Suddenly, the Third Princess's faction fell into a state of frantic urgency.
After integrating the scouts' reports with the account Albert had brought at breakneck speed from the Second Princess's side—
"...several days ago, a massive horde of monsters deployed in a formation that exactly surrounds the Royal Capital."
If it were a random cluster that had appeared, that would be one thing — but forming a ring around the Royal Capital was completely abnormal.
First, the fundamental behavior of monsters was singular: attack humans. Following that logic, there was no reason for them NOT to converge on the Royal Capital, which held the highest concentration of people in the entire area.
To make matters worse, this had resulted in all traffic between the Royal Capital and the outside world being completely severed. In other words, it was impossible to enter or leave the Royal Capital.
In short — for whoever in the organization was about to set something in motion within the Royal Capital, this was an impossibly convenient situation.
(...Nothing about this felt right.)
But there was no longer any room to dwell on that.
Either way, from here on out Ermes and his companions would have to storm the Royal Capital and face the organization in a decisive battle. Since the Capital was now confirmed as the battlefield ahead — they absolutely could not proceed while leaving enemies behind them.
Besides, given their position, there was no option to simply ignore the Royal Capital in its current crisis. As far as they knew, several military units and royal mages were already dealing with the monster horde, but it was already clear that this was nowhere near enough — they were being pushed to the brink.
Conclusion: even if completely annihilating the monster horde right here and now was a tall order, they had to at least thin their numbers enough to drive them away from the immediate vicinity of the Royal Capital.
That much was swiftly decided in an emergency meeting.
All that remained was how to allocate their forces...
"...Master. The toughest spot — could you handle that one solo?"
"Sure, leave it to me. My magic is pretty much all built for crowd control anyway. Honestly, I'd rather you keep your soldiers away from where I am."
"That would be a great help."
In situations like this, Rose was beyond reassuring.
With her around, they could leave the bulk of the monsters to her without a worry. That alone made things immeasurably easier.
Furthermore, they decided to prioritize sending Ermes and other exceptional solo magic users to the remaining battlefields as well.
The reasoning was simple—they couldn't afford to reduce their soldier count right now.
They wanted to preserve as much of their fighting force as possible for the decisive battle at the Royal Capital. Rather than throwing the army at every engagement and grinding it down, it made more sense to deploy powerful magic users and have them anchor the fighting instead.
"A-Are you sure about that? Because..."
Liliana voiced a certain concern in response, explaining her worry. Ermes listened, then offered a proposal of his own: "Well, about that..." Upon hearing it, Liliana looked surprised, but quickly nodded with a resolute expression, as if to say "If that's how it is, then fine."
There was no time. With that, they swiftly dismissed the meeting, and everyone headed to their respective battlefields without delay.
──From that moment on, the atmosphere around them shifted abruptly into something unmistakably resembling an actual warzone.
Soldiers streamed in one after another to report to Liliana, the supreme commander.
"Milady Liliana! A massive horde of monsters is bearing down on the Second Squad!"
"Pull them back for now! Katia is heading that way—reorganize into a formation that can support her!"
"Milady Liliana, the Sixth Squad is also under assault by powerful monsters and their line is starting to break!"
"Retreat from there as well! Above all else, the priority on this battlefield is to avoid diminishing your military forces! Move in a way that keeps the army combat-capable!"
Liliana was royalty too. She had learned at least a little about commanding armies this way... mostly self-taught, but she had picked things up.
However──this was simply too hectic. The situation was nearly a series of chance encounters, so there was no helping it, but the soldiers' reports kept pouring in one after another. She had to gauge the battlefield from each one and issue orders accordingly. Even just following the broad strategy Ermes had outlined beforehand was overwhelming in its sheer pace. Listen, respond, act. Her attention was being pulled in every direction.
And so.
"Milady Liliana! The Eighth Squad has annihilated all monsters in the designated zone!"
"Excellent work! Proceed straight to reinforcing the west!"
"Milady Liliana! New monster reinforcements are coming from the south!"
"Confirmed! Fall back while intercepting—wait for Milady Niina to arrive!"
"Milady Liliana! Can I go kill 'em?!"
"Yes—"
"—————Eh?"
"Really? Awesome!"
Nothing.
Not a single thing felt out of place, and not one person noticed a thing.
One of the soldiers—no, something wearing a soldier's guise—stepped casually out in front of the others.
In one fluid motion, it raised its arm and swung straight for Liliana's neck—
"—Just as"
"expected."
Right at that instant.
First, before Lili's eyes, the
[Hold]
status on the
[Spirit Veil]
was deployed—and in that same instant, Lucius lunged in and caught the attacker's hand on the flat of his blade, while Ermes closed in from behind and loosed a magic bullet.
"!"
The figure that had struck showed an incredible reaction even then, springing back from the spot in an instant.
The soldiers, stunned, kept their distance from the figure before surrounding it all at once.
