Chapter 50 - In the Empire, the Demonic beasts… (1)

“So what did you do, Prince Jesse?”

“I was honest with him. I told him to please leave if he was going to continue not saying anything.”

“Pffffffffft!”

Vice Captain Élisabeth quickly took out a handkerchief to cover her face.

Her condition seemed very good since morning as she would smile brightly or laugh like this at everything I said.

I slowly petted Demy’s back as he pushed against my thighs.

Marquis François Duhem was in the front of the platform giving the opening speech to start the Great Clearance of Demonic Beasts.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, visitors of all ages, gender, and status! May your noble souls, full of spirit, that led you to the Clearance……”

“Did his Royal Highness leave when you said that?”

Christelle quietly asked from my right. I nodded my head.

“He must really not have needed anything. He barged out as quickly as he barged in. I later saw that the door to the Confessional was half falling off.”

“Oh my, he messed with someone else’s bread and butter because he was upset.”

Vice Captain Élisabeth quietly chuckled at Christelle’s comment.

We were in the VIP section at the back of the platform with Imperial Prince Cédric sitting at the highest seat, looking as stoic as a sculpture.

I didn’t know how his condition was but Vice Captain Élisabeth told me multiple times that it was pretty much a guarantee that the Imperial Prince would win.

“For our esteemed guests, who have come to give endless encouragement and support to our participants, as well as my dearly beloved residents of our March! Welcome!”

Marquis Duhem made his final comments at that point, and…

“Wooooooooooo!”

“Three cheers for his Royal Highness!”

“Victory! Victory! Victory! Victory!”

Extremely loud cheering burst out, making my ears go numb.

Christelle and Vice Captain Élisabeth sat up straight and made sure to pay close attention to their facial expressions.

I had already gasped six times today as this was the first crowd of this size that I had seen since I transmigrated into this world.

There were a lot of people in the Imperial Capital, but there were never thousands of excited people gathered in one place like this.

What I saw at the Legault Central Commerce Center was nothing compared to this.

The fervor I felt from this crowd was like the passion visible in any Korea versus Japan sports matches.

“Duhem! Duhem! Duhem!”

“United! We stand! Divided! We fall!”

Chants that I had no idea about echoed through the plains.

The heat of excitement shot up to the clear May sky.

The stands were full of color with people who brought posters the size of large doors, bouquets of flowers, and towels.

There was so much energy that even I, someone who was only planning on making sure that Demy and I were safe until the end, was getting excited.

“Your Royal Highness and our esteemed VIPs. Please head down this way!”

Marquis Duhem, who had come to the back of the platform at some point, was elegantly pointing to the stairs.

The Imperial Prince got up first and moved with his guards around him.

I walked with Christelle in front of me, and looked around without making it seem obvious.

“Long live the Riester Empire! Hooray! Hooray!”

“Three cheers for his Royal Highness! Hooray!”

The two rows of spectators were split with nobles on the left and commoners on the right, but both sides were packed to the point that many people were standing.

The cheering from the commoners’ side was generally louder and coarser in word choice, but it was surprising that the nobles weren’t far behind.

The swordsmen and mages were mostly of noble birth, so their family and close friends seemed to be used to this kind of atmosphere.

There were many people already drinking and shouting as well.

“Over there, please head to the portal at the center.”

The Marquis’ long finger was pointed toward the center of the stadium.

The spectators, who were seated on both sides of the approximately 100m plain, cheered even louder after seeing us.

I confirmed that the portal motion sickness medicine I placed this morning was still there.

Around 100 temporary portals had been placed overnight for the competition.

The other participants were all already standing by their portals. Us arriving at the center portal would end the opening ceremony.

“The participants have finished their preparations!”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

The Marquis spoke into a long magic device that made his voice echo throughout the stadium.

I wondered if it was okay for someone as high in status as a Marquis to be the MC, but I didn’t think that this guy would allow someone else to do such a fun job.

“We meet again.”

“Hahahaha.”

Christelle made a joke after entering the portal and Vice Captain Élisabeth laughed out loud.

As mentioned before, the two of them, Demy, the Imperial Prince, and I were in one team.

It was both laughable and unbelievable that people who had never coordinated with each other before were gathered together like this.

‘Well, at least nobody should die.’

“Your highness, here is your bag.”

