Chapter 3[แก้ไข]
—[Kouen, City of Brilliant Flames] The practice area in front of the Palace Third Right Wing.
Kasukabe Yō was the first to notice the pieces of paper that seemed to have blanketed the entire night sky. The highly sensitive Yō had immediately lifted her head to witness the changes in the sky.
Possessing the sight of an eagle, Yō had instantly read the contents on the pieces of paper and shouted towards the stationed troops and the main force gathered in the practice grounds:
“Quick! Get Ready! The Demon Lords are coming!”
“What did you say?!”
“Look up! There! Those are black [Geass Rolls]!”
Hearing Yō’s shout, the stationed troops started to shout as well.
But those shouts weren’t due to a loss of their calm. Being part of [Salamandra], which acts as one of the protectors of the North, their actions upon knowing the news of the imminent attack of the Demon Lords had sped up.
Mandra took to the alarm bell tower and started to sound the bell forcefully to alert the others about the changes in the situation.
“All men to your posts! Start the operation as planned!”
“But, Mandra-sama! What do we do about the sectors that we have not prepared?!”
“This is just a normal routine[1]! When it comes to a fight with Demon Lords, to be able to get half of our defenses up is already a blessing! Just follow the flow of the Game situation and improvise the rest!”
Responding to Mandra’s shout, the stationed troops moved out as one.
This battle was already considerably advantageous for them for they held the advantage of their terrain familiarity. Compared to the fights with Demon Lords in the lower levels at their lairs or in an environment demonically transformed into a gruesome and hellish location, having a defensive battle on their familiar home ground is definitely a plus point for them.
Just then, soldiers stationed at the Outer Walls of [Kouen City] flew into the practice grounds while panting heavily.
“I’m a messenger from the outpost! There have been a huge horde of what seems to be the Titan Race spotted outside the City!”
“The Titan Race? From which region?”
“From their appearance, they should be the Titans from the Celtic mythologies! According to the latest estimations, their numbers have already exceeded a thousand!”
Hearing the reply from the messenger, one of the old-timers who was knocked away by Izayoi’s punch earlier— the hundred armed Titan peeled back his lips to reveal his fangs.
“Celtic Mythology……The Titans of the Fomorians side? Setting aside their intellect for now, their physical bodies are really huge in proportions and it would be really disadvantageous for us to have a direct confrontation.”
Just happening to overhear his voiced out thoughts, Yō had nodded in agreement as she gave her suggestion:
“Then let’s have the large sized Fire Dragon Squad to form the defensive frontlines. With the flying type fire dragons working with Pest to attack from the skies, it would be possible to wipe many of the enemies out in a one fell swoop.”
“Nn. That is the safest measure. Jin, go to the Fifth Right Wing of the Palace to hide it out.”
“Got it. Pest, please take care as well.”
With that, Pest whipped up a black wind around herself to fly to the City fringes.
The old timer from the Titan race, who had heard the conversation beside him, had frowned in displeasure.
However, he was definitely not just the old foggy that he was known to be on the exterior for he soon understood their reason for doing so.
“That Former Demon Lord Young lady with a venomous tongue…… is said to be the rumored Black Death plague, am I right? Although it sure doesn’t go well with my liking, she’s truly the best choice in the match-up. She would be able to cause quite a severe blow to the Celtic Mythological Titan Race right?”
“You know of it too?”
“Of course. We are the [Hekatonkheires] faction that controls the Titan Race of the North. The times that we have fought against those guys wouldn’t be enough to be counted with the fingers of both my ……no. Wait, the number of hands I have can go up to a hundred. See?”
As he spoke, the area around him had suddenly erupted many thick and well corded arms that were materialized from his spiritual power. Although the suddenness of the situation had taken Yō by surprise, her eyes had immediately taken on a sparkle of interest as she asked in enthusiasm:
“Oji-san, are you a type of Eudemon? From the Titan race?”
“Ah, I’m not sure about that. Seems like a déjà vu, for I recall someone asking me that same type of question…… but I guess I can be counted as a Eudemon?”
The Titan stroked the beard on his chin as he answered in a vague fashion. However, that answer was already sufficient for Yō.
Forcefully grabbing the hand of the other person, she gave it a shake—
“Let’s do the self-introductions later. So, please be my friend!”
It was the old-timer Titan’s turn to widen his eyes as he stared at her.
Originally wanting to ask further into the meaning behind that action, his thoughts were interrupted by a roar.
「UOOOOOOOOOooooooooo—!!!」
The both of them lifted their heads sharply at the sound that seemed closer than before.
It was clearly from a location close to the Palace. The mental conditions of the participants were instantly thrown into turmoil as they speculated about the enemies’ ability to break through the districts to infiltrate to this area.
“The Titan race have already infiltrated to the heart of the city……”
“How can that be? No matter how you think of it, isn’t that too fast?! What are the troops stationed at the Outer Walls doing?!”
“The large sized Fired Dragon Squad and your riders, please join the battle immediately!”
The humanoid Lesser dragons[2] sat astride the saddles strapped on the flying-type Fire Dragons and gripped the reins tightly as they entered their combat ready positions.