Eugene had received a formal commission to retake Hauria from the previous Sultan’s exiled heir and gained the support of Nahama’s Emirs.
There weren’t any obstacles in the process of obtaining the commission. This was mainly because, while Eugene did make some requests for military supplies, he kept his demands to a reasonable level.
Of course, the fact that the coalition they were dealing with was overwhelmingly more powerful than what remained of Nahama may have played a greater role in ensuring their cooperation. It was only after the Emirs of Nahama had all gathered together that their nation could even field a sizable force. On the other hand, Eugene’s own forces were drawn from a union of several different countries and empires.
Together, they made up the Hauria City Liberation Army, or at least that was the name that got attached to them.
In fact, the coming battle promised to be quite the spectacle. Nahama’s capital city, Hauria, had been taken over by evildoers and demonfolks. So warriors from all over the continent, including the Hero himself, had gathered together and would soon set out to liberate Hauria, which had been overrun and completely blockaded….
This unambiguous cause and noble intention had been spread throughout the entire continent, garnering enthusiastic support.
All of this attention and support had naturally attracted the interest of many individuals. People with the money to spare for a good cause were the first to take action, sending in donations. Then, before a full commission had even been written up for them, knights errant and mercenaries had also been drawn to the expedition.
However, Eugene had no intention of recruiting any excess forces. With his opponents being what they were, no ordinary Tom, Dick, or Harry[1] was qualified to even serve as a meat shield. Moreover, the enemy included among their number those perverted black wizards who were obsessed with undead servants like their Death Knights.
In this current era, it was rare to find anyone with any experience in fighting black wizards, and necromancers were a particularly rare opponent to face. This was because necromancy was seen as somewhat of a taboo subject of research, even for black wizards.
But although that might be the case on the surface, there were occasionally black wizards who became obsessed with studying necromancy behind closed doors. Just like how ordinary wizards would cross all boundaries in their pursuit of the truth, black wizards weren’t all that different in their curiosity and desire to explore the unknown.
No, in fact, it wasn’t just black wizards; among ordinary wizards, there were also some seriously insane madmen who would dabble in necromancy.
Yuras’ Bureau of Inquisition had been given the duty to pursue and render judgment upon such immoral individuals. Although its scale had been greatly reduced a few years ago, the Bureau of Inquisition still possessed its own unique know-how when it came to dealing with necromancers.
“Make sure to bring a priest with your party. If you cannot expect to secure the healing magic of a priest due to unavoidable circumstances, prepare personal treatment options such as potions. Do not fight in swamps or on soft soil. If at all possible, make sure to fight on solid ground. Don’t fight at night. Especially when it is the full moon. Make sure to get your weapons blessed. Keep a silver dagger on you. Prepare holy water….”
While the others were listening intently, Eugene was reading out the list with a blank face. His boredom was inevitable, as Eugene had already fought more than his fair share of necromancers and the undead three hundred years ago.
“If one of your allies goes down, use Hwagolsan[2]…,” Eugene paused in surprise. “Hwagolsan? What’s that?”
“It’s a drug that can be used to dissolve corpses,” Gilead explained. “If you pour a generous amount of the drug onto a corpse, the body will melt away and disappear before too much time has passed.”
“Where in the world could you find such a convenient drug?” Eugene asked in disbelief.
“It is made by imbuing various poisons and spells into holy water. It is a product developed by Yuras’ Department of Holy Magic Research,” Crusader Raphael, Commander of the Blood Cross Knights, explained with a stiff expression.
“We have a similar type of potion in Aroth as well. It doesn’t use holy water as a base, but well — ahem — sometimes it’s better to have something on hand that can cleanly dissolve unwanted bodies,” Trempel, Commander of Aroth’s Court Wizards, spoke up, apparently out of some strange sense of rivalry to the Crusader.
“So there really is a drug that can dissolve the corpse that it’s sprayed on. No matter how you look at it, it seems like that drug would be more frequently used for purposes other than counteracting the raising of the undead,” Eugene mused with a frown.
Trempel coughed awkwardly, “Ahem….”
