Chapter 187: Takatsuki Makoto shoots down

◇Devilkin man Havel's POV◇

-Listen here, the Moon Oracle is our hope.

The personage that will one day guide us devilkin.

As long as there's life in me, I will protect the Oracle-sama...Furiae-sama.

The devilkins of Laphroaig have been taught this since the time we were born.

Our divine Oracle-sama.

Even when we were oppressed and we had to sip on muddy water underground, seeing that figure of hers would heal our hearts.

She was our spiritual support.

But...one day, Furiae-sama was taken away by the Highland Knights.

We were in despair.

We won't be able to meet the Oracle-sama again.

There were people who committed suicide thinking this.

Hopeless days continued.

However, Furiae-sama has returned to the Moon Country.

Aah, I am glad you are okay...Furiae-sama.

Thank you, Moon Goddess Naia-sama.

For letting us see our Oracle-sama once more.

When we met the other day, there was a black cat on her shoulder.

In the Moon Country, there's no leeway to have familiars.

It is great to see that she has the leeway now, which is great to see.

It is also envying that it can be together with her the whole time.

If possible, I would like to serve by her side as well.

That's most likely the same wish for all the devilkin here.

But what's more important than anything else...is the happiness of Furiae-sama -that point alone is our hope.

◇◇

The demon lord army is approaching the Moon Country.

My eyes can clearly see the several thousands of wyverns and griffons.

And I could also see the magic tools for bombing.

If they were to drop those, even our underground facilities won't be coming out unscathed...

But what must be prioritized most of all...

"Furiae-sama, please run away at once!" (Havel)

I shouted.

"I don't want to! I cannot leave this place!" (Furiae)

No good!

The kind Furiae-sama wouldn't abandon the Moon people and run away.

If push comes to shove, should I have her run far away even if by force?

But going against the order of Furiae-sama is...

"Makoto, let's join up with the Sun Knights!"

"Takatsuki-kun, it is dangerous to stay here!"

I heard the voices of Furiae-sama's comrades.

It is true that, instead of acting alone here, it would be safer to join up with the Highland army, regardless of how vexing that feels.

"My Knight, can't you do something about it?!" (Furiae)

Looks like Furiae-sama is calling for her Guardian Knight.

Why isn't she relying on us?

But as for the knight of Furiae-sama in question...

"Hmm..." (Makoto)

With an absentminded expression, with a voice that you can't feel a single shred of tension, he looked up at the sky.

What is this man doing?!

Even though the demon lord army will arrive here in less than a few minutes!

"Let's defeat them here." (Makoto)

"""Eh?"""

The voices of surprise from the comrades of the Guardian Knight at his words.

And I also couldn't understand what he meant by that.

What can you do against the several thousands of monsters?

"Lucy, come here." (Makoto)

"Okay, what is it?" (Lucy)

The Guardian Knight man beckons her.

The red haired elf girl walked to his side with unsteady steps.

"Hey, this isn't the time to be taking things leisure—kya!" (Lucy)

"Lucy, I will be borrowing you for a bit." (Makoto)

After saying this, the Guardian Knight man held the red haired elf and...kissed her.

(Huh?)

What's with this man?!

Does he even understand what's happening right now?!

No good, I can't leave the protection of Furiae-sama to this guy.

I should grab the Oracle-sama right this instant, and leave to a safe place.

Thinking this, I look at Furiae-sama and her comrade.

"Muuuh." (Aya)

The brown haired city-looking girl was puffing her cheeks.

"......"

And Furiae-sama was looking at the Guardian Knight and red haired elf as if jealous.

Furiae-sama?

Could it be...you...towards that man...?

"Oi! What are you doing at this emergency?!" (Havel)

Angered, I shouted at the man who is kissing a woman carefreely when the demon lord army is approaching.

There's a limit to how disconnected you can be.

"T-That's right, Makoto! This is way too sudd—hnn!!" (Lucy)

"Just a bit more, a bit more..." (Makoto)

Despite the elf girl complaining, the Guardian Knight still continued kissing her.

Is he crazy?!

"You! Do you understand what situation we are in right—-?!" (Havel)

That's all the words I could say.

Countless sparks were in standby in front of me.

