Even at Caroline’s declaration, her subordinates showed no sign of unrest.
If their commander, Caroline, had made such a decision, they were ready to follow her without hesitation.
That much could be read clearly from their eyes.
These were not mercenaries bound merely by profit — they were comrades, bound by something far stronger than money.
“You bastards! What are you doing, standing around like statues! The client’s right here — show some spirit!”
“Uooooooh!!”
At Caroline’s roar, her men responded as if waiting for the cue, unleashing a thunderous cheer.
The shout echoed so powerfully that the air itself seemed to quake.
Caroline bared her sharp teeth in a grin.
Her look toward Ludger said it all: That should be proof enough, right?
Ludger nodded. “Reliable as ever.”
“So,” Caroline said, “we’re about to face an absurdly large enemy force. Don’t tell me this is all the manpower you’ve got?”
Her eyes flicked toward the black sludge-like shadow covering the ground.
Then her gaze found Hans, who was endlessly generating more of it, and her expression sharpened with intrigue.
“That thing alone isn’t bad, but it still won’t be enough, right? You know that.”
“I do. You don’t have to worry about that — more are coming.”
“Yeah? I’m starting to look forward to this. If they’re going /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ to fight beside me, I just hope they don’t end up dragging us down.”
“You won’t have to worry about that either. They’ve just arrived.”
From a different direction than Caroline’s airship, another vessel was approaching.
Caroline raised an eyebrow at the sight. “Oh? Someone with deep pockets, I see.”
The airship drifted lower, seemingly intending to land — only to halt midair when it found no safe ground to touch down upon.
Of course. The entire surface below was covered in black sludge.
Just as everyone wondered how the newcomers planned to manage it, something strange began to happen on the ground.
The mass of sludge suddenly swelled upward — and with a loud crack, something enormous shot up.
“What in the world? A tree?”
From the barren, treeless ground, a gigantic tree surged skyward.
Without even a sapling in sight moments earlier, the massive trunk expanded in the blink of an eye, spreading wide branches like an umbrella and bursting into full foliage.
The airship landed smoothly atop it.
It looked as though the tree itself had gently lifted and embraced the vessel.
Even the seasoned Monarch mercenaries couldn’t take their eyes off the scene.
Caroline’s reaction was the most intense of all.
“That just now...”
Caroline was a 6th-Circle mage.
Her magic might manifest more like instinct than theory, but her understanding of the art was still unmatched.
From her perspective, what she’d just witnessed was indeed magic — but not any magic she knew.
Something beyond mana. Something other.
“...A magician of color?”
The airship’s door opened, and several figures stepped out.
“You’ve come,” Ludger murmured softly as he recognized the faces.
“We’re here to help, Professor,” Sedina said, meeting his eyes boldly.
Beside her stood Ambella Burke and Vierano Dentis.
And with them — elite elven archers and druids.
“Elves? And those weapons—what in the...”
It was shocking enough that elves had appeared at all, but what they carried made even Caroline’s mercenaries gape.
Artifacts.
Every piece of equipment was embedded with high-grade magic stones.
Behind them, other elves were unloading more artifacts in real time.
The Monarch mercenaries murmured amongst themselves.
“How many do they even have?”
“Are they planning a war?”
“Idiot. It is a war.”
“Oh. Right.”
Ludger looked at Sedina. “Are you sure this is all right? The Elven Kingdom could be endangered by getting involved in this.”
“I didn’t come as Sedina Plante,” she said with a soft smile.
“I came as Sedina Roshen.”
“...Ha.”
Ludger let out a short, helpless laugh.
“I suppose it would be rude to turn you away after you’ve come this far. But what about those behind you?”
He looked toward Vierano and Ambella.
Neither of the two elves had any formal reason to take part in this war.
Ambella gave a feral grin.
“Ha! What, worried about us? That’s sweet of you, but unnecessary. We’ll be keeping our identities under wraps anyway.”
As if that would fool anyone — maybe for Ambella, but the others would surely be discovered.
Still, Ludger said nothing.
They had come here knowing exactly what they were doing.
They had already resolved themselves.
That resolve — that will — could not be dismissed with mere words.
“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this much.”
“You’re the benefactor who saved our kingdom, are you not?” Vierano said mildly.
“I’ve thought this before, but Professor Ludger, you’re far too modest. Or should I call you Heathcliff now?”
“Are you all right with this? Fighting alongside someone like me?”
“The world calls you evil,” Vierano said calmly. “But I’ve lived quite a long time, and I dare say I can judge character well enough.”
A breeze stirred.
Wind spirits shimmered briefly around Vierano.
“I don’t think you’re evil. A man who stands against a kingdom to save his students cannot be.”
“And if I’d deceived you all along?”
“Then I’ll gladly stay deceived.”
Ludger chuckled and shook his head. “I really can’t win against you.”
“Experience counts for something,” Vierano said, smiling faintly.
Hearing that brought Ludger a sense of ease.
He didn’t need to confirm their strength — he’d fought alongside them before.
They were allies he could safely turn his back to.
And the strongest among them now was Sedina.
“Sedina. Are you truly all right with this?”
“Yes. I’m fine. I came fully prepared. Roshen has promised complete support as well.”
“Then I’ll be sure to send my thanks later.”
Sedina laughed softly. “You’d better.”
At that moment, Caroline interjected with a pout.
“Hey. The great Monarch Mercenaries show up and we’re just window dressing now? The least you could do is introduce everyone properly.”
