Red-Eyed Siblings (2)

For a moment, Claire couldn’t comprehend what the Blade of Devastation, Teska, was saying.

“What…?”

But the instant she understood, the emotions that had been festering inside her began to boil.

And simultaneously, she realized.

‘This is a lie.’

This was just a ploy to drive a wedge between her and Lost.

Yet despite that, what began sprouting in her heart was doubt and hope.

“Ah, I’d like to give you a proper explanation, but I think we’ll have to continue this conversation later?”

Bang!

At that moment, the door flew open and pure white light filled the room.

The boy who had been smiling suggestively before her eyes lost consciousness as if swallowed by the light and collapsed right there.

“Lost…”

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“…”

This wasn’t right.

She was beginning to harbor suspicions about Lost who had come to save her.

Didn’t he appear with suspiciously perfect timing when she was about to hear something important?

As if to prevent her from hearing it.

“Lost.”

So Claire spoke up.

Yes, because she felt she couldn’t bear it if she didn’t.

“Is my brother really dead?”

She asked a question that would wound them both.

*     *      *

“Is my brother really dead?”

Ah, so that’s what it was.

The Blade of Devastation, Teska.

I could understand how he had been increasing the number of half-demons.

That bastard knew all too well.

How delicate the human heart is. That it could shatter like glass ornaments with just the slightest impact.

I could tell what kind of seed he had planted in Claire’s mind.

Just a few words. With only that much, he had managed to shake a person’s heart to its core.

Impressive bastard.

I know the intention behind this question.

This is Claire mustering her courage.

A question asked to confirm that terrible truth.

“Yes.”

Then I must answer her as well.

The doubt that Claire has started to harbor.

I must give a clear answer to it and wound Claire.

“Burke Ryan is dead. I’m certain. Because I witnessed his end.”

“…”

An act of dredging up old wounds and inflicting pain once again.

I’m drawing a line on the doubt that had made Claire think that perhaps she was mistaken.

With this answer, Claire will completely lose hope that her brother might still be alive.

“I watched his death till the very end. So Claire, I can guess what he might have told you, but it’s a trap meant to deceive you.”

Because I didn’t try to gloss over it.

She must know that I didn’t resort to lies.

She erased her only hope herself to erase her doubts about me.

“I see. Yes, of course. If I had to choose who to believe between the two… it’s right to trust you, Lost.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

“I’m fine now. So please go do what you need to do.”

Claire staggered toward the bed, lay down, and pulled the blanket over her head.

Is she crying?

She’s already a strong person for having to face a truth she didn’t want to remember again and again.

But even strong people get hurt. It must be quite painful.

“Rest now.”

I left the room, carrying the child who had fainted from the shock of the holy power.

After quietly closing the door, I immediately went to find Viscount Leze.

“Apostle? That child is…”

“He’s probably a child from the Leze Viscounty. Most likely a child who recently lost his parents or family and has nowhere to live.”

As a result, he was targeted by demons and accepted demonic energy into his body.

Since it happened relatively recently, I was able to expel the demonic energy that had started eating away at his body, but there will likely be aftereffects.

Parts lost due to demonic energy cannot be regenerated even with holy magic.

“I-I know nothing about this! How could you know about even something like that…!”

“I’m not trying to blame you. This isn’t because of your rule, Viscount, but the work of external forces targeting this child.”

I interrupt Viscount Leze who was responding in panic to tell him the truth.

I’m not going to be angry that his first response was an excuse. There’s nothing wrong with looking out for oneself.

Viscount Leze is simply human. One can’t call it wrong to care for oneself more than others.

Moreover…

“It’s probably the work of demons targeting me.”

“…Demons, you say? Why… ah, no. I suppose it’s only natural if you hold the position of an apostle.”

“I’m glad you understand quickly.”

Viscount Leze frowned, his complexion turning pale. He must have realized that threats might come to the Leze Viscounty because of me.

While I can’t fault him for blaming me for that…

“No, this is my fault.”

Viscount Leze was more composed than I expected.

Given his character, I thought he would blame me.

But he, too, was a noble.

And nobles are people who take responsibility in exchange for privileges.

“I brought you to the lord’s castle and wasted your time. I persuaded you to treat the patients gathered at the church.”

“Viscount Leze.”

“Then this is my responsibility. So I won’t blame you, Apostle. But if you feel even the slightest responsibility…”

Viscount Leze looked at me with fear in his eyes, but he didn’t avert his gaze.

“You must help us resolve this matter.”

“It’s what I should do.”

“…Then that’s fortunate. I will first summon and prepare the soldiers. If demons have already infiltrated the domain and employed such obvious tricks, they’ll surely do something soon.”

Viscount Leze said this as he quickly began browsing through a book he had taken from the bookshelf in his office.

The cover of the book, worn from seemingly countless readings.

<Eden’s Methods of Warfare and Command>

I glimpsed evidence of effort from a once-incompetent lord who had merely trembled during a past large-scale magical beast assault.

“Attack! Magical beast attack!”

“…Well, I now have something to do. It’s clearly a diversion.”

Viscount Leze’s hands were trembling.

But he squeezed his eyes shut and began to ask detailed questions about the situation of the viscounty’s soldiers to the soldier who had delivered the news.

“Tell Sir Rectus and all available unit captains to gather immediately! Ah, and how far have the magical beasts advanced? The estimated time of arrival…”

The sight of a human striving to overcome past fears.

Still clumsy, with mistakes evident in his commands, but at least it gave me the impression he could be trusted.

“Then I will go solve the problem on my end.”

“Y-Yes! I’ll, I’ll try to handle things here somehow!”