"What...?" (Havel)

I looked around, and there were red lights fading in and out like fireflies.

"Wa, hot!" (Aya)

"Naah Naah!"

The city girl and the black cat were waving as if trying to escape from the sparks.

The air is drying.

I felt as if bits and pieces of heat were burning my cheeks.

And then, with the sharp senses of a devilkin, I could feel the mana in the air was increasing to an unbelievable extent.

What in the world is going on...?

"Tch, so hot... Is it...Fire Spirits?" (Furiae)

Furiae-sama mutters this with crossed arms in displeasure.

"Spirits...?" (Havel)

"Aah, Havel. My Knight is a Spirit User. Well, just watch." (Furiae)

Furiae-sama responded to me. She pointed at the Guardian Knight man with her chin.

When I look over there...

"[Fireball]." (Makoto)

The name of the spell he spoke out was an elementary rank spell.

A basic spell that a devilkin could use the moment they are born.

Why is he using such a weak spell...?

My question disappeared in the next instant.

...*Zuzuzuzuzu*

Fireballs covered the sky as far as my eye could see.

Isn't there more than 10,000?

What's...this?

"Hey, Makoto, why fireball? Wouldn't the mid rank spell Fire Spear, or the high rank spell Firestorm work fine?" (Lucy)

"Hmm, because it is easier to use." (Makoto)

"...I see." (Lucy)

I heard the carefree conversation of the Guardian Knight and the red haired elf.

Could it be that this man activated a spell of this scale all on his own?

"Look! The demon lord army is getting agitated by this!" (Aya)

Just like the city girl is saying, the demon lord army is breaking formation because of the outrageous spell.

"Woah there, I won't be letting you escape. Clear Mind 0%." (Makoto)

The Guardian Knight man changed his absentminded face into one of an innocent smile.

"Surround and burn them to cinders." (Makoto)

At the same time as he said that, the tens of thousands of fireballs moved slowly as if enveloping the horde of monsters.

No, it just looks slow but, in reality, they are surrounding the monsters at frightening speed into a fire cage.

He is controlling these numbers all on his own?

That's unbelievable.

But I could see with my eyes that the several tens of thousands of fireballs had a mana link with the Guardian Knight man.

Mana link is a technique to control your magic after you have shot it.

If you raise your magic proficiency, you can control a great amount of spells with mana link, but...I have never seen one of this scale and amount.

"Gyaaaaaaaa!!"

I could hear the screams of the monsters in the sky. Monsters that have been burned to cinders were falling into the ocean one after the other.

"Uwaah... Brutal." (Furiae)

"Waa, no mercy with Takatsuki-kun." (Aya)

Furiae-sama and the city girl were looking at that with reluctant gazes.

But that's all they did.

The two of them were accepting this sight as if it were normal.

I...couldn't say a word.

The monsters were being shot one after the other.

There were some who had their magic tools for bombing ignited, and would explode in midair.

This demon lord army is on a scale that could probably bring down a city, but they are being overwhelmed without much they can do.

This is...the Guardian Knight of Furiae-sama.

It is vexing, but even with several hundreds of devilkins, we wouldn't be able to replicate what he is doing.

"My Knight! Isn't that enough?!" (Furiae)

"Right! There's no need to kiss her anymore, right?!" (Aya)

"That's not good. We have to synchronize more. Right, Makoto?" (Lucy)

"Ah, uhm...what should I do?" (Makoto)

They were having a carefree exchange, totally contrary to the terrifying spectacle in the sky.

But I could see that he hasn't cut a single mana link despite him conversing with his comrades, and he continued controlling his magic —that reality made me tremble.

There's a Hero like this in Highland?

I now understand why Furiae-sama told us not to go against Highland, even if I hate to admit it.

And in this way, several thousands of monsters fell to the sea without a single one of them reaching the land of the Moon Country.

◇Takatsuki Makoto POV◇

At the Six Nation Alliance army's war council.

"...You are saying you fought an assault unit of the Demon Lord Zagan?" (Yuwein)

The one who said this was the General of the Six Nation Alliance, General Yuwein.

