C502
A massive cloud, resembling an inverted mountain range, covered the sky of the Sota Desert.
It was the cloud formed by Kinzelo's flagship, Grenille.
The dark clouds continued to spew bright blue lightning bolts. It looked as if a tidal wave had spread across the sky.
Inside, lifeless Zipple battleships simply shattered and crashed to the ground.
Twenty battleships, each the size of a small moon, had already sunk.
Dragons numbering over a hundred and fifty, over fifteen hundred magicians, and the flagship Kozec.
Most of Drakka's reinforcements were eagerly heading towards Grenille.
They thought that no force, except Runcandel, would be able to harm Zipple.
Kinzelo, once nothing more than a third-rate terrorist group before the Holy Kingdom incident, was overshadowing the airspace of the Lutero Magical Federation.Of course, after the terrorist attack on the Sword Emperor Castle, it became public that Kinzelo was not lacking in any of the three major factions.
Grenille looked even stronger than when it first appeared at the Sword Emperor Castle.
The spikes protruding from the hull emitted mana that distorted the surrounding space.
The fall of the debris from the battleships made the entire Sota Desert tremble.
The sandstorm mixed with lightning raised fierce vortexes in various places, and the battleships were slowly absorbed into them.
'This day had to come someday...'
Octavia Zipple...
She was in the command room of the Kozec, observing the situation with expressionless eyes.
Octavia, along with some high-ranking magicians who knew Kinzelo's power from before, showed no surprise.
However, it's not that it didn't affect them, but they were more infuriated than those who had underestimated Kinzelo.
Octavia, fully aware of Kinzelo's strength, had predicted such a turn of events.
However, it was bitter to see them unfold.
It was expected that Kinzelo's invasion of the Sota Desert was not a simple act of aggression but had underlying reasons.
Surely, their leader has not fully recovered from the Sword Emperor Castle terrorist attack, and yet they rampage as if ready to start a total war.
Runcandel.
They were the reason.
As long as Runcandel stood firm, Kinzelo took advantage of the fact that Zipple could not recklessly involve itself in a total war.
At least for now.
Handling both factions at once was impossible.
Well, it might be possible, but Zipple would suffer catastrophic losses close to destruction after the war.
In that case, another would take over world hegemony, not those who have lived under the tension of war for the last thousand years.
Even with hundreds of flying fleets, the recreation of the Origin Orb, and the almost completion of the immortal living golem.
The fact that they couldn't dominate their opponents in the long tug-of-war of nightmares was giving rise to intense resentment, as enemies exploited their vulnerability.
We have to become stronger.
'We must recover the lost magic and divine powers of our clan as soon as possible.'
So, they wanted to be accused that indeed, they would become the masters of the surface before Cyron's era ended, and before the Leader of Kinzelo fully recovered.
Dragons, magicians, and fleets surrounded Grenille.
Perhaps the term "surround" is not appropriate.
At first, Grenille showed no signs of fleeing, not even when everyone gathered against it.
Octavia left the commander's room and stood in front of the Kozec.
Then, she raised her glowing staff towards the sky.
"Bishkel Ivlianos!"
Octavia's resonant voice, amplified by mana, echoed in the sky.
Bishkel was on board Grenille.
He maintained his characteristic cold expression even with Octavia's arrival.
"I have always wondered why the Leader of Kinzelo holds you in such high esteem. Is today an opportunity to see your skills?"
Bishkel had nothing to respond.
He still possessed no particularly special ability.
His virtue lay in being a meticulous vice-leader, always maintaining a rational intellect.
He could be considered skillful compared to other Kinzelo executives, who tended to be temperamental or somewhat eccentric.
In a way, he easily gained favor from both internal and external people.
In any case, Bishkel's unmoving and unresponsive demeanor heightened Octavia's strange anticipation.
"I hope a glimpse of your power is worth this humiliation."
Swish!
When mana emanated from Octavia's staff, Grenille's thunder that reverberated through the area calmed for a moment.
For a brief moment, she used mana greater than Grenille's engine.
That mana transformed into a massive net, enveloping Grenille, even managing to intercept falling battleship fragments.
Wuuuu-!
Warning sounds signaling impacts were encoded in Grenille.
Although the protective shield that resisted even Ron's formless sword still had not a single crack, the battleship staggered under the force of the net.
'Octavia Zipple is truly the second in command of the world's largest clan.'
A warm drop of sweat slid down Bishkel's forehead.
He wondered how much time the newly recruited woman could buy against their opponents.
Haaam-!
A woman behind Bishkel yawned as if she was about to open her mouth.
