◈ Episode 459. Dawn, the Darkest Hour (3)
Grandfel Claudi Arpeus Romeo.
“You do not disappoint me.”
Paimon’s voice was conveyed solely to Hoyeol.
It was only natural. Neither an incarnation nor a clone, but his true form. His immeasurably lofty rank was a realm beyond the reach of words, even for one who had reached the domain of the arcane.—□□□ □□ □□□□□…….
It was a distance where Paimon’s army was invisible to the naked eye.
What could be heard.
Was nothing but an unidentified sound buzzing and echoing through the mind.
“What is this?”
Everyone was clutching their eardrums.
“As expected, I can’t make heads or tails of it.”
“……
Miss Jessie Haines?”
“What the, since when were you there?”
“Just now.”
Jessie, who had belatedly joined the massive Holy War Alliance.
Even the pointed hat atop her head.
Could do nothing but watch the situation with anxiety.
Paimon found that silence not unpleasant.
“You have shown a measure of courtesy.”
Fear.
That was precisely the emotion befitting his arrival.
Presently, Paimon raised his arm, his ornaments clinking.
Words were unnecessary. [Paimon’s army prepares for battle.]
The Demon King of the Ninth Throne.
However, Paimon’s might, accompanied by his army, was in no way inferior when compared to the Ten Thrones save for Baal. As if to prove this, Paimon’s army waged war in a manner unbecoming of demons.
Clack.
The army did not rampage recklessly.
Calmly, they carried out the King’s command.
Drawing their bowstrings with meticulous care.
And loosing them again with cold composure.
Fwoosh.
Soon, a rain of countless arrows covered the sky.
Vreeeee.
Gunner hastily soared higher into the sky.
The fighter jet could effortlessly deflect ordinary physical impacts.
But this was a different story. ‘……
Leaving aside the number of arrows.’
The power of the arrowheads was on another level. ‘
Each and every one holds the might of a trebuchet!’
The insight of his innate blacksmith race told him so. With their armaments, with that level of sharpness, the arrowheads would pierce steel armor with ease.
Gunner looked at Hoyeol as he rapidly ascended.
“I suppose I need not worry about you, Commander-in-Chief?”
Gunner turned his eyes from Hoyeol and surveyed the battle. There was little time left. He transmitted the battlefield situation in real time for the Iron Castle, which would arrive by leaping through space-time.
“Agari of the Behemoth, a rain of arrows is pouring down here! Regrettably, even the armor of the Iron Castle seems unable to withstand this rain of arrows. Perhaps the Iron Castle will turn into a hedgehog.”
Static.
“But more worrisome than that is the Holy War Alliance on the ground. The Lionheart Knights and the Imperial Army. And even with the adventurers joining them, their numbers amount to a mere ten thousand, whereas……”
Static.
“The ranks of Paimon’s legion still show no end. Even a rough estimate puts them at nearly five hundred thousand. Of course, our Commander-in-Chief has appeared here, but……”
Static……?
At the words “Commander-in-Chief,” Chainwalker’s voice returned.
—The Commander-in-Chief is there?
“He is.”
—Gunner, withdraw from that place at once!
Gunner doubted his ears.
“What? What do you mean? Are you telling me to retreat now?”
Had he not made himself clear?
The light of the mana stone, dimmer than before.
The single life of a small dwarf.
He had vowed to spend it for the future of the Holy War Alliance.
Of course, the situation was still desperate.
Though Paimon had finally revealed his true form, his legion still showed no sign of letting up. Gunner was a complete layman when it came to magic. He could not be certain whether Hoyeol’s mana would run out first, or whether Paimon’s near-infinite army would be annihilated first.
However.
“You may worry. But the situation has certainly improved.”
None other than Hoyeol revealed himself.
Surely there could be no greater spark for a counterattack than this.
But at the words that followed, Gunner flinched.
Chainwalker’s urgent voice.
—So if you don’t want to get caught up in it, get out of there right now!!
“?!”
