In that moment, Mortar felt as though all time had stopped.
Before his eyes lay a reality he could not believe—the shock of it, yet the urgency to assess the situation and respond immediately.
Complex emotions wrestled within him like a tug-of-war, freezing him and the Dark Elves in place.
"Hah! Ahahahaha! Too easy, seriously! What a bunch of losers!"
A vulgar laugh pierced the silence. The unknown Dark Elf he had somehow believed to be an ally now wore an expression of triumphant glee on his face.
The question "Why?" was immediately overshadowed by "They got us!" flashing through his mind, and he instantly shifted his consciousness to combat mode.
"Okay! Disguise released! See? Just like Lady Erakino said♪"
A crackling distortion rippled through the space around the three girls, who were presumably behind this terrifying incident.
What emerged next was, without a doubt, the aura of darkness. Clad in bizarre attire that resembled a jester's garb, grinning with innocent yet savage malice, was their enemy...
The Siphoning Witch, Erakino.
"Open fire!!!"
Elder Mortar roared, and the guards raised their firearms.
A cacophony of gunshots erupted simultaneously—dozens of rounds.
The bullets, fired instantly due to relentless training and fanatical loyalty, tore through the air from all directions, converging on Erakino and her companions, creating a lethal kill-zone.
But...
=GM: Message===
Game Master authority exercised.
Attack negated.
---
Even the otherworldly weapons that Mynoghra prided themselves on were powerless before her might.
In a separate dimension, a decision was made that rendered evasion or defense against this iron rain virtually impossible, yet the barrage vanished as if it had never existed to begin with.
"What—! Wh-what was that?!"
Mortar, the elder, stared in shock, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.
The attack had certainly been launched.
Even if the opponent had used some special defensive measure to block the bullets, traces of that would surely remain.
But the event unfolding before his eyes was as if their very actions had been nullified from the outset, producing absolutely no result.
"Aha ha ha ha! What's that? That was easy! Too easy! Seriously, it's easy mode!"
The young woman wore a cruel smile.
The aura of catastrophic darkness clinging to her, her bizarre manner of speaking and attire.
Her words and actions somehow reminded him of the vocabulary used by their own king, Takuto Ira, and Atou, and finally Mortar understood the opponent was the witch who had long been listed as a priority threat, grinding his teeth in frustration.
"As expected of the Game Master! There's no way anyone can win against the Master who sets all the rules of the game, right?"
The opposing numbers were three.
One was the woman who had been eloquently laughing since earlier, as if her own strategy had worked particularly well, and two others flanking her, guarding the area. From their attire, they appeared to be either Quolia holy priests or female holy knights.
He didn't know under what circumstances the witch and Quolia had joined forces, but that wasn't the critical point now.
How to handle this sudden calamity was the absolute priority.
Elder Mortar glanced around, observing their surroundings.
On their side, excluding the guards, their main fighting forces were Gear and Anterize.
Both were powerful individuals incomparable to ordinary soldiers.
As if to properly demonstrate that evaluation, they had been the first to draw the handguns bestowed upon them by the king and join the attack, but the result had been as previously described.
He was desperately searching for a way to break the situation and find a crack in the enemy's defenses, his gaze sharp.
The hesitation lasted only a few seconds.
But even those few seconds of waste could mean an equivalent loss for eternity in this place.
Because...
There stood Atou, halfway between the mysterious adversaries and their own group, frozen in a daze as if his soul had departed, and their king lay prostrate on the ground, submerged in a pool of blood.
The scene indicated the end of the dream approached with each passing moment, simultaneously conveying a maddening sense of urgency and crisis.
"Go on, go on, roll the dice! Roll the dice, maybe you'll hit something!"
"Ignore them! Continue the attack!"
From snipers positioned on the rooftops of nearby buildings, gunfire was unleashed once more.
Gia and Anterize, recognizing their handguns were ineffective, switched tactics, using throwing knives and spirit arts.
Though he anticipated the attack might end in futility again, Mortar still ordered the assault to continue.
The purpose was to pin the opponent down with a hail of bullets and reclaim the turn for their side.
Mortar's judgment was correct. Sensing their master's crisis, the long-legged insects burst from the alleyway at tremendous speed, attacking the witch.
A moment later, subordinates like the Brain Eater charged in, heedless of the rain of gunfire, and brought their weapons crashing down.
It seemed the full might Mynoghra could muster at this very instant was being unleashed.
=GM: Message===
Exercising Game Master authority.
Attacks by Mynoghra units are not permitted.
───
And all of it... ended in failure.
Of course the bullets, and even the knives launched with peerless accuracy aimed at their eyeballs, vanished before the women's eyes, as did the bursts of spirit magic.
Not only that—the legged worms that had lunged to tear at them with their maws, and even the other combat units, all disappeared with a light sound like a clap of two hands, vanishing into nothingness.
