novelraw Chapter 213: Abyssal Holy War - The First and Final Holy War (1)
Chapter 213: Abyssal Holy War - The First and Final Holy War (1)
213. Abyssal Holy War - The First and Final Holy War (1)
The naval port of Brest, in northwestern Francia.
The journey from departure to the battlefield had taken a mere two hours, but a significant amount of time was spent on emergency repairs for the captured ships and those that had suffered severe damage and were taking on water.
After spending a night at sea, they returned to the port the next day to find Eris waiting for them.
“Your Majesty the Queen, for you to come out and greet us personally—”
Christine tried to offer Eris a formal courtesy, but she had to stumble to catch Eris, who threw herself into a hug.
“Your Majesty, your decorum….”
“You did so well!”
Even though she was wearing a veil, I could tell from her voice alone that she was beaming with joy.
Christine, who had been about to say something, ended up letting out a soft laugh.Eris in her white robe, held in the arms of Christine, who was dressed in her black admiral's uniform...
What a fine picture.
As I was thinking that, Eris's gaze suddenly snapped to me, and I flinched.
“Ah, Marquis Lafayette, you did well, too. Hmm, I received a report that you had a near-death experience, so I was worried... but you seem more alright than I expected.”
Somehow, I feel like I'm hearing this line quite often.
Perhaps because I was hearing it from Eris and not Christine this time, it felt strange….
An awkward laugh escaped me, but I said what needed to be said first.
“Thank you, Your Majesty the Queen.”
“Huh? So suddenly? For what? All I did was wait here….”
Eris, having pulled away from Christine's embrace, replied in a voice full of confusion.
Despite having used the Divine Power Amplification Crystal, she wore the face of someone who had completely forgotten about it, as if she hadn't just cast a powerful blessing on us all.
It was just like the Saintess who, before my regression, had offered a prayer for a complete stranger even as she faced her own unjust death.
Eris herself would probably hate it if she knew I was thinking this, but I smiled and added…
“I thank you, Lady Saintess. ...And God as well.”
Eris blinked a few times, then asked with a very worried expression.
“For the Marquis to say such a thing. I suppose it's a good thing, but are you alright? Did your life flash before your eyes or something?”
That remark, which she must have tossed out without a second thought, was so fitting that I let out an empty laugh and replied.
“Yes, I did. Thanks to that, I got a harsh scolding from the Admiral.”
Eris made a low 'hmmm-' sound and turned her gaze back to Christine.
“Are you alright? Usually, when Marquis Lafayette isn't doing well, the Countess seems to suffer even more.”
Christine smiled faintly and replied.
“I am grateful for Your Majesty's understanding.”
Well, that's a painful thing to hear.
In any case….
Christine and I, along with our allies, braved the danger and barely managed to open the way.
In that case, it's time to see the fruits of that labor.
“The messengers have been dispatched, I presume, Your Majesty the Queen?”
Hearing my words, Eris grinned and replied.
“Of course. Now it will truly be a war for the Allied Forces.”
*
The other nations of the Central Continent had agreed to join the war in exchange for various promises from Francia, but they were concerned about dispatching troops rashly only to waste military funds.
A landing attempt would only be possible after achieving victory, or at the very least crippling both sides, in the naval battle, and most had predicted Abyss Corporation's superiority.
In that situation, when the news that the continent's allied fleet had won the decisive battle against Abyss Corporation's fleet was delivered, it swept across the entire Central Continent in an instant, shocking everyone.
The fearsome fleet of 'Wrath' Company, which no one had ever dared to challenge, had been defeated, and the sea route to the island where humanity had never before set foot was now open.
As victory against Abyss Corporation—a prospect they had been half-doubting—seemed within reach, the nations of the Central Continent scrambled to dispatch their armies to Francia.
The first army to arrive in Brest was that of the Krafte Kingdom.
“Thank you for coming all this way to join the Allied Forces, Your Majesty, King.”