Benjamin and Ganael, who had been seated on the first row of the Nobles section, hurried over and handed me some supplies.

It was a leather bag full of simple foods, water, some medicine and other things.

I put the straps over my chest and held the bag on my back.

I looked around to see that the others were using this moment to check their weapons and food.

“Thank you very much. Please don’t worry. I promise I will return safely.”

“Yes, your highness. I will be praying for you.”

“It’s the demonic beasts that have to worry. Good luck, your highness!”

The two of them warmly cheered me on. I smiled and looked down at Demy.

“Demy, are you sure you don’t want to get off? It’ll be dangerous so you don’t have to go with me.”

– Cruuuuuuuuu!

The red panda gently bit down on my shoulder.

His black bean-like eyes were full of discontent.

“Okay, I’ll stop with the nonsense.”

I rubbed between his ears. Ganael and Benjamin returned to their seats.

“Okay, activate the portals!”

– Ruuuumble!

I heard what sounded like thunder from the mountains that cut the Marquis off.

The ground then shook as if there was an earthquake. I even saw some participants stumble and fall.

The spectators looked anxious and excited.

“……There is the first mountain rumbling. The prophecy was accurate! The charge of the demonic beast nears!”

Marquis Duhem shouted in an even louder voice.

“Wooooooooooo!”

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

The stands felt like Spartans right before they departed for war.

I gulped and tried to remember the information that I crammed into my head.

The mountain rumbling was a precursor that happened before the start of the Great Clearance of Demonic Beasts, before the demonic beasts started coming out of the dungeon.

There were usually three mountain rumblings before the demonic beasts appeared and it was best for the participants to climb the mountain, set up, and prepare for battle before that happened.

The part about the prophecy being accurate was referring to how the mage who predicted that the demonic beasts would appear today was correct.

“Do we not need to come up with a strategy?”

I opened my mouth.

Mages were advancing toward the portal to channel their mana.

We would instantly be teleported to a random part of the mountain, so I thought it would be best to discuss something in advance.

Christelle and Vice Captain Élisabeth looked at me with serious gazes.

“Even if it is just simple things about how to handle monsters of different attributes…”

“Are you scared?”

A low voice pierced through my ears.

I looked up at the sun-like orange eyes on the other side.

The first thing he said to me after disappearing like that yesterday was a provocation.

“No, your Royal Highness. I’m actually a stronger priest than I may seem. I simply asked because I think that there might be someone in our group who cannot even say what they need to say.”

“Kehehehe.”

Vice Captain Élisabeth’s face scrunched up in laughter again. The Imperial Prince slightly frowned.

“……Then I guess there is nothing to worry about.”

– Ruuuumble!

The second mountain rumbling shook the stadium and the stands. Thousands of whispers rippled through the crowd like waves.

I looked around and saw that about half of the participants had already taken the portals and teleported to the mountain.

A young mage behind me was peeking at me, looking as if he didn’t know what to do.

‘I guess this person will not have to work today.’

“Y, your Royal Highness. I will now channel mana into the porta-”

“No need.”

“It’s okay, sir. Please go get some rest.”

“Excuse me? B, but……”

The mage’s eyes opened wide at what the Imperial Prince and I said.

The Imperial Prince bastard scattered his red and marvelous red mana without any warning.

The small portal instantly fired up like a piece of metal thrown into a furnace.

– Ooooooong!

– Screeeech

“Sorry Demy. The ride isn’t so good, is it?”

I whispered loud enough for the others to hear while watching the red panda bury himself into my chest.

Everything soon turned white.

*

“There’s nothing here yet.”

The first thing I heard was Christelle’s clear voice.

She was carefully taking a step with a blue whip in her hand when I opened my eyes.

The ground looked easy to slip on because there were many mossy pebbles.

I carefully put Demy down and looked around.

I could see a slightly sloping ground, a wide stream, boulders both large and small, and the shade created by trees.

A cool breeze was blowing from the top of the mountain.

We had been teleported to the valley.

“It’ll make things easier for me because there is a lot of water.”

“I see, young lady Christelle. Please take good care of me.”

Vice Captain Élisabeth responded cheerfully as she pulled out her sword.

It truly was an advantageous situation for Christelle.

She was extremely adaptable and didn’t need to worry about ether because I was here.

