The Krata border.

“Yaaawn~.”

Despite being at the frontier, the soldiers stationed there lounged idly. It was the border with Marfane, after all.

Since their fraternal nation would never march against them, there was nothing to do but lazily pass the time.

Fwoosh!

Suddenly, something shot into the sky.

“Huh?”

The soldiers squinted up at the crimson light blooming overhead.

“What is that?”

“Did a mage cast it?”

They glanced at one another in confusion, not knowing what had happened—until one soldier in full plate armor suddenly rose and drew his sword, swinging without warning.

“Gaaah!”

“Wh-what the hell?!”

The blade cut through his comrades, and panic erupted. The Krata soldiers hastily raised their weapons—only to find that he wasn’t the only one who had turned on them.

Several others began attacking as well. In the chaos, with no clear line between friend and foe, Krata’s forces couldn’t even check if anything was coming from the Marfane side.

“Waaagh!”

The war cry drew closer, and then the Krata soldiers finally saw who had sent up that red flare.

“T-that’s—!”

Ezer’s banner.

Knights and mages of the Blue Tower, charging from Marfane’s direction into Krata.

“Why—why from that side?!”

Rumors had swirled that Ezer, having soured relations with Krata, might attack. But no one expected them to advance through Marfane.

“Did Marfane betray us?!”

Their speed was too great. It almost seemed as if Marfane had opened the way for them—but that wasn’t the truth.

Fwoooosh!

Leading Ezer’s army, Tia raised Excalbren high and bestowed her blessing upon her troops. In an instant, both soldiers and mounts grew faster, stronger, and fiercer.

Before long, Ezer’s army was at Krata’s border.

“Gahhh!”

“Ugh!”

“Spare me—urk!”

Unprepared, Krata’s defenders were trampled beneath the assault.

Even those rushing from the barracks were cut down or struck by charging horses before they could grasp the situation. Then, the armored figures who had sown confusion with the flare cast off their helms—

Elves.

Specialists in small-unit infiltration. Under Tia’s orders, they had slipped into the laxly guarded border disguised as Krata soldiers. Now revealing themselves, they took up bows handed to them by Ezer’s troops and fired into Krata’s ranks.

Assailed from within and without, Krata’s soldiers all but handed the border over.

Pausing in the saddle, Tia surveyed the scene.

It can’t be this easy.

Perhaps Lutan truly intended to lure them all into Krata’s heart.

Even so, there’s no helping it.

Encircling all of Krata and starving it out was theoretically possible, but this land bore Elhaen’s blessing—its fertile soil never depleted, its springs never dried. Starvation was a near impossibility.

And Clay wouldn’t wait.

He carried deep rage for those who had brought about his death, chief among them Lutan, Krata’s emperor.

She could guess—he would never leave Lutan alive. Whatever Lutan was scheming in Krata’s depths, Clay would move to crush him as swiftly as possible.

Sigh.

Reason said they should pause here and gather more intelligence. But if Clay refused to stop, she would follow.

She had decided to act according to his will.

That’s the only thing I can do for you.

First, she had to keep her promise—to draw Krata’s attention and give Clay the safest path she could.

“Lilien.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

She called her Imperial Knight Captain to her side.

“Nael’s gone missing. Do you have any information?”

“My apologies. All we could confirm was that she’s gathered the leaders of the beastkin tribes.”

“That’s fine.”

For now, even a rough sense of her movements was enough.

She’s moving for Clay as well.

At least Nael wouldn’t be wasting her efforts in this battlefield.

“Lilien, there should be a facility nearby that can communicate directly with Krata’s capital.”

Krata maintained emergency communication links at key border points. As a member of the Holy Alliance, Ezer had that knowledge.

“Find it and report its location to me.”

“Your Majesty,” Lilien said cautiously, “We’ve gone to great lengths—deploying even elves—to cut off Marfane’s couriers so they couldn’t relay word of our strike. If we make direct contact now, we may be handing them information instead.”

“That’s possible.”

But Tia didn’t act without a plan.

“Do you think only we’d be passing information?”

“…What do you mean?”

“They’ll be passing information to us as well.”

She might not know what Lutan was plotting—but she did know one thing. No matter how shrewd Lutan was, he knew little about the Saintess.

