novelraw Chapter 235: 235. Abyssal Holy War – Clash (1)
Chapter 235: 235. Abyssal Holy War – Clash (1)
Chapter 235. Abyssal Holy War – Clash (1)
On the altar, where several crystals glittered with a brilliant golden light.
Queen Erisliste Lilianne De Francia was kneeling quietly upon it, praying.
Louis stared blankly at the sight of her silver hair, which was dyed gold by the light of the crystals.
The sight, which made him think that a Saintess was truly a Saintess, slowly made him lose his sense of reality…
“Kngh, what a waste, such a waste. If I sold those, how much would they be worth…!”
The Magic Tower Master's voice brought him sharply back to reality, and he spoke with a flabbergasted expression.
“Isn't the Magic Tower responsible for the gate ending up like this, Teacher? Of course, we should also offer some compensation-”
“Why is that the Magic Tower's responsibility! It's the fault of those idiots who were fooled and swindled by the demon bastards!”
Louis's heart sank, and he whipped his head around, worried someone might have heard, before whispering quietly to the Magic Tower Master.“Please, calm down, Teacher. In the end, aren't we all doing this for the common good? In any case, the Magic Tower also has to win to get its hands on the demons' technology.”
“Aish, tsk. Still, if I had sold those, think of all the research funding. Countess Aquitaine is surprisingly stingy. She's loaded, but she takes things like that…”
‘…Are you even aware that Countess Aquitaine is my older sister?’
Louis swallowed the words that had risen to his throat and averted his gaze with the face of an old man who had seen it all.
He had to be mad, becoming the disciple of such a materialist…
“Oh.”
And in that moment, light burst forth.
“Oh, ooh…”
The light that erupted from the Saintess Queen shot up to the heavens, clearing away the purple mist that had covered the high sky.
The pillar of light soon faded, but its scattered remnants drifted like dust of light, blanketing the entire encampment.
As sunlight poured through the gap in the mist cleared by the pillar of light, the Queen, her long, golden-tinged hair fluttering, slowly rose to her feet and pulled her hood over her head.
No one could tear their eyes away from that slow movement.
Not even Louis.
And in the very next moment.
“Huk…!”
“Woah?”
Countless butterflies took flight from all over the encampment.
“What is this?”
“Where were these things hiding!”
The butterflies, of various colors but all marked with a black spot, fluttered as if burned, covering the sky before fleeing beyond the encampment as if to escape.
“Is it done, Your Majesty?”
“Yes. For a while, at least, the demons won't be able to torment the soldiers from within.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The conversation between Marquis Lafayette and the Queen, their voices subtly infused with mana so the soldiers could hear clearly, drifted over.
Louis dazedly realized that most of the soldiers had knelt and were paying their respects to the Queen.
“Aish, it's amazing, truly amazing. She would have been even more successful if she'd become a magician instead of a saintess. What a waste of talent.”
He finally snapped back to his senses upon hearing the Magic Tower Master's grumbling.
“…Please, I’m begging you, don't say such things near the Revolutionary Army or the Paladin Order, Teacher.”
“Hmph, whatever. Just you watch. I'll put the Magic Tower's pride on the line and show you a spectacle even greater than that!”
The master of the Magic Tower, humanity's greatest intellect, the sage of sages.
The words of the man who held such brilliant titles were probably not just empty words.
Probably not, but…
Louis let out a sigh deep enough to shake the earth.
If only his teacher's personality were even a quarter as good as his magic ability.
*
Damien De Millbeau looked at the soldiers lined up in formation with a somewhat troubled expression.
The Queen had truly not spoken empty words, and the soldiers no longer complained about the dreams.
That terrible dream.
The terrible nightmare that whispered at them not to die for nothing, that there was no reason to fight the demons.
He had been unable to do anything for the soldiers, whose pride as a commander he had built up was crumbling so meaninglessly.
So the Queen could solve it just like that.
“Damn it, I’m powerless.”
Damien scratched his head roughly.
He himself had even been plagued by the dream.
And of all things, in that form.
“Do not worry yourself too much, Commander Millbeau, Your Excellency.”
Damien, still scratching his head, turned at the voice coming from his side.
“Your Excellency is fighting well on the front line, an exemplar for all commanders. Her Majesty the Queen must also trust you.”
That Queen? Surely not.
Damien let out a bitter laugh.
She was a wild young lady who had swung a whip made of divine power at their very first meeting, but somehow, she had ended up in such a position.
“Ah, ahhh…”
Damien clutched his head with both hands, tormented.
“…What is it, Your Excellency?”
