Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 161
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Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 161
39. The World Is Wide (1)
It was literally the feeling of having died and come back to life.
My glorious second run at life had nearly come to a meaningless end.
"Adrian!"
I stepped back with a sigh of relief, and in that moment Arcia, having picked up her shield, quickly moved in and wedged herself between me and the Dark Elf.
For reasons unknown, the Dark Elf's aggressive demeanor had shifted.
But I couldn't let my guard down.
The presence he had displayed moments ago was beyond imagination.
[Relationship: Interest / Neutral]
[Status: Observing / Intrigued]
The information displayed on the Myriad Mirror had changed as well.
Hostility had shifted to neutral, and indifference had shifted to interest.
Everyone had their mouths firmly shut, only keeping their guard up, so I carefully asked the Dark Elf, who was staring intently at me.
"Is the battle over?"
In response to my question, the Dark Elf curled the corners of his mouth upward and sheathed his sword with a 'clang!'
Even without an answer, his actions made it clear he intended to end the fight.
As if considering us, the Dark Elf took two or three steps back to create distance.
At that, my comrades, who had been tense to the extreme, straightened their bodies from their awkward crouched stances.
Then came the Dark Elf's unexpected words.
"I can't kill the descendant of my benefactor."
"Benefactor?"
My eyes went wide.
If I was the descendant of his benefactor, then that benefactor must refer to my master.
My publicly known master is the Duke Riverdale of the Kingdom of Lucias, but the benefactor the Dark Elf spoke of was most likely Grand Duke Lucas.
After all, the very reason he had stopped his blade was because he sensed something from me.
There was no way traces of Duke Riverdale existed within me, so the answer had to be Grand Duke Lucas.
"I came to handle some troublesome business and ended up meeting a welcome connection."
A kindly smile hung at the corners of the Dark Elf's mouth, who had looked like a vengeful demon just moments ago.
At the sudden shift in the situation, the expressions of those around us changed by the moment.
But the one showing the most drastic change in expression was Imperial Crown Prince Andre, the one who had brought the Dark Elf named Blake Russell to the Croisen Imperial Palace.
"Lord Russell! What are you doing!? Do you intend to break your promise to the Imperial Family!?"
Greatly agitated by Blake sheathing his sword, he shouted those words.
It was only natural.
He had struggled to bring back his trump card, only to return and find the Emperor and the chief ministers all dead.
And on top of that, even his trump card refused to obey it was only natural he'd be furious.
"A promise is a promise."
"Then!"
As Blake reached for the sword at his waist again, the surprise attack unit members, including me and Arcia, swallowed hard and lowered their stances once more.
But what followed wasn't an attack from Blake it was a playful expression and tone.
"But I'm not an elf. I'm a Dark Elf."
"What does that ?"
"Humans don't always keep their promises either, do they? Unlike elves who cling to their word, we Dark Elves have tendencies very similar to you humans."
In the next moment, Blake's figure blurred and vanished from sight.
"This is a gift."
Then he reappeared before me and tossed something over.
-Flap. Flap.
What Blake tossed before me as a gift was the head of the Imperial Crown Prince, who had been raging just moments before.
The head, now separated from its body, was still moving its lips and rolling its eyes, apparently not yet grasping the situation.
I couldn't know what circumstances led to that promise.
But Blake had not only broken that promise he had even killed the very object of it.
And all for my sake.
"Your Highness, the Imperial Crown Prince!"
The Imperial Guard Knight Division belatedly gasped and caught the body of the Crown Prince as it fell, headless.
Their faces were pure despair, each of them letting out deep sighs of disbelief.
"You bastard!"
The Knight Captain of the Imperial Guard, his eyes bloodshot, drew his Force Sword with a scream-like shout.
-BOOM!
But without warning, a single flash of red light carved a perfectly straight hole into the wall of the Imperial Palace, as if cut out with a compass.
The Imperial Guard Knight Captain, who had looked ready to charge, had vanished along with his men.
All that remained where they stood were the ownerless ankles that seemed to prove someone had been there just moments before.
Blake had eliminated the noisy Imperial Guard Knight Division all at once.
At that, the fox beastkin Iris Maryagny went pale and hiccupped.
It was a display of power that could only be described as being on an entirely different level.
Perhaps if she had more time to prepare before facing him, but in an unannounced fight, combat itself wouldn't even be possible.
Though he took human form, she could feel to the bone that he was a being utterly beyond the bounds of humanity.
It wasn't for nothing that Lordmasters and 9th-circle mages were called the realm of Transcendence.
"It seems this isn't the time for conversation. You look rather shaken, so I'll come find you on another occasion. Let's talk properly then."
Even though we had learned we weren't enemies, I was still on edge and Blake smiled at me and said that.
And when I blinked, he had vanished from before my eyes.
"Haah..."
Letting out a hollow sigh, I straightened myself with Arcia's support.
But everyone except the two of us and Duke James had their strength give out and collapsed on the spot.
"I didn't even get to swing my sword once, yet I feel like my lifespan just shortened."
Duke James said that as he picked up the Crown Prince's head and handed it to me.
I stored the head in my subspace and narrowed my brow in agreement.
"Heaven smiled upon us."
It was truly divine luck.
Those were the only words that came out.
"Haha, it seems even the heavens look favorably upon Grand Duke Loren."
At Duke James joking in this situation, I could only force a bitter smile.
Then he placed his hand on my shoulder and encouraged me.
"I don't know what happened, but stay strong."
It seemed he was like that because that monster had left a message saying he'd come later.
He himself seemed to have much he wanted to ask me, but he appeared to think now wasn't the time.
I rubbed my temples hard.
I understood that the Dark Elf named Blake wasn't an enemy, but he was bound to be burdensome.
