novelraw Chapter 212: Abyssal Holy War - Across the Strait
Chapter 212: Abyssal Holy War - Across the Strait
Chapter 212. Abyssal Holy War - Across the Strait
The Admiral's cabin aboard the Francia Navy flagship, the 'Libre'.
"A loss report, Your Excellency, Admiral. The Eastern Empire's Black Tortoise-Azure Dragon Allied Fleet has 29 ships-of-the-line that require repairs, but none were sunk. In contrast, Abyss Corporation has lost 11 ships, including Admiral Barbatos's flagship, and we've captured 8 vessels that appear to be ironclads. It is a complete and great victory."
Christine replied to the report delivered by her captain, Ludovic Dureng, with a light nod.
"Excellent. Eleven ships sunk in an engagement between ships-of-the-line. The power of those rocket ships must have been formidable, then?"
"Yes, and the performance of Admiral Lee and Admiral Lindsay was incredible."
"So, what are our losses?"
"The Francia Navy has lost the 86-gun ship-of-the-line 'Colbert' and the 74-gun ship-of-the-line 'Fantasque'; both sunk. All our warships require repairs, except for two 74-gun ships-of-the-line, including this vessel, the 'Libre'. To be honest, our damages are far greater."
"...It couldn't be helped, as we faced the enemy's new ships on the front lines. With those bizarre devices that let them sail against the wind, and they say the purple flames ignited by their cannonballs wouldn't go out."
"Yes. We don't know if it was imbued with the demons' magic, but there was no way to extinguish it, so a direct hit meant being sunk was unavoidable. The 'Libre' managed to block it with its Magic Barrier, thanks to its Magitek engine, but...""Two ships-of-the-line sunk... What about the Northern and Iberica fleets?"
"The Northern Allied Kingdom lost one 62-gun ship-of-the-line and... their flagship, the 74-gun ship-of-the-line 'Svea Rike'. Their other two ships are in shambles. Iberica's three ships were all damaged, but none were sunk. That's probably because you had them positioned at the rear due to their inexperience."
Christine, while taking notes with a quill, asked casually.
"Still, we survived thanks to them. If the Orcs hadn't arrived in time, the 'Libre' would have been captured. If the flagship was lost, what of Admiral Svenson?"
"Ah, fortunately, the admiral was quick on the uptake and escaped safely."
"Right, I must give the Northern Allied Kingdom proper compensation this time. I deliberately kept the operation from them, fearing they'd flee without a real fight, but they fought quite diligently."
"Hahaha, are you sure it's alright for you to say that, Admiral?"
At Dureng's joke, the Admiral of the Francia Navy and premier merchant magnate chuckled and replied.
"Why the surprise? I practically dragged them into this. If I earn their resentment again, my dreams will surely be troubled."
"Oh, for you to say such a thing, Admiral, is quite unexpected. Ah, then again."
Dureng spoke as if something just occurred to him, then began to grin slyly.
"What is it, Captain Dureng?"
"No, it's just that the sailors who saw you, the Admiral they call the 'Bloodless, Tearless Witch of Aquitaine,' sobbing over the near-dead Marquis Lafayette, are saying that even you are a person whose heart burns with passion in the face of love!
Hahaha! Ah, please don't take it badly. It's good for the sailors to feel a sense of human intimacy with their superior, isn't it? There's nothing bad about it, right? To be honest, I even shed a tear in secret myself! Haha!"
"...Dureng."
Regardless of whether Christine's face stiffened, once Dureng's mouth was open, he began chattering with a momentum that made one wonder if he was even breathing.
"I know in the capital they're already calling the love between you and Marquis Lafayette the love of the century or what have you, but since the Admiral we know always seemed so cold you could prick her with a needle and not a drop of blood would come out, it never quite felt real, but my!
Seeing is truly better than hearing a hundred times! Hahaha! It warms my heart just thinking about how those old sea dogs will have a grand time drinking in port, using your unusual side as a topic for their stories!
Hahahaha! Ah, Admiral, how about you join them just a little this time? These sailors don't make their superiors feel awkward at drinking parties, and on top of that, a woman who sheds tears for her man is actually overwhelmingly popular—"
"...Dureng. Do you want the monumentally idiotic title of 'The Captain Who Was Shot Dead by His Admiral for Running His Mouth After a Victory'?"
