Interlude 6: Battle of the Abandoned Capital
“…The key room was occupied?”
"Haha. It seems like Gardinis has become impatient because he hasn't returned..."
“You idiots.”
After hearing Zaradi's report, Varros spits out.
Gardinis' confidants probably originally intended to do so if Gardinis returned with good results.
However, no matter how long I wait, the important Gardinis never comes back. And he and his faction are under guard from Valros and Zaradi.
So, is their disrespect an expression of their loyalty to Gardinis, or is it out of fear for their master? I guess this is because he can no longer sit and wait without doing anything...
What Valros was worried about was that it was suggested that they would attack the last spiritual garden managed by Mystra, and that the seal would be taken hostage.
Attacking the sacred tree is considered a violation of the contract. It was a scene that I wanted to avoid wasting the time I had spent trying to release the seal.
Therefore, they gathered together supporters who had the same interests and were trusted to a certain extent, and kept a close eye on the cemetery, but...
"So, between the keys?"
It would be a good place to siege. He probably estimates that even if a battle breaks out, Valros won't be able to go wild for fear of destroying the Hall of Keys.
"Smart"
When Valros stands up, Zaradi follows.
“What do you want to do?”
"Is there anything else you can do besides crush me?"
"Hey!"
Zaradi grinned at Varros's words.
Leave the living room and head to the key room. As I walked through the corridors of Belliondora, I saw Mystra leaning against the wall with a smile on her face.
"I heard. It seems that the key room has been occupied."
They must have heard about it and came out of the sacred garden. Continuing from the side street is a corridor leading to the cemetery that Mystra is in charge of.
"That's right. I'm going to destroy it now."
"Oh. That's right."
Mystra broke down at Valros' harsh words.
"What's your outcome?"
"Maybe a little more. But your plan requires a lock room, right?"
"It depends on the situation. In the worst case scenario, I don't care if the key room gets destroyed."
"I see. Are you Zaradi-dono?"
"That's the thing. I'm also taking other measures."
Mystra said as she turned towards Valros who was about to pass by.
"Shall I help you too? Mr. Zaradi is a man who is good at defending. If it is more important than the key room, then having Mr. Zaradi take care of the defense near the cemetery would be the right person for the right place."
After saying that, Mystra laughs. Valros frowned suspiciously, but shrugged his shoulders and answered.
"...That's fine. Zaradi, were you listening?"
"Ha... Good luck."
Zaradi bowed once and walked towards the passageway leading to the cemetery.
Valros and Mystra head to the key room without exchanging words.
Passing through a corridor lined with stone pillars, a huge black stone gate eventually came into view.
In front of the stone gate, a group of demons is waiting for Varros and the others. It looks like they are forming a formation in several layers. They were the ones who were aiming to scratch Valros's neck if they had a chance.
"Varros has arrived! Mystra is also with him!"
When a demon called out to him, Gardinis' confidante, Azraberg, appeared from behind the lock and shouted.
“Stop right there!”
Varros narrowed his eyes and laughed, baring his fangs.
“Gardinis’ plan will be ruined if the important master doesn’t return.”
"Shut up! How can my lord be defeated like a human! Are you the one who understands the current situation!? We have so many supporters! With our backs to the key room, the advantage of the land is ours. Please quietly hand over the key and give us the authority.”
Azraberg's words were interrupted mid-sentence. That's because something like a black flash of light was emitted from Valros' casually waving hand, carving a crack in the stone gate.
Azraberg looked at Valros with a stunned look on his face.
"Do you know why... I was letting you swim while monitoring you?"
After saying that, he opened his eyes and bared his fangs. It was a smile like that of a beast in human form. Even though he is said to be a demon that doesn't look like a demon, his smile, which seems to embody the brutality of his species, sends shivers through the demons.
