CH 319

Chapter 319 – Winter King (Rex Hyemis) (7)

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‘How calm.’

Elizabeth muttered to herself in her mind as she closed her eyes.

There was a dark landscape in her mind. Within this space of endless darkness, only Elizabeth was seated in a chair. In front of her was an imaginary chessboard.

In her mind, the chessboard represented the continent. Each piece represented something. Occasionally, they represented money, the saintesses, and the rulers of all countries.

The black side’s king represented Elizabeth herself.

On the other hand, the white side’s king……naturally represented Dantalian.

Elizabeth would sometimes immerse herself in these sorts of mental images in order to organize her thoughts. A faint smile appeared on her lips.

‘It has been a while since my mind felt this much at peace.’

It almost felt like she had returned to her childhood.

During that time, she was confident that she could turn the continent into a chessboard whenever she wanted. She was confident. Every day was radiant like they were being lit up by the summer sun. Even if there was a sweltering and harsh mist wrapped around her life, that was something one would be fated to shoulder if one wanted to grow up while embracing the sun.

‘It truly has been a while.’

The difference now was the fact that her vigorous excitement was gone and replaced by a calm silence.

‘No nightmares either.’

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes.

She faced her imaginary scenery. In front of her was a curtain of pure darkness. There was a chair on the other side as well, however, the person sitting on that chair was colored in a black that was darker than their surroundings, so only their outline could barely be perceived.

“——.”

It had begun.

A clear right arm came forward from the side of darkness. The boney hand grabbed a piece and, ‘thud’, advanced it on the chessboard.

‘Bribing delegates with money, is it?’

Elizabeth stared at the table with emotionless eyes.

‘……A difficult move to respond to.’

Her Republic was not wealthy. Nor did they have enough bribes that they could use in a diplomatic battle. Elizabeth moved her piece in response, but she could already tell that the black army was being pushed back by the white army.

‘He has always been like this. Dantalian makes sure to thoroughly attack his opponent’s weak point.’

Elizabeth had reviewed and analyzed her opponent’s past actions tens of hundreds of times. The battle in the Black Mountains, the Holy War, Frankia’s civil war, and the Lily War. It was thanks to this that Elizabeth was able to make out Dantalian’s faint outline.

‘Looking at this from another angle, it means he will not attack if his opponent’s weakness seems vague…….’

An arm came out from the darkness again. It moved a piece and captured one of her soldiers.

Elizabeth felt a cold sweat forming on her forehead.

‘……He’s fast.’

Teuton and Kalmar fell within less than half a month since the diplomatic battle had started. This was way too fast.

‘Three days to capture the mountain fortress on the Black Mountains, seven days to conquer Brandenburg, and it only took ten days for them to make Parisiorum fall.’

Everything sped up abnormally whenever Dantalian took the lead.

This fact becomes more certain when compared to the female general, Laura de Farnese, who is assumed to be Dantalian’s subordinate. Heidelberg took eleven months to fall. This was way too long for someone like Dantalian who strongly preferred blitz tactics. Elizabeth knew long before the fortress fell that that wasn’t Dantalian’s plan.

‘His behavior is almost obsessive. You are always moving as if you are being chased by time.’

Elizabeth’s eyes glimmered darkly.

‘……Why?’

Those who are chased by time are the weak and not the strong.

During wars, the strong focus on safety and slowly pressure their enemies. There is no need for them to move urgently when they have an advantage. In this current situation, Dantalian was undoubtedly a part of the strong. Despite this, he carried out this diplomatic battle urgently.

‘This is something he has to resolve quickly. There must be a latent threat looming over the Empire or the Demon Lord Army. That latent threat is probably something that will burst if he is unable to resolve this within this winter.’

Elizabeth picked up a piece.

‘Am I wrong—O Demon Lord?’

Thud, she placed down her heavy chess piece.

She utilized the saintesses. That was what her move just now represented.

If Dantalian is going to use his opponents’ weaknesses, then there’s no reason why she couldn’t do the same. The Demon Lord Army doesn’t have any religious figurehead they could use to go against saintesses. You could call this a great move.

“…….”

Was he paralyzed by the unexpected surprise attack?

The shadow covered in darkness stared at the chessboard wordlessly. There was no response for a while. The shadow’s arm slowly moved. Elizabeth furrowed her brows at her opponent’s next move.

‘Saintess Longwy of Brittany.’

Her opponent returned her surprise attack with an unexpected counterattack.

Longwy criticized the other saintesses. She declared that the Gods do not discriminate between humans and demons and have always desired peace, and that, regardless of one’s status, gender, and race, we are all equal servants to the Gods.

‘Excellent.’

Fighting saintesses with a saintess. It was a simple but effective move.

The very fact that the saintesses have differing opinions should be enough to make the people restless. Which saintess is right? People will be made to think about the problem and come to their own conclusions. Now they will be unable to criticize the Empire one-sidedly.

‘I am impressed that he somehow managed to persuade Henrietta.’

Henrietta has gradually been losing support from the nobles. He must have taken advantage of that.

‘Make Saintess Longwy gain the same amount of support from the masses as the amount lost by Henrietta. By doing so, if Saintess Longwy were to then support Henrietta again, that would ultimately restore the public sentiment she had lost by a considerable amount…….’

Elizabeth quickly scanned the chessboard.

Where is it? With what method will you make the saintess popular? How did you persuade Henrietta?

‘Frankia’s central government and the southern cities.’

Elizabeth’s gaze fixated on a single spot.

