Book 2: Chapter 41

My brain couldn’t process all the various information that was just dumped on us.

「It doesn’t make sense to me. But, anyway, what should we do now?」

Same as me, the Border Earl didn’t seem to understand it either, but he advanced the conversation forward.

…He is indeed right. We can’t afford to think about that right now.

「The revocation has not been established yet. Eh, so, burying that mediator as soon as possible is the highest priority.」El said.

「Border Earl! It’s getting up!」

I saw the mediator standing up in the dark.

「So, we just have to crush it thoroughly.」

「Eh, that is correct.」

「Alright. Boy, let’s team up.」

I nodded in response. That was my intention from the beginning.

「And one more thing…」the Border Earl glanced behind him.

He was looking at the Holy King who was still in a daze.

「WAKE UP, GRENJIDO!!!!!!」

The loud voice caused a shock wave that shook the Holy King.

「Don’t go down on your knees just because of a mistake or two!! You are the summit of this country!!!!」

It was too loud that I had to block my ears, but for the Holy King—light returned to his eyes.

「I am… this country’s…」

A single tear rolled down his cheek. The Holy King wiped his eyes with his fist.

「Don’t call me by my old name…」

「…It’s because you seemed to have forgotten the old days.」

…Is Grenjido the Holy King’s old name? Because the Holy King’s name is lost when he ascends the throne. That must mean the Border Earl has been friends with the Holy King since a long time ago.

「I am the Holy King.」

「Yes. You are the Holy King.」

“I will lead this country.」

「Yes. You are the leader of this country.」

I may have misunderstood the man known as the Holy King until now.

He was kind, easygoing, and loved Prince Kluvshrat. I was only looking at the side of him being such a “good father.” But what about him as the “Holy King”?

「–El, how do we kill that monster?」

If the mediator is pure darkness, then the air that surrounds the Holy King–the bloodlust surrounding him, would be the darkness that is the original sin of man. Someone who is willing to commit any sin. The arrogance of a monarch. A blood-smeared supremacy that will destroy anything and everything that stands in its way.

I was overwhelmed by the dark emotions boiling out from the Holy King’s presence.

「With this.」El presented a small old knife.「Stab it into the mediator’s body.」

「Okay… Let’s go, Border Earl. And you too, boy.」

I seem to have been counted in as well.

「I’ll make that monster regret picking a fight with this country.」

The resurrected Holy King was overwhelming. He closed the distance with the mediator without any hesitation, and instead of wielding the knife, he unleashed a series of punches. The mediator was clearly wary of the knife, so it seemed to have decided to take on the punches instead.

Then, the Holy King picked up the golden staff on the floor and swung it with one hand, like a baseball bat, landing the swing right on the mediator abdomen, causing its body to bend like a sideways “V”, and was sent flying.

「NUAAAAA!」the mediator screamed.

As the mediator crash landed, a number of arms grew from its body and attacked the Holy King. But, unfitting his giant body, the Holy King dodged every attack nimbly. Several attacks went through the ground and broke the floor.

「Knights Order! You guys don’t get involved! Support the evacuation of the nobles!」the Border Earl ordered.

「B-But…」

「Just follow the order, you fools!!」

The movement of the Knights Order was lacking. The 1st Unit should have been elites, but they were probably affected by the death of the knight captain. In any case, it seems that the top military unit of the country can’t keep up with the real top of the country, the Holy King.

「Border Earl! Are you just going to stand there and take notes today!?」

「Huh, just letting you warm up!」

Provoked by the Holy King, the Border Earl broke into the battle between the Holy King and the mediator.

「DORAAAAH!!」

「FUAAAAAAH!!」

The two giants roared. Wow… I almost felt sorry for the mediator who was pummeled by the two giants. I think these two can even take on a dragon as well.

At that time,【World Ruler】caught the building up of mana in the darkness.

「A counterattack is coming!!」

The Holy King and Border Earl immediately took distance from the mediator. Immediately following, countless black needles, like a sea urchin, appeared in the darkness with a buzzing sound.