“It's nothing, just feeling a bit of self-reproach.”
“…?”
Giselle Davi looked puzzled, but Damien couldn't tell her.
‘Of all the damn things, the succubus that appeared in that damn dream was her, the Queen. Damn it!’
Damien sighed and asked, his eyes half-open.
“Hey, Davi. Who was it for you?”
Giselle just smiled lightly.
“Hey. Your superior is asking, and you're just going to brush it off with a smile?”
“It was my older sister.”
“…”
Damien fell silent.
After an awkward silence, Giselle spoke.
“I am fine, Commander, Your Excellency.”
“Wh-wh-who said I was worried about you? This Master of Defense is a merciless Lion of the Battlefield, you insignificant staff officer! …To laugh in my face. You’re going too far with Countess Aquitaine's backing, really.”
For some reason, Giselle laughed even more at those words.
“…Don't tell me my staff officer has been driven mad by the nightmare?”
“No, Commander, Your Excellency. It may be a little late, but the Countess Aquitaine does not protect me.”
“What?”
Damien thought of Louis d'Aquitaine, who was always hovering near Giselle, and narrowed his eyes as he asked.
“And you expect me to believe that now?”
But Giselle only smiled lightly.
The succubus taking the form of her older sister was, certainly, quite clever.
At the same time, it had also enraged Giselle.
If not for the things she had experienced, she might have been swayed.
Giselle quietly closed her eyes and recalled Countess Aquitaine’s wedding from years ago.
-Congratulations on your wedding, Your Excellency, Countess Aquitaine.
-…Thank you for attending, Lieutenant Colonel Giselle Davi.
Christine Aquitaine, looking quite surprised, hadn't apologized.
In fact, she seemed to think that she shouldn't show that kind of attitude.
So instead of pressing, Giselle asked something else.
-Countess Aquitaine. Do you remember my sister's name?
-…Ellen.
The expression and voice Christine Aquitaine had shown the moment she said that name in response to the sudden question.
The feelings contained within them, not yet fully erased.
That was enough for her.
Because Ellen Davi was not just a pawn used and forgotten by a noble.
She was her proud and beloved older sister, the one who had made it possible for her and her family to be here today.
Those demons had failed to read all of Giselle’s past.
Her entire inner psychology.
That gave Giselle conviction.
Slowly opening her eyes, Giselle spoke with force.
“We can win, Commander Millbeau, Your Excellency.”
Damien, with a look that said, ‘What is this now?’, replied.
“Hey, hey, you just be the commander then.”
Giselle gave her superior—who was regrettable, but would still fight with all his might once thrown onto the battlefield—a slight smile of genuine trust and-
She turned her gaze to the Queen, who was stepping forward before the soldiers.
*
Only a day had passed since their liberation from the nightmares.
It was just one night, but it was enough time for the soldiers, who had lost their morale while submerged in dreams of their families and loved ones pleading with them, to regain some semblance of reason.
Nevertheless, Eris also read the fear of the soldiers, who were terrified of the powerful Drone forces and lacked conviction that they could actually win.
And the hope that maybe, they could return to their homeland safely without fighting, and just end things here.
Eris slowly ascended the podium.
-What if I were to become your supporter instead?
-A supporter?
Her first meeting with Pierre de Lafayette.
She had been wary of him, avoiding him as just another noble, but growing tired of his persistence, she decided it was better to confront him than to keep running. That was their conversation.
-What about military service for the army?
-I guarantee I won't impose any military service obligation, unless you wish it.
Eris was so flabbergasted she chuckled lightly in spite of herself.
He hadn't lied. He had never once demanded she perform military service.
Instead, he made Eris volunteer for military service herself.
Even right now, on this battlefield she had come to of her own volition, he was asking her to push the backs of the hesitating soldiers and send them into a death trap.
Eris stood on the podium and looked out at the countless soldiers of the Allied Forces.
The Revolutionary Army of Francia, whom she loved so dearly that she had struggled to protect them no matter what. And the foreign soldiers, once her enemies, who had now come to fight alongside them.
The expressions on all of their faces.
Awe, tension, expectation, fear, earnestness, doubt.
The faces of these people, filled with countless emotions, were etched one by one into Eris's purple eyes.
Would talk of the demons being an untrustworthy enemy, or of the future of humanity, even reach them?
Human life is short and fleeting.
Eris, who remembered her past life where she was unjustly executed on slander despite having lived diligently, felt this more keenly than anyone.
Perhaps, even if they accepted the peace promised now, nothing would happen within their generation.
Perhaps the soldiers standing here now would be happier returning home and enjoying their daily lives with their families, even in a peace that would one day shatter, than fighting here.
