Prologue

The light of dawn chased away the darkness, lighting up the mountain ridges. Dietrich Künitz filled his lungs with the cool air of daybreak and shivered slightly. The wind blowing across the deck made his overcoat flap. There were no obstacles to the wind here, so it only had him to buffet.

“This really was too much for a whim...”

The levitating ship he was on was a winged boat that flew through the air instead of sliding over water. Though things were fine if they skimmed the surface, the higher up they got in the air, the colder it got. And the upper deck got the worst of it.

He’d woken up early for some reason, and now he was regretting his decision to come out here instead of going back to sleep.

“Oh well, it’s too late now. Still, I’m getting tired of this scenery... The Great Bocuse Forest is all the same.”

The light of dawn slowly illuminated the forest under him. The scenery reaching Dietrich’s eyes was nothing but an endless sea of trees.

The Great Bocuse Forest was a monster’s paradise—a place that rejected human activity. It had once made a meal of a great number of knights, and entering it had been forbidden to the denizens of the Kingdom of Fremmevilla ever since.

“The boss said he encountered them near the edges of the forest. Is this it?”

The undulations of the dense, thick vegetation hid faraway peaks from view, making it look as if the forest was truly endless.

“He fought and fell here. Is our tiny knight captain...alive?”

The levitating ship he was on—Izumo, flagship of the Order of the Silver Phoenix—had come to the forest previously as part of an advance scouting team for the second expedition.

They had encountered a powerful, unknown enemy then and were forced to retreat, losing their knight captain, Ernesti, and his aide, Adeltrude, in the process.

Dietrich hadn’t participated in that fight. It was already past, but he couldn’t help but think he could have prevented this had he been there. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. They hadn’t returned to this forest to look backward.

“But with this much forest, it’s going to be backbreaking searching for that tiny knight captain.” Despite his words, Dietrich was smiling slightly.

At the end of a battle with bug-type monsters that spawned acid clouds, Ernesti and Ikaruga had fallen, with Adeltrude chasing after him.

Finding just two people in such a large expanse of dangerous forest would be nearly impossible. Even so, for some reason, Dietrich didn’t actually think it was.

“Wheeew... The wind really is strong! I guess I should go back to the bridge now... Huh?” He turned around to go back inside as he spoke, but he suddenly stopped. His senses as a skilled knight runner were telling him that there was something within the daybreak light.

Indeed, in the faintly wavering light, there was a small black shadow. Something was flying over the great forest.

It wasn’t a windine-style silhouette knight. Such a machine would have Magisgraph lights flickering on and off. Nor was it a levitating ship. All of their ships were behind the Izumo. So the only remaining option was...

Dietrich’s expression turned into a bold smile. “What hardworking monsters. But this is perfect. If those really are what I suspect they are, that means we weren’t wrong!”

He dashed back inside the ship. A busy day for the Order of the Silver Phoenix was about to begin.

◆

This was the borderline, when nocturnal beasts were returning to their abodes and diurnal beasts were waking up. A large shadow loomed during this time, right after daybreak when the world was just getting lighter. Its thin wings glowed with a rainbow light, and it looked like a beetle.

“To think we would be forced to use kratovastias. Approaching from the sky... What troublesome invaders.”

There were figures sending the things off—astragali, humanoids large enough to rival monsters. One stood head and shoulders above the rest. His five eyes swiveled around as he spat that line out.

“Nothing can rival us on the ground. However, those who swim through the air are hard to fight. Just like the kratovastias used to be.” A four-eyed giant behind him nodded seriously.

The five-eyed giant’s mouth twisted in displeasure. “I know. That is why we handed this role to the beasts.”

The other giants nodded in agreement before quickly tilting their heads.

“However, we are sending out fewer kratovastias than before,” the four-eyed giant said.

“What our Marga is saying is that we have yet to replenish those that were lost in the previous battle.”

The five-eyed giant’s expression took on a vicious dint, like he was about to explode. His expressions seemed to change like sand on the wind. “I suppose we cannot solely rely on the kratovastias. Quickly, call upon our Margas and Oberon.”

“Understood...”

The other giants left to follow their orders. One of the five-eyed giant’s eyes watched them depart, with the rest pointed toward the sky.

“Invaders from the sky who can beat back kratovastias, eh? And they come right as I am about to solidify my reign over all astragali. O Argos, why are you sending me another trial?”

No answer came as his question melted into the morning air.

◆

The loud ringing of a bell filled the flying ship. The knights, forced awake by the emergency alarm, hurried to their stations.

“Enemy sighted ahead! They are far away, numbers unknown!”

“No movement on the surface! There does not seem to be a separate unit!”

“Magisgraph communications with other ships are all green!”

Voices came from all over the ship through speaking tubes, giving numerous reports. The bridge of the Izumo—the flagship of the fleet—busily gathered all these reports to grasp the state of battle.

“Heh, so they’re already here!” David “Boss” Hepken, who was sitting in the captain’s seat, said with a warlike smile as he listened to the reports.

“Seriously, and they seem to only try to stop us from coming to this area,” Edgar C. Blanche said from beside the boss while looking down at an aerial map. The map was packed with scribbles and notes from navigators detailing monster territories. They were currently in the bugs’ territory.

“Okay! It’s up to you guys!” the boss shouted.

“Hey, you’re just immediately going to put it all on us, boss?” Helvi Olbarri replied, a little disappointed and wondering where all his bravado had gone.

Edgar seemed exasperated too as he looked at the boss, who simply puffed out his chest and said, “I don’t give a shit about anything but smithing! But I’ll man this boat properly, so don’t worry about that.”

“The Izumo is already like one of our limbs, after all!” Batson Termonen said, echoing the feelings of the smithing crew on the bridge. They all nodded, full of confidence. They weren’t combat personnel for sure. Edgar and Helvi exchanged looks and small sighs.

“How reassuring,” Edgar said.

Basically, combat was a knight runner’s territory. Just as the company commanders were about to make a move, Dietrich ran into the bridge. From his dress, he was clearly ready to deploy anytime.

“Are you going out personally, Dee?” Helvi asked after taking a look at him.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I can’t very well not go out knowing those monsters are the ones out there. I’m going to borrow a squad of fliers and a knight.” With that, he turned around and left.

“We’ll protect the fleet,” Edgar called out. “Don’t worry about your back.”

“Of course.”

Dietrich hurried straight to the ship’s hangar. There were flying silhouette knights that the knightsmiths had already finished preparing, waiting impatiently to be deployed. He jumped into one and quickly assessed its readiness.

“Totally ready to go, as expected. This is Dietrich, deploying in a Twedianne!”

People in silhouette gears pushed the machine into position to be grabbed by the crane arm.

“Fight hard, Commander!”

“I will. Leave it to me.”

The crane arm groaned as it threw the Twedianne into the air. Dietrich’s unit quickly opened its fin stabilizers and caught the wind, smoothly activating its thrusters and flying ahead of the fleet.

A company gathered around Dietrich, using the fire of his unit’s thrusters as a guide. They quickly arranged themselves into a close formation, the front edge pointing at the enemy. The sky was becoming brighter, further illuminating the rainbow glow of the figures—large monsters that used ether to fly.

“Bug-type monsters sighted! We have visuals on five!”

“That’s not a lot. They must be a preliminary force meant to test or scout us. Not that we’re any different,” Dietrich said.

Direct conversation was difficult in the sky, with the sound of buffeting winds getting in the way. The flying silhouette knights’ loudspeakers used magic to further enhance their voices, but even then, the effective range wasn’t large. That was why they maintained close formation.

Dietrich decided on the battle plan and relayed it to his men. “We outnumber them. We’re going to corral them and take them out!”

“Understood! Let’s pay them back for last time!”

“Spread out to either side, but leave behind a few wingmates to scout!” Dietrich ordered.

The company undid their formation, splitting into two major groups to try to pincer the bug-type monsters. But the monsters weren’t just spacing out. They tried to quickly close in, using surprising speed for their size.

Dietrich’s unit was in front, and he used his Magisgraph to communicate. “We have the range advantage; don’t get too close! Fire at will!”

All the flying silhouette knights readied their silhouette arms and continuously unleashed bolts of spellfire.

Scarlet lines were drawn across the sky, connecting the silhouette knights and bug-type monsters. At the ends of these lines, the bolts exploded. One after another, flowers of fire bloomed, but the bug-type monsters nimbly evaded them.

“That’s incredible agility for their size. I’m so glad we don’t have these guys at home!” Dietrich said, already fed up, but he didn’t let up his barrage. The dense curtain of fire was hindering the bug-type monsters’ advance, but the distance between the two sides was still closing.

Before long, the bug-type monsters changed how they moved. Their folded legs wriggled as the bugs secreted liquid from their joints.

“Their cloud attack is coming! Fall back!”

Immediately after, they unleashed their fluid projectiles, which burst in the air. They quickly became white clouds—terrible miasma that spelled death to anything inside.

Dietrich’s eyes widened as he observed the situation through his holomonitor with great care.

“I counted five fluid bullets. It depends on the wind, but those clouds get pretty big. That means we can’t afford to let them do as they please.” Dietrich’s unit lit up its Magisgraph, and the knights following immediately took action.

“But...your chance of winning lies only within that range. All we have to do is narrow it!”

Once again, the knights began a barrage of spellfire. This time, the concentration of fire wasn’t too dense, and it was more spread out than before. They aimed their bolts to explode next to the spreading acid clouds. The explosions churned the clouds, slightly pushing back the deadly zone.

The bug-type monsters were hiding within the clouds and seemed irritated that their acid clouds weren’t spreading as well as they should. Inside the clouds, they were invincible. Everything that approached would die. However, they were powerless if the clouds did not reach their targets.

So, of course, the bug-type monsters chose to advance. The enemy was limiting their clouds with spellfire, so they just had to get closer and spawn new ones that would immediately envelop the enemy.

“They came out, exactly as expected.” Naturally, Dietrich had expected this, as any beast could think up such a plan.

The bugs left the clouds, wriggling their legs and taking aim at the Twediannes. The moment they were about to unleash more death clouds, they noticed something approaching at high speed.

Just before the bugs showed themselves—

“Now then, it’s time for the trident.” Dietrich’s unit readied a strange lance in its hand. The middle part was long like a normal lance, but there were two extra steel lances on either side. Rather than a single weapon with three prongs, it was more like three whole lances stuck together.

Responding to Dietrich’s commands, the attached side lances spewed intense flames from their rears.

“Releasing locks on the long javelins. Starting acceleration!”

As soon as the locks were released, the freed weapons accelerated forward tremendously.

The trident was both a knight’s lance meant for melee and a missile javelin launcher all in one, specially made for flying silhouette knights. By directly releasing the missile javelins, they could avoid the need for rail arms, making the whole weapons system much simpler. This was a very fitting weapon for flying silhouette knights, who didn’t have to worry about weight.

The missile javelins accelerated, trailing long streams of fire. The steel weapons flew toward the acid clouds, mercilessly closing in on the bug-type monsters who had just shown themselves.

“Exactly as planned.”

It was impossible to tell how surprised the bugs were. In a panic, they took evasive action, but the missile javelins simply followed them.

Dietrich was one of the most experienced people at using missile javelins, having done so since their invention in the middle of the great war in the west. It wouldn’t be simple to escape his aim, and the steel lances traveled unerringly toward the monsters’ heads.

Bug-type monsters had a vicious offense and great mobility, but their defense wasn’t terribly high. Though they used the effects of a Levitating Field created by ether to fly, they still needed to be light in order to be nimble in the air. Their monstrous shells couldn’t withstand a direct hit from the steel lances.

The lances smashed into their heads and continued through their bodies, with the weapons’ kinetic energy wreaking havoc on their insides. The monsters’ bodies burst, as if an explosion occurred. The heads were pulped, and the soft insides scattered about in the air. The monsters died instantly, their bodily fluids spreading and aerosolizing into acid clouds.

“Whoa there. That went well, but...they’re annoying even in death.”

The Twediannes cautiously backed up. They continued bombarding the remaining bug-type monsters with their silhouette arms, but the survivors filled the air with a scattershot of fluid projectiles, creating a large acid cloud that stopped the flying silhouette knights in their tracks.

“So they’re not going to let us get close no matter what, huh?!”

“Their attacks are too sloppy. They figured that they wouldn’t be able to charge in, and so they obstructed the path between us... No, wait, they plan to run.” Dietrich circled around the acid cloud. “Continue keeping them in check with your silhouette arms. Scouts! Do you see anything around you?!”

The scouts, who had been flying separately, lit up the Magisgraphs on their fin stabilizers to signal, <<All monsters confirmed retreating.>>

Dietrich slowed down after that report. “They’re quick to give up.”

“We shouldn’t chase too far,” one of the others added. “We received reports that they are smart enough to employ tactics—there might be an ambush waiting for us.”

Dietrich and his company stayed for a while, wary of their surroundings, but they turned around once they were satisfied there wouldn’t be reinforcements.

“It seems that’s it for the greetings. Now, let’s go back to the ship and have some breakfast,” said Dietrich.

“Yes, sir!”

Dietrich’s unit sent a message to the fleet using its Magisgraph as he slowly made his return. As he did, he swiveled his unit’s head around. “I knew it... He’s here. Ernesti is here.”

Daybreak was long past, and morning was in full swing. The sharp look in his eyes softened as he looked out at the vista of endless trees.

“But how do we find him? We can’t just wander around and hope.”

The Great Bocuse Forest was too big to wander around with nothing to follow. That was when he thought of a great idea.

“Wait, maybe this situation is actually good. He’ll probably cause a big fuss somewhere soon. This is Ernesti we’re talking about! He’s definitely scheming something!”

That was common sense among the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

Having recovered the Twediannes, the fleet continued forward. The area below them was dominated by trees and monsters, but they had no idea that a huge war was about to kick off, nor that Ernesti was right in the middle of it.

And so, without even knowing it, the Order of the Silver Phoenix was deeply involved with the fate of this land...

Part 15: Search for the Knight Captain Arc

Chapter 65: Let’s Try Gathering the Enemies of My Enemies

A heavy vibration was transmitted through the earth. The source was a group of astragali and their massive footsteps. As soon as they reached their destination, one of them opened their mouth.

“My liege! Is our king present?! We bear an urgent message...”

The group of giants quickly slowed down. A single giant sat deeper inside the room, gazing at them as though they were pests. Five eyes and a body large even for a giant’s standards marked the king of Genos De Rubel, and he was lounging without a care as he looked at his visitors.

“I am here. I assume you have good news, given how you have barged in here?”

“Well...”

The air around the giant referred to as their king instantly seemed to become filled with danger. His languidness disappeared, and now his body was filled with strength. The visitor’s words caught in his mouth, and he faltered, buckling under the king’s intense pressure.

“Hmph. So you failed,” said the king.

“We did not have enough eyes! The kratovastias retreated. Those things are finally approaching.” The giant seemed to resign himself to his fate and answered. However, the response he heard was a low rumbling. Surprised, he looked up to see an unusual light in his ruler’s eyes.

The king was laughing.

“Heh heh... Heh ha ha... Since those things appeared in our skies, we have lost many kratovastias. If they are able to bury so many of the beasts, I have no doubt that we will lose many eyes among our warriors. Meanwhile, I wonder how wounded they are...”

It didn’t take long for the king to stop laughing. He stood up, and the group of giants took a step back, overpowered by his presence. “Kratovastias used to rule the skies above us. Since they have bowed to our will, our race has found prosperity.”

“Indeed. Our genos has lost nothing yet...”

“And so what? Something new has appeared. Are we fated to always have enemies in the skies?” The king was no longer looking at his subjects. He continued muttering, as if asking some faraway being. “What are those flying things? Why are they coming this way? Damn you, Argos, answer me! You are so unreliable when it matters most.”

No matter how much the king questioned, his god remained silent. There was no blessing to be had.

His subjects exchanged looks, asking each other for advice. Eventually, one opened his mouth. “Either way, they are without the blessing of Argos. There is no doubt they are our enemies.”

“They must be eliminated. We are the true astragali,” said another.

The king returned his gaze to the group. They did not know what these invaders from the skies were, nor their objective. But their ability to best kratovastias was a threat to the astragali—to Genos De Rubel.

“Will these, too, become our power, as the kratovastias did? Or will they become a blight? Do you know, Oberon?” the king asked.

The group of giants turned their eyes to the rearmost part of the room. There stood a large humanoid in armor made of a monster’s shell. It seemed like a giant but was something utterly different—an imitation giant, a mystic knight.

A small figure stood on this knight’s palm, and the king of the giants was speaking to him.

“The Necrolis Song is constantly playing on any battlefield the kratovastia are on. However, if they are going to bare their fangs at us, we cannot make them obey,” Oberon answered.

“I thought not. Still, Oberon, if it proves too useless, you may find yourselves thrown away as well,” warned the giant king.

“My mystic knights and I will do our utmost to prevent that from happening. This I swear to you.”

The giant king’s mouth twisted in ridicule. Oberon did not seem to pay any heed to that, however, as he bowed politely.

“Then, my liege, what do we do?” one of the other giants asked. “Genos De Caelleus is destroyed. We had thought that the dark clouds on the horizon would pass with their eyes closed. But now that these new aerial enemies have appeared, they may open their eyes once again.”

The giant king closed his eyes and grumbled. “The Exactus De Varies Genos...”

Out of the many giant genoses, big and small, Genos De Rubel was the largest. However, there used to be multiple genoses that could take second place. The True Eye Revolt—a conflict between genoses—had seen many of these powerful genoses destroyed because Genos De Rubel had used the overwhelming power of kratovastias to devastating effect.

The only other genoses left were worthless and tiny—they could never defy Genos De Rubel as they were. But this could still be overturned if they all came together, unifying into an allied combined force.

Because of the astragali’s unique method of using combat to decide all conflicts—a sage’s query—adjusting numbers was important. No matter how small the genoses were, together they would be too large to ignore.

But the king brushed aside the doubts and worries of those around him. “The remaining genoses are too small to warrant our gaze. No matter how many they gather, they will not be able to accomplish anything. They will only see a repeat of the past.”

“Even so, they aren’t necessarily our only enemies.”

“Won’t we need another offering...?”

The giants argued among themselves. None of them were Argos De Primus Oculus, so they didn’t have the eyes to see through everything. The die of their god was still being cast; none could yet know its result.

Seeing the unsettled attitude of his subjects, the king sighed. They were the largest genos and had the mighty kratovastias in their grasp. What was there to be concerned about?

“An unknown flying enemy... Depending on the perspective, this might be perfect,” the king said.

The other giants turned to stare agog at their ruler.

“In the first place, the other genoses are as nothing. We Rubels should be the only ones to receive the blessing and favor of Argos. At this point, we may as well wake him up instead of allowing his eyes to be closed.” The king let out a low laugh.

The other giants froze as their king calmly stood and started walking.

“If only once is not enough, we can just make Argos look at us twice... And if the others are going to unite and make a move, then we just have to answer.” Before long, he came to stand in front of the other king in the room. Oberon, who ruled over the small goblins, looked straight up at his five eyes.

“Are you prepared?” the giant king asked.

“We are ready whenever you please,” Oberon replied.

Oberon bowed respectfully from atop the palm of the mystic knight. The king of Genos De Rubel nodded, satisfied, and left. The other giants followed.

The towering giants could not see Oberon’s expression, bowed as he was. No one noticed that he was secretly smiling.

◆

A soft sensation slipped in between her fingers. Feeling the smooth untangling of whatever it was as she played around with it, Adeltrude “Addy” Alter let out a sigh. “Ahhh, Ernie’s hair is so silky smooth... It feels so nice to touch.”

“Just what are you doing?” a boy asked with an exasperated tone.

Addy turned to see him standing in the doorway. “Ah, Zachariah. I’m sleeping with Ernie and stroking his hair.”

Zachariah’s only response was a sigh.

Ernesti Echevalier was sleeping on Addy’s lap. She was stroking him gently, so as not to wake him up. The boy named Zachariah was about to say something to Addy—who seemed to be having way too much fun—but wisely gave up on the idea and closed his mouth.

Instead, he decided to fulfill his duty. “I’m sorry to disturb you during your rest. The king requests your presence.”

“Ah, so Oberon came back. Wake up, Ernie.” Addy shook him by the shoulder. It didn’t take long for the boy to start moving.

“Please call me when you’re ready.” With that, Zachariah left the room.

After that, Addy quickly finished her preparations. She combed the still-groggy Ernie’s fluffy hair and straightened out his clothes. Once she confirmed he was looking presentable, she nodded, satisfied. “Yeah, that’s good. You’re cute today too!”

“Good morning, Addy,” said Ernie. “I don’t know what’s ‘good,’ though.”

Though Ernie seemed somewhat suspicious, Addy just happily hugged him.

“Hey! You two sure kept me waiting.” Smiling, Oberon raised his hand in greeting.

Ernie and Addy had arrived in one of the castle’s meeting rooms. Oberon was greeting them from his seat far into the room, but there was a shade of contrition to his smile.

“Sorry. I invited you all the way to my castle, but so much time has passed without us doing anything,” said Oberon.

“Please, pay that no heed. You can’t very well ignore a summons from the astragali,” Ernie replied.

“I know, it’s awful. Damn those Rubels, ordering us around at all hours of the day.” Oberon sighed to emphasize how put-upon he was, and Ernie responded sympathetically.

Some time passed with them exchanging peaceful small talk, but eventually Oberon had to broach the main subject. “At any rate, it seems the Rubels are going to make a big move soon.”

“Against the other genoses?” Ernie tilted his head.

Oberon nodded. “Them too. However, the main reason concerns you.”

“Us?”

“Invaders from the sky have appeared once again.”

Addy sucked in a shocked breath. “That means...!”

She’d reflexively stood up, so Oberon eased her back down. He wore a smile that seemed to ask, You know what’s happening, right?

“You two must know what that means,” he said. “Multiple flying somethings... No, let me be clear. Not somethings—ships are coming this way. The Rubels are talking about how to deal with them.”

Ernie and Addy exchanged a look, their smiles a mix of surprise and joy. They suppressed their desire to move right away and turned back to Oberon.

“Thank you for telling us this. Then let us go to them immediately,” said Ernie.

“They’re all here for us, after all!” Addy added.

“No, wait. Just wait.” Oberon stopped them in a panic. The pair had already risen out of their seats, but they sat back down. “I understand your desire to rush, but there is a process to everything.”

After a moment to take a breath, Oberon leaned forward. “Meeting up with the invaders—no, your comrades from the west is a good thing. But you would leave us behind to do it? My ancient brother, that would be far too heartless of you. I have told you this information out of the kindness of my heart, and this is what you do to me?”

“Well, okay, I see your point, but...” Addy pouted, dissatisfied despite Oberon’s show of aggrievement.

Ernie folded his arms together and sank into thought. “I understand your point. We are not ungrateful people.”

“Hearing that eases my heart.” Oberon leaned back in his seat, seemingly satisfied that this conversation would continue. “First, why don’t you listen to what I have to say a bit more? Now that your friends are here, the Rubels have been forced into action.”

Oberon spoke of how the Rubels were wary of an alliance being formed when an unknown enemy had suddenly appeared in the sky, throwing things into doubt. The kratovastias that they sent to fight off those aerial enemies were beaten back, and the invaders were plowing deeper into the giants’ territory.

Ernie and Addy reacted to this with more joy.

“They’re all strong, so they wouldn’t keep losing to those monsters,” said Addy.

“I was sure they would figure something out as long as they could bring information back. It was worth helping them escape,” said Ernie.

“Thanks to that, the Rubels are in chaos. They may be the largest genos, but they still won’t come out unscathed in a tussle with other astragali,” said Oberon. “But those concerns were trifling so long as the kratovastias reigned supreme. That is why they’re planning to sweep up the other genoses before you people have a chance to get involved. This will be a large query not seen since the True Eye Revolt.”

“What...are you saying?” Ernie asked.

“Nothing much. Just that you could be the trump card to turn the power balance of this forest on its head. A great responsibility, no?” Oberon seemed to be having fun, looking between the pair with a slight grin on his face.

“Are you trying to imply that this war is our fault?”

“Don’t let it bother you. You simply happened to wander here. There might be a bit of a scuffle, but there’s no real need for you to get involved.”

“The way you say that is—” Addy glared at Oberon.

His smile simply deepened. “However, this is a major headache to us goblins. It would be terrible for us to get involved in a fight between astragali.”

Addy sucked in a breath. “You’re treating those villagers like hostages!”

“How could you?! That line of thinking is far too twisted for me. However, I am the king of the goblins. I need to keep a wide field of view.” Oberon shrugged, and Addy unhappily stopped talking.

They knew full well that the goblins had no way of resisting if they got mixed up in this battle. The larger the war got, the harder it would be to protect everyone. The Rubels’ decision was not a welcome one.

“But this is also a good chance, I think. The Rubels will be going out to battle! This is our chance to deal them a great blow,” said Oberon.

The goblins desired to get out from under the Rubels, who were supposed to be their protectors. Still, they didn’t want to assault the giants’ home base. But while the Rubels were fighting the other genoses, there would be an opening: one they had to aim for.

“Then let us be specific. What do you want us to do?” Ernie asked.

“Hmm. A lot, but the battle is near. First, since we’ve been ordered, we will have to move out soon.” Oberon’s smile disappeared as he fixed Ernie with a steady stare. He narrowed his eyes, as if trying to limit his vision and allow himself to process the wealth of thoughts swirling around in his head. “I want to verify whether these sky invaders really are your comrades and can become my allies. In order to do that, you’ll have to take part.”

“We understand, and I don’t mind talking to everyone for you. We both agree that the Rubels are our enemy.”

“After that, we will measure our timing and pincer the Rubels. It would be great if we could use the other genoses, but we don’t know how they will move, so let’s set them aside for now.”

Ernie nodded. This request was a blessing to him, as he wanted to reunite with the aerial fleet as soon as possible. Also, he had no qualms about fighting the Rubels. However, he did have one concern.

“You are correct—my knight order won’t be outdone by the kratovastias so easily. But if we head into full-on conflict, we won’t be able to avoid casualties.” Ernie looked straight at Oberon. The small boy’s gaze was surprisingly sharp for his stature, and the king of goblins couldn’t suppress a small gulp. “I don’t approve of you pushing the role of shedding blood entirely onto us.”

“Ha ha... There’s no need for concern. The kratovastias will not be helping Genos De Rubel in this conflict,” Oberon said in reply.

“Oh? Why?” Addy asked.

The pair were clearly surprised. Oberon took a breath and regained his smile.

“Why are you so sure? Do you know how they are controlling the kratovastias?” Ernie asked.

“Heh heh heh. We have made our own preparations, is all. This is our trump card, so I can’t tell you too much.”

The king and the knight captain laughed at each other for a while as the other person in the room backed away with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

“I understand, and I will remember your words. Let us defeat Genos De Rubel together and obtain freedom,” said Ernie.

“That is enough for me. Let us both pray for each other’s fortune,” Oberon said.

Thus, an anti-Rubel net was laid quietly in a small corner of the forest.

“Ah, right. Please wait a second... Zachariah, come here.” Ernie and Addy were about to leave to go chase the ships, but Oberon called out to stop them.

He pointed to Zachariah and said, “Assuming you will successfully reunite with your comrades, you’ll need a way to contact us. He will go with you to facilitate this.”

“Erm... How?” Ernie asked.

“He has a special skill. Well, you’ll understand eventually.”

“I hear and accept this duty.” Zachariah knelt in front of Oberon and nodded, clearly raring to go. Ernie and Addy exchanged a look.

“What do we do?” Addy asked. “He’s totally there to watch us.”

“I believe he wants to know more about us, but... We’ll eventually need a means to communicate, so let’s bring him with us. We won’t need to worry about him for as long as he’s able to keep up with us,” Ernie replied.

“Then I’m counting on you folks!” Oberon said as he saw them off.

With that, the group left town.

“Now then, we’ll need to quickly find the levitating ships, but let us first meet up with everyone from Genos De Caelleus,” Ernie proposed.

“Why not just leave the astragali to their own devices?” Zachariah asked doubtfully. From his point of view, being astragali was enough for him to dislike them, even if they weren’t Rubels.

“No, it’s necessary. We’re going to ask them to contact the Varies Genos. We are all opposing Genos De Rubel, after all, so we’ll want to use everything we can.”

Their chaperone had no reply, so the knight captain turned and walked off.

Invaders from the sky, goblins, and a Varies Genos... A host of different factions were coming together to attack Genos De Rubel. This small knight captain was planning to go all out, and he was being very thorough. Zachariah quietly thought that Ernie’s methods might be even more vicious than his liege Oberon’s. He started to feel some slight fear toward these ancient brethren that had come from the west.

“Fine,” Zachariah finally said after a somewhat significant pause. “This will serve the future of the goblins as well.”

He shook his head and resolved himself before following after the boy and girl.

◆

Quiet footsteps sounded in the forest.

The new Parva Marga of Genos De Caelleus turned around when she heard them.

The giant boy next to her, Nav, spoke up quizzically. “What is it, Parva Marga?”

“I hear something, Nav—”

Before she could finish, the sources of the noise showed themselves. Ernie’s group came springing out from between the trees, and the Parva Marga smiled.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” said Ernie.

“You’re back, magister!” she replied.

“I am. I see you two are doing well.”

“Heya, Pary, Nav! Have you two been good?” Addy asked, waving her arm.

The Parva Marga replied with a small wave of her own before sitting down. That way, they could see eye to eye. “So, what kind of eye did your conversations with the goblins reveal? Hmm? Magister, there are more of you now.”

“A goblin, huh?” Nav said.

The two giants looked at the unfamiliar goblin, who was standing behind the more familiar goblin pair, and cocked their heads.

“Astragali... I believe you are of Genos De Caelleus? Sir Echevalier seems to have truly been accepted among you.” Zachariah, the goblin youth, wore a very mixed expression seeing the Parva Marga sit so politely in front of them.

The astragali, in his mind, were a more haughty race who would use their size to look down on you from above. It was unheard of for them to sit and lower themselves to make eye contact, and hearing one call Ernie magister was beyond the scope of his imagination.

“If we had associated ourselves with you...” he muttered. “No, what’s past is past.”

While Zachariah was busy dealing with his emotions, Nav raised his voice to gather the rest of the Caelleus. The giants came streaming out of the forest, and among them was the Fortissimos De Tertius Oculus. He nodded as he panned his three eyes around.

“We have been waiting, goblin Fortissimos,” he said.

“Fortissimos! And the rest of you too! I have great news.”

“Oh? What truths have the goblins brought?”

Ernie relayed what he’d seen and heard while inside the goblin town to the giants of Caelleus. They listened obediently, but naturally, as soon as they heard that the Rubels would be making their move, they couldn’t hold themselves back.

“How could this be...? So Genos De Rubel sees all other genoses as unnecessary...” the giant hero groaned, turning his head up to face the sky. Conflict between genoses wasn’t a rare thing in the history of the astragali. In fact, you could say it was their entire history.

However, the Rubels were the first to consider wiping out all other genoses. Such an act was pure blasphemy to Argos.

“No, this is within the realm of sight, given they have the kratovastias,” he continued. “Now that I look back, it might be stranger that they didn’t destroy all the other genoses during the True Eye Revolt.”

“Or they changed their minds with the passage of time,” Ernie said. “But one of the reasons why the Rubels are hurrying to act is because of the invaders. These invaders are most likely my friends, so I do feel somewhat guilty.”

“What is there to feel guilty about? It is only natural for comrades to help each other.” The Parva Marga gently shook her head.

Ernie nodded back with an airy smile. Beside them, the Caelleus giants had started a fierce debate.

“Then it is time to form the Varies Genos once again. If we continue to allow them to turn their eyes away from this matter, they will simply fall.”

“Of course, we must open a sage’s query! But will we make it in time? We are too close to Metropolitan right now.”

“That is not all. Our eyes have been closed once. What could we possibly say to gather support...?”

“We have no time for words. We must open their eyes, no matter the method.”

The hero kept silent, listening to their various opinions. Eventually, he turned his three eyes to Ernie’s group. “Goblin Fortissimos. How much truth is there in your claims that the Rubels cannot use their kratovastias? That will decide our course of action.”

Ernie opened his mouth, about to speak, when Zachariah stepped forward instead. He knelt and looked up at the giant hero. “We goblins give you our word. For the next query, the kratovastias will not side with the Rubels.”

The hero glared at him with a very stern look. “Who is this, goblin Fortissimos?”

“One of Oberon’s men whom he assigned to us. He is coming to provide us with a channel of communication.”

The hero leaned forward, looking closely at Zachariah. The person in question was swallowed by the giant’s shadow and visibly tensed up.

“You are here to be someone else’s eyes and ears. Can you be their mouth as well?” the hero asked.

“I may simply be here to help communicate, but I am allowed to answer for Lord Oberon to some extent. I can only hope you believe me,” Zachariah answered.

The hero’s eyes, which took up almost the entirety of his face, stared steadily. Zachariah could feel that if he loosened up even a little, he would start trembling and his teeth would start clattering. This was natural, as he was facing an astragali, which could turn him into minced meat in an instant. It was weirder for people to be able to treat them normally, let alone intimately.

His lord, Oberon, was able to do so because he had mystic knights backing him. So what did these two other small goblins have...?

Zachariah was facing so much pressure that his mind started to wander, and that was when the hero finally let up. “So you have come to represent your genos, goblin. Then I believe there to be no falsehood to your words.”

“Thank you for believing me...” Now that he was past the scrutiny, Zachariah was able to rub his chest and calm himself down.

The next instant, though, the intensity in the hero’s voice came back. “However, while I believe you intend to make that happen, you will not necessarily succeed.”

Neither the Caelleus nor Ernie and Addy knew how the Rubels were controlling the kratovastias. While the hero believed the goblins would try to do something about this problem, whether it was certain to succeed was a different matter.

“Th-That’s—!” Zachariah paled.

But the hero stood as if he’d lost interest. “Either way, it’s certain that Genos De Rubel is on the move. So we must first convene a Varies Genos.”

Whether or not the kratovastias would be present, they would have to prepare. Convening a Varies Genos was a foregone conclusion. They couldn’t afford to lament that they had finally gotten so close to Metropolitan. They had to quickly turn back and prepare to fight Genos De Rubel.

“About that... I have an idea,” said Ernie, raising his hand with a smile.

“Really, Ernie?” Nav asked.

“My Kasasagi, which I’ve left in your care, should help.”

“Your phantom beast?” The hero seemed doubtful, while Nav and the Parva Marga exchanged looks. Ernie’s silhouette knight, Kasasagi—which he’d left with the Caelleus—was a machine that could fly, just like the windine-style silhouette knights. If one only looked at that feature, it would sound powerful, but it wasn’t all advantages.

“That thing is certainly fast, magister,” said the Parva Marga. “But, erm... I believe you would be treated as an enemy if you tried to visit the other genoses in that.”

“We think so too...” Nav added.

In terms of movement speed alone, Kasasagi was wonderfully exceptional—however, its sinister looks were a lethal downside. Though there were extenuating circumstances behind it being made of monster parts, Ernie’s unique aesthetic sense meant that everyone was certain it would be branded an enemy at first sight.

“You’re right. They might be wary, seeing an unfamiliar flying object.”

“I don’t think that’s the problem, Ernie,” said Addy.

“But don’t worry. Kasasagi can easily carry an astragali with it.”

The Parva Marga let out a gasp. “I see, so such a view is also possible.”

She had experience flying along with Kasasagi, and she rapped her fist against her palm in realization. Though there were parts that seemed rather brute-force, Kasasagi’s many special features were extremely useful.

“Someone will head west with me. We will quickly convince the other genoses.”

“Hrm...” The hero closed his eyes in thought. Ernie’s suggestion was logical. Now that the Rubels were making their move, they didn’t have the time to be walking around. If they could travel through the skies, their time problem, at least, would be almost completely solved. “Your idea has merit, goblin Fortissimos. However, that leaves the question of who will go...”

Among all the Caelleus survivors, the hero had the most strength. He would be most suited to convincing the other genoses. At the same time, without him, the Caelleus would be left much weaker. The hero couldn’t easily agree to go, since one of his greatest remaining roles was to protect the surviving genos.

“O Fortissimos...” While the hero was worrying over this decision, the Parva Marga timidly stepped forward. “I will go along with my magister to convince them.”

“Parva Marga?!” Nav turned around with shock on his face.

The hero also squinted. “You have yet to gain the eyes required of a Marga. Even if you question the other genoses...”

“I know I am immature, but if I don’t act now, why was I born a Quartus Oculus? As a Marga?”

The caste system unique to astragali, “oculi,” meant the Parva Marga was the highest-ranking giant present. In most cases, the highest-ranked would be in charge of the genos. For the Caelleus, this was true during the time of her predecessor.

Having a higher rank in this system was better for their chances of persuading the other genoses. Though this logic was sound, the hero was reluctant. “Even so, I cannot send you off alone. I cannot allow you to face danger by yourself, Parva Marga.”

“Yeah, we would need at least one more...” Nav added.

“We’ll be fine,” Ernie replied with a nod. “Par is more mobile than most astragali, and with Kasasagi, we’ll be able to escape from any tough spot!”

“That’s your plan?” Though Ernie sounded full of confidence, Nav glared at him. Being able to run away wasn’t exactly a source of pride among the astragali.

The hero spent some time with his eyes closed, thinking. Then, without asking for opinions from the rest of the genos, he let out a long sigh. “Very well. I will entrust the twining of words for the other genoses to you, Parva Marga.”

“Fortissimos?!” Nav turned around in shock, but the Parva Marga’s face lit up.

“It is a weighty duty. Are you sure you are capable?”

“Yes. I will see this done.” The Parva Marga nodded elatedly. She was bearing an important role with the future of all astragali riding on it, but she wasn’t flinching.

The hero squinted as if he were looking at something very bright before eventually turning around to address the rest of the genos. “We cannot keep our eyes closed either. We will follow, though it will take us longer.”

And so, the plan of action for the Caelleus was set. Seeing that, Ernie walked off to where Kasasagi was hidden. “Well then, now that everything is settled, let’s prepare and head out.”

“Hey, Ernie, I know you’re taking Pary with you on Kasasagi, but...” Addy followed while expressing her doubts. “I’m coming with you too, of course. Uh...right?”

“Yes, you are.” Ernie realized what she was trying to say, and he turned around to look at Zachariah, who was also chasing after them.

The “goblin” boy nodded. “I will accompany you as well, Sir Echevalier. That is why I am here, after all.”

“I figured,” said Ernie. “But Kasasagi can’t fit three people.”

Kasasagi’s cockpit had originally been Ikaruga’s. It had been made for Ernie’s size and was also stuffed with various instruments, so it was extremely cramped. If three people were to try to squeeze in, they would be like canned tuna, in Earth terms.

Ernie was troubled by this, and Addy also made her disapproval known. “No. The cockpit is only for me and Ernie!”

“I do think it wouldn’t be wise,” Ernie agreed.

“But... You use a flying mystic knight, no? Then I cannot follow you on foot. Also, if you are going to convene a Varies Genos, it is my duty to witness it.” Zachariah would not give in. As one might expect for someone Oberon had entrusted directly with this task, he was very serious, no matter why he had come.

Kasasagi would have to carry one giant and three people by itself. This was a perplexing problem, especially for the three people.

Ernie spent a while hemming and hawing before eventually giving up and smiling. “Then let us do this. I will carry you on Kasasagi’s palm, Zachariah.”

“Wha—?!” Naturally, this terrifying, insane idea had Zachariah’s expression frozen and twitching. The forest’s sky stretched on forever, and flying through it was already a serious affair, so doing so on a silhouette knight’s palm was difficult in the extreme. He was now getting a headache over how difficult completing his duty was seeming like it would be.

While one person was trying to heroically resolve himself, Ernie and Addy proceeded with their preparations. Addy got into Kasasagi’s cockpit and looked around. “Hrm... Well, it’s not like there’s nowhere to sit. Okay, Ernie, come here.”

“Uh... Do you mean...?”

Now that Addy had sat down, the spot she was indicating was on top of her lap. Knowing what she meant, Ernie furrowed his brow. “Can’t I just sit normally?”

“This has to be done, otherwise we can’t both fit in the cockpit! Yeah, there’s no other choice!”

“I wonder if that’s true... Also, sitting on your lap would cause a lot of problems.”

“None of that matters if you’re on my lap, Ernie!”

“What the heck is with that weird confidence of yours...?”

After a bit of argument, Kasasagi set off.

The sound of intake rose as mana flowed throughout the machine. Kasasagi’s design was extreme, with only an upper torso, so it couldn’t just walk forth. Still, a rainbow-colored ring was created under it, allowing its unsettling form to float. This was thanks to the ether ring generator, a device that could freely create a Levitating Field, which was why Kasasagi could fly.

The Parva Marga saw Kasasagi appear from the forest accompanied by the loud sound of buffeting wind, and she walked toward it. The others cheered on their young leader and prayed to Argos for her to complete her mission.

“Now, let’s be off,” Ernie said.

Kasasagi supported the Parva Marga’s back and raised its output. The rainbow glow strengthened, and both forms rose into the air. One person, stuck on the machine’s palm, screamed, but the loud sound of the intake system erased that.

The other giants watched Kasasagi grow smaller in the distance before eventually starting to walk.

“We cannot fall too far behind. Let us go,” the hero said.

The Caelleus giants set off as well. They were heading west. Their destination: the place where the genoses would gather.

◆

Though the forest was a terrifying place where monsters ruled, the circumstances of the sky above were different.

It wasn’t as if there were no threats in the sky. However, all monsters needed nests to rest their bodies, meaning they couldn’t divorce themselves from the ground entirely. This was why the higher one rose, the less one would encounter them.

