Chapter 331

Chapter 331

“It’s my fault.”

Derek informed the allies of the Empire’s current situation and requested reinforcements, including a fire elemental magician. Derek, freshly awakened and unaware of the situation, relied on Cadel’s brief explanation to get the job done, and stared wordlessly at Cadel as he bowed before him.

Trusting in Cadel’s abilities, he brought all of his forces into the Empire to defend it, but not long into the fight, the entire Empire was frozen. Even now, everyone was frozen except for the fairy who caused it, Cadel, who managed to break the spell, and himself, whom Cadel saved first. Cadel had put up a minimal shield, but it was obvious that if the freeze lasted long enough, everyone’s lives would be in danger.

“Keep the fairy out of the battle.”

Derek’s order made sense, then. Thankfully, the fairy’s magic froze not only the Empire, but also the demons attacking it and the magic circle. But if the fairy’s magic had only frozen an indeterminate number of people, if it had only frozen the interior of the Empire and not the demons? The result would have been a futile annihilation.

They could not risk that. While it was true that the fairy had allowed them to attempt a defensive battle, his condition was too unstable to risk everyone’s lives.

Cadel would be disappointed, but not unhappy, as there would be no punishment for withdrawing from the war. Or so he thought.

“I refuse, Your Majesty.”

Cadel raised his bowed head and stared straight at Derek, an uneasy feeling bordering on defiance in his gaze.

“......Are you still refusing after seeing this? You know we’ve narrowly avoided the worst.”

“As I said, it was my fault that Lydon’s mana got out of control. I will not allow this to happen again.”

“Rampage is not something you can resolve on your own. If you’re worried that the fairy will be punished by being excluded from the battle―.”

“Lydon is a vital magician to the Scarlet Scales Knight Order and this war, and no ally has yet lost a life to his magic; in fact, all have been spared.”

“It’s not just a matter of consequences. While the loss of the fairy would certainly be a significant loss in terms of power, this war is more about the preservation of the Human Realm than―.”

“If I’m going to be the hero who saves the world, I need Lydon’s presence.”

“......You’re being uncharacteristically stubborn.”

Cadel constantly parroted the Emperor’s words and made it clear that he would never remove Lydon from power. Cadel was a man who excelled not only in commanding charters but also in reading the situation. He was a man who could see both ways, who had a keen sense of the tide, and who could make rational decisions. As such, the Emperor assumed that his orders would be obeyed without question. But Cadel refused the Emperor’s order with the fiery demeanor of a blind man.

“I don’t want any of my subordinates to be left out of this war, Your Majesty. Even if you strip me of my position and send me to the dungeons, please allow my subordinates to continue fighting.”

“.......”

“I plead with Your Majesty and my grandfather’s past.”

That was right. It was stubbornness. But it wasn’t based on a will to see the end of the story with everyone. A legacy for those who would eventually live on this earth, even if all the fighting was over, even if their existence was finally over. It was more like a maniacal obsession to protect that legacy.

He had promised Lydon the freedom of the fairies, and for that, Lydon would have to play a part in the battle. Though it was a bumpy start, no one was hurt in the end. The Emperor’s word would do the trick.

Unfortunately for the Emperor, for Cadel, this battle was not about defending the Empire. His priority had always been his subordinates. Even if Lydon went on another rampage and endangered their lives, he would never give up on him.

“......With all the demons here, the other countries seem to have gotten some much-needed breathing room. Reinforcements should be here in a couple of hours at the earliest, so adjust your magic to allow them access to the Empire.”

And Derek was powerless to bend Cadel’s will, who resembled Jenga Lytos. When Derek finally gave in to Cadel’s insistence, Cadel, who bowed politely, activated a traveling magic circle he had prepared in advance.

He arrived, but not at Lydon’s side. Cadel rolled his eyes slowly as he drew up his fire mana. In front of him, his subordinates were still frozen. When he’d recovered Kunra’s power, the first ones to be stripped of much of their protections were the ones closest to him. He had to thaw them quickly before anything else happened to them.

He spread the heat thinly, melting the ice bit by bit, careful not to burn them, and water began to pool beneath their feet. In the urgency of the situation, he knew it was better to thaw them quickly than to risk minor injuries. But Cadel was as careful as a potter, chipping away at the ice as carefully as he could, and it was with great effort that he broke out into a cold sweat.

“Commander!”

The first to regain consciousness, Van rushed to Cadel, his still-thawed body rattling, and while he cupped Cadel’s cold cheek, checking for injuries, Yozen, Lumen, and Garuel woke up in turn.

“It’s Lydon, right? I didn’t think he’d go this far....... Just give me your hand and I’ll melt it down.”

