Chapter 43 - An Empty Cup

'Whew...'

Adrianna let out a labored breath. She could no longer remember how many times she had swung her sword.

'The Demon Realm, appearing out of nowhere...'

The Demon Realm was practically the Demons' home base. There, Demons grew stronger and humans weaker. She did not understand how it worked, but it placed an especially heavy burden on her, with her ability to burn mana.

Adrianna bit her lip and swung her sword. The brilliant white aura surging around it split an enormous tentacle. Ash scattered as its tip was severed.

But she could not inflict a fatal wound. A swordswoman like her was poorly matched against such an enormous demon-beast. A top-ranking Demon would have been easier to deal with.

Still, Adrianna did not complain.

'I have to stop it here.'

She simply summoned more aura and advanced.

Then—

"You're working hard."

A familiar voice came from beside her, as relaxed as if its owner were enjoying an outing on a leisurely day. Galahad had appeared at her side.

"I'm a little late. I had to deal with the Mages."

She nodded.

"Ah, you can speak now."

"Yes. How is the situation?"

"Good, you could say. This is all that's left."

Galahad pointed ahead. Four enormous tentacles writhed above the fortress.

'All that's left...?'

The enemy was far too enormous to speak of so lightly. Yet his casual tone made it feel as though he was right.

"Now, let me explain the plan. From what I saw earlier, there seems to be something like a core at its center."

"A core?"

"Ah, well... Think of it as its head. I believe we'll have to destroy that part."

"I see."

Adrianna nodded and swung her sword. An incoming tentacle was severed and turned to ash. The much-shortened tentacle withdrew upward.

"The farther from the center, the lower the tentacles' mana concentration. That's probably why you've been struggling. You grow stronger when your opponent's mana concentration is higher."

Galahad shook his canteen. For the moment, Adrianna nodded.

"But as a Mage, I'm strong against opponents with low mana concentration. In other words, we make quite a good match."

Adrianna's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Now, I'll handle things here. Get behind me."

"... Pardon?"

"I'm telling you to stand behind me."

Galahad uncapped his canteen and stepped forward.

"Well—I should take the lead."

Adrianna had been momentarily distracted by his unexpectedly broad back, but now she spoke hurriedly.

"Hmm. Didn't I just explain this thoroughly enough?"

Galahad narrowed his eyes. Remembering how much he teased Gilberton, she hastily shook her head.

"Understood."

"Good. It's not as if you're Sir Gilberton."

Adrianna pressed her lips shut.

"Keep up. We'll be moving quickly."

With that, Galahad raised his right hand. The design drawn in blood on his forearm blazed red, like a flame sending ash into the air.

"Yes."

For the first time in a very long while, Adrianna followed someone else's back.

An enormous tentacle descended. Galahad looked perilously vulnerable before it. By habit, she gripped her sword. Just as she was about to step forward, he spoke.

"Hellfire."

A tiny flame shot from Galahad's hand. Compared with the enormous tentacle, it was no bigger than a fingernail, yet Adrianna felt a peculiar chill.

The flame, small at first, swelled as it devoured the ash filling the air. In an instant, the tentacle caught fire. A nauseating smell spread everywhere.

The sight of that enormous tentacle burning was quite spectacular.

"See there? That's the boundary."

Galahad pointed to the end of the tentacle. The fire consuming it suddenly met resistance and vanished.

"I'll lead until we reach that point. After that, you protect me."

His eyes were remarkably serious.

"Yes."

Adrianna nodded firmly.

"You promise?"

Uncharacteristically, Galahad asked again. Something felt oddly off, but Adrianna nodded.

"Yes."

"I'm counting on you alone."

"... Yes."

Something in his voice made her feel strangely ticklish, and she turned her head slightly. As a result, she missed the way the corners of his mouth rose.

Galahad kept drinking from his canteen as he fired flames and lightning. He looked precarious, but he never hesitated.

How far had they gone?

"This is as far as I go."

At the brazen way he slipped behind her without the slightest hesitation, Adrianna forgot their situation and gave a quiet laugh.

"Did you just laugh?"

"I did not."

"Really?"

Galahad raised an eyebrow. Adrianna cleared her throat softly and adjusted her grip on her sword. The brief respite had left her feeling far better. White aura blazed fiercely once more.

"You're prettier when you smile."

She pretended not to hear the words from behind her.

"Hmm, didn't you hear me? You're prettier when you smile."

"... I heard you!"

"Was that irritation in your voice?"

Adrianna clamped her lips shut. She felt a cough coming on.

* * *

'Hmm... So this is the limit.'

Galahad shook out his right arm, smiling. It felt as though it were on fire. He had circulated too much mana through it.

The magic circle left by the first human Mage contained several functions. One prevented demon-beasts from detecting him. It seemed to be related to the demon-beast tamer's magic circle.

But even that had its limits. Indeed, as he approached the creature's core, it began swinging its tentacles at him as well.

