The moon hung high in the pitch-black night sky.
The Imperial Palace was thrown into sudden chaos.
Someone had come to request an audience with the Empress at this hour.
They weren’t a government official or a titled noble, so the guards had tried to turn them away.
“Irene Vermont? Let her in.”
“W-What? Captain of the Guard! She’s a high-risk individual who operates in the shadows! The Vermont family is even actively searching for her right now!”
“I’ll take full responsibility. Let her in. I’ll wake Her Majesty myself.”
So, the barely-awake Empress Vanessa and Irene met face to face.
And within less than a minute of hearing Irene’s story, Vanessa shot up to her feet.
“That’s enough. From the sound of it, it’s long, complicated, and deeply entangled. If I try to hear it all here, we’ll be here forever. I’ll listen on the move.”
“Thank you for understanding, Your Majesty.”
“You misunderstand. I’m not agreeing to listen. I’m saying that since this concerns the man who is to be my husband, I’ll go first and figure it out later.”
“O-Of course.”
Vanessa opened her wardrobe and retrieved the Holy Sword Tempest.
Throwing on only light armor, she was about to depart the Imperial Palace when—
“Your Majesty. May I bring just one more person? They’re close by.”
“Time is short. Leave them a letter to come to the fortress city as soon as they can.”
“It was my brother’s request. She said I must bring Yuri Brussels with me, as quickly as possible…”
“Then it can’t be helped. I’ll head to the Imperial Magic Academy dormitory immediately.”
“Wait, wha—?”
At that moment, Vanessa drew her holy sword.
With a crackling bolt of lightning, she shot up into the sky.
Irene stood frozen, dumbfounded.
Roughly three minutes later, another flash of lightning descended from the heavens—and Vanessa landed, holding Yuri under one arm.
“Eek! Wh-Where am I?!”
“We’re departing now.”
“…”
Vanessa casually tossed the half-asleep Yuri into the carriage.
Irene, still confused, wondered if this was really okay.
But in any case, they were in a hurry—so she decided to take what she could get.
A scouting party led by the Captain of the Guard went ahead.
Vanessa, Irene, and Yuri followed in a high-speed carriage.
A portion of the palace guard and the capital’s defense forces were mustered and began marching behind them.
They didn’t fully understand what was going on—
But that only made it more essential to be thoroughly prepared.
“So, um… why exactly am I being dragged along…?”
“That’s what I was just about to explain.”
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Yuri blinked herself awake.
Vanessa gave a sign that she was ready to listen, and Irene began to recount everything that had happened so far.
Vanessa was already aware that the Northern Archduke had discovered ancient ruins within the Demon Realm.
But the contents of the old oral legends preserved in the Archive were news to her.
It was a pitiful old tale from a long-lost nomadic tribe—one so obscure that few even knew of its existence.
Who would’ve thought it described the fall of the ancient civilization 40,000 years ago?
“So the enemy used their power to control monsters and tried to excavate the ruins containing the ancient legacy…”
“And if those ruins are opened, the ancient people might pour out and start massacring everyone!?”
Vanessa and Yuri’s eyes widened.
If that were true, it was a crisis that could determine the very fate of humanity.
Never mind the hour—they were absolutely right to throw off their covers and charge out immediately.
“Wait! If that’s the case, Your Majesty! Shouldn’t you have saved Tempest’s lightning!? You’ve already used it twice just to pick me up—now you can only use it once more…!”
“Hm. My mana reserves are top secret, and yet you seem to know them quite well.”
“Ah… I-I’m sorry… I reverse-calculated your total mana based on the rate of output when you demonstrated your aura previously…”
Vanessa chuckled as she looked at the flustered Yuri.
To think she’d reverse-engineered her maximum mana from the tiny bit she released in just a moment…
It was a ridiculous method—something only considered theoretically possible, and never actually attempted.
“Count Vermont seems to value you more highly than I do. So, I don’t mind spending seventy percent of my mana.”
“T-That can’t be! There’s no way I’m more valuable than Your Majesty, a Sword Master—”
“Don’t bother with false modesty—just accept it. Count Vermont still believes there’s room for you to grow. If he’s right… then the deciding blow in this battle won’t come from my Tempest, but from your strike.”
“…”
Yuri fell silent in stunned disbelief.
She knew Aslan Vermont thought highly of her talent—
But that highly…?
“I haven’t even awakened my aura yet—I’m still just a rookie…”
“That’s why you still have potential. My aura simply calls down lightning through the Holy Sword, unleashing a thunderstrike. Boring, isn’t it? I’m curious to see what yours will become.”
“…”
Vanessa chuckled.
Yuri suddenly felt a massive weight settle on her shoulders, leaving her queasy with pressure.