"...Ahem. I do not."
Dureng immediately shut his mouth, but Christine, with a chilling smile, pointed to the door with her hand and said.
"Get out."
"Yes, sir! Captain Ludovic Dureng of the 'Libre', taking my leave! Your Excellency, Admiral!"
Dureng saluted Christine, and then...
he turned towards me, gave me a grin with both thumbs up, and went outside.
Ah, my own face is burning up.
After Dureng left, I turned my gaze to see Christine fanning her own flushed face.
"Uh, Ch-Christine?"
"...What is it, Pierre?"
"Perhaps I should just go back to my own room..."
The moment she heard my words, Christine shot up from her seat and strode over to me.
To be precise, to the bed where I was lying.
"No. You never try to rest properly when you're out of my sight."
"I'm really alright..."
Gremory's Divine Power must be incredible; though my left index and middle fingers, which had been completely blown off, still feel a bit awkward, my physical condition is perfectly fine.
She herself was embarrassed in front of her subordinates, so there's no need to go this far...
But Christine paid no heed and approached, sitting on the chair beside the bed and leaning over my body.
"Uh, Ch-Christine?"
As if that wasn't enough, Christine pulled my hand out from under the covers and began rubbing her cheek against it.
...Where did the person go who had commanded so coolly during today's naval battle, as if she wouldn't bat an eye no matter what happened?
The bloodless, tearless Admiral the navy was said to tremble in fear of?
I don't think she even acted like this at home.
As I stared in shock, Christine shot me a dissatisfied look and spoke.
"I worked so hard on my image management so I wouldn't be looked down on by those rough sailors, but you've ruined it all."
"I-I'm sorry."
"Since it's all ruined anyway, I'm going to do as I please."
Christine said that, hesitated for a moment, then looked down at me and asked cautiously.
"...Do you hate this side of me, Pierre?"
"..."
Oh, God.
When I couldn't say anything, Christine slowly let go of my hand.
"I'm sorry, for not acting my age..."
"No, that's not it."
"Pardon?"
"...I was happy. So happy I got excited, but for a man who just came back from the dead and is being nursed in the Admiral's room to pounce on said Admiral is, no matter how you look at it, a bit much."
Even as I said it, my face flushed, wondering what kind of beast I sounded like. After a moment of silence, Christine spoke.
"I'd be fine with that."
...Ah, God. I'll just be a beast, then.
*
Abyss Corporation, Capital City Pandemonium.
The CEO of 'Pride' Inc. and the supreme CEO of Abyss Corporation.
Though that was merely his official title, everyone in Abyss Corporation regarded Baal, who wore the Demon King's Crown, as the new Demon King.
And on the forehead of Baal, who had become that Demon King, a vein throbbed.
"Our navy suffered a crushing defeat? Barbatos was killed in action?"
Abyss Corporation's island where the sun never rises.
The path to the island that had never once allowed an invasion by the continent's races for hundreds of years had been breached.
"We were defeated by the fleet of those inferior beings? Not only were all our steamships sunk, but eight were captured?"
Abyss Corporation, the Demon Race, is superior to the beings of that continent.
In particular, their fleet, which had ruled the seas for hundreds of years, was virtually invincible, and they indeed possessed the military might to back up such pride.
They deployed steamships that the continent's races had yet to even develop, and the ironclads that were the pride of the Eastern Empire already constituted the majority of Abyss Corporation's warships.
However, the pride of those demons, Baal's 'Arrogance,' was utterly crushed head-on.
"M-My apologies, 'Wrath' Inc. is also hurrying to handle and repair the remaining fleet—"
"By the time they hurry, those bastards will have already set foot in Abyss Corporation!"
With Barbatos's unexpected death in battle, the demon who had suddenly become acting CEO of 'Wrath' Inc. trembled like an aspen leaf and groveled, but Baal's rage did not subside.
And that rage turned towards the Golden Succubus.
"Explain yourself, Gremory."
Abyss Corporation had not entirely ruled out the possibility of joining the war on the Central Continent.