She was dressed in an extravagant outfit unsuitable for combat, and a pair of small wings, the size of a palm, protruded from her back.
"It seems like the time has come! Hey, vice-leader. I just have to fight them until they find those Runcandel, right?"
"...Ainas. It would be better to approach the situation with a bit more caution."
Ainas Caligo, that was the woman's name.
"Hmph! Are you saying that the second princess of the great Kaligo family should take these lesser beings seriously? Oh, there are also Dragons."
Ainas' arrogant and carefree attitude had been unsettling Bishkel since before they arrived in the desert.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. It's fine, it's fine. I just have to do well, right?"
Ainas casually lifted the large sword she had by her side.
The way she stood up and twirled around her sword seemed quite relaxed.
"Instead of just buying time, can't I end them all if possible? Hehe."
"Now is not the time for jokes."
"See whether it's a joke or not. Vice-leader, why not relax and wait with a cup of hot tea while I sweep them all before dinner?"
Octavia squinted her eyes as she watched Ainas, who had taken the lead ahead of Grenille.
"Demon... Could it be that you have opened the gate? So this is your ability, Bishkel Ivlianos."
Octavia's eyes gleamed, and she began releasing mana again.
Ainas snorted as if it were ridiculous, and suddenly she leaped into the air towards Octavia.
"You're noisy, human... Waa!"
However, instead of reaching Octavia, Ainas was intercepted by the magic of the other magicians and fell to the ground.
Ainas, who was covered by the breath of the Dragons and magical bombardment before hitting the ground, ended up screaming like that.
"Vice-leader! Help me! Help! Quickly!"
Bishkel sighed deeply, touching his forehead.
Most regrettable was that Bishkel's despair did not end there.
Suddenly, a sword energy tidal wave surged from the ground.
Unlike Octavia's net, this sword energy directly hit Grenille's protective shield.
It was Hedo's sword.
Wooosh!
A crack appeared in Grenille's lower hull, and Bishkel had no idea why someone like that demon woman, similar to Bubare, accompanied him.
'I heard it withstood the Sword of the Sword Emperor, and indeed, it's a sturdy battleship.'
Hedo, leaping once again, unleashed sword energy waves as she jumped to the forefront of Kozec.
Octavia was surprised to see him injured and widened her eyes, astonished.
"It seems that Kinzelo has firmly decided. I was surprised that she asked for support, but how can you be so injured, sir? Also, on the way here, I saw that the Second Tower was completely destroyed."
Like Bishkel, Hedo also had nothing to say in response to Octavia.
So, he decided to reprimand her.
"It would be good if you took better care of your subordinates from now on, Captain of the Spectres. (Spectres Captain)"
"Take care of my subordinates?"
"They followed Miss Sandra's orders without thinking. That's how I got into this mess."
It wasn't entirely wrong, but it wasn't entirely true either.
Nevertheless, Octavia had decided it wasn't the time to argue with Hedo.
"It seems my subordinates have earned your displeasure. We'll talk about it later. First, we need to find those who gravely wounded him, sir. Who are they, and in which direction did they flee?"
Hedo got to see Ainas struggling to dodge the constant onslaught of attacks.
"Uwaaaaah, Vice-leader, what are you doing!"
Demon.
It seemed like a reasonable excuse.
He hoped it was.
"...It seems they were demons. They fled in the direction of the Kuta Forest, but I didn't know their path after that."
"Was there any Runcandel with them?"
"Flagbearers, Black Knight, and the Black Dragon Murakan were with them."
Hedo couldn't deceive her about that.
Although not perfect, it certainly came closer to the truth, so saying that he has never known Runcandel would be a betrayal beyond simple deceit.
If that happened, Sandra would be in danger.
Octavia's eyes widened once again upon hearing the word "Murakan."
"The fact that the Black Dragon came means that the Twelfth Flagbearer is also in the Sota Desert. It makes more sense why he fought, sir."
"You should hurry if you don't want to miss them."
Octavia drew a long line in the sky with her staff.
A light made of mana moved, forming command runes in the sky.
Focus on the direction of the Kuta Forest and search for the fugitives.
Capture Jin Runcandel alive.
As soon as the order was given, ten Dragons broke away from their ranks and began flying at full speed towards the Kuta Forest.
Having already experienced several times the misfortune of letting Jin slip away before their eyes...
The Spectres were now determined to capture him at all costs.
Unfortunately, the direction indicated by Hedo, the Kuta Forest, was exactly opposite to the one Jin and Sandra had taken.
Hedo cleared his throat and redirected the sword energy towards Grenille once again.
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