Chapter 77: Full Moon

In the sky, Lucius and the Dragon Knight faced each other.

The rotting eyeballs, supposed to have fallen out, glared at Lucius, who manifested the evil dragon and Chiyou.

The vice commander wielded his thrusting sword from a distance.

Clearly out of range.

The vice commander thrust fiercely as if splitting the air.

—It extended!? 

The thrust sword of the vice-commander, mounted on the wyvern, extended several tens of meters in an instant. There was no time to raise a shield, only to deflect it with a sword.

To close the distance, the evil dragon flapped its wings, but when it closed halfway, the vice commander’s thrusting sword returned in an instant.

Then, another extended thrust was unleashed.

“It won’t work so many times!”

He received the sharp thrust with his shield.

When the high-pitched sound of collision echoed, spears were simultaneously launched from the right side of Lucius, mounted on the evil dragon.

About five Dragon Knights.

—When did they get here!?

He was too focused on the vice commander. There was no time to raise a shield; he couldn’t avoid it.

He stiffened his entire body, preparing for the impact, thinking that he should endure it with Chiyou enveloping him.

Then.

A surge of magic rose from below.

Immediately after, a red sea snake passed by.

The Dragon Knights were pierced by Dion’s magic and disappeared.

“Don’t forget about me.”

Dion held a red greatsword in his hand.

He must have retrieved it.

“I’m almost ready!”

At Lucial’s voice, when I looked forward, the vice commander and the Dragon Knights charging forward appeared in my sight.

They formed a reverse V-shaped formation, with the vice commander holding a magic sword at the forefront.

“Lucius-kun, dodge!”

Lucial’s spell was deployed again, and countless white circular blades filled the area in an instant.

Quickly, Lucius stepped back behind the evil dragon.

The vice commander and his companions, delayed in their reaction, ended up diving into the floating sea of blades, causing their formation to collapse.

—It’s somehow… easier.

With covering fire and support barrages alone, the number of enemies facing us decreases, and it’s easier to reset close-quarters combat.

Until now, I’ve fought most battles alone.

I didn’t think that cooperation with other mages would be so efficient.

The mobile mages from the northern region, mounted beasts.

The eastern region, proficient in close-quarters combat, white specters.

The southern region, capable of wide-range support, spirit singers.

The western region, specialized in long-range attacks, gun mages.

Each one maximizes their strengths and compensates for their weaknesses.

Perhaps that’s what magic formations are supposed to be.

“Thank you!”

“For now, focus on what’s in front of you.”

As Dion said, there was only one shadow approaching while avoiding the circular blades.

It swiftly pierced through, like lightning.

It was the vice commander.

Occasionally, a blue light streaked through.

The blue wyvern ridden by the vice commander was clad in lightning.

The glare of the lightning was unusually intense.

—Did the sun set?

Advancing from dusk to night, the full moon had risen. Perhaps it was for the sake of the sixteenth night, the full moon was bright, and I hadn’t noticed.

However, as long as it’s this bright, it won’t hinder the battle.

Again, Lucius tightly gripped his sword.

“Bring it on!”

Immediately after, the clashing sound of metal resounded.

Lucius’s sword clashed again with the vice commander’s thrusting sword.

Keeping them locked, Lucius channeled magic into the Sword of Light, enveloping it in light.

Twisting the blade of the Sword of Light, he unleashed a shining blade atop the straight blade.

“I’ll accept your magic sword!”

As the shining sword aimed to slash the vice commander, suddenly, a bluish-white light streaked through.

The specter of the vice commander in front of him was torn apart by something.

The vice commander disappeared like a mirage.

“What!?”

Before he could turn around, a sharp impact ran through him.

He felt his back being cut by a huge blade.

—It hurts.

After a moment of silence, intense pain crawled up.

Amidst the chaos, he pushed the pain to the back of his mind and forced his body to twist.

“What… is this?”

Countless full moons covered the sky.

So many, hundreds, thousands of moons floated in the black sky.

Within the uniform circles, one incongruity stood out and inevitably caught the eye.

Floating alone in the sky was a girl smiling.

“Sorry. I’m the top-ranked mage from the southern region.”

It was Lucial.

With a cold smile, she seemed to be the same person as the one who had been grinning just a while ago.

“Lucial, Your Highness…?”

I couldn’t keep up with the situation.

“Hey, Lucius-kun. Can you swear absolute loyalty to the southern region? If you do, I’ll continue the comedy from earlier.”

It was an incomprehensible situation, but her intentions were conveyed unmistakably.

It was a threat.

However, there was no way he could pledge loyalty to someone who was threatening him with a blade from behind.

He didn’t want to pledge allegiance.

“…I decline.”

“I see… too bad. Bye-bye.”

Lucial waved her hand lightly.

Instantly, the blades of the full moons covering the sky began to rain down with a thunderous roar.

A storm of meteors seemed to collapse the sky.

Each one was sharp enough to cut down a Dragon Knight in a single blow.

The surrounding Dragon Knights were also slashed and disappeared as if scattering like mist.

