Chapter 729: Chapter 729: Traitor (3)
The commander of Orculus, Ricardo Luhenpraha.
A holder of a unique class essence ability called [Silent Spell].
With an overwhelmingly strong performance in PvP, even I find facing him a huge burden.
Of course, I’m much stronger now than before...
‘Back then, it was mostly due to trickery working.’
He’s a tough opponent who would force me to fight with all my might if we met again.
‘But...’
He’s with Amelia right now...?
No, even more...
[Bret Chi, El, Dis Detran]
“What was that just now?”
“Point 4-7... El... battle has started...”
Battle has started...?
Thump—!
My chest tightened and for a moment I struggled to breathe. I wanted to jump on the military platform and rush to District 4 right away.
But on the other hand, my mind weighed the reality.
‘If I take the military platform to District 3, and from there to District 4...’
It would take at least three hours.
That’s the minimum time assuming I run without any battle.
Sure, optimistically, Amelia might hold out well until then...
Thump—!
But I already know.
That’s just wishful thinking.
It’s practically impossible to survive that long facing such monsters in the middle of enemy territory.
So I made a quick decision.
‘I can’t go myself.’
Even if I start now, it’ll be too late.
Not giving up, but stating a fact.
Yeah, so...
“Point 4-7... Two intruders, starting escape.”
Let’s think.
“Point 4-7, request for pursuit support.”
What can I do to help without going there myself?
“Astarotta.”
“Speak.”
“Can you request the 5th wall garrison? We can’t wait until morning. Ask them to start as soon as possible.”
“...I’ll pass on the message, but I doubt they’ll give a good answer.”
“Still, tell them to start as early as possible.”
“Understood.”
With that, Astarotta stepped out briefly to contact the District 5 garrison.
And then...
“What are you going to do...?”
Raven asked cautiously, watching my stiff expression.
I wasn’t sure if this would work, but I stated my plan briefly and clearly.
“I’m going to draw their attention.”
“How?”
“Barbarian style.”
“...I better prepare myself properly then.”
Though vague, Raven seemed to roughly understand what I was about to do.
“Good. Do it well. It might be tougher than ever.”
“...Ha.”
Raven sighed but showed determined eyes at my warning.
After anxiously eavesdropping on communications, when Astarotta returned, I told her my plan.
“I’m worried it seems far from the plan to kill the prime minister... but that’s not my concern. The responsibility’s yours.”
“You mean you’ll help?”
“I just follow orders.”
Neither friend nor comrade, but those short words gave me great psychological comfort.
Well, I guess the King of Apocalypse left me a great gift.
“So what about this woman?”
“Hm...”
What to do with her.
“...Oi, bro! Stop it already! I won’t get any strange ideas, okay?”
Even then, Vivian kept up her tone, making me smile.
“...I’ll take her. Need to keep listening to what’s going on.”
“Then you’ll /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ at least put some safety measures in place, right?”
“Uh... Sis...?”
“I’m not your sister, stop that.”
“Ah! R-Raven! Safety measures? Hehe... No need at all!”
“Don’t worry. It’s not dangerous. As long as you don’t think weird thoughts.”
At that, Raven took out a small pill about the size of a thumb from a pocket dimension.
“Here, swallow it with water.”
“What is it? I need to know...”
“I’ll tell you after you take it.”
“Ah, but it’s for humans... I need to know what—”
“Yandel, I think she’s daydreaming.”
Raven’s glance was perfectly timed support fire.
“Looks like it.”
“Okay! Okay! I’ll take it! I’m taking it!”
Threatened, Vivian swallowed the pill Raven gave her.
Glug!
Good, but something felt off.
‘Why is she so scared of me?’
I didn’t think I gave off that intimidating vibe.
“Put the hammer down! Please! You’re scaring me to death!”
Oh, now I remember I smashed the head of some ‘Lighthouse Keeper’ guy in front of her.
Sssslip.
Lowering my hammer calmed her down a bit, and her voice returned to normal.
“...Alright? Now tell me. What is that? Poison or something?”
“No way. You think I’d feed you some boring poison?”
Hmm, I thought it was definitely poison.
It’s a cliché.
Evil groups feeding poison to brainwash martial arts masters.
“It’s just a normal magical device.”
“Magical device...?”
“You know the magic engineer? She made it and sold it to the military, so it’s safe.”
“...I mean, what kind of magical device is it?”
Our roles clearly defined, the conversation continued with Vivian’s voice noticeably more subdued than before.