"I'm trying to get people who don't belong to the Gardinis faction to rally among those who have animosity towards me. I thought it would be best to get them all together if I were to squeeze out the pus. Even if they're submissive, if they're demons, That's what I was thinking, but now that I've bared my fangs, I won't be so naive as to overlook it, right?
Azraberg is well aware that he is being watched.
Precisely because their master was absent and they were on guard, they feared both purges and rebellion. There are demons with excellent combat abilities who are unrelated to the people gathered by Valros... They obey Gardinis, but it is doubtful that Azraberg will be able to hold them down in the future. In other words, with Gardinis not coming back, Azraberg's tension was the first to snap.
That's why they carried out the plan that was supposed to take place in response to Gardinis's return.
"It's going to end up being a purge for show and unity. It's a shame."
Just when I thought Valros was bending down, he rushed in at a speed that even shadows couldn't stop.
The first person I touched was the demon who was in the lead group.
“Val—”
The bottom of the palm seems to push up the abdomen. The struck demon bursts through the ceiling of the corridor and flies through the air like a piece of wood being blown up by a strong wind. Its abdomen is filled with miasma. For some reason, when Valros clenches his fist above his head, a large hole is punched in the demon's stomach in response.
“Geha!?”
"Hi!"
Hand sword. The blow, which seemed to be thrown casually, bypassed the miasma's barrier and sliced the demon's entire torso into rings. He grabs someone nearby who is stunned and literally crushes them.
“Are you stupid!?”
Azraberg's eyes widen.
He is good at putting up walls. That's what the devil said. In fact, they should have placed it in the front because it was good for sieging and buying time. To kill it with just one blow...
Unusual attack ability. I still understand that if a miasma sword was formed, it would cut off the entire barrier. However, Valros only had one hand wrapped in a thin mist-like miasma. Azraberg was unable to comprehend the sight that surpassed his common knowledge.
Or, this is Valros's ability――. The power of a transcendent person, granted only to high-ranking demons such as Gardinis, Leselliage, and Xevion.
There are no blessings, cycles, or anything that can reduce the miasma properties in battles between demons. This will be a battle that will test their true strength. I knew that, but that doesn't mean...
“Temeee!”
The demons formed miasma swords and charged at Valros. Varros's body sways slowly. His physical handling gave the impression that he had clearly studied hard.
The three demons who were attacked were shocked that they were able to slip through without even being able to bring their swords together. And by then it was all over.
The face, above the heart, and the medulla oblongata. It is dark to live there. At the same time as it slipped through, it touched and left behind the miasma of Valros.
Varros silently grasps his hand. Centering on the darkness left behind by Valros, each part of the demons is lost as if it has been gouged out. After a delay, the bodies of the dead demons return to dust.
"H-hi!"
The demons seemed to be overcome by fear at that sight and ran away from Varros. Valros glanced at them sideways, as if looking at something boring, but he silently watched them go. This is because he knows that he cannot escape even if he does not put down his hand.
"Hey. Where are you going?"
Waiting for them was the laughing demon――Mystra.
Slow movement, different from Valros. An unknown miasma rises from the body.
“Get out of the way!”
The demon, who was about to panic, fires a miasma bullet at Mystra. Mystra also responds by firing a miasma bullet. Cross your arms to protect yourself. At the same time as the miasma bullet was fired, another person jumped out from behind the demon who was ahead and thrust the miasma sword into Mystra's heart. Mystra doesn't even avoid it.
The miasma sword pierces deep. The demon felt a sense of excitement and smiled.
A scream came from the demon behind him, who blocked the miasma bullet. I turned around to see what was happening and saw something unbelievable.
“Uh, oh, oh!? My arm, my arm!?”
It's like melting candy. The demon's right and left arms were fused together in a crossed manner.
"Haha, that's a shame. It was mediocre for an improvisation."
"That's such an idiot," the demon who thrust the sword into his mouth felt his smile twitch. When I returned my gaze, Mystra was also smiling with her heart pierced. Looks like fun. Looks like he's having fun.
