V7 Chapter 5: A Great Mistake

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“—You’re kidding…”

The Guide was standing above the main planet of the Banfield Family.

This time around, he had only sent Liam to another planet and stimulated his subordinates’ desires, yet the Banfield Family was in turmoil.

Chaos ensued as it was revealed that Liam had been abducted through summoning magic.

The scope of the damage wasn’t limited to the mansion.

The knights and the military personnel were equally confused, and some followed Tia and Marie, who took advantage of the turmoil to fulfill their agendas.

“But I only pushed their backs a little…” The Guide said to himself, confused.

He had slightly provoked them after stimulating their desires.

That was the only thing he did this time, and he never expected it to cause such a commotion.

With Liam absent, both Tia and Marie had gone out of control.

Not only that, Chengshi was having a death match against Liam’s junior disciples for some reason or another.

Not that any of this really bothered the Guide, of course.

In addition, Isaac had overtaken Liam’s mansion, and Baron Norden was doing as he pleased.

Being the arrogant child that he was, Isaac was being manipulated by Baron Norden, who was also attempting to dip his hand into the Cleo Faction which was led by Liam.

—Corrupt aristocrats were gathering to take a bite out of Liam’s vast territory.

It was like a domino effect.

Without Liam, the Banfields were having a much rougher time than the Guide had anticipated.

“It’s here! My time is here!”

He didn’t think the territory would suffer this much as a consequence of Liam’s absence.

With clenched fists, the Guide shivered in joy.

“Right! I should steal Liam’s treasures and let him have a taste of despair when he returns,” he said with glee, “—now, where’s the Alchemy Box?”

Liam’s Alchemy Box was a magical tool that could produce gold out of literal garbage.

Thanks to this item, Liam had been freed from any and all financial burdens.

It was an important source of revenue for Liamand if taken away, would cause a lot of inconveniences in the future.

By the time he returned, his territory would be in tatters.

It would take him decades if not centuries to regain everything that he lost.

The Guide went to search for the Alchemy Box, skipping along the way.

“I’m looking forward to your look of despair.”

◇

In the basement of the mansion, a hangar had been prepared for the sole purpose of accommodating Avid.

Having fused with the invaluable item known as the Machine Heart, Avid was capable of moving freely on its own.

That said, it obeyed no one’s orders except Liam’s.

It recognized Liam as its sole owner and didn’t allow anyone else to board it unless it was for maintenance.

However, Ellen had approached Avid’s cockpit with Liam’s sword wrapped tightly around her arms.

She was sobbing.

“Master—Master disappeared…”

Not only was Liam absent, Rinho and Fuuka were busy trying to kill Chengshi on a daily basis.

There was no one left to teach her about the One-Flash, and she was feeling awfully lonely now that her favorite teacher was gone.

She had come to Avid’s cockpit seeking Liam’s presence.

Avid’s eyes moved around before locking onto Ellen.

It would’ve normally refused entry for even Ellen, but it opened up its cockpit, probably thinking that she wouldn’t do anything weird.

Ellen climbed in, took a seat, and hugged her sword tightly.

Avid closed the hatch, but not before someone suspicious floated over.

—It was the Guide.

“My, oh my, I didn’t expect him to hide the Alchemy Box in a place like this. I guess he has no one that he could trust. Well, no matter!”

Avid detected the Guide and activated the defense mechanisms.

Guns and the like appeared from the wall and unleashed their barrage upon the Guide, but none of them were able to reach him.

Be it bullets or laser beams, not of them could put a graze on the Guide.

“It’s futile! Things like these can’t ward me off!!”

The Guide had been beaten by Liam countless times, but he wasn’t a weak character by any means.

When the Guide approached the cockpit, Avid extended its arms to protect itself; however, the Guide spread out his own arms and overpowered Avid in a contest of strength.

“There’s no way I’d lose to a chunk of iron that doesn’t even have Liam on!!—After getting the Alchemy Box, I’ll make sure to destroy you too.”

Avid’s cockpit was forced open—but a gold knife was floating inside, ready for action.

“—Eh?”

The Guide’s mind froze.

Inside the cockpit, Ellen was sleeping with Liam’s sword carefully wrapped around her arms.

“—Master.”

When she muttered so in her sleep, more knives began to appear, and they all pointed towards the Guide.

“W-wait one moment. H-h-hey, miss? Let’s talk this out.”

