Read Novel Full Chapter 258
Chapter 258
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Chapter 258 – Surging Malice
It slowly lifted its body, took on a human form, and came toward me. With every step I took, I could see people, horses, and carriages being crushed, smashed, and blown to pieces under its feet. With the density of this order that I saw, it would be impossible to escape.
“Demon king… or not? Is that body a golem?”
If so, it is quite large. It is not clear due to the distance, but it seems to be at least 30 meters tall by a rough estimate.
As it came closer, even my eyesight could make out some details. Although the scale was wrong, the figure was the middle-aged man I had seen on the throne. I looked back at the shrine maidens in disbelief.
“Maybe this was created by Kaienholt’s magic… and not he himself…”
“”””Yes, that’s it, Kaienholt.”””””
“Wait, wait, that doesn’t seem right, does it? I thought I shot him properly!?”
No, even if he was alive, it’s not like he could turn into a monster like that.
“Don’t worry, Yoshua. The false demon king is dead. He just used some kind of evil method to come back to life.”
“That’s even worse!”
Actually, it’s the worst. How can I defeat that thing?
The giant Kaienholt glares at me as it slowly gets to its feet. I don’t know how much of the will of the middle-aged man who died after being turned into a beehive is left in him, but this huge thing has only one will: to slaughter us. That much was clear.
Slowly but surely, the hordes advanced. The sound of gongs and drums announcing their advance began to reach here. The sound of tens of thousands of footsteps roared like earthquakes, filling my vision to the horizon.
Fear and despair gripped us. The Prince and his shrine maidens lose color and stare in astonishment. The twins who were guarding them were only bracing themselves and not moving, and if I were to say that, I would be just like them. I can only see a future where I will be wrapped up and killed. The battle at Casemaian was also hopeless, but this time, my allies were only ten children, including complete amateurs. There were no fortifications, no walls, no horse-proof fences, no machine gun emplacements, and no time to prepare.
“No way.”
The legs of the shrine maidens began to tremble as they saw the army slowly approaching to fill the ground. One by one, they crouched down and let out a screaming prayer. From their desperately clasped hands, their weapons fell to the sand.
“Impossible.”
“”We will die… We should run… No, impossible.””
The shrine maidens look around frantically, perhaps looking for a place to escape. With their young legs, it would be pointless for them to run. Without horses or camels, there is no way for them to cross the sea of sand. More than anything else, they realize that they cannot run away without the Prince, but their instinct to live compels them to flee. That’s about it.
“Don’t worry, we will win. Believe in us and in the power of all of us.”
“Impossible, absolutely.”
“”””We can’t do it, everyone, here.””””
“You will die.”
One of the shrine maidens stops mid-sentence and murmurs a few words, frightened by the weight of her own words.
Myrril is not angry but smiles with a face full of compassion. She gently rubbed the backs of the cowering shrine maidens. I could see that the twins and the Prince guarding them were stunned by the sight of her.
I know. If you don’t have the same experience, it might be hard to understand.
The twins stepped forward as if to reprimand her, but Myrril stopped them with a hand gesture.
“”Why don’t you reprimand them?””
The twin guard asked, displeased.
“What are you reprimanding them for? For being weak? For giving up their weapons? For doubting our victory and making the lord lose face?”
“””””””I’m sorry.”””””””
“No, don’t worry about it. When you see such a large army, it’s natural to be afraid and want to flee. I know you don’t know who we are, I know you can’t believe in victory, and I know it’s impossible for you to suddenly be ready to fight to the death.”
That’s right. We can’t blame them for being weak.
“It was the same for us in Casemaian. The strong beastmen, elves, and dwarves moved around to hide their trembling. They all laughed like fools to hide the fact that they were about to scream.”
Yes. They were ready to die again and again. The only reason they didn’t think of running away was because there was no place to run to. They kept moving their limbs, their mouths, and their heads so that they didn’t have to think about fear, anxiety, or the future in which they would die, and they stopped thinking about it. Besides, there were many more friends by their side, and the children they had to protect were in plain sight. The adults couldn’t cry and be weak.
That’s what these girls don’t have. Nothing to rely on, nothing to cling to, nothing to support their crumbling selves.
First of all, the shrine girls themselves are children. In Japan, they would still be in elementary school. It was natural for them to be afraid.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
The twins flinched at Myrril’s words, but with their backs to the Prince, they held their chests tightly.