Because that voice was so urgent.
Gunner’s body reacted first.
His head still could not comprehend Chainwalker’s reaction.
But the hand gripping the controls moved reflexively.
Vreeeee.
It was then.
Crackle.
Lightning began to fall from the cloudless sky. It was an indiscriminate thunderstorm. Tens of thousands of arrows—and tens of thousands of lightning bolts rivaling them—rained down upon Paimon’s army.
KABOOOOOM.
Gunner’s breath quickened in an instant.
“……!”
—Gunner, are you safe? We will arrive there shortly!
Chainwalker continued to ask after his well-being.
Gunner could not answer.
If he had been even a fraction of a second slower in gripping the controls.
If Chainwalker had not snapped at him.
By now, I would…….
“…….”
Looking down at the ground, he saw demons that had evaporated without a trace from the lightning.
Their high-grade armor had been reduced to dust, rendered meaningless.
To expect the fighter jet to serve as a shield would be preposterous.
Gunner opened his mouth.
“Just what.”
Fear had already taken root in Gunner’s pupils.
“……
What on earth happened during the battle with the evil dragon?”
Whether it was fear toward Paimon’s army, which did not stop even under the fierce onslaught.
Or fear toward Commander-in-Chief Hoyeol.
Gunner himself could not be sure….
Neigh, neigh.
Even when gripping the reins fiercely, the horses did not move their hooves. Were they startled by the striking thunder? No, they were not warhorses so frail as to freeze in terror at mere lightning.
“Commander Harkon. The warhorses……!”
Harkon turned at Yeshika’s call. The warhorses had not only drooped their tails but could not even raise their heads. Enoch spoke in a cautious voice.
“Their muscles have completely frozen. In the rear, young and inexperienced horses have collapsed on the spot. Because of this, knights injured from falling off their horses are appearing one after another.”
“What of the Imperial Army’s situation?”
“……
It is faring no better.”
Harkon looked ahead once more.
The battlefield was right before him.
Yet why.
Did he feel his body growing heavier and heavier?
Harkon asked himself. ‘Am I, at this point, afraid of demons, of death?’ No, that could not be.
The old knight’s eyes blazed with fighting spirit.
His two legs and the Emperor, taken by demons.
And when he thought of the Empire’s territory and its people.
He felt he could not close his eyes in peace, even in death.
Then what am I afraid of?
The adventurers who could survey the battlefield by activating their Skills. Through them, he had already heard the news. That the Commander-in-Chief had already arrived on the battlefield and was facing the flooding army of Paimon.
Harkon muttered.
“……
I do not wish to admit it, but.”
So it was Gyeong I was afraid of.
Sword Gang (劍罡)
Its wielder.
Harkon had crossed over the ridges of death countless times.
He could not help but be sensitive to the aura of death.
Beyond this place where the horses had stopped, the battlefield was filled with currents of death.
If one were to step in recklessly.
It was a current of annihilation from which no one could survive.
Harkon could be certain.
Even the Demon King of the Ninth Throne.
Even Paimon.
Could not emit such an aura of death on his own.
What those words meant was simple.
Harkon’s voice trailed off bitterly.
“……
You truly intend to kill everything, Gyeong.”
*A fragrant scent tickles the nose.
“The main course from the very start.”
Paimon continued speaking, looking at the demons being scorched by the lightning.
“I wished to serve the appetizer slowly, but you are hasty.”
Shhk.
Paimon received the arrow handed to him by the legion commander.
Its tip, a sharply split arrowhead.
An appetizer that whet the appetite.
It would be more than enough to draw fresh blood.
“Nevertheless, since it is your hospitality, I shall accept it.”
KABOOOOOM.
The lightning showed no sign of stopping.
The army was collapsing at a rapid pace.
Yet Paimon paid it no mind.
No, it was more correct to say he had no need to pay it mind.
“Has it not ended yet? Very well, as much as you wish.”
Paimon’s 200 Legions.