Something was cutting its leisurely way through this sky. It had armor made from processed monster shells, and it looked quite strange—of course, it was Kasasagi and the Parva Marga.

Nothing got in their way. Kasasagi’s Magius Jet Thrusters spat fire, pushing the machine smoothly through the sky.

The Parva Marga felt the wind playing with her hair and narrowed her four eyes. “This is my second time flying with you, magister. Now that I’m experiencing this again, it’s not a bad feeling.”

“It would be nice to fly with everyone, wouldn’t it?” Addy replied as she fully enjoyed being in a position to have a tight hold over Ernie. She’d been forced to give up on having him sit on her lap, but they were still sitting together.

The three of them were enjoying their trip through the air, but they had a companion who wasn’t.

“Zachariah? Are you okay?” Ernie asked.

“Don’t...mind...me! This is nothing...if it’s for our future!”

This time, Kasasagi wasn’t rising too high. The reason for this was desperately clinging to its palm.

It seemed the goblin knight had some guts. Ernie was impressed, thinking trivial thoughts like He rivals the members of the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

“But, magister, are you sure about this?” the Parva Marga asked. The question was sudden, as their journey had been going well thus far.

“About what?”

“The plan is to convince the other genoses and query the Rubels together. This is important to us astragali, but your friends are somewhere in this forest right now, aren’t they?”

The aerial fleet had come to this place searching for Ernie. It was natural to assume the pair stranded in the forest, Ernie and Addy, wanted to see them as well.

But instead of affirming this assumption, Ernie put on an airy smile. “It’s fine. They’ve come this far for a second time, and my knight order isn’t frail enough to be chased out so quickly. Also, even if we search for them, we have no idea where they are or where they’re going. It would be a waste of time to fly around aimlessly.”

Addy, who was behind him, hugged him a little tighter.

“So we have other preparations to make,” Ernie continued. “A lot happened, and now we’re opposing the Rubels, but that doesn’t mean all astragali are our enemies. They don’t know this, though.”

The scenery flowing by was captured by the eye crystal and displayed on the holomonitor. This forest was a place where creatures squirmed and monstrous birds flew. Even only taking into account the giants’ territory, the forest was infinitely wide.

“I don’t know where the knight order is, but what we can do is go around the forest, gathering the genoses. So let’s do that first,” said Ernie.

“I see. Thank you, magister...”

The journey was generally peaceful, even accounting for the occasional monster they had to pass by.

Kasasagi was lacking in combat strength, but it excelled in speed. No normal monster could catch up to it if it were seriously trying to get away.

“We are approaching the territory of the other genoses. I would like to decide our destination in specific now, erm...” Ernie trailed off.

They’d been traveling fast, but the end of that was coming. And so, they were now discussing their final destination.

“We desire those worthy of holding a query. Those with a worthy reason and strength. But it is not simply a matter of asking them,” the Parva Marga replied.

“Hmm... Then are there any such genoses around here?”

There were multitudes of genoses, but not many that met all the requirements.

Kasasagi stopped midair and looked around. The shine of the rainbow-colored ring generated by the ether ring generator was soft as it kept them in the air.

“I recognize this part of the forest. From here... There is a good candidate fairly close.” The Parva Marga pointed, and Kasasagi turned to look.

“Then that is where we go, Par. Can we leave the negotiation to you?”

The Parva Marga turned to glance at Kasasagi behind her and nodded resolutely. “Of course. That is why I came here with you, magister.”

“If it doesn’t look like it’s working, we can help too!” Addy jumped in.

“But this is a conversation between astragali. Would our intervention really help?” Ernie wondered aloud.

The conversation was peaceful, aside from someone who was slumped silently on the silhouette knight’s palm. Meanwhile, the group descended into the forest.

Chapter 66: Sky Knight and Grotesque Monster

Heavy footsteps resounded through the forest. A giant walked boldly through this area where monsters prowled. He was looking for prey.

“What? Something about the forest’s air seems...different.” This Tertius Oculus warrior looked around as he muttered.

He’d entered the forest as usual, but he felt something was off this day. After some thought, he realized what it was. The forest was too quiet. Normally, he would already have encountered at least one or two duel-class monsters. But his surroundings were quiet, as if everything was hiding.

“As things stand, it will be difficult to obtain today’s sustenance.” The warrior furrowed his brow and looked around. No matter which direction he turned his head, he couldn’t even see a shadow of a monster.

His genos was Genos De Flaum. Like many genoses that resided in this forest, they were small in number. Because they were small, they hadn’t been dealt a severe loss during the great war in the past—the True Eye Revolt—but neither had they achieved much during the war.

“Has some genos started to prepare for a query? We astragali are in a situation in which we cannot even tell who has their eyes closed or opened. I suppose it was inevitable, but...”

Much time had passed since the True Eye Revolt, and it was only fading further into history. The warrior felt that there was no point in a query now, but it was true that there were many problems left unsolved among the astragali.

Chief of these problems: the existence of Genos De Rubel.

They were the genos who had emerged the victors in the True Eye Revolt. The Rubels possessed the great power of the kratovastias, which kept the other genoses quiet despite their dissatisfaction. This silence was finally broken the other day.

“A query, eh? Well, we cannot meet the same fate as the Caelleus.”

Unlike the Caelleus, who placed great importance on tradition despite their small size, Genos De Flaum only wished for peace. They did not approve of Genos De Rubel’s actions, but they didn’t even consider doing something about it.

“Hrm... I thought something was wrong with the forest. So that is the cause.” As he walked around aimlessly, the warrior had found the source of the irregularity.

He was looking up at an abnormal object floating in the sky. It emitted a rainbow-colored ring and was slowly approaching. He readied his weapon warily.

“It is unfamiliar...but it doesn’t seem like a kratovastia.”

The rainbow light continued to close in, heedless of his wariness. Eventually, he was able to see the object in full, and his face twisted in shock.

“You...are from Genos De Flaum.”

“What...? That color! It can’t be—you’re from Genos De Caelleus?!” the warrior exclaimed. “I had heard all of you were sent to Argos!”

A figure, small for a giant, was floating inside the rainbow ring. The Parva Marga looked down on the warrior from above the trees. She was young, and being looked at by her four eyes made the warrior forget to lower his weapon as he stood stock-still.

“Though Genos De Rubel did not even open a query, thanks to their actions, our genos has been wounded gravely. But there are still those with open eyes...like me.”

“Is that so? But what is that thing? It is not a kratovastia—do you also have beasts under your sway?”

Behind the girl who claimed the title of Parva Marga was a strange thing—something that did not exist within the warrior’s knowledge. It seemed like a monster, but it was still strange. It wasn’t doing anything behind the Parva Marga’s back; in fact, it seemed to be supporting her. This situation was too odd.

The Parva Marga paid no heed to the warrior’s agitation and confusion as she continued. “Genos De Flaum, I have a request for you. This affects all genoses... Indeed, it affects astragali as a whole. This query will be very important.”

“What...?”

As the girl wove her words, the warrior’s three eyes grew wide. Her revelation was like a declaration of a new battle.

◆

“Well met, young Parva Marga of the Caelleus. I am the pupil of Genos De Flaum’s eye.” After a while, the group had been invited to Genos De Flaum’s settlement. The chief, a Marga De Quintus Oculus, welcomed her. “It seems we also have...some strange guests.”

He narrowed his eyes as he looked down with interest at the Parva Marga’s feet. Just the fact that a survivor of Genos De Caelleus had appeared was a huge matter, as their genos was thought to have been destroyed by a Rubel attack. And this survivor had even brought goblins with her, which elevated this situation into an unprecedented event.

“I am told you came from the sky. Did you return from the side of Argos?” the five-eyed Marga asked.

“Of course not. I have yet to bask in his gaze. But...my predecessor has gone to his side. I cannot afford to do the same just yet.”

“I understand. Many genoses have been sundered by queries in the past, but Genos De Rubel’s actions are of a different kind.” The Marga De Quintus Oculus got a faraway look in his eyes, but he quickly came back, returning his gaze to his guests.

The Parva Marga fixed her posture and looked at her host seriously. “We have come to borrow your strength, Marga of Genos De Flaum. We—”

“Intend to open a query?” the five-eyed Marga finished for her. If the Caelleus had survived, it wasn’t hard to imagine what they wanted.

“I-Indeed. We desire to open a query and form the Exactus De Varies Genos once more. It is necessary.”

“So you wish to convene a Varies Genos and have everyone else share in the fate of your genos?”

“No!” The Parva Marga, overcome by emotion, tried to stand. But she felt a small weight on her feet, and she stopped. Ernie had stopped her. “My apologies. Still, Flaum, this doesn’t affect only my genos.”

While the Marga De Quintus Oculus listened, he indulged his interest in the goblins next to the Parva Marga. It didn’t seem like they were serving under her. In fact, it seemed like she trusted and relied on them.

“Genos De Rubel is on the move,” she said. “They plan to completely subjugate all other genoses.”

“What?!” The Marga De Quintus Oculus widened his eyes. He fell into thought, and only responded after some time. “If that is true, the question that should be asked is whether to fall under Genos De Rubel’s rule.”

The Parva Marga let out a shocked noise. “Flaum?!”

This time, she stood up fully to pull in close to Genos De Flaum’s Marga. But she only got one step before his five eyes pierced into her with their gaze, and she stopped.

“Genos De Rubel is finally moving to destroy the other genoses,” he reasoned. “This is something we have seen before, as they possess the power of kratovastias. As long as that advantage is not broken, there is no choice but to obey—”

“Please wait. We have a plan,” a voice cut in.

The Marga De Quintus Oculus looked down at a small, small boy who directly returned his gaze. Ernesti moved to stand in front of the Parva Marga. Beside him, Addy puffed out her chest, and Zachariah did his best to become air.

The giant’s mouth bent upward slightly into a smile. He seemed to be having fun and was looking forward to what the goblin would do. “So a goblin dares to interrupt a conversation between astragali?”

“We are not uninvolved.”

The Marga De Quintus Oculus had seen much in his life. Seeing a goblin fearlessly interrupting an astragali didn’t upset him. In fact, he could see that the Parva Marga relied on the goblin. That was surprising to him.

“We cannot defeat Genos De Rubel,” the giant said. “It would be useless to convene a Varies Genos as well. So...prove to me that has changed.”

“You have seen it, have you not? The silhouette knight... No, the mystic knight that we accompanied our Parva Marga with.” Ernie had hesitated in a spot that wouldn’t have mattered to anyone else, but he’d managed to say “mystic knight.”

“You mean the phantom beast that allowed you to fly with an astragali, young though she may be? It is a strange thing. But allowing one astragali to fly means no— Wait...” The Marga De Quintus Oculus closed his mouth. Something within his memories stopped him. “It is no flying beast, but a mystic knight. Small one, does that thing exist in greater numbers?”

Ernie and Addy turned to look at each other. The giant’s question seemed sudden, but they had an idea of what he meant.

“You know of other things that fly?”

“None of us rightly know what manner of beast it was, but it formed a herd, and it was not anything we’d ever seen before.” The Marga De Quintus Oculus looked down. If he were correct, that would heavily shape the future of all astragali.

“Well then, astragali. What would you say if I told you we came to speak to those flying things?”

Ernie’s words were exactly what the Marga had hoped for. He opened his eyes. “That would mean a truly momentous change. We would need to gather the other genoses and hold a query.”

“Then that means?!” The Parva Marga leaned forward.

Flaum’s Marga nodded. “There must be a question worthy of asking in order to gather the genoses. Genos De Caelleus, goblins, bring proof. When you do, Genos De Flaum will lend you our eyes.”

◆

The group left Genos De Flaum’s settlement and returned to the sky.

Kasasagi drifted while supporting the Parva Marga. The same old forest scenery now seemed different.

“We were told they’d come, but they’re much closer than expected,” Ernie said.

“Close enough that those astragali managed to see them!” Addy added.

Neither of them could suppress their excitement. In response, Kasasagi turned this way and that, trying to catch sight of a levitating ship.

“M-Magister, please calm down!” the Parva Marga shouted, unable to stand the jostling from their going back and forth.

“Whoa, there. Sorry.”

Though she’d gotten used to flying, she had no control over Kasasagi. It immediately stabilized itself and proceeded in a calmer fashion.

Quietly, Zachariah breathed a sigh of relief from his position on the machine’s palm, but no one else noticed.

“Whew. So our task now is to find your genos, magister. When we do, Genos De Flaum will help us, and we will be able to open a query.” The Parva Marga’s face was alight with hope.

Meanwhile, Ernie’s smile was clouded. “It might not be that easy, actually.”

“What do you mean?”

Was Ernie not also excited? He lowered his tone as he responded to her. “Even if we find the fleet, most likely...it will turn into a battle.”

“Whaaat?! Why?! Wouldn’t they welcome us like normal?!” Addy was the one who yelled out in surprise. Naturally, she didn’t know why their friends would attack them.

Ernie’s reply was simple. “We have no means to communicate with them.”

“Ah...!”

“If we wander too close like this, with the Parva Marga and Kasasagi, there’s no doubt they’ll treat us like enemies and open fire. I don’t believe they’d be able to see that Kasasagi was originally Ikaruga, after all.”

“R-Right...”

Thinking back to the past, the Parva Marga also lost any words of denial she had. No one would think Kasasagi was friendly at first glance.

Then...

“Hmm? Huh... Hey, Ernie, look there,” said Addy, pointing from behind toward a spot in the sky.

Ernie looked closely at the scene displayed on the holomonitor, and his eyes widened. “That’s... What a wonderful coincidence.”

There were shadows of different sizes playing over the thin, flowing clouds. More and more became visible as they looked, and they could tell there were many of them.

“Kratovastias?! I can’t believe they got ahead of us.”

“No, you’re wrong, Par. Given the shape, those are...” Ernie’s expression twisted in joy, unlike the panicking Parva Marga. Addy’s expression also brightened, and she leaned forward.

The small shadows were moving through the air at high speed. The one at the center of the group was larger, with protectors surrounding it.

“Already? When there’s smoke, there’s fire, as they say. I’m shocked.”

“Can this really be happening?”

“It’s right in front of your eyes. It’s clear what we must do.”

“I see. That is what we are looking for, magister?” The Parva Marga understood the situation, her four eyes locking onto their target.

The large thing at the center was a levitating ship, and the protectors around it were silhouette knights—Twediannes, specifically. The nostalgic sight of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s fleet excited Ernie and Addy to no end.

“So, Ernie, what do we do?” Addy asked.

“We’re going in, of course. Get ready, Parva Marga!”

“I understand, magister!”

“Hmm? Sir Echevalier?! What are you— Wargh?!”

Magius Jet Thrusters roared, drowning out the screams of a certain person. Kasasagi accelerated all at once with fierce jets of fire, making a beeline for the fleet.

Addy shouted while enduring the force of inertia, “But, Ernie! They’re gonna attack us at this rate, right?!”

“I’m prepared for things to get a little rough. It’s true that they’ll probably attack us, but...we won’t fight back.” Ernie’s sudden declaration had Addy’s eyes widen.

“We’ll dodge and protect ourselves until we reach the Izumo. That is how we win.”

“C-Can we even do that?”

Addy knew the strength of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. She was well aware of what levitating ships and flying silhouette knights could do, as well as the anti-monster skills polished by the knights of Fremmevilla. Kasasagi had some not-so-small defects to it, and she held some not-so-small worries as to whether it could accomplish this task. However...

“I have you and Par with me, so I’m sure we can do this. Will you help me?” Ernie looked at her earnestly.

And so, Addy couldn’t say no. “Of course I will! Ahhh... You always push yourself way too far, Ernie! I knew it! I need to stay with you always!” She tightly hugged Ernie, who was sitting in front of her, replenishing her motivation meter.

Meanwhile, the fleet shown on the holomonitor grew bigger and bigger. The sight of the fleet, which should have inspired a sense of confidence, now looked like an impregnable fortress.

“To think the day would come where I would be facing off against my own order. Still...” Despite the situation, Ernie couldn’t ignore his feelings. “I am a little excited to be able to go all out against everyone.”

His nature as a humanoid robot nut, which usually lay deep within his heart, was showing itself. Even if it put him in danger, he didn’t hesitate...

On the other side, the fleet stirred, obviously having noticed Kasasagi’s approach. The Twediannes sallied forth.

“They’re coming, Ernie!” Addy warned him.

“They sure are. Heh heh, it’s time for the moving reunion. So...let’s get loud!”

The rainbow glow of the ring strengthened as Kasasagi ascended. It was aiming for the center of the fleet, for the flagship Izumo. He charged unerringly at the most difficult section of his opponent’s formation.

That day, the aerial fleet of the Order of the Silver Phoenix was attacked by their own captain.

◆

An alarm suddenly sounded in the quiet skies above the forest. The source was the center of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s fleet—the flagship: Wing Carrier Izumo.

“Emergency flare from the scout element! Monster approaching. Counting...only one!”

“The scout platoon is saying they can deal with it!”

“Sure, then leave it to them.” David, the boss, nodded composedly from his place on the captain’s seat. Approaching monsters had been a daily occurrence since they’d entered the Great Bocuse Forest’s airspace. Just one monster was nothing before a platoon of elite knight runners and their machines.

And they had engaged under that assumption. But...

The bridge crew of the Izumo once again lit up with reports. “What?! Another signal! Th-The monster is approaching! It seems it got past them!”

“Whaaat?!” the boss shouted. But he wasn’t the only one to doubt what he’d heard—everyone on the bridge did.

“Is it that bug-type monster?” he asked.

“No, the signals don’t say that. In fact, it seems to be an unknown type.”

The company commanders, who were on the bridge as well, exchanged looks. Edgar, the commander of First Company, crossed his arms and groaned. “A new monster, huh?”

“It seems we’ll have to get a bit serious for this one,” Helvi, the commander of Third Company, replied. The first thing one would think of when it came to powerful enemies in this area would be the bug-type monsters that possessed corrosive bodily fluids, but this one was apparently different. New monsters likely came with new abilities, so even if it were alone, they needed to exercise caution.

“Hey, what are you guys going to do? It looks like it’s coming this way, but it’s alone,” the boss asked.

“I’ll head out in a Twedianne, just in case. I’ll go get First Company,” Edgar said.

“You got it. We’re all counting on you.”

As Edgar was about to leave the bridge, Dietrich, commander of Second Company, called out to him. “I don’t know what kind of monster it is, but there’s no way it would charge into a group this size alone. Don’t assume it’s that stupid, even if it is a monster.”

“No need to worry. The Order of the Indigo Falcon shall keep watch of the surroundings.” That was when the only person present who was not from the Order of the Silver Phoenix, Nora Frykberg, raised her hand and spoke. The knight order she led was originally a group of spies, and they were skilled at reconnaissance and observation. They were perfect for the job.

“Hrm, that’s reassuring. So I’ll be leaving this to all of you,” Dietrich responded, leaning back against a wall and waving a hand nonchalantly.

“Oh, relax. If Edgar messes up, I’ll go out there and save him right away!” Helvi saw Edgar off with an impish smile.

Edgar shrugged and said, “Reassuring indeed. Seriously.”

◆

While that exchange was happening on the ship, the Twediannes in the sky were fighting hard.

“This thing’s fast!”

“Dammit, it can dodge our attacks so easily?!”

The mermaidish silhouette knights, with their humanoid upper halves and fishy lower halves, flew through the sky like bullets. Their Magius Jet Thrusters spewed intense jets of flame, producing speed no normal monster could match. Even so, they couldn’t catch up to their monstrous opponent.

“What is that thing?! Is it a monster or a silhouette knight?!”

“Don’t be an idiot! What would a silhouette knight be doing here?!”

“But it looks like...”

The platoon of Twediannes that had been out scouting ahead had encountered this thing. After sending a signal to the flagship warning them of this encounter, they engaged in order to scare it off. But it approached them with abnormal speed and passed them before they could react. Strangely, it made a beeline for the center of the fleet—a move they couldn’t ignore.

“Hit it! Bring it down!”

Spellfire from the Twediannes trailed light through the sky. These shots were fired in an attempt to slow down the target in any way possible, so the thing avoided them easily. It moved precisely, as if it had eyes in the back of its head, and it didn’t lose any speed.

“It’s going to reach the Izumo!”

“No, we won’t let it. Look at the signal.”

A light flashed from the fleet. It went on and off in a pattern, sending a message to the scouts.

“That’s...First Company! Commander Edgar is deploying!”

“Ha ha! That’s the end of this monster!”

First Company deployed to intercept. It seemed like too big a response for a single monster, but they had already let it get too far, and the sight of the reinforcements was a great boost to morale.

“Okay, let’s move in and follow up. We’re going to pincer it!”

“Be careful of your firing lines! Prepare the short spears!”

The scout platoon stopped their bombardment and concentrated on movement. They accelerated and activated their atlatl pods. First Company was approaching from the front, and the net around the unknown monster was closing.

“It’s quick, but it’s just a monster.”

“Okay, we’re going to surround it. Fire the short spears!”

Fire came out of their atlatl pods as they launched many steel spears connected to silver nerves in quick succession. The spears accelerated quickly toward the monster.

A company of Twediannes was before it, while short spears were coming from the rear. This was enough to defeat any monster—that was what everyone believed. They had no doubt about it.

However...that was only if it were truly a monster.

And the monstrous entity they were chasing was no such thing.

It was Kasasagi, the silhouette knight of Ernesti Echevalier, knight captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

“Ernie! A bunch of short spears are coming from behind!” Addy warned, leaning forward in Kasasagi’s cockpit as she maintained her hold on him. She seemed strangely happy that they were under attack.

Ernie nodded. “I knew they would use those. A good decision.”

“This isn’t the time to take it easy, right? Kasasagi won’t be able to withstand those things!”

Ernie smiled fearlessly as he watched the multitude of spears through the holomonitor. There was no sign of panic about him. “Heh heh heh... To tell you the truth, missile javelins have a weakness. Let me show you.”

He gripped the control yokes and manipulated his machine’s arms. The snider received mana and glowed faintly. “I’ll leave our rear to you, Addy.”

“Sure thing! Now, let’s see if those guys are from the Order of the Violet Swallow or the Order of the Silver Phoenix!”

There were two pilots in this cockpit, and they were making use of that by splitting up roles. Since there were two of them, Kasasagi was able to charge forward at full speed while pointing its arms backward and shooting, resulting in a strange-looking pose.

“The weapon lacks power, but surprisingly, it’s got its good points,” said Ernie.

They launched spellfire at the incoming spears. The snider was capable of putting out an impressive weight of fire. Each bolt was small, but the weapon was able to put out a curtain of rapid fire by itself.

The volley of spears crashed into the curtain of spellfire. The moment the bolts hit, they exploded, repelling the spears. Each short spear went flying off target.

The Twediannes issued further directions in a panic, but they were too late. The curtain of small bolts had destroyed the connecting silver nerves as well. Now that the short spears had been sent off course, they would never hit their target.

Missile javelins had one big weakness. They were high-speed flying weapons and didn’t explode. Because of that, once they missed their target, they would most likely not be able to recover to make a second, more fruitful attack.

Meanwhile, the snider wasn’t very powerful, but it was capable of rapid fire and thus extremely useful as an interception method. It didn’t need to be powerful to alter the spears’ direction.

“We aren’t soft enough to be taken down by nothing but short spears,” Ernie chuckled proudly. He was the inventor of the missile javelin, after all. He was fully aware of its weaknesses, and he had prepared countermeasures. It was a little unfair.

After intercepting the spears, Kasasagi sped up once again. The intense inertia from Kasasagi’s acceleration hit the Parva Marga, causing her to tense up.

“Are you okay, Pary?!”

“Magister Addy... I am an astragali! This much is nothing!”

“We’re being attacked from ahead. Watch out!” Ernie warned her.

Now that they’d pulled away from their pursuers, they were approaching the Twedianne company coming at them from ahead. This would be their next clash.

“What should I do, magister? I might not be able to help, but...”

There were spears and spellfire flying through the air and flying silhouette knights approaching at overwhelming speed. The Parva Marga was unfamiliar with each of these things, and she was already the first giant to experience aerial combat. She was truly out of her depth.

“Don’t worry, Addy and I will handle most everything. You can just do what you can, Parva Marga. Please defend us against the enemy’s magia,” Ernie told her.

“Okay, I’ll try!” The Parva Marga faced forward, refusing to be disheartened by her unfamiliarity. Her four eyes reflected the figures of the knights flying at them. “So this is where my magisters live. This is the power of the goblins of the west!”

She’d heard from Ernie and Addy that these flying things had come from their home in order to bring them back. As the only astragali present, she felt she needed to witness and measure this ability to fight in the air—to resist kratovastias.

“There! That’s our destination!” Ernie shouted.

Kasasagi deftly raised its arm, pointing at the largest ship in the center of the fleet. The Parva Marga locked on to their goal.

“So that is the ship you talked about, magister. It seems like it would fit a genos of small beings. Argos will know of its strength through my eyes. Witness it!”

The next instant, the Twediannes launched a barrage of spellfire at Kasasagi.

The accuracy of this attack was extremely good. Just before the bolts hit, Kasasagi made a massive shift to the side, evading it. But as soon as they seemed to be clear, another wave of spellfire was already coming toward their new position. The bolts were perfectly aimed to seem like a net that was being cast over its target.

“It looks like we’re being cornered!” Ernie exclaimed.

“They’re pretty good! But now’s not the time to be impressed!” Addy replied.

Should they continue dodging? But the company intercepting them seemed to be the best of the best. Some more evasion would just drive them further into a corner in the next move.

“Then we go head-on!” Ernie shouted as he ordered Kasasagi to stop dodging, and he fired the snider to intercept the incoming spellfire. Kasasagi flew straight into the flowers of fire that bloomed in the air.

“C-Come around me, Vento!” On top of that, the Parva Marga used wind magic to bore a hole through the fire. Kasasagi’s Flexible Coat moved to protect her.

Even after watching the ridiculous feat of their enemy forcing its way through their spellfire, the Twediannes remained calm. Three units remained centered and poured out spellfire while preparing for close combat. Meanwhile, six more units split to either wing (three to each side) to surround Kasasagi.

Ernie smiled happily seeing this smooth teamwork. “They’ve trained well. They’re probably First Company.”

“This methodicalness does seem like Edgar,” Addy agreed. “Dee would have charged in more recklessly, while Helvi would have been a little more rough in general!”

“This is getting really fun!”

“Keep it in moderation, okay?”

The rainbow ring under Kasasagi increased in both size and shine, almost as if it were responding to the rise in Ernie’s excitement. The ether ring generator had increased its output. The Levitating Field strengthened, lifting Kasasagi even higher.

This was one of the biggest boons granted by the ether ring generator. By using the unlimited ether in the atmosphere, it was easy to change altitude, unlike when using a normal Etheric Levitator.

As they noticed Kasasagi start to ascend, turmoil naturally spread among the Twediannes. Their machines were flying thanks to Etheric Levitators, and thus they were very limited in how much they could change altitude.

Though the Twediannes tried to chase after Kasasagi, they were on the back foot, and that was fatal. They gave up on bringing the battle to close combat and switched back to spellfire.

Kasasagi fired its Magius Jet Thrusters in tight bursts, dodging with fearsome agility. Finishing it off from long range would be impossibly difficult. The Twediannes’ knight runners clenched their teeth, trying to bite down on their anxiety.

“What the hell is that thing?! Its movements are crazy!”

“Dammit, it’s right in front of the Izumo now! We can’t allow it to get past us!”

While the order members were falling into confusion, Edgar felt something was off. “It bursts with fire, and bolts of magic? And from the front it looked...humanoid.”

A terrifying theory started to form in the back of his mind.

This entity displayed abnormal agility capable of dodging spellfire, intimate knowledge of missile javelins and their weaknesses, and seemed vaguely humanoid. There was plenty of room for doubt.

“Even so... Right now, it definitely poses a huge threat to the fleet. I’ll just have to do my best.” Edgar resolved himself and stomped on the stirrups to throw his Twedianne forward.

“I knew it. Twediannes have problems going up and down,” Ernie commented.

“It was pretty hard to get good at that with Sylly too,” Addy added.

While dodging incoming spellfire, Kasasagi continued onward. At this point, it would be nearly impossible to stop them. The levitating ship that was their goal grew larger in the holomonitor.

Then, the Parva Marga broke their feeling of calm with a panicked voice. “Magister! Something fast is coming from ahead!”

A single Twedianne was there, at the same altitude as Kasasagi. It had probably come this high while Kasasagi was fighting the other Twediannes. That meant it had read what Ernie would do, and wasn’t to be underestimated.

“It’s accelerating really boldly. So I’d say it’s Edgar?” Ernie supposed.

“A company commander... This is going to be tough.”

Edgar was commander of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s First Company. He had been skilled ever since Ernie had met him, and he had only grown stronger from every battlefield he’d stepped onto. There was no way they could count on unfamiliarity with a Twedianne either. He would be more than enough to bring down Kasasagi, with how incomplete and defective it was.

“Concentrate, everyone. That will be our greatest obstacle. I will be handling the use of the snider and the Flexible Coat,” Ernie said.

“Leave the flying to me!” Addy chirped.

“Okay. Don’t be afraid, Par. On my signal, please use your magia with all your might,” Ernie commanded.

“Okay, magister. I will show you a fight Argos would be proud of!”

Kasasagi accelerated further. In the blink of an eye, the space between the two combatants shrank until they were lethally close. As this happened, Ernie’s smile deepened. The company’s strongest knight was charging right at him, and he couldn’t wait to find out how strong he was. “One exchange. The match will be decided in an instant. Let’s go!”

The Twedianne made the first move. It launched missile javelins from its trident. The deadly weapons swept toward Kasasagi and were too close to be intercepted by snider.

Ernie raised a shout. “Par!”

“Right! Sharpen, O wind! Procirae!” The Parva Marga’s spell concentrated the air, making a wavy bubble in front of Kasasagi. Furthermore, the Flexible Coat moved to harden their defenses.

Immediately after, the missile javelins hit. The shield of wind was the spearhead, shoving it off target and making it slide across the armor plates. Sparks flew as the missile javelins were diverted off behind.

“We did it!”

“Not yet! The real attack is coming!” Ernie shouted.

They didn’t even have time to take a breath before the Twedianne was on them. It struck out the lance part of the trident, trying to skewer Kasasagi.

Just before the tip was about to go through the Parva Marga, the Flexible Coat got in the way.

There was a marked difference in the weight and strength of a knight’s lance and a missile javelin. The weapon easily pierced through the Flexible Coat. While the weapon scraped its way through, Kasasagi swung its Flexible Coat, sacrificing the armor plates to divert the attack from the main body.

However, that wasn’t all the Twedianne had in store. The machine itself came after the spear. It planned to use itself as a steel hammer, even if all the other attacks were turned aside.

“I’m going to trump your trump card!” Ernie activated something he’d kept in reserve for this moment. A gust of wind that wasn’t from the Parva Marga’s magia swirled around Kasasagi as the remaining Flexible Coat plates glowed faintly, indicating the activation of an Emblem Graph and manifestation of magic.

Between the Parva Marga’s magia and the silhouette arms, wind mingled together to swallow up Edgar’s unit. Just before it clashed with Kasasagi and the Parva Marga, it was forced aside.

Just in time, Edgar’s unit’s momentum carried it past them, leaving its lance inside the Flexible Coat.

“We got past?!” Addy said. “Whew, it worked out...”

Now that they’d gotten past this attack, all three of them let out a breath. They’d taken great damage to one arm, but they’d gotten off lightly, considering Edgar had been their opponent. Kasasagi twisted its head. Edgar’s unit had been going too fast, so he wouldn’t be able to return right away. This was their chance.

“Let’s hurry. Something’s off about Kasasagi—we should avoid any more fighting,” said Ernie.

“But the ship is definitely preparing to intercept us too,” Addy commented.

“Of course they are. I taught them thoroughly. They’re all excellent knights!”

“I’m not sure how to feel about that.”

Should their countrymen be praised for this perfect response? It was hard to be honestly happy about it, since they were on the receiving end of this treatment.

A second formation of Twediannes was assembling around the ships. Ernie’s eyes went wide as he looked at their crests. “That crest is for the Order of the Indigo Falcon. So even Nora came.”

“Isn’t this pretty bad for us? We might get surrounded,” Addy said.

Nora and the Order of the Indigo Falcon weren’t flashy, but they were extremely cautious and reliable. Ernie’s team was in trouble with them on the defense.

“Will we be able to avoid all that, magister?”

“I...can’t spot any openings. Well done. I expected no less.”

“I don’t think this is the time to be complimenting them,” Addy muttered.

Ernie’s expression turned grim, as he was unable to think of an easy way through this situation. Then came an additional blow.

The fleet seemed to get even more active. Wizard-style knights showed themselves, pointing their silhouette arms at Kasasagi. If it got any closer, it would be greeted with a great wall of fire from the ships.

Twediannes spread out in defensive formation at the front, with wizard-style silhouette knights as backup. Raiding this formation from the front would have been extremely tough for Ikaruga, let alone Kasasagi.

They were now in a corner, but then Addy raised a scream. “Wagh! Edgar’s chasing after us! What do we do?! We’re pinched...”

While they were being stymied by the Order of the Indigo Falcon, First Company had regrouped. Finally, Kasasagi was truly cornered.

◆

A mass of reports continually flowed into Izumo’s bridge. The front lines were definitely busy.

“Twediannes have finished deploying in intercept formation!”

“The wizard-style knights are ready too, boss! We’re ready to go anytime. Actually, it’s so close already! Crap!”

“Commander Dee, you should g— Wait, he’s gone?!”

The boss stayed quiet, listening to all the noise made by his subordinates. Helvi, the only one left on the bridge, pointed a concerned look at him.

“Hey, boss? I’ll give the order to shoot, okay?!”

“No. Wait.” Finally, the boss spoke, giving an unexpected order. This stopped the crew in their tracks. They had no idea what he was thinking in this emergency, when the monster thing was right in front of them.

“Then what do we do, boss?” Batson couldn’t help but grip the wheel tight. The monster had stopped in the face of the Twedianne formation; now was their chance!

“Wait, huh? The Twediannes are moving weird!” A crewman raised their voice hysterically.

Outside the window of the ship, the Twediannes were taking inexplicable action. It looked as if they were welcoming the monster, flanking it on either side.

First Company should have been out there to intercept, but there wasn’t even the slightest indication of them attacking, as they matched speed with their supposed target. This situation was just too bizarre.

“Th-The monster is approaching! It’s close! Too close!”

The boss didn’t respond to his confused crewmen, choosing to instead stand from the captain’s chair. “We’ll take care of this. None of you make a move.”

“Wha—?! Wait, where are you going, booosss?!”

The boss leaped into action, leaving the crew behind as he ran as fast as he could with his short legs. He made it up to the deck and crossed his arms, glaring.

It was coming closer.

The aberrant thing was riding on a gleaming ring of rainbow. It resembled both a monster and a machine, and a figure that looked like a giant human was standing in front of it, so it was impossible to figure out its nature.

However, the boss was sure his suspicion was right.

Then, the door to the upper deck opened, and a silhouette knight rose from inside. It wore crimson armor and sported twin blades—Guairelinde.

“Wait, Dee! That thing’s—” the boss shouted.

“I know. It flies using Magius Jet Thrusters, and there’s only one idiot I can think of who can get past Edgar. It...still looks really weird, though.”

Guairelinde pointed its swords down in a relaxed stance.

As they waited, their nerves growing more taut by the second, the rainbow shine came closer.

◆

The rainbow ring left a brilliant trail across the blue sky.

Its source floated above the levitating ship, emitting an intense sense of presence. David—the boss—looked up at it, his face spasming.

“What the hell is up with that thing?”

At the center of the ring was a fearsome and odd something. She looked like a young girl, but she was as big as a duel-class monster and had four eyes. Her companion was even stranger; it was just a humanoid upper half covered in armor made of monster shells.

“There’s no world where that isn’t an enemy, thinking normally.”

“I agree with all my heart,” Dietrich said from inside Guairelinde, with the exact same expression.

“Looks like we won’t be able to take it easy.”

Though Guairelinde wasn’t holding its swords at the ready, it also hadn’t sheathed them. It needed to be the last line of defense in case their expectations turned out to be wrong.

The mood was a mix of numerous hopes, questions, and some amount of nervousness as the shining rainbow ring gradually approached. Suddenly, something jumped out from inside.

The small figure disappeared into the blue of the sky. It flew as if shot out of a sling, leaving the effect of the rainbow ring.

“That’s...!” Guairelinde’s eye crystal could see it clearly. Dietrich, in the cockpit, leaned forward as if trying to leap into the holomonitor. Soon enough, he let out the breath that had caught in his throat and put on a slight smile. “Wow. I didn’t expect to reunite in a proper manner, but this is just too much.”

The figure landed in front of a frozen boss with only a slight sound. Purplish-silver hair fluttered in the wind blowing across the deck. There was no mistaking him.

The boss took a shaky step forward. “Ernesti!”

The young captain’s smile hadn’t changed at all from when the boss had last seen him months ago, before he’d disappeared after taking on the swarm of bug-type monsters alone.

“You... You really were okay...”

“It’s been too long, boss! Anyway, could you please signal the others first?”

“I— Wait, right!”

Ernesti Echevalier never stopped moving, and he was already starting to take care of various tasks. “Please tell them to step down from combat stations right away. Addy is still inside Kasasagi; it’s not an enemy.”

“Huh? Kasa— What? Also, wait, so the girl really is here too! Ah, right. Hey, Dee!”

“I know.” Guairelinde activated the multipurpose tube launcher it was equipped with. A signal flare went up into the sky, resulting in a bloom of light. The brightly shining flare was blue, and the only machine in the Order of the Silver Phoenix to have this color was Ikaruga.

The other levitating ships, which had been watching the proceedings on their flagship, quickly understood what had happened. The silhouette knights stepped back from combat stations, lowering their silhouette arms as the entire fleet slowly stood down.

The skies grew peaceful, and Ernie seemed relieved as he looked around. “I was wondering what to do, since we didn’t have a way to contact you.”

“That’s not a reason to charge at us head-on.” The boss pressed Ernie, who seemed totally carefree.

That was when a pained shout came from above. “Errrniiieee! It’s way too hard to set this thing down!”

“Ah!” Eyes wide, Ernie turned around to see Kasasagi worryingly wavering right and left.

The Parva Marga, who was floating with it, was flailing to keep balance as she shouted behind her. “M-Magister Addy, calm down! Wait, stop!”

“Uh, it’ll probably be fine! Errr... Is it this one?”

“Waaah?! Ah, Magister Ernie, hel—”

“Why is Ikaruga’s cockpit this crammed with buttons?!”

Ernie saw Kasasagi start to spasm, and even he couldn’t help but panic, drawing his gunstaff. “I need to go.” He immediately flew back up, giving no one a chance to stop him.

“Y-Yeah, sure. I’ll gather everyone.” The boss saw him off, but he couldn’t hold back a sigh. “Gah, it’s been so long, but he never changes. He’s still a kid through and through!”

Despite what he’d said, the boss was wearing an unmistakable smile. His footsteps were light as he went back inside the ship.

◆

The knight captain had returned.

The news spread throughout the fleet with explosive speed.

“Hey, I heard the knight captain’s back!”

“Seriously? Where did he even come from?”

“You know how small he is. I bet he blew in with the wind or something.”

“What the heck, that’s terrifying! Even more so because it sounds plausible.”

“Super scary, yeah.”

The speaking tubes were alive with the chatter of the order members. It hadn’t taken long for them to abandon their duties to stream toward the hangar.

An elevator descended under the scrutiny of the crowd, its gears grating as it did so. Once they saw who was on it, their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

◆

The elevator’s gears grated as it descended inside the ship.

“Ohhh, this is...” The Parva Marga’s four eyes went wide as she saw the inside of the Izumo.

She saw Twediannes packed away tight and neat, warrior-style silhouette knights for each of the companies in the back, and silhouette gears moving busily to and fro between these machines.

There were enough of these metal knights to rival an entire genos of astragali. Plus, they could fly. The Parva Marga realized what this meant and shivered slightly.

Ernie approached her as she stared fixedly at the sight. “How do you like it, Par? This is the Order of the Silver Phoenix I lead.”

“I can truly see why the western goblins are able to rival kratovastias.”

Guairelinde stood behind her, and Dee spoke from inside it. “By kra-whatever, do you mean those bug-type monsters? We ran into a bunch on the way here, but we put down a few and the rest ran away.”

“What bravery. Is everyone here a Fortissimos?” She didn’t doubt Dietrich’s words. She understood after seeing the goblins’ flying mystic knights, and she reflexively clenched a fist.

The moment the elevator descended fully, the crowd that had formed flooded forth. They had no chance to react, and they were swallowed up by the tumult.

“Ohhh! It really is the captain!”

“Ernie! And Addy too! You’re okay!”

“I knew you were alive... Wait, what’s that?”

“Maybe... Is that...Ikaruga?”

“No way. It looks nothing like Ikaruga...”

“It’s been so long, Batty! It was awful, but I managed to get through okay because I was with Ernie!” Addy responded.

“Uh-huh. That sure is a reason...”

“What the heck is up with this huge girl?! Is she a silhouette knight? Or a monster?”

“Sh-She’s got four eyes.”

“Ah, I knew it. Being with the knight order really is the best. There’s so many silhouette knights. It’s so soothing!” Ernie exclaimed.

“Does this mean there are duel-class giants down there? The Great Bocuse Forest is terrifying.”

“Actually, Captain, why’s she so attached to you?”

“Now that I look closer, she’s surprisingly cute.”

“Y-You...”

“I gotta ask, why does this thing only have an upper half? Where’s the rest?”

“Huh? Does that mean we have to build the other half? Please no. Spare me.”

