CH 276

General Miralda and I dropped to our knees in the audience hall and waited.

Last time, I was attacked immediately, but it seemed that I would be spared this time. Right?

I glanced over to General Miralda.

—Gu!

The General thrust out her fist towards me. Her thumb was set between her index finger and middle finger.

It was a lewd gesture. What the hell was she saying?

Well, she was probably trying to communicate to me that everything was okay.

“It’s been a while.”

A powerful voice sounded.

Thanks to the General’s playfulness, I had missed her entrance.

“It’s an honor, Your Majesty.”

“Mmm. And you are here too, Miralda. You may raise your face.”

Unlike last time, Demon King Tralzard was very calm.

I slowly raised my face and looked at the Demon King.

Yes, this was a Demon King. The amount of mana that enveloped her was completely different from everyone else.

In the past, I would have been very afraid, and wonder what kind of being a Great Demon King was, if they surpassed her.

(And yet Melvis was…)

The pressure I felt from Melvis was stronger.

If Tralzard was strong, then Melvis was some kind of monster.

“Golan. I had received the gifts. I am grateful to you for delivering them to me.”

But Tralzard was still imposing.

There was a clear, powerful aura.

“…So, how is King Melvis?”

Yes, I knew that she would be very curious about that.

“Indeed. I find it hard to imagine how you could win.”

“Huh?”

When meeting him in the Orb of Control, I had known that even with the two of us together, we had no way of beating him.

“His mana is immense. And he has many magic abilities at his disposal. He will not refrain from using them if you try to attack at a distance. And being hit just once should be enough to end the fight. You will have no choice but to use speed and try to fight him as close as possible.”

After that, I tried to think of a way to beat Melvis. And my answer was to fight in close quarters and with chain attacks.

If you were so close that you were nearly touching, then you might have a chance.

And then it will be just a matter of chipping away at each other’s mana. Of course, my mana level was vastly inferior, so I would dry up first.

It wouldn’t even matter if I changed into the other me. The results would be the same. And so…

“Even then, I believe that victory will be out of your reach.”

“…”

When I finished, Tralzard was shaking like a leaf. And her eyes were filled with tears.

“…Y-you… That was not what I was asking you!”

You!

You!

You!

Tralzard’s shriek echoed through the hall.

It was so loud that the guards dropped their spears and the officials fell to the floor.

“How dare you make Her Majesty cry!”

General Miralda struck me.

I looked to Tralzard, who was nodding as the tears started to fall.

Wait, she wasn’t asking me how she should fight him?

○ Wild Hunt – Nehyor

After leaving the country, the members of the Wild Hunt banded together and marched out with Nehyor in the lead.

They were still in Demon King Legard’s country.

Nehyor was trying to pass through in secret.

“Lord Nehyor, the Shadow Runners will reach their limit soon.”

“I see. They don’t last as long as I thought.”

“There are so many of us this time, so it cannot be helped.”

“Hmmm. But I think we will be discovered if we rest here.”

“There is a town to the north, so perhaps we should go down south a little farther?”

“Indeed. I will leave it to you, Legras.”

“Certainly.”

The only reason that Nehyor and his men were able to move through enemy territory safely was due to the cooperation of the Shadow Runners.

Shadow Runners had the special ability, ‘Shadow Hide,’ which allowed them to move while hiding their own existence.

And among Shadow Runners, there were some who had the special ability, ‘Hide Together.’

It was the group version of ‘Shadow Hide.’

While an individual’s power determined how many people they could hide, if you had enough Shadow Runners, you could conceal an entire army.

However, they continued to consume mana once the ability was activated.

And so it was difficult to use it for a long time.

Since there were so many of them traveling this time, it took about an hour for their mana to be depleted completely.

And they needed dozens of Shadow Runners to move without being caught.

“How far were we able to go?”

“We are about half way through Legard’s country.”

“It’s still far away then. That’s annoying.”

As they had to avoid towns and roads, they took longer while making less progress.

Normally, Nehyor would have been patient.

But recently, so many things were going wrong.

And before he knew it, he was feeling very stressed.

After all, the plan he had taken so much time with had crumbled.

There had been so many steps to get there, only for it to end in failure.

He had moved so carefully, but things always seemed to flip over right before fruition.

After this much failure, he could not help but lose heart.

And so when the scouts sent out during the night returned the next morning, he made the wrong decision.

“It’s too much trouble. Let’s keep going straight.”

According to the information from the scouts, Legard’s army and Tralzard’s army were battling.

Their borders were constantly in a state of tension.

Normally, it would have been best to travel up north once and enter Great Demon King Bibashini’s lands, and then go to Tralzard’s country.

But Nehyor suggested they go straight through the border.

“Are you certain?”

“We’ll go through a place where we won’t draw attention. And even if they do see us, we’ll annihilate them.”

“…Very well.”

It would be best if they could reach the town where Tralzard lived without any casualties, but crossing the border in its current state would be difficult.

They would likely be discovered at some point.

A battle or two could not be avoided.

Nehyor was currently passing through lands where ‘no one should be.’

So no one would be looking.

But the borders were a place that was watched, as an invasion was expected.

And they were moving towards it in a large group.

If the enemy discovered traces that hadn’t been there half a day earlier, they might come after them.

That being said, it would be difficult to move without leaving traces.

Legras clicked his tongue and cursed this untimely war.

However, while Nehyor had been acting in secret all this time, he was suddenly becoming very bold.

Was it that he couldn’t wait any longer? Or that he didn’t have any time left?

Legras did not know.

Still, he was a subordinate, and could do nothing but support his lord to the best of his ability.

Thinking this, he kept his mouth shut and obeyed.

The Wild Hunt was about to enter Tralzard’s territory.