Chapter 211 - The Only Hope

As Luri slammed her axe into the ground, the earth buckled, heaving violently enough to send even the bravest warhorse staggering and falling.

But the horses transformed into demonic creatures now had beasts' hands for feet, and their improved balance allowed them to withstand the shaking.

"Silverwind's child!"

"Valdrova's dog!"

"A traitor who abandoned her own father!"

The knights turned Demons swung their swords, jeering at Luri. But all they cut were the afterimages she left behind. They could not even graze her.

Despite fighting Demons on all sides, Luri held an overwhelming advantage. Watching the scene, the king of Heinkel spoke as though it were someone else's problem.

"Indeed... So that is a Dragon Spawn."

He reached into the air. Something took shape above his palm, becoming a black book that settled into his hand.

The king reached toward the knight guarding his side. Black energy poured from every opening in the knight's face and gathered in the king's hand: a sickening light that mingled life and mana. Holding that substance, he extended his hand toward Luri and chanted.

"Hindes Rule."

The king's spell struck Luri.

"Ugh."

Luri felt her body grow heavy. It was irritating, as though something invisible were holding her down.

"You can run no longer!"

"Meet your death!"

The Demons charged at her without hesitation.

"Luri."

Calling her name, Ferda prepared a magic circle. It was an acceleration spell that would partially restore her movement after Hindes Rule had weighed her down.

But Luri shot him a fierce glare. She said nothing, but he immediately understood what it meant.

These were her prey.

She did not want anyone interfering with her chance to avenge even a little of the humiliation she had suffered at the Demons' hands. So Ferda dismissed his spell.

"Hmph!"

Even at a disadvantage, she simply proved herself a child of Silverwind. Quickly adapting to her slowed body, she swept through the Demons and dominated them once more.

"Remarkable... Truly remarkable..."

The king smiled faintly, admiring Luri's performance.

"She truly renders our forces meaningless."

His fingers traced lines through the air. At that moment, the Demon knights' movements changed noticeably. They had realized that concentrating their attacks on Luri was pointless.

"Attack the humans!"

Then they would take as many others down with them as possible. Demon riders turned toward Yurei and Ferda. There were three of them, but even so, they were formidable opponents.

"Prepare for battle!"

But Ferda and his knights were formidable as well. Their tactics against humans and monsters might be lacking, but no one knew demonic creatures better than they did.

And Ferda was now a 5th Circle mage. Even with the sun directly overhead, shadows could not defy his will.

He fixed his gaze through his hands, held neatly together as a sight. His target was the foremost Demon rider. Blue light shone in Ferda's eyes, and when it came within range, he clapped his palms together.

RUMBLE!

A black shadow surged up beneath the rider like a Venus flytrap and swallowed it whole. The Demon rider's valiant charge ended with it pinned helplessly in the shadow trap.

But only for a moment. Excellent though Ferda's magic was, the Demon's superhuman strength was more than enough to tear through the shadow and burst free.

He had expected that. A moment was all he needed anyway. A moment to draw another magic circle. A moment to hold his target at fixed coordinates.

Ferda drew his staff and gathered mana. The spell he cast was a 5th-tier offensive spell.

"Lightning Pile."

A spell that summoned a single thunderbolt from the sky. The difference was that his red lightning did not strike down from above.

RUMBLE!

BOOM!

Red lightning erupted from the ground and pierced the sky. Taking its full force, the Demon and its demonic mount were hurled skyward. Their limp fall left no doubt that the single blow had killed them.

Two Demon riders remained.

"Attack!"

"Death to those damned Demons!"

The escorts charged with a roar. After a fierce exchange, the two remaining Demon riders lay dead on the ground. The battle ended with only three of the escorts seriously wounded.

"Monstrous bastards..."

"If a whole pack of those came at us, we'd die without a chance, wouldn't we...?"

"No kidding."

As they spoke, they all turned their eyes elsewhere. There was someone far more monstrous: the Dragon Spawn who had fought and defeated those Demons alone when even one was such a struggle for them. Despite her small stature, standing alone atop the hill, she looked like a giant.

She walked toward them with her blood-drenched axe in one hand, dragging the king of Heinkel along with the other.

"Master Ferda. I have captured the enemy commander."

"Well done."

Luri forced the king to his knees, then seized his hair and pulled his head back so he looked up at Ferda and Yurei. His expression was so serene that it was hard to believe he had lost every one of his soldiers.

"Sigmund..."

Duke Yurei murmured his name as though he still could not believe it.

"Perry. It saddens me greatly that you will not join me."

The king chuckled. Duke Yurei's hand trembled with betrayal. His gaze settled on the king's neck.

"Beheading me now would be pointless. I have become the kingdom itself."

Yurei wondered what sort of nonsense that was. But Ferda understood at once.

"You turned the kingdom into a Legion?"

"You are well informed, Regent Ferda. Yes. I made it a Legion."

"What is that, Regent?"

"It means beheading your friend is pointless. This being is Sigmund Heinkel, and yet it is not."

"Quite so."

The king chuckled.

"But creating a Legion would require linking everyone's minds into one... How did you do it?"

"Indeed. Everyone resolved to become a Legion. To protect our land, to thwart the greed of fools."

"Ellie and Sigmund II, too... Have they become like you?"

"Of course. They became a Legion as well."

Duke Yurei felt his mind reel. He could not believe the man was referring to his beloved wife and the son he took such pride in as 'they.'

