Alden.
A former champion of the Colosseum.
As a child, he treated me to delicious soup and taught me various weapon techniques and Aura training methods—essentially my mentor and benefactor.
But after breaking his ankle restraint and escaping from a match against an ogre, he disappeared without a trace for years.
Why is he here now…?
Ah.
Now that I think about it, he was a knight of the fallen kingdom.
“…Are you a remnant of the Lugar Kingdom?”
It was a reasonable assumption, so I asked.
“Oh, yeah.”
He answered as if it were obvious.
“My god, how did that happen?”
“There was nowhere else to go.”
“There’s always the Empire.”
“Still, I figured I should find my own people first.”
Jeez.
Of all places, why there?
“Are you a devil worshipper, too?”
“Are you crazy? Those guys are a bunch of idiots.”
I asked just in case, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
“…I heard they’ve joined forces.”
“Our foolish princess made the worst possible choice.”
Princess?
So, the remnants are being led by the fallen kingdom’s princess?
“Then shouldn’t you at least pretend to worship? Since you’ve joined forces?”
“Hey, you little punk, I still have my pride.”
With that, Alden lifted the foot he had placed on me.
“…Can I remove this?”
“If you wanna fight, go ahead, you little shit.”
“I won’t.”
Am I crazy?
I just saw what kind of monster he is.
Besides, there’s no reason for me to risk my life fighting Alden.
So, I brushed the dirt off my armor and stood up.
“If you’re not worshipping devils, why are you here?”
“The foolish princess asked me to come. That’s why.”
“Then can you take down the commander?”
It was a genuine question.
He definitely seems like one of the strongest Aura users.
But has he reached the level of an Aura Master?
“I was supposed to finish off a wounded Aura Master, but this isn’t it.”
So Alden isn’t an Aura Master himself yet.
…Even without reaching that level, he’s this strong?
Just how powerful are actual Masters?
“What will you do now?”
“I’ll head back.”
It’s ridiculous that he knocked out four knights and is just leaving…
But I suppose I should be relieved.
Yeah, as long as Alden isn’t drawing his sword here, that’s already a win.
“Have you considered the Boyd family? They feed you well here.”
“Not interested, you punk.”
I asked just in case, but Alden gave an immediate answer and turned away.
It seemed like he was planning to leave just like that.
Our reunion was brief, but I had no reason to stop him.
But at that moment—
Fwoosh!
A man in a black hood appeared in front of Alden.
“Champion, where do you think you’re going?”
He appeared in the blink of an eye.
…Fleet?
No, this seemed more like teleportation magic.
A magician from the devil worshippers?
“Where else? I’m going back.”
“Take care of Arthur Clayton first. That was the deal, wasn’t it?”
“I can’t take him down. He’s in perfect condition.”
At those words, I glanced at Arthur Clayton, who was fighting an ogre.
…Yeah, he doesn’t have a single scratch on him.
He still has plenty of energy to spare.
However—
“Fulfill the contract!”
The hooded magician, seemingly refusing to accept Alden’s response, grabbed his shoulder.
“What?”
Clench!
But the moment he did, Alden grabbed the magician by the throat.
“Listen, you bastard, I’m not refusing. I just can’t.”
Thud!
He then slammed the magician into a nearby tree and glared at him.
…That’s so like Alden.
“If you want him dead so badly, do it yourself, you spellcasting bastard.”
Judging by his teleportation, the magician was probably quite skilled.
But with Alden pinning him down, he couldn’t do much.
Well, what could a magician do at this range?
Especially with his throat being crushed.
“I-I won’t forget this.”
“Who’s gonna punish me, you? Then I should just break your damn neck now.”
Alden clearly despised devil worshippers—his words earlier weren’t just talk.
“Hey, you idiot, I already told you—ogres are weak as hell. Look, he’s getting wrecked.”
Alden gestured toward the ogre.
… If they are weak, why didn’t you just defeat it when you were a champion?
The words almost slipped out, but I held my tongue, given the situation.
“That man has already used his Intent. That means you should be able to win now.”
“If I could win, I’d be an Aura Master already.”
Crash!
Alden threw the magician to the ground.
“You, of all people, should be able to see it, dumbass. He’s holding back and waiting.”
“…”
“Just because we come from the same fallen kingdom, don’t treat me like an idiot.”
Stomp!
Then, just like he did to me earlier, Alden stomped on the magician’s chest.
“And don’t give me orders.”
“…I will remember this.”