She’d been slacking on her sword training recently…
And now here she was, with everyone suddenly expecting her to awaken her aura.
But she was a healer—a support-type with awakened healing abilities…
“Signal fire!?”
“Coachman. Increase speed.”
In the distance, a column of smoke began to rise.
One meant the fortress city was under attack.
Two meant the city was in danger and needed reinforcements.
Three meant the city would soon fall, and the enemy was expected to push south.
It was the third signal fire—the first time in Imperial history it had ever been lit.
The message was clear: the Empire was facing a crisis of unprecedented scale.
***
“If you fall asleep here, your face will get stuck like that, Your Grace. Time to get up.”
[You… who are you?]
A chilling voice rang out as the ancient being tilted its head with a creak.
I’d more or less grasped the situation.
An ancient robot equipped with the ability to control monsters and use Black Magic had made a dramatic entrance.
Judging by the heavy rust and twisted joints, it didn’t have much time left before total shutdown.
It was probably desperate to open the ruins and unleash the ancient ones before it completely broke down.
‘Fortunately, when it comes to Black Magic output, we’re leagues ahead.’
The enemy’s Black Magic was certainly powerful.
That massive body of the Northern Archduke had been crushed in an instant, almost dying from mana depletion.
But my Black Magic was even stronger.
Thanks to that, at least none of our combatants would be losing their lives to the enemy’s Black Magic.
‘Is it impossible to disable it using Black Magic…?’
I wondered if the opponent ran on mana and tried to force a shutdown through Black Magic.
It didn’t even flinch.
Looks like it uses electricity instead of mana.
In that case, there’s no choice but to destroy it physically.
“Count…! Please go to Ester before saving us…!”
“You needn’t worry. Julia is currently defending Ester with Dirt-Dirt, Water-Water, and the Undead Legion.”
“What the—!”
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ cheers that our Necromancer is the best!]
At those words, the Northern Archduke turned to look back.
The massive hole in the wall had been plugged by Dirt-Dirt’s enormous body.
Monsters climbing over the walls were being slaughtered by the Undead Legion.
And the flying monsters in the sky were being intercepted by Water-Water’s water cannon blasts.
It might be an unprecedented-scale Monster Wave, but if it turns into a war of attrition, the Necromancer becomes infinitely powerful.
Even if the entire wall were to collapse, Ester wouldn’t fall.
I decided to leave the rear to Julia.
[So that’s how it is… a body loved by the evil god… such talent born even among the inferior races…!]
“…!?”
I thought he was just mumbling to himself.
Then suddenly, the ancient being opened its jaws wide and fired a blinding beam of light from its throat.
A direct shot aimed at me!
“It seems to have designated you, Master, as its target. If you die, there will be no hope—so from now on, we’ll prioritize your protection.”
“That’s a wise decision.”
Just before the beam hit, Sylvia scooped me up and dashed away.
The second and third beams that followed were also easily dodged by her.
As Sylvia said, if I were to die, the enemy could suppress everyone with just Black Magic.
Since I don’t have any combat abilities anyway, the best I can do is use Black Magic to protect the others while running away.
So being held tightly by Sylvia like this isn’t embarrassing—it’s simply a tactical move.
There’s absolutely no reason to be ashamed.
[You damn little insect…!]
“Charlotte! Now!”
“Rumbling…!”
[…Huh?]
That moment, Charlotte appeared behind Sylvia, holding her Super Super Strong Sword high.
Sensing the ominous energy from the grotesque sword, the ancient being tried to dodge immediately.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
[Let go of me!]
The ancient being’s legs were being held down by the Northern Archduke and his sons.
With a violent motor sound, the ancient being kicked hard, sending the Archduke and his sons flying.
But just as its body regained freedom…
“BOOM BOOM Maximum Legend Ultra!!!”
[…!]
Charlotte had already finished chanting.
A massive Aura surged toward the enemy.
It shot into the sky, splitting the clouds as a violet Aura plummeted down.
The ancient being, realizing it couldn’t dodge, fired a red beam in response.
But Charlotte’s Aura tore through the beam like it was nothing and slammed into the ancient being.
KWAANG!
With a thunderous roar, a canyon split open before our eyes.
It was the result of Charlotte’s ultimate Boom Boom technique, refined to the extreme.
[The Evil God ‘Kali’ is puffing her chest, insisting our Dark Knight must’ve been the one who finished it off.]
“Ah.”
The way Kali was getting ahead of herself gave me a bad feeling…
Soon, the dust settled.
And at the center of the split canyon stood the ancient being, completely unscathed…
…Surrounded by a glowing, golden spherical barrier.
For a walking tin can, it sure had a lot of tricks up its sleeve.