‘The flames of war are looming over these two factions. A negotiator to mediate between these two groups is required. Normally, the Habsburg Empire should have stepped in, but…… he gave that opportunity to Saintess Longwy. Indeed. That is a splendid move.’

Elizabeth smiled faintly.

‘Compared to the northern region, the southern region of Frankia has a strong royalist undertone. They are not entirely hostile to Brittany. They would refuse if Henrietta offered to mediate, but it’d be a different story if a saintess steps forward.’

Saintesses are above any sort of national hatred and act as symbols of peace.

Elizabeth reached a conclusion.

‘Saintess Longwy has stepped forward in order to highlight this feature.’

If things continue to proceed like this, then Saintess Longwy will gain a considerable amount of fame.

First, Saintess Longwy declared for peace that goes beyond any sort of racial discrimination.

Second, Saintess Longwy transcended the border between Brittany and Frankia and led them to peace.

Third, Saintess Longwy had once been captured as a prisoner to the Demon Lord Army and she was also Brittany’s saintess. Despite these things, she still sided with a peace policy that was advantageous for the Demon Lord Army and Frankia.

With all of these things under her belt, anyone would believe that Saintess Longwy has a genuine love for peace.

‘The birth of a true saintess, is it?’

The Saintess will then assist Henrietta who was about to hit rock bottom.

This was the scenario that Dantalian used to persuade Queen Henrietta and Saintess Longwy.

‘A saintess created by a Demon Lord. To make matters worse, she was going to also be praised as the true saintess! Dantalian, is this your plan? For how long do you intend to toy with humanity?’

Elizabeth glared at the dark shadow across from her.

From her perspective, Dantalian was truly a person who was born to insult humans. He denied humanity’s sacred bond as they came together to fight the Crescent Alliance, he slighted their great royal authority, and now this despicable Demon Lord was trying to sully their faith.

Elizabeth tightened her grip on her chess piece.

‘Things will not proceed as you desire this time.’

Elizabeth had to honestly admit that pushing Saintess Longwy forward was an undeniably splendid move. However, she thought to herself.

‘You have revealed your weakness, Demon Lord……!’

The Batavia Republic’s Temple of Artemis was the place that arranged Dantalian’s fake name and priesthood as Jean Bole. This Demon Lord had a strangely close relationship with Batavia.

‘Batavia worked with them during the last war as well. Therefore, he does not have a normal close bond with Batavia. It should have been easier to make Batavia move rather than Brittany.’

However, he didn’t do that.

Dantalian went out of his way to make Brittany his diplomatic partner. Why?

The answer was simple.

‘Dantalian, you had a falling out with Batavia!’

With this, Elizabeth understood why Dantalian was in such a hurry during the diplomatic battle. The latent threat that was looming over the Empire or the Demon Lord Army was none other than the Republic of Batavia.

‘Normally, Batavia should have been the first ones to support you during this diplomatic battle. However, Batavia has maintained their neutrality.’

Elizabeth went one step beyond this.

The Batavia Republic had sent them a formal letter a while ago. It was a letter asking the Habsburg Republic to participate in a meeting to discuss republicanism that they were going to hold.

At first, Elizabeth thought this was another one of the Demon Lord Army’s heinous schemes. She suspected that they were trying to create a rift between the human republicans and royalists under the cause of republicanism.

However, Dantalian’s response led her to an entirely different conclusion.

‘The republican meeting is going to cause the Demon Lord Army to become divided and not the humans. I do not know why, but, at the very least, this is what Dantalian had concluded.’

Therefore.

‘This means that the republican and the anti-republican groups within the Demon Lord Army have begun to quarrel.’

A content smile appeared on Elizabeth’s lips.

She looked straight ahead.

‘You do not possess the power to control the republicans of the Demon Lord Army. There is at least one faction within the Demon Lord Army that is against you. So, O Winter King, is this your weakness?’

A silence that was comparable to death went by.

The shadowy figure that had been covered in pitch darkness was gradually lit up. From the tips of his fingers to his wrists, his forearms, and eventually, his entire body, it all gradually became visible.

The shadow receded and revealed the person seated on the other side.

Demon Lord Dantalian.

Elizabeth’s sharp intuition told her that she had arrived at the right conclusion. She had finally succeeded in overtaking Dantalian!

‘I got you……!’

As long as she knew what her opponent is afraid of, there was no reason for Elizabeth to hesitate.

The conclusion of the diplomatic battle didn’t matter anymore. She’ll just respond appropriately. And then, she’ll pour everything she has into the republican representative meeting that’s going to be held at the end of winter! It’s there that she’ll find a clue to defeat Dantalian.

However, Elizabeth noticed something right as she was about to feel happy.

“……?”

There was one part of the other party’s body that still had a dark shadow over it. It was his face.

His face was pitch black, so she couldn’t discern what kind of expression he was making or what part of the chessboard he was staring at.

‘……Wait.’

Elizabeth came to a realization.

‘If he only wishes to give a friendly hand to the royalists, then there is no reason for him to go out of his way to get an overwhelming victory in this diplomatic battle.’

Inviting the ambassadors and giving them a huge reception would have been enough. There was no reason for Dantalian to pursue a perfect victory like this.

‘Is this situation not the only thing pressuring him……?’

Why are you in such a hurry?

You definitely have an advantage right now.

‘……!’

Elizabeth suddenly felt a current run through her spine.

At that moment, her imagined scenario vanished completely. The chessboard disappeared and the shadow dispersed. Elizabeth urgently opened her eyes. The dark space was gone and was replaced by her familiar office.

Her quiet office.

Elizabeth muttered to herself blankly.

“……He thinks of himself as a part of the weak?”