Side Story Chapter 310  

The one-sided battle changed with the sudden arrival of new allies, but that also perplexed the alliance forces.

“Isn’t that Swallow’s flag…?”

“Why in the world would they suddenly do this?”

“No way… Did Avalon and Swallow ally?”

The faces of the alliance’s troops brightened. On the other hand, Hubalt's forces couldn’t be more baffled. They were so close to winning the battle, but then Swallow's forces showed up, which put them back to square one!

“Let’s drive out Hubalt!”

“You crazy Swallow freaks! Do you really want to do this with us again?!”

“We should put an end to the bad blood between our countries!”

“You shameless sons of bitches! Your Grand Duke Lucifer was the one who betrayed Hubalt at Reinhardt!”

“Who cares? No one remembers that dusty relic!”

The knights from Swallow were throwing out the most taunts under instructions from Arash, the Fox Master and their strategist, because everyone was prone to mistakes when they lost their cool.

“…Your Majesty,” Arash said.

“Huh?”

“I believe this is the right time to tell you that I’ll be temporarily away to finish a job.”

Anna turned, shocked. “We’re in the middle of an important battle. Is it more important than this?”

“Yes. Unless I go now, the continent is doomed even if we win the war.”

Anna went quiet.

“I have to go to the mountain in north Avalon. Without the Marital God, there is no way we can stop that man.”

After pondering for a moment, Anna nodded. “…Okay. Take those Vaikals with you.”

“The Vaikals? But—”

“You’ll never get there in time with a horse. Vaikals are a lot quicker. Besides, you might get attacked on the way.”

Arash was still hesitant, so Anna quickly reassured her.

“I have those Vaikals that I lent to Kireua. They’re here too,” she reminded Arash.

“…Thank you for your concern.”

Anna smiled. “No problem. Bring the Martial God back and save the continent.”

Just then, a pool of light appeared nearby Anna and Arash, the unmistakable sign of a teleportation spell. Someone was coming. The nearby knights tensed up and surrounded Anna and Arash protectively.

“Whoa, whoa. Take it easy, it’s us. And you don’t need to go to the north.”

The voice came from a man floating in the air.

Anna gaped at the light. “Wh-When…?”

When the light disappeared, hundreds of mages were standing in its place.

“Does everyone have their spells ready?” Theta, the flying man, shouted. “Yes, sir!”

“Good. Fire!”

Each and every one of the mages that came with Theta was at least Fifth Circle. The alliance forces couldn’t have asked for better reinforcements. The colorful spells they had cast rained down on the Hubalt forces.

“Ar-arghhhh!”

“R-Run! It’s magic!”

“Ah, shit!”

The battlefield descended into pandemonium, demonstrating why mages were the lynchpin of a war.

“...Tower Master?” Anna beamed when she recognized his face. “Is the Magic Tower finally joining the war too?”

“…Hubalt crossed the line and declared war on us first,” Theta said in an ice-cold voice. “Bel tried to destroy Yggdrasil and blew up one of the Magic Tower’s buildings in the process.”

“Yggdrasil…?”

“It’s the continent’s source of life. Without it, the continent can’t exist.”

“Huh? They’re all crazy shits. Do they want to die along with everyone else or what?”

“Tower Master,” Arash quickly interrupted, “what do you mean I don’t need to go to the north?”

“They’re going to bring the ice boulder Joshua is in over here.” Theta pointed at a group of mages behind him. “Bel destroyed their labs and home, so they’re angry.”

The mages in question were the Ice Archmage and her mages.

“The reason why Joshua bothered to go all the way to north Avalon to trap himself in the ice boulder is because that region is unusually cold even for the far north. But…”

“But?”

“...Joshua has no reason to suffer in that barren land if this place is as cold as northern Avalon.” freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Arash’s eyes slowly widened.

“My mages and I came up with a plan to save as much time as possible, but if you have another plan in mind…”

“Yes, yes, I do, but can I ask you to proceed with your plan too?” Arash pleaded.