Being on a slope was a disadvantage but it shouldn’t be an issue for the two sword users.

– Ruuuuuuuuuuuuumble!

“Ugh.”

The third and final mountain rumbling slammed against my ears at that moment.

It was extremely loud and fierce, incomparable to what we had heard down in the plains.

I frowned out of instinct and tried to maintain my balance.

The water from the valley splashed out in all directions and wet our boots while rocks and dust shot up as if they were dancing.

The rumbling finally stopped when the intense shaking got so bad it almost made my head rock.

Vice Captain Élisabeth gently shook her head.

“What a noisy way to start.”

“They’re coming.”

– Ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

I released my Holy Domain as the Imperial Prince mumbled.

I couldn’t detect the demonic beasts but I knew that the demonic beasts started their first charge after the third mountain rumbling because I had read about it.

Demy raised his tail and opened his mouth.

“Everybody please stand inside the circle for now.”

“Yes sir.”

– Flutter!

– Caaaaaaaaaaaaaw!

A group of wild animals charged toward us from the treetops at that moment.

Vice Captain Élisabeth quickly stepped forward as our vanguard.

– Slash!

– Babang!

Her sword cut through the air without any hesitation.

The sword aura that shot out so quickly that I couldn’t even see it took care of tens of demonic beasts the size of my forearm in an instant.

Monsters that resembled bats quickly plopped down on the ground.

“……Something is weird.”

Vice Captain Élisabeth frowned while shaking her sword.

I immediately understood what she meant. It was because…

– Caaaaaaaaaaaw!

– Flutter!

They were all rushing past us.

They didn’t even care that some of them had died.

None of the seemingly endless number of demonic beasts flying toward us showed us any attention.

The way they were rushing to the bottom of the mountain seemed as if……

“They are running away.”

I quietly mumbled. Four pairs of eyes quickly exchanged glances.

– Boom!

The ground shook again. But this was different.

This was not a mountain rumbling, it was something heavy taking a step. For example……

– Boom!

It reminded me of the noise from < Jurassic Park >.

‘Damn it.’

– Boom!

– Screeeech!

Demy screeched and stood up on his hind legs.

Thick thorny vines appeared around him.

I created multiple ether orbs on top of my palm.

Christelle was already creating thick strands of water in front of us when we made eye contact.

– Boom!

– Clang!

The Imperial Prince pulled his sword out with his left hand. I couldn’t believe that I was using this time to figure out that he was left-handed.

– Crunch!

– Crack…..

I could hear the noises of trees nearby bending and being crushed. The enemy was right in front of us.

A venus flytrap the size of a pot lid started growing from Demy’s vines.

I tried to do whatever I could to increase the range of my Holy Domain but 30m was still as far as I could go.

‘Damn Bishop level power.’

– Boom!

– Rooooooooooooar!

I heard a piercing roar before the bastard smashed through the forest and showed itself.

Three people’s jaws dropped on their own.

What stood in front of us had a yellow body that was as tall as a four story apartment building. It had yellow, bloodshot eyes that were blinking vertically.

Its thick hind legs and dangerous tail looked as if they could break my bones even with a gentle brush against me.

Its terrifying cone-shaped teeth and short legs finished this anomaly that I would never be able to forget.

Something was wrong.

“Is that a tyranno……”

“Tyrant Electric Dragon.”

Christelle was blankly mumbling when the Imperial Prince sternly commented.

“It’s the beast that served as the sacrifice for Her Majesty’s victory.”

‘Your mother caught this golden T-Rex by herself?’

“That doesn’t make any sense, your Royal Highness. This kind of demonic beast is only supposed to come out once every two hundred years. How could it show up again after just two……”

Vice Captain Élisabeth’s eyes were shaking violently. The Imperial Prince did not respond.

There was no way to push a demonic beast back once it escaped the dungeon.

“It’ll be bad to use water because it is an electric monster.”

He looked back at the three of us, no, he was looking at me.

“We need a strategy.”

– Boom!

– Roooooooooooooar!

The T-Rex, no the Tyrant Electric Dragon, started moving. I felt as if my brain was sweating.

My mouth shared what was probably a typical sentiment for a Korean person in such a crazy situation.

“Do you really think this is the time for that you crazy bastard?!”

—