“Ah. Pleased to meet you. I’m Sedina Roshen. You must be Caroline Monarch, right?”
“You’ve done your homework. That’s right. You’re an elf — and a single-element magic user, if I recall correctly. Professor really pulled in some heavy hitters this time.”
Caroline glanced past Sedina’s shoulder.
“But those people behind you — are they part of his reinforcements too?”
“Huh?”
Sedina turned around.
In the distance, a flock of glowing green birds approached, their wings spanning nearly five meters each, bodies shimmering in soft fluorescent light.
Riding atop their backs were people.
“Sedina!”
A girl’s voice rang out from the lead bird.
Sedina’s eyes widened. “Julia?”
The birds landed gracefully atop the great tree.
Julia strode straight toward Sedina.
“Wh-what are you doing here...”
“What do you mean, what? You looked like you were heading off to get yourself killed, so of course I came. What else?”
Bolder, more straightforward than before — the change in her made Sedina falter.
Julia huffed, ran a hand through her hair, and then glared sharply at Ludger.
“Don’t get the wrong idea! I didn’t come to help you, Professor! I’m only here because my friend Sedina is in danger!”
The mages of the Illusionist School behind her chuckled.
“Oh boy. There she goes again.”
“Leave her be. She’s been prickly like that since day one.”
“Such heartwarming friendship, huh.”
Julia turned her glare on them. “How dare you talk like that to your future Master!”
“We talked like that to the previous Master too.”
“We’re too old to care anymore.”
Still laughing, the mages turned to Ludger.
“So then, Professor — good to see you again.”
“Let’s make this one hell of a fight!”
Even though Ludger’s true identity was now public knowledge, they still called him “Professor.”
That, he was genuinely grateful for.
“Oh, by the way, Professor,” one of them said. “We brought some extra company along. Hope that’s fine?”
“Extra company?”
“Hey! What are you waiting for, come out already!”
At that call, someone stepped forward a bit awkwardly.
“...Sir Loteron?”
The Iron Mask himself — but now, he removed the mask that had always hidden his face.
“I am no longer Loteron. Call me Tenaron.”
Tenaron O’Valley.
Son of the chieftain of the Beastmen tribes — the man who had abandoned that title and left his homeland.
“I owe you much. I’ve come not as a mage of the New Tower, but as a Beastman — to lend my aid. And...”
Tenaron’s gaze shifted past Ludger’s shoulder.
A towering figure had appeared on the wall, as if sensing the mention.
Codename [Melville], Pantos.
Tenaron’s expression grew complex upon seeing him.
“I never did thank you for that time.”
“Hmm.”
He was referring, of course, to what had happened during the vacation on the Beastmen’s lands.
Pantos studied his face quietly.
“Well, at least you won’t get in the way.”
Tenaron smiled bitterly at that — not insulted, but relieved.
Only the two of them truly knew what those words meant.
“Hey. What about me?”
A curt voice came from a small figure wearing a goat-skull mask — the black mage Crabat.
“Didn’t expect you to show up,” Ludger said.
“Not just me. My school came too. Honestly, I couldn’t care less what happens to you, but I don’t like owing debts.”
A debt?
Ludger had saved Rine’s life — if anything, Crabat was the one who owed him.
But Ludger understood. This was Crabat’s way of showing goodwill — roundabout as it was.
“You’ve gathered quite the crowd,” Crabat muttered, shifting the topic.
“A 6th-Circle mercenary mage, a demon, elves, beastmen, black mages, and the Illusionist School — quite the lineup.”
And that was putting it mildly.
Ludger’s forces included not only himself, Owen’s, and Suruna, but also the demon Helia — and still others not yet revealed.
“Well, I guess it’s only fair I show one of my hidden cards too,” Suruna said with a faint grin.
She snapped her fingers.
A black door materialized in the air before them.
It opened with a metallic click, and a knight in black armor stepped out.
The First Order’s Verom of the Black Dawn.
Now clad fully in transformed Living Armor, he too had joined the war.
Verom glanced down toward Hans below and gave a half-smirk.
“Doesn’t he kind of steal my aesthetic?”
“Your roles are different. Don’t worry,” Crabat replied dryly.
He’d already analyzed Hans the moment he saw him, comprehending exactly what he was.
More interesting to him was Suruna’s ability — summoning Verom through a spatial gate.
“Space magic, is it?”
“Correct.” Suruna nodded easily.
“I saw it once. Reproducing it wasn’t too hard.”
Seeing it and performing it were entirely different matters — but Suruna could indeed manage it.
It was his demonic authority — the ability to learn and master anything.
Given enough time, it was almost omnipotent.
“Still, it’s crude,” Crabat noted. “Forming a door means you haven’t mastered direct transport yet — you’re compensating.”
“Sharp as always. But still, it’s a start. And that ‘slash’ of yours was inspiring too.”
“If you try that, you’ll die,” Crabat said flatly.
Suruna just shrugged.
“Franz isn’t here,” Ludger remarked.
“He’s got something else to handle. Don’t worry — he’ll fight alongside us,” Suruna replied.
“Even so,” Ludger said slowly, “I think there’s still one missing.”
One more who had not yet appeared — another survivor of the First Order, like Verom.
“Where’s Victor Dreadpool?”
“Oh, Victor,” Suruna said, hesitating briefly.
Verom answered instead.
“He betrayed us. Joined Lumenis.”