CH 36

(How terrible ……)

Looking lovingly at his fiancée, who was still shivering, Brad stroked his chest in relief.

It was a close call.

I wondered what that man would have done to Marie if I had been even slightly late in coming to her aid. Thinking about it, I felt annoyed at myself for taking so long to prepare. It was also foolish of me to assume that the dignitaries’ seats would be safe.

(I’m sorry, Marie.)

For making you cry and shaming you.

While Marie is perfectly mindful of manners and etiquette in public, she often draws a line between herself and others and has a cool demeanor, giving off the vibe of a high-class woman.

However, this is because she’s a “fairy princess,” and her beauty is like glasswork that would break if you touched it, so she’s just trying to protect herself from frivolous men. Brad, her childhood friend, knows that she’s actually a very kind and sensitive girl who acts appropriately for her age.

How could she not be terrified when threatened by a man? She was even shedding tears. She must have been really, really scared.

Nevertheless…

“Oh, thank you for saving me, Your Highness. I’m fine now, please take care of everyone.”

Marie took a deep breath, regained her composure, wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, and put on her usual sturdy expression as she said this.

Her voice and body were still trembling, and she was probably terrified, but she put herself on the back burner and put her people and the people around her first.

She’s such a kind soul.

(My fianceé is too much of an angel… I could write a novel about her.)

The fact that her cheeks turned slightly red, perhaps embarrassed about being hugged, is also adorable. If I could, I would pet, hug, and pamper this girl all day long. It was understandable that Brad would feel this way.

But somehow, Brad managed to restrain himself.

“I’d like to be around you more, but unfortunately the situation doesn’t allow it. Marie, please be careful.”

I nodded to Marie, patting her on the head.

“I’ll be fine. Please don’t overdo it.”

Though I’m the one who should be worried, Marie stares at me with an anxious look as if she were a parent sending off her child. 

Brad smiles mischievously to reassure her.

“…… If you kiss me on the cheek, I feel like I could do my best.”

He pointed to his cheek as if begging.

“Ki-kiss?!”

Marie looked puzzled as she looked at his cheek.

It seems that the European way of thinking is applied in this world, where kissing is often used as a greeting. But when it comes to men and women of the right age who are not relatives, it’s inevitable that they will be conscious of each other.

“It’s a joke. I’m just kidding. I’ve been asked to break off our engagement. But if I can get this whole thing under control, please think about it.”

“Oh… Your Highness?”

As much as he wanted to tease her, Brad left her with a shrug of his shoulders and quickly moved on to his own tasks, leaving the adorably frazzled Marie behind.

For starters, he used his fists to knock out several spectators who were still rioting in the noble seats and then rescued his father, King Castral, and the nobles.

“Brad… Thank you.”

“it’s no problem of course. Please leave the rest to me.”

I had this feeling of wanting to talk to King Castral who said thank you awkwardly but now didn’t seem like a good time.

I responded briefly with my usual smile and firmly confirmed that I had secured the safety of the dignitaries’ seats – and thus Marie’s safety – for the moment.

Then I turned my attention to the woman floating in the sky above the arena, one of the “Four Demon Generals” Lionetta.

“It’s a good thing you’re here. You’re too late though, the show has already started.

Lionetta gave me a dim smile as if she had been waiting for me.

“I’m honored that you waited so long, Miss Lionetta.”

When Brad smiled back, Lionetta snorts uncomfortably.

“It seems you can still afford to talk frivolously, but in the meantime, your King’s Landing is in chaos, as you can see. I know you love to help people, but do you think you can handle this situation?

Lionetta spread her hands as if to say, “Look at the reality”.

The arena was still in chaos with the people who fell under the influence of ‘Nightmare Mirage’ running wild, plus the people fleeing from the influenced mob while letting out auspicious screams and Brad knew that the commotion was spreading not only to the arena but to the entire capital.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it”

Understanding the situation he calmly decides he couldn’t handle the situation on his own.

“Fufufu… That’s right that’s right. Now that I’ve sealed the saintess, there’s nothing you can do to stop these riots. Do you understand now? Is it clear?” Lionetta laughed happily.

“You can’t save everything in this world… and that’s a fact of life. You can’t save this country, its people and of course my sister, who even I couldn’t help. You can’t save anything. Perish with your country and repent of your pride.”

Lionetta laughed loudly, as if she were drunk with the wine of victory.