Eugene just shrugged, “Well, that’s none of my business…. Next up on the list… if you don’t have any Hwagolsan, then the corpse should be burned. If even that is too difficult to manage, you should at least cripple the arms and legs….”
An undead’s combat performance varied greatly depending on the soul and the state of the corpse used. One factor that particularly influenced an undead’s ability to fight was how they had died.
If they died from being beheaded, the resentment from that fact would create an embryo that could allow the undead’s transformation into a Dullahan; if the corpse had been dead for a long time and its flesh had rotted, it would become just a common ghoul; and if the corpse had been dead for even longer until only bones remained, then it would become the weakest of all undead, the skeleton. So damaging your comrade’s body after their death was a common countermeasure against the raising of the undead that was already in widespread use three hundred years ago.
“Though back in my day, we started by destroying the face first,” Sienna muttered. She had been listening quietly on the side.
Several people turned to look at Sienna in surprise at these harsh words.
“Wha—. Why are you all looking at me like that?” Flustered at all the attention that she had suddenly drawn, Sienna continued speaking, “After all, in the old days, there were a lot of necromancers, and there were also plenty of deceased for them to choose from. So just in case the undead that showed up to block our way forward might happen to be an acquaintance from the past, we would just—”
“So that’s why you would destroy their faces? How could anyone be so cruel! Did you really do something like that yourself, big sis? So if I die in this next battle, big sis, would you really tear my face off?” Melkith cried out, making a loud fuss.
Sienna was now pursing her lips and glaring at Melkith, but Melkith’s performance hadn’t ended yet.
Melkith shivered, “Although I don’t want to even think about it, just in case I die in the next battle, if possible, can you make sure to take care of my face cleanly instead of tearing it into pieces? But still, after I die, I would actually prefer to be buried in my hometown—”
Balzac, sitting across from her, suddenly kicked Melkith in the shin. Melkith let out a shriek of surprise at this unexpected kick, but no one showed any concern for her pain.
Balzac cleared his throat, “Ahem… I can handle any necromancy from Amelia. Though, in fact, with the prestigious Priests of the Light, the Maleficarum, and the Blood Cross Knights all present on the same battlefield… there’s no real need for me to step forward.”
“That’s as it should be,” Raphael said proudly as he narrowed his eyes and glared at Balzac. “Black Tower Master, Balzac Ludbeth. I don’t really appreciate the idea of joining forces with someone like you. However, at a time like this, I can’t cut you down no matter how much I may wish to.”
Balzac just laughed, “Haha…. There’s no need to be too suspicious of me. My intentions are purely—”
“A black wizard cannot claim to be purely anything,” Raphael spat out, cutting Balzac’s words short.
Raphael was still the same as ever. He refused to listen to Balzac’s words while one-sidedly spitting out his hostility-laden diatribe.
“Now, now, let’s not fight,” Eugene said soothingly as he put down the booklet he had been reading from.
In addition to what he had already read to his audience, there was a lot more miscellaneous information contained within, but there wasn’t really anything that Eugene absolutely needed to make known.
“It’ll just be a jaw-ache if I try to read everything here,” Eugene gave an excuse. “However, you should all memorize this booklet and pass it on.”
They were currently in Salar, a city in Nahama. This was the closest city to the capital city of Hauria. The key figures of the Liberation Army had borrowed the palace of Salar’s Emir to hold this meeting.
There was the representative of Kiehl’s Emperor, the Grand Duke Alcester Dragonic.
The Patriarch of the Lionheart clan, Gilead Lionheart.
The representative from the Knights of the Black Lion, Carmen Lionheart.
Proxy[3] of the Holy Empire, Saint Kristina Rogeris.
The Commander of the Knights of the Blood Cross, Crusader Raphael Martinez.
Proxy for the Aroth Kingdom, Crown Prince Honein Abram.
The Commander of Aroth’s Court Wizards, Trempel Vizardo.
The Wise Sienna and her fellow Tower Masters.
The King of Ruhr, Beast King Aman Ruhr.