Theta looked at Hubalt's forces, who were scattering in panic, with eyes that promised death.

“…Leave it to us. We’re going to make those fuckers pay for messing with the Magic Tower.”

*

The palace’s garden was suffocatingly silent and covered with craters as if a mage had struck the place with a Meteor spell.

Viper was the vice commander of Avalon’s Imperial Knights, and the Black Knights were considered among the best in the empire; the death knights and Vaikals were the unshakable foundations of their lands. However, all of them were scattered across the ground, moaning in pain as they slowly died.

“…Gah!”

“Kyle!” Selim hastened over to his knight despite his own wounds.

“...Your Highness… I’m… sorry.”

“No, no. Why are you apologizing to me?” Selim shook his head, his voice uncharacteristically hoarse.

Just like Viper, Kyle had a big hole in the center of his abdomen. Selim knew that nothing could save him now.

Kyle was a kind-hearted man. Because Selim didn’t celebrate his birthday, Kyle and his wife had always brought homemade food to throw Selim a birthday party.

Selim’s dear knight’s head slowly drooped. “I… am happy that I was your knight, Your Highness.”

“Traham!”

Another voice cried out from not so far away. Amid the thick fog, Traham was muttering something as if he was speaking his last words. Traham had always kept Selim company during his training; when Selim had started learning to use the spear, Traham was also beginning his journey with the sword.

They were similar in age, so they had been friends for a long time. Traham had sometimes whined about Selim growing much stronger than him despite that they put the same amount of effort into their training. Whenever Traham had complained like that, annoying as it could be, Selim had pulled a joke about his innate gifts, which he rarely did in front of other people. However, his old friend was dying as well.

Selim panted. His eyes were bloodshot. He heard footsteps. It didn’t take long for Selim to recognize them.

“…Kireua.”

“…Are you okay?”

Selim rubbed his teary eyes. “How long has it been…since that fucking son of a bitch came here?”

“Thirty minutes at most. It’s less than an hour for sure,” Kireua answered as he wiped blood off his cheeks. “Half a day against that monster… Phew. I did think it was going to be tough, but this is too much.”

“…I’ll use my true mana.”

“What?” Kireua gave Selim a startled look.

“Our original plan didn’t work, so there’s no other choice.”

“…Hey, I’m a prince too. I’m not going to make you sacrifice yourself on your own.” Kireua looked at the fog where Bel was likely waiting. “I’ll risk my life too.”

Kireua’s eyes shifted to his half-destroyed death knights, battered as they were. The sturdy Vaikals which Anna had lent to him were also irreparably damaged. He had told his father that the Vaikals were treasures that his dear friend had entrusted him with, but they ended up in that mess…

‘…Anna is going to give me hell of a scolding for this.’

Kireua smiled bitterly and tightened his grip on his sword.

“Ah, I suddenly miss her,” Kireua muttered. The looming threat of death had brought Anna to his mind for some reason.

“What?”

“Hey, Selim.”

“…Yeah?”

“You’re certainly better than me at it, so you should lead Avalon for me.”

“…What?” Selim immediately turned to look at Kireua. “What do you mean—”

“And I’m the better man for this kind of job.”

Selim stiffened as the power of Kireua’s two Evil Sins spilled over the garden.

‘Coju and Wrath, let’s make a deal,’ Kireua brightly said.

-Huh?

‘My body, my soul… I’ll give you two everything you want.’

The fog slowly subsided, revealing Bel, who was stretching his neck.

‘In return, help me get rid of that guy.’

Kireua’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“Ugh!” Selim slowly stumbled backward, unable to withstand the demonic power that Kireua unleashed.

Coju, a black cotton ball, jumped up and down like a child, but the expression it wore was quite peculiar. On the other hand, the power of Wrath manifested in the form of a demon, smiling from ear to ear.

-The deal

-has been made.

Kireua’s demonic power concentrated at one point and then exploded.

“…Oh.” Kireua had managed to draw Bel’s interest for the first time. “I thought there was only one entrée in this fight, but there’s one more.”