Brad looked up at her in silence.

“That’s right, I can’t save everything.” he murmured, nodding.

From an objective point of view, this was clearly a declaration of defeat.

“Brad…”

“Your Highness…”

“Brad…”

……

In fact, King Castral, his fiancée Marie, his maidservant Rosie, and the people who remained in the arena were saddened by his words.

Even Brad, who seemed to be the only one who could help, couldn’t do anything about this situation. This country would fall into the hands of the Demon King’s army.

But at the moment when Lionetta’s mouth, which was already wide open in loud laughter, widened eerily as if to split even further…

“I’m not the one who’s going to save you all.”

Brad suddenly looked up and smiled fearlessly.

Shortly after…

“……!”

Suddenly, the area was enveloped in a dazzling light.

As if the goddess of fertility were blessing the earth, a dazzling pure white glow of magic power poured into the arena

And the people who had been rampaging noisily just a moment ago gradually became calm as they were bathed in the magic power.

“Hey… what was I doing? “

“Why was I so angry?”

“I’m sorry, I overdid it.”

The next thing you know, they all came to their senses, many of them regretting their actions and starting to apologize and make peace with each other.

When Lionetta realizes the true nature of the light, she asks in a startled tone.

“This can’t be… Area Purification”!?” {TN: the direct translation is “ Area Clarification” but I felt “Purification” made more sense”}

–Area Purification–

It’s a wide range healing magic of the sixth rank.

The third-order healing magic “Purification” nullifies the effects of abnormal conditions such as poison, paralysis and confusion. It’s advanced magic that has the same effect, turning pure white magic power into particles like rain or snow and releasing them over a wide area.

“And all over the arena?”

Its range of effect depends on the caster’s ability and when it comes to ‘Area Purification’ that covers the entire area. It’s only possible for a high priest of the church – at least at level 30 or above. It’s no wonder Lionetta was surprised.

“Who said it was only for the arena?”

But at this point, even though it was astonishing, Brad laughed at Lionetta and urged her to look outside the arena.

“……?”

Lionetta looked outside the arena and shook her head in disbelief.

She must have noticed.

It’s not just the arena, but the entire royal capital that is being affected by the pure white magic of Area Purification.

“It’s impossible… The only person who could have done something like this in the current royal capital would be the Saintess of Salvation, Celie. Who could have done this?”

Lionetta was shocked but immediately turned to the source of the magic power which was at the central square of the capital and her eyes widened.

It’s no wonder.

A person who was never supposed to be there was clearly there. 

The woman who suddenly raised her head was, in Brad’s eyes – and perhaps in everyone else’s as well – the “Saintess of Salvation” herself. Celie Strassfield was radiating an overwhelming pure magic power.

“This is impossible! Why is that woman here? I imprisoned her in a different dimension!”

Lionetta draws a circle with her fingers and opens the door to another space.

And in that pitch-black place, just as Lionetta had said, a woman who seemed to be Celie herself was sitting with her knees in her arms imprisoned. The woman who quickly raised her face was no other than the Saintess of Salvation as well. Even Brad could see it, No, perhaps everyone else could. 

But on the other hand, unlike Celie, who always has a soft smile on her face, this time around there was a wicked smile, which she usually did not have.

And at the moment when Lionetta would have noticed that…

“What?”

The woman who looked like Celie began to change shape, transforming into a completely different person – or rather, a different existence – than Celie.

Dark brown body hair sprouted from her body, animal ears sprouted from her head, and a tail sprouted from her bottom, her fangs and claws sharpened, and her mouth widened as if it was going to split open.

The next thing she knew, he had completely transformed into a werewolf.

“Hahahahaha… You idiot! Look closely, it’s me the werewolf lord’s brother whom you threw away like a rag” the werewolf said triumphantly.

The monster that was disguised as Celie, who got imprisoned in the dimension was no other than Uru Galov.

“Why are you…?”

When he saw Lionetta struggling to speak as if she wasn’t understanding the situation. Uru laughed even more as if he was feeling good about himself.　 

“I didn’t fully believe it, but I listened to the prince’s words and it turned out better than I thought. I’ve seen your defeated face, Lionetta! How does it feel to be framed by a former subordinate you used to make fun of?”

“This was your plan?”

When Lionetta, who was still having trouble understanding the situation, looked at him curiously, Brad shrugged his shoulders and explained plainly.