Commander of the White Fangs, Joshric Rava.
Proxy for the Shimuin Kingdom, Ortus Hyman.
Commander of Shimuin’s Royal Court Wizards, Maise Briar.
The Great Chieftain of the Zoran Tribe, Ivatar Zahav.
And the representative of the various knights errant and mercenaries, Ivic Slad.
The greatest knights, warriors, and wizards from all over the continent were gathered together here today. With this being too close to the actual battlefield, most monarchs hadn’t chosen to attend the meeting, but the king of Ruhr, who was famous for his battle lust, had insisted on coming here in person. If you added together all of the knights and soldiers under each of their respective commands, the number of allied forces gathered here had already exceeded the tens of thousands.
Most of those present had already vowed to cooperate with Eugene when they had last met in Shimuin. However, currently in this city, there were many more who had voluntarily come to this battlefield, drawn by the valiant purpose of their mission and the promise of being led by the Hero himself.
There were those who wanted to make a name for themselves before the end of the Oath could arrive, as was personally declared by the Demon King of Incarceration. There were also those who were willing to dedicate themselves to the future of this world. And finally…
“And what are you going to do?” Eugene turned and asked.
…there was also a dragon.
“I have no intention of stepping onto the battlefield,” said the red dragon, Ariartelle.
Eugene hadn’t gone looking for her to ask for her help. Ariartelle was keeping herself hidden from the world due to her personal circumstances, and Eugene respected the position that this put her in.
However, Ariartelle suddenly showed up of her own volition, even without Eugene reaching out to her. At first, Eugene had wondered if she had come here after hearing the rumors, but after seeing her pick the seat next to Alchester among all of the seats available to her, Ariartelle’s intentions had been made clear.
‘They might not be her real relatives, but it seems like she still can’t resist being worried for them,’ Eugene observed.
Oryx, the founder of the Dragonic clan, had inherited his power from Ariartelle’s father and had become a half-dragon. Although they couldn’t really be called relatives due to that, they weren’t exactly strangers either.
In fact, it was still surprising that a dragon would care about such loose, familial relationships, so perhaps Ariartelle was just different from the rest of her species. After all, hadn’t Ariartelle already shown that she found enjoyment in keeping an eye on the Dragonic clan?
‘Perhaps she’s just here out of concern for Leo,’ Eugene thought consideringly.
He recalled the Dragonfear that he had been subjected to while training Leo. When he thought about it that way, Ariartelle suddenly seemed extremely suspicious. Wasn’t it a bit strange that a hundreds-of-year-old dragon was watching over a boy who, by now, had just turned ten years old?
“I don’t intend to reveal myself publicly,” Ariartelle continued. “Especially where the Demon King of Incarceration might see me.”
Ariartelle might be a dragon, but even she found it difficult to read what was going through another person’s mind. So Ariartelle couldn’t understand why the Stupid Hamel was looking at her like that, but she didn’t bother to ask the reason and just focused on saying what she had to say.
“I’ve heard it said that the Demon King of Incarceration and the forces of Helmuth will not be intervening in this battle,” Ariartelle said doubtfully. “However, aren’t there suspicions that the Demon King of Incarceration may have already intervened in this war personally? Moreover, the black wizard who led the revolt that overthrew the Sultan is someone who has made a contract with the Demon King of Incarceration.”
Could it be that Ariartele had red hair even in her polymorphed form because she was a red dragon? In that case, was the reason why Raimira and Raizakia’s hair was black as they were both black dragons? If so, would that mean a blue dragon’s hair must be blue and a gold dragon’s hair gold?
While thinking such pointless thoughts, Eugene allowed Ariartelle’s words to just flow over him. However, most people here were intently focused as they listened to Ariartelle speak. They couldn’t help but compare Ariartelle, who was talking to them with a dignified expression, to the hatchling Eugene had been dragging around with him.
“I have my own mission that I cannot make public. That is why I cannot afford to risk my life or even get injured. However, just as my dragon race did three hundred years ago, I wish to respond to the chaos of this era and lend my strength to protect order,” Ariartelle solemnly declared.
