Chapter 47 Part1 (1/2)
<chapter 47.=”” we=”” got=”” a=”” new=”” colleague!=”” -=”” 1=””>
Prince looked around, dumbstruck. Everything had gone well since they'd separated from Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and entered the center of the city, so she didn't know how things had all gone to h.e.l.l.
”It's a mess!”
”Agreed.”
What was with that huge a.s.s cannon and the Spirit General tied in the middle of it? Putting aside the Archmage, who had appeared and summoned a ton of monsters as if waiting for them, why was the Annihilation Flame Sword G.o.d fighting against Seira (they had expected her to go wild, as if she were a crazed woman, so they weren't as surprised)? And where had Lee s.h.i.+n Woo gone; the Heaven Defying General was supposedly helping him clean up the city, yet why had the Heaven Defying General shown up with the Metal G.o.d General, rather than him!?
”Kratia, there are so many level 8s rampaging about. What can we even do?”
”There's nothing we can do for now, Prince. Bring out the popcorn.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had driven off the Lich, but the countless monsters he'd summoned still filled the battlefield. The golems and the Chi Pauls were diligently cutting down their numbers, but there were still so many of them that Kratia and Prince had a hard time dealing with all of them swarming the area.
If the Archmage could summon an endless supply of monsters, then he could defeat any army. This was the true power of the Empire! The Archmage had already disappeared, but their fear of him hadn't.
”Popcorn? I don't know what that is!”
”I don't really know what it is either. s.h.i.+n Woo told me that it's something you eat when there's nothing you can do.”
”Ugh. So where did my Junior go anyway...?”
”s.h.i.+n Woo is...”
Kratia set her orb in the shape of an ice spear and cut apart the monsters nearby, then briefly looked at Lee s.h.i.+n Woo who had appeared beyond them.
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had grabbed onto Seira Von Retadane, whose heart had been pierced by the Empire's strongest general and was trying to do something. That's what she saw, but... she felt like even someone as exceptional as Lee s.h.i.+n Woo wouldn't be able to save someone with a pierced heart. Prince asked another question as if she'd noticed where Kratia was looking.
”And seriously, what is that? Is he really on our side? He seems like he's trying to help us. It really does seem like he's helping Seira! Why? Why is an undead helping us?”
”...I think we'll find out soon enough.”
”Wait a sec. Do you know something? What did you do as you traveled with my Junior!? Uaaah. I can't stand it; there's so much I don't know! Fire Demon!”
Prince's mana responded to her cry of pent-up frustration and manifested a fire demon onto the battlefield once more. Through Kratia's special training, she had succeeded in modifying her summoning magic, which had been pa.s.sed down through her family. Because of that, she was able to summon the fire demon without cross-dressing!
[Kuoooooh!]
The Fire Demon was more powerful than before, yet the mana consumption was lower. This was all due to Kratia's help in fixing the structure of her summoning magic.
The unnecessary formulas that had been added as it was pa.s.sed along were removed, and a more efficient magic formula was added through Kratia's in-depth knowledge of another world's magic. Thus, she could bring out the Fire Demon's maximum power. And with this, Prince now possessed power befitting a level 7 magician.
”I thought I'd gotten stronger, but... Ah, this is crazy!”
[Kuhaaaaaah!]
Of course, Prince was plenty strong, as she possessed magic befitting her level and also had her family's secret art. It was just that the people here were the most powerful individuals in the Empire!
All the more reason why she couldn't stand it. The only way she could further develop was through time. Lloyd and Erian seemed relaxed, as they weren't aware of this, but Prince knew. That there would soon be a battle that would determine the fate of the Empire! She couldn't afford to just lollygag around, especially if she wanted to do even a little bit more during that climactic battle...
”Prince.”
”What!?”
Then, Kratia called Prince with her usual calm and composed voice. Prince yelled sharply in response and turned around, but noticed that Kratia was pointing at a certain spot.
”Look at that.”
”The Spirit General? I saw her before. She didn't seem like she'd be an immediate threat... or that's what I thought, but what's with her?”
[Giiiiiii. Gyauaaaaaaah!]
Just a little while ago, the Spirit General remained tied on the cannon, but now, she was letting out bizarre cries and was twisting her body around. The cannon responded in kind; her struggle caused the cannon's acc.u.mulated mana to struggle as well.
It had already been tense, but that tension had risen instantaneously. Why were they tense? They felt as though the cannon's mana would burst forth and evaporate everything in the area!
”If all of the undead curse within it explodes, then... We'll definitely become undead, right?”
”We'll be lucky to retain our forms as undead. There's a high chance we'll be broken down on an atomic level and disappear.”
”Don't say something like that! Why did it become like that?”
”...There's a high chance it's the Archmage's doing. When the Archmage's body was destroyed by s.h.i.+n... The Heaven Defying General, he must've given the Spirit General an order. It was probably a forceful activation.”
Kratia was right on the mark. Ever since the level 8 Spirit General was tied to the cannon, the palace became capable of forcing orders upon her. And that authority was also given to the Archmage as well.
And when he'd been defeated by Lee s.h.i.+n Woo, he ordered the Spirit General to fire, in order to eliminate all that threatened the Empire in one fell swoop. It was regrettable that the royal family would lose such a powerful weapon, but if the Annihilation Flame Sword G.o.d, the Metal G.o.d General, and the Heaven Defying General were to all die here, then the Emperor would have no other enemies remaining!
”...We have to stop it.”
Kratia saw the Metal G.o.d General and Jin fight against the Annihilation Flame Sword G.o.d, as well as Lee s.h.i.+n Woo struggling to keep Seira alive, and nodded her head as if she'd made a hard decision.
”How?”
”Let's freeze her for now. If we stop the progress in its tracks, then s.h.i.+n Woo will take care of the rest.”
”I shouldn't be saying this, but aren't you depending on my Junior a bit too much...?”
”We're partners. ...Open a path, Prince.”
”Tch. Easy for you to say!”
'If it was so easy, then I would've done it already', she wanted to say, but she raised her hands anyway so that she could fulfill Kratia's request. Then... a section of the nearby monsters vanished and the Chi Pauls appeared.
[We'll a.s.sist you, as per Lord Paul Zero's orders. I a.s.sume we have to stop that woman, right?]
”Yeah. Please.”
”Uh...”
[Got it.]
Once they met, Prince opened her eyes wide. Although she should've hated the undead, she didn't really bare any hostility towards these chimeras.
A part of it was that the Chi Pauls had grown such that they could hide their death energy, but it was more that Prince had undergone a fundamental change. She couldn't understand it herself and looked on dumbfounded; the Chi Pauls just ignored her and charged forward. Their bodies were veiled in flames.