265. VS Vanguard – Total War (Part 6)

Arrogance’s ‘Demon King’s Praise’ activated.

Jet-black darkness enveloped the surroundings, dyeing everything in a single shade of black.

Then, the space around Arrogance began to distort.

“Wha…”

“What… did you say…?”

Ivar doubted his eyes. Even Beld widened his eyes, questioning the sight before him.

Crawling out from the distorted space around Arrogance was a copper-colored Orc.

Following it were a stone giant that looked like a collection of massive buildings joined together, a Queen Ant with a human upper body and an ant’s lower body, a tree so giant it pierced the heavens, and a beautiful dragon with crimson scales.

Arrogance called out the names of the appeared monsters.

“High Orc ‘Lufen’, Guardian Golem ‘Titan’, Queen Ant ‘Alpa’, Elder Treant ‘Peony’. And—Dragon King ‘Flamme’. These are the Named monsters who once fought a life-or-death struggle against him. …Ah, Flamme is a special case, though.”

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”

High Orc Lufen roared.

“RUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!”

Guardian Golem Titan made the earth tremble.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAA… KISSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Queen Ant Alpa let out her first cry.

『Hmm… where is this?』

And just one—the red dragon Flamme—tilted his head.

“Nice to meet you, Dragon King Flamme. I didn’t expect even you to be summoned.”

『You are…? I… I am certain I was eaten by Peony and died…?』

“First, I want you to lend us a hand. I’ll send the situation and information directly to your brains.”

The moment the information was sent to his brain, Flamme trembled.

『Th-this is… My wife has a name… and Shiro-chan, you say…!? What adorable sweetness… As expected of the child of myself and Sora…』

“……Is that the first thing you have to say after being resurrected?”

Are all dragons doting parents, starting with Sora? Arrogance felt a sense of out-of-place exasperation.

“In any case. You all grasp the situation now, yes? Lufen and Alpa, head to the Second Barrier. Titan and Peony, to the Third Barrier. You can move instantly via my darkness.”

The resurrected Named monsters obediently followed Arrogance’s instructions and headed to their respective barriers. Monsters resurrected by ‘Demon King’s Praise’ cannot disobey Arrogance’s orders. Even Named monsters are no exception.

(Well, given the circumstances, I think they would have complied even without an order…)

Arrogance looked at the remaining Flamme.

“Flamme, I need you to stay here and help me. You’ll have to hold back on reuniting with your mate and child for a bit longer, alright?”

『Understood. I shall repay the debt for being given the chance to see my family. Use my power as Dragon King to your heart’s content.』

“……I appreciate your cooperation.”

(I certainly can’t say ‘Unlike your wife,’ though, Arrogance thought to himself.)

“Ts…”

Beld’s face twitched at the entry of the former Dragon King. The war situation, which had been in his favor until moments ago, had flipped in an instant. A member of the Six Kings, the ‘Dragon King’, represented that much raw power.

“……No, it’s a bluff. Such a convenient development can’t exist. It’s either an illusion or a fake! Right!?”

“Then feel free to test it. Flamme, would you mind showing him your power?”

『As you wish.』

Flamme took a deep breath.

(A breath!? No way, at this distance?)

Dragon King Flamme’s breath. Its power was undoubtedly horrific. But using it at this range was equivalent to suicide. The explosion of the breath would involve not just Beld, but Arrogance and potentially even Flamme himself.

“—I don’t mind. Do as you please.”

But Arrogance commanded without flinching.

(I have to finish him before the breath—No, that skeleton is in the way!)

Beld’s spear speed was the fastest in the Vanguard. Conversely, a slight opening occurs after unleashing his fastest strike. It’s an opening shorter than a blink, but in a battle between equals, it is fatal. If the opponent were one, he would finish them before showing that opening, but against two or more, they would surely exploit it.

Therefore, Beld took distance for a moment. As long as he kept his range, he could deal with the breath and Arrogance’s pursuit. The moment the breath was fired, he would dodge and pick them off one by one. He instantly extended his spear backward and contracted it, pulling himself away from Arrogance and Flamme in one go. But in that instant, Flamme’s form wavered like a heat haze and vanished.

“Wha—”

—Mirage. A deception created by heat.

Beld, who had been wary of a breath attack, was a split second late in his reaction. The Dragon King’s claw strike, approaching from behind, tore through Beld mercilessly.

“Gaha…!? You…!”

『What? Was it so unexpected that I would use a surprise attack?』

An unexpected feint. Flamme, having created an illusion, had cut off his presence and closed in behind Beld. The idea that a monster—and a member of the Six Kings like the Dragon King—would use a surprise attack against a lower human was beyond Beld’s imagination.

(I didn’t think such a simple trick would actually work…)

On the other hand, Flamme himself couldn’t hide his internal surprise at the success of the ambush. Naturally, this wasn’t Flamme’s plan. The architect of the plan was laughing grandly.

“Aha-ha-ha-ha! Isn’t that magnificent, Flamme! Exactly! There is no need to fight fair and square! Use as many cowardly tricks as necessary! As long as you win, that’s all that matters!”

『……』

Flamme made a slightly sour face at Arrogance’s words. Those didn’t sound like the words of an ally.

“You bastard…”

“You’re full of openings! Take this, Vanguard!”

Arrogance’s relentless pursuit. Slashes of blood tore Beld to shreds.

“Gaha…”

“It seems you had already taken considerable damage from Ivar and Goshogawara. If you were in perfect condition, you could have handled a surprise attack of that level. Everything is the result of your own conceit and carelessness.”

“Damn… you…”

Arrogance and Flamme looked down at Beld as he collapsed on the ground.

『He seems to have lost consciousness. What shall we do?』

“I’d like to say ‘deliver the finishing blow,’ but…”

Arrogance picked up Beld’s spear and tossed it to Ivar.

“Ts!?”

“Ivar, was it? I’ll leave what to do with this to you. I don’t understand blood relations, but I suppose it’s important to humans?”

“……Is that alright?”

“I don’t mind. I realized through these battles. Though they call themselves the Vanguard, the only one who is truly an ‘enemy’ to us is Randall. If we deal with him, this war ends.”

“……”

Ivar wore a complicated expression at those words.

“Now then, the path is cleared. Let us head to the main event, Randall—hm?”

≪——Za—zazaza—zazazaza≫

≪Zazazaza—Connection—Connection—Success≫

≪Chaos Frontier grants ‘List’ to subject individual ‘Arrogance’.≫

≪Please utilize it.≫

≪Repeating.≫

≪Chaos Frontier grants ‘List’ to subject individual ‘Arrogance’.≫

≪Please utilize it.≫

“What is this announcement…?”

Arrogance was bewildered by the sudden announcement. Upon checking, a category called ‘List’ had been added to his status.

(This is… what does it mean?)

Opening the list, he saw astonishing information displayed there.

(…If this is true, our combat power will flip in an instant. However, this is almost too convenient for us… To think that a move capable of overturning a desperate power gap was actually left to us…? Can I really just write this off as a coincidence or a miracle…?)

Everything has a reason. Even the phenomenon called a miracle is nothing more than a culmination of events. At least, that is how Arrogance thought.

(……Well, fine. Thinking comes later. For now, I shall gratefully use this information. Everything else comes after ending this war.)

He immediately sent a telepathic message to Kazuto. Regardless of anything else, ending this war was the top priority.

“Kazuto Kudo, just one person will do. Remove someone from your party and add that man as an ally. With that—our power will be overturned.”

The final move for the reversal was about to be made.

End of 265