“This is baffling in more ways than one. My last memory is of being on the barrier....... It can’t have been carried out by Leader. Was it Lydon?”

The woman clapped her hands lightly as if praising a student for a correct answer.

“Yes, it was cute Elvie’s power, but did he give up on returning to the Demon Realm and choose to help humans? By creating an ice barrier to protect the Empire, freezing fragments of the great magic circle, and harming his own kind?”

“That can’t be right, because the child followed Your Highness...... no, Your Majesty more than anyone else.”

“So why was the fairy’s mana mixed with Elvie’s energy? Simple: he ate his heart, just like I ate my father’s. Considering he hasn’t died yet and still has his mana, he must be a fairy with a much stronger body than me.”

Emilia’s self-deprecating smile hardened, and she touched the tip of her chin with her straightened index finger, her gaze icy cold.

“If you eat the heart of a High Demon, you can use a portion of its original strength. If consumed by a race other than demons, you can’t permanently absorb the power, but you can become stronger for a short period of time, and that’s under some pretty tricky conditions. ......How did he know that, and how did he think to get Elvie’s heart in advance and use it at the right moment?”

“.......”

“The only ones who know this information are demons, especially some High Demons. Fairies lived a long time, but they were just our prey for a long time. Could it be that some idiot passed on information to his prey and then missed it?”

“......Your Majesty.”

“Or, Lawrence!”

Emilia screamed Lawrence’s name at the top of her lungs and jumped to her feet. Emilia’s hair fluttered in the air with the spreading demonic energy, and Lawrence immediately dropped to one knee.

“Could it be that a High Demon with this valuable information has defected and informed the humans? No! That can’t be right, no High Demon I know would give up their pride so easily. So who could it be? A hybrid with High Demon blood but no pride? Okay, that’s the most likely explanation, but who tipped the hybrid off? His father, his mother, or his uncle?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Immediately.”

Stepping menacingly forward, Emilia grabbed Lawrence by the hair and jerked his head back viciously. Her eyes, which resembled violets, gazed into his as if they were devouring him, and she spoke in a low, sweet voice.

“Find him now and kill him. To ensure that Your Lordship’s cute nephew never gets entangled in my perfect plan again.”

* * *

After destroying the fragments of the great magic circle, they awakened the battalion commanders within the Empire and worked with them to slay the demons outside the gate while reinforcements arrived. The magicians rushed straight into the Empire and melted the remaining knights, while the rest of the force dealt with the frozen demons and monsters.

Lydon followed the advice and kept a steady stream of mana flowing to control the surge, and by the time the enemies outside the gate were more than two-thirds of the way done. With the great magic spell [Permafrost] lifted, the Empire was free.

The enemies that threatened the Empire were slaughtered, and the magic circles were successfully destroyed. Soon, the war came to a lull, and now the Empire’s knights were camped inside and outside the gates and in the capital city of Rania, watching for any sign of the Demon Realm.

‘I feel like I’m 10 years older.’

Cadel sighed as he rubbed his haggard face. The supplies delivered had replenished his mana and restored his strength. There were many other knights and soldiers at the southern gate to which the Scarlet Scales Knight Order had been assigned, so guarding was not their role, leaving all that was left for them to do was rest and maintain a moderate level of alertness.

But his surroundings didn’t help him relax. It wasn’t the subordinates who kept popping up without warning; it was the other knights assigned to the southern gate with them.

The Knight Orders currently waiting with them were the 4th and 5th Battalions of the Guardian Knight Order, and the 2nd Battalion of the Heaven Time Knight Order, and they said that when there were too many people, there was bound to be strife.

Jeriel, the captain of the 4th Battalion, who had a strange obsession with Lydon, Dreyfe, the captain of the 5th Battalion, who had a nasty temper, and the Heaven Time Knight Order, who had a strange history of clashing. There were plenty of people everywhere to stir up his subordinates.

‘If I try to intervene one by one, I will die of exhaustion, and if I leave it alone, a civil war is likely to break out.’

Cadel, remembering the chaos from earlier, scrunched up his face.

“Hmph, I’ll admit that Sir Lydon has made defensive warfare possible. But isn’t it also true that Sir Lydon nearly brought the entire Empire to its knees? You’re an ungrateful, annoying, incompetent quiverer, and you don’t seem to understand the concept of reflection!”

It started with Pierre Monce, the battalion captain of the Heaven Time Knight Order, who was demoralized by Lydon’s verbal abuse, and when he tried to listen to Lydon’s tirade, Jeriel, not Lydon himself, jumped up and rolled his eyes.

T/N: Dun dun dun!!! Family revealed!!!