When the era of the war first began three hundred years ago, all of the dragons had flown up to the Devildom. Upon arriving there, most of them were killed by the Demon King of Incarceration and the Demon of Destruction, while the dragons that barely managed to survive were forced to go into a state of hibernation in order to forestall their deaths and treat their injuries.
Ariartelle was left in charge of managing the Cradle of the Dragons, which kept the surviving dragons in hibernation. If she were to receive a fatal injury or outright die, the dragons that had entered hibernation would also have to face a deadly challenge.
“And how do you intend to lend us your strength?” Eugene asked. “You could lend us a few of your scales—”
“How could you suggest such a thoughtless and horrible thing,” Ariartelle retorted as she shot a glare at Eugene.
If he had always had such an inconsiderate tongue, it made sense for him to be called the Stupid Hamel.
However, only a few people present were aware that this man was a reincarnation, so Ariartelle remained conscious of this fact and was careful with her words.
“Human, don’t you think you’ve already received quite a lot of help from me?” Ariartelle reminded Eugene.
“I have to admit that you have helped us out,” Eugene agreed.
“And haven’t I done so this time as well,” Ariartelle said challengingly. “I extended the reach of the warp-gates in other countries so that they could reach this city—”
“It’s not like you did that all by yourself,” Eugene interrupted.
Ariartelle’s brow trembled as she tried to keep herself from scowling, “...I may have accomplished the feat together with the Wise Sienna and the other human wizards, but my Draconic Incantations were of great assistance.”
“That’s right, if it weren’t for Lady Ariartelle, it would have been a much more troublesome chore,” Sienna chimed in with a nod to support Ariartelle.
Yet right at this moment, Eugene and Sienna quickly exchanged a conspiratory glance. This was all part of a carrot-and-stick strategy they had worked out in advance. Eugene was in charge of swinging the stick while Sienna gave out carrots, and the goal of their strategy was to extract further material support from Ariartelle.
“As expected of the Wise Sienna, you do recognize my efforts,” Ariartelle nodded proudly.
“Your contribution was so impressive that it made me understand clearly why the dragons were called the race closest to magic,” Sienna sighed admiringly.
Ariartelle’s mood was immediately improved by Sienna’s compliment, and she gave a bright smile, “Haha…. Oh, Wise Sienna, your magic was so superb that not even a dragon could attempt to match it.”
It is said that praise can make even a bear dance, but it seems that dragons weren’t all that different from bears. Although Ariartelle originally only planned on protecting Alchester, and since he already had his armor, she was just thinking of giving him a special sword, Sienna’s praise had led Ariartelle to change her mind.”
“I will open up the Dragons’ Treasury,” Ariartelle said.
The Dragons’ Treasury was a storage space that contained all of the treasures belonging to the hibernating dragons. All of the valuable treasures piled within that space were currently being managed by Ariartelle.
“It’s impossible to arm the entire Liberation Army, but I can hand all of the heroes here today whatever weapon they may desire,” Ariartelle generously offered.
Things had gone exactly as planned. Eugene and Sienna shared a satisfied look.
“This deserves a round of applause!” Eugene said as he stood up and started clapping.
Sienna immediately followed suit and started clapping herself, and soon, everyone sitting at the table was also applauding Ariartelle.
Ariartelle looked bewildered by the sudden applause, but it seemed that she didn’t find it too unpleasant to be applauded like this.
Dragged to her feet by Sienna’s hand, Ariartelle stood up and said, “Um… ahem… to all the human heroes present. I, the Red Dragon Ariartelle, would like to give you my blessing on behalf of all the dragons who are unable to be present.”
“Another round of applause!” Eugene cheered as he renewed the strength of his clapping.
Clap, clap, clap.
The entire room was filled with the sound of applause.
* * *
Although this was stating the obvious, Eugene didn’t need any more weapons. That was because he already had more than enough weapons on him.
However, that wasn’t the case for the others. Especially in the case of Alchester, for whom Ariartelle personally placed a sword in his hand.
