The greatsword of what used to be Caesar clashed against Lucas's longsword, scattering sparks into the night sky.
Fierce flames assailed the former Caesar, but he blew them away with nothing more than a sluggish shake of his head.
(This is bad.)
Gritting his teeth as he brought down his longsword, Lucas knew he wouldn't last much longer.
The combat skill belonged entirely to Caesar. However, his physical strength had transformed into something inhuman. Lucas was only barely managing to exchange blows because Ket was deftly maintaining a protective barrier around him.
If Caesar had been enhanced to such a degree, the reanimated soldiers were bound to be formidable warriors in their own right.
Worst of all was that black skeleton. Earlier, Ruby had said he would offer mana to it. That meant the creature was a Transcendent Species of the same caliber as that entity. It was already far beyond the realm of what humanity could overcome.
In other words, they had no choice but to leave it to other inhuman monsters.
"[Titan]! It's a covenant! You're already awake, aren't you?!"
The earth swelled unnaturally, and a boy around ten years old manifested with his arms crossed over his chest.
Wearing an arrogant smirk, this brown-haired boy was the Princess's true trump card: the Earth Spirit King, Titan. This very spirit was one of the reasons she had fled the Holy Amelia Kingdom in the first place.
"Yeah. Just woke up a second ago. But it looks like things have gotten pretty amusing around here."
This rotten spirit! Having the nerve to revel in this disaster!
Hurling violent curses in his heart, Lucas gritted his teeth. The true battle began now. Without Titan, they could never survive this crisis.
"We'll give you our mana. So protect the Princess and the Wind Cats for a week!!"
"I wouldn't mind that at all. But are you really sure? That skeleton over there is tough. Tough enough that I'd have to put my life on the line, too. The price I'll need isn't gonna come cheap, you know?"
Looking down at Titan, who rested both hands on his hips and gazed up with a malicious grin, Lucas felt a chill run down his spine.
"Specifically, how much?"
"The lives of everyone here—except my host."
The death of everyone except the Princess. That defeated the entire purpose. If they couldn't save the Wind Cats, she would be left all alone again. That was the one outcome he had to prevent at all costs.
"I will give you all of my mana! Let that suffice!"
"Nope, nope, noooope! Even for me, that's a line I absolutely won't cross. Uh-huh, no way."
Watching Titan nod repeatedly with exaggerated smugness, a surge of fury welled up from the bottom of Lucas's heart.
In exchange for massive amounts of mana, this spiteful spirit granted wishes far beyond mortal reach. In truth, Titan's existence wouldn't be hindered in the least without that mana. The price was nothing more than an offering demanded by a Transcender.
Yet, Titan always demanded this tribute at the most critical junctures, repeatedly shattering the Princess's heart and plunging her into the depths of despair.
"Lord Lucas, that is enough. As long as the Princess is saved, we will gladly offer our lives."
Turning around, Lucas saw the residents gathered behind him, led by the elders of the Wind Cats.
"Yes, Her Highness has treated us so well until now. Now is our chance to repay that debt."
"That's right. We've lived happy lives as it is."
Listening to them utter words of resignation one after another with unsettling composure, a scalding wave of emotion boiled inside Lucas.
These people understood nothing. Disappearing was far easier. All one had to do was surrender to fate without resisting and let events run their course.
They couldn't begin to imagine the despair and agony inflicted upon those left behind.
(I see... Perhaps that boy felt the exact same way back then.)
Suddenly remembering his own son, whom he had abandoned to relatives after shirking his parental duties, Lucas bit his lower lip hard.
Fleeing down the easy road would be simple. All he had to do was shut off his mind and surrender to Titan's sweet poison.
Knowing the Princess, who had tried so desperately to save every single one of them... If she learned she was the sole survivor, her mind would surely break. That could no longer be called living. Did they truly intend to saddle their precious lady with such a tragedy? No, how could he ever allow it?
"Titan, is there truly no other way?"
"You're awfully persistent. I never go back on my word."
"I... see."
The time for hesitation was over. Would he offer the tribute and protect his master's life? Or would he honor her pride and challenge that overwhelming monster without Titan? Those were his only choices.
The idyllic days spent with the Princess and the Wind Cats flashed through his mind, along with the painful memory of her drooping in sheer exhaustion after enduring similar tragedies time and again.
(There is no need to deliberate.)
He had never grasped anything of worth by relying on others. He had learned that lesson long ago.
Perhaps the obstacles in his path had seemed so insurmountable lately that he had lost sight of what truly mattered.
"Everyone! Take up your weapons!!"
Turning back toward Ruby, who was watching the scene with sadistic amusement, and the reanimated Caesar, Lucas roared until his throat burned.
"B-But..."
"A covenant that demands our lives is out of the question! Do you intend to burden Her Highness with the guilt of our entire family's slaughter?!"
The residents' faces twisted in anguish, their bodies trembling.
"I will say it once more! Take up your weapons! Is that all your love for your family amounts to?!"
The residents merely hung their heads, trembling and unable to move. This was reality, not a fairy tale tailored for convenient endings. Untrained civilians could not simply take up arms and fight just because someone shouted inspiring words.
Lucas knew that. Yet seeing them hang their heads in surrender filled him with bitter frustration—and an overwhelming, aching sorrow.
"Well? What're you gonna do? Doesn't look like anyone besides you has the stomach for a fight."