"Yes! The enemy was planning on bombing us from the air, but Hero Makoto-dono noticed this and crushed them by himself." (Ortho)

Captain Ortho responded to the question of the General.

"Their numbers?" (Yuwein)

"I am not aware of the exact numbers but, according to the reports, there were more than 5,000." (Ortho)

"And you are saying he drove them off?" (Yuwein)

"No, wiped them out." (Ortho)

"...Wiped them out?" (Yuwein)

"The enemy couldn't even retreat and were defeated by Makoto-dono." (Ortho)

General Yuwein furrowed his brows and placed a hand on his chin, seemingly thinking about something.

But he didn't ask any further than that.

"And so, what are the casualties on our side?" (Yuwein)

"Zero." (Ortho)

"...I see. Understood. I will listen to the details later." (Yuwein)

"Yes sir!" (Ortho)

The report ended with the conversation of General Yuwein and Captain Ortho.

I listened to this without interrupting.

My actions this time around were also against the plans.

But it looks like the Great Sage-sama secretly ordered him to move on to the next topic, Ortho-san told me that it will most likely be overlooked.

""......""

In the middle of that conversation, there were people who were directing their gazes at me.

The Pope was looking at me with an annoyed expression.

The Destiny Oracle Esther-san -the Destiny Goddess- was looking unamused.

Gera-san was looking at me with dangerous eyes that don't lose to those two.

The Great Sage-sama was grinning.

Sakurai-kun was smiling wryly.

And there's Princess Sofia who is looking intently at me like a kitten.

I am sorry for worrying you all the time.

As for the report of the other people, they were all about maintaining their forces.

But it looks like Zagan's main forces have begun crossing the sea, and it feels like the war is about to finally begin in full now. There were several points where you could feel the prickliness of the situation.

We will probably be beginning battle against the main forces of the demon lord army in 3 days, is what the General said as he ended the war council.

◇◇

"Oh my, welcome back, Makoto. Aah, I had a good sleep. I recovered a good amount of mana." (Lucy)

"Takatsuki-kun, good work~." (Aya)

"Here, Tsui. It is apparently something called dried sardines. Eat." (Furiae)

"Naah Naah."

When I returned to the tent, my party members were having a nap, eating sweets, or giving food to the cat all carefreely.

By the way, the dried sardines were something Fuji-yan left.

Is it okay to give dried sardines to cats?

Well, our Tsui is apparently a demonic beast, so it should be fine.

"It seems like our main forces will be clashing with the demon lord army's main forces soon." (Makoto)

"""!"""

When I say this, the 3 obviously had their expressions change into a serious one.

It seems like that atmosphere reached Tsui as well, it corrected its posture.

It is fine for you to just eat and sleep, you know.

"Well then, I will go train." (Makoto)

"Eh, right now, Makoto?" (Lucy)

"Ortho-san told you to rest, Takatsuki-kun." (Aya)

Lucy and Sa-san were surprised by this.

Well, I used some flashy magic just recently, so I can understand where Ortho-san is coming from.

But...

"If I am not training, I just can't seem to relax." (Makoto)

Sakurai-kun and the others will soon be fighting the Demon Lord. Is it really okay for me to just pass my sweet time doing nothing?

No, it is not.

I left the tent while my party members complained.

I went through the campsite at night.

The small spring that is at the corner of the campsite.

That is my training location.

I kneeled in front of the spring, held my dagger with both hands, and prayed to Noah-sama.

It is my routine before training.

"Spirit-sans, Spirit-sans." (Makoto)

I call the Water Spirits as usual.

But they aren't reacting well.

((.......))

Oops. Looks like they are in a bad mood because I played with the Fire Spirits early today.

"Sorry, sorry, Spirit-sans." (Makoto)

I would calm them down, and joke with them to try and better their mood, and passed a bit of time doing that.

It is slow work, but it is an important thing to do if you are a Spirit User.

I look up at the night sky.

There's no clouds today, and I could see the stars clearly -the big moon as well.

I could hear the sounds of footsteps approaching me.

To be precise, I have noticed since a while ago, so I know who it is.

"Need something, Princess?" (Makoto)

"Hey, My Knight, got some time?" (Furiae)

The one who showed up was the Moon Oracle, Furiae-san.

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