Chapter 91 The Empire's Soldiers Miscalculation - Part Ii
"...The Ortria Knights acting in other countries could lead to international issues, you know? Is that really okay?"
Caide's strained response to Monica's surrender proposal was that question.
In response, Monica snorted in surprise.
"Don't worry. This is in accordance with a formal request for assistance recognized by Chairman Seius. Besides... for you to be concerned about such things after illegally intruding and even attacking refugees, that's rather ironic, isn't it?"
While he felt annoyed by her utterly mockingly tone, Caide begrudgingly acknowledged one thing.
These guys had noticed from the very beginning.
That Caide was planning to use Gray to attack the refugees.
Caide glanced at Gray, thinking that using him had indeed been a mistake... and for some reason, the boy shook his head vigorously at that gaze.
"He hasn't said anything, has he? It's just that he seemed suspicious, so when I did a little body search, I found a transmitter inside his clothes, and that's how he ended up being bait."
"...He 'hasn't said anything', you say? And... inside his 'clothes'?"
Caide froze, mouth agape at Monica's words.
In front of Monica, who wondered what was wrong, Caide buried his head in his hands and started laughing.
"Hehe, haha, hahahaha!! That fox really pulled it off!!"
"Fox...?"
"That's what I'm saying. He has really made me go through all this unnecessary trouble...!!"
Caide, with a look of anger on his face, draws his sword and prepares to attack.
Certainly, Caide's preplanned plan failed.
However, the number of Belmont knights waiting to intercept Caide and his men was not that great.
There were almost as many of them as Caide and his men, and they were not even wearing armor to disguise themselves as refugees.
If that's the case, his subordinates can easily push through and escape.
Caide thought so.
"Don't worry about the rest. Everyone, unleash your power!!"
"""Ha!!"""
Caide's men all pull out suspicious syringes from their pockets and stab themselves in the thighs.
The moment it happened, a magical power resembling purple lightning burst forth from their bodies, and pale purple patterns emerged on their skin.
As those patterns began to emit an eerie light, countless small knives appeared from their clothing, starting to fly freely around them.
Furthermore, slender arms that seemed to be a mix of metal and monster flesh extended from inside their clothes, each of the 4 arms brandishing a sword.
"...What is that?"
"It's a new magic weapon created by combining magic tool technology and research on monster biology. By linking a person's consciousness with their equipment, you can manipulate new prosthetic limbs and weapons that are separated from your body."
Caide spoke proudly, filled with absolute confidence in their equipment.
Feeling good about how Monica and the others were bewildered by the unknown equipment and weren't doing anything, Caide continued his speech, even using gestures.
"With this power, a single soldier can take on multiple forces at once!! Once we analyze that girl called 'Thea,' who was the complete form of artificial demonkin, by combining her powers, my squad will truly rise to become the strongest army in the world!!"
There was one reason why Caide was bragging about their strategies even when not asked.
Indeed, their magic weapons were powerful, but they were still incomplete.
There were issues with rejection reactions and erosion due to the monster factors, severely limiting their combat time to about ten minutes, while it took several dozen seconds to establish a link between the equipment and the body after injecting the factors.
To buy that time, Caide pretended to be a fool, intentionally disclosing information that he thought would please his opponents.
He thought that if he killed everyone, the information wouldn't leak anyway.
"In other words... you just have about ten acrobatic soldiers who can handle a lot of swords and knives at the same time, right? You guys made all this fuss just to make them a little stronger?"
"...what?"
Caide gets angry at the unexpected reaction.
To him, Monica looked at him with an utterly cold gaze and in a voice filled with intense anger, she told him.
"So you targeted Ms. Thea for such a ridiculous reason... you tried to take advantage of Ms. Yumie's kindness, didn't you?"
With a voice chilling enough to make one shiver, Caide and the others flinched slightly.
Trying to avert their eyes from the fact that they were pressured by a girl much younger than themselves, Caide shouted.
"Stop pretending to be tough! What can you do against this equipment!?"
For Caide, numbers are strength.
No matter how fierce a warrior is, the number of opponents they can handle at once is limited.
It's almost impossible for a human body to perfectly counterattack when being attacked from multiple directions.
If it's the equipment Caide is researching, a single person can launch a multi-directional attack against the enemy.
Even an ordinary soldier can possess the power to take down a hero.
Monica, being just a child, cannot understand that.
Caide thought that she simply didn't get it.
However... he did not know.
"In short, that equipment can at most deal the obvious number of people by a few to a dozen times, right?"
The sheer abnormality of the power that a true hero possesses.
The reason Monica and the knights of Belmont did not move was not because they were listening to Caide's story... they were simply "preparing" themselves as well.
"Do you really think you can win against us by lining up a 'mere hundred weak soldiers'?"
The moment Monica said that, the knights standing behind her plunged their blades into the ground.
Starting from there, a band of light ran in all directions through the forest.
"What... what is this!?"
The light branches out into many branches and joins together, forming a magic circle in the forest.
A huge magic circle whose full extent is difficult to uncover unless seen from the sky.
It is a sophisticated technique of controlling magical power that allows the enemy to draw it without noticing until the moment of activation, and is concealed.
It must have been beyond Caide's wildest dreams that the one who accomplished this was the one girl in front of him, Monica Belmont.
"Ms. Yumie and all that she holds dear are my pride and the pride I must protect. I will show no mercy or mercy to those of you who have wronged her."
"W-Wait!! What are you... what do you plan to do!?"
"The Supreme" Knights Order.
That name was given as a tribute to the Belmont family for developing numerous new magic spells and changing the course of wars multiple times.
At the same time, there was another nickname that the Belmont family themselves disliked, stemming from the history of annihilating all opposing forces with their new magic.
"The Catastrophe" Knights Order, as it was.
"Just a hundred soldiers? Even if there are ambushers, it doesn't matter; I'll blow them all away in one go. Now, here we go!"
The knights of the Belmont family poured an endless stream of Magical Power into the magic circle drawn by Monica.
Monica, who had perfectly controlled it, solemnly announced the end.
"(Catastrophe Nova)"
On that day, Seius, who observed the massive magic generated in the Euphemia Forest, later commented,
"I didn't expect it to go that far, but is it okay if I ask for a little bit of compensation for damages?"
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)