Rather, because they had kept that possibility in mind, their first target was the Eastern Empire—their most powerful rival, but diplomatically isolated.
Even then, to avoid provoking the nations of the Central Continent as much as possible, they chose their attack routes through the relatively less important southern and eastern regions, not the Eastern Empire's capital.
They had anticipated Francia's entry into the war, as it was an ally of the Eastern Empire and held a grudge against Abyss Corporation. But even that came much faster than expected.
Furthermore, not only did the Eastern Empire manage to get its entire remaining fleet to the Central Continent, but the fact that nearly all the nations of the Central Continent would cooperate for an all-out offensive was far, far beyond their assumptions.
In the first place, if they had assumed such a thing, Abyss Corporation would have rather planned an invasion of the Central Continent itself.
"Wasn't it your job to prevent the Central Continent from uniting! What in the world were you doing while all the nations of the Central Continent were gathering!"
Gremory, who received the full force of Baal's fury, stared at him with her golden eyes and spoke slowly.
"To be precise, it was carried out through the joint efforts of 'Lust' Inc. and 'Greed' Inc."
The succubi, who delve into dreams, are adept at planting suggestions in humans.
In fact, their clandestine activities were largely responsible for the Central Continent's avoidance of war with Abyss Corporation and the burying of the threat of the 'Drones,' which endangered the entire continent.
But that's not all. Suggestion is effective, but it wavers easily in the face of stronger hostility or fear.
It was not just suggestion; because they were given connections to the corrupt ruling class established by 'Greed' Inc., and the vested interests to satisfy their avarice, they turned a blind eye to Abyss Corporation's various atrocities.
"But Baal. You purged them all, didn't you."
Vassago, the CEO of 'Greed' Inc., who had been working covertly as Krafte's Chancellor and orchestrating chaos in the Empire, was anticlimactically eliminated by Baal.
In Abyss Corporation, which had forbidden conflict between its seven companies and strictly respected each company's authority, the murder of a CEO did not lead to immediate, docile submission.
If it had been the Pandemonium of old, a situation where everything revolved solely around the logic of power, they might have submitted more easily.
But 400 years is a long time.
For the demons of Abyss Corporation, who had enjoyed far too much, to readily accept and obey Baal as he dismantled a system they had grown accustomed to for 400 years overnight, while also overturning existing regulations, was too much.
Countless beings were purged for rejecting Baal's rule, creating a significant vulnerability within Abyss Corporation.
As gaps formed in their carefully managed network of connections and the vested interests provided through them were cut off, those who had represented Abyss Corporation's interests until now turned their backs as easily as if there were a difference in race.
"You created this weakness, Baal."
"Ha."
Baal rose from his seat and strode forward.
He then reached out and roughly seized Gremory's throat.
"Ugh...!"
"Gremory. Is it not because you are still drunk on your Saintess game with the humans, having forgotten your duty as a demon?"
Gremory, though suffering from being choked, let out a scornful laugh.
"Are you going to purge me and the children of 'Lust' Inc. now? Like your old comrades who once followed you but have been reduced to mere puppets?"
The moment Baal's face trembled with rage.
Clap— Clap— Clap—
The sound of applause echoed.
When Baal turned his gaze, Paimon swept back his long red hair with a hand and gave an enchanting smile.
"Bravo. Absolutely perfect. No different from a human nation in astonishing decline. We can just fight amongst ourselves like this until the enemies invade and kill us all! What a wonderfully demon-like and splendid end that would be, eh?"
Baal threw Gremory aside.
Glancing at the collapsed and coughing Gremory, Paimon smiled again and spoke.
"Oh, Baal. Our champion, our hero, the Demon King who established our order and then tore it down. Surely you don't consider this a defeat, do you?"
Baal let out a sigh, crossed his arms, and asked.
"The preparations for the 'Drones'?"
"They may think this island is empty right now... But of course, they are more than prepared."
Paimon replied with a grin.
They had lost the naval battle.
But it had only wounded their pride; nothing else had changed.
Those foolish races of the continent are probably deluding themselves into thinking they can win just by crossing the sea.
Baal sneered at their foolishness and declared resolutely.
"Let them come. This island will soon become their grave."