“There are more here than there were in that village,” said the Parva Marga. “Is your genos one of the more powerful ones among the goblins, magister?”

“Is that thing seriously faster than a Twedianne?”

“The smell of iron tickles my nose!” Ernie exclaimed.

“I wonder. We might be one of the smaller ones?” Addy replied, unsure.

“This is smaller? Goblins are not to be underestimated.”

“YEEEEEEK IT TAAALLLKEEEDDD?!”

“What the hell is going on, seriously?!”

“AAAGGGHHH! SHUT UP, ALL OF YOOOUUU!!!” The boss couldn’t take it, and his shout finally got everyone to quiet down. Even the Parva Marga reflexively closed her mouth and straightened up.

Everyone’s gazes gathered at one spot, where Ernie was standing with his hand raised—right in the middle. “Here, Chairman! May I have permission to speak?”

“What the heck, Captain? Just get to the explanations already! And who are you calling a chairman?!” the boss yelled back.

“Well then, without further ado...”

The boss let out a long sigh and stepped back.

This allowed Ernie to step forward like he usually did in his capacity as a knight captain. He fit in, like he hadn’t spent the last couple months in a forest. First, he raised his hand and indicated the Parva Marga, who stood there looking nervous.

“She is one of the races who lives in this forest, one of the giants who refer to themselves as astragali. These astragali are split into numerous genoses—what we would refer to as clans—and she is the representative of Genos De Caelleus. Her title is ‘Parva Marga.’”

“As my magister has said, I am Parva Marga De Quartus Oculus.” The Parva Marga looked around as she spoke, and a ripple of unrest spread.

“Whoa, my ears weren’t going bad. She really is talking.”

“Can something that big really talk?”

“As you’ve heard, it is possible to communicate with the astragali. There are a whole host of circumstances to this situation...but suffice to say, the Caelleus have taken good care of us.”

“Sure, that’s great, but Ernesti...” Guairelinde turned its head as Dietrich’s voice came out of the megaphone. “What does she mean by ‘magister’?”

“She uses it to refer to both Ernie and me, since we taught her magic!” Addy said.

“Indeed. I have been learning much from my magisters.”

“Seriously... What have you two been doing?” Dietrich manipulated Guairelinde to face-palm and shake its head.

“It was necessary. This land is in the midst of a war between astragali.” The moment the words left Ernie’s mouth, the mildly exasperated mood turned taut with tension instantly.

“What?!”

Confirming that everyone’s attention was on him, Ernie started to speak. He talked about how the giants were warring over who was to be their king, and about the greatest of the genoses and the other smaller ones. “There are two important things to note. First: the greatest genos, Genos De Rubel, uses monsters as weapons. These monsters are called kratovastias—the bug-type ones we’ve encountered.”

“They use monsters as weapons? Is that even possible?”

“We use horses. I suppose to giants, a duel-class monster is absolutely tameable.”

“But really? Those bug monsters?”

A great number of doubtful and confused voices swirled together.

The knight order had a fairly deep grudge against the kratovastias. Fremmevilla’s knights had always existed to fight monsters, but they especially couldn’t abide the kratovastias, because they were natural enemies to silhouette knights and levitating ships.

“One more thing. Actually, this is probably the more important point...” Ernie hesitated, causing the order members to put their guards up. They couldn’t imagine what would make their knight captain hesitate like this.

And this raising of the guard didn’t go to waste.

“The astragali aren’t the only ones here. There are people—descendants of survivors of the first expedition into this forest—living here as well.”

The crowd didn’t stir. It took a little time for everyone to realize what this meant.

The Great Bocuse Forest was not totally unexplored. In the past, there had been those burning with ambition who had attempted to do what they were doing now. But it was because this first expedition had been decimated that the forest became taboo.

In the first place, hundreds of years had passed since that first expedition. People had thought that finding traces of any survivors now would have been nearly impossible, even if they’d tried. Much less finding descendants of survivors—no one would have imagined that even in their wildest dreams.

Ernie saw their bewilderment and turned to indicate the strange object behind him—the failure of a silhouette knight with only an upper half, and what used to be Ikaruga. “This Kasasagi was made from Ikaruga’s wreck. The goblins living in this land helped me—and by goblins, I mean the descendants of the first expedition.”

“Oh? So you’ve built something strange again, huh?” the boss growled while giving Kasasagi a sideways glance. As the chief of the knightsmithing complement of the Order of the Silver Phoenix, as well as the engineer who built Ikaruga, he was intensely interested. But whether he’d be able to maintain his sanity after hearing the details was another matter.

Ernie nodded and continued, “I managed to bring it to a point where it’s at least able to fly by improving the Etheric Levitator, but...”

“Hey, wait a second now. What did you say?”

“I made a promise to the astragali, which is why we were searching for you.”

“A promise? What do those astragali want with us?”

Ernie smiled and was about to answer when a loud chime sounded.

“Whoops, wait a second! The Twediannes are returning! Maintenance team, to your positions!”

“Preparing storage! It’s dangerous—everyone get to safety!”

At the chime, everyone took action. The Parva Marga backed up into a corner, watching the proceedings with great interest.

The rear hatch of the hangar opened, and Twediannes approached from beyond. Once they matched speed to the ship, the crane arm extended, grabbed the machines, and brought them inside.

“I must say, magister, the goblins’ flying ship is quite interesting,” noted the Parva Marga.

“Isn’t it? Everyone came together to build it.”

Ernie puffed out his chest proudly as the last of the Twediannes was brought inside. A little while later, knight runners came through the throng.

“Wow, it really is the captain!”

“Huh? Yeah, he’s right here! Then the captain was the one riding that thing earlier? No wonder we couldn’t catch it...”

“Seriously. As if I could stand a monster that can make disgusting movements like that in the world.”

“Still, Commander Edgar, I’m amazed you noticed. That thing looked nothing like a silhouette knight.”

The knight runners of First Company broke out into lively conversation as soon as they saw Ernie. They seemed quite busy, going between joy and lament, and the last of these knight runners was Edgar.

He plodded up to Ernie, and after a pause, he reached out to grab Ernie by the head before mussing his hair.

“Aaaggghhh, Edgar, stop! My hair, it’s—” Ernie shouted, but...

“Huh? Wait, Edgar! That looks fun! Let me try too!” Addy interrupted him.

Despite her attempts to stop(?) him, Edgar continued to muss with Ernie’s hair for a while before eventually letting out a sigh and stopping. “It’s great that you’re okay, but...couldn’t you have picked a quieter way to return, Ernesti?”

Ernie pouted. “We had nothing left to contact you with. Or would you have preferred I grabbed you and left the cockpit?”

“No, I’d prefer if you didn’t do that. Still...” Edgar wore a slight smile as he took a step back and straightened up. “I’m glad to see you safe, Captain. Welcome back.”

“Yes. I’m home.”

With that, the captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix had officially returned.

◆

“Where...am I?” The goblin knight, Zachariah, stared at the ceiling in a daze.

The last thing he remembered was flying through the air on Kasasagi. Everything after that was fuzzy, but he felt like he also remembered someone saying something about having found some other thing. But before he could confirm what that was, he was hit by a powerful bout of inertia and wind and was knocked unconscious.

“Oh, you’re awake. Wait here, I’ll go tell the captain.”

While he was still confused, unable to grasp the situation, someone who had been waiting nearby left to get somebody.

A little while later, Ernie came. “I’m glad you’re unhurt, Zachariah. I thought you were done for after I saw everything that was leaking from your face.”

“I am trained as a knight, despite how I may look. So, where are we?”

“Inside a levitating ship. One of ours, from the west. Can you stand?”

Zachariah gave himself a quick check to confirm he was okay before nodding and getting out of bed. Ernie followed him, taking up the role of guide.

What followed was a series of the biggest shocks of his life.

Everything from the mysterious device that emitted a rainbow glow to the numerous silhouette knights lined up in the hanger fell into this category. Furthermore, the ones called Twediannes looked like bizarre mermaids to him, even as someone used to mystic knights.

“So...this is the power of the legendary west,” he breathed out.

“I wouldn’t say legendary. It’s just that everyone from my knight order came looking for me,” Ernie explained.

Zachariah was unable to grasp the full power of this knight order using just his knowledge and experience as a framework. And the small boy next to him was the captain of all of it. He gave heartfelt thanks to Oberon internally for his decision to deal with the boy equally without underestimating him.

When they made their way to the center of the hangar, they found a crowd. There was Addy, the boss, and members from each company. Beside them, some of the order were chatting excitedly with the Parva Marga.

The Parva Marga had been accepted relatively quickly by the Order of the Silver Phoenix despite it being their first contact with a giant. Certainly, astragali were a threat. However, the Parva Marga was a disciple of Ernie and Addy. In other words, to the order members, she was essentially the same as them, so they quickly opened up to her.

The conversation naturally receded as the group realized that Ernie and Zachariah had arrived. Using that opportunity, Ernie looked around and began to speak. “You know the Parva Marga of the astragali, specifically Genos De Caelleus. This is a goblin knight, Zachariah. Over there is Nora of the Order of the Indigo Falcon. From the Order of the Silver Phoenix, here are the company commanders Dietrich, Edgar, and Helvi. David here serves as the captain of this flagship, the Izumo. And I am the knight captain of this order, Ernesti. It seems all the representatives have gathered.”

There were order members who seemed to be unoccupied around them. Ernie gathered their attention and announced, “Well then, let’s decide our direction from here on out.”

Chapter 67: Let’s Decide Our Goal

“Still, erm... This is a weird roster, isn’t it?” the boss grumbled, crossing his arms. The Order of the Silver Phoenix made up the majority of this meeting and were familiar to him, but those that weren’t were far too...unique.

One was the giant girl, the Parva Marga, who was sitting meekly. It seemed she considered the goblins to be the main actors of this stage (from her point of view, the term “goblins” was wide and encompassed the Order of the Silver Phoenix as well).

“Giants, huh? Their existence is surprising, but if we can communicate, we can join hands. They’re different from monsters,” Edgar said, looking at the Parva Marga.

“Plus they seem nice and docile. This one’s a good kid,” Helvi said.

“That’s right. My disciple is very smart!” Addy added in perfect sync with Helvi.

Dietrich spoke up from his spot leaning against a wall. “So, about our plans. Honestly, now that we’ve found Ernesti, we’d like to go home right away.”

The rest of the Order of the Silver Phoenix signaled their agreement. They’d come this far chasing after their tiny captain, so their objective was complete.

“Wait,” a knight in unfamiliar dress called out—the goblin knight, Zachariah. His armor was made from monster hides and shells, with sparing use of fabric or similar materials. The design wasn’t common in any region to the west, including Fremmevilla. “People of the west, with your flying ships and legendary silhouette knights. I have a favor I must beg of you. Please, will you listen to my plea?”

He was the only goblin here. The future of his people would be shaped by whether he was able to convince the Order of the Silver Phoenix. His serious countenance was suffused with a strong sense of purpose.

While the rest of the order exchanged glances in confusion and hesitation, Dietrich silently motioned for him to continue.

“As you’ve already heard, we who are called goblins are the descendants of those who once ventured into this forest. Our ancient plan ended in failure, and our forefathers were only able to survive under the aegis of the astragali. We had no other choice, in this forest rife with monsters.”

Zachariah paused to sweep his gaze over the crowd before continuing his passionate speech.

“We have endured for a long time. But that will not last forever. I wish to change history now. This war between astragali will be colored by the Rubels’ arrogance... The time is truly ripe, and we cannot afford to let this chance escape us. So please, help us, comrades of old. You have the power with you!”

His speech had the order members whispering among themselves.

His plea had nearly done the job, but not enough for them to make a decision on the spot. After all, they hadn’t seen how the goblins lived. They couldn’t quite share the passion within Zachariah’s words.

“I’m certain you are descendants of those who ventured on the expedition to this forest in the past. And if you’re truly suffering, I would love to help you, but...” Edgar looked upward and beside him indecisively at the Parva Marga, who was swiveling her four eyes around. It was unclear what she was thinking.

They had yet to experience combat against a giant. The existence of giants itself was a wonder, and the fact that the first one they met was the Parva Marga was influencing this a lot, since she gave off a good impression. Put bluntly, they had no reason to fight.

“So he says. What do you want to do, Ernesti? You’ve seen both the astragali and the goblins, so I want to hear your opinion,” Dietrich asked.

“Right. I’m going to fight.”

Ernesti’s immediate response caused Dietrich to narrow his eyes, but not out of rejection. He pushed off the wall and said, “Well, I expected this. You came here with that girl, after all. Then there’s no other choice. The Order of the Silver Phoenix will follow our captain’s will—”

“No, wait, please.” Ernie cut him off, leaving Dietrich blinking in surprise. Ernie continued, putting a clear cap on things. “Addy and I will be the only ones participating. You don’t need to help.”

A state of shock pervaded the hangar. Dietrich, his eyes wide as saucers, froze while looking at Ernie’s face.

It was Edgar who regained himself first. “What are you getting at, Ernesti?”

“Yeah. Just take us along like always. In the first place, there’s no way any of us could just let you go, you realize that?” the boss said in a panic. The Order of the Silver Phoenix was founded for Ernie—both his combat and engineering skills. The order would follow him on whatever path he illuminated; that’s how it had always been. Though they’d been separated for a time, that didn’t change the order itself.

After some thought, Ernie looked up. “After crashing in the forest, we met the astragali, and thus Par. A lot happened, but we survived there by helping each other.”

He turned around to look at the Parva Marga. Her four eyes quietly looked back at him as he continued. “The conflict with Genos De Rubel is an internal one that involves all of the astragali, and she never asked us to fight either. But there’s something I cannot forgive. I will always repay my debts, so I have a reason to fight. But that has nothing to do with all of you; there’s no need for you to take on this extraneous fight.”

A stir filled the hangar. The order members whispered to each other, exchanging their opinions.

“Then what about Addy?” Helvi looked beside her.

Addy walked over to the Parva Marga and puffed out her chest. “Of course I’ll fight. I’m part of the Caelleus too; I wouldn’t stop after coming this far.”

“Magister... Thank you.”

“You’re playing the part of teacher properly, I see,” Helvi said, moved.

Meanwhile, Edgar spent some time in thought before speaking up. “Then how will you gather enough strength? We know well how powerful you are, Ernesti. However, these astragali are basically silhouette knights on their own. Will you two be able to do this by yourselves?”

“At the very least, we have Kasasagi. It’s got a strange shape, but it was originally Ikaruga. It’s powerful enough to fight by their side.”

Dietrich—who had been frozen this entire time—finally let out a breath and returned to normal. “I see. Still, every once in a while, I can’t tell if you’re being selfish or principled. What to do...”

Conversation sparked here and there among the crowd. The destination of the Order of the Silver Phoenix had been put in their hands. Everyone had to find their own answer to the question their capricious captain had asked.

On the other hand, Zachariah felt panic. “P-Please, wait, Sir Echevalier. You have a reason to fight, so why don’t you order them to fight as well?! This is the knight order you command, no? I’m not doubting your strength, but that is not a reason to waste all this when it is at your fingertips!”

From his perspective, Ernie, as well as the rest of the Order of the Silver Phoenix, held enough combat potential that they were necessary for the goblins. He couldn’t allow Ernie to decide things based on careless personal whim. Still, he didn’t have the ingredients necessary to sway this strange group.

“I do lead this knight order, which is why I have just shown them my plan.”

Zachariah blinked in disbelief. “D-Do the rest of you truly find no problem with this? You came this deep into the forest chasing after him, didn’t you?”

“You’re correct, and we will obey our lord captain’s order. The Order of the Silver Phoenix is a disciplined group, so we will do as we please now,” Dietrich replied while the rest of the crowd shot Zachariah looks that said, Who are you to talk?

“Our captain’s selfishness isn’t new, after all. Now, I suppose we should start by borrowing a ship,” Dietrich continued.

“Oh, I’ll go with you, Commander!”

“What about you? It’d be boring to just wait, wouldn’t it?”

“I’m interested in how strong the astragali are. Are they stronger than monsters?”

“My word. Second Company is full of battle fanatics.”

“Don’t worry, Pary! I’ll help you!”

“You...”

“Okay, make some space. Pary is my disciple, so I won’t let you look at her in a weird way,” said Addy.

“Wow, rude! And tyrannical!”

Where did Dietrich’s claims of discipline go? Each person moved as their interests dictated, resulting in them naturally scattering. It was hard to believe they could come together as a knight order, and Zachariah held those feelings tight as his mood darkened precipitously.

“And you call yourselves knights?!” he cried.

What is this?! They’re certainly not a knight order, which ought to move as a single entity. Why do they insist on being so selfish— Zachariah thought, but he stopped himself before he could finish.

He was a goblin knight—or rather, a knight runner—and he had a duty to pilot a mystic knight. Oberon would never allow such selfishness under his leadership. In the first place, there was a limited supply of mystic knights, and many goblins would gladly take his place. It was unthinkable to show even the smallest weakness, which was a far cry from how these people were acting.

While trying to suppress an oncoming headache, he shakily walked to Ernie’s side. “Please reconsider, Sir Echevalier. If you truly are a knight captain, you must act appropriately!”

There was no doubt that Ernie was the leader here, as everyone else listened and reacted to his words. That meant he could still put this group under his control.

However, Ernie slowly shook his head. “Of course I’ll lead if it’s necessary, but it’s not at this moment.”

“How can you be so thoughtless?!” Zachariah bit his lip. This group had the power to sway the upcoming battle, yet they were selfish and unmanageable. As things stood, they couldn’t hope to gain the help of the western peoples.

“Oh no... What do I do? I must seek Oberon’s advice,” Zachariah muttered. This situation was already out of his control; he could not deal with it on his own. After a few parting words, he left.

Behind him, the clamor from the people he sought help from was unending.

◆

Helvi sighed and walked toward the noisy Second Company. She snuck behind Dietrich and landed a chop on his head.

“Gwargh?! Wh-What, Helvi? You shouldn’t just hit people out of nowhere.”

“Your idiocy made that goblin guy leave. He was totally fed up with you.”

Dietrich held his hand to his head as he looked around. She was right—the goblin who’d introduced himself as Zachariah was gone.

“Hmm. I guess we went too far acting like we usually do.”

“Don’t shame the name of our order too much. Pary is watching too.”

The Parva Marga slightly cocked her head. It was normal for astragali to live in clan units, so the Order of the Silver Phoenix was somewhat hard for her to understand—though they were a very special group in Fremmevilla as well.

Edgar had been quietly thinking this entire time, but now he spoke up. “Right... Ernesti, supposing the entire knight order participates in this conflict, what will happen? Will this have value for us?”

“Our race and the astragali have lived separated, but now we’ve met. We can’t pretend they don’t exist. So the question becomes, what kind of relationship should we build? As you can see, we could join hands, but...” Ernie looked up at the Parva Marga. She was listening quietly to the conversation. “But there are those among them that would make such a thing impossible. Particularly, the Rubels are a bit too violent. They treat goblins like servants. We could resist them with silhouette knights, but that would end up being more trouble than dealing with this now.”

At the moment, humans and giants were still separated by a large forest. Still, now that they knew of each other, things would not stay that way forever. After all, humans had a powerful new machine in the form of the levitating ship. The concept of distance and the barrier it provided would shrink drastically in the future.

“Giant humanoids... So you’re saying that we must demonstrate our own power on top of building a relationship with them.”

“We need them if we want to live here, which means without them, we couldn’t have even come to this land in the first place.”

This battle did not necessarily have nothing to do with humans. Goblins were stuck right in the middle, and the outcome would affect future relations with humans. The Order of the Silver Phoenix was present during these times, which might have been a heaven-sent happenstance.

Dietrich listened to all this and raised his hand. “Then let’s do this: I’m going to follow the captain of my own accord. Anyone who wants to come with me is welcome. The rest can stay here and secure our path of retreat. Or, if possible, make a base.”

“Ah, if it’s a base you want, we have a good spot.”

“Then let’s make use of it.”

“Yes, sir! We’ll bring the base under our control!”

“What should we do? Hmm...”

First Company decided to take separate action, and Second Company also immediately decided what they were doing. Third Company spent some time wondering what to do, but in the end they decided to stay with the main fleet. Helvi was a little reluctant, but it was possible the main fleet would be attacked by kratovastias, so some amount of fighting power needed to stay behind.

Next was the knightsmith corps.

“I need to work on the kid’s silhouette knight, so I’ll go with him,” the boss said.

“Then we’ll split up the maintenance teams as appropriate, boss.”

“Sure, I’ll leave it to you.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix split into two groups. One would follow Ernie, and the other would make a base. Of course, they would each be given their own levitating ship complement. Now that plans had been decided, everything else was easy. The order members all broke into chatter.

“Oh, by the way, can we source food here?”

“Right. It sounds like we’ll be here a while.”

“Can’t we just ask the astragali?”

“Wait, do they eat monsters?”

“Monsters actually taste pretty good,” Ernie replied.

“Our captain’s gotten weirdly tough...”

“Okay, Second Company, that ship there’s going to be ours. Let’s bring our silhouette knights over,” Dietrich commanded.

“Yessir!”

There was a person standing quietly a little ways away from the noisy order members. She gave off almost no sense of presence, but she didn’t fail to overhear what they said.

Ernie came over to her. “I have a different request for you and your Order of the Indigo Falcon, Nora.”

“You want us to survey the land?” Nora asked before he could.

Ernie gave her his airy smile. Infiltrating and investigating a territory was the wheelhouse of the Order of the Indigo Falcon, a group of spies. “We have Par from the astragali, and you can’t sneak into their midst anyway. For now, what I want to know about...are the goblins.”

“You wish to know how they survived after the failure of the first expedition. As well as what they’re plotting.”

“Exactly. I knew you’d understand.” Ernie gave a small show of applause, to which Nora returned a smile. Suddenly, though, Ernie’s expression tightened up. “We are in the great forest; don’t push yourself. If it doesn’t seem like you’ll be able to reap anything, just retreat.”

“Leave this to us. We’ll uncover the entire story sleeping within this forest.” Nora Frykberg bowed. The Order of the Indigo Falcon had surely taken action in the shadows before. Their movements were quick and merciless. With the power of silhouette gears and Twediannes, they would investigate every corner of the forest.

◆

After that, the company commanders hammered out a concrete plan. Meanwhile, the boss quickly split up the maintenance teams and headed over to Ernie to have an important conversation.

“Hey, kid. Are you going to keep using Kasasagi as is?”

“That’s what I was planning. Ah, do you mean...?”

“I do. I saw Ikaruga break, so I brought enough spare parts to make it from scratch. It’ll take some time to put together, but we can fix it.”

Ernie didn’t often stare, dumbfounded and frozen, but he did now. Just seeing his face made the boss feel like it was worth bringing all that stuff here.

After a while, Ernie restarted and looked around with awkward movements. His gaze finally settled on the silhouette knight that was only an upper half.

“What do you want to do?” the boss asked. “I never thought things would turn out like this. Do you really plan on leaving Ikaruga like that?”

“U-Urgh. Yeah, well...” Like a ghost, Ernie wavered unsteadily between Kasasagi’s and Ikaruga’s parts.

Ikaruga was the partner he’d wished for, who he’d put all his heart and soul into making real. However, Kasasagi was also a partner he’d gone through a lot of pain to build, and it also boasted very special abilities. This was a terrible decision to have to make. Both sides of this scale were filled with precious things.

“Ikaruga...needs both Behemoth’s Heart and Queen’s Coronet to move. But Kasasagi also needs both. Both require massive amounts of mana to maintain function,” Ernie muttered.

Indeed, he could only have one functional. This was the ultimate choice. He slipped into deep thought, trembling slightly.

The boss, unable to stand this, said, “Then why not move what’s on Kasasagi to Ikaruga? Just leave it to me, kid. We’re the Order of the Silver Phoenix! We’ll do this right.”

Ernie’s eyes widened and he turned around, looking more cornered than he ever had before. The boss couldn’t help but take a step back.

After a long pause, he replied, “I’ll keep using Kasasagi like this. I won’t be able to bring the Parva Marga along without it. She...has an important role to play. Of course, I know how skilled you are, boss, but I don’t think we have the time to wait for such a big modification.” Ernie looked like he was carving out a piece of himself.

The greatest of Kasasagi’s features, the ether ring generator, was a very peculiar device. Because its construction was rushed, it was in a state where it was basically moving by sheer brute force of thrust, and only Ernie comprehended its design and underlying principles. Even the boss would find fixing it hard.

Furthermore, Ikaruga’s chassis simply tried to bring overwhelming combat strength to its extreme, and it didn’t have enough room for anything extra. If Ernie wanted the abilities of both machines, he would have to make an entirely new design, which would be even more difficult.

The boss understood all this, but still, he couldn’t hold back a sigh. “I went through all this trouble to bring Ikaruga here, you know? Plus, it’s the face of this knight order. Don’t you think this task is too much for Kasasagi?”

“It would just be until we return to Fremmevilla. Once we get back, I’ll be able to think more in peace—”

“Okay, then it’s decided!” Addy jumped into the conversation. She pointed at Ikaruga’s parts and turned to Ernie. “If Ernie won’t use it, can I?!”

“You, Addy?” This unexpected proposal took Ernie by surprise.

“Think about it, Ernie. You used Ikaruga’s and Sylly’s parts to make Kasasagi, so we have a heart left over, don’t we?”

“Well, yes. But it would have been impossible to build another silhouette knight using the parts left over.”

They’d gathered together all usable parts to make Kasasagi. Even then, they’d had to give up on making a lower half. They’d left Sylphianne’s heart in the village.

“So we can use Sylly’s heart to make Ikaruga move! What do you think?”

The boss listened to Addy’s idea and spent some time stroking his chin in thought. Eventually, he furrowed his brow. “Sylphianne’s got a standard reactor, right? It wouldn’t be enough. You’d need one of those big reactors to feed Ikaruga’s stupidly hungry frame.”

“Awww, really? I totally thought it was a good idea.” Addy’s finger wilted.

The boss continued to work something out in his head, though, and eventually he nodded with a groan. “But I can’t say it would be completely impossible. Depending on what tricks we can pull off, it might be possible to make it look like the normal Ikaruga. You’re not gonna be able to fly all over the place like the kid was doing, though. A lot of its functions would be restricted.”

“Then you can do it!”

“I see. I suppose it would be a waste to have those parts just sitting around uselessly, so I’ll let Addy use them.” Ernie nodded.

Addy did a little jig and jumped onto him. “Leave it to me! I’ll take good care of Ikaruga until I give it back to you! Yep, yep, this is also a wife’s duty, don’t you think? Nyee hee hee hee hee hee hee!”

“Uh... Well, okay, sure. Take good care of Ikaruga,” said Ernie.

The boss watched Addy nuzzle Ernie in a trance from afar and sneakily poked Dee in the side. “Hey, what’s the girl going on about, with the wife stuff?”

“You know how Ernesti is. Her delusions probably went in some weird direction.”

“So it’s too late... Too bad.”

Both of them shrugged. Meanwhile, Addy, heedless of everyone else’s reactions, continued hugging Ernie until she was satisfied.

◆

Wind blew across the Izumo’s upper deck. This place paid host to few visitors, but Zachariah was here now.

He looked around, making sure no one was around, before taking a tube out from his clothing. He twisted the stopper open and waited a while until a small bug came crawling out from inside. It looked like a beetle, and it clacked its jaw.

He clicked his tongue in a unique pattern, and the bug docilely stopped at the end of the tube. He quickly tied a note to the bug’s body before clicking his tongue again. The bug took flight, dancing through the air with a faint rainbow glow.

“I’m counting on you. I cannot control these people from the west. Please, relay this to Oberon.”

The small bug was quickly lost to the sky, making it hard to find. He returned the tube to its place and turned. He froze in shock when he realized someone was there.

“I see. So that’s how you contact each other.”

It was Ernesti.

Zachariah closed his gaping mouth, but then he opened it again to speak slowly. “So you saw me. And yet you didn’t stop me.”

“I did not. We were told beforehand you would come with us as a liaison, after all. It’s only natural you communicate with your side. If you have anything else you want to learn, tell me. I’ll show you as much as I can.” Ernie smiled his airy smile before turning around and going back.

Zachariah wiped the sweat that had formed on his brow. “What is he? And what is this knight order? I don’t understand how any of the western peoples think!”

He had a problem he would never be able to solve on his own swimming around in his head.

Now, the Order of the Silver Phoenix had inserted themselves in the fates of both the astragali and the goblins. The chaos of the situation was deepening away from the eyes of those involved.

◆

Levitating ships slid through the air above the thick tree cover of the Great Bocuse Forest.

These ships were part of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s fleet, and they now split up into smaller groups. The flagship, Wing Carrier Izumo, was at the center of one along with some cargo ships to make up the main strike force. The ship occupied by Second Company was among these. Then, there was a base-creating force made with landing ships at the center. This one was centered around First Company, with Addy serving as their guide.

Most of the fleet split into these two groups and went their separate ways. However, there was one ship that quietly slipped away from the rest. The Order of the Indigo Falcon was starting its own independent intelligence campaign. Thus, the knights of the Kingdom of Fremmevilla infiltrated the forest.

Ernesti watched the fleet split before heading back to the Izumo’s hangar.

The space was cluttered with silhouette knights and spare parts. The crews had hurried to redistribute materiel in light of the fleet splitting up, so they hadn’t cleaned everything up yet. In the midst of this, the boss was standing in front of Kasasagi, scratching his head.

“Hey, what the heck’s going on with this thing?! It’s not just monster parts! There’s wood in this silhouette knight!”

He’d stripped away Kasasagi’s outer skin of monster shells, revealing its innards. And the more the boss examined, the more he found. Kasasagi had turned into an exhibition in the art of absurdity and mystery.

“You do some terrifying things... I have no idea how this thing is moving.”

Even as pure flattery, one couldn’t call the machining skills visible on each part “good.” Furthermore, many parts were rush jobs. Ernie’d had to keep moving parts to a minimum, and it possessed an avant-garde appearance given its lack of a lower half. As a silhouette knight compared to Ikaruga, it was so defective that it wasn’t even a contest. It would normally be considered trash.

But, scarily, it had unassailable value.

“I suppose I should tell you that I’m amazed you managed to think of this thing. Seriously, the moment I look away, you end up doing the most ridiculous things, kid.”

Ernie might have never created Kasasagi if the Great Bocuse Forest hadn’t been so devoid of resources and technology. In fact, it was insanity to even think of reconstructing a silhouette knight in that situation. The boss once again felt how insanely attached to silhouette knights Ernesti was, and his face spasmed.

Beside him, Ernie, who had been talking to the Parva Marga, turned around to chime in. “It’s fine to examine it, boss, but please don’t spread the parts around too much. I’ll need to go back out there with Par soon.”

“Yeah, got it. I’ll fix the parts that are broken. But if I don’t figure out how this thing ticks, I won’t be able to fix anything. In fact, there’s no way anyone would be able to do anything with this at first glance.”

The boss waved Ernie off like he would a dog before diving into Kasasagi’s innards once more. “So you’ve carved Emblem Graphs into everything like the outer skin and inner skeleton. For material strength and...some other script I can’t make head or tail of. No wonder you need Behemoth’s Heart. This thing’s even less efficient than Ikaruga.”

Physical Boost magic was necessary even for normal silhouette knights. But Kasasagi was abnormal in the extreme, both in its design and the scripts involved. Making Kasasagi would have been impossible had Ernesti not been well-versed in both sides of this.

“It’s not just Physical Boost. Most likely, this is the true form of the ether ring generator.”

Kasasagi wasn’t just a strange silhouette knight; it could also be called a strange silhouette arms. It boasted the only magic device in the world to replace an Etheric Levitator. This was what gave Kasasagi its worth.

“It’d be impossible to incorporate this into Ikaruga. At the very least, it would be as is.” The boss was skilled—he was the chief knightsmith of the Order of the Silver Phoenix—but he had to raise the white flag on this one. This device would need thorough knowledge of its inner workings, as well as much more robust facilities, in order to recreate. He was able to calmly admit that.

“Most of what the kid makes is crazy, but this one takes the cake. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten the shivers like this. But...that’s what makes it fun.” He wiped the sweat that had started to trickle down his brow. “So it extracts ether from the mana pool. It’s a ridiculous idea, but he’s able to make it real just like that. Man, this is so fun! I love it. But still... Don’t think I’ll be like this forever.”

At some point, his mouth had twisted up into a smile.

At the moment, he could only perform emergency repairs. The boss gave orders to his team, and they got to repairing the broken Flexible Coat while learning about Kasasagi’s design as much as possible.

◆

While the boss and his team were ardently examining Kasasagi, the rest of the group discussed next steps.

“Since we’ve managed to link up with the knight order, let’s head to Genos De Flaum and—” Ernie started.

“Form an Exactus De Varies Genos. That hasn’t changed, I see.” The Parva Marga nodded happily. They’d met the condition Genos De Flaum had given them. Now they just had to gather the other genoses and form an alliance.

Dietrich scratched his head. He’d heard the previous explanations. “That seems so roundabout. The enemy genos is...Genos De Rubel, right? Why don’t we just fight them now?”

“O crimson goblin Fortissimos... Your name was Dee? Do you truly believe you can defeat the Rubels on your own?”

“No matter how strong the astragali are, they surely can’t be much different from a silhouette knight. So the problem is just with numbers, and we have a chance. We have these ships and the advantage in mobility.”

The Parva Marga turned her four eyes to Dee before slowly shifting over to Ernie.

The small captain nodded. “If Oberon will keep his promise and suppress the kratovastias, then that wouldn’t be impossible. We’ll teach them the importance of air superiority in a conflict.”

The Parva Marga looked down. None of the goblins here seemed like they were lying, Ernie included. These claims also didn’t seem to be born out of arrogance. They simply knew their own strength.

As if to replace her as she sank into thought, Ernie stood and said, “But taking on the Rubels by ourselves is a bad move. We won’t be able to achieve our goals that way.”

“Even if we beat them?” Dee asked.

“The problem lies in our methods...and in acceptance. The Rubels must be defeated by the other astragali. At the very least, they must actually hold a query.”

Indeed, this wasn’t a matter of whether such a thing was possible. If the Order of the Silver Phoenix—or rather, goblins—were to defeat Genos De Rubel, the remaining genoses would not accept the outcome. If that happened, the genoses would fall into confusion, which would eventually bring about another conflict.

“So we gather the genoses. Then, we bring about a conclusion to this fight between astragali. At the same time, we show our strength—enough so that no one will underestimate us humans,” Ernie explained.

“I see. This is going to be difficult.” Dietrich turned his gaze toward Zachariah, who was standing in the corner. “Does this mean you’ve achieved your goals?”

“We would be happy to defeat Genos De Rubel. However, if you truly want to bring down the astragali...” Zachariah shut his mouth, glancing at the Parva Marga.

Dietrich shrugged. It seemed the goblins’ feelings toward astragali were complicated, to say the least.

Ernie walked over to the Parva Marga. “Par, we will fight for ourselves.”

“That is acceptable, magister. We look at different things, yet we walk the same path. Genos De Caelleus will not forget the goblins’ efforts.” The Parva Marga nodded. Most astragali did not hold much interest in goblins. Ernie, however, had changed the feelings of Genos De Caelleus.

“Then let us make for Genos De Flaum’s settlement. We’re preparing for battle.”

The rest of the Order of the Silver Phoenix nodded confidently in response to their captain’s words.

◆

While the Izumo was coming into astragali airspace, a long way away, in a little goblin village...

This was the village the Caelleus had once visited and had consequently involved in a battle with monsters. The marks of said battle were still clearly visible. Though reconstruction efforts had gotten quite far, all of it was more of a stopgap measure.

This area had always been harsh, and the villagers’ lives weren’t easy. They were living valiantly every day, with the words of the tiny knight who had gone with the astragali and the nobles from the overtown in their hearts.

One day, a terrifying and major event visited the village.

The villagers who had left to work the fields looked up at the sky, dumbfounded. Their surroundings were cast in shadow, and it was not from drifting clouds.

Something large cut through the sky with a low roar. Made from a combination of steel and wood, it definitely was not natural. Even the villagers, lacking in knowledge as they were, could tell it wasn’t a monster.

“What...is that? It’s not a monster.”

“Maybe it was sent by the esteemed astragali.”

“Don’t be stupid. It flies.”

It looked similar to a fish, but it definitely wasn’t. Plus, several of them were flying through the sky. These fishlike things looked to be protecting something larger, which the villagers assumed must be their nest.

“How could this happen?! And before the knights have returned!”

“H-Hurry! We need to run!”

“Where? We have nowhere to go...”

They could do nothing but stand there in a daze. The goblins had nothing with which to resist this sudden anomaly.

That was when something jumped out of the fishlike thing that was flying slowly above.

It was small, like a dust mote, but it quickly grew larger as it came closer, and its form became more defined. It looked like a person wearing a large suit of armor.

Once it had gotten close enough to the ground, fierce winds jetted out from it and slowed it down, allowing it to slowly descend to the earth. The villagers gulped as the armored person raised their helmet and spoke in a rather familiar tone.

“It’s been a while, everyone! Are you okay?”

The one under the helmet was a familiar face—Adeltrude. The villagers froze, their mouths agape. After a while, the village chief came out in a hurry, and the villagers finally regained their senses. The chief’s gaze bounced back and forth between Addy and the things in the air.

“L-Lady knight, we never expected you to return this quickly. Does this mean those things in the sky are beholden to you?” the chief asked. He also considered that they could be mystic knights. They had helped build Kasasagi before, after all. It certainly was possible for something to surpass that.

Addy gave a wry chuckle as she shook her head. “Those belong to our knight order. Also, we came to retrieve Sylly’s heart, since we left it here.”

“I... I see. We have been taking good care of it while you have been gone.” The chief nodded stiffly.

Addy seemed happy to hear that. “Also, I came with more people from my order, and we think this would be a good place to set up a base. Could we borrow your facilities here? Of course, we’ll reward you for it, and we won’t be too much of a bother!”

“Oh no, we could never accept such favor! There is not much here, but please use anything as you like.”

“Thanks! Right then, gotta let them know.” Addy used a flare launcher equipped in her silhouette gear. The brightly shining flare signaled a successful negotiation.

Once they confirmed the signal, the rest of the contingent started to descend. Once they were low enough, the bottom of the ship opened up, and some silhouette knights were lowered to the melody of chains and gears.

One was a heavily armored knight with platinum armor: First Company’s Aldiradcumber. Following it were numerous Kardetolles. The white cross on each unit’s armor was brilliantly clear, and it didn’t take long for the company to reach the village.

The villagers lost all words; they simply stared, entranced at the sight in front of them. These were giant humanoid machines, different from astragali wearing metal armor. These were the legends said to protect people.

“Ohhh... To think I would be privileged to witness this during my lifetime.” A single tear slid down the village chief’s cheek.

Then, Aldiradcumber’s torso opened up, allowing Edgar to get out. He exchanged some words with Addy before she pointed him toward the village chief.

“So you all are the gobli—the people of this village. My name is Edgar C. Blanche, First Company Commander of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. Thank you for taking great care of our captain and his aide.”

“O-Oh, no, no! We are the ones who were saved by his presence...”

“But we’ve heard that your contact with the astragali resulted in a battle that dealt great damage to the village.”

“That— Ahhh! My apologies, we do not have enough houses for everyone to use...” The chief gasped and bowed with great shame.

The villagers had enough facilities for themselves; they hadn’t thought of the possibility of visitors. But giving the knights destroyed houses was out of the question.

Edgar nodded and tried to give the chief some peace of mind. “I understand. We will not abandon a village that has been damaged by monsters. Also, there’s no need to worry about our needs.”

Edgar returned to Aldiradcumber to speak through the megaphone. “Everyone, listen. First, we must help the village with their restoration efforts. This is assistance in the wake of a monster-made disaster. Expect the damage to be extensive. Contact the ship—we’re starting immediately.”

“Yes, sir!” The Kardetolles of First Company took decisive action.

The Order of the Silver Phoenix usually did their job with a rather whimsical attitude, but they were still one of Fremmevilla’s vaunted knight orders. They would still defend against monsters and help damaged villages in their time of need. Those were the basics all knights were taught right from the beginning.

It didn’t take long for groups of silhouette gears to descend from the levitating ship and scatter. They’d been trained in the use of Aero Thrust, and so they slid smoothly along.

“I’ll be forming squad one. We’ll be surveying the available materials in the area while also scouting for monsters.”

“Forming squad two here. There’s a lot of unusable rubble, so we’ll be cleaning that up.”

“That leaves squad three. I guess we’ll unload the ship. Also, we’ll liaise with the village people.”

“Then the knightsmith team will be squad four, and they’ll help with the material survey and rebuilding plans.”

“Understood. Then let’s have a look at those buildings.”

While the villagers were watching blankly with their mouths agape, the Order of the Silver Phoenix coordinated and started taking furious action. They moved with fearsomely practiced ease.

“What...is happening?”

The villagers couldn’t keep up with what they were seeing, so all they could do was watch. Everything was just too sudden. They simply had a faint understanding that something even more ridiculous than the visit of the astragali was happening to them.

◆

The village had been basically destroyed due to the previous battle, but within the span of a few days, it had been reborn into something even more magnificent than before.

Thanks to the help of silhouette knights acting as large and powerful freight machines and silhouette gears handling more detailed work, restoration efforts proceeded efficiently. The villagers continued to watch in a daze as the order built houses with absurd speed.

“While we’re at it, let’s make some lodging for us too!”

“You’re right. I want to live on land. It’s been too long.”

“I want a bed! A soft one!”

“Hey now, you know we don’t have any cotton.”

“Can’t we just find a good monster for that? One we can take fur from.”

“Hmm. I feel like we may have found a good one when we were scouting, but...”