"…The monsters' behavior was sudden and highly organized. And it was movement that could only belong to an 'army,' not just some rabble."
"It's obvious there's a 'commander.' …I'm terribly sorry, Lady Lili, for using you as bait. Are you hurt?"
"…Yes. I understand this is the most expedient approach, and I could sense that everyone had taken positions to protect me perfectly."
That was the gist of it.
They had long since deduced that the monsters possessed some kind of highly intelligent "commander." So Ermes and the others, eager to settle things quickly, deliberately made the area around Liliana appear defenseless on the surface—while of course ensuring complete security underneath—in order to flush out the "commander." This was the concern Liliana had voiced earlier, along with the hastily improvised plan.
Even if the bait failed to draw the commander out, the goal was to at least identify any suspicious figures moving around Liliana. But who could have predicted they'd actually fall for such an obvious trap…
Still, there was no denying it was a stroke of luck.
Lucius thrust his sword toward the shadowy figure and spoke. Though the figure appeared far off, a distance of this magnitude was no different from arm's reach for him.
"Now then—show your face, you scoundrel."
Without a doubt, the being before them was the monsters' "commander."
Nine times out of ten, this was a wielder of the same type of magic that controlled the same breed of monsters he had once fought—Clyde von Helmuth. That such a skilled practitioner had remained nameless and in hiding was astonishing, but at the very least, he shouldn't have been able to remain unscathed while so thoroughly surrounded in the heart of the enemy formation—
"…Hmm, can't be helped, I guess."
—That expectation,
was wrong, in every sense of the word. Let me say that again—in every sense of the word.
The attacker languidly removed their helmet.
What emerged was what appeared to be a perfectly ordinary boy—with blindingly white hair and impeccably symmetrical features… or to put it another way, someone with no other distinguishing characteristics whatsoever.
That was precisely why
—
it was so abnormal.
After all.
Both Ermes and Lucius.
They noticed it instantly through their magic power perception, their eyes going wide.
Because that thing—that existence—
—was something that absolutely should never be seen in the shape of a human.
"Lady Lily!"
"Y-yes!?"
"Pull back immediately. Take the soldiers and get as far away from here as you can."
"Wh-what!? What do you—"
"Soldiers, get away from that thing right now! Sorry, but against something like that—you won't even be a nuisance!"
Liliana, who still hadn't realized what was going on, and the soldiers all wore expressions of bewilderment.
But—Lucius's next words completely changed the atmosphere.
"…It's a Monster."
"That thing—"
"has merely taken on"
"the form of"
"a human. It's nothing but a—"
"Monster!!"
A murmur of unease spread through the crowd.
Even without fully grasping the threat level, that alone was enough to convey just how unsettling it was. And above all, when the two strongest members of the Third Princess's army were giving orders, the soldiers swiftly obeyed and began putting distance between themselves and the boy at the center.
And the boy whose true nature had just been exposed—
"Oh, you figured it out already? That's impressive. I used 'that King' as a reference and tried to make my presence and magic power feel as human as possible, but… hmm, maybe you two are just really exceptional? You both look super strong."
He said it so lightly.
She confirmed it as though it were nothing, and with a demeanor that could almost be called innocent, she observed both Ermes and Lucius with keen interest.
"Well, whatever. At any rate, having my true identity seen through AND having you escape would be rather frustrating, so..."
She smiled sweetly—age-appropriately, radiantly—and it was precisely that quality which made it a smile of unbearable eeriness.
"......
A few hundred
people
,
would it be alright
to kill them
right here
?"
"Lord Lucius—"
"Right. I'll charge in first. Can you match me?"
"Understood—though if I can't match your timing, we're in real trouble. I'll make it work even if I have to force it."
"Good. That boy—probably need both of us to even have a chance."
That conversation.
Whoever happened to hear it would have been unfortunate.
Liliana, who had been standing nearby, was one such person.
"No... way... right...?"
Even as she backed away, her eyes went wide, frozen in shock.
Ermes and Lucius. Excluding the extraordinary outlier that is Rose, these two are without question the strongest fighters in the current Third Princess's faction.
And yet, even so...
An opponent they need both—
—of them working together just to stand a chance—
—is what you're telling me?
Why does such a being exist this close to the Royal Capital?
What is a Monster that looks human? Why hasn't such a being shown itself until now?
And why has it appeared at this particular moment?
...In this kingdom.
No—perhaps even beyond that.
In this very world—what exactly is happening right now?
"What... is going on...?"
A premonition so terrifying she couldn't stop her body from trembling—
and yet Liliana steeled herself to fulfill her duty, praying for the two warriors' success, and focusing on what she had to do.
Chapter Three: Revival Arc.
This episode is perhaps the most pivotal of all of Chapter Three, and will connect to events in the chapters beyond.
I hope you enjoy the story from here, as it draws ever closer to the mysteries of this world!