To think there were other transcendent beings to be wary of besides dragons it was an event that made me realize just how vast the world truly was.
"Still, I suppose we can consider the situation concluded."
The aftertaste was unpleasant, but what he said was true.
The Emperor was dead, and the Crown Prince was dead.
The Croysen Empire was finished now.
"Regardless, this war's victory is entirely your achievement, so enjoy the glory."
At Duke James's words, my expression finally relaxed.
* * *
Taylor, Vice Commander of the Rhinehearts Kingdom expeditionary force, was so tense he wondered if he'd ever sweated this much in his life.
He only had to pretend to fight as Adrian instructed and avoid full-scale battles, but once he actually had to move the entire army, he realized even that was no easy task.
Unless all units shared the same understanding, orders inevitably took time to reach the lower ranks, and because he lacked confidence in his own judgment, his commands wavered back and forth, throwing the entire force into considerable confusion.
'He's younger than me, yet I've never seen him feel the weight of pressure. How does he move this many troops and stack victory upon victory without a single mistake?'
Taylor, who had thought of Adrian as a cold person, came to realize he was a great man who couldn't be judged so simply.
Now that he was actually doing the work himself, he could feel the difference in caliber.
"Thanks to our winning streak, the enemy seems to think our army's chaotic movements are a trap."
"Right. If it were me, I'd have charged in any number of times seeing them hesitate like that, their past defeats must have left them traumatized."
The adjutants whispered behind Taylor.
Taylor was dying inside.
Even though the raid was a surprise operation that wouldn't last longer than an hour at most, every second felt like an eternity to him.
How much longer did he endure like that?
"A communication from His Excellency the Marshal-in-Chief!"
The communications officer shouted loud enough to shake the operations room.
At that, everyone's gaze including Taylor's focused on the communications officer.
"Operation successful! He's succeeded in wiping out the Emperor, the chief ministers, and even the Crown Prince!"
"Ooooh!"
"Hooray!"
At the communications officer's subsequent report, everyone including Taylor cheered.
* * *
When news of the Emperor's and Crown Prince's deaths spread, the Croysen Imperial Army fell into great chaos.
Adrian used that chaos to urge surrender while pressing forward with the main force, and the Empire's main army floundered about before finally collapsing without resistance.
And so, on July 4th of the year 2020 of the Age of Magic.
The capital of the Croysen Empire had completely fallen.
The lords of the domains that had not yet fallen were uniting to rally their forces and shouting that they would resist to the very last, but their numbers were so pitifully small that the war was as good as over.
"Duke Lawrence pulled it off."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty the King! No, Your Majesty the Emperor!"
The war had ended faster than expected.
It was King Mikhail who had made the decision to strike first, but it would not be an overstatement to say that this war began with Adrian and ended with Adrian.
Yet the King felt nothing but relief, not jealousy toward Adrian.
After all, the worst existence that had plagued the Kingdom of Rhinehearts for so long had vanished, leaving behind vast lands and wealth.
With this, the Kingdom of Rhinehearts established itself as the greatest nation in the southern Defteron Continent and laid the foundation of an empire.
It was only natural to be pleased.
"If we grant Duke Lawrence some shabby territory, we'll only earn his scorn."
"Haha, we've gained land one and a half times wider than our kingdom what is there to worry about?"
"I suppose you're right."
Now that the army had won the war, what remained was the work of the political branch, including King Mikhail and the chief ministers.
But no one worried about what came next.
It was now the Kingdom of Rhinehearts that would take over the role of the Croysen Empire.
No matter which nation they negotiated with, they were bound to hold the upper hand.
King Mikhail smiled as he took in the sight of the cheering ministers.
'How far can we fly with Duke Adrian?'
* * *
[Death of the Croysen Emperor and Crown Prince! The war enters its final stage! The Kingdom of Rhinehearts achieves a historic victory!]
[A result that overturns all expectations! How was such a thing possible.]
[Giant killing? The generalship and strategies of Duke Adrian El Lawrence, which elicited nothing but admiration from beginning to end. In truth, the Croysen Empire was brought down by Duke Lawrence.]
[The Kingdom of Rhinehearts severs the chain of a long-standing grudge. Now it becomes an empire and governs the southern continent.]
[What lies ahead for the situation on the Defteron Continent?]
The Croysen Empire had not yet been completely destroyed, but the remaining remnants were nothing more than rabble, hardly worth worrying about.
I had the remnants cleaned up by my Third Army, appointing former Marquis Vincent and former Margrave Ignis as its commanders.
I explained this appointment as a measure to help the two men regain their positions, but in truth, I was simply too lazy and dumped the dirty work on those who bore the most guilt.
And so I remained at the Imperial Palace to rest, and while preparing for any contingency, I drew up combat simulations with Arcia, Duke James, and Maryagny.
In the previous battle against the Dark Elf Blake, I was caught off guard and defeated without even getting a chance to fight back, but the same thing must never happen again.
Of course, it didn't seem like I'd ever fight Blake again, but it was just a precaution.
"Ah! What am I even doing here right now!?"
I had been taking a break while browsing online articles when I had to turn to look at Maryagny, who shouted out while studying a defensive formation combined with Arcia.
"Hey! When are you going to send me back?"
She came running over, her short legs moving busily, and asked me.
"What do you mean by that?"
I answered her question with a question of my own.
At that, Maryagny flared up.
"I'm asking why I'm here doing this when I'm not even a citizen of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts!"
Placing my hand on her small shoulder, I said firmly.
"Have you forgotten?"
"Forgotten what?"
"That you're a criminal right now."
"Huh?"
"As the Supreme Commander of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts Army, I hereby sentence you. Iris Maryagny, to indefinite hard labor. Bang bang."
"What nonsense!"
Sorry, but it's not a joke.