“Okay, let’s hunt it.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix members had quickly rebuilt the village and had enough energy left over to move on to building their own domiciles as well. So, a Kardetolle led the way for the silhouette gears as they streamed into the forest to acquire more materials.

The buildings weren’t the only things that looked different. The outskirts of the village had become a parking area for silhouette knights, and the knightsmiths were moving about within it. Furthermore, there were squads of silhouette gears patrolling around as guards. The levitating ship was still in the air, serving as a resting place for the Twediannes.

This place was already a proper base.

◆

A beast ran, knocking over trees in its path.

Large enough to be duel-class, it shook its giant body and ran desperately. If it stopped, it would be eaten by the small beasts that chased after it. The basis of life was the struggle to maintain it, regardless of size.

“It’s got lots of fur. Chase it down.”

“Kill it while damaging it as little as possible.”

“Come, give us the soft bed we desire!”

The pursuers were small but incredibly fierce. None of them were bigger than the beast’s legs, and yet they possessed fearsome power and unbelievable persistence.

First, they’d wounded its legs. Once they’d slowed it down, they’d aimed for its eyes to rob it of its vision. When the beast had retaliated, they had promptly fallen back, and once it showed any opening, they’d wounded it. Surely and steadily, the beast was weakening. Its enemies were small, but they were merciless. And it couldn’t escape.

Its wounds meant its legs didn’t work as they should. Already, it had shed quite a lot of blood. The beast curled up and let out a weak cry.

The small figures that chased after it, jumping through the trees, surrounded it. That was the last thing the beast ever knew.

◆

The silhouette knight returned bearing a large monster. Around it walked silhouette gears, their wearers happily chatting about the battle they’d just had with the monster. The furry creature was already dead, and they immediately brought it to the dismantling hut to be processed into materials.

For the umpteenth time, the villagers watched in a daze.

“Uh, um... I can hardly believe this, but did the esteemed knights go out to hunt a beast of their own volition?”

“Ohhh, how could this be? They went out to hunt of their own will, without mystic knights...”

The knights had hunted a large monster without the help of a mystic knight or a silhouette knight. Silhouette gears were small, but a supposedly overwhelming duel-class monster was still no match. Having witnessed this, the villagers started to realize the power of these knights.

“Something is changing.”

“It is. These people... They might truly change how we goblins live.”

The villagers could only murmur to each other in a daze as they looked over their village, which had become a lot more comfortable all of a sudden.

Around that time, the smithy deeper into the village was playing host to the knightsmithing team, whose members were doing a jig.

“We’ve got actual stuff to work with here! And nothing primitive either! This is good.”

“Is that so? I guess having all this would make things easier, right?” Edgar had gone with them to inspect the place. When he asked his question, they answered emphatically with raised fists.

“Of course it does! They were making armor for the astragali, weren’t they? This will be enough for us too.”

“I know we aren’t familiar with this place, but it seems you’ll do just fine, then,” said Edgar.

“Don’t underestimate us. We had to go around and work all over the place in Kuscheperka!”

“Being able to settle down to work makes things way easier!”

They weren’t lying; they immediately got to work with gusto. The order proceeded to unload a lot from the levitating ship, among which was a rather unique machine.

“You’re putting Ikaruga together, aren’t you?” Edgar asked.

“Just leave it to us. The boss isn’t here, but we’ve had the method to maintain this thing pounded into our brains.”

The Ikaruga they brought was split into parts, so the knightsmiths assembled it before adding Sylphianne’s hearts. The two basic ether reactors spun up, and mana flowed through the connected silver nerves. Physical Boost magic activated, toughening up each part and connecting them together.

As the knightsmiths had claimed, they worked with practiced ease. Though they were deep in the Great Bocuse Forest, and in giant territory, they were rebuilding Ikaruga.

Addy watched the work progress and broke out into a smile. “Ernie, Ikaruga is finished. The mana output may be a little low, and I won’t be able to pilot it as well as you, but...”

“Oh, don’t worry, Addy. The boss told us a secret plan for that.”

“Huh? What?” Addy looked shocked at the blueprint the knightsmiths had spread in front of her. “Huh. So you’re saying I’ll be able to fight in the air with this, right?”

“Just leave it to us. Ikaruga’s abilities have always been a little—a lot—very extreme. We have the leeway to pull this trick off.”

She turned around to look at Ikaruga. Its normally scary face now looked somehow bored. “Once it’s finished, I’ll have to practice with it.”

Thinking of its original user, Addy grinned. With Ikaruga, she would be able to stay by his side anywhere. That was more than enough to fire her up to run headlong into the future.

At some point, a flag had come to fly over the village. It had a crest with a silver bird, its wings spread wide. The map was quietly changing here in the Great Bocuse Forest—a supposed monster’s paradise.

Chapter 68: Those Who Question, Those Who Are Questioned

Astragali settlements dotted the forest.

At no point in history could relations between genoses ever have been called “good.” The disputes between them never ended, as they quarreled over things like overlapping hunting grounds and differences in opinion for many years. That was why it was natural for genoses to live far apart from each other.

Giants with news appeared before each of these settlements. They were messengers from Genos De Flaum.

They all only carried one message: “Gather for a sage’s query.”

“Genos De Flaum...wants a query? Are they seeing properly? They surely remember what happened to the Caelleus!”

The genoses were doubtful. That did not last long, however, and they agreed to participate in the end. And so, the genoses would meet once more.

The open space in the forest was now filled with giants. Just like the previous event with the Caelleus, almost all the genoses outside of Genos De Rubel had come.

“And here, the genoses have gathered. Genos De Flaum, tell us what query you would have answered tonight.”

Genos De Flaum’s leader, a Marga De Quintus Oculus, stayed quiet with his eyes closed in the face of the interested crowd.

As a countless number of eyes concentrated on him, the Marga slowly opened his five eyes and stood. Genos De Flaum tended to be rather mild and peaceful, but they were still astragali. The Marga De Quintus Oculus had a large frame that radiated silent pressure as he scanned the crowd.

“Our role is not to make the query. Be patient for just a while more for the time to be ripe,” he said.

“What do you mean? Your genos was the one that called us.”

A mystified titter spread among the giants.

“The Caelleus had their eyes stolen because of their foolish directness. But we agree that we will not see peace if things continue as they have been.”

“Damn those Rubels! What a crafty bunch; they surely cannot think the Caelleus were the only ones who had a problem with them.”

“We cannot rest assured either... Is that not why you gathered the genoses?”

The previous Exactus De Varies Genos had dissipated thanks to the Caelleus’s destruction. However, they had still come together to oppose Genos De Rubel, even if only for a time. There was no guarantee the rest would accept the Rubels, even if the Rubels had defeated their main detractor. So, the question was which genos would be the next target—unease filled their hearts.

In the midst of this unease came sudden laughter.

“Hmph! That only happened because the Caelleus made a mistake! Those who cannot see correctly will always face judgment from Argos!”

“Genos De Autel! But...”

A five-eyed giant representing Genos De Autel strode out of the crowd. He laughed with his teeth exposed as he looked at the confused group around him. “There is no need to see the same scenery as those fools! We will find no good view from gathering like this. Am I wrong?!”

The other representatives’ gazes swam around powerlessly. Their genoses were small and weak, so they needed this union. However, no matter how many came together, that didn’t change the strength of the individual.

“Genos De Autel.”

The quiet voice got the five-eyed giant to turn around.

The speaker was Genos De Flaum’s Marga. However, while he’d called out to the other giant, his gaze remained pointed toward the sky. “Your questions will be answered. Look, the ones who have actually convened this query are here.”

“What?” The other five-eyed giant’s mouth twisted as he slowly shifted his gaze. Then, he saw it—a faint rainbow light in the sky. “That light... A kratovastia!”

“No. But it is strange.”

Immediately, the giants shifted, preparing for combat. A sage’s query was a sacred ritual. They would not forgive any interlopers, especially when said interlopers were the bitter enemies of all astragali.

“Quiet! That is not a beast. Welcome them, all of you.” Genos De Flaum’s representative kept the excited giants in control. That only caused them to wonder if he knew what that light was, though.

Meanwhile, the light approached and descended slowly into the clearing.

The giants gulped and watched, dumbfounded, as a small giant jumped down from a shining rainbow ring.

“Come, O wind. Vento!”

The resulting wind slowed her down, allowing her to land softly. “I am the Parva Marga De Quartus Oculus of Genos De Caelleus,” she said clearly. “I have asked Genos De Flaum to hold this query!”

The Parva Marga’s words caused a stir.

Genos De Flaum’s Marga came to stand beside her, indicating that she was undoubtedly the one who had asked for this query to be opened.

“What?! Then this query is an extension of the previous one?”

“Then the question is whether we stand once again and form an Exactus De Varies Genos!”

Genos De Autel’s representative heard all this excited conversation and opened his eyes wide. His mouth twisted unhappily as he parted the crowd and came to stand in front of the Parva Marga. “You would show me a fake?! Genos De Caelleus’s eyes were returned by the Rubels’ kratovastias!”

“Certainly, many of our eyes have been returned. However, our genos survives. We have endured the Rubels’ filth to tell you all of their depravity.” The Parva Marga met the five-eyed giant’s gaze from on high unflinchingly. “Genos De Rubel has sullied their eyes with their cowardice. They sent their kratovastias at us without ever opening a query! They have long forgotten that Argos is watching!”

For a moment, the Autel five-eyed giant’s face twisted further upon seeing the Parva Marga refuse to flinch, but he quickly regained his composure. “Indeed. They may be arrogant and contemptible. However, Caelleus, your eyes are closed as well. What power do you wield to allow you to speak so and hold this query?!” He smiled, composed, down at the Parva Marga. “Just quietly close your eyes. Your lack of strength was evident the moment your genos sent such young eyes!”

The Autel representative’s words sank into the minds of the others, cooling their excitement.

“Indeed. The kratovastias are still alive. This query will only be a repeat of the True Eye Revolt.”

“We cannot win. We cannot even properly question them... Forgive us, Caelleus.”

The fear of kratovastias being included in a query—or otherwise, battle—had sunk deep into the hearts of every genos from the scars of the True Eye Revolt. Much like an infected wound that could never heal, the pain tormented these giants.

And, having witnessed the end of Genos De Caelleus, this pain only further dulled the giants’ will to fight. The Parva Marga furrowed her brow.

“There is no need to waste the eyes that have not been returned. You may join another genos... If you’d like, you may come to ours. A Quartus Oculus would be welcome.” The Autel giant’s mouth twisted into a grin. She was alone, and the other genoses were timid. He was sure it would be impossible for her to convince the others.

The Parva Marga looked frustrated, but her lone ally then spoke. “Do not close your eyes. The answer lies with that, Caelleus.”

“Right,” she replied after a pause.

Genos De Flaum’s leader was staring steadily up at the sky. His gaze was pointing at Kasasagi, which stayed still in the air.

The Parva Marga pointed up and glared at the other giants with a powerful gaze.

“Certainly, many of our eyes have been returned, and as a genos we have almost no strength. However! We cannot continue to look at the same scenery forever. We have new allies!” she declared boldly, puffing out her chest.

As if responding to her, Kasasagi started to move. The rainbow glow strengthened, and it rose up and fired a signal flare. The flare shone bright in the sky, and the giants stared up at it in a daze.

Eventually, the light faded, and the sky returned to its former state. At the same time, they noticed it—far above in the clouds, something was approaching.

“That is...not a beast. Something that can fly like that exists?!”

The sound of blowing wind reached their ears. The giants couldn’t speak; they just looked up at the sky with their eyes wide.

A large thing—something so large that the giants themselves couldn’t even compare—flew gracefully across the sky.

It was larger than any beast they’d ever seen. The imposing appearance of the Wing Carrier Izumo completely overwhelmed the astragali. Many Twediannes flitted and swam around the Izumo with the sharp sound of thrusters, protecting it.

The sight of the unknown force that seemingly filled the sky above them caused the Autel’s Quintus Oculus to take several steps back reflexively. He tensed his trembling body to still it and glared at the Parva Marga. “Caelleus, you...! What did you see?!”

The question was almost like a scream, but she didn’t answer. She simply looked up at the sky.

◆

As the fleet sailed through the sky, one ship split off from the group. It was the ship carrying Second Company.

While the ground below was in chaos, the Order of the Silver Phoenix was rushing around inside their levitating ships.

“Man, I can’t believe we’re revealing our stuff in a place like this,” Dietrich groused from inside Guairelinde.

“The area below isn’t just ‘filled’ with astragali. There’s no way we can lower the ships, got it?” Batson shouted in response. He was in charge of this ship’s knightsmiths, as appointed by the boss.

“Anyway, what do you think? Pretty impressive, right?” Batson asked.

Right now, Guairelinde was covered in armor plates that looked like a Flexible Coat. It looked completely different from before. It was heavier, more like a machine of First Company.

“I know, I know. More importantly, isn’t it about time?” Dee replied.

“Okay, it’s our turn!”

The members of Second Company replied energetically. Their machines had additional armor as well, just like Guairelinde.

“Okay then, everyone! Let’s give those astragali a hearty greeting!”

“Yes, sir!”

Batson gave the signal, and the ship’s bottom opened. Second Company dropped in order, starting with Guairelinde.

They threw themselves into gusts of swirling wind, but there was something strange about this. Normally, silhouette knights would be lowered from levitating ships by chains. If they continued to fall without slowing themselves down, they would be crushed by the impact, no matter how sturdy they were.

And yet, they had willingly jumped out into the open air. These weren’t Twediannes either.

But the reason for this recklessness quickly became apparent.

“Let’s go! Deploy your halo coats!”

The next moment, the extra armor on Guairelinde spread out like wings. But no matter how big these so-called wings were, they wouldn’t be enough to support a silhouette knight’s weight. The true support came after.

“Etheric Levitator, activate!”

A weak Levitating Field emerged, accompanied by a rainbow light. It couldn’t completely support the machine’s weight, but it was enough to slow down the fall.

The halo coat was the newest of equipment—one that allowed midair descent by using a miniaturized, simplified Etheric Levitator without the support functions.

The spread armor caught the air. By converting falling momentum to thrust, the silhouette knights were able to travel through the sky. The giants saw the silhouette knights, flying like monstrous birds, and went into an uproar. Some even took up arms.

Guairelinde turned its head this way and that as it gently descended. Dietrich couldn’t help but chuckle at the mass confusion on the ground. “We’re only following the plan. But they’re acting like we came to attack them.”

“Come on, Commander Dee. That’s exactly what we’re doing.”

“Whoa, there are so many astragali down there.”

Second Company cackled as they plunged into giant-held territory.

They descended using the Parva Marga as a waypoint, their armor spreading like wings as they slid across the ground. They each used their two legs to brake before putting up their guards.

They readied the weapons in their hands while also deploying their back weapons. Their halo coats placed themselves to either side, acting as additional armor. Second Company deployed around the Parva Marga as they faced off against the other giants.

These armored “giants” had appeared suddenly from the air. The representatives of the other genoses were unable to divine these intruders’ identities, and so an air of tension and silence ruled.

“Now then, Parva Marga. We’re counting on you to take care of the rest. This is your department, isn’t it?”

“I know, warrior Dee.” The Parva Marga walked past Guairelinde to stand in front of Genos De Autel’s representative. “Listen, everyone! Though we have had many of our number’s eyes returned to Argos, we have gained new allies. Warriors that fly! Warriors of steel! Each one is a Fortissimos capable of defeating kratovastias! These warriors are not astragali. They are goblins...and their mystic knights!”

◆

A period of silence stretched after the Parva Marga’s statement. But then, a large ripple spread through the giants.

“Wha— Goblins?! You would cling to such things?”

“And you claim they can return those kratovastias? Are you seeing clearly?!”

“You fool. The Caelleus truly have closed their eyes...”

Most of what was said was negative. It was understandable—from a giant’s perspective, goblins (or humans) were puny things. Even if said humans had silhouette knights, none of them knew how strong the humans could be.

These reactions were expected, and the Parva Marga stepped forward firmly. “Do not underestimate them! These goblins and their mystic knights rival our strength! Furthermore, you behold Fortissimoses that have fought kratovastias several times before!”

“Do not avert your eyes from the truth, and stop spouting nonsense!” Genos De Autel’s representative raised his voice to cut through the noise. The five-eyed giant closed in on the Parva Marga and looked down on her haughtily. “In the end, the small are simply that: small. It would be best to return your eyes to Argos before you shame yourself any further, Caelleus.”

The five-eyed giant reached out.

“Do not be so hasty, Genos De Autel. We have yet to divine an answer.” Genos De Flaum’s representative stepped in front of the Parva Marga. Both five-eyed giants were equal in status, and they boldly used their large bodies for their aims.

“Genos De Flaum... No, all of you! Such a query is pointless. How could you even consider trying to bolster our forces using goblins?!” Autel’s five-eyed giant changed his target to Flaum’s Marga. Both sides had said their piece, and now they glared at each other.

The Parva Marga quietly looked around while hiding behind Genos De Flaum’s Marga. None of the others raised their voice in agreement, but they were nodding and seemed to be more on Genos De Autel’s side. Both the arrival of the aerial fleet and the survival of the Caelleus had been shocking developments, but neither was enough to change the astragali’s view on things. That was why they needed to change the “prerequisite” itself...

The Parva Marga resolved herself and turned, about to put the favor she sought to words. At nearly the same time, the silhouette knights next to her lined up.

“Dee,” she said after some slight hesitation.

“It’s time to switch. Looks to me like this is when we come to blows. If I’m right, that’s our job.” Guairelinde nodded once, staring at the giants. All of them had many eyes. However, not one of those eyes were looking at the silhouette knights. They only looked toward the other giants. First, the Second Company needed to change that.

Dietrich cleared his throat and raised the output on his megaphone. He smiled impishly and shouted, “What’s wrong, astragali?! It seems you’re all blind despite having so many eyes!”

The method he adopted was very simple but also terribly effective. The obvious taunt immediately got a reaction from the giants. Their sharp gazes shot straight toward Second Company.

“What?” The five-eyed giant moved, with slow, leisurely steps, in front of Second Company. “Had you remained silent, goblins, our eyes would have filled with magnanimity as we looked upon you. However, we cannot overlook those words.”

“That’s what I was hoping for! I’m glad your ears work, at least.”

The five-eyed giant’s face twisted in rage, and he wasn’t the only one. A dangerous mood spread throughout the crowd. Only Genos De Flaum’s Marga looked on with interest.

“You goblins and your mystic knights. You think to match us with those fakes? In the end, it is just the base cunning of a puny being.”

“While I can’t deny you astragali are quite large, it seems you don’t have the brains to make proper decisions. That makes you not much different from beasts. Don’t worry, though—we specialize in hunting those.”

The growl of Dee’s ether reactor grew in volume as it sucked in more air. It was as if the machine were trying to intimidate the giant. In truth, that was probably what he was trying to do. Meanwhile, the representative of Genos De Autel had clearly moved past “dangerous” to “actively hostile.”

Between them, the premonition of battle grew ever thicker and more real.

“A mere goblin would defy us? How foolish... Not a single one of you can see the truth, but I will correct that now!” The five-eyed giant’s entire body filled with strength. He clenched his fist firmly to make a sudden swing.

Before he could, though, the Parva Marga shouted, “Genos De Autel! If you have doubts, seek confirmation from Argos! We ask, here and now, whether the goblins are truly worthy to stand with us!”

“What?!” Genos De Autel’s representative was taken aback and stopped. The crowd murmured once again.

“Ohhh... A question has been posed.”

“We are in front of Argos. You would prove their worth, Caelleus? Then we will pay witness to this outcome.”

The other giants accepted the Parva Marga’s question. Only the giant from Genos De Autel seemed to have a problem with it. “Absurd! There is no need to even ask, Caelleus!” he howled. “You are wrong, and I will make that clear here and now!”

“Good to hear. Now, there’s nothing else but to prove your strength.” Dietrich wore a fierce smile as he nodded.

That was when an unfittingly laid-back voice came from Kasasagi, which was floating above. “So it really did come to this. It reminds me of when I first met the Fortissimos.”

“Indeed. You provided a splendid answer to that query, magister. And the answer to this one should satisfy everyone here as well.” The Parva Marga nodded.

Ernie secretly let out a sigh. He had proven his strength to the Caelleus and been welcomed as one of them. This fight was pointless, but there was no other way than to consider it a rite of passage.

“Then it’s time to go on a rampage. Ernesti, let me—” Dee started.

“Wait just a second, Commander Dee! Let me do this!” Another voice interrupted just as Guairelinde was about to take a step forward. One of the members of Second Company had moved out of line. “Please! I’m super interested to see how well I can fight an astragali!”

“Hrm. You must think you have a chance to win, then,” said Dee.

“I’ll knock him out!”

“Captain...say something,” Dee said.

“Fight hard.”

Guairelinde deftly clutched at its head. Beside it, the eager order member happily walked toward the Autel giant.

“If we put the wrong foot forward here, it will only make everything harder, Ernesti,” Dee said.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If things look bad, I’ll just rain down spellfire from above to convince them.”

“No one would call shooting at someone ‘convincing’ them.”

But, leaving aside the extremely disquieting conversation happening behind the champion Kardetolle, it stepped forward confidently with its chest puffed out. Facing it was the Quintus Oculus from Genos De Autel. In terms of pure size, the giant was superior, and his eyes curved unhappily as he looked down at the steel doll with a red cross on it.

“A mere goblin dares to imitate us? What meaning could this possibly have?”

“You should see for yourself if we’re just imitating you. You have the eyes for it, don’t you?”

A vein popped in the giant’s forehead. “You fool. You will not live to see another day.”

“Hah! Bring it on!”

Immediately, the Kardetolle took a surprising action: It lowered its weapon. In fact, its sub-arms also let go of its back weapons as it decoupled its halo coat. The equipment fell to the ground, kicking up puffs of dust as it did.

Now that it had become much lighter, the Kardetolle clenched its bare fists and adopted a stance. “Show me your strength, then! I’ve got no weapons! I’ll fight you with just this body and these fists. Any objections?!”

“None! Very well, I will crush you along with that phantom beast of yours!” The Quintus Oculus also let go of his weapon and howled, baring his teeth. The dense muscle supporting his large frame seemed to swell.

There was no signal to start. The two “giants” clenched their fists and dashed forward, their feet gouging out the dirt under them.

The Quintus Oculus used his height advantage to punch down on his opponent. The Kardetolle dodged the punch that whipped up violent wind as it passed by, slipping within the giant’s guard. It then used its momentum to throw a punch at the giant’s belly—but he twisted his body to dodge it.

The giant’s knee flew up in an attempt at a counter, but the Kardetolle jumped back and created some distance.

“Awright, there it is! Go! Get ’im!”

“Actually, why did that guy choose a punch-out with his silhouette knight?”

“Maybe he’s practicing to fight in the situation where he’s lost his weapons?”

“What the heck? Just practice with your sword.”

“Oh no, a mace is way more convenient than a sword. It busts through heavy armor in one hit!”

“You guys just don’t get it. Axes are the best. You can just hack at ’em!”

“I think you meant to say ‘spears.’ Spacing is important!”

“Shut up, you guys!” The fighting Kardetolle stepped in once again as its fellows from Second Company argued among themselves. However, the giant’s fists forced it back, and it couldn’t quite close in.

In a fight where both combatants used their own bodies as weapons, the larger fighter had a huge advantage. On top of simply having more range, it would also provide more power. The silhouette knight probably wouldn’t be able to withstand a hit from the giant.

Meanwhile, the Kardetolle was a particularly strong specimen of a silhouette knight. The power created by strand-type crystal tissue should be able to threaten a giant. Both were capable of defeating the other.

The astragali side erupted with cheers as the giants of flesh and steel clashed.

“You may control a phantom beast, but you’re just a goblin in the end!” the Autel giant shouted. “Your hubris knows no bounds, for you to think you will be able to draw an answer with just this!”

“I wonder!”

The giant’s fist swung through air, creating fierce winds. The Kardetolle dodged with nimble movements before striking out at the giant’s face, and the latter twisted and dodged as well before spreading out his arms and grabbing at the Kardetolle.

“Dammit!” The Kardetolle was unable to dodge, so instead it responded in kind. Both sides had each other’s hands in a grip, and they struggled. Muscles swelled as both giant and silhouette knight poured all their power forth.

The five-eyed giant used his height advantage to bring his weight to bear. The burden on the Kardetolle increased until its crystal tissue started to creak, and its feet sank into the ground. However, it was able to stand against the giant’s combined power and weight.

A commotion spread through the other giants as they watched this struggle.

“What?! It’s resisting the Quintus Oculus!”

“So that is a goblin’s phantom beast... It can push them up above the value of their eyes. It is as if that goblin is a Fortissimos.”

In general, the astragali got bigger the more eyes they had, which came with a commensurate increase in physical ability. At five eyes, a giant’s raw strength was exceedingly high. Seeing the Kardetolle rival that caused the giants to look at it in a new light.

“Grkh... I cannot push it down?!”

“Hang in there, Kardetolle! Now’s the time to show everything you’ve got!”

The intake sounds got more intense as the ether reactor inside the Kardetolle ramped up. A faint light covered the machine’s entire body as its Physical Boost spell was strengthened dramatically. Slowly, the Kardetolle pushed the giant back.

For the first time, panic showed on the five-eyed giant’s face. He would never even have imagined that a false astragali created by goblins could match him in power. In fact...

“You impudent thing! This must not be allowed!” The Quintus Oculus didn’t like the reactions of those watching the fight. And yet, the goblin’s toy was proving more tenacious than expected. “You are still no true astragali. Do not get full of yourselves just because you can match me in strength!”

The five-eyed giant let up, causing the Kardetolle, which had been pushing back with all its might, to fall forward. This was exactly as planned, and the giant took a step in and swung his fist down in a big arc.

“Oh crap! Dodge it!” Dietrich shouted. But the Kardetolle was off-balance and couldn’t get away. The overhead swing caught it in the shoulder.

The impact caused the armor to crumple and cave in. The crystal tissue inside was crushed as fragments splintered away. The blow reached the bone and severed the joint, making the left arm useless.

“Hmph! I will end you now, goblin!”

With an arm destroyed, the Kardetolle leaned heavily to one side. The damage was too extensive, and everyone was sure of the giant’s win. Only one person had yet to lose the will to fight. “Hah! You let your guard down after just taking one arm! That’s a big opening I spy!”

Silhouette knights were machines. The loss of an arm wouldn’t affect the rest of it, given that it lacked a sense of pain. This was the fundamental difference between machines and living things that the astragali didn’t understand.

Using the kick from the blow, the Kardetolle sank low. Then, it jumped up with a right uppercut at the giant, who was now hanging over it. The blow was aimed right for the giant’s unprotected torso, and the metal fist sank into his flank.

Giants wore armor fashioned from monsters. The Kardetolle’s fist was crushed by the amount of force put behind the blow, but it was powerful enough to go through the armor.

“Gwah! Gurk—!”

The impact that went straight through his gut caused the five-eyed giant to double over. No matter how powerful he was, he was still a living being, and he couldn’t just tough out damage to his organs.

“Come on! It’s not over just because my hand is gone!” The Kardetolle spun on the spot, launching a roundhouse kick at the doubled-over giant.

In the long history of silhouette knights, no roundhouse kick had ever been attempted before—at least, not to anyone’s knowledge.

The armored leg, powered by centrifugal force, landed cleanly on the side of the giant’s head. This sent him flying, headfirst and bent backward, before he crashed into the ground. The dust cloud kicked up by his fall covered him.

The crowd was silent. The conclusion of the fight had happened in an instant and was absolutely shocking. Eventually, the dust settled, revealing the five-eyed giant unmoving on the ground.

The other giants from Genos De Autel ran forward and peered fearfully at their compatriot. This was followed by a pained scream. The Quintus Oculus had lost consciousness, the whites of his eyes showing.

“See that?! I won!” The Kardetolle raised its remaining hand.

A beat later, the giants raised a collective roar. They immediately rushed toward the Parva Marga with their declarations.

“An answer has been reached! This goblin is a true Fortissimos! Witness this, O Argos!”

“OOOHHH!!! Witness this, O Argos!”

All the giants knelt, praying to their god.

Meanwhile, in the midst of all this excitement, the giants of Genos De Autel were panicked and bewildered.

“Quintus Oculus! How could we have lost to a mere goblin...?”

“But an answer has been derived. Argos has approved the result. As things stand...”

They quickly left, carrying their unconscious Quintus Oculus.

◆

“Wow. All’s well that ends well, I guess. That was a dangerous stunt, though,” Dietrich groused.

Once their comrade had won, Second Company had stepped back from their war footing. None of them had been sure of victory, and they had been prepared for the worst.

“Oh, come on. You totaled your Kardetolle. It’s almost impressive.”

“The boss is gonna chew you out so hard. Hee hee hee!”

“Oh, who cares? I won, so I get a medal! A medal!”

The victorious order member had his silhouette knight stand proudly, the machine’s chest puffed out despite the missing arm, drawing exasperated sighs from those around him. As part of Second Company, the well-known assault squad of the order, damage to the machines was a common thing. That was why he’d been able to counterattack immediately.

The other members congratulated him in their own way as the Parva Marga returned with the rest of the giants behind her. “Warriors. With your mystic knights, you are capable of standing beside us. Everyone has understood that, as well as how you are able to fight the kratovastias in the sky... Argos has witnessed this as well.”

The Parva Marga looked up to where the Wing Carrier Izumo flew and Twediannes swam around it. She knew how powerful it was—it and the warriors who flew at high speeds and mastered the art of magia.

She turned around and faced the other giants. “Once again, I ask you: Genos De Rubel is on the move. Our time of peace is at an end. Argos is once again testing us.”

A quiet ripple of noise spread as the other genoses made their decision. Hearing their responses, Genos De Flaum’s Marga stepped forward. “Genos De Caelleus, and other new friends: Your large flying object will allow you to fight off the kratovastias. I believe in our new friends, and we will face this new trial along with you.”

No matter how many genoses came together, as long as the Rubels had the power of the kratovastias on their side, they had no chance of winning. A force able to fight in the sky changed these giants’ situation greatly.

Kasasagi descended, its rings shining a rainbow light upon them. “The goblins under Genos De Rubel’s thrall wish for freedom and have sworn to help us. If things go well, the kratovastias will not interrupt this query. What answer is derived in the end, however, is up to you all.”

The assembled giants raised a great roar.

“Now is the time to correct the mistake of the True Eye Revolt!”

“Watching the backs of ones so small goes against what it means to be astragali! We cannot act so unsightly! Argos is watching!”

“We will open a query! Now is the time!”

The giants raised their arms, each one springing into action. The Parva Marga and the Order of the Silver Phoenix saw them off and nodded to each other.

◆

Giants walked, parting the forest’s trees as they did. These were the Caelleus survivors. They were chasing after Ernie and the Parva Marga, heading west.

Unlike those two, who could travel through the air thanks to Kasasagi, they were on foot. It was only natural for them to lag far behind.

“I wonder how the Parva Marga is doing. I hope she is serving her duty well,” Nav, a giant boy, muttered all of a sudden. A lot of time had passed since the Parva Marga left. It wouldn’t be surprising if she’d already convened the Varies Genos.

“There is no other way than to find them. She has inherited her eyes from our previous Marga. She may be young, but she is seeing what is important,” the three-eyed Fortissimos replied. His eyes were turned far to the west and up to the sky. Though he had accepted the Parva Marga’s resolve and sent her off, he wasn’t necessarily without regrets. “Look well. The goblin Fortissimos is with her. We simply need to make sure we do not look at the wrong thing.”

Even with the hero’s three eyes, it didn’t seem like it would be easy to see what lay in store for them.

In the midst of their journey, they felt the ground shake and stopped.

“Something is coming.”

“It’s not a beast. The rumble is too big.”

“This feeling... Maybe...”

The rumbling gradually grew stronger, rising in intensity to become a full-on earthquake. This was something they’d never experienced in their many years living within this forest. However, they noticed—they’d been in a similar situation in the past. Back when the sundry genoses had gathered and raised a query...

“Ohhh... This is—!” The Caelleus Fortissimos widened his eyes at the scene that lay beyond the trees.

He could see colorful signs fluttering all across that scene. This sign had been made by weaving monster fur together, indicating the genos the giants belonged to. Countless numbers of these were coming toward them.

“An Exactus De Varies Genos...”

The giants of Caelleus lost their words and stood, frozen. No one had seen this many banners together since the True Eye Revolt. This Varies Genos was truly far-reaching.

A rainbow light descended toward them as they stood in shock. Kasasagi was carrying the Parva Marga, who waved toward her clanmates.

“Everyone! We have fulfilled our duty!” The Parva Marga was excited, and it showed in her voice.

The Caelleus exploded with joy.

“Ohhh... Well done, Parva Marga and goblin Fortissimos! Then all that is left is to seek an answer from Argos. Finally, the time has come! The sight is clear!” The three-eyed hero closed his eyes and prayed intently. Finally, the genoses had come together as one.

The forest rumbled as many giants headed east. They were going to a query, where war awaited.

And so, the story of the denizens of the Great Forest had reached its climax.

Part 16: Astragali War Arc

Chapter 69: The True Mystic Knight

The presence of an Exactus De Varies Genos, a gathering of many astragali, was told through the rumbling their footsteps made.

It didn’t take long for Genos De Rubel to learn of this.

“An Exactus De Varies Genos is on the move?”

They themselves were headed west in order to conquer the rest of the genoses. Encountering each other was an inevitability, but the Rubels were able to see a little farther.

Their ruler, labeled Fictus Rex, sank into thought after hearing the report. “A blink of an eye ago, there was no sign of a query. Yet they’ve now formed an Exactus De Varies Genos and are already on the move. Why? Have they seen what we are doing?”

He had closed three of his eyes as he pondered this. As far as he knew, none of the genoses were capable of seeing the big picture. Their eyes were poor, and they couldn’t see anything even slightly distant. No Varies Genos had ever once been able to take action before the Rubels.

“They should be cowed after knowing that the eyes of Genos De Caelleus have been closed. Who opened the query?”

In the first place, the genoses had closed their own eyes out of fear of the kratovastias—they were cowards. The most loud and annoying of them, the Caelleus, had been destroyed the other day. They might have been small, but they had still been a genos. Their destruction should have prevented any other genos from rising in opposition again so quickly.

“But an Exactus De Varies Genos is indeed on the march.”

“Even so, that does not change what we have to do. Our goal is simply to sweep up the small genoses and make them disappear.”

“This is going to be a second True Eye Revolt. There is no need to overlook them now—just crush them!”

The giants of Genos De Rubel excitedly made their will to fight known. They had already been marching to a query, so in that sense, this news didn’t change anything.

The Fictus Rex continued to think as he watched his subjects. “They should have lost their reason to form an Exactus De Varies Genos. So...why would they have to open their eyes again? I can only think they have seen what we are doing. But a Varies Genos is naught but an impromptu alliance, which was why they fell apart before. But what about us? We are one genos. Whose eyes have turned away from our goal?”

To astragali, the bonds of a genos were absolute. It was extremely hard to believe that an information leak would come from within. In the first place, no astragali would actively cause harm to their own genos. But it was evident that their actions had been detected. That naturally narrowed down the pool of suspicion.

“Eyes that are not with us... It cannot be...the goblins?” The glint in the Fictus Rex’s five eyes turned dangerous as he looked up to the sky. It was clear and peaceful through the trees, with nary an ominous beast in sight. This was despite quite some time having passed since they’d left Metropolitan. One didn’t have to be as smart as him to sense that something was wrong. “The kratovastias have yet to move. Damn you, Marga. What are you doing? No, that might also be the work of those goblins... Those fools cannot see the truth.”

The Fictus Rex had five eyes—proof he was of the highest class of astragali—which now adopted an evil shade. The situation was now completely different from the True Eye Revolt.

It was clear that the kratovastias would not be of any help in this query. However, the Fictus Rex smiled boldly. Such a thing did not matter. “I may not have enough eyes to see through this situation, but we will not stop. Even without kratovastias, we are Genos De Rubel, and we are the rightful rulers of all astragali! I simply have to bring out an answer to this query myself!”

Now that he knew the Exactus De Varies Genos was on the move, it was even more reason Genos De Rubel could not back down. Their pride would not allow it.

The Fictus Rex handed down his order, and the genos advanced. Eventually, the rumbling of footsteps shaking the forest would double in intensity, and both sides would sense each other. The inevitable clash was right in front of them...

◆

Heavy footsteps resounded through the forest. The low rumbling was continuous and indicated some sort of natural disaster. However, the cause was not natural at all.

Giants walked between the trees in great numbers—the Exactus De Varies Genos was advancing. They were not totally in sync, but that was what made the odd rhythm of the rumbling.

“Saying that we’re standing out is an understatement,” said Dietrich.

The giants wore colors unique to their genos, which were very vivid amid the thick vegetation of the forest. A sage’s query was a sacred ritual to them, and they couldn’t be sneaky while Argos was watching them—or so they said.

“This is a sight, though, isn’t it?” Ernie commented.

“This massed march reminds me of Kuscheperka. The colors are more gaudy than back then, though,” Dietrich replied.

In the middle of all these giants, silhouette knights marched along with the Caelleus. This included Dietrich in his Guairelinde and Ernie in Kasasagi. Kasasagi was, as always, floating.

“Not like silhouette knights are good at hiding either. So it would be best to just be bold about it,” Helvi said, sighing from atop Guairelinde’s shoulder. She wasn’t in her Twedianne because it would be too much trouble to bring it down to surface level. In the first place, there was no real need to walk with the giants, so being here was really just to kill time.

“You sure got used to them fast...” Dietrich replied.

The Order of the Silver Phoenix’s fleet passed overhead, sails flapping in the wind. The ships were, of course, much faster than the giants’ walking speed, so they were going as slow as they could so as not to lose the colorful ground march.

Someone caught up with the silhouette knights as they walked at their leisure.

“So that’s the goblin ship Ernie was talking about, wow! So is it really true that they can fight the kratovastias?!” The owner of this excited voice was a giant boy—Nav. Behind him was the Parva Marga. She was used to the ships and had even ridden in one, but this was all new to Nav. His three eyes were alight with curiosity as he walked circles around Guairelinde. “Hmm... Hey, mystic knight! You belong to Ernie’s genos, right?”

“Huh? Well, something like that. My name’s Dietrich, and I’m commander of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s Second Company...though I guess you have no idea what that means.” It was only polite to answer any questions. Still, Dietrich didn’t expect giving his title would have any effect.

Surprisingly, though, Nav did understand. “The Order of the Silver Phoenix? I see, I’m the same! Uh...that thing...what was it?”

“Magister called it Fourth Company,” the Parva Marga answered.

Nav nodded and puffed out his chest for some reason. Dietrich had no idea what he was so happy about. Guairelinde nodded as well, though its gaze shifted toward Kasasagi. “What does that mean, Lord Captain?”

“It’s originally something Addy suggested, but I invited them to the order once we started getting along. The formality is that they are in a special astragali company directly under Addy’s command called Fourth Company.”

“How can you say that with a grin on your face...?” Dietrich muttered. Somehow, Guairelinde’s eye crystal adopted an exasperated shade.

“Just getting along with the astragali is amazing. To think that you invited some to the order...” Helvi added, clutching her head.

“I approved it as the captain, so this is official, just so you know,” Ernie noted.

“That’s not the problem!”

Before they could make any sort of report to their kingdom’s ruler, Ernie and Addy had added giants to a knight order. How should they deal with this? Dietrich and Helvi decided to just stop thinking about it, since it wasn’t worth it.

While letting everything flow away with a sigh, Helvi looked around. The procession of giants was shaking the earth as they moved, and the humans were in the middle. Suddenly, it occurred to her that this was a strange situation.

“It might have been a good thing that you were the one to come to this forest, Ernesti,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Kasasagi’s skull face tilted in confusion, looking at her.

She let out a small chuckle. “I don’t think anyone other than you could have gotten along with these astragali!”

“There’s no doubt about that. Anyway, though! Now that we have astragali in the order, I’ll need to train them hard!” Dietrich exclaimed, already ready to act like a senior.

“Really now? What should I make next to play around with?”

The moment Dietrich heard the reply from Kasasagi, he looked over. “ER! NE! STI! Now’s not the time for that!”

“I called it a company, but I actually just did it because I needed help making Kasasagi.”

“Really now?! But in the end, that still means you did it out of selfishness!”

In the end, Ernie was still Ernie.

While time passed peacefully on the ground, a lot of fuss was happening in the levitating ships.

◆

“Light signal from the scouts confirmed!” The ship’s lookout raised his voice into the speaking tube, and a current of tension ran through the bridge before someone requested more details.

“Details are... We...found the enemy! We’ve got giants on the ground! A bunch of them!”

“We have confirmed visual! Up ahead!”

Ahead of the fleet was a large force that completely covered the ground. Unlike their allied force, this one was only dyed in one color. In other words, they all belonged to the same genos.

“I see, so this is the largest genos among the astragali...Genos De Rubel. No one else is coming from that direction, after all.” The boss stroked his chin, and Batson nodded in reply from the wheel.

“Okay, contact the kid!” the boss shouted. “Time to kick things off!”

The news was quickly relayed to the ground.

“Sounds like the time has come,” said Ernie.

“As Ernesti says, they’re definitely coming toward us.”

“But it seems like they don’t have the bug-type monsters with them.”

The only information from the ships was that enemy giants had been sighted. It seemed like they had yet to see any kratovastias.

“No kratovastias. I suppose that means Oberon kept his promise. Which means we need to put some thought into what we do now.” Kasasagi turned its head toward the Parva Marga and Nav. “It’s as you’ve heard. To the Fortissimos.”