Desperate as he was, Ellen was in deep slumber and couldn’t hear anything he said.

One of the knives pierced the Guide’s temple, and he fell on his back.

Thereafter, the knives propelled themselves forward and impaled the Guide one after another until, once again, all that was left was his hat.

“A-after all that trouble that I went through to recover! I won’t forget about this!”The Guide screeched.

He flewaway from the scene looking like a hat with limbs attached.

Watching this, Avid had a thought.

—I should become stronger.

Something that looked like blood vessels covered Avid’s outer-shell, and adjustments were made to its internal structures.

◇

“Malice! Yes, I’ll concentrate all the malice to this territory!”

The Guide, who had become a tophat, was gathering all the malice inside Liam’s territory.

He also announced Liam’s absence to everyone in the Empire so that those with malicious intents, be it aristocrats or pirates, would gather.

“I’ll demolish everything that you have built up! Fuhahaha! By the time you’re back, you’re territory would be in shambles!!”

He was venting his anger after having his body erased by Ellen.

The Guide thought of something.

“Oh, I almost forgot about Calvin! I should provide him with my support. If it’s him, he wouldn’t miss this opportunity. I’ll have people gather around him so that they can raise up a storm.”

In order to ruin Liam’s territory, the Guide decided to throw in his support and help Calvin.

◇

“I sure am lucky.”

I mutter while lying on the bed, and Kunai, who has been standing beside me, nods.

“It is as Lord Liam says, but what’s the occasion?”

As a Black Ops member that’s responsible for protecting me, she’s someone of few words, but I’m chatting with her since I’m boredand there’s no one else to talk to.

“Well, it just felt like luck was seeping into me.”

“Does such a feeling exist?”

“Of course it does. After all, the god of luck is on my side. Anyway, how are things looking so far?”

It’s really bright outside even though it’s already nighttime.

There are countless torches lined up on the wall that’s protecting the city, and a battle is ongoing.

“The beastmen are dominating. This country’s soldiers are simply too weak,” Kunai reports.

“Hmm, it’s not a bad idea to watch on as the country perishes,”I reply lazily.

This, in a sense, is also a type of luxury.

The Kingdom’s army is fighting desperately outside, but I’m here on my bed, spectating from above.

“So? How’s Kanami doing?”

“—I’m afraid that woman is dissatisfied with Lord Liam’s attitude. She’s clamoring on about how she’s going to repel the enemy forces, but there’s no doubt that she’ll die soon.”

I’ve heard that she gained some great power as a Hero, but it seems like she doesn’t have what it takes to push back the enemies.

“The Kingdom of Aarl was too indecisive. It should’ve summoned the Hero earlier when it still had some forces left so that they could nurture the Hero.”

It’s useless to throw someone with brute force into the battlefield without anything else.

This Queen is no good—no good at all.

“Lord Liam, it’s about time.”

“Then let’s get going.”

I stand up and stretch my back before leaving the room with Kunai.

◇

That night.

After being roused by Enora, Kanami was preparing her armor in a dark room, relying on nothing else but the light from the candles.

The maids around her were helping her, but it was quite obvious that they were afraid.

“They attack at night as well?”

Kanami was surprised, and this feeling was shared by Enora, who had entrusted her kingdom to Kanami.

“It’s quite rare for them to do so. After all, there’s bound to be more friendly-fires at night,” Enora replied. “But then again, this might not be a problem for beastmen.”

Kanami’s hands shook at the thought of entering an actual battlefield.

(I’m scared. I’ve become much stronger, but I’m still scared.)

Enora held Kanami’s hands and entrusted her hope to the latter.

“Kanami-sama, please protect us. Please protect the innocent citizens from the hands of those despicable beasts.”

Enora didn’t fit the image that Kanami had of Queens.

“Leave it to me.”

(She’s always thinking about her people. I see, so this is what it means to be a member of the Royal Family.)

◇

A fierce battle was taking place on the Kingdom of Aarl’s castle walls.

The soldiers of the kingdom were fighting against the beastmen that had attacked in the middle of the night.

Walls meant nothing before these strong beastmen warriors.

After successfully climbing the walls, they were surrounded by the kingdom’s soldiers.

One of the beastmen grabbed a soldier’s head and squeezed it hard.

“Weak! Weak!! You humans aren’t a match against us!”