What remained were only the unharmed women.
And the single word "despair" seared into the minds of Mortar and the others of Mynoghra's faction.
"Impossible... what kind of technique was that?"
Astonishment slipped from his lips unbidden.
If it were merely negating bullets, they might have judged it as some unknown magic or technique.
If it had been accomplished through some relic of the divine age they didn't know of, perhaps they could still accept it.
But even the powerful servants of darkness the Demon Lord had created had their lives harvested in an instant.
This wasn't even a fight.
There was an overwhelming difference there, so vast it was almost ridiculous to try and put into words.
"Still, it was unexpected for them to be equipped with guns! As expected, Soarina's keen insight was right to switch to offense here, huh?"
The witch, Erakino, swathed in her eccentric and somewhat clownish attire, clattered with laughter and sought agreement from her companions.
Her attitude was as if they weren't even worth noticing.
But the subordinates of Mynoghra did not possess the power to deny that arrogance.
"——In that case..."
Before this overwhelming advantage, the opponent had let their guard down. Mortar saw that single point as a potential opening.
At the same time, Gear perceived his intent from that subtle cue alone.
He caught the eye of a subordinate nearby and issued a command.
Several Dark Elves leapt forward.
Their destination was not the enemy before them wearing composed expressions, but the king collapsed upon the ground.
The nation is the king, and the king is the nation.
No matter how many lives were lost here, so long as the king remained safe, the rebuilding of Mynoghra could be achieved.
Even if they themselves perished here, so long as Takuto Ira still stood, he would surely avenge their regrets.
Everyone present had made the choice to abandon their own lives in order to get the king out of here, and had acted upon that decision.
But the enemy would not even permit that.
Just as the Dark Elves' highest priority was Takuto's safety, so too was the purpose of these intruders Takuto's life...
"How naive."
"Guuh! Guaah!"
"Gahh!"
It was not the witch who moved, but her companion.
Two clergy who followed the daughter of darkness. A woman who hunched her shoulders and hid her face behind a deep veil murmured and raised her head, and a soldier was sent flying by an invisible force.
The soldier lay dead, body bent at an impossible angle as if struck by some tremendous impact.
These were people who had planned an assault on the king with only three of them. It was clear that none of them were to be underestimated.
(A attack magic that uses sight as a medium. This is a technique I understand, but I've never heard of a priest of Quolia wielding such a powerful offensive miracle! Could it be!)
Through his devoted companion's sacrifice, Mortar had obtained a piece of information about the enemy.
While their mysterious method of defense remained unknown, this at least proved that the enemy was not an omnipotent being.
Having learned even a fraction of their power, and simultaneously grasping that their king was now in even greater danger, Mortar shouted with unconcealed rage.
"That attire, that power! I've heard of it! You there, woman! You're Quolia's Holy Saint!!"
"The Holy Saint?!"
"Impossible...why would they be here!?"
Gear spat out with a curse, while Anterize murmured in a trembling voice laced with fear.
If the Vale woman was the Holy Maiden, then it was highly likely the other one was too.
In fact, one could say it was optimistic to assume she was different. There was no reason whatsoever to bring an ordinary nun to a hellish battlefield like this.
...The Holy Maiden of the Holy Kingdom of Quolia.
A divine puppet existing solely to annihilate evil.
A Holy Maiden said to be worth an entire army.
The Witch said to rival that Holy Maiden.
They were not merely three.
The enemy before them had brought roughly three legions to Dragontan to hunt the King's head.
"Have you finally realized? Or did you arrive at that hypothesis but refuse to admit it?"
"Cursed Sage Mortar and the assassin Gear. Two Dark Elf bounties on their heads, no less... Our judgment appears to have been correct after all."
"Guh!"
The two, who no longer bothered to conceal their holy aura, exchanged impressions as if commenting on a spectacle.
They could afford to muse leisurely because the balance of power between their side and the other was overwhelmingly tilted.
And at the same time, it signaled that the outcome was already decided.
Mynoghra, with the Ruinous King as its master, boasted powerful heroes and combat units as subordinates.
But its source of strength depended above all else on the existence of Takuto Ira.
The gears turned because he existed, and the nation of Mynoghra possessed the strength to repel any formidable foe.
That was precisely why his fall had been so fatally brittle.
"It seems they have no moves left to make. Victory is ours. Now, let us utterly annihilate our target and return."
"You must not let them! Fire! Fire at them! Secure the King's body at all costs!"
As if voicing the laments and cries of the Dark Elves, a multitude of gunshots echo through the skies of Dragontan.
"It's useless. They believe there is no move to make."
"Help us! We can still be saved!"
"It's useless. They believe we cannot be saved."
The strategic magic of annihilation, chanted to completion by the elite magic unit, is released, and simultaneously vanishes as if erased by an incomprehensible law.
"Lord Atou! Please awaken! The King is in danger!"