And she had to ask such people to fight here, to die here.
Eris unknowingly placed a hand on her chest.
The sensation of her pounding heart.
Her expression stiffened under the pressure, and Eris, grateful for the veil that hid her face, opened her mouth.
“Hello, everyone of the Allied Forces. I am the Queen of the Revolutionary Kingdom of Francia, Erisliste Lilianne De Francia.”
Back then, she had thought she would never have to introduce herself this way…
Pierre de Lafayette was probably thinking of putting her in this position from their very first meeting.
“Swindler.”
Eris whispered the word and gave a small smile.
Only then did the pressure lift, and Eris felt a little better.
“You are all aware of Abyss Corporation's proposal for peace negotiations. And I know there are those among you who are wondering if it would be better to accept the peace they offer and return to your homelands.”
She had risen to the throne of a queen, and she had come to stand at the vanguard of war.
Pierre de Lafayette had not simply used her; he had made her desire this role for herself.
Eris slowly closed her eyes.
What came to mind was the vision she saw on the execution block.
“400 years ago, our ancestors also fought against the demons. After so much blood was shed, the demons made a proposal just like the one now. A sweet proposal to end the war, enjoy peace, and coexist.”
The descendants of those who fought alongside the Saintess 400 years ago, and she herself, now called a Saintess, standing before them 400 years later.
Was this uncannily similar situation a coincidence?
“Our ancestors accepted the demons' proposal. Not because they trusted the demons, but because they could not bear any more sacrifice and had no remaining strength to launch a counterattack. They took the hands of the demons who said they wanted peace and coexistence. And for 400 years.”
Eris slowly turned her head and pointed to the swarm of Drones in the distance.
“The result of that is right before our eyes. What stands there are not simply demonic weaponry. They were once beings who lived and breathed, just like us.”
Eris fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“…I wish to ask you all. This army of a million before our eyes is made of those who were once alive like us, and some of them may have been your neighbors or your family.
Just because these weapons, whose very existence is a threat to us all, are not moving right now, do you believe the words that they are not a threat?
The evidence of a million tragedies, which occurred while we weren't looking, is right before our eyes. For the 400 years we trusted the coexistence they advocated and turned a blind eye, how many more tragedies that we do not know of have occurred? I am afraid to even imagine it.”
Eris was executed by the very people she loved and tried to help.
She did not want to resent them, but that did not mean she was not angry.
“Now, we are on their island, facing them. We have seized an opportunity that was impossible for our ancestors—the opportunity to stand against them.
Was this an opportunity easily gained? 400 years. For 400 years, we were deceived by the demons' deception, shed so much blood, experienced countless wars, and after fighting through the sea and the fog and spilling endless blood!
For the first time! We have gained the chance to be free from the threat and deception of those demons. So here, in this place, will you believe the words of those who have already betrayed our ancestors 400 years ago and deceived us, and retreat?”
The endless blood, chaos, and madness she had seen up until she stood on the guillotine.
She had seen the war that had continued since the civil war.
If she were to resent, if she were to be angry.
It would be at those who manipulated all those tragedies from behind the scenes.
“Even at this very moment, right behind us, right behind you! Aren't the bodies of our comrades who fell for this one chance piled high!”
Everyone present flinched at Eris's voice, filled with a rage they had never heard before.
Even she herself did.
“At this very moment. I am by your side. Not on the Queen's throne, but on this land, facing the threat with you.
Everyone in this place. The generals, the commanders, everyone will risk their lives and fight alongside you.
You are not standing here in place of those who needed a war, as the demons whispered.”
Eris caught her heavy breath and pleaded, appealing to them.
“We all know well the immense despair and sacrifice we had to overcome to get here.
Everyone. Will you accept the demons' proposal now and return to your homelands, and say that the sacrifice of those who fell on this land was worthless?
Did you come to this death trap to hand over the door we opened with our own hands to the demons, to return and give your families a false peace of unknown duration, hoping only for their mercy?
Absolutely not. We must finish here, now, what our ancestors could not.
Not for ourselves, but for our families who are praying for you at this very moment, to protect the peace and freedom that future generations will enjoy.
So, everyone. I ask of you. Not the demons on the other side whispering lies…”
Not the princess who fled in fear.
Not the witch who was slandered and executed.
“Please, stand with me. If you do, I swear to God, I will risk my all to protect you to the very end.”
May the path she chose with her own will reach them.
Having finished all her words, Eris clasped her hands as if in prayer.
After a moment of silence that felt like an eternity.
A roar shook the earth.