The sword was one of the dragons’ relics. Although it might not have been created directly from a Dragonheart, like Akasha or the improved Frost, the relic sword was imbued with various protective enchantments. On top of that, Ariartelle further enchanted it with a Draconic Incantation, giving it a connection to her own Dragonheart.
The Dragonic clan’s secret technique, the Empty Sword, was able to reach tremendous exponential growth in power that was only limited by the mana capacity of its wielder.
As a knight who was considered to be one of the best in the entire continent, Alchester might not be considered lacking in terms of mana capacity, but if a dragon’s high-purity mana was added on top of that… the power of Alchester’s Empty Sword would be multiplied several times over.
“I’m grateful that you’re opening your treasury to us, but since you already agreed to help, can’t you participate in the battle as well?” Eugene probed.
Ariartelle sniffed, “Stupid Hamel, have you already forgotten what I just said?”
After Ariartelle was done offering them the contents of her treasury, Eugene, Sienna, and Kristina met with Ariartelle on the palace rooftop for a private conversation.
“I have been assigned the priority mission of managing the Cradle,” Ariartelle insisted.
“Is there really anything to manage? Can’t you just leave it to run on its own?” Eugene questioned doubtfully.
Ariartelle shook her head, “What a truly ignorant thing to say. Do you really think that the other dragons would have been able to stay asleep for hundreds of years if I had just left the Cradle on its own?”
Eugene just shrugged, “They’re dragons, aren’t they.”
“You… you really are so thoughtless,” Ariartelle sighed. “A dragon’s hibernation has many requirements. I need to go in and out of the Cradle periodically to purify the air within, tend to their wounds, and provide the Cradle with mana.”
Did she have to clean up their excrement as well? For a moment, Eugene was taken over by his curiosity and slowly parted his lips to ask her this question.
[I can guarantee, if you ask her that, you really will get punched by her,] Mer, who had read Eugene’s thoughts, quickly pinched Eugene in the side as she tried to dissuade him.
Eugene tried to persuade her, ‘What, you’re curious as well, aren’t you?’
Mer denied it. [I’m really not all that curious about that question. Because I actually already know the answer. Could it be that you didn’t know, Sir Eugene? Whenever Raimira uses the bathroom—]
[Kyaaaah!] Raimira let out a fierce yell as she rushed over to silence Mer.
Eugene grabbed his cloak tightly, which had started bulging in places and shaking from the pair’s argument.
“What about you shooting out one of your Breaths from a distance?” Eugene suggested tentatively.
“I cannot do that,” Ariartelle replied firmly.
At these words, Eugene just clicked his tongue and nodded his head. “If you really dislike the idea that much, then it can’t be helped,” he said with a sigh as he turned his head to look outside the city.
A pitch-black wall was all that could be seen of the city far to the east. Even from this far away, the sky that was being choked with dark clouds and the fog drifting around the base of the wall was visible from the rooftop.
[There’s no need to worry, my Benefactor,] Raimira said in a muffled voice. She was caught in a tussle with Mer as they pulled on each other’s hair. [That evil barrier is nothing to a great race like we dragons, who are said to be the closest race to magic. I, the Black Dragon Raimira, will shatter it with one Breath.]
For some reason, Eugene couldn’t muster up much faith in Raimira.
1. The original Korean idiom used to describe these miscellaneous forces is both crude and quite funny. Translated literally, the Korean term is pieces of piss or pieces of shit . ☜
2. This drug is a fairly common trope in Eastern martial arts fiction. After some research, I’ve found that the original name is made up of a combination of the characters for flower, bone, and dissolving. So, if I had to westernize the name, a good option might be Bone Dissolving Pollen or Bone Dissolving Powder. ☜
3. The term used here is often used to describe someone in a deputy role. But in this context, it is used to denote someone with real decision-making power for the political entity they’re speaking for instead of being just a representative who needs to report back to a decision-maker. ☜
Openbookworm & DantheMan's Thoughts
OBW: I feel like the author padded the word count a bit by listing all of the people who had joined the Liberation Army, but you have to admit, it is a very impressive list.