“Lionetta… sorry but I was able to collect information about you. It was out of the question for me to not know about what kind of magic you would use and what kind of measures you would take. This was my counter to your illusion magic in order to protect the real Celie-chan who’s the only one that could counter you. This should bring everyone back to their senses and calm down the commotion in the capital.”

I didn’t actually gather any information about Lionetta, I just knew her from the beginning based on my knowledge of the game from my previous life, but I guess it’s similar.

In ‘Final Quest’, Lionetta had planned to take over a country using ‘Nightmare Mirage’ and the only person that could have competed against her magic at present was Celie. That’s why I took countermeasures in anticipation of Celie being captured.

(The transformation ability is really convenient isn’t it?)

If the werewolf lord joins Brad’s corps as it is, there’ll be a lot of things happening from now on.

“Wow… is that so?”

“So your highness thought that far ahead?”

“As expected of Brad-sama desu!”

Everyone turns around and exclaims happily.

Lionetta grit her teeth feeling mortified, but soon recovers her stance with a fearless smile.

“Amazing… I didn’t think you planned so far ahead, it’s certainly unexpected. But it’s no problem at all. The ‘Mirage of Nightmares’ is just one part of the plan.”

Plan B? Brad frowns.

“You may not have heard, but there’s a battalion of the demon king’s army waiting near the royal capital  I set up in advance. The monsters should have already rushed into the royal capital and overrun the people. As proof, the magic power from them is gathering more and more into this magic stone…”

Lionetta takes out a fist-sized magic stone from her chest with a smile, but when she confirms the color, she has a dubious expression on her face.

“Oh… is that it?” Brad says after catching a glimpse of the stone in Lionetta’s hand.

Since it’s a very rare orb, Brad had not seen one in this world but had seen it in the ‘Final Quest’ game.

The magic stone Adamandite is usually jet black, but it has the property of changing color as it absorbs magic power. Speaking in detail, it’s not a sharp color, but it changes roughly in the order of black, blue, green, yellow and red.

Now Lionetta has blue. It was an unusual color for something that should have absorbed the magic power from the people of the royal capital. If it absorbed magic power from all over the royal capital, at least it should turn green, no, yellow.

“What’s happening? Why’s there only this much magic power gathered? No way… is the magic power automatic convergence technique flawed?”

–Automatic Convergence technique—

It is a magic technique that causes the stone to automatically absorb the magic power around the stone. By applying this to the magic stone, Lionetta should have been able to collect the magic power generated throughout the royal capital. As long as the color of the magic stone is changing, the technique itself should be working properly.

In other words, there’s another reason why the magic power is not being gathered.

“The reason magic power is not being gathered isn’t because your technique is wrong. Magic power isn’t being generated in the royal capital in the first place. After all, no monster has entered the city walls.”

No way. Lionetta shakes her head.

“What are you saying? It can’t be…. You couldn’t have stopped the invasion of the monsters.”

Lionetta turns her gaze to the city gate as though what he was saying is impossible.

Normally, only the small gate beside the main gate is open and people come and go from inside and outside, but now, the main gate is completely open. This isn’t because it’s the day of the sword dance festival, it’s probably because Lionetta manipulated the gatekeepers.

A special protective magic is cast on the gate so that it won’t break even if it’s not all that strong. Even the demon king’s army wouldn’t be able to break through the gates easily. Therefore, the gate must have been open in anticipation of the demon king’s army invasion.

Without the gate, the defenses of the royal capital are surprisingly fragile. Given that the royal capital was in a state of turmoil, it would certainly be easy for a battalion of the demon king’s army to break through the few gatekeepers and invade the capital.

However, there was no appearance of monsters invading the capital and no appearance of the people panicking due to it.

“If it was just Pistel, it would have been impossible to set up these measures. But now, what’s different from the usual is that the world’s strongest forces are gathered here, isn’t that right?”

Perhaps provoked by Brad’s words, Lionetta raises her hand and uses Levitation to float up and looks outside the city walls.

And that was when she saw it.

“That’s!!!” 

She sees two figures facing the hoard of monsters.

One stands calmly with a sword and the other sits cross-legged with a staff and levitates in the air.

“The Great Sage and the Demon Slayer?”

It was the two members of the ‘Seven Heroes’, Merlin and Glace, who undoubtedly disappeared from the arena.