“Lutan thinks I’m someone who serves the same Elhaen he does. That alone will make him want to talk to me more. I intend to use that to extract what I can.”

Lutan didn’t care how many died; as long as he could kill Clay, he would believe he could restore everything afterward.

“If I let slip the idea that I’m acting according to Elhaen’s will, he might make a mistake—if only for a moment.”

“It’s dangerous, Your Majesty.”

“No. It isn’t.”

Her tone was firm.

“He’s just an old man hiding in his shell, waiting. I don’t call that dangerous.”

“But still—”

“Even if it is dangerous, I don’t care.”

Tia no longer hid her intentions from Lilien.

“I’m going to destroy Krata.”

“…”

“Even if it’s not the path that’s best for Ezer.”

At those words, Lilien drew in a sharp breath.

The sovereign she served had just declared she had no intention of protecting her own nation.

“I…”

And yet, in the end, there was only one choice Lilien could make.

“I will obey.”

She could not withdraw her loyalty from the one who had taken her in.

With a crisp bow, she turned to carry out the mission Tia had given her.

“Clay.”

Watching her go, Tia’s gaze drifted to the empty air as she murmured,

“In this way… can we say we’re finally standing on the same side again?”

There was no answer.

♧

“We’ve returned, my lord.”

Cardin, Clay’s direct subordinate, came back with the Darkmoon Knights in tow.

“I tried to gather useful intelligence, but aside from Krata’s lax defenses, there was nothing of note.”

“That’s fine.”

Clay had already suspected Lutan was laying out the board this way.

“And outside Krata?”

“Those we left on the Marfane–Krata border sent word by carrier pigeon about Ezer’s movements. They say Ezer has struck Marfane and is now advancing into Krata.”

“So they went straight into an attack.”

Clay summoned Neville.

“You called for me, Lord Clay.”

“We’ll be striking Krata as well.”

Neville swallowed at those words. Clay addressed him directly.

“This will be a test for you, the crown prince of Krata. It won’t be easy—but once we remove Emperor Lutan, you’ll have to stabilize the country.”

“…Yes.”

“Are you uncertain?”

Clay’s question hung in the air. Neville shook his head.

“That’s not it.”

“Then is it discomfort with me striking Lutan?”

No matter what else could be said of the man, Lutan was Neville’s father. Even if he expressed reluctance or unease, Clay wouldn’t take offense.

“That’s not it either.”

Neville’s reply was firm.

“No matter what anyone says, it’s the Emperor of Krata who brought things to this point. I won’t overlook that simply because we’re bound by blood.”

“Even if you don’t fully agree with my methods?”

“…Yes.”

It was an honest answer. Clay let out a wry chuckle.

“Neville, you truly have the makings of a good emperor.”

He even wondered how things might have turned out if Neville, and not Lutan, had sat the throne from the start.

“But the world doesn’t move the way we want. It’s not rational.”

If it did, Clay would never have been led to the executioner’s block.

In the end, to crush injustice, they too had to choose the unjust path.

“That’s why I chose dominion.”

Clay’s crimson eyes fixed on Neville.

“I decided to give back to this world exactly what it gave me when it killed me.”

“…”

“But this world is lucky, in a way. And I think you know better than anyone why that is.”

There was no longer any trace of his life as a hero—only the power to destroy everything and seize it for himself.

Yet someone like Neville always made him remember—

When a person, crushed under the weight of power, still strove to reach their hope.

Perhaps it was pity for the man he had once been.

“Prepare yourself, Neville.”

Clay stepped out onto the terrace of the detached palace.

“Everything will begin soon.”

From there, the gathered ranks of the Demon King’s Army filled his view.

“At last, the day has come!”

He raised his voice to them.

“It’s time to exact vengeance on those who wielded the false name of ‘god’ to oppress the Demon Realm!”

Good and evil—none of that mattered to him now. His only goal was to carve his existence deep into the world’s memory.

“To those who locked us away at the edge of the continent to build their own world, we will make this truth known!”

It was time to teach this world, which had dared to forget him, the meaning of retribution.

“Be proud! You who have no need for forgiveness!”

Over the roar of the army’s unified voice, he declared—

“Advance, and rip everything out at the root!”

If this was what they called the image of demonkind—so be it.

“It’s time we prove ourselves greater than their gods!”

He would show them exactly what they wanted to see.

(End of Chapter)

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