BGM: Thawing Light
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It was as if his genuinely simple, age-appropriate personality was laid bare in that moment――
「――!」
Clenching my teeth, I slam Adamas into his defenseless neck.
A once-in-a-hundred-years talent, the budding hope of humanity――Was nipped by my own hand.
「That can't be.」
「HERO..!」
「SWORD SAINT!」
The soldiers cried out in despair. The priest, utterly drained, wore an expression as if the end of the world had come. The elven spellcaster twisted her face in agony, and from atop the fortress, a forest elf archer shouted for the first time, “You bastard!!”【Hero's Holy Armor】――The silver light enveloping the soldiers begins to fade.
With both the Hero and the Sword Saint slain in quick succession, and the demon prince they attacked together still standing pretty much unscathed, it was normal for them to react that way.
Their morale plummeted at once.
And once that happened――
There was an opening to slip in a hex.
「――【Forbid Coordination】」
Crack, I heard the sound of something shattering.
The blessing that protected the soldiers flickered and became even weaker than before――
「【ARM, WITHER!】」
「【COWER!】」
「【FLEE IN TERROR!】」
The hexes of the demons surged forth like a muddy torrent.
「A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!」
Someone screamed, and what could only be described as panic began to spread like an infection. There were still many who hadn’t faltered, whose spirits remained unbroken. But they couldn’t fight alone, unless everyone stood together in unity, there was no hope of defeating the demons.
And whenever they tried to regroup, the curse of【Constraint】would interfere――Even overriding the blessing――Making their movements awkward, nothing like how they usually fought.
「【Be Puri――GAH!」
The moment the elven spellcaster began chanting an anti-curse spell, a massive blade suddenly plunged into them.
It was a spear which used a sword as its tip.
The elven spellcaster was pinned to the wall behind them, like an insect specimen, skewered in place.
「Oh, bull's eye.」
Beside me stood Alvar, arm extended in the follow-through of his swing.
「R-Run!?」
The elven spellcaster coughed up blood and died, still frozen in shock. A man unbound by convention, who acts the moment he thinks something might work, that Alvar Auril the『Freedom』――
「U-UWAAAAAAAAAAA!」
「N-NOOOOOOOOO!!」
「W-WAIT! DON'T GIVE UP!!」
The radiance of the【Holy Armor】had all but vanished. Those trying to flee in disorder clashed with those still standing their ground to fight, causing chaos and congestion――
Then came the next wave of attack. The demons' magic rained down upon them. Chunks of pitch-black flame, bolts of lightning, blades of wind, and volleys of stone bullets struck them with almost no resistance, slaughtering the brave and the cowardly alike. The momentum surged in the demon army, while beastfolk warriors and the devil soldiers poured over the walls one after another, launching a relentless pursuit and further escalating the devastation――
「A… Aaa…」
The priest could no longer speak, only hanging his head in despair. I approached him in silence.
「…O God… why… why must we suffer so…」
To spare him any further grief and sorrow, I beheaded him.
「I'm sorry, Your Highness. I couldn't help but step in.」
As he apologized, Alvar gave a casual “Yo,” and yanked the spear, still skewering the elven mage, out of the wall.
「Don't worry about it.」
I replied in a flat voice. At this point, I didn’t even care anymore.
「Time to hunt them.」
「No, Your Highness. There is something that must be done first.」
Just as I was about to go after the fleeing soldiers, Kvirtal grabbed my shoulder.
「Let’s deal with that first.」
What he pointed to was――A towering giant tree of light rising into the night sky.
†††
Those heroes had been the fortress’s top fighting force, as only clearly inferior priests and old soldiers remained inside.
The forest elves, other than the spellcaster Alvar took down, as well as that archer, were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had either given up and retreated or gone to call for reinforcements from another fortress. Though honestly, I doubted any of the other forts had the capacity to spare reinforcements――
「It looks like we’d better hurry.」
Kvirtal spoke as he swiftly skewered the remaining guards with his spear.
「If we destroy that great tree before any of the other forts do――It will clearly stand as Your Highness’s achievement in everyone's opinion.」
Kvirtal looked at me and smiled gently.
「…Yeah.」
I see, he did this for my sake.
And so, we arrived at the central chamber of the fortress, the Hall of Prayer.
A glowing tree branch was embedded in the ground exposed by shattered stone tiles, pulsing rhythmically as if it was alive.
So that’s it――The source of【Mitologia Replica[Myth Reenactment]】, the branch of the Sacred Great Tree.
Now that we were this close, it radiated such a divine presence that even we, the darklings, felt overwhelmed. It seems the words of the forest elves, that this was a miracle left behind by the gods of light, were no lie after all…
「This is my first time seeing one. It's fascinating, but…」
“Go ahead,” Kvirtal said, urging me to step forward.
I nodded silently and stepped toward the branch of the Sacred Great Tree.
Seen up close like this, it was so delicate, so beautiful, it hardly seemed like a branch of a great tree at all,
…I'm sorry. Truly, I'm so sorry.
I cloaked Adamas in the magical power of darkness――And swung it down in a single, decisive strike.
†††
The night sky, once brilliantly illuminated by the【Sacred Great Tree】, had returned.
「Noooo!」
Barbara the『Unicorn』looked up at the sky with a disbelieving look on her face.
「Seriously…」
Hessel the『Frontline Demolisher』also groaned.
「Hou… As expected of Your Highness.」
Even Veteranos, who were watching from the frontline base, let out a breath of awe.
「…」
Charlotte, who had been offering prayers in the city, her expression twitched in shock.
――One of the key fortresses defending the royal capital, Evaloti, had fallen.
It was way too fast.
In contrast, humanity’s dawn remains far, far out of reach…
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