What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 674

#674

The Ordeal of the Pilgrims (3)

-Dududududu······!

“The magic stone connection is severed! Your Majesty, all the spells are cut off!”

-Heeheeheeing!

The grand army, which had been neatly filling the wasteland like a vast sheet of black paper, wavered as if it were about to tear apart at any moment.

“Good heavens, good heavens, good heavens······!”

“Don’t panic! Everyone, maintain formation!”

“Uwaaa! Goodness, there are cannons on the airship!”

“Don’t retreat! We will fight back!”

“Squad leader! Squad leader, there are soldiers losing consciousness in the rear!”

“Combat Mage Division, 2nd Division, 1st Regiment! Move to the front lines! I repeat! 1st Regiment, move to the front lines!”

“Heuaaak! It’s aiming this way! It’s aiming at us!”

“Liester—!”

Frederik the Great’s booming roar echoed across the wasteland.

Amidst the gasping screams, the din, and the terrified whinnies of horses, the cheers and shouts barely kept the soldiers in check.

‘An airship scattering green mana.’ Having witnessed something similar before, we turned to each other, literally pale as ghosts.

Fransua, his face already half its size [meaning he looked extremely pale and frightened], adjusted his mace and sought out the Palace Lord.

“I can’t believe it… That’s black magic, Palace Lord. They’ve brought an unpardonable sorcery into the war. Just as I suspected······.”

“And on such a scale! They’ve summoned a colossal airship out of thin air!”

I raised my voice to bring him back to his senses.

The Marquis flinched and clutched the scarf around his neck.

Only then did a spark seem to return to his light pink eyes.

Gaine, who had been biting her lip, finally spat out a thick curse.

“Those crazy bastards! Who did they torture to make something like that again? They’re doing this on a national scale now, I see. So brazen!”

“I didn’t expect the Crown Princess to do something like this.”

“Goodness, the Crown Princess······. Unbelievable······.”

Sant muttered, in shock.

The other cavalrymen, the ‘exhibition taboos’ [elite soldiers with questionable pasts] from the Holy State, were also gaping at the unprecedented sight.

I stroked Areum’s neck, trying to get my frozen brain working somehow.

I didn’t want to think like Sedric said, but the scene before my eyes was clearly shouting that this was the will of the Venetian.

My throat was parched.

All the Empire’s commanders had agreed that an unexpected event would occur in the Ordeal of the Pilgrims, so they deliberately prioritized deceptive tactics.

The Combat Mage Division 1st Division, a plan that consumed nearly half of the entire army’s magic power, was indeed a huge risk.

The mages were rather in favor, but the swordsmen guarding them—including the Lancer Knights and a few magic swordsmen—were very burdened by this operation.

But looking at the situation now······.

-Kiiiiii!

“Ueoeeoeo! The cannon is moving!”

“Get down!”

The appearance of an airship dozens of times larger than what I had seen in the black market made me count the precious lives we had saved with that much magic power.

Our side’s judgment was not wrong.

After all, summoning something that big into the empty sky would have consumed an enormous amount of life force.

I don’t know whose life it was!

-Kugugugugu······

“All troops, defensive formation! Everyone, raise your shields!”

“2nd Division! Prepare anti-air defense magic formation!”

-Jiiiiing—!

“Waaaa······!”

The mages, who had surrounded the front and rear in a square formation, uniformly raised their staffs to the sky, and the knights and soldiers, lined up as densely as go stones [a reference to the game Go, meaning tightly packed], raised their shields in unison.

At the same time as Durandal flashed, a red and vast magic formation filled the Empire army’s dirt ground.

Viscous, blood-colored rays. Faces flushed to the top of their heads with a mixture of fear and excitement.

Everyone’s loud shouts and orders through the magic tool loudspeakers stabbed at my ears······.

“Blood is flowing in the Ordeal of the Pilgrims.”

“······Pardon?”

“What did you just say?”

Fransua and I flinched and turned around.

Sir Johan, his face hardened with a terrifying expression, was staring beyond the dark entrance of the Ordeal of the Pilgrims.

It was an expression that differed from ordinary ferocity.

His white hair fluttered in a strange direction.

He was as pale as someone who had faced a very terrible sight—

-Kwaaaaaa!

“It’s coming!”

“Uwaaaaaak!”

“Palace Lord, duck!”

[Everyone, hold on tight!]

Before I could even gather my thoughts, the airship opened its house-sized maw and fired a cannon.

I immediately deployed the Holy Ground and issued a decree, my throat bursting.

Just before my eyes squeezed shut, something flashed in my vision for the last time.

The Venetian royal crest adorning the side of the streamlined hull had the following inscription:

‘Dĕa Ex Máchĭna’.