"That is not true! We are the Wind Cats! The family of Felice Loto Amelia will never bow to the likes of you!"
"Hmph. Looks like that Great Spirit over there isn't gonna lift a finger either, so whatever. Tear them apart."
At Ruby's lazy command, Caesar and the reanimated soldiers began their advance. Lucas had barely managed to hold his own against Caesar alone. If the entire horde swarmed him at once, victory was impossible.
Even so, Lucas was the foremost vassal of Felice Loto Amelia. At the very least, he would struggle until his last breath!
Caesar and the undead soldiers approached with eerie, deliberate slowness. Lucas lowered his stance and prepared to launch himself forward, when—
"Whoa?!"
A torrent of black fire erupted before his eyes. The black flames expanded outward in an instant, engulfing the former Caesar and the soldiers, reducing them to cinders before they could even scream.
Standing in the center of the blaze was a hulking, red-skinned demon clad in crimson and black fire.
"Wh-What in the world are you?!"
Ruby's voice cracked with rising panic, his face twisting in horror. By contrast, Titan raised a casual hand toward the fiery demon, as if running into an old acquaintance on the street.
"Well, well, Ifrit, what a coincidence! What brings you here? Did you contract with humans too? Though, with this forest reeking of death, there should be plenty of nourishment for—"
"Silence your chirping, you filthy planarian!"
The fiery demon shot Titan a look of sheer disgust, spat on the ground, and turned an icy glare toward Ruby and the skeleton.
"Y-You dare call me a p-planarian?!"
Ignoring Titan, whose eyes were bloodshot with indignation, the fiery demon crossed his arms and drew a deep breath.
"The Great One shall arrive shortly!! All present, on your knees!!"
A deafening roar carried by a blistering gale tore through the forest.
Ruby's cheek twitched violently at the terrifying display. Even the black skeleton—the Deimos Lich—recoiled slightly.
Titan, having shed his furious demeanor, watched Ifrit with intense, cautious stillness.
"Skeleton, I commanded you to kneel!"
Under the bloodshot, unblinking glare of the fiery demon, the Deimos Lich took a hesitant step back—only for a pillar of white-hot flame to crash straight down upon its skull.
"Gwaaaaahhh!!"
As the Deimos Lich writhed on the ground with an ear-splitting shriek, the fiery demon strode forward, seized the collar of its vestments, and growled in a low, absolute tone:
"This is your final warning. Kneel."
He slammed the faintly whimpering Deimos Lich face-first into the dirt.
Trembling uncontrollably, the lich dropped to its knees and pressed its skull against the earth.
"What are you doing, Deimos Lich?! Hurry up and slaughter these—"
Those were Ruby's last words. A streak of black fire plunged from above, incinerating him down to the marrow before anyone could blink.
Lucas's mind struggled to process the sudden, effortless demise of such a terrifying adversary.
"Fool! I told you that was the final warning!"
Spitting upon the earth once more, the fiery demon swept his glowing red eyes across the clearing. With that single glance, Lucas's knees gave out, sinking naturally to the dirt. The residents of the Wind Cats did the same.
Even Titan, prideful to the bone, was kneeling in the dirt, sweating profusely as if caught in a downpour. Small wonder.
"Lord Girimehkala, everyone is prepared for the audience."
"Well done!"
As the fiery demon bowed respectfully, colossal pitch-black greatswords rained down from the sky. They impaled the earth in two immaculate, parallel rows, forming a grand path of blades.
Down that path marched a procession of grotesque, aberrant beings. They moved in silence, stationing themselves in a rigid line along the borders of the sword-lined aisle. Then, shaking the very foundations of the earth, a massive, long-nosed monster cloaked in pitch-black darkness strode forward.
Amidst this terrifying spectacle, Lucas shifted his gaze toward the sound of frantic clatter and widened his eyes in disbelief.
Titan's face was completely drained of color; tears streamed down his cheeks, foam gathered at his lips, and his teeth rattled uncontrollably.
Lucas darted a glance toward the Deimos Lich and saw that its skeletal frame was shivering just as violently.
Titan alone possessed enough destructive power to wipe out an entire military division if he went all out. Very few beings in this world could ever stand against him. Yet here he was, reduced to a shivering wreck. These newly arrived entities operated on an entirely different plane of existence—a power so immense that humanity had no hope of resisting.
(J-Just whose tail have we stepped on?!)
The long-nosed monster halted at the center of the sword-lined path, turned toward the depths of the forest, and dropped to one knee. In the next instant, every single Transcender followed suit, bowing in unison.
Was that monstrous giant merely an opening act? If this was a joke, it was a cruel one. There was no escaping this.
"You stand before the Supreme One! Lower your heads!"
The long-nosed monster's thunderous decree carried such undeniable weight that Lucas's head bowed almost involuntarily, compelled by the sheer authority woven into the words.
Footsteps approached, accompanied by an overwhelming presence. Lucas swallowed hard, cold sweat dripping steadily from his chin into the soil.
Suspended on the razor's edge between life and death, they heard a voice ring out:
"Raise your heads."
At the long-nosed monster's command, everyone looked up together.
Standing before them was a lone, black-haired boy.
"Hello there, everyone of the Wind Cats."
As the boy spoke softly, the Wind Cats found themselves face-to-face with their fated guide.