Yes, I'm happy. Her eyes twisted with joy, she was licking her tongue as she considered how to play with herself in front of her.
Characteristics of miasma. Interval. Dead place. Crazy smile. He lets go of the miasma sword and tries to leave. But I can't escape. Where did the attack come from? His entire body was skewered from all sides with something like a black spear.
“It’s not a bad thing to be afraid of your own people once in a while.”
That's what I said, shrugging my shoulders and laughing. Those left behind have no words.
An ability that makes demons feel so frightening. That ability that melted his arms and the ability to shoot spears from all directions. Even though I had seen the entire story, I still couldn't grasp the true nature of the miasma's properties.
If Valros is a demon who embodies stormy violence, Mystra is also a demon who seems to embody one side of the demon. It was hell whether I stayed or moved on.
“Uh, shoot!”
The demons fire a large amount of miasma bullets at Valros. However, the moment it came into contact with Valros's miasma, it was repelled in the wrong direction and was swept away.
A dark miasma floats around Valros in the form of a sphere, circling around it. A black flash from a hidden hand. At the same time, a dark bolt of lightning pierces the area where the flash was irradiated from the sphere.
"Are you insane?! You know what's behind us...!"
"It's a bit of a shame, but I don't mind if it disappears. There's no need to compare it to a sacred garden."
Valros said nonchalantly.
Naginag. Scrape away. The team we built. The demons. It shatters into pieces and is blown away.
“Hello…! I’m over my head!!”
Azraberg became enraged and charged towards Valros while changing the shape of his body. Its appearance is that of a streamlined four-legged beast. The speed was comparable to Valros's rush from earlier. A silver shadow flashes.
"law"
Valros tilted his head slightly and for the first time let out a sound of admiration. A small cut on the cheek. The miasma turned into a thin blade, and Azuraberg, who reached its maximum speed from its initial speed, slashed at them as they passed each other. Its appearance is that of a meteor. Using the rows of stone pillars as footholds, it bounced at high speed and rammed into Valros diagonally from behind.
“Death!”
"That's sweet."
Azraberg felt strange and was speechless this time.
Valros stopped the miasma blade that was approaching diagonally from behind with just two fingers.
“That’s so-”
faster than you can say "stupid". As Azraberg's body was pulled, he was slammed from behind to the ground.
That's how powerful it is. The impact was so great that the floor caved in and cracks appeared around it.
“Gha!”
"Goodbye"
Azraberg watched, writhing in shock and pain. look up. On the palm that Valros held above his head was a pitch black sphere emitting black sparks.
"-No, no. I'm not disappointed."
When Mystra finishes off the last person who was begging for his life, his shoulders shake and he laughs.
Corridor to the key room. And even inside the Key Room, there are no survivors of the uprising. He was slaughtered by just two demons, and a guard with injuries was left behind, just looking at Valros and Mystra in a daze.
There were only traces of unusual destruction left in the corridor, but since it was a battle between demons, there wasn't even a corpse left on the spot.
"Looks like fun."
"Yeah. Without something like this, I wouldn't be able to do anything right now. Is the key room safe?"
Varros looks around the altar between the keys and its surroundings and answers.
"There's some damage. It'll take some time to repair, but... it'll be okay."
"That's more important than anything. She'll probably be angry that getting the key was a waste of time."
At Mystra's words, Valros let out a small smile.
"I guess. He's also free. As for the miasma beads I broke the seal on, he'll deliver them to the Term Wills."
"I see. Well then, as planned."
"I told you to avoid engagement. We'll see what happens."
"...Hmm. I guess Gardinis' old body was defeated after all."
"That's how I see it. If we follow Zevion and Leselliage and were able to defeat Gardinis... there's no room for doubt about this."
“What?”
Valros narrowed his eyes in response to Mystra's question.
"What's in Termwills is a kind of monster."
Comments
Post a Comment