Still, Raven pulled out a remote and said,
“See this button?”
“Yeah...”
“If I press this, what you swallowed will activate inside your stomach.”
Simple, kind explanation left Vivian speechless, but I nodded in understanding.
Saying it’s not poison does make sense.
Because putting a bomb vest on a hostage is a modern tactic.
Much more sophisticated.
“Hm... Don’t you understand? So, if I just press this button—”
“Got it! Just put that thing into the pocket dimension quickly!”
I silently watched Vivian’s reaction.
It didn’t look like an act, so she seemed to fully believe Raven...
‘At least I don’t have to worry so much about betrayal...’
Having neatly resolved that concern, I shared the detailed plan with Raven and Astarotta.
Fortunately, Astarotta reacted without objection.
“You sure talk a lot about making a mess.”
“So that means the royal family permits it?”
“The king ordered it. Not permission exactly, but no plans to stop it.”
“That’s a relief.”
Getting Astarotta’s okay was a relief.
I left the building feeling lighter.
And then...
Step, step.
Crossing the gate linking District 8, I thought,
‘This one’s making me nervous.’
If I had more time, I might’ve made a better plan, but this was all I could think of now.
“Raven, get ready.”
“What? Ah, yes!”
Raven’s first preparation was summoning a giant fireball into the air.
Yeah, so...
Flare—!
Let’s make a proper mess.
“Behel—laaaaaa!!”
They can’t help but rush out here.
I’ve seen a medieval town burn twice in my life.
Once years ago, from Orculus’ terror in Hwangdo Karnon.
And now...
Flare—!!
Again.
Burning city.
More than fast, the flames spread like pouring gasoline on a fire.
Sssshhhhhh—!
Not a metaphor—literally pouring gasoline on a burning house.
「Arua Raven cast 4th-rank offensive spell [Water Cannon].」
A thick water beam sprayed like a firetruck’s hose.
「Arua Raven cast 6th-rank auxiliary spell [Element Conversion].」
The water transformed into oil by linked magic.
And then.
「Arua Raven cast 4th-rank auxiliary spell [Wind Direction Control].」
Creating an appropriate wind, the entire street was quickly engulfed in flames.
Sure, the heat was almost scorching my skin...
「Fire Orb activated.」
「All derived fire-type continuous damage within 15m radius reduced by 50%.」
Looking back, I’ve been using this well for a long time.
“Run!!”
Since the flames now spread naturally enough without adding oil, I focused on increasing speed instead of careful oiling.
‘Good... choice.’
Setting fire in Noark-held District 8 to draw attention was the plan.
Whether it was going well, I wasn’t sure, but it had one advantage.
[Grrooooorrrk......]
[Gruk......]
Because the corpses count as fuel.
The corpse collector, heavily funded by Noark, had scattered corpse armies across District 8, and the fire quickly melted those long-prepared corpses.
Top-tier creatures resisted fire, and the Noark troops stationed there tried to extinguish the fire...
Crunch! Crunch!
But they were just physical obstacles to be removed by force.
Seeing how things were going, I wondered.
“Why didn’t the royal family set the fire earlier?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
“If you did, would you ask?”
“...A normal person would know that even if you burn it down to reclaim it, nothing’s left.”
“Ah...”
That made sense.
District 8 isn’t a strategic stronghold, so the royal family wouldn’t want to reclaim it by burning the area.
‘Well... I wouldn’t have thought of burning it either if the situation were different.’
Though I got permission from Astarotta, I could be held responsible later for setting the city on fire.
Anyway, using Vivian to sneak quietly through enemy lines to meet the comrades was the best option.
But...
‘What’s the use of regrets?’
When does the world ever go as you want?
Crunch!
Breaking corpses and Noark’s corpse-hopeful soldiers burning in flames, I moved forward.
Behind me, Vivian shouted after hearing radio chatter.
“The troops in District 5 heard and are sending reinforcements! The vice-commander won’t come because he must hold the front!”
Tch... I pulled some aggro but not enough for all that.
“Enough. What about District 4 news?”
I kept an eye on the battlefield and updated news about Amelia.
“No news of the battle ending yet, and they’re still chasing!”
Phew... okay.
But still chasing means...
‘Not enough aggro yet?’
Of course, I wasn’t too worried.
Drawing aggro was my specialty as a barbarian warrior, and the one I’d done most.
“Um... Yandel? Why are you smiling like that?”
Raven’s worried voice made me grin.
“I just had a good idea.”
I’d think about the aftermath later.