"It is not too late even now, Perry. You are as good as a brother to me, having shared half my life."

"..."

"We can become whole. Let us protect the Heinkel Kingdom."

The king reached toward Duke Yurei. But his hand fell to the ground. The duke had cut it off.

"You always said you were unfit to be king. And each time, I promised to be your eyes..."

Duke Yurei raised his sword toward the sky.

"It is my fault you became this."

Hot tears streamed from his eyes as he looked at what his king had become.

"I will... follow you soon."

Duke Yurei's sword cleaved Sigmund Heinkel's body. The light faded helplessly from the king's empty eyes. Then his form became that of an unknown commoner. The duke gazed silently down at it.

"Regent Ferda."

"Yes."

"This Legion... What exactly is it? What does any of this talk of Gamigin's ideal mean?"

"It is magic that substitutes another member of the Legion's life for someone's death. Its conditions are so exacting that even the Great Demon Gamigin could not realize it."

"In other words, Sigmund cannot die until everyone in the kingdom is dead..."

"That is correct."

Duke Yurei sank to his knees.

"Regent Ferda."

Despair colored his voice.

"When I lost my son... I thought I had lost everything."

"..."

"Yet I still had something left to lose. I have lost my friend and my king. How many... have I lost through my foolish judgment? This is a disgrace I can never wash away."

Duke Yurei lifted his head toward the sky. Then he turned the sword in his hand and brought it to his own neck. Watching him, Ferda spoke calmly.

"You will regret it."

"How do you know this is something I will regret?"

"There are still people left in your domain, Your Grace."

Only then did the grief overwhelming him subside. As Ferda said, his subjects, lords, and knights remained. There was still hope that the despair spread by the king of Heinkel had not yet reached them.

Duke Yurei dropped his sword and rose. He looked across the plain, stained with the bodies of knights who had become Demons. Something about that horrific sight seemed to give him an idea, and he spoke again.

"Regent Ferda."

"Yes."

"It is terribly shameless of me to ask this of the man who saved me... but I would like to ask you a favor."

"Please, go ahead."

Duke Yurei spoke, and Ferda listened attentively. It was a request Ferda could not refuse.

* * *

The castle in Duke Yurei's domain, normally filled with tension, came alive with commotion. Duke Yurei was returning. On hearing the news, lords and knights gathered at the castle to prepare his welcome.

"His Grace the Duke!"

"Your Grace!"

"You have returned safely, Your Grace!"

"How much you must have suffered, to have grown so thin..."

Overcome with emotion, the lords finally shed tears. Duke Yurei accepted each of their greetings, but his expression remained bitter.

"Hear me, all of you."

Once seated, he delivered his first words with a grave expression.

"Today I turned my blade on Sigmund Heinkel, who until yesterday was my old friend and king."

The festive atmosphere turned funereal in an instant.

"W-why would you do such a thing?"

"Because he fell for the Demons' temptations."

"The Demons'... temptations?"

"Is that true?"

Duke Yurei was not a man given to jokes. Even so, they could not believe it. That king of Heinkel had joined hands with Demons? Ignoring their stunned expressions, the duke continued.

"He appears to be using the lives of everyone in the kingdom as his own magical power. He has become no different from a Necromancer who has contracted with Gamigin."

"..."

"He claims he did it to protect the kingdom, but I disagree. I believe you will as well."

Everyone fell silent, their expressions solemn.

"The king has begun walking the wrong path. That is my fault."

Duke Yurei clenched his fist.

"I promised to stand by Sigmund in his darkest hour, but I failed to keep that promise. So I raised my sword and cut him down. And..."

He drew his sword once more.

"I will go to turn my sword on my friend again."

"You mean..."

"You intend to attack the Heinkel Kingdom?"

The lords and knights were aghast. In a situation like a burning fuse, they had barely grasped a glimmer of hope, only to be told to prepare for civil war.

"I ask on the off chance... Do we have any hope of victory?"

"None."

Duke Yurei left them not the slightest hope.

"We will not return from this war alive. What we must face are demonic creatures and Demons."

"Then how can you make such a decision?"

"Because it is the only way we can live as humans, and the only hope we can hold on to."

He pointed out the window as he spoke.

"What do you think will happen if we ask those outside for aid? Those goblin-greedy scum will make playthings of your wives and daughters, and work your sons to death far from home."

"..."

"But if we are the first to raise our swords against the wicked Demons who bewitched our king, if we are the first to die fighting rather than surrender, we can prove our pride as humans. We can secure grounds for the protection of your wives and children."

They would walk into certain death, but create new hope. The knights and lords bowed their heads, their expressions conflicted.

"Those who are unwilling may withdraw. You bear no guilt. After all, this is tantamount to rebellion, with a trifling duty of loyalty between liege and vassal as its mere excuse."

A lord was the first to place his hand over his heart and kneel.

"How could we withdraw when you are striving to uphold the loyalty between liege and vassal?"

"There could be no greater disgrace than clinging miserably to life without honor. Our ancestors would surely mock us."

The knights knelt in turn.

"How could a knight turn his back when his liege is prepared to die!"

"Even if I die, my son will avenge his father's humiliation. What have I to fear?"

"Your Grace! Your sword awaits your command."

Thus, all knelt upon the floor, holding their swords upright.

"Give us your command!"

Duke Yurei gave the order.

"Prepare to march. Tomorrow morning, at dawn, we depart for the Heinkel Kingdom."