After that—
The magician, still pinned under Alden’s boot, used magic to vanish.
“…Are you sure that’s okay?”
I watched the magician disappear and asked Alden.
To which he replied—
“Of course. Those bastards look down on us just because we’re from a fallen kingdom.”
That was a very Alden-like answer.
More than that… are the remnants of the Lugar Kingdom being looked down upon by the devil worshippers?
Well, considering it’s a fallen kingdom, it makes sense for them to be treated lightly.
“Yeah, well.”
“You little shit, you think the Lugar Kingdom was just a bunch of outdated losers, don’t you?”
“…I didn’t think that far.”
“Haah, if it weren’t for those damn stubborn scholars…”
Alden, riled up all on his own, started muttering with regret in his voice—
“I, Edgar, have arrived!”
From beyond the clearing, the booming voice of Edgar, the commander of the Royal 3rd Knight Order, rang out, followed by the resounding cheers of the soldiers.
It seemed the troops stationed in the rear had finally caught up with the reinforcements.
“Tsk, looks like this is over. I’m leaving.”
Without hesitation, Alden turned his back upon hearing that.
“Yes, take care.”
“You bastard, you don’t have any feelings.”
After that, Alden used Fleet and disappeared.
**
After Alden disappeared in the forest.
“Surround them all!”
“Capture them!”
“Don’t let a single one escape!”
With Edgar leading the charge and the reinforcements flooding in, the battlefield quickly turned in our favor.
Even the devil worshippers, who had been holding their own against the knights, were swiftly overwhelmed under the combined assault.
And as for the ogre—
BOOM!
“Waahhh!”
“The commander has won!!”
The moment the main force arrived, Arthur Clayton turned the tide of battle and executed a Rush, severing the ogre’s head.
The sheer power of that strike—it had to be a type of Vision Rush.
Well, considering the Clayton family’s reputation as a martial lineage, it made sense for them to have their own formidable techniques.
With the clearing secured, Edgar immediately gave the next command.
“Those uninjured, follow me.”
We headed straight for the cave.
With the devil worshippers all but wiped out in the Kaine Mountain Range, the plan was to search for any leftover documents or useful intel at their base.
Returning to the cave, we descended deeper into its depths, this time with a full unit of soldiers.
“There’s a door here!”
“Open it!”
Deeper in, we came across a massive stone door.
Rumble—!
It was enormous, requiring a group of elite soldiers to push it open with great effort.
Beyond the door lay an artificially carved cavern.
“This place….”
“Did they carve out this entire cave?”
The walls, floor, and ceiling had been meticulously shaped into a vast chamber.
Tunnel-like passages stretched out in multiple directions, extinguished torches lined the walls, and various decorations stood at regular intervals—this was undoubtedly the heart of the enemy’s stronghold.
“Search every corner!”
The soldiers spread out as magicians deployed detection spells, scanning each passage one by one.
“There’s a breeding area here!”
“Over here… ugh! A pile of corpses….”
“These bastards…!”
The place was littered with the horrifying remains of their atrocities.
Rusty iron cages held young monsters used for experiments, the corpses of humans lay scattered about, and the remnants of grotesque fusion experiments tainted the surroundings.
“We found what looks like a worship altar!”
As expected of devil worshippers, they had a full-fledged altar dedicated to their rituals.
“So many bodies….”
“…Sir Duren’s remains are here.”
Among the countless corpses piled atop the altar, they even found the bodies of fallen knights and reconnaissance troops who had perished earlier.
“Those bastards….”
“They’re truly insane.”
The knights’ faces twisted in fury at the grotesque sight.
Then—
“There’s another passage inside here!”
A soldier reported, pointing to a concealed tunnel behind the altar.
“Let’s check it out.”
With Arthur Clayton too exhausted to lead, Edgar took charge, and the rest of us followed him into the passage.
At its end—
A vast open space.
It was so massive that it was hard to believe we were still underground.
And at the center of it—
“…A statue?”
A colossal stone statue towered over us, gazing down ominously.
“A goblin?”
“No… it looks more like an orc.”
It was so massive—easily dozens of meters tall—that opinions differed on what it actually depicted.
One thing was certain: it had green skin.
The grotesque, bumpy features and bulky proportions unmistakably belonged to a Greenskin.
But then—
“Gigant…?”
The search team leader, Asran, murmured as she looked up at the statue.
“What’s a Gigant?”
I asked, and all eyes turned toward her.
“Wait… don’t you all know?”
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one unfamiliar with the term.