“”Of course.””
Myrril looked at them and nodded in satisfaction.
“Once you get through the first battle, you’ll be in a better frame of mind for a while. Once you get into that frame of mind, you can hold on for a while. Maybe you’ll be able to last a long time.”
“”And they’re not?””
“That’s right.”
“””””””I’m sorry.”””””””
Myrril shook her head with a smile.
“What? There’s nothing to apologize for. It will make you feel a little better to know that you have nothing to fear, won’t it?”
“””””””Eh?”””””””
“Here, I’ll show you some of the extraordinary power that His Majesty, our true Demon King, has given us.”
I knew she was going to wave it at me. I’m okay with that. If we were to travel through Casspir, the KPV, with its huge tripod, would be out of the question. It would be good to set off a big firework here.
I set up the KPV tripod on the handmade slope where the Casspir is located. The heavy machine gun I had stored after the test firing seemed to be more effective than I had imagined, judging by the sight I saw in the enemy camp.
I stopped it with a dozen rounds that time, but this time, I’ll give it a little more than that.
“Oh, oh, that evil smile. Isn’t that the very face of the Demon King?”
“No, not as vicious as Your Majesty the Queen.”
I open a seat for her, spouting lines like a villainous merchant in a period drama. I set up a wooden crate for scaffolding,
I adjust the tripod to her height.
“Nn?”
“It’s a big caliber, the kind Myrril likes, and the range is close to the horizon, so it’s better suited for someone with good eyesight. I’ll load the bullets for you, so please harvest them to your heart’s content.”
With a bright smile on her face, I knew she was a trigger-happy person.
I pulled out four boxes of ammunition, each about the size of a mailbox, and attached one to the right side of the gun. Noticing the difference in the ammunition in each box, Myrril looked at me as I loaded the gun.
“This is the same ammo you used in the test fire, isn’t it?”
“Yes, this is incendiary armor-piercing ammunition. It penetrates the target and burns it.”
“What about the red one?”
“Incendiary round. It has little penetrating power but explodes to spread the damage.”
Three boxes of incendiary armor-piercing shells had only the tip of the warhead painted red, while only one box of incendiary rounds had the entire warhead painted red. I don’t know if the paint was applied by hand, but the paint was sticking out of the shell casing, which was a very Eastern touch.
“First, you tear them to pieces, and then you burn them, right?”
“Yes. The enemy’s supplies had a lot of flammable materials in them.”
“As expected of you, Yoshua, you made a good choice. They are now trying to protect themselves by setting up their shields and magic barriers. I will shoot through the defenses they rely on and crush their will into dust!”
Myrril looked at the KPV site with a cheerful smile as if to appeal to the shrine maidens watching in the background. But to me, the enemy is still just a lumpy mass on the horizon, and I can even see the enemy’s formation. I load forty 14.5 x 114mm incendiary rounds, connected by metal belts, and entrust the KPV to Myrril.
“Loaded and ready to go.”
“Roger that.”
Myrril glanced back and smiled at the cowering shrine maidens.
“See, shrine maidens, this is the power of the true demon king!”
With a more spirited declaration than necessary, the shooting began. There was a tremendous roar and a violent burst of flame. The warheads shot out in loose arcs, plunging one after another into the midst of the enemy. There is a hint of something bouncing around in the enemy shadows that fill the ground, but as expected, I cannot see what is going on.
“This is… a great power.”
With an exclamation, the barrel of the weapon swings and heads for the next target. The frightening thing about Myrril-san is that she is sure to fire several shots at once, aiming at something. Sometimes, a satisfied snort comes out of her mouth as if she has hit the target.
“What about that monster?”
“I hit it with a few shots first, but they missed. The parts I shot off came right back together.”
The heavy machine gun rounds didn’t work. I’ll have to try something else.
“So it turns out its body is made of sand.”
“It’s not a golem.”
“I fired a few probing shots at it, but it didn’t react to the power core like a golem. If that’s the case, it’s hard to know how to defeat it.”
As she spoke, Myrril swept the KPV. Soon, several large fireballs erupted in the distance. They must have caught something flammable in their path. After firing the first 40 rounds, Myrril raised her hand.
“Yoshua, change the ammunition belts, please.”
“Roger that.”