Next came a deafening explosion that made one want to cover their ears.

The round blades that landed tore through the earth and demolished the rocky mountains.

—They’re coming!!

Immediately, ludicrous numbers of moon blades poured down on Lucius clad in Chiyou.

As he braced himself with his shield to withstand countless blades, the sound of large hailstones hitting exposed iron plates resounded.

At the same time, the armor of Chiyou, unable to be protected by the shield, was also slashed and torn by numerous blades.

In an instant, the blades also rained down on the evil dragon he rode.

The evil dragon, too, was showered with countless blades, and copious amounts of blood flowed.

“Gwooooh!!”

The evil dragon let out a roar.

Emotions flowed through the magic core.

The anger of being wounded, the sorrow of a heartless battle, and the joy of finding a strong opponent.

Perhaps thanks to the super regeneration, the evil dragon’s wounds began to close as soon as they were slashed.

“Even if it just got hit by the moon blades in full moon state, it healed. …My Ravana is surprised too.”

Furthermore, magic swelled.

“But… what about Orléans behind us?”

It was a cold voice.

Behind them, hidden in the rocks, Crane was frozen in confusion.

“Are you intending to involve Crane-san!?”

Lucius bit his lip hard. It was clear when he thought about it. The successors of the Four Great Nobles were coming to dangerous places without any escorts. Even if it was for public relations, it was unreasonable given the circumstances.

In other words, the current heads must have believed that there were sufficient forces to deal with emergencies.

If it was said to be Grade 3, doubts should have been raised. By mixing truth and falsehood and throwing various stories, he was completely deceived, and his thoughts did not reach.

Round blades as vast as the number of moons continued to rain down.

“Damn it! Evil Dragon!!”

The evil dragon spat out three breaths as if intercepting.

The extraordinary magic powers of the top grades clashed in the night sky.

The forces, having lost their outlets, went out of control.

Overwhelmed by the breaths, the blades scattered in all directions further tore the rugged earth.

And finally, the ground cracked.

With a deafening noise as if the eardrums were about to burst, the ground collapsed.

What appeared was a giant valley.

At the same time, a fierce magic power and storm blew around, knocking Crane away.

—This is bad.

What Crane was thrown into was the bottom of the torn valley.

As if to add insult to injury, hundreds of blades gathered and fell toward Crane.

“Are you targeting Crane-san!?”

If even one blade hit Crane, who was defenseless, his life would surely be taken.

—Can I make it in time!?

In between the approaching moon blades and Crane, he slipped in the evil dragon he rode.

The blades pierced through the cracked armor of Chiyou and pierced through Lucius’s lungs and liver.

“Ughh!!”

Intense pain struck, making it difficult to breathe.

It felt like consciousness would slip away any moment now.

Following gravity, Crane was being sucked into the gaping ground.

In the midst of the pain, Lucius ordered the evil dragon to chase after.

For a moment, there was resistance from the evil dragon, but it obediently followed Lucius, folded its wings, and dove straight down.

At the moment of approach, Lucius grabbed Crane’s arm, who was thrown into the air.

Too much blood had been shed. He felt an intense cold.

—The pursuit… is

When he desperately looked up, he saw a girl with a lonely expression.

She showed no sign of chasing.

In any case, he couldn’t fight in this condition.

To let Crane escape, he had no choice but to aim downwards, being dragged by gravity.

“What… is… this place?”

There was no river, but could this be called a ravine?

Underneath the collapsed earth, there seemed to be a huge hole originally.

Presumably, due to the impact just now, the lid-like surface had collapsed.

“Lucius-san!”

Trembling, Crane pointed to the sky.

In the small space surrounded by rocks, Dragon Knights mounted on wyverns were flying.

—Are the Dragon Knights still… coming?

The wyverns diving into the hole continued to increase moment by moment.

In fading consciousness, Lucius ordered the evil dragon.

The evil dragon immediately, without hesitation, clawed at its own chest.

Blood released from the wound hit one of the following Dragon Knights in the sky.

The red blood engulfed the Dragon Knight, expanded rapidly, and tentacles stretched out, swallowing the surrounding Dragon Knights.

From the vast mass of blood, a red wyvern crawled out.

It was a ritual to generate blood wyverns using the magic and flesh of others.

I thought the blood ritual wouldn’t work on spirits, but apparently, it could be generated based on magic.

At the same time, from the fallen Lucius and the shadow on the wall, a large number of armored soldiers emerged.

The blood wyverns born from the vortex immediately descended and the armored soldiers mounted them.

“Go…”

Following Lucius’s instructions, over a hundred Dragon Knights ascended.

Immediately afterward.

The Dragon Knights of the ritual and the Dragon Knights of the spirits collided.

But the result was as expected.

—Pierced through…?

For each ritual Dragon Knight, the spirits surrounded and skewered them with spears in coordination. One by one, steadily.

There was also the fact that they didn’t have weapons, but there was an unbridgeable difference in skill.

Their skill levels were just too different.