“Right! The Rubels are coming, right? This time, we’re going to have a proper query!” Nav exclaimed.

Kasasagi accompanied the pair of young giants to their Fortissimos. The three-eyed hero of the Caelleus quickly realized what was happening after seeing their excited faces.

“So they’ve spotted the Rubels.” The hero smiled—the time he’d been waiting for had finally come. They would certainly pose a query for Argos as payback for what had happened to their genos. Unable to stand still, he picked up his weapon. “Good! Now is the time to truly pose a query along with our allies!”

“It’s time! Let’s go!” Nav echoed, raising his silhouette arms. He’d slightly worn down the handles on it from repeated practice; that was how strongly he felt about this.

“Please calm down a little. There is something we must resolve beforehand,” Ernie said.

The Parva Marga nodded. “The magister is right. If the Rubels are here, where are the kratovastias? We do not see them in the sky.”

“It seems our scouts have yet to spot them. Either they’re hidden very skillfully, or the goblins’ efforts have borne fruit.”

The hero let out a laugh like a low rumble. “Either way, they are absent. This time, we will have a proper astragali query. In other words, the exact query Argos wishes for!”

Kasasagi and the Parva Marga exchanged a look. It would be hard to properly communicate with the Fortissimos in his current rampaging state. Unfortunately, this applied to all the other genoses as well.

“Goblin Fortissimos.” Roiling with strength, the hero looked straight at Kasasagi—specifically, at Ernie inside it. His three eyes were filled with excited vigor, seemingly haloed by fierce heat. He was clearly on the verge of bursting into action.

Ernie let out a small sigh. “I know. This is a query for the astragali. We’ll keep watch in the sky while following after you.”

The giants wished to settle things between themselves. Ernie and the rest of the Order of the Silver Phoenix were caught up in all this, so they didn’t feel like being on the front lines either.

The news spread among the giants, and the hot fervor grew.

Meanwhile, Kasasagi went on the move, picking up Helvi and increasing the output of its ether ring generator. It rose into the sky and returned to the Izumo.

Inside the ship’s hold, it was as noisy as if the battle had already started. Knightsmiths in silhouette gears were running around in what little space there was, making last checks on Twediannes.

“Okay then, Third Company will be on standby in our Twediannes,” said Helvi.

“Good. Once you make contact with Second Company, follow Guairelinde when it deploys on the ground. Our role is to assist the astragali, but we need to stand out a bit too.”

Once they parted ways, Ernie ascended to the bridge. The flagship flashed a signal, and Second Company’s ship started to move.

“Heya, kid. Are we really only mobilizing Second Company for now?”

“We should go a little wild. Still, we need to be wary of something else.”

A certain other person on the bridge responded to that. “Please wait, Sir Echevalier. The kratovastias are not present due to His Majesty King Oberon’s power. I do not believe there is any need to be so vigilant.”

It was the goblin knight, Zachariah. He was the only guest traveling with the fleet and was here as a representative of the people who lived here in the forest. Occasionally, he would get in contact with his people using a bug, and he had seemed totally certain that there would be no kratovastias in this fight.

Ernie nodded, but he still turned his guest down with a soft smile. “This certainly is the situation Oberon promised us. But...we cannot be sure until it is all over. We just need to prepare for the worst.”

Zachariah opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly gave up. He might have been able to sway Ernie’s personal opinion, but not the common understanding of the entire order.

Ernie saw him back down and returned to giving orders. “Tell the scouts to send in constant reports. And make sure the knight runners are ready to deploy at any time.”

The fleet, centered upon the Izumo, took up a position above and slightly behind the combined giant army. They were able to grasp the entire battlefield situation and had Twediannes flying about in the area.

The giants marched forward, maintaining their excitement and tension toward the upcoming battle, and eventually they came upon a clearing in the forest. This place was littered with rocks; a plain referred to as Doctrina De Siever.

There weren’t many open spaces in the forest, and even fewer that were large enough to accommodate a force the size of this combined astragali group.

“I knew it. They were waiting for us.”

The Exactus De Varies Genos marched forward. The opposite side was dyed in a color that was not the green of the trees—a red that only one genos used.

Donning red was proof of Genos De Rubel. Their side was all one color, but they rivaled the Exactus De Varies Genos in size. They earned their title of largest genos.

Once both sides spotted each other, they stopped and faced off. A moment of silence pervaded between them.

◆

The start was rather quiet. Both sides glared at each other, not making any unnecessary noise. Eventually, several from each side came forward. The decoration on their armor was especially elaborate—they were emissaries. They came to the center of what would be the battlefield and faced each other.

“We are an Exactus De Varies Genos! Genos De Rubel, we cannot forgive your actions during the True Eye Revolt! We have come to open a proper query to Argos!”

“No matter how many you open, the answer will always be the same. Your eyes do not reflect the truth!”

“Making use of kratovastias is irredeemably foolish! Argos has turned his eyes away from you! How can you think you’ve received any answer at all?!”

“We have a king! It is inevitable that Argos would look upon us over all of you! If you cannot see that, there is no point in speaking further!”

Each side gave voice to their stance and made the customary exchanges. This was a ritual to declare war. No dispute had ever been settled with words once a query was set to be opened.

The emissaries returned to their sides, and the mood changed. Everything was quiet, as if even the trees had ceased rustling in the wind. Instead, a taut sense of tension reigned as every giant worked themselves up for the fight that was to follow.

“Ask and inquire. It is a sage’s query!” both sides shouted.

The noise of many overlapping astragali voices seemed to shake the very world. Right here and now, a different world had manifested, full of the blessing of Argos. The giants would give their lives for victory—for an answer to this question.

“Up with your spears! Be ready!”

The giants took the spears they’d carried here and stuck them in a line in the ground. Their bodies, like silhouette knights, were duel-class in size, and they possessed dextrous arms capable of using tools. It was only natural for them to use throwing weapons.

They picked up the javelins and flexed their bodies in unison. Their muscles tensed to the point they seemed to be creaking, turning each astragali into a weapon unto themselves.

“We seek the truth with this throw! Argos, witness us!”

They threw the javelins, accompanied by a great sound of air being pierced. The weapons flew straight in a beautiful arc, carrying their fearsome force to the enemy.

Giants did not use shields; they defended themselves with their armor and their bodies. The javelins assaulted those in the front ranks. Some were pierced through, while others luckily had their armor save them. Giant blood fountained out, staining the ground, and the marks from each repetition of this would overwrite what came before.

“Their eyes are far from being returned! Prepare the second volley!”

“We won’t let them! Marga!”

As the allied giants prepared for a second volley, plucking their weapons from the ground, the Rubels made a new move. A group of Marga De Quartus Oculi came to the front.

“O flame, destroy mine enemy. Igniadre!”

Brightly burning fireballs appeared in the outstretched hands of the Margas. This was the astragali style of magic, which they referred to as magia. These attacks held more power than the average overspell and were more than capable of felling armored astragali.

“Quickly, bring forward our Margas as well!”

“No, they won’t be in time!”

The Exactus De Varies Genos was slightly stronger in terms of pure numbers. However, because they were composed of many different genoses, there was a problem with their command structure. Margas were a rare existence for any genos, and only one was able to be so bold as to have multiple go out in front during a battle.

The Exactus De Varies Genos was on the back foot now, as a swirl of fire rushed at their lines. For a moment, they hesitated to either throw their weapons or protect themselves. This would be a lethal delay.

These astragali had no way to defend themselves from fire, but what saved them were more fire projectiles flying in from out of nowhere. These projectiles were weaker than what the Margas had unleashed, but they were also more numerous. The projectiles clashed with the Rubels’ fireballs, and everything exploded in empty space, spreading fire around the area.

“What?! Who can stop our magia?!” The Rubel Margas looked around restlessly, trying to find the cause of this. Finally, their eyes rested on a young astragali boy.

“Heh heh, how do you like our silhouette arms?!”

“A young one?! Agh, do not be fooled! They cannot defend against us at that level!” The Rubel Margas once again wove their magia.

The ones who had come out to stop their magia were a group of astragali that were neither Margas nor holding spears. Every one of them wore a brilliant blue and held strange weapons.

“Blue?! It cannot be...the unreturned Caelleus! We will make sure to send you to Argos with fire!”

“Do not underestimate us... You are not the only ones with magia! Witness this!” the Fortissimos De Tertius Oculus who stood at the front of the Caelleus group howled. The rest followed his order, and they all activated their silhouette arms. These weapons were makeshift rush jobs, but they performed brilliantly in this battle between astragali.

They unleashed spellfire in quick succession, leaving behind faint trails of light. The Culverin spells intercepted the Rubel Margas’ magia.

“We praise your great power, Genos De Caelleus! Now is the time to open your eyes—ready the spears!”

The momentum of the battle swung back in the favor of the Exactus De Varies Genos now that the Margas’ attacks had been stopped. They picked up their javelins and threw them in volleys. Spells and javelins crisscrossed through the air as both armies lost many soldiers.

“Damn them! Have the Margas retreat! They will be hit if nothing changes!” The Rubels’ morale wavered as their opponents rode the wave of momentum. The appearance of a new weapon in the form of silhouette arms was shaking up this standard opening.

“Those unreturned have shown us their strength? How unpleasant,” a single giant muttered as he watched the battle from the rear. He was the Rubels’ Fictus Rex—their five-eyed ruler. “Fine, then. This is no time to play around. We shall crush them with certainty... Forward, Veratorres!”

The Rubels raised a war cry, drew their weapons, and charged. Neither javelins nor magia were an astragali’s main way of fighting. They performed best at close range—in melee combat.

“Meet them on the battlefield, warriors! We are before Argos! Show him your strength to the fullest!”

The Exactus De Varies Genos either took up their weapons as well or picked up more javelins to charge with. Instantly, the battle devolved into chaos. The Caelleus started fighting in melee with the weapons they had on hand—they weren’t good enough with the silhouette arms to make use of them in such a confused mix.

The giants raised meaningless shouts as they clashed with their weapons. They swung their primitive armaments made of large trees and stone with great force to take down their enemies.

“This is...not good.” Dietrich was watching the action from a step away and furrowed his brow. The tide of red flags on the battlefield was gradually overwhelming the varied banners of his side, and the reason for this was obvious. “Those red guys—Genos De Rubel—just have the better gear.”

His side was using tools made of monster parts—traditional materials. Meanwhile, the Rubels were clearly making use of metal. There was no need to wonder who had made their metal accoutrements; they had been provided by goblins and their inherited silhouette knight technology.

The resulting difference might have been slight, but it was also unignorable for their side. And in practice, it produced a great effect during this melee. The Exactus De Varies Genos lost one combatant after another and was forced to fall back.

Finally, one genos allowed a breakthrough, and the Rubels rushed through the resulting gap.

“If nothing changes, we’ll be taken apart piece by piece,” Dietrich said. “Crap...that means our time has come.” While the Exactus De Varies Genos was in turmoil, a single crimson knight stood smiling.

Having won this exchange and broken through their enemy’s lines, the Rubels raised a victorious shout. They would continue on inside the formation, splitting up and eating into their prey. But then, a crimson hurricane jumped before them.

“What?! Someone other than us...uses red?!” The Rubel’s confusion was so great he couldn’t voice it properly before a blade of vacuum was unleashed, forcing the giant to crumple. Then, a flash of metal saw the giant lose his weapon before another slash brilliantly reaped his life.

“Who—?! How strange! Is that truly an astragali?!”

The crimson knight’s armor made it look strange for an astragali. It flicked blood off its blades before answering. “Hey, guys, I’m the commander of the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s Second Company, Dietrich Künitz. And...I suppose that’s it for introductions.”

This nonsensical reply irritated them, but the Rubels still had to be cautious. This armored giant had buried their companion with moves like an incoming storm.

“I’m technically a guest, but you don’t mind, do you? Astragali?”

“That way of speaking... It can’t be...a goblin?!”

Before the giant was even done speaking, the crimson knight raised its swords, and an enormous thing appeared in the sky. The levitating ship loomed over them, its sails flapping in the wind.

“What...is that?!”

It was too late to be shaken. Silhouette knights wearing red crosses dropped out of the ship’s hold, deploying their halo coats.

“You’re right in the middle of it all, huh, Commander Dee! We won’t let you hog the spotlight on your own!”

“Whoa! There’s astragali everywhere! Which ones are our enemies?!”

The company members’ Kardetolles dropped to the ground while firing their silhouette arms, and the Rubels pulled back amid the barrage of explosions. Now that their landing zone had been cleared, they landed without difficulty.

Second Company formed up with Guairelinde at the center. They faced off against the Rubel giants—one side wearing red, the other crimson.

“Awwwright, Commander Dee! Where do we start?!”

“The astragali in red. But it’s too bad; they wear red, so I would have hoped to talk this out. And yet they insist on being enemies.” Dietrich watched the Rubels through his holomonitor and whistled excitedly.

“What? You know all they have in common with us is the color, right, boss?”

“Especially since they’re just using the color. You’ve gotta pay more attention to the design too!”

Second Company went into fierce action despite the inane chatter. They deployed their back weapons, bombarding the enemy astragali on the front rank with spellfire. As the giants flinched from the explosions, the silhouette knights rushed into their midst.

While the Rubels were bewildered by this unfamiliar enemy, the silhouette knights roared and clashed with them—which turned into a rout.

The powerful spellfire was enough to down giants by itself, but the silhouette knights’ blades and spears easily bored through their enemies’ armor as well. The combat capability of the knights clearly outpaced that of the giants of the Exactus De Varies Genos.

The silhouette knights were unbelievably strong for being the size of duel-class monsters—they’d been steadily improved over many long years, even before receiving Ernie’s personal attention. Facing them was an overwhelming prospect for astragali with just somewhat good armor and weaponry.

Once Second Company turned the tides in an instant, the Rubels’ side seemed to stagnate. This battle had always been one of momentum. The giants were lost as to whether to advance or retreat, and so Second Company assaulted them and dealt them a painful blow.

“Whoa there, we’re too far from our friends! Can’t be letting ourselves be carried away, can we?”

“Oh no, let’s keep going as far as we can! My sword is roaring for it!”

“This is so boring. They don’t have any swords, just blunt clubs. Their culture only involves hitting things, after all.”

The Rubels weren’t the only ones shaken by how dominant the silhouette knights were on this battlefield—their allies were too.

“What strength those goblins have!”

“We would shame ourselves before Argos to do nothing but look at their backs! We must show our bravery!”

But this only resulted in them redoubling their vigor. The goblins were displaying such prowess in their mystic knights, so staying quiet would be a shame to them as astragali. They roused their spirits and waded fiercely into battle.

The battlefield was terribly chaotic. The Rubels hadn’t lost everything just yet, but the momentum was completely on the side of the Exactus De Varies Genos and Second Company.

“Let’s keep going wild for a little longer. Then, once the pressure on everyone else eases up, we can rest our machines a little.” Guairelinde leaped backward as it shouted orders to the rest of the company. The spot it had just jumped from was immediately incinerated with gouts of intense fire. “Spellfire... No, an astragali’s magia. Looks like we stood out too much, and they’re aiming for us now in desperation.”

Guairelinde and Second Company raised their defenses as the Rubels fell back, leaving an empty space in the battlefield. Then, an especially large astragali strode in to occupy it.

This giant had five eyes which swiveled around before settling into a glare at Second Company. “That form... Those are the goblins’ fakes. So not only have the kratovastias not arrived, you dare defy my eyes? How audacious of you to attempt to deceive the eyes of Argos!”

“Well...I guess there’s no need to correct him,” Dietrich scoffed.

The Fictus Rex’s face twisted with hatred. The Marga De Quartus Oculi behind him took a ready stance.

“When this query is over, I will crush you all until nothing is left. You who have failed to return your eyes—perish!”

A gigantic swirl of fire appeared in the Fictus Rex’s hands. The magia cast by a Quintus Oculus was powerful in the extreme, even among the astragali. For comparison, it exceeded the destructive power of one of Ikaruga’s Bladed Cannons. Following the Fictus Rex, the Margas behind him also wove their magia in unison. This section of the battlefield was bathed in red.

“Second Company, prepare for—” Dietrich tried to shout interception orders, but spellfire flew in from the side and interrupted him.

Fire roared in the space between the two sides, forcing the Fictus Rex to angrily cancel his magia. “Who dares interrupt me?!”

Before anyone could answer him, a group of astragali came to stand between the Rubels and Second Company. A three-eyed giant stood at the front of this group, fire burning in his eyes as he glared at the Fictus Rex.

“I am...Fortissimos De Tertius Oculus De Caelleus!”

“You pitiful, unreturned thing. You wish so badly to be sent to Argos?!” The Fictus Rex brought his entire large frame to bear as he glared down the Caelleus Fortissimos.

The Fortissimos did not flinch, though, and he met the glare with his own three eyes. “Fictus Rex of Genos De Rubel! We have come to repay you for stealing the eyes of our genos!”

“You of inferior eyes! How dare a mere Tertius Oculus defy me! It is the height of foolishness. Margas, sweep these—” The Fictus Rex tried to speak an order, but...

“Oh?” Dietrich said. “I thought the astragali were supposed to be fierce and dauntless. Must have been a joke, since you’re running away from a challenge.”

The Fictus Rex froze, one hand in the air in the midst of giving his order. His eyes swiveled, settling on the crimson knight. “It sounds as though you would like to be destroyed first, goblin.”

“Too bad for you, I can’t prove you wrong. If we fight, you’ll go down, and I don’t think they’ll allow that.”

The Fictus Rex’s face was dyed with obvious rage. In a panic, the Margas tried to placate him, but he shook them off. “Every single one of you is an eyesore! Why do you not understand?! We are the largest genos! We control kratovastias! We are the shining symbol of prosperity for all astragali! You rabble need do nothing but obey me!”

“Prosperity for astragali, you say? You are not the one to decide that! We are the ones who seek answers!” The Fortissimos De Tertius Oculus stepped forward, and the hero and the false king faced off in the middle of this battlefield.

Guairelinde softly rattled its sword. Second Company swiftly changed positions, cutting this area off from the rest of the battle. Now, it was a one-on-one fight.

“There is no more need for words. I will not even allow your eyes to be returned!” the Fictus Rex shouted.

“Nor I yours! Let us battle!” the Caelleus hero replied.

Both sides burst into action.

◆

As the Fortissimos De Tertius Oculus ran forth, his opponent made the first move, raising his hand to cut the Fortissimos off. “Fortissimos of Caelleus, you still insist on challenging me even with the eyes of your genos closed. Being courageous is good. However!”

Flickering fire appeared, moving alongside his hand. The fire increased in intensity, fountaining forth. “In the end, you are inferior! Learn to count your own eyes!”

The Fictus Rex swung his arm down, and the fire was suddenly given direction. Magic phenomena manifested in reality according to the script he’d woven, as if he were a mage. Five-eyed giants didn’t just have large and powerful bodies but powerful magic as well.

“Certainly, I am but a Tertius Oculus and no match for a Quintus Oculus... However! You should see the truth for yourself!” The Fortissimos pointed his silhouette arms toward the incoming torrent of fire. The weapon spat a fleeting light, launching its overspell. Though it lacked strength compared to his opponent’s magia, he was able to fire it multiple times in succession. Flames twisted and swirled violently against each other in the space between the two combatants.

“A mere Tertius Oculus thwarted my magia?!” The Fictus Rex’s face twisted in shock, and the Fortissimos took that opportunity to break into a run.

He endured the heat of the flames between them, breaking through the fire to get in close to the Fictus Rex. As he ran, he drew the weapon on his back.

It glittered in the light of the sun—a sword, a weapon of knights that didn’t exist in astragali culture. He’d borrowed it from the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

Though he wasn’t used to the weapon, the Fortissimos aimed for his enemy’s throat with his first strike. He’d learned how to use bladed weapons somewhat through his fight with Ernesti.

The attack resulted in a shrill noise and sparks as the sword bounced off. This attack that was unfamiliar to any astragali was blocked by a dully shining metal club.

“You’ve surprised me, but is that all you amount to?” the Fictus Rex roared as he swung his club. The blow was powerful enough to gouge out the earth and throw up a cloud of dust as the Fortissmos jumped back.

“You will not go easily. As expected of a Quintus Oculus.”

A Quintus Oculus was able to use magia like a Marga but also had a strong body like a Fortissimos. These were the de facto top of the astragali caste system, since the peak of their kind, Sextus Oculi, were so rare.

Meanwhile, in this case, the Tertius Oculus was smaller than his opponent and lacking in magic. There was a huge gap in their combat abilities.

“That magia, and that weapon... I do not know of them. The astragali do not know of them. In which case, they must be from the goblins. So they wielded that much might?!” The Fictus Rex looked away from the Fortissimos up into the sky—and at the levitating ship floating over the Exactus De Varies Genos. He glared hatefully at it, and his expression twisted. “Foolish, to obey those puny things. They are naught but insects to us... Where did your pride as astragali go?!”

“Certainly, the goblins are small. I believed so as well. However, their strength is true. As a Fortissimos, underestimating them would be rude!” The Fortissimos straightened up and roared.

The Fictus Rex could feel the rage swelling within him. “Is that all you amount to after so stubbornly keeping your eyes open, Caelleus? Absolutely worthless. As I thought, I am right, and only I am worthy of being witnessed by Argos. The rest of you are unnecessary!”

With that, the Fictus Rex surged forward. As he stepped in, he swung his club. The weapon was both solid and heavy, boasting destructive might that would be extremely hard to defend against using a sword.

The attack generated a tremendous amount of wind, but the Fortissimos somehow managed to avoid it. Because of the difference in pure strength, it would be hard to clash straight on, so he could only rely on speed. While the Fortissimos devoted himself to dodging, the Fictus Rex threw out a quick series of attacks. Trying to crush his enemy with sheer power made him just like a typical astragali, as prizing strength was the wont for their race.

But while the Fortissimos looked to be cornered at first glance, he was just waiting for his chance. “I am a Tertius Oculus. I am smaller and weaker. Even so, I still have a chance to win. Indeed, just as he won against me despite being so small.”

He dodged everything in this storm of blows that would fell any astragali. He thought back to when he himself had been overwhelmed by a boy who hadn’t even come up to his knees. That fight had taught him much.

“You call yourself a Fortissimos when all you do is run away?!” The Fictus Rex was more irritated than he’d expected at the hero’s actions. His strength, combined with the metal worked by goblins, should have made it easy for him to crush his enemies.

“You wouldn’t understand, Fictus Rex!”

The Fictus Rex’s agitation left an opening in his guard. The Fortissimos saw that the swing the Quintus Oculus had made was a little too large, so he immediately moved to counter. One of the good points of a silhouette arms was that it did not create too big an opening to use, and he utilized that by firing it point-blank. The spellfire hit the Fictus Rex in the gut and burst.

“Ngrgh!” The Fictus Rex crumpled.

This was his one chance. The Fortissimos immediately tried to follow up, swinging his sword from a lethal range. The attack, so sharp it split the air, was still blocked by an intervening club.

“That...was not bad. But that is all it was.” The Fictus Rex’s face twisted, but he was still able to defend himself. Certainly, taking the hit from the silhouette arms was painful. However, the body of a Quintus Oculus was tough. He’d endured the impact with just his own natural prowess.

The roles of attacker and defender swapped in an instant. The Fictus Rex pushed forward with his club, bodily flinging the Fortissimos away. The sword sang as it flew through the air; he had succeeded in diverting the force of the attack, though he’d lost his weapon. Even without the sword, though, he still had his silhouette arms, which he didn’t hesitate to point at the Fictus Rex and fire repeatedly. He was prepared to use all the mana left inside him.

One after another, explosive bolts burst, enveloping the Fictus Rex in flame. Surely, not even a Quintus Oculus would be able to safely withstand this much fire—unfortunately, that expectation was quickly betrayed.

“I told you...you are an eyesore!” The Fictus Rex gave a rousing shout as he wove magia. The fierce flames he created dwarfed the spellfire from his opponent, dispersing the attacks in the blink of an eye. He then stuck out his fist. “Bore through him, O lightning! Ictus Fulmine!”

The hero’s decision-making ability in the heat of the moment, which allowed him to take his distance, was praiseworthy. However, the Fictus Rex’s spell flew through the air in an instant to hit him. It was impossible to evade.

“Urrrgh! Gah!”

The impact sent the silhouette arms flying before the lightning continued on, still at full strength, to hit the Fortissimos. He lost consciousness for an instant, and his body jerked around like a strange puppet. Then, he fell to the ground like his strings had been cut.

His body went numb, and he found himself unable to move. He was covered in wounds, while the Fictus Rex walked toward him in a composed and leisurely manner.

“You fought well for being but a Tertius Oculus. As expected of one with the title of Fortissimos. You may tell Argos that you caused me sufficient trouble.” He raised his club as he walked.

The Fortissimos let out a wordless groan, somehow managing to raise an arm. He had yet to recover enough to move. Just as the club was raised and about to fall...

“Th-That... What?!”

But another astragali had cried out, and a stir took over their surroundings. The giants weren’t looking at the battle between the Fictus Rex and the Fortissimos. They were all pointing up into the sky.

The Fictus Rex found their attitudes perplexing, but he quickly realized the cause. He forgot to finish off the Fortissimos and turned around in a panic. His mouth twisted as he spoke words full of hatred. “Now... You come now, Oberon?! What are you thinking?!”

A large, hazy shadow had appeared in the distant sky.

The shadow was a swarm of kratovastias, getting bigger and bigger. These were the grand enemy of the astragali and one of the reasons for the Rubels’ dominance.

Now, they moved for a purpose opposite to the Rubels. They pointed a hostile gaze at the Fictus Rex, and he noticed. The kratovastias were not alone in the sky. Following the swarm was something especially large—something that caused the Fictus Rex to widen his eyes and shout.

“It cannot be... You managed to move that?! Margas, what did he do?! No, that’s wrong... I see, Oberon. I know what you were looking at!” The Fictus Rex’s words were erased by the buzzing of the flying monsters.

◆

A little while earlier, the Order of the Silver Phoenix received a report from the patrolling Twediannes.

“Light signal sighted! Monster sightings confirmed. And they are...kratovastias!”

“So they’ve come.” Ernesti was on the bridge when he heard the report, and he sank into thought for a moment. Kratovastias had appeared. That meant the goblins had failed. Either that, or... “I suppose this was their plan all along?”

In his mind, he pictured Oberon’s smile. He had clearly been planning something, so Ernie couldn’t believe that he had simply failed. There should be some sort of intent behind sending in the kratovastias at this juncture.

“Also, there aren’t just kratovastias. That large thing is...”

There was something huge coming behind the swarm of kratovastias. Considering the bugs were duel-class monsters, Ernie wondered what he should call it. In terms of pure size, it was larger than a behemoth. Nobody in Fremmevilla, least of all him, had ever seen something so large fly.

“Do you know what that is?” Ernie turned toward the person who was standing at the edge of the bridge.

Zachariah responded with a smile. “Yes... Finally, the time has come. Be at ease, Sir Echevalier. That is something our lord has achieved. You could say it is our trump card. We will clean up the astragali and bring forth a bright future!”

His words were full of conviction, which caused Ernie to once again sink into thought. “I see. Then...”

He gave his orders to the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

◆

Those in the sky weren’t the only ones to take action after seeing the kratovastias. Second Company on the ground did the same.

“They’re late, but they’re here.”

“Where’s the Izumo?”

“Looks like they’ve already noticed. See? They’re moving.”

The knights looked up at the sky and then scanned the ground, their eyes landing on Dietrich’s unit. He was their commander, after all.

“The captain’s on the ship,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll do something about it. More importantly, we need to do something about the situation here on the ground.”

“Like what?”

“We’ve gotta handle our allies. That’s our role too.”

The giants around them were all markedly shaken by the appearance of the kratovastias. The members of Second Company couldn’t help but sigh.

“So we drew the short straw, did we?”

“Don’t complain. This happens a lot on the front line.”

But they couldn’t just sit and grouse. Now that their direction had been set, they quickly got to work.

“The kratovastias are approaching! Astragali, fall back!”

“But we are in the middle of a query. Even if kratovastias appear... If we fall back now, we will not be able to derive an answer!” So came the pained reply. If the kratovastias were to engage in battle, there would be no victory for their side. They’d learned this full well during the True Eye Revolt.

“What do you think we’re here for? I’m sure the captain will bring them down in one go. But it’s not safe on the ground!” Dietrich shouted back.

“Grrr...”

The giants looked at each other, frustrated, before reluctantly following Second Company’s orders. There was no choice but to leave matters of the sky to those up in it. The heat of battle receded, blown away with the wind.

They retreated warily, watchful of pursuit from the Rubels. But strangely, the Rubels appeared to be bewildered as well. It seemed that none of them had expected the late appearance of the kratovastias.

Dietrich took in the situation both on the ground and in the sky, and his expression turned grim. “What now, Captain? I know you won’t lose to kratovastias so easily, but with those numbers...”

A swarm of just a few bugs, like they’d seen before, would never be able to defeat them. However, this swarm was significantly larger. As he watched the skies, the Izumo started to move, and the levitating ships next to it started launching Twediannes.

On the bridge of the Izumo, Ernie shouted his orders. “The fleet will be intercepting them. We can’t allow attacks from the kratovastias to reach the ground.”

The boss nodded, while the rest of the crew burst into action. Zachariah watched on with a look of surprise.

Despite that, Ernie continued calling out orders. “We will fly a defensive formation with the Izumo at the center. Our next moves will be important: Stay far enough apart to not get in each other’s way. Wizard-style knights, to your positions! Prioritize not letting them get close.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Izumo sailed forward on a gust of powerful wind. More levitating ships flanked it, with Twediannes creating a front line before them.

“Sir Echevalier! Those are sent by the will of His Majesty. They are our allies! Please, stop treating them as enemies!” Zachariah drew in close to Ernie. The small knight captain in front of him was about to ruin all their hard work.

Ernie replied calmly to the panicking goblin knight. “They only look like monsters to me. Even if what you say is true, we can’t let our guards down.”

Zachariah was about to argue more, but then a section of the kratovastias made a surprising move.

Several kratovastias with dark red shells split off from the group. Each one, a leader, let out a shrill cry. Given their orders, the rest of the kratovastias continued forward, their wings buzzing as they flew toward the Rubel side.

Immediately, they fired their fluid projectiles at the ground.

Screams arose. The acid clouds, which corroded metal and were poisonous to life, spread among the Rubels, not the Exactus De Varies Genos.

“What?!”

The white area of death crept outward, swallowing more giants. The Rubels had let their guards down. Up until now, the kratovastias had obeyed them, and they’d thought a betrayal impossible. And yet, they not only ignored the Rubels’ orders, they spread death among their supposed masters.

The Fictus Rex bared his teeth and howled. “Damn you, Oberon! You have forgotten the favor I have shown by keeping you! In the end, you are puny in both body and spirit!”

Sensing something behind him, the Fictus Rex turned around. His five eyes trained on the Fortissimos De Tertius Oculus, who was slowly standing up.

His body was still numb, and he was unsteady on his feet. Even so, he forced a smile on his face. “Genos De Rubel. Finally, you see the truth... This is the truth of kratovastias. Goblins have nothing to do with anything. They have always been the astragali’s greatest enemy. What you Rubels saw was nothing but an illusion...”

“Shut up, you damn unreturned. You should just be thankful you still have your eyes!” The Fictus Rex no longer had time to waste with the Fortissimos, so he turned on his heel and hurried back to his genos.

Left behind, the Fortissimos staggered and fell to a knee. Several large forms came up to him: Guairelinde, the Parva Marga, Nav, and his armiger. They had stayed behind to save the Fortissimos, despite the evacuation of their side almost being over.

“Fortissimos! Your eyes are still open!” the Parva Marga shouted.

“He’s alive, though I can’t say he’s well. Hey, can you move? We’re retreating. Or would you rather meet your end together with the Rubels?” Dietrich asked.

“I look upon no such thing...” the Fortissimos replied.

“Fortissimos, hang on to me,” said the armiger.

Borrowing the one-eyed giant’s shoulder, the hero stood. Nav and the Parva Marga looked at him worriedly, but the group still managed to slowly retreat. Kratovastias swarmed behind them, spreading a hell populated by agonized screams.

As they retreated, the Parva Marga looked back just once. “The kratovastias are attacking Genos De Rubel. This is wrong... Who do they really obey?”

She looked up at the large thing that was slowly covering the sky above them. Something completely different to anything they’d experienced before was happening. She was sure of it, and her four eyes wavered in worry.

Chapter 70: The Awakening of Destruction

Flying disasters struck the giants’ battlefield. But a little before that...

One of the Marga De Quartus Oculi belonging to Genos De Rubel walked through a cave, an escorting warrior in tow. They were in a passage large enough for a giant to walk freely, and though the ground was bare, there were several parts of it that were unnatural for a natural cave. It was as if something large had scooped out this entire thing.

The Marga seemed to be in a bad mood—his stride was rough as they went farther and farther into the cave.

Eventually, they reached a wider space—a focal point where several other caves and passageways connected. This space was large even by giant standards, and it contained a grand building as well. This building was clearly man-made; its detailed design didn’t suit an astragali’s nature. It was most likely used by goblins.

The Marga’s eyebrows raised as he yelled at the building. “A Marga De Quartus Oculus of Genos De Rubel is before you! Is anybody here?! We have come on our liege’s orders!”

The voice reverberated through the space, and the sound strangely distorted into something comedic. This only served to further the Marga’s irritation. After a short while, a small figure appeared from the building.

“Well, well, if it isn’t a lord Marga. I’ve been eagerly awaiting your arrival.” Oberon, leader of the goblins, made a deliberate, obsequious bow to the Marga.

He received a low, rumbling voice full of anger in response. “What are you doing? Too much time has passed since you’ve been given your order! The song should already be playing, no?!”

The four-eyed giant glared. Normally, the goblin should be feeling threatened, but Oberon’s cool expression didn’t budge at all; he let the Marga’s anger slide off him.

“The king is waiting!” the Marga shouted. “The time is near for the eyes to open! You puny ones are always so useless! Have you forgotten the favor we have shown you in letting you live so long?! This is why those who lack both size and eyes are—”

The Marga wasn’t the only one whose temper was exploding. His escorting warrior’s expression was also stern. Another goblin came from inside the building to Oberon’s side as he was bathed in this pressure.

This goblin whispered in his ear, and he nodded. “Right. So sorry to have kept you waiting, Lord Marga. The ritual is complete. We will now weave the Necrolis Song.”

“Finally!” The Marga still seemed unhappy, but there was a shade of relief somewhere in his voice.

Before long, a low rumble reverberated through the space. This series of inscrutable sounds came from inside the building. It both seemed like and unlike a song at the same time.

Eventually, the ground around the building started to swell in places, which opened like lids. Large bugs with dark red shells crawled out from deep in the ground—kratovastias.

These were the worst of monsters and could be considered the archenemy of every living thing in the forest. However, they seemed like empty husks without a will. They lacked what a monster—what any living thing—should have. As things stood, they were just large objects.

Oberon raised his arm and gave orders to someone behind him. When he did, goblins appeared from inside the building. These ones weren’t wearing rags—they were nobles with proper equipment. In other words, they were knights, the ruling class.

They headed toward the red monsters. The silent bugs reacted, their torsos splitting open. Their innards didn’t belong to biological, living things—they were full of artificial objects made out of metal and other materials. This was clearly odd for something that was supposed to be alive.

The knights split up and got into their own red monsters. Each one contained a seat for a person, with controls for people to manipulate. It looked like a silhouette knight’s cockpit. The torsos closed, swallowing up the knights, and the red monsters sallied forth.

They were beasts, yet not—the worst monsters combined with human intelligence, resulting in an abnormal existence. Oberon’s mouth twisted as he declared, “Now awaken, mystic beasts, for you truly are beasts of myth! It is time to sing the song of the end!”

Now that they were occupied, the red monsters seemed to have the light of a will inside of them, and they let out their animal cry.

◆

The red monsters screeched, carrying their pilots’ will. Their voices reverberated through space and were absorbed into the ground, which rumbled and shook in response.

The tiny, barely noticeable rumble grew in strength in the blink of an eye. Lids all over the cave started to open, with whatever was inside crawling out all at once.

One after another, countless normally colored kratovastias were spat out of the holes, filling the cave with the sound of their shells scraping together.

Once the entire cave seemed about to be buried in the monsters, the mystic beasts revealed their wings and took flight. The pitch of their machines’ cries changed, creating a unique melody. The mystic beasts flew into the passageway that led outside, followed by the kratovastias. These monsters were totally under their control.

The Rubels scowled at the sound of the writhing kratovastias, but they relaxed and let out a breath when most of the monsters had left.

“Hmph, finally. You’ve wasted too much time! Our king is waiting, so we must make haste as well. Make the ‘king of beasts’ sleep, Oberon...”

But once the last of the kratovastias had left, the Marga finally realized something was off.

The song. It was still playing.

The sound coming from the building continued even after all the kratovastias had departed. In fact, it had only gotten louder. It was now loud enough to shake this entire space, pressuring the Marga as he was assaulted by an intense headache. Unable to help it, he clutched at his head. His escorting warrior couldn’t stand up straight either.

“What are you doing, Oberon?! Hurry... Make the king of beasts sleep!”

The song did not stop—it only increased in pressure and volume. At this point, it was strong enough to make the ground shake.

That wasn’t entirely true. There was a genuine earthquake happening—not just from the sound. Finally, the giants fell to their knees. The Marga looked up with bloodshot eyes to see the ground split before him. The building started to crumble as the entire area seemed to bulge.

Something arose, destroying the entire cave as it did.

“Y-You... Do you know what you are looking at?! You are attempting to wake the king of beasts!” The Marga was in shock as he looked up at the thing in front of him. It was gigantic—too gigantic. A great many cold eyes were visible through the dust clouds kicked up by its emergence.

From seemingly no specific point, Oberon’s voice resounded. “Marga... No, astragali. It’s too late now. At this point, the king of beasts is under my control. We no longer need your help. Too bad!”

True fear crept up from the bottom of the Marga’s heart. Something that should never be awakened was waking up. He knew well what it would mean. “This cannot be! You cannot allow the king of beasts to awaken! What kind of phantoms are you seeing?! If you free it from its shackles, you goblins will not survive!”

“Ha ha ha! Well, thank you for the concern. But, astragali, did you really think I would continue to obey you forever? Certainly, you found a way to make use of my father. I’m sure you thought you’d done well. However, I’m different. I will not settle for being a convenient tool!”

The ground split further, revealing a giant leg. This appendage alone was large enough to overwhelm any astragali, and it proceeded to easily crush the warrior.

“I told you that the king of beasts is under my control. Do you not understand what that means?!”

The Marga stood. He wove magia, determined to resist what could not be resisted. “No! NO! I will not let you!” he shouted and unleashed fire. However, it was easily erased by the casual swing of a leg.

“Oh, don’t worry, astragali. You’ll be the only ones eaten. You are nothing but feed now. And I’m going to be watching closely the entire time. No need to hold back; I’ll be ‘thanking’ you for everything up until now.”

“Oberon! You are looking at a mistake! You will eventually meet your comeuppance! The king of beasts is not something the likes of you can control!!!” The Marga’s shout was cut off as he was also easily crushed by the swing of a leg.

The king of beasts was too overwhelming. It ignored the rest of the giants as it ascended. The collapse of the cave system accelerated, and finally, the enormous thing broke through the ceiling. The entire cave was buried by falling dirt and rubble.

“Ha ha ha ha ha... I know that too. I know it well, but it doesn’t matter.” Oberon continued to laugh, his voice mixing with the sounds of splitting and swirling earth. “None of that will stop me. The time has come, and there is no more merit in staying quiet! I... I...will reclaim everything!”

Meanwhile...

The walled goblin overtown was in the midst of collapse. The ground groaned and creaked as roads split. Buildings crumbled to the ground one after another, and even workshops for maintaining mystic knights were swallowed up.

The castle at the center of town, the tallest building, was also abruptly destroyed. Everything was turned to rubble.

A long, large leg was visible through the haze. It writhed inside this dust cover before a rainbow shine blinked, and the king of beasts ascended. Rubble and dust fell off it without end as a loud noise sounded continuously. The town’s destruction came as a price for the birth of the king of beasts.

The kratovastias in the air swarmed around their lord, as if celebrating its birth. In concert with the sound of earth coming off it like a waterfall was a strange song. It was a mad melody somewhere between a cry and a scream. The buzzing of the kratovastias was added to this, creating a sound that would twist and bend the sanity of anyone who listened.

The dirt was still flowing off it when the king of beasts started to move. It went west, toward where the giants would be holding their query.

“This is perfect. The Rubels and the other genoses will all just happen to be in one place right about now. They may call it a query, but in the end, it’s just a barbaric act. We need to help them here. Right, let’s have them ‘query’ until they all die!” Oberon exclaimed.

The kratovastias followed their lord and started moving in unison. They were the callers of destruction, the spreaders of filth, the manifestation of death. These monsters of corrosion once again swept through the skies above the forest.

◆

There were people around to see the progression of the monsters.

These people were gathered on a somewhat large hill a little ways away from what used to be the overtown. These goblins, currently guarded by mystic knights, were its former residents.

While listening to the strange melody fade into the distance along with the sight of the monsters, they started to talk.

“Lord Oberon is going off to battle... He says he will make a life for us without the astragali.”

“They won’t threaten us any longer. But...our town is gone.”

“Yeah. Where do we live now? Was it really necessary to wake that thing up?”

“Would you rather stay under the yoke of those astragali? If Lord Oberon hadn’t managed to tame those things, we would have been eaten someday.”

“Also, Lord Oberon promised us that he will return with those ships. We just have to hold on until he does...”

They were both hopeful and worried, but they could only believe in Oberon’s vow to change their future. They continued to pray toward the west from their position beside the destroyed overtown.