Ironically, this Demon Realm they called a sanctuary benefited Galahad. With the Egg of agony and the first human Mage's magic circle added to his own abilities as a Mage, the Demon Realm actually worked in his favor.

No, that hardly did it justice.

The Demon Realm was water, and Galahad was a fish.

'Top-ranking, is it...?'

Galahad murmured as he studied the enormous tentacle before him. Even a top-ranking creature could not fill that entire massive body with highly concentrated mana.

When he checked, the very tips had only as much magical power as low-ranking Demons. The mana concentration increased toward the interior.

Just then, Adrianna cut through the base of a tentacle. Her golden hair, radiant as the sun, streamed wildly.

"Are you all right?"

THUMP.

His heart pounded violently. The Egg of agony seemed to be acting up again.

'I'll have to hold her hand again.'

The Egg of agony squirmed, as if protesting its innocence. Shameless little thing.

"It feels as though the demon-beast can't focus on us."

"Can't focus?"

SCREEECH!!

The creature's intermittent shrieks briefly interrupted Adrianna.

"... The way it keeps screaming, as it just did... I think there's someone else here besides us."

At her serious words, Galahad rubbed his chilly neck.

'Has the Grand Duke already made it this far?'

Galahad had deliberately moved in the opposite direction from the Grand Duke. They were on opposite sides of the creature's core. If Adrianna was right, the Grand Duke seemed to have reached it already.

"It isn't Sir Gilberton or Belograim. It could be an enemy. Whoever it is is exceptionally powerful."

Adrianna spoke gravely. Exceptionally powerful? Galahad clicked his tongue softly.

"Not an enemy. I trust you'll protect me."

"... Why would I need to protect you if they're not an enemy?"

"There are reasons. Will you?"

Adrianna's brows drew together slightly.

"Yes."

Her firm reply brought a satisfied smile to Galahad's face.

"I'm counting on you alone."

They advanced again. However many tentacles they cut or burned, they could not destroy their roots. Perhaps that was why it felt as though their numbers increased the closer they came.

But Adrianna grew stronger as her opponent did. She never stopped swinging her sword. Her white aura blazed as though it would paint the whole world.

The closer they came, the more wildly the tentacles lashed out. Adrianna blocked their path. From behind, she looked truly dependable.

But even she seemed to be reaching her limit. The hand gripping her sword trembled.

This was the Demon Realm. While it made Demons and a Mage like Galahad incomparably stronger, it seemed to have the opposite effect on knights.

"It's dangerous."

Adrianna looked back at him. Her normally impassive face was tightly contorted and drenched in sweat. She looked as though she was holding back something that might burst at any moment.

"Are you at your limit?"

"... I can barely control it anymore."

Her voice was tightly restrained.

'She can't control it?'

Her aura was blazing more brilliantly than ever. Was this truly her limit?

'Impossible.'

She was the hero who would fight the Demon King. A mere top-ranking demon-beast could not possibly be her limit. Adrianna could go further. She simply needed a catalyst.

A catalyst...

Galahad murmured softly.

'Not bad.'

His calculations were quickly complete.

"You can do it."

Galahad put a cigarette between his lips and smiled. Adrianna could not understand how he could smile at a time like this.

What he did next was even more incomprehensible.

Galahad walked forward without hesitation. Adrianna, already struggling to suppress her aura, could not stop him.

He passed her and stood before the tentacles. Then he looked back at her.

"Save me."

He spread his arms.

An enormous tentacle shot toward him. This close to the core, its force was keen and deadly. Galahad smiled at Adrianna.

"Ah..."

A small, strangled cry escaped her at the insane sight. Instinctive dread drove her to release the aura she had been forcibly suppressing.

Even the aura she had thought uncontrollable was hers.

Ah...

The fiercely blazing aura moved at Adrianna's will. The aura she had thought she could not control streamed outward.

A long white line was drawn.

THUD.

The severed tentacle turned to ash in an instant.

Only then did Galahad look behind him. Before, only the area around the wound had become ash. This time, the entire tentacle turned to ash, down to its root.

"Oh, it worked."

'Oh, it worked?'

Adrianna's lips moved as Galahad smiled and brushed dust from his coat. She wanted to swear, but she did not know any curses.

"... Is there something wrong with your head?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but it's perfectly sound. If anything, its brilliance is the problem."

"Then why would you do something like—"

"I simply trusted you."

His unwavering voice made Adrianna frown.

"What would you have done if I'd failed?"

"But you didn't, did you?"

There was no reasoning with him. Why did he have such absolute faith in her that he would stake his life on it? Adrianna could not understand.

"You wouldn't want to be a widow, either."

"We aren't married yet."

"Oh? 'Yet,' is it?"

The more she spoke to him, the more she lost. Adrianna shut her mouth.

"Now, finish it off in style."

"That was already my intention. Not because you told me to."

"Your voice has an edge to it. Are you sulking?"

"... I am not sulking."