We move in opposite directions.

I spot Sir Rectus hurrying by as I move, but I don’t call out to him.

I had things to think about.

“Too fast.”

The strategy of using magical beasts as a diversion isn’t bad, in my opinion.

But at the same time, it indicates that the enemy’s demonic and half-demon forces aren’t overwhelming enough.

Or could even that be a trap?

No, it can’t be.

If he had that much power, why would he need to advertise his presence through a frontal assault?

It would have been far more effective to sneak in with those forces and target me or my companions from within.

So he has confidence in facing me and my companions, but he doesn’t want to add the viscounty’s soldiers to the mix.

“Is he already inside?”

To prepare for the magical beast assault, the viscounty’s soldiers will have to line up and exit toward the walls.

The interior will inevitably be emptied, and he might be aiming for that gap.

So the first thing I need to do is distribute our forces.

“Línea, are you aware of the situation?”

“Yes.”

“I want you to watch over Claire and check if he approaches.”

“And if he does? Can I win? No, that’s not what I meant… I’m not saying I lack confidence. But since I don’t know much about the opponent…”

“The Blade of Devastation is estimated to be the weakest among Belial’s Seven Blades.”

“But didn’t you say you’ve never seen his appearance? Will it be okay?”

“If he were truly strong, there would be no reason for him not to be deployed on the frontlines. It’s better to focus on his role in supplying half-demons.”

The war was intense.

If things had continued as they were, Belial would certainly have consumed the world.

But that doesn’t mean we just stood there taking it.

We fought back adequately and were able to drag the war into a long-term conflict.

At that point, the Blade of Devastation was already too far gone to be used for military power.

“He’s becoming impatient. This whole situation shows it.”

The strategy is too obvious.

I could sense he was uncharacteristically rushing. Did he get scolded from above? This approach is too crude for the Blade of Devastation I know.

The fact that I could read him already showed that he was gambling on this operation.

“And well… I can kind of guess what the opponent might look like.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and I’m not just asking you to do this. Just monitor the situation, and intervene if you feel it’s dangerous. That should be enough.”

Línea has been learning assassination-related techniques from Shade.

Most of these techniques involve movements or concealment, so it would be better for her to remain hidden.

It’s obvious what the Blade of Devastation is aiming for.

He’ll have the magical beasts clash with the viscounty while demons and half-demons wreak havoc inside.

In that chaos, he’ll likely approach my companions.

The target this time is obviously Claire.

After setting up the groundwork, he wouldn’t just let it pass.

I’ve already read his plan.

He would have made his plans assuming I had figured him out.

With limited time and resources, what he’s aiming for is a short, decisive battle.

He’ll use half-demons to keep me and Titan occupied while causing chaos inside.

“Then we’ll head out. Try not to leave the lord’s castle.”

No matter how large-scale the assault is, there’s no way there wouldn’t be soldiers around Viscount Leze, the commander.

If things get too dangerous, he’d probably pour all his forces in, but with Sir Rectus around, the one who would prioritize self-preservation would be none other than Viscount Leze.

It would be best if this assault could be handled at Sir Rectus’s level, but…

If not, the tide of battle will favor the enemy.

A gamble that relies on crazed, rampaging magical beasts—the outcome is up to fate.

In that case, my task isn’t to hunt down half-demons.

“Titan, we’re heading to the walls.”

“Didn’t you say enemies might have infiltrated inside?”

“That’s exactly why we’re heading to the frontlines. We’re reversing our approach.”

The viscounty’s soldiers are now tied up with the current assault.

They’d be split into three groups: those on the walls stopping the threatening magical beasts, those guarding Viscount Leze, and those evacuating the residents.

Considering the quality of the forces, the frontlines would be the first priority, Viscount Leze the second, and those evacuating the residents would mostly be trainees.

“We can’t stop the problems that will erupt within the domain anyway.”

The soldiers evacuating the residents would be like scarecrows the moment they encounter half-demons.

In other words, once the enemy starts rampaging, the damage will spiral out of control.

No matter how hard Titan and I try, we can’t prevent that, so we have to improve the quality of the forces.

“The walls will be defended by just the two of us. Can we handle that?”

“It will be an interesting experience.”

So we’ll redirect all the forces that would be stopping the magical beasts at the walls.

By reversing roles, we’ll completely eliminate the variable caused by magical beasts.

“That bastard is surely premising a battle against me.”

I am essentially the natural enemy of half-demons and demons.

He probably didn’t expect someone like me to respond to the magical beasts swarming the walls rather than to them.

“Seems like he underestimated the Leze Viscounty for being a small city.”

Yes, it’s a small city.

Just the assault of the incoming magical beasts makes this place as precarious as a candle flame in the wind.

Without my presence, Teska’s forces alone could have probably overwhelmed it.

He probably planned to use the residents as hostages to threaten me.

But…

“He should have realized that if he could underestimate the domain based on its size, I could also underestimate him.”

If the domain had been just a bit larger, I would have hesitated.

With the current quality of the viscounty’s soldiers, even handling a single half-demon would be challenging.

Beyond strength, they don’t even have the power to overcome the regenerative abilities. So inevitably, I would have had to stop them, but…

“From now on, the entire Leze Viscounty…”

Whoosh!

I unleash holy power.

Like waves devouring the earth, the released holy power spreads throughout the domain, reaching the walls.

As the torrent of light spreads, pools, and rises, it dominates the space.

While establishing a barrier to block the intrusion of magical beasts, I also seal off the regenerative abilities—the greatest threat of half-demons.

“Falls within my sacred domain.”

Now it’s time for the hunt.