······Dea Ex Machina [a plot device where a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or object]. A god descended from a machine.

-Kwagagagagwang—!

“Keuk!”

“Aaaak! Palace Lord Juliette!”

[It’s okay! Everyone, take a deep breath calmly!]

“Oh God! Please save our country!”

My eyes were filled with green flashes, and a constant stench of decay emanated from somewhere.

The smell of the black market. Added to this were the soldiers’ shouts and the explosions pouring down from the sky, making my ears feel like they would burst.

The ground shook wildly up, down, left, and right as if there were an earthquake, making Areum very uncomfortable. I felt a chill as if the ground beneath my feet would collapse at any moment.

I hugged the child’s neck and poured plenty of aether into her.

From then on, the tremors continued incessantly. How many tens of seconds, or even minutes, had passed?

-Kurururu······

“Heoeo, heoeok······.”

-Pururung, pururung

“Ueoeeoeo······.”

The mana attack that had been pouring down violently finally stopped, and dust rose from all directions.

In various places, exclamations of relief erupted from the soldiers who had lowered their shields.

“······Heoeo, our magic formation won!”

“Oh my God! It’s true, our defense magic formation was stronger!”

“Heoeok······!”

I opened my eyes wide and hurriedly checked on my friends.

Fransua had been holding his head up the whole time, looking at the sky with a straight posture.

Sir Johan and Jibril Diop, Isabel and Hanan the Great were also safe.

I could tell just by the fact that their black eyes were shining with a mysterious bronze color.

Sant was also breathing deeply, pressing down on his chest. And Gaine and Sedric were—

“Wow, damn. I feel so nauseous. What was that just now? What kind of black magic······!”

“The mana is excessively foul. What on earth did they do?”

“Is everyone okay? Crown Prince?”

······Now that I see, everyone’s faces were a sight.

Just then, Hanan the Great, borrowing Isabel’s body, spoke.

-They are souls who have not been dead for long.

“······Yes?”

“What does that······.”

-Even corrupt mana cannot harbor such deep despair. The blood and breath of the deceased are so vivid that even this body is appalled.

“······.”

-Those who had their lives taken without my knowledge. How terrible.

“That kind of······.”

I stroked Sant’s trembling shoulders and blinked repeatedly.

It didn’t make sense, but a certain hypothesis flashed through my mind for a moment.

The soldiers’ rough breathing also faded away for a moment. No way, it can’t be······.

-Kiiiiing!

There’s no way they could have used life force like that.

“Damn it! It’s coming again!”

“Raise your shields! Ah, hurry up and raise them!”

Flinch! I regained my senses at the boiling, buzzing sound.

The airship in the sky that I looked up at was already preparing for its second strike.

Whether it was because it judged our defense to be too solid—I don’t know if the control tower is inside or outside—several new gunports were opening in the round hull.

Green mana was already forming at the ends. I couldn’t help but gape at the relentless offensive.

“Are they crazy?”

Are they planning to end it all here······?

-Kigigigigi!

“Combat Mage Division 1st Division—!”

His Majesty’s sharp call echoed across the vast land.

The tip of Durandal flashed in the sunlight, and then the combat boots of the mages stomped on the ground, Chak, Chak!

A thrill ran through me at the precise rhythm.

The moment the staffs of the 1st and 2nd Divisions simultaneously aimed at the sky—

-Kwaaaaaang!

“Heuaaaak!”

The carpet bombing began.

-Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaaaang······!

“Aaaak! Damn it!”

“Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on!”

-Kwaaang! Kuung! Kuuung! Kuuuuung!

My jaw was sore from clenching my mouth shut, and I kept biting my tongue if I opened it.

At this rate, I thought I might die from the pressure or shock!

-Kwagagang! Kwagagang! Kwagang!

“Depletion! Members at risk of mana depletion, fall back!”

“······Sir! Division Commander! This won’t do! The enemy is overwhelmingly strong!”

“Damn it! Cracks are starting! The magic formation is splitting······!”

The mages’ shouts were tearing apart not far away.

I stubbornly squinted and looked around.

The soldiers inside the Holy Ground seemed to be doing okay, but I didn’t know how those who were directly exposed to the stench of black magic would be.

Gain and Isabel, sensing that the situation was unusual, quickly got off their saddles, holding their whips.

Sir Johan and Diop were the same, and Sedric stood at the forefront, drawing his Hyegeom.

-Jjeojeojeok, jjeojeojeok······

“Don’t back down! We have honed our mana for this day!”

“Combat Mage Division! Do not forget the pride of the Archmages!”

-Kagagang! Kagagang!

In the red-flashing void each time it received a mana bombardment, clear cracks finally began to appear.