「People Of Fragile, Despicable World… Don’t Get Carried Away!」

The needles were shot in all directions. The Holy King spun his staff to blow it away, and the Border Earl slashed down the ones that came his way with the treasured sword. I jumped in front of the nobles who were still evacuating and changed the direction of the needles with【Wind Magic】.

I took a quick glance of the surrounding, and it seemed that Earl Sillys had taken away the young lady.

「The Covenant Has Been Revoked. You Cannot Backtrack!!」

「No, it hasn’t been revoked… Just before you declared the revocation, that little boy made a hole in this place. We are now back in our world. The “halfway point” with the other world is gone.」

「Nu, NuNu, NuNuNu…!!」

「And in fact you have lost the “restriction of the covenant” and are now suffering from our attacks.」

「NuNuu!!」

「Go back to the other world already!!」

The moment the Holy King closed the distance and swung down his staff–

「Don’t Make Light Of The Covenant」

The mediator grabbed the staff with both hands. The gold color of the staff eroded to black.

「Holy King!! Please be careful! It seems to still have something hidden!」the Border Earl hollered.

「It’s okay. This is the end anyway!!」

When I thought it was a stalemate, the Holy King slid to the side and thrust the knife into the mediator’s chest.

「Die!」

The knife emitted a white flash and cut through the darkness of the mediator.

The atmosphere trembled. The ground shook.

I thought we had defeated it, but my【World Ruler】was making negative observations that were different from what it looked like.

「Your Majesty, please get away!」I shouted.

「Ah? This guy is already dying—」

「Just get away!!」

I activated【Sprinting Technique】, and tackled the Holy King. The two of us rolled away from the mediator.

「Y-You’ve got some nerve to tackle me, boy!!!」

「Get down!!」

I grabbed the Holy King’s head and got down to the ground.

「Darkness, Open The Gate. Light, Pave The Way.」

As though unable to withstand the intensity of the light, the mediator’s body turned into small pieces and disappeared into the air, like burning pieces of paper. However, at the same time, a fireball-like black mass swirled around its body. The mass was spinning at high speed, as if getting ready to be fired.

「Ah–」

【World Ruler】analyzed that the mass was aiming for the nobles who were being led out of the dome by the Knights Order.

Not only the Knights Order, but also the escorts who arrived late were gathered at the exit of the dome.

(Mimino-san—)

I mistook someone else for Mimino-san for a moment.

Lelenore-san was also cooperating with the evacuation. What if this mass hits them directly? According to【World Ruler】, the mass was a super-charged high-energy mass. A direct hit would smash the human body into atoms.

I started sprinting towards the black mass from an unfavourable posture.

The black mass is about to launch–

—Protect us all.

That was the young lady’s order

What a time to recall that!!

「UOOOOHHH!!」

My speed was not enough. I unconsciously used【Suport Magic】to increase my speed. And I slammed my fist which was holding the stone against the side of the black mass.

It happened in the fraction of a second. I saw the stone crack and scatter sparks in slow motion. The stone broke and shattered. The black mass could not be stopped. Still – the trajectory has been changed.

It flew about 10 meters to the side from where the nobles gathered. It easily broke through the dome, creating a shock wave which destroyed the dome, and even blew away the nearby knights.

When the mass flew out to the Holy Royal Palace, it uprooted trees, rolled up massive clouds of dust, and reached “1st Wall” which separated the 1st Holy District.

Even that wall was penetrated easily, and it gouged through the central staircase of the Holy King’s Parliament, the largest building in the 1st Holy District, cut straight through it, and collided with the “2nd Wall”, destroying it in a flashy manner.

「What, the hell was that…」

With a loud bang, the shockwave of the crash even reached where we were.

There were no traces of the mediator anymore–only Louis’ cold dead body.

Darkness started lifting from the top of the dome, and the surroundings became bright in a few seconds.

「Is it over…?」the Holy King asked.

「No.」

My【Eyesight Enhancement】captured the sign of darkness rising.

「There seems to be more still.」