The soldiers were being mowed down by beastmen.

It was then that Kanami descended onto the battlefield wielding a sword.

Seeing the countless corpses of soldiers rolling around, Kanami’s blood boiled.

“—Don’t expect me to show you mercy.”

The beastmen howled in laughter and smirked.

“It’s a woman! They must be low on soldiers.” They jeered. “The victory is ours—h-huh?”

Suddenly, a deep wound appeared on a laughing beastman’s abdomen, and blood started spurting out.

The beastman crouched, applying pressure to his injuries with his hands.

Kanami stood there, trembling with her sword in hand.

When they saw this, the expressions on the beastmen around her changed, and they promptly charged at her.

However, Kanami maneuvered past their attacks and slashed at the incoming beastmen’s arms and legs, rendering them incapable of remaining standing.

“Haa—haa—”

Kanami shook from the sensation that she got when she slashed someone.

Then, the soldiers around her began stabbing the beastmen with their spears.

“Die! Die!”

“This is for my dead son!”

“Hail the Hero!”

The soldiers were singing Kanami’s praise.

Before they knew it, they had slaughtered most of the beastmen that had climbed the walls.

Several of them had managed to escape, but it was a major victory for the Kingdom of Aarl.

“We won! It’s our victory!”

Kanami couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed.

(Why? They were already incapable of fighting back!)

The injuries on their limbs had rendered the beastmen incapable of resisting, yet the soldier stabbed them without a moment’s hesitation. It was almost scary.

Kanami collapsed on the spot.

It was dawn.

◇

Nogo, the Lion King, was about to swing his large battle-ax on the beastmen that had fled.

“M-mery. There was a Hero—”

Nogo hacked down the ones that had failed him before everyone’s eyes before raising his blood-stained face to the crowd.

“It matters not whether they have a Hero. Since we’ve come to this, we’ll just have to break down their gate to enter the city. It will be a feast!”

When he raised his battle-ax, the beastmen cheered in unison.

Glauss, who had been watching, clicked his tongue softly.

“A frontal assault. We’ll be losing a lot of comrades again.”

Nogo was powerful, so he was prone to attacking head-on.

He was intoxicated with the feeling of crushing his enemies with overwhelming force.

Chino, Glauss’s daughter, rushed over.

“Father! The battle is about to commence.”

Looking at her sparkling eyes, Glauss patted her head.

Her ears that had been standing erect plopped down happily.

“Make sure to survive. A strong warrior is someone that survives.”

“I’ll defeat the enemies and prove to everyone that I’m as strong as father!”Chino declared.

“No, I’m telling you to—”

It was at that moment.

The conversation amongst the beastmen ceased all together.

They were forced into silence by the immense pressure coming from someone at the other side of the gate.

Chino curled up her tail.

“F-father, could this feeling be from the rumored Demon Lord?”

Glauss turned to Nogo.

That didn’t seem to be the case.

Nogo was on guard as well.

“Prepare yourself!”

Heeding Nogo’s command, the tribes lined up in ranks and began their advance.

Based on the pressure coming from the gate, none of the beastmen were expecting an easy victory.

Nogo gestured to the nearby tribes to charge.

Interestingly enough, no arrows were being fired from the walls.

Just as they were about to reach the walls—the castle’s gate opened up, inviting the beastmen in.

“What!?”

Glauss’s eyes shot open, astonished by their enemies’ reckless move.

Other than the cityscape of the Kingdom of Aarl’s capital, they also saw a man was standing there, carrying a thin sword on his shoulder with a grin on his face.

With his hands, he was gesturing them to come at him.

Nogo, thinking that their enemies were trying to provoke them, issued an order to the entire army.

“Unforgivable. They dare provoke me, Nogo?—All men, CHARGE!”

The others charged in, but Glauss’s intuition was telling him that it would be a bad idea to enter the city.

Mostof the beastmen had realized this, but they had to charge because of Nogo’s command.

As a result of Glauss’s delay, their tribe was falling behind the others.

“Father, we’ve been ordered to charge! Let’s charge ahead quickly!”

Glauss was terrified of the man standing behind the gate.

Nevertheless, orders were absolute.

If he went against them, their entire tribe would be exterminated.

“—We shall charge.”

The Lycanthropes howled and chased after their allies.

Even so, cold sweat continued to flow down Glauss’s forehead.