However, not all the goblins were praying and grieving their loss. Some among them were acting strangely.

These people wore the same clothes as those around them and acted just as worried as their peers. However, they would wait for opportunities to slip away unnoticed. Everyone else was so desperate and occupied by what was in front of them that no one noticed their disappearances.

This group continued into the forest as they left the group of goblins. They made no sound and produced almost no sense of presence—they were quiet like shadows. These people clearly moved with purpose, eventually gathering in a single spot, where they shed the trappings of the goblins. Underneath those clothes were knights of Fremmevilla—the Order of the Indigo Falcon.

“We must hurry. The goblins aren’t mere survivors. This information must be given to the Order of the Silver Phoenix.” Nora’s expression was tense as she looked around at her compatriots. The goblin capital was already gone, and that gigantic thing was on the move. They had no time. “Please hurry to First Company’s base. We will attempt to go to the main fleet using our levitating ship.”

The others nodded and burst into action. Even with the speed of their Twediannes, it was a gamble on whether they would make it in time.

Meanwhile, Nora couldn’t hide her displeasure as her group ran for where their levitating ship was hidden. “What kind of monster did the first expedition bring with them? At this rate, the Order of the Silver Phoenix... No, our entire country will become its victim. We must avoid that at all costs!”

She sped up, nearly flying through the forest.

◆

White death filled the space, and giants spewed blood as they collapsed.

The sage’s query held between Genos De Rubel and the Exactus De Varies Genos had changed completely. What was happening now was no query but a kratovastia massacre.

Their fluid projectiles rained down on the ground and burst, aerosolizing and spreading miasma that swallowed giants whole. Each one that was unable to escape fell dead, and the entire area had devolved into panicked shouts.

“Comrades! Heed my words!” the Fictus Rex yelled.

“Yes, my king!” came a delayed reply. His appearance and voice immediately rallied the Rubel warriors, and order was restored.

The Fictus Rex looked at his surviving forces and the glint of his eyes changed. There should have been enough of them to rival the Exactus De Varies Genos, but that number had dwindled greatly.

“Listen, comrades,” he said. “Oberon is controlling the king of beasts. I do not know what fool idea possessed him, but he has somehow learned to do so.”

“How could this be? Then, my liege, are the kratovastias truly attacking us?!”

“It is as you can see.”

An angry response bubbled from the crowd, but that did not help their situation. The Fictus Rex glared at the gigantic thing lurking behind the kratovastias flying overhead.

“Damn that puny Oberon,” he muttered. “He must think he is controlling the king of beasts well. But that is just an illusion. Eventually, it will awaken completely and reject his control. When that happens, the great enemy will come to their senses. The goblins will join us in seeing suffering.”

“Such foolishness...”

The other giants groaned, but then a shadow came over them, and they looked up. The kratovastias that had been annoyingly buzzing over them had left, replaced by a single entity.

“The king of beasts...”

The thing’s body was so absurdly large that it was a town unto itself. Its upper section was an elliptical disc, while the bottom half was long like a funnel. It was so large that it was actually hard to properly perceive the details. And because it flew, its sense of presence was overwhelming. Its eyes—cold and impassive and small compared to its body—looked down on the giants.

Then, as the giants of Genos De Rubel looked up helplessly at it, they heard a familiar voice.

“Ah, so that’s where you were, my dear king of Genos De Rubel. I wanted to at least say a proper goodbye.”

“Oberon... Do you know what you are looking at now that you have awakened the king of beasts?”

The king of beasts rumbled unsettlingly. It seemed the Fictus Rex’s words had been properly conveyed all the way up there.

“Heh ha ha ha ha! Why thank you, truly, for the concern. But in the end, it’s you astragali who don’t understand. We will not be destroyed. Only you.”

Then, the creature emitted a strange melody. This was spread through the red kratovastias to the rest of the swarm. Immediately, the air was filled with the buzzing of bug wings. The disgusting swarm of monsters soiling the sky surrounded the Rubels.

“Now, this is goodbye, my large friends. Depart this world writhing in pain.”

With that as the signal, the kratovastias unleashed their attacks in unison. A rain of fluid projectiles fell upon the giants, enveloping the ground in white mist.

“Whew. Mmmmmm, wonderful!” Oberon said, stretching. “What a wonderful, clear feeling this is!”

The spot where the Rubels once stood was now covered in mist that prevented anyone from seeing inside. Using Oberon’s stretch as a signal, the kratovastias moved.

“Now then,” he continued, “let’s get to the main course.”

The swarm of monsters changed the color of the sky. However, something stood in the way of this deathly procession that would eat away at everything. It was a flying ship with large sails, waving a crest of a silver phoenix with its wings spread wide: the flagship of the Order of the Silver Phoenix, Izumo.

The Izumo slowed, and the kratovastias similarly stopped in response. The two sides faced off in the sky.

“Oberon. So you’re the one controlling them?” A voice reverberated from the Izumo. Only the swarming beasts were visible in front of the ship, but the voice seemed sure that there was a person on the other side.

And, surely enough, one did reply from the rear of the swarm. “Well, if it isn’t Ernesti Echevalier! Sorry to keep you waiting. I finally managed to catch up.”

Shock in the form of a sigh rippled through the Izumo’s bridge. The bridge crew were all lost as to how to respond. Only one person among them glared into the sky with a grim expression: Ernesti.

“Are those monsters seriously obeying people?!” the boss groaned. Any person from Fremmevilla could only see monsters as enemies to be slain. And kratovastias were especially brutal—seeing them being used like this was nightmarish.

“I see. He said that the kratovastias would not help the astragali... So this is what he meant,” muttered Ernie.

“What do you think, Sir Echevalier?! Do you understand now? Do you understand the brilliance of our Lord Oberon?!” Zachariah shouted. As a goblin, having the kratovastias under their thumb was a natural concept to him.

However, the rest of the crew’s gazes grew sharper in response. The boss backed them down, though, before launching a question at Ernie. “So what now, kid? Do you think we can get along with people who keep monsters?”

“Hard to say. Either way, we’re facing people here. I suppose it would depend on how the conversation goes...” Ernie let out a small breath before once again facing the speaking tube. He activated the megaphone and said, “I never would have expected you to actually be controlling the kratovastias. Honestly, I’m surprised.”

“Heh heh heh... It’s all thanks to the mystic beasts. I inherited this from my parents—the first people relegated to being goblins. In the end, mystic knights are just steeds. This is the ‘strength’ we cultivated to survive in the forest.”

Ernie’s eyes narrowed slightly. It felt like an intense pride was blowing his way from beyond the glass. The goblins’ way of living, feigning subservience to the giants, given form. While he wondered what to say next, the monsters stirred.

“Hmm... It seems some of them are still alive,” said Oberon. “What a bother. Let’s just kill them all. And while we’re at it, we can head west, toward my ancestors’ homeland. It would be easy to do together, no?”

“I see. I understand now.”

There were still elements of the Exactus De Varies Genos alive on the ground. Of course, Second Company and the surviving Caelleus were among them. Ernie took a moment to think while the gazes of every person on the bridge focused on him.

“I will keep my promise,” he said. “I invite the goblins, our long-separated brethren, to Fremmevilla.”

“Ha ha ha! Good, good. As I expected. You certainly are understanding!”

The bridge was silent as Zachariah’s face alone shone with hope. In the midst of this, Ernesti resolutely gripped the speaking tube. “However, I cannot allow these kratovastias anywhere near my homeland. They are far too dangerous.”

There was a long, long pause. Then, “What?”

“What are you doing, Sir Echevalier?!” The mood had instantly changed. Zachariah reacted with panic, taking a step forward, but the rest of the bridge crew stopped him.

“I will not just put my own knight order on the effort. I will liaise with my homeland to bring as many levitating ships as we can to carry everyone back. All of this...by human hands. We do not need the strength of such dangerous things.”

“Please, stop with the jokes, Ernesti. I inherited this from my parents. It has nothing to do with goblins or astragali! It is the strongest power that can make anything obey.”

“That has supported you this far, and I know you’re speaking the truth. However, those are still monsters, not machines you have built yourselves. You cannot be sure they will obey you forever.”

The buzzing of wings took over the space between them as an odd silence fell. After a significant amount of time, Oberon replied. “I can’t allow this, Ernesti. You are our long-lost brethren, and I have expressed my desire to join hands with you. Your attitude is unacceptable.”

“My apologies. But we knights are specialists in eliminating monsters. We cannot agree to this.”

Zachariah redoubled his struggling. Unfortunately, the knightsmiths holding him back were quite strong. They held him down and tied him up before carrying him off the bridge.

They silently returned to their positions on the bridge afterward, preparing so the ship could move at any time. The Izumo’s crew was already resolved.

“Then I suppose there is no other choice. It pains me greatly to see that we cannot understand each other, but I suppose this was inevitable,” said Oberon.

A sound came from the king of beasts—a twisted melody that seemed to spread through everything.

“Will you be more understanding after I thin your numbers out a little?! Don’t worry, I won’t kill you all. We need the ships and some guides, after all!”

The mystic beasts took action before Oberon’s shout could fully end. Instantly, the swarm of kratovastias responded to them by charging forward.

“Intercept them, Order of the Silver Phoenix!” Ernie shouted.

“Izumo! Change heading! Full speed!” the boss yelled.

Already, the Izumo had stowed its wing sails and lit up its Magius Jet Engines. The ship relied on these thrusters to turn.

This showed the monsters its belly, and the kratovastias swarmed toward it.

“Wizard-style knights! Fire!”

The defensive complement deployed to the sides of the Izumo fired their silhouette arms all at once. The ship was alight with traces of spellfire as lances of light stretched out from their points of origin.

The mystic beasts raised a shout as they flew. In unison, the kratovastias bent their legs, secreting their deadly fluid, and...

The unleashed fluid projectiles were intercepted by a torrent of spellfire. Death and flames intersected and clashed, painting the sky with explosions.

“Continue the bombardment. Suppress the kratovastias with all your might!”

The Izumo gradually advanced while pouring most of its mana into the bombardment. The amount of fire it was putting out was ridiculous, being able to oppose the entire swarm of kratovastias by itself.

However, their opponents also had human intelligence. As soon as they realized they couldn’t push through from the front, the movements of the kratovastias changed. They split into several groups to try to circle around the curtain of fire.

The red mystic beasts shouted their orders, and the kratovastias formed into small squads. They continued detouring around the bombardment, when suddenly, a flying object speared through them.

“We won’t let you go for the ship!” Helvi shouted.

The attack had originated from Twediannes of Third Company. The Order of the Silver Phoenix didn’t only have levitating ships. These silhouette knights flew freely through the skies, sealing the movements of the kratovastias.

◆

The astragali on the ground looked up in a daze at the battle unfolding in the sky. Blooming explosions changed its very color, which quickly mixed with the white of acid clouds. The levitating ship fleet’s intense bombardment made for an unprecedented sight for the astragali.

“So that is what a battle between goblins looks like.”

“Incredible. To think that those tiny beings and their mystic knights could produce such a battle! I am not sure even we would...”

An emotion not unlike fear welled up within them. Mystic knights and goblins were fighting in a place they couldn’t reach. Their enemies were the astragali’s greatest of foes: kratovastias. Their many eyes were glued on the flying knights and ships.

“Do you see, everyone?” As the rest of the astragali were trembling from the shock, a single girl walked forth. The Parva Marga looked around at the gathered genoses. “This query will affect our futures. Argos has shown us the way. Keep your eyes peeled and witness this.”

Once the Parva Marga confirmed that the others had nodded, she turned around, thinking of her magisters who were fighting in the sky.

“But...we cannot allow Argos to see us do nothing but watch, even if it is all we can do.”

A ripple spread through the astragali. They could not reach the battle in the sky, but did that mean it was okay to just watch?

“Veratorres, Fortissimoses! Kratovastias are our enemy. We must put an end to them with our own hands!”

A voice was raised, and their hesitation vanished. The gathered astragali raised their fighting spirits and picked up what javelins they had left.

“The query is not yet over. We will have Argos witness the answer!”

◆

Second Company watched the astragali spring into action as they took their own. They called over their own levitating ship, bringing their silhouette knights back into the hangar.

“We can leave the ground to the astragali. Let’s link up with the main fleet,” Dietrich told his men.

“Awright! More battles, please!”

“You guys sure are energetic...”

The ship sailed off, chasing after the main fleet. Dietrich glared into the sky, where the monsters were obscured by distance, and his expression turned grim.

“We’ve fought kratovastias before. But...what is that? I can’t believe normal methods will work on that thing.”

Though he complained, the ship did not slow down. They were the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s Second Company, and the assault squad always belonged on the front lines.

◆

“Yeeeaaahhh! That’s what they call the first move advantage!”

Magius Jet Thrusters roared, trailing a long tail of fire. The Twediannes accelerated instantly as they launched long javelins from their tridents.

The metal lances plunged through the sky toward their monstrous targets. The monsters fired fluid projectiles in response, spreading acid clouds in an attempt to stop these weapons, but several still made it through to the other side. These fast-traveling lances bored into their targets, and as blood aerosolized into clouds, the kratovastias fell.

“Okay! That makes three!”

“Don’t get too cocky; the acid clouds are spreading. We need to back up a bit.” Helvi’s unit activated its Magisgraph, sending her orders to Third Company.

The once-clear sky was now clouded over by the kratovastias’ mist. This drifting and lingering area of death only got bigger as the battle went on. This was the greatest advantage of the kratovastias and their most annoying point.

Inside the king of beasts, Oberon ground his teeth as he watched the battle. “Our side is taking more losses than expected.”

The Twediannes flitted around, keeping the advance of the kratovastias in check. In fact, they were even whittling down the swarm.

The ship Ernesti was in at the center of the fleet was still intact, and the other ships were still continuing their bombardment as well. If they tried to break through the center to reach him, even kratovastias would be killed by the incoming fire before their acid clouds could reach.

“Flying ships and flying silhouette knights—the western countries are unbelievably strong. You seem to be an extremely skilled commander, Ernesti. I should have given up on talking to you from the start and just killed you back then!” Oberon let out a frustrated groan as he thought back to their first meeting in the goblin village, as well as the time they’d spent together in overtown.

Ernie had introduced himself as a knight captain, but Oberon couldn’t just take that at face value, even though deep down he did want to believe. Still, reality was unfolding before him as the fighting force in front of him—a knight order, according to the boy—was under Ernie’s command. Oberon couldn’t help but feel that he’d let a one-in-a-thousand chance slip away.

“They’ve mastered the tactics they’re using. They’ve even mastered fighting our kratovastias as a group! It’s no wonder that the western peoples have survived.”

In a sense, they were the complete opposite of the goblins, who had been forced to live alongside these things and the astragali. They displayed high-level coordination between knight and machine as well as strong group tactics. This was anathema to monsters and an unfamiliar way of thinking to the goblins, who relied on those monsters’ strength.

Kratovastias were powerful monsters. However, human intelligence was able to surpass their abilities. This was what was deciding the battle.

“I won’t let this happen. They’re using tactics, unlike those idiot astragali. But we’re just as smart! Can you hear me, mystic beasts? Back into formation; amplify the strength of the kratovastias!” Oberon’s voice resounded, and the red monsters did as they were told.

The mystic beasts raised their cries, relaying the orders of their king. Instantly, the movements of the kratovastias changed. The acid projectiles they’d been firing sporadically and without any plan were now concentrated into different areas. Persistently spreading acid clouds now obstructed the Twediannes.

“Oh no! They’ve managed to create beachheads in several places. Once our movements are constricted, it’s over. We need to fall back!” Helvi scowled when she noticed the change in situation. Flying silhouette knights were certainly powerful weapons, but they had their fair share of drawbacks—most major of which was the fact that they needed a lot of room to exhibit their extreme mobility.

“We can’t allow those things to get close. All units, focus your spellfire. Step on their toes!” Ernie’s orders were sent out, and the fleet with the Izumo at the front came forward and switched with the Twediannes. They carefully blew away the enemy’s creeping territory with spellfire, with any attempts to take a step forward quickly smashed, turning the battle into a seesaw of advance and retreat.

“Hey, look at that. Those damn monsters are resting their forces!” the boss shouted in a pained tone as he looked into a telescope.

Naturally, kratovastias could not keep fighting this entire time. Even though they were powerful monsters, they were still living things. While a part of them fought the knights, a part was resting in the back. They’d retreated all the way back to the king of beasts and attached themselves to its surface to rest. Apparently, the big thing could act as a mother ship. Now that the order knew the bugs could rest and replenish themselves, they realized that winning a battle of attrition would be much harder.

Ernie and the bridge crew processed the situation as they paid careful attention to the somewhat obscured scene in front of them.

“So the other side won’t run out of fuel easily either, huh?” the boss said.

“If not, our only choice will be to bring down that giant monster,” Ernie replied. “As things stand, we’re getting nowhere.”

The Izumo was continuing its bombardment, but they weren’t even getting close to wiping out the acid cloud. In fact, the area of death was still expanding, and they were being forced to slowly fall back.

“The clouds are thick! There’s no way our spellfire will reach that big lug in the back. We can’t aim at it with the long javelins either!”

“Even if a few made it that far, they wouldn’t do much. If we want to kill it, we need to concentrate our firepower.”

The kratovastias would prove too much of a nuisance to aim for the large monster. It was actually the Order of the Silver Phoenix who lacked a way to inflict a decisive blow. If things continued as they were, they would slowly lose. Just as they thought that...

Another barrage of spellfire flew through the air.

Brilliant bolts of fire struck the king of beasts from the back. Powerful explosions blew away several kratovastias resting on its surface. The king of beasts’s size meant that it wasn’t that hurt, but Oberon was more than a little shaken.

“What was that?! Damn, flying ships are coming from our rear? So we lost sight of one of them. No... Wait, I see. They had a trump card!”

A new element had appeared on the battlefield. Several levitating ships were now pincering Oberon’s forces. Only the Order of the Silver Phoenix had flying ships in this area, but Ernie and the others were surprised as well.

“No, we didn’t leave any forces in reserve. They were separate from us from the beginning. Which means...”

The answer was obvious. Standing on the upper deck of the ship at the front of this new group was Ikaruga.

“Heh! Heh! Miss Nora and the others told us about this, so we came! I see Oberon, the Izumo...and Ernie fighting. And he even brought monsters! Then all we need to do is kill those things!” Adeltrude glared at her holomonitor from inside Ikaruga’s cockpit. Her fingers danced across the keyboard, sending orders to the silhouette knight. “Okay, Ikaruga! Let’s blow away Ernie’s enemies!”

Ikaruga took up a stance with its Bladed Cannon and unleashed a spear of intense flame. This projectile, excelling in power and range, reached all the way to the king of beasts and created a fountain of fire on its carapace. A shock ran through its giant body, creating an opportunity for Twediannes to come pouring out of the levitating ships in the fleet.

“It can’t show its back to the Izumo, so now’s our chance!” Addy exclaimed. “Show them your stuff, Ikaruga!”

Ikaruga activated its Magius Jet Thrusters. It ran along the deck, trailing fire, before the entire machine lifted smoothly into the air. As it took to the skies, the armor plates equipped on its back spread out like wings—a halo coat.

Halo coats were furnished with (albeit simplified) Etheric Levitators, giving the silhouette knight a Levitating Field. This, combined with wing-shaped armor plates for support, was enough to solidly hold Ikaruga up despite its lack of power.

“First Company, combat formation!” Edgar shouted.

“The Order of the Indigo Falcon will provide support.”

Twediannes from the ships formed up around Ikaruga. More Twediannes belonging to the Order of the Indigo Falcon came up behind, completing the force behind the king of beasts. Now, all the knights in the forest had gathered.

The battle was about to reach a new stage.

Before the Order of the Silver Phoenix was a giant flying object and a swarm of kratovastias. Because they’d been fighting the order, the area behind the kratovastias was basically clear of acid clouds. These monsters were quite literally exposing their unprotected backs to First Company.

“We’ll deal a painful blow right from the start! But don’t dive too deep—they’ll probably turn to intercept us. Fall back immediately after making your attack!”

“Yes, sir!”

The company responded to Edgar’s order, forming a perfect rank. The Order of the Indigo Falcon was behind them, and all the Twediannes’ thrusters roared loudly as they began their charge.

But the monsters were not lackadaisically waiting for them. The kratovastias attached to the king of beasts hurriedly moved to intercept.

That was when Ikaruga unleashed shining lances of fire. These bolts were meant to support the charging Twediannes from the rear and scorched the kratovastias trying to take off from the king of beasts, one after another.

“I keep underestimating you, Ernesti!” Oberon shouted. “You look so adorable, but I can see now why you managed to survive the forest. You are a dangerously capable commander.”

Having come up to just outside the acid clouds, the Twediannes started their attack. They launched all their missile javelins while also initiating a spellfire bombardment. The king of beasts took these multiple waves of attacks as explosive blossoms bloomed on its shell.

“Damn... It’s tough,” Edgar muttered. He was in the midst of turning after completing his assault.

When the flames of their bombardment dissipated, the king of beasts was unfazed. Its shell sported no significant damage. Monsters over a certain size tended to have extremely tough bodies, and it seemed the king of beasts was no exception.

“Heh... Ha ha! Too bad, flying silhouette knights! It seems not even you have the strength to hurt the king of beasts...to hurt us. Still, I can’t have you killing too many kratovastias. It took quite a lot of time to gather this many.” Oberon’s face twisted in displeasure. That was when a growl came from the king of beasts. This rumbling almost seemed to be a sign of agreement, and Oberon looked back up. “Yes. Right! I know. I won’t let these clueless westerners do as they please. I won’t let them get in the way of all our efforts. I will use the song. Listen!”

Resolved, he gave the order to the king of beasts. Its large body produced an unsettling cadence as he glared at the levitating ships.

◆

“I see First Company and Nora’s group. And Ikaruga too... Addy is with them!”

Ernie was getting a grip on the situation from the Izumo’s bridge using a telescope. He smiled when he saw the flags of the Order of the Silver Phoenix and the Order of the Indigo Falcon fluttering in the wind.

The boss rapped his fist into his palm. “Great! They sure know what to do. Now we can pincer them!”

“I’m going to deploy in Kasasagi. If Ikaruga is here, now is our best chance to get out of this stalemate,” said Ernie.

“You got it. Leave the ship to me!”

Ernie hurried to the hangar where Kasasagi awaited and jumped inside. His silhouette knight was a strange beast, consisting of only a mobile upper half, but it still slid out into the sky as it emitted a rainbow-colored light along with the roar of its thrusters.

First Company and the Order of the Indigo Falcon were attacking and drawing the enemy’s attention. Meanwhile, the main fleet centered around the Izumo took their time to attack the acid cloud while on the move. Both sides maintained the pincer while piling on the pressure.

Twediannes and levitating ships flew freely through the sky. But now, the king of beasts, which had simply been floating idly while letting the kratovastias fight, made its first move.

A seam appeared in its shell, but it wasn’t due to any damage from the spellfire or missile javelins. The upper section of the king of beasts opened up, revealing thin wings that shone with familiar rainbow light. Meanwhile, the lower section opened even wider, the funnel shape spreading and allowing something to appear from inside: legs. Countless limbs stretched out like flora, after which it raised its head, its many eyes dully reflecting light.

Now, the king of beasts looked even stranger than before—like a plant bulb that had sprouted roots. Except the wings coming out of the upper section emitted rainbow light, and the rootlike objects below were all legs. This shape made it not quite like any bug or beast, and its already gigantic body was now even bigger, as if it intended to take up the whole sky.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me...”

“This makes the behemoth look cute.”

The knight runners in the Twediannes stared at their holomonitors in shock. They had absolute trust in their partner machines, but even they were unsure if they would be able to defeat such a large thing. They couldn’t help but doubt what they saw.

Silence had returned to the skies above Doctrina De Siever, but now the king of beasts calmly started to move. Rainbow light circulated around its huge frame as its organs started up. Many sounds overlapped out of it, resonated, and created a bizarre melody. The sound had been faint up until this point; that was no longer the case. It spread persistently to every corner of the battlefield.

A knight runner reacted with a pained shout. “What...is this?!”

“Gah! My head is splitting. Is this an attack?!”

One after another, knight runners and levitating ship crews were forced to cover their ears in pain. This strange and unpleasant tune seemed to be transmitted directly into their heads, and they could still hear it even with their ears covered.

“It feels...so bad...”

Every single person who heard the song writhed in pain. No one had ever experienced a situation like this, and no one could resist it.

“Dammit! This is nothing! Come on, show me some guts! Don’t let yourselves drop to some monster’s attack!” the boss shouted.

The bridge crew on the Izumo was also writhing in pain, but the boss alone was standing, despite having to grit his teeth and breaking out in a cold sweat. The Izumo wavered unsteadily on its course—and not because its crew were indisposed.

The formation of the Twediannes that had been guarding them also gradually crumbled. The knight runners inside tried to resist this intense sense of unease with indomitable spirit, but...

Meanwhile, the monsters seemed to be having no trouble at all. In fact, they became more active, letting out insectoid scratching noises. The kratovastias surged forward to attack the knight order as their movements were dulled from pain.

“Damn. Intercept them! If we don’t move...”

“What? My machine’s not responding right!”

Biting down on their pain, the knight runners tried to counterattack. But they were hit with a shocking revelation right away. Somehow, their nimble Twediannes were now responding strangely slowly. Their thrusters stopped and started in fits, and their fin stabilizers were slow as well. In fact, the Twediannes seemed to respond sluggishly to everything they did. Were their machines somehow in pain too?

The mermaid knights, which had been swimming gracefully through the sky, now seemed like fish out of water. There was no way they could fight kratovastias like this. The knight runners shivered, feeling the danger even while fighting the pain.

“Gah! Gotta...spellfire...somehow! Don’t let them get close...” Helvi muttered.

Monsters felt no mercy or compassion. They fired their fluid projectiles at the suffering Twediannes...

But spellfire from the ground got in the way. Fiery projectiles shining orange clashed with them, causing the fluid to burst in the air.

“Who...was that?!” Helvi had her machine look around even as she continued to clutch her head. It didn’t take long to find the origin of the fire; there was a group wearing blue on the ground.

“Do not falter, brethren. We must help our friends! Bring the fire to our enemies! Destroy the kratovastias!” the Parva Marga shouted.

The giants held up their silhouette arms and fired into the sky. Their aim wasn’t very good because they weren’t used to this, but they made up for it with numbers. The Parva Marga directed them as she also spawned fire from her hands and unleashed magia at the kratovastias.

“We cannot allow the Caelleus to be the only ones looking good! Warriors, ready! Throw!”

The Caelleus weren’t the only ones there—the rest of the Exactus De Varies Genos were present as well. They let their javelins fly at the kratovastias. Not many hit, but each throw was still potentially deadly and served to keep the monsters in check.

“Heh heh. Thanks for the help, Pary—and the rest of you astragali too! Now’s our chance to regroup!” Addy exclaimed.

The Twediannes retreated while trying to soothe their unruly machines. The kratovastias tried to give chase, but they were stopped by attacks from the ground. Once the Twediannes had escaped danger, they regrouped with their levitating ships.

The skies were still filled with that strange tune, and the Order of the Silver Phoenix searched for a way to counter while resisting the pain.

◆

The main fleet wasn’t the only one experiencing trouble under the influence of the king of beasts’s melody. First Company and the Order of the Indigo Falcon, on the opposite side, were in the same dire straits.

“C-Commander! What...is happening?!”

“Gah. Just dealing with the kratovastias is trouble enough. And with the big boss... How irritating! Retreat! We need to protect the ships!” Edgar’s unit started to retreat with awkward movements, followed by his company. It was clear that the Twediannes were having trouble; the usually perfect First Company’s formation was crumbling.

The Twediannes moved unsteadily and were unable to escape the monsters, who swarmed around as if to repay them for attacking as they’d pleased.

“Everyone...shoot them! As much as you can... We must slow them down...even if only a little!” Edgar shouted in fits and starts.

And so, First Company unleashed their scattered spellfire. This was all the resistance the Twediannes could muster at the moment, but it wasn’t very effective. Twediannes could only triumph over kratovastias by fighting with all of their might; the bugs weren’t easy to bring down without concentrated fire. As if determined not to let their chance get away, the kratovastias accelerated, approaching the Twediannes at a speed fast enough to try to take a bite out of the knights’ behinds...

Fire slammed into the swarm from the side, causing an explosion.

“That’s...Ikaruga! You can move, Adeltrude?!” Edgar exclaimed.

Ikaruga was approaching while firing its Bladed Cannons. It did not seem to be nearly as hampered as the Twediannes were.

“It’s super noisy, but yeah, I can!” Addy replied. “Hurry and fall back. I’ll do my best to cover you!”

“Sorry... I’m counting on you.”

The monsters recognized the threat Ikaruga represented and changed targets.

Once it recognized that it had become a target, Ikaruga’s movement patterns changed. Its Magius Jet Thrusters roared as it danced through the sky, weaving through the fluid bullets as well as the resulting acid clouds.

“But in the end, Ikaruga’s still moving kind of weird!” Addy shouted. “Gah! That huge monster’s seriously so loud!!!”

The king of beasts was still in the air, releasing that strange tune to its surroundings. Under the aegis of the king, the kratovastias alone were flying energetically and unimpeded.

Ikaruga looked like it was moving as well as normal. However, Addy could feel a resistance in her controls that normally wasn’t there. The already hard-to-please machine was now throwing even more of a fit than usual and battling the controls. She was using her calculation ability—trained by Ernie himself—to try to somehow keep the raging Ikaruga under control.

Spears of blazing fire flew through the air, but none of them found their mark. Ikaruga, in its current state, couldn’t hope to exhibit the same accuracy as usual.

“Looks like everyone’s gotten away. Urgh... It’s about time I fell back too, but—!”

Ikaruga’s Magius Jet Thrusters roared, and it once again accelerated, followed a beat later by acid clouds expanding where it had just been. Now that the Twediannes were gone, the monsters were all focusing on Ikaruga.

Already, it was getting hard to even attempt to counterattack. In its current state, Ikaruga was already unable to exhibit its full strength, and then the king of beasts’s attack was added on top of that. The layered burdens weighed on Ikaruga, binding it.

“I need to pry open a path. At this rate— Huh?!” Addy stomped on her stirrups. Ikaruga’s thrusters instantly opened to max power, and it shot off, an acid cloud just barely missing Ikaruga during its expansion. Addy had just narrowly escaped this area of death.

But she only had a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. She suddenly noticed that Ikaruga was dropping. “I-I’m falling?! What?!”

It didn’t take long to find the cause. The halo coat attached to Ikaruga’s back was being corroded and spewing white smoke. Addy had thought she’d avoided the acid cloud, but it had in fact slightly touched her machine.

Halo coats had never been very tough devices—they were made to be used and discarded. Naturally, it couldn’t withstand air that could dissolve silhouette knights. And if the Levitating Field created by said dissolving piece of equipment were to disappear, Ikaruga could do nothing but fall.

“Flying with just the thrusters is... No, it won’t work. It’s impossible to stay in the air. The only way I can go is down...” Addy muttered.

It was because Ikaruga was so powerful that mana expenditure was such a large problem for it. Said problem was normally solved with the presence of Behemoth’s Heart and Queen’s Coronet, but in its current state using a normal ether reactor, demand far outstripped supply.

If Addy tried to fly using only her Magius Jet Thrusters, it wouldn’t be long before Ikaruga’s mana pool completely dried up. In the middle of a battlefield, that would mean death.

But right now, she still had some leeway. Forced to land, Ikaruga carefully fired its thrusters to adjust itself as it descended.

The monsters would not let weakened prey escape. They swarmed toward Ikaruga while letting out their strange cries. Even with their dubious monster intelligence, they understood that Ikaruga was a threat with its outstandingly strong spellfire bombardment capabilities. They needed to use whatever they could to eliminate it with certainty.

The monsters tenaciously chased Ikaruga, which couldn’t move as it pleased.

“They’re so persistent! At this rate, I might not be able to get away even if I land,” said Addy. “But I don’t have the mana to strike back either...”

She had no choice but to make use of her thrusters to dodge the attacks. Even Ikaruga could be downed by acid clouds—that had been proven. Addy meticulously and patiently manipulated Ikaruga while keeping careful watch over its steadily dwindling mana reserves.

The kratovastias nimbly danced through the sky as if to mock her careful efforts. They folded their legs toward Ikaruga, who was already dodging acid clouds, and shot fluid projectiles with magic phenomena. A great many of these projectiles flew at Ikaruga, and...

Suddenly, they burst in midair against seemingly nothing.

“I’m okay?! That’s great, but what...?”

Ikaruga hadn’t done anything. Addy looked around, her eyes wide. She immediately spotted a large amount of incoming spellfire.

These bolts were small, and each one wasn’t very powerful. However, their continuous output created an entire curtain of spellfire, which swept away the fluid projectiles flying at Ikaruga.

Joy bloomed on Addy’s face. She knew what silhouette arms made this possible. Of course, she also knew which machine it was mounted on.

The origin of this spellfire was quickly approaching Ikaruga. It was clearly oddly shaped for a silhouette knight. It looked like a bird, with armor plates outstretched, but it clearly wasn’t one from its skull-like head.

“Ernie!” Addy shouted.

Kasasagi scattered snider shots as it approached at speed, sliding between Ikaruga and the monsters. It moved just as nimbly as it did in its normal state, as if refusing to give in to the king of beasts.

“Addy! Are you okay?!”

“Ernie! Yes! Ikaruga’s fine too!”

Kasasagi scattered more snider shots to hinder the kratovastias. This fire was clearly just to keep them in check, but thanks to that, they couldn’t get within range.

“We’re counterattacking, Addy, and I need Ikaruga’s strength. We’re going to be flying by the seat of our pants, but...please help me.”

“Huh?! Of course I will, but what are we doing, Ernie?”

“Well...” Kasasagi turned around as Ernie replied. It closed in on the unsteady Ikaruga and crashed into it from behind.

Chapter 71: Daemon Lord and Fierce God Meet in the Sky

“Ernie?! Wh-What are you doing?!” Addy yelped.

Ernesti left his panicking aide to her own devices for the moment as he controlled Kasasagi. The sub-arms attached to its midsection stretched out and grabbed onto Ikaruga’s back—just as it had done with the Parva Marga before.

Kasasagi deployed its Flexible Coat, as if it were hugging Ikaruga close.

“I know you’re a good girl, so be still and wait a little longer,” said Ernie.

“O-Oh?! Okay, yeah! I’m totally fine with that!”

Kasasagi was half-baked as a silhouette knight, but it was unparalleled at allowing others to fly. However, Ernie’s aim wasn’t only to support Ikaruga. “Now, let’s start with both units together. Pathway secured, starting transmission of mana...”

The sub-arms created a mana channel between the two units through their crystal tissue.

“Confirming linking of all ether reactors and unification of mana pool. Obtaining control directly from the magius engine...”

The Behemoth’s Heart and Queen’s Coronet in Kasasagi connected with Ikaruga’s standard ether reactor, and all reactors started working at full capacity under Ernie’s orders. The intake systems howled, gulping in ether to create mana.

“Redefining target for structural reinforcement... Kasasagi and Ikaruga will be as one,” said Ernie.

Silhouette knights were made possible by Physical Boost magic reinforcing their structures. So what would happen if two silhouette knights were to be considered one? The two units were currently connected by sub-arms and were now combined by the force of powerful Physical Boost magic.

“This is it. Releasing limiter on the ether ring generator. Expanding effect range to its maximum!”

The produced mana rushed in a torrent to Kasasagi’s ether ring generator. Both units’ magius engines worked together to quickly process the massive script. For the first time since its construction, the ether ring generator was operating at maximum power instead of under a limiter.

Rainbow light poured out, covering the sky. Several rainbow rings appeared in layers under the two units’ feet. Ikaruga stood on these instead of using its thrusters, all traces of its earlier unsteadiness gone.

“Output and device stability confirmed. Kasasagi and Ikaruga have been linked in all respects. Awaken.”

Ernie touched everything the two units had to offer from Kasasagi’s cockpit. He knew both Kasasagi and Ikaruga inside and out. Both silhouette knights were like his own body.

With both units unified, the eight-armed result stood tall in the sky.

But then, the strange tune reasserted itself. This beastly song seemed to erode the mind directly, and Ernie couldn’t help but furrow his brow in displeasure; he had been basking in his silhouette knights.

He shook his head to rid himself of the feeling. “Addy, well done holding on this far. From here on, we fight together.”

“Sure thing! When I’m with you, Ernie, I can’t lose!”

Using the rainbow rings as a foothold, the two silhouette knights stood midair. They appeared to be full of openings, and the kratovastias charged in. Their enemy was still, and though they didn’t know why, they did know that their fluid attacks could finish them in an instant.

The monsters neither rushed nor showed any joy; they simply, mechanically attacked. Their fluid projectiles burst, creating acid clouds that enveloped the two silhouette knights without any resistance.

Nothing in this world could resist a kratovastia’s acid. This was especially true for silhouette knights, which made heavy use of metal—kratovastias were like their natural enemies.

However, it didn’t take long for something strange to occur.

Air flowed. Wind had been whipped up in the middle of the acid cloud. The vortex sucked in the acid and grew larger very quickly. The space, which should have been nothing but death, was now a large maelstrom instead.

“Now that I think about it, the solution was simple,” said Ernie. “Kratovastias use projectiles made of bodily fluids with corrosive properties. What’s truly terrifying about this is its volatility and speed of diffusion. But...did you know? Clouds can easily be swayed by wind!”

A rainbow light extended out from gaps in the cloud. The pair of silhouette knights was completely unscathed, despite being surrounded by the acid cloud.

Kasasagi’s Flexible Coat was glowing faintly. The device’s armor plates weren’t just for defense. Magic flowed through the Emblem Graph carved upon them, making the script clearly stand out. The script described an air manipulation spell—a storm defense that caused a vortex of wind.

“Storm Coat...sweep away all the taint they spread!” Ernie shouted.

The created storm blew away the acid cloud entirely. Now, the deadly taint could not touch them. This Emblem Graph Ernie and the goblins from the village had taken great pains to create had now shown its true colors.

The pair of silhouette knights stood on a rainbow wearing a storm. But the kratovastias were not shaken, despite their best attack having been neutralized. They never had any thoughts or feelings to begin with, after all. They simply moved as the mystic beasts commanded.

The red “monsters” screamed their next orders. The bugs gave up on using their fluid projectiles, instead choosing to charge at the pair of silhouette knights.

Certainly, Storm Coat was an effective way to defend against acid clouds. However, even without their acid, the monsters still had their bodies. The kratovastias themselves were basically bombs carrying corrosive fluid. The monsters charged forth, unafraid of their own deaths. They filled Ernie’s and Addy’s holomonitors as they rushed in to destroy their great enemy.

“Ernie, they’re charging at us! There are so many...”

“It’s fine, Addy. They have nothing to surprise us with now. No matter how many they come at us with, there’s nothing to fear. Rahu’s Fists, it’s your turn to dance!”

Under Ernie’s command, Ikaruga launched its Rahu’s Fists. The separated hands flew through the storm, circling the pair. These fists were clad in electricity, the sparks they produced eventually turning into bright lightning. This lightning shot freely through the air and became a cage around the silhouette knights.

“Make yourself heard, Thundering Cataract!” Ernie shouted.

The flying Rahu’s Fists were now twin-linked silhouette arms. The peal of thunder pierced through the raging storm.

This was the same air-to-air interception weapon equipped on Vouivre, the combat-specialized levitating ship deployed in a past war in the west. It was both an absolute defense that would vaporize anything that got close and a deadly attack.

The kratovastias that got close to the swirling storm were mercilessly struck by lightning. Every flash of light saw a monster dead, falling and leaving behind a cloud.

Wind howled and lightning cracked. No attack worked on the rampaging combined silhouette knights; nothing could even get close. The kratovastias let out a cry, making their agitation known.

Ernie stared past these monsters at what lay behind them. The stunningly large creature that was even now emitting that strange tune was the head of all this.

“Kratovastias, we will become a disaster for your kind. So I will name us this: Magatsu-Ikaruga,” said Ernie.

Thrusters spat fire as Magatsu-Ikaruga flew forth, bringing the storm and rainbows with it.

◆

“A whole bunch of kratovastias are coming this way. It looks like they’re gathering every single one in the area!” Addy shouted.

Every nearby monster moved as one, swarming toward Magatsu-Ikaruga—their most dire threat.

“That means the more we go wild, the easier things get for everyone else. Let’s take care of them all here and now!” Ernie replied.

“Okay! Heh heh, with the two of us together, these monsters are nothing!”

The fire spat out by their thrusters increased in strength as Magatsu-Ikaruga accelerated further. They boldly challenged these kratovastias from the front, charging straight in. In unison, the kratovastias launched their fluid projectiles. One by one, these ranged attacks hit their target and burst into acid clouds, but it was all blown away uselessly by the storm.

“The Storm Coat is doing fine! I’ll maintain the Thundering Cataract, Ernie!”

“Thanks, Addy. Now...we’ll crush them with both spellfire and close combat!”

Magatsu-Ikaruga brought up its Bladed Cannons. There wasn’t much distance between it and the monsters, and there was no longer any reason to back off out of fear. No matter how quick the monsters were, there was no escape once Magatsu-Ikaruga got close.

Spears of intense flame accurately pierced through the monsters.

The kratovastias continued, ignoring their dead comrades. Thunder continued to reverberate through the skies. Magatsu-Ikaruga’s defense shot down everything that got close, ripping the bugs into pieces. The resulting sprays of bodily fluids all aerosolized and spread, but this was sucked in by the storm and neutralized.