The hero does not answer, simply stands there.
"O King! Please awaken! For our sake, please annihilate these ruffians!"
The collapsed Takuto's state—whether he is even alive—is no longer clear.
"Are the Elful sisters not here yet?"
The question echoes emptily, with no one to answer.
"Give up. Do not writhe unsightly, but accept your fate."
"The King and Hero we follow would not fall to something like this! Don't get ahead of yourself, you wooden puppet of Quolia!"
"It is all useless. My eyes deny all falsehood and injustice universally. Before God's grace, it is impossible to lie."
The Saint of Vale... the power Fenne received from God resides in those eyes.
Everything she gazes upon is denied falsehood and forced to reveal its true nature.
Erakino and the Game Master seal the enemy's stratagems, Fenne exposes them, and Soarina incinerates everything the enemy has.
Carried out with a flawless formation, this assassination had left no room for resistance from the very beginning.
"No~! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The screams of the defeated are so satisfying! The refreshing feeling like after a bath following exercise! The sense of superiority like winning first prize in a lottery! And above all! The feeling of omnipotence like finishing all summer homework on the first day! Ughhhh!! Erakino is shining her brightest right now!"
Erakino was drunk on the fine wine of victory, in the throes of ecstasy with the certainty that she had seized glory. The stratagem they had devised had worked perfectly, bringing a one-sided victory without even giving the opponent a chance to act.
Far from that, she now understood that the very ability her Master wielded was supreme, and that before its power, all existence would bow its head.
How could she not laugh at that?
"Ahahaha! Isn't our army overwhelmingly powerful! Well, there's only three of us though ♪"
Forcibly altering the game to obtain power that should normally be impossible is commonly referred to as a "cheat." While it's often criticized for potentially destroying the entertainment value, it's actually quite simple.
To trample everything with overwhelming power is exhilarating beyond measure.
Erakino couldn't stop laughing.
"You're taking too long. Once the objective is achieved, we should withdraw."
The sainted one of Vale spoke bluntly to her like that.
"Really~! Fenne, you're such a buzzkill! Since we've got the advantage, let's get more pumped up! Let's enjoy this completely guaranteed victory to the fullest, okay? ♪"
"Unplanned actions invite defeat, and arrogance summons death. No matter how favorable you think the situation is, underestimating the opponent is never permissible. Do not relinquish the reins on yourself... Do you need the lecture you dislike?"
"Ugh... Spare me the sermon! Fine, fine. Should we wrap things up soon then?"
The ability to banter lightly likely came from the confidence of one who was overwhelmingly powerful.
Contrary to Fenne's words, which urged one caution upon caution, the wicked oni that Mynoghra boasted possessed no fangs to resist, powerless to do anything about their master's crisis.
The objective had already been achieved. The first goal, securing the witch Atou, was complete, and the second goal, defeating Takuto Ira, had also been accomplished. Withdrawing here would not hinder the plan at all; indeed, it could be called a great victory.
"Unacceptable! The evil forces must be utterly destroyed here!"
Hence, Soarina's words to seize this opportunity and annihilate Mynoghra completely were also correct.
Indulge in greed, and your feet will be swept from under you; yet, given the overwhelmingly favorable situation, settling everything here in one decisive stroke was necessary to leave no lingering regrets.
The choice falls to Erakino.
"Hmm!"
"Our King! Our King, Takuto Ira!!"
The Dark Elves' desperate resistance was all returned to nothingness, permitted without exception.
Knowing it was futile, they repeated the same actions, clinging miserably to a nonexistent hope, calling out "King! King!"
"Oh, honestly! So noisy!"
The witch Erakino makes her decision.
"Alright, decided! I'll kill all these annoying Dark Elves too, 'kay? In the end, the life and death of mere NPCs are at the Game Master's mercy! Try harder in the next session!"
The extermination of all Dark Elves present... the inhabitants of Dragontan, was now confirmed.
Rather than deal with trouble later, she would finish everything now to cut off all future concerns.
This was, of course, not a reckless choice.
Above all, there remained a card they hadn't yet shown.
Yes, it was the supreme tool they had just acquired, the one that would guarantee their victory.
As if revealing a new toy, Erakino raised her hand and declared her words.
"Well then, Atou-chaaaaan~♪ Kill your precious, precious little friends for me right now—"
A cruel smile. A savage grin certain of victory.
She was about to pronounce a death sentence, her voice tinged with a strange, lofty excitement, as she fantasized about the Dark Elves' future—betrayed by the hero they trusted and brutally murdered...
――In that instant, a faint voice cuts through the air like a splash of cold water against the complacency of the strong.
"…Requesting judgment for Atou’s brainwashing release. Referencing the Trust values of both."
=SystemMessage===
Brainwashing release judgment begins.
Judgment: Certain success.
---
The voice, so faint it might vanish at any moment, reached the ears of everyone present without fail.