Compared to his army that numbered beyond millions, the troops lost now were not even a drop in the bucket. Thus, Paimon leisurely enjoyed the scent.
In the realm of ‘consciousness’ that only the Ten Thrones could communicate through.
He spoke to Hoyeol.
“There are those who watch our banquet with envy.”
The Holy War Alliance.
He had noticed the humans’ approach long ago. Had he wished to wipe them out, he could have done so already. It was the same now. With a mere flick of a finger, they would be annihilated.
The reason he did not, despite being able to?
“I find their obedient watching to my liking.”
It was merely a whim.
Watching the banquet hall trembling in fear.
Because their terror-stricken demeanor pleased him.
“Do you see their fear-stricken expressions? Do you see them unable to even consider stepping onto the battlefield? Most excellent. No doubt thanks to your tutelage.”
Paimon’s eyes narrowed for the first time.
“Even so, I desire a more private audience, Claudi. Though those ones cannot hear our conversation, is it not true that ‘they’ can eavesdrop upon it?”
Here, ‘they’ referred to the Ten Thrones.
At Paimon’s words, the Ten Thrones who had been listening through demonic eyes were shaken.
Their agitation seemed to be transmitted through the pupils of the demonic eyes.
Clench.
Paimon twisted the corner of his mouth and clenched his fist.
At the same time.
The demonic eyes floating around burst all at once.
“Now then, there are no more spies. Since there is no one who can hear our conversation, this noble Paimon shall speak candidly and reveal all to you.”
Disgust had already seeped into Paimon’s voice.
“Why did I claim the Ninth Throne? It is because those fellows are utterly base. In short, they are beneath me.”
The noble Paimon.
“How could I hold a feast or discourse upon art with those who understand nothing of dignity and decorum? Thus, I compromised. Not wishing to be plagued by them, I claimed the title of the Ninth King.”
To such a Paimon, having slain Buer.
Hoyeol, having ascended as a new Throne, was no threat.
Paimon’s pupils flashed with delight.
“However, you have appeared before me.”
Human, demon, man, beast, or monster.
Such things mattered not.
Having entered the arcane domain that transcended boundaries.
Such notions were merely shells.
What mattered more was the innate nobility hidden within the shell.
Dignity and presence.
In that sense.
The being before him could become an equal friend.
“Even your rampaging form is perfect, my friend.”
Even at this moment.
Paimon watched Hoyeol indiscriminately slaughtering his army.
Only I, noble as you are.
Can understand your emotions.
“I know, for I have experienced it myself.”
How could I fail to perceive the sorrow hidden upon that face?
Yes, it is the emptiness I, too, have experienced.
But just as I overcame it through you.
“You have me.”
Now that you know of my existence.
You will be able to overcome that sorrow.
A conniver surpassing mere strategists.
Paimon recalled the days he had spent indulging the filth of the Ten Thrones.
For this very moment.
“Just recalling conversation with them makes me nauseous, but it is fine. Thanks to that, I have gained the opportunity to face you like this. And because you, too, seem to respond to me.”
The proof of that response was none other than.
The attitude of the humans who dared not interrupt the banquet.
They were not overwhelmed by his army.
“I paid no heed to mere humans. Yes, my friend. Is it not purely you who made the pitiful beasts foam at the mouth and collapse, and even the Lionheart Knights cower in fear?”
At that point, Paimon was convinced.
“As expected, that is not the place where you belong.”
He concluded he could call him his one and only friend.
“My friend, come with me.”
However, for Paimon’s anticipation to be dashed.
It did not take long.
A voice flowed from between Hoyeol’s slowly parting lips.
“I am not alone.”
Not alone?
Was he denying it with such empty eyes?
No.
Like me, you are alone.
Only I, noble in my solitude.
Can understand your emptiness—….
Words like a dagger pierced Paimon’s heart.
“Behold.”
Then, a brilliant radiance covered his vision.
“For I have ‘a single ray of light’.”
…[Skill, ‘The Only One Under Heaven and Earth’, its rampage is halted.]