believing their friend had perished.

“…I don’t know, she’s not accounted for yet. But considering her title as hero I would expect them to herald it loud and wide if she was killed. That would make it easier to take over the remaining territories of Lumielle after all.”

Everyone in Lumielle knew of Freya, they thought of her as a holy woman, so they would certainly feel hopeless if they heard she was dead. Leble’s army had not done that though, so there was a chance she was still alive. The emperor could also bring out an impostor to execute publicly to produce the same effect, but that was not happening either.

“Then it’s safe to assume she’s still alive.”
“Only for now.”

Lapis sighed in relief while the rest patted their chest to calm down. Now it was my turn to ask them a question.

“So what are you going to do now? Are you going to keep training here?”
“We can’t do that.”

Lapis stood up firmly, and the rest nodded.

“I’ve rested for long enough, I can’t afford to stay here any longer.”

Karin also agreed with Lapis’ idea.

“Yes, we can hone our skills further in battle. We’ve gotten a good enough headstart thanks to you, Sorciere.”
“Karin is right. We also can’t allow Lumielle’s fate to be repeated somewhere else.”

Karin and Luvias had reached the point of being able to fight Baradero’s golem without each other’s help. They had tasted death countless times, but they were finally close to matching one of my old companions. No demon should pose an issue against them, and they would not hold Lapis back either.

“That’s true… do you really think we’ve gotten strong enough though?”

Diaria always doubted herself. But she always excelled at hitting her mark from afar, and she underwent the same near-death experience training as Ciel, so her mana capacity had grown exponentially. Thanks to that she was able to call Sol’s full power without any adverse effects now.

“Don’t look down on yourself like that. I know we’ve gotten a lot stronger.”

Ciel, who had the most potential to grow, comforted her. She had learned so many of my spells that she was basically my disciple at this point. She should be able to watch over Lapis’ back now.

I still felt like they all lacked various things, but their minds were made and I would not force them to stay. Back in my days we also grew a lot while fighting anyway.

“I see, good luck then. I’m sure you’ll be able to stop them, now that you’ve been reborn with new strength.”

As I spoke, I waved my staff in front of them. A moment later their new equipment appeared in front of them, which they all looked at with joyful surprise.

“This is my parting gift. You weren’t thinking of fighting with those shabby weapons now, were you? They aren’t as powerful as legendary Holy or Demonic Swords, but they were built with the best materials available in this city so they should be good enough for you.”
“Thank you Sorciere, you’ve really done a ton for us.”

They all bowed to thank me, which made me feel a little bit embarrassed so I turned away.

“You don’t have to thank me, I’m just doing this to kill time. But anyway, take anything you need and be on your way now.”

I shooed them away with a hand wave like some puppies, and they put on their new equipment before flying away. After they were out of sight, I sighed and sat down on a chair. The room fell silent so suddenly it felt empty, making me feel strangely lonely. Thinking back to all the days we spent together, with them training, Lapis resting and recovering her strength… it was like only I was left behind. As I was immersed in such thoughts, a plate with a tea cup appeared in front of me. I looked up and saw a familiar maid standing in front of me.

“They all left.”
“…Yeah, there’s finally some silence for a change.”

Maria grimaced hearing my dishonest exclamation.

“I’m sure they’ll come back, once the world is at peace again.”
“…I hope you’re right.”

Somehow the tea felt more bitter than usual as I took a sip of it.