Against the World II: Transgression
Chapter 50: Changing Tides, Part 3
Heisuke and the 1st Division deputy commander had just managed to kill Lexata IX when suddenly two layers of massive magic circles covered the surface of the ground where the battle took place. They could only frown when suddenly the two were pulled like iron in the presence of a magnet. Not just them, but everything. The Imperial Army was drawn west, while the Knights Templar were drawn east.
Heisuke did not need to think long to know the perpetrator who had used the magic. Darminic von Bellriser's. Heisuke knows no one who can do what just happened other than the commander. And his assumptions proved correct as he set his sights to the south. Commander Darminic goes hand in hand with one of the most beautiful women in the Imperial Army, Herena von Muir.
What Heisuke did not understand was the presence of two other individuals beside them. One man and one woman, and Heisuke knows both of them as the leader of the Order of the 1 Knight Templar. Moreover, like their leader, the two armies they brought also walked in rows next to the four of them. And, Heisuke did not understand what he saw.
“Saint Arthur, what does this mean?!” ask one of Lexata IX's subordinate captains after the four individuals stopped at the crack that had separated the Knights Templar from the Imperial Army. “Why are you with them? Why don't you finish them off?!”
If it wasn't for the effect of Darminic magic that made their feet cling to the ground, he and dozens of warriors would have already darted over to the saint. And Heisuke understood. He also questioned the same with Commander Herena and Darminic. They were enemies; it made no sense why they walked together. Has there been a change of plans?
“From this second onwards, the Knights Templar and the Imperial Army will be allied. This battle is no longer needed.”
“That's right,” said Darminic confirming Arthur Lancedragon's remarks. “Nona Kanna herself decides. From now on, our enemy is New World Order.”
“We do not know the whereabouts of Miss Fie,” explains Arthur again. “Continuing the battle will only bring Emiliel the Holy Kingdom to the gate of destruction. I decided to accept Princess Kanna's offer to save the kingdom. The war that took place was the initiative of Pope Genea, not Miss Fie's direct order. We can't let Pope Genea do anything.”
Heisuke, and the entirety of Division 1 and Division 12, showed no exaggerated reaction. If making peace with the Knights Templar was their leader's decision, there was nothing they could do but obey. The military does not recognize the word protest when instructions come from above, there is no compromise.
However, the same could not be said to their opponents just now. The cries of insults they threw at Arthur, they accused him of traitor. Pope Genea is their supreme leader after Fie Axellibra. So, they're not wrong. Arthur is under the Pope. Agreeing one-sidedly with the leader of their opponent is tantamount to fighting their own leader.
“If you guys disagree, please go ahead!” arthur assertively while removing mana in large quantities to make the ground where the ground is cracked. “I'll finish you off with my own hands. I won't let you bring Emiliel Holy Kingdom to ruin.”
The action of the saint made the existing troops speechless, but some of those who were brave enough to open their voices again. “They just killed King Lexata!” he pointed at Heisuke and his fellow deputy commander. “We can't just let them!”
Arthur stepped right into the middle of the space between the two armies, then stopped and faced right at the men who insisted. “I'm not kidding,” Arthur asserted. “Commander Darminic, you can remove your spell. I myself will kill anyone who intends to continue the battle.”
Darminic did what Arthur had, and at once the tension increased. Heisuke could clearly see how the people in front of Arthur were already itching to attack, especially those in the status of special palace guards.
...—In the meantime, Dwarf Kingdom—...
Gozilla held both hands up as Minner Ertharossa stopped a dozen meters before him. “Dwarf Kingdom admitted defeat,” he said accompanied by a sigh of fatigue. “You can kill me or whatever it is.”
Dwagnowa is already a crater. The inhabitants are already dead. The survivors did not make it to a hundred. But more painful than that, the cause of their defeat was their own class.
“Heh, you know yourself enough, Gozilla.”
It was not Minner who said the word, but Lucard who had just arrived with two other vampires. One vampire he recognized as Cainabel, a member of the Moon Temple like Lucard. One more he doesn't know who. And seeing the existence of the three gave Gozilla one clear conclusion: Saint Petra and his army had been defeated. He did not know if the Knights Templar had all butchered or not, but he also did not want to know.
“I'm lazy to follow you, Vampire.” Gozilla said accompanied by a snort of annoyance. “Quick finish me and get out of here.”
“Hahaha. Well, Minner? We kill him? Or, we make him beg to be killed?”
Minner shook his head slowly at the vampire's question. He looks like he's kidding, but he's serious. Lucard would be happy to realize his own question. Vampires are so.
“You can reflect on your mistakes, Gozilla.” Minner said with a serious face. “Khrometh has vanished. If he does not die, then escape. You are the only dwarf who can return to bring the dwarves to glory. Use this opportunity to weigh well your decision.”
Minner immediately turned around after saying that. “Let's go,” the thrill on the others. “Our destination is now Axellibra.”
...—Axellibra—...
When Kanna and Lancelot arrived past the southern gate, Arthur had just finished off the twentieth soldier of the palace guard. And, before the saint's spear pierced the twenty-first soldier's throat, Lancelot moved swiftly to hold the soldier.
“What happened?” lancelot asked, eyes looking intensely at the saint. “Why did you kill your partner, Sir Arthur?”
“I told them that I would kill anyone intent on continuing the battle. Miss Fie's whereabouts are unknown; we have no other choice but to go with the empire. Facing the New World Order and the empire simultaneously will bring Emiliel the Holy Kingdom to ruin.”
That's an acceptable reason. Lancelot, though he disliked, agreed with the saint. And so he turned his eyes to the soldier he had just saved from death. “Why do you keep attacking after being ordered to stop?” tanyakanya.
“They just killed His Majesty Lexata. I don't accept. And Sir Arthur is the traitor who defends the Imperial Army and blames Pope Genea. You must help us finish off this traitor, Sir Lancelot!”
Lancelot frowned, the reason the soldier was also acceptable. Both are equally true. As Saint Knight Templars, one of their duties was to protect the kingdom, especially the capital. However, the Knights Templar were required to obey Pope Genea as their supreme ruler directly elected by Fie Axellibra. What Arthur did was indeed an act of treason.
“It's enough.”
All eyes simultaneously turned to the owner of the voice. The three words were spoken not too loudly, but the sound of the sound spread out perfectly in all directions. However, it was not the sound that shocked Lancelot and all the Knights Templar, but rather the six pairs of angel wings that expanded on the backs of the sound owners.