Her aura burned more fiercely than before. Much as she hated to admit it, that was thanks to Galahad.

'Madman.'

She could not understand him.

SCREEECH!!

Just then, the demon-beast shrieked. Unlike before, its cry was filled with pain. Soon, the tentacles went limp and dropped.

'What—'

Adrianna turned her head. Someone had clearly slain it.

Just then, Galahad abruptly crumpled.

"My legs gave out."

"..."

Adrianna checked her gauntlets. She had even lined their interiors with leather. On top of that, she desperately restrained her strength, to the point that she could barely breathe.

Only after checking several times did she lift Galahad into her arms with the utmost care.

"This is a nice perk of having a knight for a wife."

His silly grin was thoroughly aggravating.

Then—

"Hmm."

The Grand Duke appeared. In one blood-drenched hand, he held a thick chunk of flesh. It was probably the creature's core.

He chewed on the flesh as he stared at Galahad.

Only then did Galahad register that he was in Adrianna's arms. He spoke urgently.

"Put me down, please."

Instead, she held him tighter.

"Adrianna?"

At his pleading whisper, the corners of her mouth rose slightly. She held out a little longer before setting him down and approaching the Grand Duke.

"Your Highness, why are you here?"

"Some fellow claiming to be my son-in-law invited me. Said there was a Demons' banquet in the Demons' own yard."

Adrianna's question had come in a higher voice than usual. The Grand Duke turned his stare on Galahad.

"Haha. Greetings, Your Highness."

Galahad offered a meticulously courteous bow.

'I didn't realize he was this strong.'

The lump of flesh in the Grand Duke's hand was unmistakably the core of a top-ranking demon-beast. He had torn it out with his own hand. There was not even a single wound on his body. Galahad could not begin to fathom his strength.

More importantly...

'Did the Grand Duke use an axe?'

One of the key figures he had written down in his notebook—though he did not know exactly who it was—had certainly used an axe as well.

"Why aren't you calling me Father-in-law?"

The Grand Duke bared teeth as sharp as a shark's. If looks could kill, Galahad would have died long ago.

He discreetly hid behind Adrianna.

"Even so, how could you leave your post?"

Adrianna reproached him again, drawing the Grand Duke's gaze back to her. Behind her, Galahad could no longer feel any of that murderous pressure.

'How can I get him to give me that?'

His thoughts were elsewhere.

The lump of flesh in the Grand Duke's hand, and the blood dripping from it, looked positively radiant. The Egg of agony kept pounding, as though demanding he get it immediately.

Unfortunately, the person holding it was the Grand Duke. Judging by the deep tooth marks in the flesh, he really did seem to eat Demons.

'Eating Demons raw, without even roasting them. What a dreadful barbarian.'

Apparently he was not the ruler of the North for nothing. Galahad marveled.

"Move aside."

The Grand Duke stepped forward. Adrianna blocked him.

"Without Commander Galahad, we would have suffered terrible losses. We nearly lost the entire Seventh Battalion and faced the unprecedented disaster of a Demon Realm opening in the North."

The Grand Duke stopped. Adrianna continued.

"His service is beyond measure. You should commend him for it first."

The Grand Duke's face twitched at her words. Galahad was astonished that a human face could look so vicious. How on earth had that face produced Adrianna?

"Service, is it..."

"Haha. I only did what needed doing."

The fellow did not avert his eyes. The Grand Duke's lips curved upward.

"I shall bestow a cup upon Galahad, commander of the Special Operations Unit."

He drew a tarnished gold cup from inside his clothing. It was crudely fashioned.

To be bestowed a cup was to receive the Grand Duke's formal recognition. Recognition from the ruler of the North carried no small weight.

He had never bestowed it even upon Adrianna.

No—he had chosen not to.

For the cup of the North was filled with Demon blood.

The Grand Duke squeezed the flesh over the cup. Red blood poured out, overflowing the rim and spilling onto the ground.

The fellow gave a pronounced twitch at the sight.

"The cup of the North."

The Grand Duke held out the cup, filled to the brim with Demon blood.

"Father..."

"Quiet."

Adrianna pressed her lips shut and stepped back.

The Grand Duke held the cup out to the fellow. If he endured it, he would become the sole warrior of the North to receive the Grand Duke's recognition. If he could not, that was simply the measure of the man.

As always, he merely offered an opportunity. Ninety-nine out of a hundred might die from that opportunity, but such was the nature of earning his recognition.

A warrior recognized by the Grand Duke was one in a hundred.

No, one in the entire North.

"If you're afraid, you may refuse."

The Grand Duke watched him in silence. Some had fled, abandoning the cup. Others had drunk and gone mad.

What would this fellow do?

In answer to the Grand Duke's question, he said,

"Thank you."

Then, smiling brightly, he drained the cup in one go.

He gulped without pausing for breath. And as if even that were not enough—

"Do you have any more, Father-in-law?"

The fellow held out his empty cup, smacking his lips.

"You're mad."