Shouting for everyone leaving the arena to make for the evacuation shelters, I sprinted toward the north gate.
I reached it in no time.
"Where's the enemy?"
I called out to a Garuda who appeared to be on watch, but he offered only a baffled, nonsensical reply.
"Well, just a moment ago, we saw the Demon King Army marching across the wetlands with Aldebaran in the lead, all of them dancing. But somehow... we lost sight of them."
"Aldebaran was marching while dancing? An entire army vanished? Were you seeing things?"
Having arrived before anyone else, Bū scowled beneath his heavy brow and barked back.
"I'm not lying! Thousands of the demon race were formed up in ranks, rushing across the wetland at full speed while doing this creepy dance! You've got to believe me!"
The Garuda sentry raised his voice, a look of sheer desperation on his face.
"Even so, there's nobody out there right now."
Just as Bū said, there was no trace of the Demon King Army from atop the ramparts. Even if they had somehow concealed themselves, thousands of troops vanishing in the blink of an eye was practically unthinkable.
On the other hand, looking at the monster sentries, they clearly weren't lying either. Recognizing that fact was likely the only reason the short-tempered Bū hadn't lost his cool over such an absurd report.
"Of course, we don't think you're lying," I said. "It's probably some kind of enemy attack."
"An illusion, you mean? With Cetus taken down, they must be getting desperate."
"Yeah... I think so..."
An illusion. Yet even after drawing that conclusion myself, something felt off. At the very least, Aldebaran was a Demon King. Would he really resort to a trick like a diversionary illusion?
No matter how I looked at it, the fearsome image of Aldebaran from the rumors simply didn't align with what was happening.
"For now, let's head back to the council chamber."
If this was a diversion, we needed to devise a countermeasure immediately.
"Right—"
Bū's response was cut short by a tremendous blast echoing from the center of the city, accompanied by a pillar of fire that seemed to pierce the heavens.
As if answering the initial blast, pillars of flame began erupting all across the city.
"Gil!"
"Yeah—we're under attack!"
There was no longer any room for doubt. We had let Aldebaran slip right past us.
"What's the plan?"
"They're inside, so our only option is to fight. Bū, help evacuate the monsters!"
"Gil, what about you?"
"I'm taking down their leader, Aldebaran."
If all went well, the rest of them would crumble. Of course, I was neither a Hero nor a champion. Defeating a Demon King was the domain of legendary figures, and I knew full well how slim my chances of victory were. But I had to try. If I didn't, I would lose everything.
Bū stared at me in silence for a moment.
"Got it. Don't you dare die on me. You lot, get moving and guide the evacuees! Snap to it!"
Wrenching the words out, he sprinted off, taking the north gate sentries with him.
Now then, time for me to move too. I had grown far too fond of this city and its monsters to let those bastards run wild.
Closing my eyes, I envisioned the blue-haired, hulking swordsman who was my ideal master of the blade. A surge of power suddenly welled up within me, and I kicked off the ground, rushing headlong into the battlefield.