The storm swirled, and thunder clapped. Every time fire roared, a dead body fell to the ground. Nothing existed in this sky that could stop Magatsu-Ikaruga. It was clad in destruction itself as it boldly advanced.

“What? How could this be? He’s fighting kratovastias under the effects of the Necrolis Song! How can he move like that?!” Oberon shouted.

Mystic beasts stood in the way of the incoming rainbow storm. They commanded the kratovastias while unleashing powerful swirls of acid themselves. Magatsu-Ikaruga’s storm and this whirlpool of acid clashed, the raging wind wrapped up the acid cloud, and—

Actually, it didn’t. Yet Magatsu-Ikaruga’s Flexible Coat let out a faint light. This was the light of a silhouette arms, and it could be pointed in all directions—so the storm could too. Instead of opposing the swirl of acid, it now blew along with it, turning it aside and undoing the whirlpool of death. Magatsu-Ikaruga pointed its Bladed Cannons imposingly as it came forward. Thanks to the two knight runners inside it, it had no blind spots. Spears of blazing flame unerringly pierced through their targets: the mystic beasts.

Without the control of the mystic beasts, the kratovastias instantly fell into confusion. And without the help of human intelligence and tactics, the simple bugs were easily routed.

“Is that really a silhouette knight? Can such a thing really exist in this world?!” Oberon shuddered in fear and confusion. None of the astragali, mystic knights, or even mystic beasts had been this abnormal. The only thing he could think of to compare to what he was seeing was the king of beasts itself...

While he desperately tried to gather his confused thoughts, a voice rang out from who-knew-where—a voice that seemed to resound from all around him. A clear will was communicating to him.

“R-Right. It’s fine, no need to worry. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll make a move myself. Be at ease; nothing can oppose us.”

What could Oberon have been talking to? His panic abated, and he hardened his resolve. However, he was quickly thrown into confusion once again by whatever “will” he was talking to.

“Wh-What?! I won’t allow that. The Necrolis Song cannot be made any stronger! Yes... I understand. Exactly. But—!”

The “will” did not take no for an answer. Unable to convince it, Oberon clenched his fist. “Now’s not the time to be picky about what means we use, you say? Right. It does seem that the westerners won’t easily accept us. Then...we must defeat them. We’ll go to the west ourselves—to our homeland. We must reach it before we are returned to the great flow, after all!”

With that decision, Oberon sank back in his chair. He closed his eyes and dove deep within himself, feeling a connection to something like a large current. An audible noise arose around him—it sounded like something large creaking.

“Fall back. The kratovastias cannot deal with that. I will go myself. You all aim for the ship.”

At their king’s order, the mystic beasts changed tacks, with the kratovastias following them.

Realizing the monsters all started to move differently at once, Magatsu-Ikaruga slowed down. This was also because the gigantic object taking up most of its vision had moved. The king of beasts was so ridiculously large that just changing its facing caused blasts of wind all around it.

“It seems we’ve been recognized as a major threat,” said Ernie.

“I’ve lost count of how many monsters we’ve killed by now, so of course we have,” Addy replied.

Magatsu-Ikaruga stood on a rainbow ring in the sky, but the king of beasts floated even higher, looking down on them. The gaze of its many eyes concentrated on its foe, making its aim clear.

“Oberon... Is such a thing really the goblins’ trump card?” Ernie muttered softly. There was no way for his voice to reach his opposite in the midst of this sky full of raging winds.

Yet a response still came from the king of beasts. “Welcome. I greet you warmly. It looks a little different from before, but I remember that knight. So you continue to be my greatest enemy, Ernesti! You really cause me so much trouble. But that is why we will bring you down with all our might. Obstacles are things to be swept aside, after all.”

The king’s melody increased in pressure once more.

“Your strength is truly shocking! I’d never imagined you could slay so many kratovastias.” Oberon continued. “But in the end, it is still just a tool. Now, get a full taste of the Necrolis Song!”

It seemed like the king of beasts shivered. Its “song” continued to increase in pressure, slamming into Magatsu-Ikaruga and causing the rainbow rings supporting it to waver.

“Urgh...! This...is stronger than before... My head hurts...” Addy complained.

The paired silhouette knight had remained strong even while taking on countless monsters, but now, for the first time, it flinched. The contour of the rainbow rings quivered, indicating that the Levitating Field was growing more unstable. The closer they got to the king of beasts, the more Magatsu-Ikaruga leaned over, as if it were in pain.

“Ikaruga’s starting to move all weird again! Ernie, if this keeps up...” Addy clutched her head while also fervently struggling with her controls. But the magius engine’s response was slow, and Magatsu-Ikaruga was weaker now.

◆

The intense “song” emitted by the king of beasts didn’t just cause Magatsu-Ikaruga pain. Even from a fair distance away, there were Twediannes in the same state.

“Gh! It’s even stronger...than...before!!!”

“Defensive formation! Endure it for now!”

Flying silhouette knights gathered and hardened their defenses while the kratovastias flew nimbly about. This situation was far too unfavorable for the knights, but they could only try to survive until this time of hardship was over.

“Look. The goblin mystic beasts are being weird too.”

“They...must be feeling the same headaches we are.”

The expressions of the giants on the ground were also twisted in pain, and they were forced to clutch their heads every once in a while. However, they weren’t affected as much as the humans were. For some reason, it seemed they were resistant to the effects of the Necrolis Song.

“Comrades, now is the time to keep our eyes open! We cannot allow the goblins to fall. Protect their flying mystic knights!” the Parva Marga shouted, weaving magia.

“Right! We shall not allow those kratovastias to do as they please!” Nav responded from her side, followed by the rest of the surviving Caelleus.

Spellfire went up, obstructing the kratovastias. The support from the ground wasn’t significant, but it was still a small saving grace for the knights of the Order of the Silver Phoenix in their time of need.

◆

The king of beasts started to move. As it sang, it stretched out its many legs toward the pained Magatsu-Ikaruga.

“Heh heh heh, how is it? You can’t move, can you?” Oberon gloated. “Yes, bow before me. Witness a true mystery of the world! The most supreme of powers, which nothing can resist!”

Long legs, each larger than a silhouette knight, drew ever closer. They were tipped with sharp claws, and not even Storm Coat would help defend against them. In the face of this overwhelming strength, nothing could survive destruction.

“Everything—people, astragali, and beasts—will bow down before us. Because we are kings...beings that rule over others. That’s right; I don’t need this role of ‘Oberon’ I’ve been given. Now is the time to reveal my true name...”

The many legs continued toward Magatsu-Ikaruga, locked totally on their target.

“We are the king that rules over all monsters, like a daemon lord of myth. Yes, we are the daemon lord!” Oberon shouted.

The king of beasts—nay, the daemon lord’s legs continued toward Magatsu-Ikaruga. The moment this overwhelming attack was about to destroy the paired silhouette knight, Magatsu-Ikaruga shot off. Its thrusters roared, producing absurd momentum.

“We did it! W-We’re moving! But we really forced it...” Addy said.

Magatsu-Ikaruga had indeed dodged the attack. However, it wasn’t exactly free. Its thrusters were working; that was all. Its attitude control was still rough in the extreme, and its outstanding mobility had been heavily stifled. On top of that, both cockpits were trembling greatly, as if they were in an earthquake.

“I need to interfere with the magius engine and...take control authority,” said Ernie. “Compiling script. Explosion...atmosphere manipulation...continuous output.”

Inside the shaking cockpit, Ernie’s eyes were half closed as if he were meditating. He was in the middle of compiling script. The reason Magatsu-Ikaruga was moving despite its malfunctions was almost entirely because of him. Unfortunately, making the thrusters work was all he could manage.

Though it was by the skin of their teeth, they managed to escape the “daemon lord’s” legs. Oberon’s eyes widened. “Why? Why can they run?! Is there truly something that is proof against the effects of the Necrolis Song?!”

Where did the composure he was filled with just a moment before go? His shock had already passed into the realm of panic.

“But it looks like all they can do is run! I suppose that proves their tenacity—but we won’t let you get away!”

The daemon lord’s legs writhed, once again attacking the paired silhouette knight. Magatsu-Ikaruga dodged these roaring attacks any way it could.

“Ghh, how persistent. We can’t afford to waste too much time...” Oberon’s fears soon became reality. The shaking underneath his feet was clearly abnormal—something unsettling was happening in the daemon lord’s body. A will full of agony was conveyed to him. “Ugh... We’ve hit the limit! It won’t last any more than this. Fine, we’ll just change how we fight. We can just crush that thing with pure power!”

There was a communication of frustrated will, and then the daemon lord stopped singing. The rumbling settled, and calm returned.

Everyone in the vicinity let out a relieved breath when the Necrolis Song stopped. Without this extra burden, the Twediannes regained their former mobility, and the giants on the ground gave a spirited shout. Furthermore, Magatsu-Ikaruga was also released.

“Whew. That annoying headache is finally gone. Now we can counterattack!” Addy exclaimed.

“It seems that song that makes everything go crazy can’t be maintained for long,” noted Ernie. “Maybe it isn’t originally an ability of the monster.”

The rainbow light once again settled into a solid ring shape. Magatsu-Ikaruga now stood stably in the air, and it fired its thrusters a couple times to check its condition. The pressure impeding the machine’s movements was gone now, and all of its functions and abilities were back in full force.

“Which means now is our chance,” said Ernie. “We need to finish that ‘daemon lord’ before it sings again!”

Magatsu-Ikaruga shot forward, trailing a long fiery jet as it charged at the daemon lord.

“So they outlasted the Necrolis Song. But we can’t have them underestimating us. We can do much more than just sing!” Oberon shouted.

The daemon lord moved to intercept Magatsu-Ikaruga. The tips of countless legs started to glow with magic phenomena, resulting in a swirl of fire.

“Wagh! What the heck?! There’s way too many!” Addy yelped.

It was as if the daemon lord’s entire lower half had been set aflame. All of this was directed toward Magatsu-Ikaruga at once, coming in a torrent so great it was impossible to pick out individual bolts. Instead, it looked like an entire wall of fire was assaulting them with fearsome speed.

“Addy! Intercept it with Storm Coat, please!”

“Leave it to me!”

Ernie concentrated, glaring at the incoming wall of fire. The thrusters placed all across Magatsu-Ikaruga’s body moved in tiny, precise adjustments to allow the machine to weave through a tiny gap. In addition, it intercepted some of the bolts with shots from its snider. The fire projectiles clashed, and the resulting explosion was wiped away by Storm Coat.

There was no need to deal with the entire barrage; there was only a limited amount of the entire volley that could hit them, given the size of a silhouette knight. After boring a hole through the wall of fire, Magatsu-Ikaruga broke through to the other side. Immediately, the atmosphere started to bend and warp, marking the nature of the attack as one of air—a wide area of pure, fearsome pressure manifested by magic. Storm Coat wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Overwhelming power was simply the way of this daemon lord.

“Th-There’s nowhere to run?!” Addy yelped.

“Reverse-fire the thrusters!” Ernie shouted.

Not even Magatsu-Ikaruga could withstand being crushed. Ernie reacted quickly, immediately reversing the direction of their flight. The shock wave of pure air descending on them was warded off by a combination of their thrusters and Storm Coat. They’d dodged the attack, but as a cost, they’d been forced back a long way.

Now at a distance, Magatsu-Ikaruga regrouped, turning back to glare at the daemon lord. It wasn’t clear where its countless impassive eyes were looking. Its equally countless legs were writhing unsettlingly, clearly desiring to destroy.

“Gah! Just when that annoying tune is finally gone, we’re stopped by a huge amount of spellfire!” Addy complained.

“I find it a little strange. That monster... The ‘daemon lord’ used several different spells. As far as I know, no monster in existence can do that.” Ernie took some time to think as he stared intensely at the giant thing.

Monsters were beasts that could manipulate magic phenomena. However, they weren’t able to use a wide variety of magic. Outside of the Physical Boost they needed to maintain their large bodies, most monsters were only proficient in one type of spell. No matter how large, a monster was still a monster—and intelligence was needed to make use of magic.

“Is that Oberon’s ability?” Ernie wondered. “Or something else is... Either way, assuming Oberon is in complete control of this ‘daemon lord,’ well...”

If an intelligent person were to be controlling a monster and its massive magic abilities, then...

“This might be a little troublesome,” Ernie muttered as he gave another sharp look at the gigantic object floating in the sky.

◆

The supermassive monster—the so-called daemon lord—started to move. Its shell creaked and grated against itself as it advanced, casting a large shadow over the ground. It looked like it was moving slowly, but that was only an illusion because it was the size of a city.

The great monster’s attention was focused on one point, on a figure that stood on a set of rainbow rings: Magatsu-Ikaruga.

“Ernesti,” Oberon started. “You not only trivialize kratovastias but attacks from this daemon lord as well. I’m sure of it now: Defeating you two will mean our victory. So there will be no holding back. We will destroy you with everything we have!”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t.”

Before the exchange was even finished, the air wobbled as the daemon lord launched another barrage of magic from its many legs. Magatsu-Ikaruga braced itself in midair, the Levitating Field created by the rainbow rings supporting it.

Its thrusters howled explosively, and Magatsu-Ikaruga kicked off of thin air. It accelerated so fast it seemed unnatural, and it dove straight toward the incoming magic. Burning projectiles of flame grazed its armor as they flew past, the heat of them making the air shimmer.

“You aren’t the only one who can attack,” said Ernie.

Magatsu-Ikaruga burst through the haze, its swords at the ready. Its Bladed Cannons opened up, revealing the Emblem Graphs inside. Spears of blazing flame flew out toward the daemon lord in return. The fire of these spears shone brilliantly, but they were canceled out by a torrent of magic from the other side.

“I can’t be having you think this one’s the same as a kratovastia. After all, it has so many more legs!” Oberon laughed uproariously.

Ernie and Addy groaned as they stared at their holomonitors. The daemon lord was so huge that it completely filled their vision. They felt as if their senses would go out of whack if they kept looking at it.

“I wonder how many behemoths big it is?” Addy wondered aloud. “Will our attacks even work on it? This sucks.”

“We’re getting nowhere at this range. It is quite the enemy for even Bladed Cannons to have trouble. Still, we aren’t completely out of options. This ‘daemon lord’ is a living thing, not a machine. It must have a weak point somewhere.”

This was the same as during the fight with the behemoth. Even a division-class monster boasting insurmountable toughness could not escape the weaknesses of being biological.

“Still,” Ernie continued, “even if it does have a weak point, we would need to get close to attack it.”

“That would be hard with how much magic it’s putting out,” Addy said.

They were at a loss as to how to attack. Getting closer was dangerous, but they lacked the ability to affect anything from a distance. The daemon lord continued its advance, locked onto Magatsu-Ikaruga. It had so many eyes in its head that it felt impossible to hide from its gaze, so trying for a surprise attack didn’t seem plausible.

“I can’t afford to keep playing with you, but... Oh!” Oberon exclaimed.

Magatsu-Ikaruga flew a complicated set of maneuvers to dodge the latest curtain of magical barrage, launching fiery spears in return. The flying spears were once again scattered by more incoming magic, though. The daemon lord’s many legs rustled as each tip glowed with the light of magical power, which was shortly unleashed. Fierce attacks flew toward Magatsu-Ikaruga again, and it was again forced to dodge. This exchange was just a repeat from earlier.

“Hey, Ernie!” Addy shouted while adjusting the output of the machine. “What about making this a battle of attrition?!”

“I wouldn’t recommend it, given how big it is. It would be better to assume its mana is infinite. It would be more realistic to hope for Oberon to change his mind on a whim,” Ernie replied.

“Awww. Oh well.”

Magatsu-Ikaruga jumped around on its rainbow rings to dodge the incoming attacks. It wouldn’t be easy to hit it when it was moving at full speed. The daemon lord was relying on its advantage in power, trying to drown them in a torrent of magical attacks, but a damaging hit had yet to land.

Oberon’s mouth twisted as he watched what was happening outside through the daemon lord’s eyes. “I’m not underestimating them, but I did think that this would be over simply by crushing a single silhouette knight. You defy my expectations at every turn.”

He was watching a silhouette knight fly around like a bug. It was nothing but an eyesore to him at this point.

“You’re such a huge, huge bother, Ernesti. And I’m sure you’ll stay one if I let you be. I must crush you now.” That was when Oberon felt a will make contact as the daemon lord whispered in his ear.

“I see. It does seem like it would be very tough to defeat him, but he cannot defeat us either. You are saying we should not only focus on him.” Oberon nodded and shifted his gaze. There were many other actors on this stage; there was no reason to fixate on only one. “Then let us go. I wonder how he will react!”

Oberon waved his hand as he gave the order, a small smile on his face. A low rumble filled the space he was in. The daemon lord’s body shifted little by little right in front of Magatsu-Ikaruga. The barrage continued as always, but Ernie and Addy noticed something was wrong as they dodged.

“Something is off. It’s not coming this way... I see, so that’s what they’re doing.”

Ernie scowled when he estimated where the daemon lord was heading—beyond a bank of clouds, where the kratovastias and fleet were fighting.

“Won’t it be bad if it attacks the Izumo?” Addy asked.

“The daemon lord is essentially a mega super dreadnought. Its firepower and defense are on a whole other level. You’re good, Oberon. You aimed right for where it hurts most.” Ernie nodded, immediately changing Magatsu-Ikaruga’s heading. “Ready a signal flare. We’re heading there as well!”

Magatsu-Ikaruga fired a flare into the air and raised the output on its thrusters as it rushed back to the fleet.

◆

A light as bright as a star shone in the sky, despite it being midday. It was harder to see in the bright light of the sun, but the observer on the Izumo managed it. Immediately, they opened a speaking tube and shouted into it.

“Signal flare from Ikaruga spotted! It’s...an order to retreat?!”

“Heeey kid, we’re right at the good part! What’re you thinkin’?!” This sudden order caused a commotion on the Izumo’s bridge. The boss growled, crossing his arms.

Now that the daemon lord had stopped emitting that Necrolis Song, the Twediannes were back to normal. They were also right in the middle of an exchange with the kratovastias. Second Company and Third Company were fighting together along with the astragali on the ground, and the flow of battle was gradually swinging in the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s favor. If anything, it was their chance to claim victory.

“N-No, boss... I think...that’s the cause.” Batson was at the steering wheel, and he pointed out the window with a shaking finger. Everyone on the bridge followed it.

They saw what he meant. Beyond the acid cloud, something the size of a mountain was coming. It was so big that it was actually hard to gauge how far away it was, but the daemon lord was definitely approaching.

Even the Izumo, which was significantly larger than all other levitating ships, couldn’t compare. It was clear what would happen were they to clash.

“Turn around,” the boss ordered, trembling.

“Yep,” Batson replied, spinning the wheel as the rest of the crew returned to their stations.

“Oh crap! We’re turnin’ tail!”

The Izumo shot its own signal flare, relaying the order to retreat. The rest of the fleet saw this and followed, and if the fleet was retreating, so would the Twediannes. They needed to protect the ships.

Naturally, the kratovastias wouldn’t let such a chance just slip away. The mystic beasts let out a cry, ordering the monsters. The bugs shot forth acid clouds one after another, biting at the rear of the fleet.

“So annoying! We’re busy!”

The Izumo was retreating and so couldn’t bring its full firepower to bear. The silhouette knight complement it had for point defense was limited in their firing arcs due to their machines’ placements.

“Leave it to me. Get the ships out of here!” Helvi and Third Company deployed around the ships to intercept the kratovastias who were approaching from this dead angle. A fierce fight was about to start. “Concentrate your spellfire to the center! Don’t let them get close!”

“Damn monsters! At this rate...”

Spellfire and fluid crisscrossed in the air. Explosions and acid clouds mixed together, painting the sky a muddled color. Kratovastias that were hit by spellfire or missile javelins fell, while Twediannes that sucked in portions of acid cloud convulsed before falling apart.

A splinter of kratovastias continued advancing among the rampant destruction. A mystic beast was at the front, meaning this was directly led by a person. Using the acid cloud as cover, they circled around the area the Twediannes were protecting. This group set their sights on the retreating ships during a time when the fleet’s defenses were not strong enough.

The levitating ship in the rear shot a signal flare. The Izumo’s observation officer saw it and shouted into a speaking tube, “We’ve got a signal from Second Company’s mother ship! They’re turning around?! They mean to confront our pursuers!”

“What?! What kind of selfish stunt— Damn, can’t we do something about them?! Maybe the astragali can...” the boss shouted back.

“They’re on the move too! Also, it’s too late to—”

As the boss was arguing, the levitating ship at the rear of the fleet turned.

With this change of direction, the point-defense silhouette knights’ firing arcs were now aligned properly, and they started interception fire. However, one ship’s worth wasn’t enough. They were acting as a shield. The boss bit his lip from his position on the Izumo’s bridge.

A unit of Twediannes flew by the window. These bore the red cross of Second Company, and the moment the boss saw that, he shouted, “Dee! That damn fool!”

These Twediannes were going the opposite way of the fleet, standing in the way of the kratovastias who were chasing after them.

“Don’t think too much about defense! We can’t let them through, so go in there with the intent to crush them all!” Dietrich shouted.

“We know! It’s a hundred years too early for these dumb bugs to get away with this!”

The Twediannes got into formation around just a single ship. As Dee said, this was no defensive move—it was an offensive arrowhead formation.

The levitating ship at the center started a barrage of spellfire. Bolts of flame burned through the sky as they obstructed the monsters, but none of the bugs fell. They scattered and reconvened to attack the ship.

Aiming for a gap in the monsters’ offensive, the Twediannes struck while still in formation. Missile javelins flew, crossing with expanding acid clouds. Any kratovastias hit with these weapons died, but their corpses still spread acid clouds, forming a large one in the middle of the sky.

“Agh! These things are so annoying!”

The Twediannes were left with no other choice but to change course. As if to mock their forced detour, the kratovastias burst straight through the middle of the acid cloud. They shook off the knights, aiming straight for their mother ship while easily avoiding the ship’s intercepting fire. Just when they were about to shoot their fluid projectiles...

A light flashed.

Thunder clapped after a short delay. One of the kratovastias exploded, and the ship’s crew was left dumbfounded as they watched the monster’s end. A hole opened up in the middle of the resulting acid cloud as something burst through the absurd area of death. It looked menacing, and the crew raised a shout when they saw it.

“I-Ikaruga?!”

There was no mistaking it. The Order of the Phoenix’s flag unit, clad in lightning, stood in the air as it dispersed the clouds. Once Magatsu-Ikaruga confirmed the ship was safe, it turned and shot down the kratovastias in quick succession. The resulting acid clouds never touched it, since they were blown away beforehand. Somehow, it seemed those troublesome clouds were no threat to it.

“Amazing, Ernesti... No, wait. Isn’t Adeltrude the one piloting it right now? Hmm? But I think I see Kasasagi there too...” Dietrich looked confused even as he let out a relieved breath upon confirming the safety of the ship.

Ikaruga had always had a terrifying countenance, and now Kasasagi was attached to it, making for a supremely outrageous appearance. Even the kratovastias looked less menacing in comparison.

At any rate, Magatsu-Ikaruga returned to the Twediannes’ side once it had cleaned up the attacking swarm with lightning. It came beside the Twediannes with unnaturally smooth movements, standing on its rainbow rings.

“That was reckless, Dee. I’ll take care of the rest, so hurry back and regroup with the fleet,” said Ernie.

“That’s reassuring. Then I’ll accept your goodwill, Lord Knight Captain, and go escort them.”

Second Company’s Twediannes went with their levitating ship, chasing after their main force. Magatsu-Ikaruga saw them off before resuming its own activities. Its thrusters spat fire as it accelerated. Meanwhile, Kasasagi turned its head, allowing Ernie to survey the battlefield.

“There, Ernie! The Twediannes!” Addy shouted.

The main fleet was putting some distance behind it, but the Twediannes were still in confused dogfights with the monsters. The knights were fighting their hardest in a gruesome all-out battle, but the situation could be flipped on its head at any moment should the daemon lord start its Necrolis Song again.

Ernie frowned, looking at his enemy’s large form as he came up on the tail of the battlefield. “It’s do or die now.”

“Yeah, but we’ll be fine. Ikaruga and Kasasagi are doing good!” Addy replied. “They’ll be able to get us through anything! And I’ll help too!”

“That’s reassuring, Addy. Well then... Let’s give Oberon a little scare.”

Ernie put on a ferocious smile and had Magatsu-Ikaruga accelerate. Its thrusters roared and spat fire as the machine flung itself forward, accelerating steadily toward the battle.

Lightning flashed in the middle of the kratovastia formation. Every peal of thunder came with a dead monster falling out of the sky. The acid clouds were swept up by Magatsu-Ikaruga’s storm as it continued its advance, trampling over any resistance. It went through the monsters’ airspace, approaching a mystic beast that was giving orders. The mystic beast seemed to panic, and it tried to whip up an acid tornado, but Magatsu-Ikaruga ran it through with a spear of blazing fire first.

Ernie and Addy rejoined the engaged Twediannes, paying no heed to the mystic beast they had blasted away.

“Wait, is that Ikaruga? What happened to it?”

“Who cares? I wanna know how it’s stopping the acid clouds. Man, our captain can just do anything. Not that that’s new.”

The Twediannes gathered around Ikaruga. They couldn’t help but be excited, seeing how powerful Magatsu-Ikaruga was and how easily it destroyed kratovastias.

“I’ve taken care of all the nearby monsters for now,” said Ernie. “Take this chance to prepare for a counteroffensive. We’ll need to concentrate our firepower if we want to take out that ‘daemon lord’...”

Just as he said that, they heard a buzz that should have been impossible so high in the air and turned around. What they saw shocked them speechless.

A fearsome, massive monster was approaching, dispersing any clouds in its way. It looked as if an enormous wall was blocking off the sky, filling their entire vision. Silhouette knights couldn’t even compare when it came to size.

“How dare you...do that to my kratovastias!” Oberon’s angry shout was accompanied by outstretched legs which glowed with magic. Immediately, an overwhelming storm of spells assaulted them.

“Hey! Isn’t it at least a little unfair for monsters to be able to put out such a massive barrage?!”

“It’s better than those acid clouds, but the density of it all is insane!”

The supermassive monster’s abilities were quite literally overwhelming. A barrage of magic that possibly not even the entire fleet combined could match inspired a different kind of panic from the Twediannes.

“Looks like the daemon lord got enough rest,” said Ernie.

Inside the monster, Oberon glared at the Twediannes that flitted about. The “will” responded to him. Satisfied by its response, he adopted a savage smile. “Flying knights, as long as we have your ships, you are unnecessary. So feel free to have an earful of our song!”

The so-called daemon lord followed Oberon’s order. The barrage ceased, replaced by a cadence audible to all—a tone, a melody that spread insanity. The Necrolis Song twisted the world around it.

“Ghhh... Dammit! Show ’im what you’re made of!”

“Again...my controls! They aren’t working!”

“The thrusters are...slow! I can’t...dodge like this!”

The Necrolis Song affected silhouette knights and knight runners equally. In fact, it affected everything in the area, the only exceptions being the kratovastias under its thrall. The bug monsters regained their liveliness as the knights lost theirs.

Addy glared at her enemies with a sour face. “Grrr... They’re so in the way! At this rate, everyone’s gonna...!”

Magatsu-Ikaruga was responding slowly too. As she desperately resisted the effects of the song, she heard Ernie speak in a terribly quiet voice.

“My head hurts so much. But I wonder why? Where in the head is this pain coming from?”

“Where? There are different places in the head?!” Addy shouted, her eyes widening. His calm, lackadaisical tone was out of place for their dire situation, and she had to wonder what it all meant.

However, Ernie was being serious. “Unlike a normal headache, it messes terribly with my calculation and processing speed. Normally, that wouldn’t happen, though I might be distracted somewhat from the pain. Not only that, but even the machine’s magius engine is being affected; that’s just unthinkable.”

Magatsu-Ikaruga stood, quiet and still. The Twediannes around it were in chaos, but it alone seemed calm.

Oberon smiled a twisted smile as he watched the Twediannes be affected. “Heh heh. Does it hurt, westerners? I will put you to rest right away. Fall back, all of you. We shall do this ourselves.”

Once the flying silhouette knights were gone, the ships would lose almost all their protection. Then, the daemon lord could do as it pleased. As long as they took over the ships, it would only be a matter of time until the westerners capitulated.

“This should wake them up. Then we’ll be able to rest. Just do your best for a little while longer.”

The daemon lord’s body rumbled slightly.

Kratovastias streamed through the acid cloud to gather by the daemon lord, attaching themselves to its body to rest. The battle so far had seen their numbers dwindle precipitously, but plenty of them still remained. It would be possible to reach the west.

The moment Oberon relaxed slightly, he felt an alarmed rumbling. He opened his eyes as the “will” communicated to him once again.

“Whoa there,” Ernie said. “Looks like we’ve been found out.”

Something that clearly didn’t belong had mixed into the swarm of kratovastias coming to rest. It was clad in rainbow light and spat fire as it moved—Magatsu-Ikaruga. As the kratovastias retreated, it had used them to hide and approach the daemon lord.

“Did you think we wouldn’t shoot?” Oberon asked.

“You probably would. Still, that would only help me thin out your forces,” Ernie replied.

As expected, the daemon lord started shooting as soon as it noticed them. It was a barrage of suppressing fire, making use of its essentially infinite firepower. On the other hand, it wasn’t good at detailed aim and identification, so naturally the barrage hit and killed kratovastias as well. Their bodily fluids aerosolized into slowly spreading acid clouds.

“My word, Ernesti. I cannot let my guard down around you at all!”

The sky was blotted out by fire and clouds, and Oberon’s breathing became rough with panic. If they’d been slower to realize its presence, it would have gotten too close. No matter how powerful and tough the daemon lord was, Oberon wanted to avoid having it shoot itself.

Unfortunately, his relief was quickly overturned.

The cloud swirled as a storm manifested at its center. Storm Coat blew away the contamination, and Magatsu-Ikaruga continued its charge, its heading nearly unchanged. Ironically, the kratovastias’ acid clouds had served to hide Ernie and Addy from Oberon. Intense regret twisted his face.

“Now, let’s fight up close!” Ernie shouted.

“You persistent little monster!” Oberon screamed back. He was past the point of being choosy about his methods. “Boost your Necrolis Song to its maximum power! We needn’t worry about what comes next—we must settle this now!”

The daemon lord responded immediately, and the pressure created by its tune instantly increased. The supermassive monster’s song caused the air around it to creak and groan as its sinister melody changed the world itself.

“Ahhhggghhh! Th...is...!” Inside Magatsu-Ikaruga, Addy clutched her head in pain. Though she’d somehow managed to endure it so far, she had finally reached her limit. The extra power from the song was even further amplified by her close proximity to it.

She no longer had the strength left to grip her controls. Her consciousness went hazy, but for some reason, a certain voice cut through that haze.

“Get a hold of yourself, Addy,” said Ernie. “Use Physical Boost and don’t hold back. Cast it at full power.”

“E...Ernie. But...my head...it hurts. I can’t...”

“You must. Compile the script with all you have. This is an attack on our Magius Circuits.”

Ernie’s voice seeped into her brain. No matter what sort of dilemma she found herself in, she never failed to listen to him. She closed her eyes and poured all her effort and focus into casting the spell. She did as he once taught her, and...

“Hrrrnnnggghhh! Graaahhh! Ah, you were right. I feel so much better!”

The stronger her processing ability became, the more the pain receded like the tide. As a side effect, her whole body was bursting with power. Addy jumped on her controls, excited.

“Good. There were too many unnatural points for it to be just an effect of the sound. Ever since we started hearing the Necrolis Song, my processing abilities have been experiencing terrible interference. That was how I figured it out. I’m not sure how it’s happening, but the song seems to be forcefully inserting scripts into Magius Circuits and magius engines from the outside. So there’s only one way to defend against it.”

It wasn’t supposed to be possible, but Ernie was sure of it. He probably wouldn’t have noticed if he weren’t at least somewhat of a foreigner in this world. It was because he had such powerful control over his Magius Circuit that he was able to find the smallest of problems.

However, one’s own actions held the greatest influence over one’s own body. If Ernie were using his processing ability, there would be no room for outside interference.

“It’s the same with the magius engines, Addy, so help me. I’m going to use Full Control to completely eliminate the effects of the song. We’ll get Magatsu-Ikaruga moving together.”

“Heh heh hee! Our magic will unite and move Magatsu-Ikaruga... You can count on me! I’m going all out!” For some reason, Addy seemed unnaturally chipper.

Ernesti started making full use of his greatest superpower: his magic processing ability. Once he had completely eliminated all interference, he poured script into Magatsu-Ikaruga. This combined with Addy’s use of the controls and filled every corner of their combined machines with their will.

The demon-faced, eight-armed god awoke.

Light shone from its eye crystals, and enormous amounts of mana filled its frame. The rainbow rings under it were bright and crisp, as were the fires spat from its thrusters. The Rahu’s Fists shot from the rear-mounted arms, unleashing lightning into its surroundings. Magatsu-Ikaruga held Bladed Cannons in its hands as it glared up at the daemon lord.

“Now then, ‘daemon lord.’ If you truly are the ruler of all monsters...I will be the guardian of all machines. In other words, I cannot abide your existence. Ikaruga and I will destroy you all here and now. Prepare yourselves!”

Goblins had split from the western people long ago, but now the two peoples were fighting through the mediums of a machine god and a daemon lord.

◆

The repulsive tune emitted by the daemon lord reigned over the space, but Magatsu-Ikaruga calmly resumed operation. It didn’t seem to be hindered at all by the Necrolis Song. In fact, it was clear it wasn’t affected.

Oberon suppressed the scream he wanted to let out, instead opting to shout, “The Necrolis Song isn’t working on them, even at full power?! Gah, then...”

The daemon lord had been doing nothing but emitting the song, but now it started to do something different. Its countless legs stirred, pointing at Magatsu-Ikaruga. Immediately, a torrent of magic was unleashed.

But it was too little, too late. After all, Magatsu-Ikaruga had already closed in. Several of its blazing spears blew off several legs, and the daemon lord didn’t have the leeway to try and keep the combined silhouette knight away. It was terribly difficult to draw a bead on Magatsu-Ikaruga as it sped around, trailing a long tail of fire. In this situation, it was exceedingly hard for the daemon lord to use its specialty: overwhelming, absolute power.

“First, we need to thin out its legs a little,” said Ernie.

Magatsu-Ikaruga was merciless. It zipped around at high speed while slamming its enemy with blazing spears.

Oberon felt the rumbling of the explosions transmitted through the daemon lord’s body and clenched his fists so hard they turned white. “You’re so strong. I never would have expected for you to push us this far. This isn’t the time to be holding back.”

The rumbling continued. Though it was only in small increments, every attack made by Magatsu-Ikaruga made the daemon lord weaker. It was steady enough that Oberon had to wonder if they would lose at this rate.

He resolved himself and shouted, “Can you hear me, knight runners?! This is your time! Do whatever you must to try to bring that thing down. No...you must bring it down! Protect the daemon lord...our greatest wish!”

The daemon lord shivered. The following change was obvious to everyone, including Magatsu-Ikaruga.

“Ernie, look! Something’s opening!” Addy shouted.

She was pointing at the daemon lord, which was making its big move. Gaps opened up in various spots on its gigantic, tough shell. But they couldn’t just be happy that their enemy’s tough defenses were softening. Something was moving on the other side of these openings.

“It looks like it’s planning on shooting something out. Dodge, Addy—” Before Ernie could finish speaking, something shot out with great speed from inside one of the holes. It made a beeline for Magatsu-Ikaruga.

“That’s not spellfire! What is it?!”

Magatsu-Ikaruga was just barely in time to block a blow from a sword with a Bladed Cannon. The weapons slid against each other, eliciting a metallic scream. The pair of pilots were shocked when they realized what had stretched out from the daemon lord.

“A mystic knight came out of the monster?! No, that can’t be it. There’s too much off about it,” Ernie said.

What was clashing with Magatsu-Ikaruga was undoubtedly a mystic knight. But there was one definitively strange thing about it: It was attached to the end of a long tentacle stretching out from the daemon lord. It was only humanoid from the waist up. Below the waist was just tentacle. Looking around, the pair saw that it wasn’t alone. Several mystic knights, or tentacles with mystic knights on them, had stretched out from the daemon lord toward Magatsu-Ikaruga.

“There’s a bunch of them?! They’re kinda gross!” Addy shrieked.

“If they’re attempting to fight us with numbers, there are ways to counter that!”

Magatsu-Ikaruga’s back-mounted arms stirred. Its Rahu’s Fists flew off, weaving a cocoon of lightning—

But a mass of magic immediately clashed with the Zafar Namas. Fire danced and lightning sparked as the impact of the clash shook Magatsu-Ikaruga’s frame.

“Wagh! The Thundering Cataract’s gonna collapse!” Addy shouted.

“Oh no. Fall back! We need to regroup,” said Ernie.

Magatsu-Ikaruga dodged the storm of magic and retreated. The mystic knights used this opportunity to attack, though, forcing Magatsu-Ikaruga to ward them off with its weapons before making rough use of its thrusters to make good its retreat.

“I thought the Necrolis Song was its greatest weapon, but it seems I was mistaken,” Ernie admitted. “It contains many monsters and mystic knights within. It’s more like a flying fortress than anything else...”

“Now’s not the time to be impressed!” Addy shouted.

Magic flew from the remaining legs while the mystic knights attached to tentacles approached, trying to engage in close combat. Magatsu-Ikaruga employed everything it had to evade. A lone machine being able to slip through all that unscathed was a wonder, but it had to reach its limit sometime.

“There’s no end to this, so let’s move the scenario along,” said Ernie. “It’s going to be a bit forceful, but let’s take a risk, Addy. We’re going to ignore the magic it fires at us. Can you do that?”

Addy let out a sigh. “You just keep getting better at asking for the impossible, Ernie! I get it already!”

Ernie responded with a smile and sent orders to Magatsu-Ikaruga. Its Magius Jet Thrusters spat out an even larger stream of fire, turning the machine around sharply before sending it at a straight line toward the daemon lord.

“Your desperation is showing, Ernesti! I’ll put you out of your misery!”

More magic came spewing from the daemon lord’s legs. There was no escape from the oncoming rush of attacks, but Magatsu-Ikaruga dove into it.

“Raaahhh!” Addy shouted.

The Rahu’s Fists deployed, and lightning intercepted the fire bolts. Blooming explosions were caught in the swirl of Magatsu-Ikaruga’s storm and forced to dissipate. The paired silhouette knight burst through the dense curtain of fire, trailing heat as it advanced.

Right away, a mystic knight charged at fearsome speeds to intercept it. But Magatsu-Ikaruga didn’t slow down—it sped up further. The distance between both sides shrank in an instant.

Thrusters roaring, Magatsu-Ikaruga started to spin. It matched the timing of the mystic knight’s attack, slamming its Bladed Cannons at its foe. Bladed Cannons had silhouette arms hidden inside, so they had to enhance their durability using Physical Boost magic. Between the weapons’ fearsome destructive power and Magatsu-Ikaruga’s momentum, the attack sliced right through the mystic knight, sword and all. The mystic knight half, completely severed, fell as the tentacle writhed.

Magatsu-Ikaruga had fought through all attempts to stop it, and now it was in melee range of the daemon lord.

“Ernie! What do we do now?!” Addy asked.

“We’re going to make a breakthrough,” Ernie replied.

“Uh... Does that mean...?”

Magatsu-Ikaruga stuck out its Bladed Cannons. The weapons opened up, revealing the silhouette arms inside. Fire swirled, creating an intense light as magic spears formed. The blazing spears shot out, stabbing into the base of a tentacle. A fierce fountain of fire erupted and severed it.

Once the explosion cleared, an empty cavity was all that was left.

“I knew it! We’re really going in there!” Addy shouted accusingly.

“Of course we are. It would be too difficult to break such a large thing from the outside. So this is the perfect opportunity!”

Ernie slammed more blazing spears into the hole to widen it. After the intense flames guttered out, there was a hollow large enough to easily fit a silhouette knight, and Magatsu-Ikaruga slipped inside.

They quickly got past the thick shell layer. Whenever they were obstructed by flesh, Magatsu-Ikaruga used its Bladed Cannons to cut or bore an opening. It didn’t take long for them to surpass these obstacles and get inside the daemon lord’s body.

“Wh-What...is this place?” Addy asked.

Ernie and Addy were staring in shock at what they saw, despite having braced themselves when they entered. The daemon lord was massive, but its interior was completely different from anything they could have imagined.

Fibrous pillars crisscrossed the space, crowding it with a biological version of geometric patterns. Furthermore, there were traces here and there of something that was definitely not natural—something human-made.

Kasasagi turned its head this way and that as Ernie looked for information. “It may be a monster, but I knew it was strange for it to be able to fly despite being the size of a city. I predicted that it would be at least partially hollow inside, but...”

“Ernie? Did you actually barge in here with only a vague notion of it being hollow?!” Addy shouted, her face spasming. But her reaction aside, an unpleasant scraping noise started to reverberate through the space.

She sighed. “Looks like the welcoming party’s already here.”

Mystic knights appeared, weaving their way through the pillars. And of course, their lower halves were tentacles. It seemed these tentacles were coming from somewhere deep inside the daemon lord. In the first place, Magatsu-Ikaruga was still at the entrance of this thing.

“What do we do? Blow them all away?” Addy asked.

“At any rate, we need to get past them to reach the center of this ‘daemon lord,’” said Ernie.

Magatsu-Ikaruga raised its Bladed Cannons, but it kept its Rahu’s Fists sheathed because they were surrounded by pillars.

Mystic knights deftly slipped between the pillars, nearly flying at their enemy. They were met with blazing spears and mercilessly incinerated. Magatsu-Ikaruga had fired, not caring about potential damage to the surroundings.