“That big bastard stopped. Is it aiming at something? Or is it a problem with the lineup?”
After loading the second box, Myrril began to spread the bullets over a wider area and a little further. She seemed to be probing the enemy by sending bullets at them, but since she could not read the point of impact, she could only guess at their intentions.
Seeing that all the bullets had been fired, Myrril stopped me from replacing the ammunition belt and looked at the enemy’s position. It doesn’t look like trouble. She is waiting for something.
“What’s going on?”
“A large army is bound to have some differences in skill levels.”
“Oh, yes.”
“First of all, if you shake the whole thing up, the smart ones will deal with it. The men who just split into two wings are the same.”
I couldn’t see what was going on, but I understood the logic. She was sorting out the threats and then turning the high-priority elite groups against each other to move on their own.
“…If it’s the Prince, you know what I mean, right?”
“If we hit the group that came forward there, we can greatly reduce the enemy’s strength, right?”
At the Prince’s answer, Myrril-san turned and nodded in satisfaction.
“That’s right. If you’re just a fool who moves left and right, it won’t matter later.”
Not only informing us of their intentions but also making the shrine maidens and guards aware that their top leaders understand what they are doing. This is called building trust.
…Myrril, you are a scary girl!
“Well, the barrel seems to have cooled off a bit. Next time, give me the red one.”
“Got it.”
Changing the plan, the third box was loaded with incendiary grenades with a red warhead.
“Loaded.”
“Copy that.”
With a finger on the trigger, Myrril carefully fired several rounds into each wing. A cloud of smoke rose at the point of impact, and some of the shells burst into flames.
“The left flank seems to have had artillery with them. I don’t know what they were aiming at, but…”
Whether it was the shattering of a cluster of magic stones or the death of several mages, I saw a chain of bluish-white magic lights burst into flames. The scattered explosions seemed to spread everywhere, and by the time the fire was extinguished, black smoke had filled the enemy camp.
“””””…Amazing.”””””
“”This is the Demon King’s power.””
No, more than half of it is Myrril-san’s power. And Russia’s weapons production capabilities. But I’ll just be quiet here. The purpose is to suppress the fear and anxiety of the shrine maidens, you know. I nodded with a warm smile. It’s a real deception.
The Demon King, whose main job is logistics, removes the ammunition boxes from the empty incendiary grenades and loads them with incendiary armor-piercing ammunition.
“There’s still ammo. I’ll get it out if you need it.”
“This is encouraging, but I think we should wait and see.”
There is no change in the condition of the giant Kaienholt. Of course, it is steadily approaching, but it is slow for a huge body that seems to be more than 30 meters high. Could it be that it is aligning itself with the Imperial troops to avoid attracting attention? Even though it is a giant demon king? Even though at first it looked like it was ready to attack with a smug look on its face? Or maybe it saw the elite soldiers who had gone before it crumble into dust and decided not to go after it? Even though it was the demon king who turned into a giant (for the second time)?
…Something is strange.
“Your Majesty, the Demon King.”
I turned around to see the Prince and the shrine maidens lined up with pensive faces. They had watched us attack first.
“As you can see, we are doing well in eliminating the enemy. The problem is still that big thing. Is there any way to defeat it?”
Prince Haidar and the shrine maidens nodded. That seemed to be what they were trying to tell me.
“If it is made of sand, it must be a puppet.”
“What is a puppet?”
“”””Dead, resentment, draw it and put it in.””””
“”Pour your thoughts into sand or water and make it attack the person you resent.””
The shrine girls and the twins explained this to me, but I didn’t understand. Is it like a doll? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the presence was dispersed until just before the attack or the fact that the shrine maidens were unable to locate it.
“If it is a puppet, there must be a mage somewhere sending magic power to it.”
If it’s not autonomous and has no cockpit, does that mean it’s remotely controlled?
“If it’s that big, it takes more than ten or twenty magicians to operate it. And they have to be somewhere not too far from the main body.”
“Hmm. And these mages are not shrine maidens, are they?”
“”A shrine maiden cannot use the evil arts.””
“Then it’s easy.”
Mirryl laughed. It was as if she was wearing a glittering crimson flame.
“All we have to do is shoot randomly at the enemy camp until the big guy disappears. By the time we’ve killed them all, the mages will be dead, too, won’t they?”