In front of a welcoming Eris, Heinrich I dismounted and replied simply.
“It is the content of a formal treaty signed by the previous king. It must be honored.”
“Despite that, you've arrived the fastest from the farthest place.”
As Eris opened her mouth again with a small laugh, Heinrich I fell silent for a moment before his eyes glinted sharply as he replied.
“Well now, it seems it is difficult to hide from Your Majesty, the Saintess Queen, that Krafte has been waiting for this day.”
As expected of the Krafte Kingdom.
Not even three years had passed since they suffered massive losses in a war where they had deployed their entire standing army.
Despite that, they arrived with an army that appeared to maintain fairly strict discipline, and an officer corps that had become elite through the experience of the last war.
“Ugh….”
Perhaps recalling the memory of fighting against them, Damien De Millbeau had a pale face, so I said with a soft laugh,
“Don't worry too much. They're on our side this time.”
“...Well, that's terrifyingly reassuring. Ha, haha….”
We're about to go fight even more terrifying demons with those 'reassuring' allies, but sometimes, I swear, that bastard Damien's sense of danger is strange.
Well, there's no need to fan the flames of his anxiety by pointing that out.
The next to arrive was the army of the Iberian Brotherhood.
Amidst a crowd of onlookers who had come to see the unusual procession of massive orcs, the goblins following them, and humans and beastmen—
“We greet the King and the King's brother!”
The soldiers of the Brotherhood, lined up in formation, shouted with enough force to shake the city streets.
“Uahahaha, welcome!”
Kroxx is one thing, but...
My gaze instinctively turned to Eris.
It wasn't good for them to prioritize me like this when Eris, the Queen, was right there.
Fortunately, Eris gestured as if to say it was fine, but still, these cultural differences are troublesome now that we're a multi-national allied force.
Still, the orcs led by the one-eyed orc, Karok, will surely be a reliable reinforcement army against those demons.
The next army arrived a few days after that, but their presence alone was immense.
“Ooh, so those are...”
“The army of living faith….”
In truth, the Pope had no intention of sending them, and Eris had to go and half-drag them here by the collar, but their majesty made even me gasp in admiration.
Clad in silver-white full plate adorned with a black cross, they held lances and shields consecrated with divine power that glittered dazzlingly, and they rode upon pure white steeds.
The last order of knights to stake their lives on faith and chivalry, on a continent where even the Francia Kingdom, once called the Kingdom of Knights, had been overthrown, and where faith in God was steadily fading.
There were as many as 500 of these knights, and if you included their squires, their numbers reached the thousands.
I suppose only the Holy Theocracy, which rakes in a fortune by borrowing the power of religion, could still maintain an order of knights of that size.
Though I have to wonder about an old-fashioned nation that has not a single ship-of-the-line because maintaining these knights is such a burden....
Still, the sight of those men with their glittering lances leaping down from their white horses in unison, their silver-white armor clanking as they moved, was tremendously intimidating.
The spectacle of those great knights removing their helms in unison, kneeling, and bowing their heads to a single woman.
The woman herself, the object of their veneration, was by contrast dressed in a simple white robe, but in this moment, everyone in the city was half-mesmerized, kneeling before her.
“The Paladin Order greets the living proof of faith, Your Majesty, the Saintess Queen!”
“Welcome to the Paladin Order, who have come a long way. I shall look forward to your great deeds in this war.”
My goodness. Perhaps it was the situation, but even Eris's voice sounded sublime and dignified, befitting a saintess.
As expected, the fanatical paladins seemed moved, replying as if in a complete chorus.
“Until the moment our bodies crumble to dust, we shall sing of faith and honor for Your Majesty, the Saintess Queen!”
...Well, now. A sight one might have seen hundreds of years ago.
In any case, they are the strongest order of knights, the reason why the Holy Theocracy cannot be easily dismissed even in this day and age when the power of faith has weakened considerably.