They fought for a while, but soon enough, Ernie and Addy noticed everything was quiet. Nothing moved, so Magatsu-Ikaruga slowly advanced.

“I think we’re nearly there,” Ernie said.

Magatsu-Ikaruga cut through a fibrous pillar and walked past, and their vision opened up. They were now in a wide-open space surrounded by a wall of pillars. A thick column lay at the center, and the two pilots were sure that this was the core of the daemon lord.

As they approached, more details became apparent. The pillar swelled gently around the middle and was eerily beating. Upon closer inspection, they realized that this one wasn’t just fibrous. The center of it was clearly mechanical—meaning it was man-made.

“So the goblins really made this thing?” Addy asked.

“It’s certainly not a naturally occurring monster. But would people alone really be able to make something like this?” Ernie wondered.

This was a question only Ernie would think of, as the leader of the Order of the Silver Phoenix and as someone who had created a great many silhouette knights and levitating ships. What kind of technology was behind the creation of this daemon lord? Mystic knights were easy to understand. Mystic beasts were still within the realm of possibility. But this daemon lord was a great departure from anything he could imagine.

While Ernie was absorbed in thought, Magatsu-Ikaruga got closer to the pillar.

“Anyway, we might learn something if we investigate this. I believe this is the central piece that controls monsters, but...it doesn’t seem to be any normal machine. There’s something inside.” Ernie narrowed his eyes. There was a section of the device that seemed to be made of clear crystal, and something was floating inside it.

No, not something—someone.

“To think you would make all the way here. Allow me to express my sincere respect, Ernesti.”

Ernesti’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from above, as a mystic beast descended while emitting faint rainbow light. Ernie and Addy instantly realized who was inside.

“Oberon,” said Ernie.

The mystic beast continued to slowly descend, coming between Magatsu-Ikaruga and the central pillar.

“Did you come here to destroy this?” Oberon asked. His voice was terrifyingly dispassionate and showed no signs of his earlier agitation.

Before replying, Ernie told Addy to prepare for the worst in a hushed aside. Then, he turned to look at the mystic beast displayed on his holomonitor. “I cannot allow you to bring a weapon capable of controlling a daemon lord—nay, a monster into my homeland.”

“This is our hope—the hope of those who were cast away by the failure of the expeditionary force. And I carry the wishes of my parents as well. I must go. I must return!” Oberon shouted.

Ernie glared behind the mystic beast. “There’s someone inside that device. Could it be...?”

“Indeed, my parents. People who were left behind in this forest because of your people’s foolishness.”

“The expedition was certainly a folly of humanity’s past. But...” As Ernie spoke, he got a weird feeling in his gut. There were some parts of what Oberon said that didn’t fit. Thinking back on it, he suddenly realized what was wrong. “Wait. The expedition was hundreds of years ago, yet you talk like you were there. No...your parents? I see! Long-lived and capable of using magic in the form of so-called ‘songs’... I understand now.”

Ernie’s eyes widened, and he looked to the figures in the device with disbelief. The silhouettes seemed to waver and dance, and when he looked closer, he noticed that they differed just slightly from humans. The figures were indeed not human. “Alves?! They hide themselves... Were some actually taken along for the expedition?! That can’t be!”

“Oho? You’re quite knowledgeable for a plebeian. Or have the western alves stepped into the light of history during the hundreds of years I missed?”

“They are still spending their time quietly in the shadows. Despite how I look, I am a knight captain and quite knowledgeable.”

Oberon’s faint laughter was transmitted through his mystic beast. “I think the plebeians back then must have been either insane or drunk off of something. They only realized they’d made a mistake when they were about to be crushed by a gigantic monster.”

This was a matter of history. The humans had been beaten back to the area around the Auvinier Mountains, leaving a single country at its feet: Fremmevilla.

“Honestly, I do not mind if they wish to die to their own stupidity,” Oberon continued. “However, my parents... They were compassionate. They were the reason some of them survived in this forest full of monsters and astragali. And even now, this hasn’t changed.”

“I wondered why these survivors maintained such a high level of skill in technology. So it was from alves.”

The technology to not just manipulate monsters, but to turn them into massive weapons, didn’t exist in the west.

This so-called daemon lord was too much to assume the goblins had come to this independently. However, it wasn’t impossible if a descendant of alves was involved.

Oberon had been seeming rather proud, but now his entire demeanor changed in an instant. “But no matter how long-lived we alves are, we still have a lifespan. The time came for my father and mother to return to the great flow... Tragic, isn’t it? They were brought out here because of selfishness and met their end here without being able to join the flow! Unforgivable, don’t you think?!”

A cry came from the mystic beast. This spread to its surroundings, causing the insides of the daemon lord to stir.

Ernie felt things start to shift. “And that is why you moved this ‘daemon lord’? To bring your parents back?”

“So what if it is?”

Ernie stared at his holomonitor as he sent a small signal to Addy. She finally readied the weapons, prepared to react if anything were to happen.

“You have your own objective,” Ernie said. “But that doesn’t mesh with ours. No matter what you are trying to accomplish, you are in control of this monster you refer to as a daemon lord. It is still a giant weapon made to suppress people.”

The mystic beast let out a sharp, low wail, and many mystic knights flooded out from between the fibers. They surrounded Magatsu-Ikaruga, ready to attack at any time.

Magatsu-Ikaruga held up its Bladed Cannons and sent out its Rahu’s Fists, ready to intercept them.

“As always, you plebeians are so selfish,” said Oberon.

“As are you. It seems you’ve taken up our colors,” Ernie replied.

An unmistakable laugh came from the mystic beast. “Ha ha ha ha ha! Good, that’s good. Well said, Ernesti!!!”

The king’s shout was the signal, and everything kicked off.

Their surroundings were filled with the “will.” The daemon lord filled the air with an extremely powerful instance of its Necrolis Song, changing the air itself into something repulsive. At the same time, the mystic knights attacked Magatsu-Ikaruga in unison, sealing its movements—

But Magatsu-Ikaruga was completely unaffected by the effects of the song. The Rahu’s Fists spat lightning, filling the air with its own attack. Whips of electricity destroyed mystic knights as Magatsu-Ikaruga held up its Bladed Cannons.

The blades opened up and shot spears of blazing fire. The spellfire was accurately aimed at the core of the daemon lord. These deadly bolts flew for their target—but a mystic beast came to stand in the way. Oberon was trying to use his own machine to protect his parents—

“Whaaat?!”

But his mystic beast suddenly ascended without his consent. The blazing bolts hit their target unguarded, impacting the core of the daemon lord. Oberon watched in a daze as the pillar was destroyed in a series of great explosions.

“No... It can’t be. Stop. Stop! Father, mother!!! L-Listen to me, damn you!” The king pleaded and thrashed about, but it was all useless. The mystic beast didn’t stop and continued upward. He realized that it was flying through a hole that led outside, and he grabbed his head in his rage. “Ah... Aaaghhh! Why?! It’s not over—we were so close! So close!!! Father... Mother...”

The mystic beast flew outside, ignoring Oberon’s wails. Then, it soared off into the distance, absolutely heedless of the daemon lord.

Meanwhile, in the core...

Though it was crumbling due to spellfire and wreathed in flame, the device was still operational. The Necrolis Song intensified, becoming a shriek rather than a song.

Addy let out a pained noise, clenching her teeth. “This is...I have to admit...a little too loud!”

She was compiling with all her might to protect her Magius Circuit, but still the Necrolis Song was biting into her. It had turned into a contest of strength, and the noise had grown to a point where it was now affecting Magatsu-Ikaruga again. However...

“You once saved many. But now, it’s different... These things do nothing but cause death. So sleep already!” Ernesti Echevalier put his all into busting through the interference and making Magatsu-Ikaruga move. Its Bladed Cannons once again spat fire at the daemon lord’s core.

The blazing spears stabbed into the half-destroyed device. Intense fire fountained out, blowing the structure to smithereens. The explosions chained their way down the rest of the pillar toward its base, which was when Ernie picked up on something other than the Necrolis Song. A certain will...

◆

The boss grunted. “O-Oh? My head’s feeling real clear all of a sudden!”

“Aha! The wheel’s working too!” Batson said.

While Ernie and Addy were destroying the core, the boss and rest of the Izumo’s bridge crew were screaming when the burden of the Necrolis Song suddenly disappeared. They shook their heads, trying to rid themselves of any lingering pain, and hurried back to their posts. The knight runners in their Twediannes did the same.

“Hah! Finally, that weird attack stopped. And my Twedianne is back in good shape too!” Helvi said, but she was soon shocked by the situation around her. “Wh-What? The monsters are moving differently. Like...aren’t they a total mess?”

She wasn’t the only one who raised her voice in bewilderment. Almost all of the knight runners fighting the kratovastias did.

Up until now, these monsters had fought using tactics created by human minds and had made for extremely tough enemies. Now, though, not even a shade of those tactics could be seen.

“They’re nothing to be afraid of like this,” Dietrich said with a nod. The kratovastias had completely lost the intelligence that had been lent to them. Without anyone to hold their reins, these monsters were free to move around according to their instincts. They were now nothing but low-grade monsters that did nothing but react to what was in front of them.

“Then I guess we clean them up,” proposed Dietrich.

“Hmm? Hey, wait a second. Look over there,” Helvi said, having found something far off in the sky.

At the same time, the observation officer on the Izumo was shouting into a speaking tube. “Emergency! Ships ahead! They are approaching!”

“What?” the boss responded. “Oh, those are...First Company!”

In the fleet’s path was a group of similar ships—the ships belonging to First Company and the Order of the Indigo Falcon who had split off. They had naturally been inching closer to the main fleet as the kratovastias chased them.

“Whoa. They’ve got a whole bunch of bugs in pursuit.”

“Not like we’re any different.”

The airspace around the fleet was still filled with kratovastias. First Company had survived the Necrolis Song by fleeing through the bugs’ assault, but now those kratovastias, too, seemed to have lost their leadership.

“They seem to be feeling it too. Now’s the time to attack—” the boss started.

“That’s all well and good, boss, but we’ll crash into them if we keep going.”

“What’s wrong with you? Just shift to the side a little and... No, wait a second.” The boss walked his statement back and glared out the window. The Twediannes, which had at some point caught up to them, were now repeatedly flashing their Magisgraphs. The boss read their message and adopted a bold smile. “Heh! That’s a pretty interesting idea! Okay. Hey, Batson! Stay on course!”

“Whaaat?! Are you sure?” Batson was surprised, but he did as he was told. Both groups shot up signal flares to communicate while they got ever closer. The ships continued on their courses and—finally—slipped right by each other.

Batson watched this through the window and let out a huge sigh. “Whew. Great, we managed to avoid them!”

“Okay! Ha ha! Right on target!” The boss was glaring straight ahead, his teeth bared. Kratovastias were chasing after both sides, and now that they’d slipped by each other, they were now face-first with each other’s enemies.

“Great! Let ’em have it!” Twediannes rushed past the ship.

“This is payback for earlier! We’ll clean you up all at once!”

“Then I guess we’ll help.” Third Company followed Helvi, taking up a formation. They attacked the kratovastias with perfect teamwork, with Second Company following close behind.

As if all the trouble they’d experienced to this point had been a lie, the kratovastias fell rather anticlimactically. Without their teamwork and tactics, they were nearly useless. At this point, there was absolutely no reason for a knight runner to lose.

“I feel bad for the beasts. I suppose that was all just borrowed power, in the end.” Edgar let out a strained chuckle as he accurately shot them down. He was merciless, as if he were venting all his frustration.

While the Twediannes were cleaning up, the levitating ships charged forth.

“Okay! We’re blowing the rest away! Let ’em have it!”

With that order, the point-defense silhouette knights unleashed their assault. The dense curtain of spellfire destroyed the remaining kratovastias, acid clouds and all. It didn’t take long until the skies were clear.

After taking care of the kratovastias, the separate force circled around and regrouped with the main fleet. Now, all of Fremmevilla’s elements in the area were gathered together.

“Good, good. Now all that’s left is that big thing!” the boss shouted. He was in a good mood after killing those kratovastias, and he leaned back in his captain’s chair.

“Wait, boss. It’s coming,” Batson mentioned in a trembling voice.

“Huh?” The boss instantly turned around, and his face spasmed in shock. The giant monster that was so large even levitating ships couldn’t compare was indeed steadily coming closer.

“T-Turn around! Hurry!” he shouted.

“I already am!”

The daemon lord charged forward blindly, letting out a long bellow. In a panic, the fleet hurried to turn around. After all, it was as big as a city. If they were to clash, the ships might as well have been made of glass.

“Ohhh no. Crapcrapcrap...”

The ship creaked as it accelerated. But no matter how far they went, it didn’t feel like they were getting any farther away. Then, the Twediannes deployed around them all gathered to the ships.

“All units, maximum thrust! Don’t hold back! We can’t afford to lose the ships here. Put your backs into it!” Helvi ordered.

“It’s almost over. Everyone, do your best!” Edgar shouted.

“I knew this would happen! Argh, we’re going all out!” Dietrich yelled.

The Twediannes grabbed onto the ships and started pushing with everything they had. This excessive burden caused the creaking of the ships’ hulls to intensify. One wrong step, and the ships could break apart. Still, it was a better bet than being dashed to bits by the monster.

“Can we make it?! Just a little more... Damn! Stop, you big lug!” the boss yelled.

“Please... Please...!” Batson prayed at the wheel.

Everyone looked out at the daemon lord, which was filling their windows and monitors, and cursed. They were putting everything they had into escaping, but the boss could do nothing but hope.

That was when the daemon lord seemed to shake strangely all of a sudden.

This was followed by an explosion in its torso, which blew out a portion of its shell from the inside. The daemon lord twisted and let out a long, low cry. With that, it slowed down—just a little bit.

The fleet managed to escape by a hair’s breadth. They watched the daemon lord’s shell slip by them, and they knew that they’d have been easily erased had they been just a little bit slower.

“T-Too close!” the boss shouted.

“It really was! But we dodged it, boss! Let’s hit it back!”

“Okay, let’s show it how we feel about that scare it just gave us!”

The Twediannes detached themselves from the ships and took up battle formation. Both ships and knights started bombarding the daemon lord in unison. Many explosions bloomed on its shell, but there was no sign the fleet’s all-out barrage was affecting it.

“Dammit, it’s not working at all!”

“It’s still better than doing nothing, I think. Man, things get really tough when they’re huge.”

Though fire wreathed the upper portions of its shell, the daemon lord continued forward. It seemed unaffected, no matter how much it was hit with spellfire, but then it suddenly shuddered. Fire fountained on its surface—fire that came from inside it. A piece of its shell was blasted outward with a gush of fluid.

“There! The shell came off!”

“Now’s our chance! Concentrate fire!”

The fleet concentrated their spellfire on the hole that had just opened up. Not even the daemon lord could totally protect its wound. It was being damaged from the inside and was steadily dying.

The daemon lord let out a pained cry as its legs writhed, but they did not unleash any magic. There was no one to process the script, after all.

Eventually, a strange creaking sound started to fill the air. It was coming from the daemon lord.

As time went on, the creaking got louder. Suddenly, cracks appeared all over its shell. Its legs fell off, and it fell from the sky while spraying bodily fluids. It might have had massive durability and mass, but none of it was infinite. Even this creature would meet its limit eventually.

“Ah, look there! Something’s coming out...”

Several explosions occurred in quick succession on the daemon lord’s surface, further expediting its demise. These explosions blew away another piece of shell, and something flew out on a rainbow ring as if chasing that piece—Magatsu-Ikaruga.

Looking down at the severely wounded “daemon lord,” the paired silhouette knight aimed its Bladed Cannons.

“Let’s put an end to this,” said Ernie.

The weapons spewed powerful fire, sending blazing spears flying through the air to bore into their target and explode out the other side.

That blow finally spelled the monster’s death. Its internal structure had been utterly destroyed, and now it fell apart. And once it started, it would not stop. Without its Physical Boost magic, the burden on each part of the daemon lord increased dramatically, and it collapsed in a chain.

There was only one result awaiting it—the monster the size of a city split.

Sparkling rainbow light spewed from its remains. Fluid fell from it in waterfalls, as the carcass, once referred to as a daemon lord, fell from the sky. As gravity dictated, it crashed into the ground and created a terrifyingly strong earthquake.

The kicked-up dirt covered the sky, and the earthquake spread in all directions. The beasts of the forest stirred, looking up at the dust cover. This was the end of a long battle—a headstone to a gigantic monster.

The humongous monster sank into the ground, and the battle was over.

Chapter 72: Let Us Set Off for Home

The large dust cloud cast an equally large shadow over Doctrina De Siever. Magatsu-Ikaruga stood on its rainbow ring and watched the cloud settle.

“It’s over, isn’t it?” Addy asked.

“Yes. The daemon lord and the kratovastias are all—or at least mostly—exterminated. This should change the face of the forest greatly, though we’ll have to spend some time cleaning up after the battle,” Ernie replied.

The near complete absence of the powerful kratovastias would have great effects on the forest’s food chain. It was possible for a new tough enemy to rise up. However, such a thing could just be dealt with as it came. More importantly—

“Hey, was that really okay?” Addy asked.

Magatsu-Ikaruga was carrying a large crystal sphere beside it. Inside were sealed survivors of the first expedition—a pair of alves. They were what used to be the core of the “daemon lord.”

“It seems without this, it can’t use the Necrolis Song. But now that the ‘daemon lord’ is no more, these are just alves. I can’t bear to let them die like that. His methods aside, he was trying to lead these people,” Ernie replied.

“Hmm, I see. All those goblins are gonna have a tough time, aren’t they?”

The “daemon lord” and Oberon had still brought peace and stability to the goblins, despite their problems. A certain amount of strength was needed to survive in this forest, after all. This battle had resulted in the loss of their daemon lord and the majority of their mystic knights and mystic beasts—powerful weapons all. The goblins’ future was looking quite bleak.

“Hrm. The battle is over, but there’s still a mountain of things to do. First, we need to do something about the village’s defenses.”

“Is the Order of the Silver Phoenix going to protect the goblins, Ernie?” Addy was a little surprised, so she couldn’t help but ask.

“The village helped build Kasasagi, so we can’t just abandon them. They have no fighting strength, so all we can do is have the knight order work for a while.”

Ernie pondered things while Magatsu-Ikaruga slid forward at a leisurely pace. He was a hobbyist who gave his entire life to his pastimes, but he was still a leader. He had a duty to decide their direction, and he wasn’t planning on neglecting that.

“Then you plan on living here, Ernie? Hmm... I don’t hate these people, but I don’t want to stay here forever.” Addy was also thinking about this in her own way. Ernie’s side was where she belonged. But that alone wasn’t enough to make her life perfect. Putting their time spent trying to find a way home aside, they had levitating ships now. She felt that going home was the obvious choice.

“Oh, yes. I thought of a good idea. We can just leave the protection of this place to someone else. Let us involve the astragali.” Ernie rapped his fist against his palm.

They had the means to negotiate with astragali. After all, they were the ones who had wiped out the kratovastias and brought down the daemon lord. As a race that naturally worshipped on the altar of strength, the giants couldn’t ignore the Order of the Silver Phoenix.

“We might be able to ask Pary to do it, yeah! But what then?” Addy asked.

Ernie’s smile bloomed across his face like a flower. “Let’s go home first. I’m sure our mothers are worried. Then, of course, the most important thing is to report to the king. If establishing a territory in the Great Bocuse Forest is possible, a lot of people will need to be involved. No... I will make sure they are.”

“Ah, you plan to foist all the responsibility onto them.” Addy realized his plans immediately. Fundamentally, Ernie only did things he was interested in. And he didn’t shy away from any methods in order to pursue his goals.

“You make it sound so bad. Managing territory isn’t my specialty. So I’m just leaving it to someone who’s more suited.”

“Hmm... Well, I guess that would be better.”

Now that Addy thought about it, she didn’t want to stay in this forest anyway. Everything would be fine if they could just go home.

Then, she noticed that the fleet was coming toward them, with the Izumo at the front. Addy had Magatsu-Ikaruga wave.

“Now let’s go home, Addy,” said Ernie.

“Okay!”

Magatsu-Ikaruga made for the fleet, raising its speed.

◆

As time passed, the shaking of the ground receded, and all the dust and dirt that had been kicked up into the air settled. The battle that had unfolded in the sky was over and its aftereffects had disappeared, so the forest was returning to its usual state.

“It’s over, isn’t it?”

The Exactus De Varies Genos had escaped the effects of the Necrolis Song and retreated thanks to Magatsu-Ikaruga engaging the daemon lord in combat.

They returned to Doctrina De Siever once the fighting was over, and looked upon the aftermath: an innumerable amount of kratovastia carcasses strewn all over the ground. Far away towered the corpse of the daemon lord. It was so big that it made the plains of Doctrina De Siever look like a small mountain.

“The kratovastias and that large beast have both fallen. We...were not idle, but we did not contribute much.”

“Beasts large enough in number to blot out the sky, and goblins—tiny ones capable of destroying them...”

“I have paid witness with my three eyes. Argos will see this.”

The giants whispered among themselves, but one stepped forward. The Fortissimos De Tertius Oculus of the Caelleus looked at the crowd and addressed the Exactus De Varies Genos. “Everyone, we have arrived at an answer! This is the acknowledgment Argos has afforded us!”

The rest reacted with gasps of shock. The hero had announced the end of this query.

Not everyone’s reactions were the same. Some nodded, while others shook their heads. Some were even angry—and these were the ones who raised their voices.

“We should have been posing a question to the Rubels! But once again, the query was tainted by kratovastias. And, of all things to happen, the Rubels were caught in their own taint and had their eyes returned! It was not us. With this...how can we call an end to the query?”

Voices of agreement were raised here and there. The Exactus De Varies Genos was formed to query Genos De Rubel. A sage’s query should have only involved astragali. However, this one had become far too abnormal.

“Even the goblins... Certainly, they were all Fortissimoses, and capable of defeating kratovastias. I admit that. But they are still not astragali.”

“It is as if...we exchanged kratovastias for goblins.”

The Order of the Silver Phoenix showed too much power in this battle—enough to destroy kratovastias. It was only natural for them to be a new source of unease for the giants.

But the Caelleus Fortissimos shook his head. “They have become brethren to us Caelleus. They may be somewhat small, but is that truly such a problem?”

The others squinted and exchanged looks. They had to wonder if such an interpretation was too forced.

“Even so, it does not change the fact that they are not astragali. How is this different than the taint of the kratovastias?”

“It is different,” the Caelleus Fortissimos countered, smiling as he thought of his first meeting with that small Fortissimos. “They share words with us. They are fundamentally different from those things that only spread filth.”

His words hadn’t convinced all of the giants, and several debates started.

“We must use our speech,” he continued. “We must talk, so that we may see something good when we are at the side of Argos. That is how those with intelligence must be.”

His words still didn’t convince everyone. But he did make them notice that a new fight was about to start. And this new query would be carried out with words...

That was when a commotion occurred among the giants.

They had noticed another group of astragali approaching the Exactus De Varies Genos with unsteady footsteps. These giants were terribly wounded, with not a single one in perfect shape. They were near death and leaning on each other for support to move.

What genos could have been this wounded? The Exactus De Varies Genos was confused—but then the Caelleus Fortissimos recognized one in the crowd and raised his voice. “You! So you were alive...Fictus Rex of Genos De Rubel!”

“Graaaggghhh... Ca...Caelleus...” The especially large giant groaned like a wounded animal.

The Fictus Rex was quite literally covered in wounds. He had been covered head to toe in kratovastia filth and was riddled with burns and sores from it, with three of the eyes he was so proud of closed from damage. Even so, his remaining eyes burned with intense heat—it seemed sheer tenacity was what was keeping him up.

However, his wounds were too deep. After coming to stand in front of the Exactus De Varies Genos, he finally fell to his knees. The Caelleus Fortissimos approached, but it seemed the Fictus Rex didn’t have enough strength left to stand.

“So your eyes were still open, Fictus Rex. As expected of a Quintus Oculus. What strength,” said the Fortissimos.

“That...much...is not enough to return my eyes.” The Fictus Rex mobilized all his remaining pride to look up. From his glare, he was clearly not resigned to his fate.

Seeing the surviving Rubels, the other giants quietly took action. Some were obviously picking their weapons back up and readying them. A dangerous air pervaded the area, but the Caelleus Fortissimos moved first. He stabbed his weapon into the ground and signaled those behind him to stop.

“The query has already been answered. Argos has handed down his ruling. And with this query over, there is no reason for further fighting.”

The other giants on his side let go of their desire to fight after that. An answer to a query was important—even holy—to astragali, and this was inviolable. But this was not so for the Fictus Rex. He clenched his teeth, blood foaming at his mouth, and forced himself to stand.

“An answer?! I will not accept this... I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS! Those damn puny things! Damn you, Oberon! How could this be the will of Argos?!!!”

He was only able to squeeze out the air in his lungs to shout for a short moment. Unable to support his wounded frame, the Fictus Rex once again fell to his knees.

The Fortissimos replied in a quiet tone. “You saw it too, no? This trial handed down by Argos... Those small ones were the ones to bring about the answer, not the kratovastias. They even brought that great thing low. This is what is most important for the astragali to see; that is what Argos has said!”

The Fictus Rex groaned in lieu of a reply. The rest of the Rubels also collapsed in a daze. They were supposed to be the greatest genos, but fewer than half of them had survived. The wounds they’d suffered were also too severe. Was this the cost of their overblown ambitions? Or...

“You have not the time to be closing your eyes, Fictus Rex,” said the Fortissimos. “Argos has shown the way. If you are a leader, there is also something you must do.”

“I do not need...you to tell me.” The Fictus Rex borrowed a shoulder and finally stood. The body of a Quintus Oculus was formidable, and he likely wouldn’t die even with his heavy wounds. Though they had been greatly reduced in size, the Rubels were still a major genos. They needed to move forward.

After that, the Fortissimos shot a look behind him. The cloud of dirt around the daemon lord had yet to fully settle, and the area around the kratovastia carcasses still contained traces of their miasma. The ground was polluted now, and nothing could grow in it.

“How could this be? It will not be easy to even approach that thing.”

“This will be a dead land.”

“Kratovastias are the great enemy of all living things. It is impossible for a beast such as that to simply obey. These wounds have taught me that...” said the Fictus Rex.

With that, the site of the battle against the daemon lord was strictly sealed off. Doctrina De Siever became a warning of the follies of using kratovastias—a lesson to be handed down for many generations among the astragali.

◆

People crowded all over this major street. Voices were raised, and the place was filled with the frenetic energy of life.

“Anyone have smithing skills? We don’t have enough hands. We’re hiring!”

“Move, please! My cart can’t get through!”

“Come one, come all! We’re going to start butchering this monster soon! Now’s your chance to get some fresh meat!”

“Sorry, but we still don’t have enough houses. Huh? If you want to help with the construction, line up there, please.”

The flow of people never stopped even for a moment, causing the townscape to change like a hurricane. This goblin village, which had once been labeled part of the undertown, was now in the midst of a headlong rush of development. There were no traces of the poor, shabby village it used to be. Properly constructed buildings lined the street, and more were still being built.

On top of that, there was a large, castle-like structure being built at the center of town, complete with surrounding walls, though these were simple in design. This town was now coming up on the size of the now-vanished overtown.

The sage’s query that had taken place at Doctrina De Siever had come to be called the Evil Eye Disaster, and it ended up blowing away a great many grudges and ties in this land. And, while it spelled an end, it was also a beginning.

This town’s development was just one of the changes that had happened after the query.

“Oh, Lord Knight Captain! So this is where you were. I have something I want to ask you regarding this town’s defenses...” The elder who had once served as the village chief of this place found the person he was searching for and breathed a sigh of relief.

Ernesti Echevalier, knight captain of the Order of the Silver Phoenix, tilted his head in confusion while holding a bowl of his lunch. “We are currently discussing that. I believe we’ll reach a conclusion soon...”

That was when a group of order members came barging in. They joined the villagers around Ernie, adding to the crowd.

“Ah, there you are, Captain! What do you want to do about packing the ship? Some of the astragali are saying some wild things—”

“Uh... We’ll need to adjust that too. The boss—”

“Oh! So this is where you were, Fortissimos. A messenger has come with a request for you.”

Ernie’s silence told of a desire to let out a long, exhausted sigh.

The single-eyed armiger had come, parting the crowd with his heavy footsteps. He was blocking off a horse-drawn cart, and the horse let out an unhappy neigh. Now, surrounded by people both big and small, Ernie let out that deep sigh.

“Yeah, okay. This...is worse than I expected.” He couldn’t suppress a somewhat pained laugh.

“Everyone relies on you after all, Ernie!” Beside him, Addy shrugged. The reason he was being swarmed like this was because of this land’s new government.

Before the battle, the undertown had been rebuilt even better than before under the auspices of the Order of the Silver Phoenix. And then, refugees from the destroyed overtown had come, adding to the villagers who were there originally.

For a time, the goblins had been confused and in chaos because of the loss of Oberon and the overtown. The reason they had been able to regain themselves in such a short time was thanks to the intervention of the Order of the Silver Phoenix, as well as the fact that they had a place to live. It wasn’t intended, but the excessive development of this undertown had been perfect for taking in the refugees.

Thus, in order to unify the surviving goblins, the Order of the Silver Phoenix had expanded their sphere of action. So naturally, Ernesti, the captain, became much busier. On top of that, the goblins weren’t the only ones living here.

Ernie looked up at the armiger. The Caelleus had also come to live in this town.

The Evil Eye Disaster saw a great many participating giants wounded and fallen. No genos had survived unscathed, most of all the Rubels. They were a powerful genos, but now they were on the verge of destruction—which was why the map of the forest had been rewritten.

After the query, many genoses moved. The Caelleus were no exception, leaving their now deadly home to move to this town, which used to be under the Rubels’ rule. They had settled here in this undertown for a time, and they were most used to residing in relative harmony with goblins.

As a result, this new town had become a unique place in which goblins and astragali lived side by side, and the only one capable of wrangling this chaos was Ernesti.

“I will go see the Fortissimos later, armiger. And as for the rest of you, please convey your concerns to the boss. Uh... Then...” Ernie started paring down the crowd with practiced ease. The armiger left, his footsteps resounding. The order members also left, making a lot of noise as they did. Now that Ernie had room to take a breath, he looked at the only group left—the former villagers—and his face clouded over.

“Ah, Lord Knight Captain...are you truly going to return to your own country? There are so many here—would you not consider building a good life with us?”

“I understand that you’re feeling uneasy, but it’ll be fine. The Caelleus are an understanding genos, and...” Ernie smiled gently at the former village chief before pointing his gaze skyward at a group of large ships in the sky outside the town—the knight order’s fleet. “After giving our report and asking for instruction, some of us will come back eventually. We will come for the goblins here—no, I should call you humans—and for the astragali, to help improve your livelihoods. I am a human, just like you, but I am also part of the Caelleus.”

The former village chief’s eyes widened and he slowly let out a breath. The tiny knight captain tended to take terrifyingly bold action, despite how he looked. Also, he was serious about everything, on top of being capable enough to pull off anything.

“We were so concerned about ourselves... It’s frankly embarrassing. We understand. We will do our best to improve this town until you return.”

The relationship between these new humans and the astragali would create a new order deep in this forest. And the source of this big change was a small will, born right here...

◆

“That really was exhausting...” Ernie muttered.

“Aha ha! I’ll get dinner ready, so just wait a bit, okay?”

Ernie only managed to return to the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s base long after the sun had set. Nearly every step he took saw another party trying to seek advice or ask questions. He continued to deal with all of them, and he didn’t notice the time until it was quite late.

Addy was chuckling, seeing Ernie slumped on top of his desk as she left to prepare their dinner. As if switching out with her, another person appeared.

“My apologies for interrupting your rest, Sir Ernesti. I have a report.” It was Nora of the Order of the Indigo Falcon, seeming to seep out of the shadows. “We have talked to the mystic knights who came to this town. They will now cooperate with the astragali to protect it.”

“Ah, thank you. That eases my worries a little. These people won’t be able to assert themselves if they’re always in the astragali’s shadow, after all. We need the mystic knights to do a little better. How are the people living in town doing, Nora?” Ernie asked with a smile.

Her usual serious expression didn’t change as she replied. “Among the people who came from the overtown are those who hold fear and rejection toward the astragali in their hearts. I’ve assigned some subordinates to watch over them, and...it seems their feelings are abating. We’ve spread rumors that the Caelleus will not make light of a person just for being human, and they’ve seen proof in the form of the Caelleus talking to the former villagers, so that helped.”

Ernie nodded. He had used the Order of the Indigo Falcon to adjust the mood of the town in secret. In the end, a lot of problems were unavoidable when multiple species lived together. He planned to make them capable of solving these kinds of disputes themselves eventually, but in order to do that, there first needed to be an atmosphere conducive to talking. It seemed his plans were proceeding well so far.

His expression tightened a little. “Have you...gotten a lead on Oberon’s whereabouts?”

“Unfortunately, no.” For the first time, Nora shook her head. Even with the power of the Order of the Indigo Falcon, Oberon—who had disappeared somewhere in the forest—had yet to be found. The Order of the Indigo Falcon were especially effective plying their trade among people, but this seemed too much for even their abilities.

“However, we’ve found some interesting information during our search,” Nora continued. “All the mystic beasts stopped working when the daemon lord fell. This ‘Necrolis Song’ script seems to have been controlling those as well as the monsters.”

Ernie leaned back against his chair with a sigh. “I see. And all that remains of that troublesome thing is its core... I’ll leave the transport of that to your order. We’ll need to report this to His Majesty and the alves.”

“Understood. Please leave that to us.” Nora gave an easy salute before leaving.

Right after she left with nary a sound, Addy entered holding a pot. “Ernie! I have stew! It’s still hot, so let’s eat it together!”

“Heh heh, that smells so appetizing. Thanks.” Ernie’s smile quickly returned, and they sat down together to eat.

◆

Days passed by like a storm. The relationship between former-goblins-turned-humans and astragali was gradually stabilizing, while the Order of the Silver Phoenix continued their preparations for departure.

A large door on the Izumo’s stern opened, and ship crew in silhouette gears carried stuff inside. It would be a long journey back to Fremmevilla, but the Twediannes and silhouette knights had been maintained perfectly.

“We’ll make use of that ship!”

“Hey now, Second Company, you sure took a liking to that ship, haven’t you?”

Some of the order had made the arbitrary decision to occupy a ship, but that didn’t affect the preparations.

Meanwhile, the giants of Genos De Caelleus were gathering. Their Parva Marga stood a little ways away, facing the group.

“You truly are leaving, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Fortissimos. I need to learn more—understand more. From here on, Genos De Caelleus will live alongside the goblins... I mean, the humans.” The giant girl panned her gaze across the crowd of her genos, nodding with determination. She gently placed her hands along her eyes. “That is why I will be going to my magisters’ homeland. I will tell you all about what I see eventually, just as I will tell Argos.”

“I decided I’ll be protecting the Parva Marga, so of course I’m coming as well!” Nav shouted.

In the face of the pair of children’s determination, the Fortissimos fell silent in thought for a time. He nodded slowly. “I understand. If that is what you have decided...I will support you as a Fortissimos. I pray that when you eventually open your eyes as a Marga, you will see something better. You may leave matters of the genos to me.”

The Parva Marga and Nav made their joy evident. The entire genos then exchanged goodbyes, but another giant’s voice soon interrupted them. “So you’re going with the humans. You wish to see their lands? I do not approve of putting your eyes ahead of everyone else’s.”

“Hmm? Genos De Flaum and...others? What are you all doing here?” The Caelleus Fortissimos looked at them suspiciously.

He was looking at a Fortissimos from Flaum—as well as other astragali from various genoses. While all of Genos De Caelleus was bewildered, the Fortissimos from Genos De Flaum who was their representative stepped forward.

“We do not wish to leave our eyes closed either. Our world is changing, and those humans are the cause. So we must learn, which is why we will be following the Fortissimos of Rainbow!”

“Hrm...”

The astragali started to talk among themselves, and after a while, Ernie walked up to them. He’d caught onto an unfamiliar word that he probably wasn’t meant to hear. “Um...? Who is this Fortissimos of Rainbow?”

“Hmph. It refers to you, human Fortissimos. You clad yourself in rainbow and soar through the sky. How could we not refer to you as a Fortissimos?!”

“Uhhh... Hmm... Well, you’re free to call me whatever you want, I guess...”

It seemed he had some mixed feelings about it, but Ernie decided to let it go for the moment. However, that was when the boss arrived.

He pointed at the giants with a twitching mouth. “Hey, kid, are you really planning to stuff those big lugs inside?”

This was a natural worry for someone in charge of the ships. Ernie gave it some thought before nodding sincerely. “The Izumo should still have some load capacity left. It should be able to carry a few of them. Either way, we’ll need to report the situation here to His Majesty once we get back. Rather than trying to describe the astragali, it would be better to bring some proof.”

“Gah, my word. This is going to be one noisy ride home...” The boss shrugged before returning to overseeing their preparations. If they were going to be carrying giants, they would need to be more thorough than originally planned.

Ernie turned to the noisily jabbering giants and raised his voice. “Please listen, everyone! We will not be able to accommodate all of you—we simply don’t have the space. Please select a few candidates for the trip!”

The giants exchanged looks. Everyone here was fully intending on joining the trip, so none of them would easily give up their spot. They were all carrying the futures of their genoses, after all.

“Then...there is only one way to look at it.”

“A query.”

“Indeed. We simply need to ask. Then Argos will decide!”

“Ah. The Parva Marga and Nav are already included, so this query will only be held among the rest of you. Please keep that in mind,” said Ernie.

“What?!”

With that, a lively melee between astragali kicked off while Ernie left them to their devices and returned to helping prepare.

◆

A few days later, the Order of the Silver Phoenix’s fleet opened their sails and took to the skies. Their hangars were filled with order members and their belongings as well as astragali, who were watching the ground recede with great curiosity. The Parva Marga was looking quite smug as she explained what was happening to the others.

The bows of these ships were pointed westward. With their flagship, the Izumo, at the head of the formation, the fleet set sail. It was followed by Second Company’s ship as well as the one belonging to the Order of the Indigo Falcon. The ships were surrounded by Twedianne escorts piloted by the Order of the Indigo Falcon. This security might have seemed a bit too strict, but no one minded.

Ikaruga stood, holding a flag, on the upper deck of the Izumo. This flag displayed a brilliant silver phoenix, and it flapped in the wind as the ships activated their Blow Engines one by one.

“Now, set sail for Fremmevilla!”

Their sails filled with wind, driving the ships forward. Their destination: their homeland, the Kingdom of Fremmevilla. The Order of the Silver Phoenix’s fleet had safely rescued their captain and would make their triumphant return.

At the same time, the “large guests” they were bringing back home would create a huge commotion, but that was a story for another time.

Side Story: Going Home

A little before the Order of the Silver Phoenix set sail for home...

A single bug flew over the forest. Its size would classify it as duel-class, but it was shaped somewhat weirdly—it was a kratovastia, or rather, a mystic beast.

“Why?”

Mystic beasts did not have their own will. After all, they were not naturally occurring life, but something humans built in order to control monsters.

So the mystic beast did as it was told and flew; it would continue to fly forever until it was stopped.

It was just a machine.

“Why did I survive? I... I survived alone. Why?” Oberon moaned in the cockpit of the mystic beast. After he had been forcefully ejected from the daemon lord, he had remained in a frenzy for a while.

As time passed, though, he settled down.

His mystic beast had long been outside the control radius of the daemon lord, so he could have moved freely. But he didn’t notice; he simply sat in a stupor.

“If this was going to end, if I was going to lose...why didn’t you take me with you? Father, mother...”

He’d survived.

He’d been ejected to safety by none other than the will of his parents. His enemy’s sheer capability of violence had far exceeded imagination, so most likely the daemon lord had been destroyed. The daemon lord was basically his parents, and with it gone, he had basically lost everything.

As he drifted, his controls suddenly started to shake intensely.

The mystic beast that had been flying without purpose or will had crashed into a giant tree. Naturally, the thing didn’t know what to do about this, so it stopped while still caught in the tree. Oberon didn’t react immediately; it took him a while to crawl out of the cockpit and descend to the ground.

He looked around in a daze at the endless expanse of trees. This forest contained a multitude of monsters, astragali, and people. But...

“I don’t have anywhere to return to.”

He no longer had a goal. There was no place for him to go and no place to return to. Now, he no longer even cared about the goblins. In the end, they were still a different race from him.

He powerlessly slumped against a tree root. Honestly, at this point, he almost didn’t even care if he were to become food for some beast.

“Oh...a monster.”

Something howled in the forest—the voice of some large thing that caused a stir in his surroundings. This caused him to completely forget his previous feelings and tense up. A faint light started to glow in his palm.

As an alvan descendant, he could use magic.

“I see. That’s...how it is. I...am an alv.”

He looked down at the faint light in his palm. With a gasp, he turned to look up at the western sky. Now that he’d lost nearly everything, all that was left to him was his own body.

Oberon stood unsteadily, wove magic, and climbed up the tree. He returned to his mystic beast, and the empty half-machine contraption accepted him inside.

He gripped the controls firmly and fed the mystic beast script. As he suspected, the daemon lord was not in control—the mystic beast was empty. However, as an alv, he himself was able to weave a song. He could move this empty shell.

“I must go west. I must join my brethren of old...”

The mystic beast awoke, its wings buzzing as it once again lifted off.

With that, the last of the kratovastias in the forest took off west. The song that should have been extinct was woven once more. Its fate with the Great Bocuse Forest and humanity was not yet over...

—To Be Continued in Knight’s & Magic 9