I gritted my teeth and poured out aether from my whole body, preparing for a double-layered barrier.

There was a high possibility that it wouldn’t work as I wanted, but I couldn’t just not try.

I had to prepare to protect my allies in case of emergency.

-Jjeojeojeojeok!

“Heok······!”

And finally, at the moment when the defense magic formation split—

-Kuuuuuu······

-Kururururu······

The airship’s gun barrels also spewed out fumes for a moment. Like a miracle, all attacks were temporarily suspended.

I instinctively knew that it was a golden opportunity.

And if I, a non-combatant, could realize it—

-Ssaeaaaaek! Kwaaaaang!

“Waaaaaaa!”

Surprise! I was horrified by the sword light that cut through the sky at the speed of light.

The brilliant gray aura was cutting the airship head-on, drawing a sharp arc.

The movement was so fast that it was difficult to know whose attack it was.

However, since there were only two Sword Masters in the Empire’s front line, it was possible to make a rough guess by looking at the afterimage of the sword.

Even though the distance was quite far, the wide blade and dark green hair······.

-Kiiiiiiiii······

“······It’s going down! The airship is going down!”

“Ueoeeoeo! It’s pouring down backwards!”

“Uwaaaaaa! Waaaak······!”

“Goodness······.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes even after seeing the scene before me, and I was stunned.

Meanwhile, the soldiers began to cheer, waving their shields.

The cheers grew louder and louder, and finally Gain and Sant turned to me with bright faces.

I stroked Areum’s mane and let out a deep breath. I felt like the strength in my spine was draining away.

It was then.

-Kigigigigi······

“Oh, Romero, recorder of the Book of the Dead······.”

Fransua in the back seat whispered towards the sky as if lamenting.

It was an ominous flag no matter who heard it. I hurriedly raised my upper body and lifted my gaze.

This time, a scene that I didn’t want to believe even after seeing it filled my vision.

-Kugugugu······

“Ha······.”

The shipwreck, collapsing towards the entrance of the Ordeal of the Pilgrims like a scarecrow in a typhoon, was slowly rising again in the opposite direction.

It was moving against gravity and defying fate.

I shuddered as I watched the dark green mana seep into the cracks of the airship.

It was like a cure, and at first glance, it even looked like a blessing.

The complexions of Gain and Sant, who had been smiling until the end, quickly froze over. The soldiers’ voices sounded like wooden stairs twisting.

“Ah······. Aaa······.”

“······Everyone, it would be best to come behind me.”

The protagonist of the suggestion was Sir Johan.

Where I turned around in a fluster, we found the Cardinal summoning the Bow of the Wind.

Far away.

The sound of the airship was only heard very far away.

-Dududududu······!

-Kiiiiiiiii!

“······.”

Small, yellow embers flew in front of my eyes like forsythia flowers in spring.

Perhaps they were also like bright red drops of blood or transparent tears.

The top of the Ordeal of the Pilgrims, facing the sun. Elysee Venetian was crying alone.

Of course, it was a situation that should not have been, and it was a position that should not have been.

The Crown Princess knew her responsibilities and duties better than anyone else.

She must not dare to waver as she pleased, and she must not dare to act or judge emotionally.

Because now the whole country was relying on her alone.

-Kigigigigi!

“······But think about it, Your Highness. Weren’t they lives that would disappear anyway?”

“······.”

Mother lost her mind and became endlessly helpless.

Her only younger brother died, and the murderer was none other than her own father.

Her aunt, who had been condoning his misdeeds all her life, turned out to be a monster that had swallowed the Holy State whole from head to toe.

All the wealth, power, and information were already lurking in her maw.

The innocent had to give their lives to the venomous fangs to get it out.

Still, Elysee did not give up on the Venetian. Still.

Because it was her hometown. Because it was her beloved home.

-Kugugugu······

“They had never properly learned how to hold a sword, and they were fools who didn’t even know if they held a spear upside down. They probably wouldn’t have been able to fight properly for even five minutes and would have just died at the hands of the Empire army. If you look at it coldly, that is.”

“······.”

If I tried, if I struggled with all my might, I believed that I could somehow save them.

Even as the roots of faith rotted and the head of the royal family festered, she constantly soothed herself like that.

If I put my father and the Sneider family on trial.

If I made everyone involved pay for their crimes. If I ended this miserable war.

And if I rebuilt the Holy State.

Even if I had to start from scratch, I would be happy to do so, if only I could truly do that······.

“So wouldn’t it be a much more valuable and efficient death? They are all moving such weapons together, so I don’t know how admirable they are.”

“······.”

“You are their superior, so you should be able to make such judgments, shouldn’t you?”

“A valuable death.”

From the throat that spat out a dead heart, a hoarse, locked voice flowed out.