And since their opponents are none other than their main enemy, the demons, they will surely be of benefit….
I suddenly feel a sense of admiration for Eris, who managed to bring in these men who seem to have brains filled with nothing but faith and muscle.
Honestly, I feel an impulse to lift her veil and see what kind of expression Eris is making….
And finally.
Among the commanders of the army that arrived from the Germania Empire was a person I could never have imagined.
“Gilles... de Lionel?”
To me, who was half-frozen, Jill offered a handshake and replied lightly.
“It is now Jill von Leonhardt, Marquis Pierre de Lafayette.”
“How in the world did you end up in the Imperial Army….”
Gilles de Lionel—no, Jill von Leonhardt—smiled faintly as he shook my hand and spoke.
“You must have known that the Empire was implementing military reforms and recruiting foreign officers, right? I submitted a military reform plan based on the combat experience and doctrine from Krafte and Francia, and demanded a noble title and the implementation of the reform plan.”
“...Hah.”
As I stood there dumbfounded, Jill grinned and replied.
“Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager Cecilia, summoned me for a private audience and accepted both the noble title and the implementation of the military reform plan.”
...So that's how you became a commander of the Imperial Army, and an Imperial noble at that.
-...I will be watching. My enemy, who they say paid respects to my father. You, who can feel regret but cannot atone. You, who claim you are only doing your best in your position.
-The day you prove that you were only spouting empty words, enjoying the power and government of corrupt commoners with the position you bought by selling out your old allies. ...On that day, I will come for you.
The man who had vanished after leaving only those words in the pouring rain stared at me intently before opening his mouth.
“Life is quite amusing, isn't it? I never thought we would end up fighting together again like this, under the same flag.”
“...I also never thought you would show up like this….”
Still, at the very least.
“It seems you believe I am still doing my best?”
Receiving my question, Jill gave a small smile and replied.
“I heard you risked your life to take down the admiral of 'Wrath' Company single-handedly. If that isn't doing your best, then every human in the army should just hang up their uniform.”
“I just happened to be hitching a ride on the Countess Aquitaine's flagship and things just turned out that way.”
“Haha….”
Jill let out a low laugh, then looked at me and grinned.
“Well then, I look forward to working with you, Marquis Lafayette.”
“The pleasure is all mine, General Lio—no, General Leonhardt.”
And finally….
“My, my, Countess Aquitaine! You've worked so~~ hard! Do you have any idea how worried this old man was that the beautiful Countess might be harmed in the naval battle?”
“Welcome, Tower Master. However, you should first greet Her Majesty the Queen….”
“Oh, ooh, right, right! It is the first time I've had the honor of meeting you in person, Your Majesty, the Queen of Francia! Although Your Majesty may not be a patron of our Magic Tower, as a primary customer of our Divine Power Amplification Crystals, you are a great benefit to the Magic Tower's finances—”
“T-Teacher, please!”
In front of the hopelessly materialistic Tower Master, Louis, who couldn't bear to watch Eris's flustered state and tried to intervene, only earned himself a scolding.
“Hmph! Who do you think you are, interrupting your teacher while he's speaking!”
With the tempestuous Tower Master joining with his Magic Corps in tow, all the military forces of the Central Continent were finally assembled.
From the Revolutionary Kingdom of Francia, the Krafte Kingdom, the Germania Empire, the Iberian Brotherhood, the Magic Kingdom of Holland, the Holy Theocracy, and even to the Eastern Empire.
Armies with completely different political systems, religions, and even races, gathered together in one place—for the first time.
A war where the nations of the Central Continent, which had fought and shed each other's blood, would now fight against the instigator and evil behind it all.
“At this very moment, I declare the Central Continental Allied Forces' expeditionary war against the Abyss Corporation!”
“Waaaaaah—!”
At Eris's declaration, they all raised their weapons and let out a roar—for a war that must be the last.
The holy war against the threat from the abyss had begun.