The Blood Wyvern is a Grade 1 wyvern.

The armored soldiers created by the ritual are individually about Grade 2.

However, the armored soldiers created by the Chiyou ritual are more like puppets than living beings. They don’t feel pain, and their strength is great, but their movements are monotonous, lacking agility or dexterity.

The difference in the riders is decisively determining the outcome.

Quickly, the soldiers created by the ritual are diminishing.

In contrast, the soldiers of the Dragon Knights are hardly diminishing at all.

Even if the spectral Dragon Knights are defeated, they immediately revive, but that’s a problem for later.

Still, it bought some time.

The distance between Lucius and the falling group and the pursuing specters had sufficiently widened.

In the consciousness that was about to break any moment now, he faintly felt the heat of the evil dragon’s breath that was released last.

Too much blood had been lost.

His head was muddled, and his vision was already blurry.

With Crane’s arm still in his grasp, the consciousness that had been holding on completely collapsed.

◆ ◆ ◆

“…Is it over?”

Before the candidate for the Western king was the edge of the collapsed land.

Dion held a red magic sword in his hand.

Lucial, who had been floating in the night sky, descended beside him.

One of the round glowing blades floating around him had something caught on it.

It was the thrusting sword the vice-captain had used.

As the magic circles on her back disappeared, the blades of light scattered in the air.

At the same time, Lucial took the falling magic sword in her left hand.

With the disappearance of the blades, some of the Dragon Knights gathered at the entrance to the valley immediately attacked the two.

The expressions of the two remained unchanged.

From the sea snake entwined around Dion’s right arm, red mist rose.

The moment the red mist touched them, the specters stopped moving.

“Kill those who fell down below.”

Dion’s command was followed promptly by the specters, descending into the valley without delay.

“As always, the enchantment ritual is brutal. And it’s effective even on undead, huh.”

“It’s not like it’s on par with humans. It didn’t work unless they got close.”

“Well, still, the fact that it works is amazing, right? After all, it’s a Grade 1 ritual.”

Dion said nothing in response.

It was obvious that he, who possessed a top-grade ritual, was not being genuinely praised.

“Did you kill him?”

Their gazes met.

“I don’t know. He suffered serious injuries and fell to the bottom of the valley. And the specters chased after him. I think he’s mostly dead.”

“…So, there’s a 20% chance he’s alive. It’s uncertain.”

Dion glared down into the valley irritably.

“We got the magic sword, and Lucius is gone. All’s well that ends well, right?”

“Perfection is required in everything.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. That evil dragon, right? It’s too much of a monster, like Ravana during a full moon. I heard it evolved from a top grade, but it’s too dangerous.”

Lucial’s ritual, Ravana, is influenced by the time and phases of the moon. Its power is stronger at night than during the day, and even within the night, the full moon brings out its greatest power.

Dion had been concerned about the timing to attack with maximum firepower from behind.

“The other spell isn’t anything special, is it? Chiyou, was it?”

“Probably, but as an existence, it might be equivalent to the evil dragon. However, it feels like it’s lacking power now. Still, even with that, by resorting to a surprise attack from behind and taking Orléans hostage, we managed to deal with about 80% of him.”

“Then, all the more reason to take care of it decisively. Do you really understand that?”

The annoyance was directed at Lucial.

“Yeah. That’s why you did it alone, right? If he died, you could blame the spirits, but even if he survived, I would be out of patience. Anyway, I’ll hide myself like this. If he’s still alive, you’ll go from being a princess of a major noble family to a criminal who attempted to assassinate a hero.”

Lucial waved her hands.

“Yeah, do that.”

“But, I really liked him. You don’t find such straightforward kids nowadays. He hasn’t even contracted with a magic core that hasn’t been shrunk yet, and he hasn’t even done the Shrink Magic Reincarnation, but he’s still that strong, right? I understand why the king likes him so much. I mean, he defeated the Empire, didn’t he? If only Lucius were here.”

“…It’s different from the surprise attack. If the empire were determined, they would take measures, and we would be overwhelmed by their numbers alone. Even if we won, it would be the era of the North. Everything we’ve pushed onto the North so far will come back to us.”

“The South and the West probably have grudges against the North as well. Olivia’s brother was also killed in the war.”

Olivia had no intention of oppressing anything other than the North.

They aimed for a world where people from all states could live as citizens of the same country.

Nevertheless, it’s human nature.

Those who carry a faintly guilty shadow will see nonexistent shadows in others.

“He’s nothing but a hindrance to our continued prosperity. In politics, ruthless decisions are necessary. And this magic sword, I can use it much more effectively.”

Dion looked at the magic sword in his hand.

“Hey, Dion.”

“What?”

“Just so you know. It’s for the people of the South, so I sacrificed my whole life for it. But if you ever… if you ever betray the South—”

Lucial directed a menacing gaze.

A surge of magic power erupted, burning the skin.

“Dion, I’ll kill you.”

Dion returned the gaze with a serious expression.

“The West and the South are together. Always have been, always will be.”

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