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EP.470 The Road to the Last Stage (1)
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Master of the Demon Lord.
Signs of shadows moving began to appear.
Lightning shooting from the ground to the sky. An unexpected drought. A prophet and astrologer gripped by madness. It was both a sign and a warning, a signal to prepare for the impending disaster.
【The shadows are moving, severing all contracts.】
A voice of a star echoed in her ears.
Hearing that voice, Raniel thought. This time, the star’s voice was indeed helpful. Raniel asked the star if she could know the direction in which the Demon Lord was moving.
The star indicated a direction. Raniel’s gaze shifted toward it. She turned her head and looked back.
There lay the path Raniel had walked so far.
The frontlines she had expanded over the past few years. The road she had taken. The star said that the shadows would move against that path. And in that direction, the Kingdom of Cartedia also existed.
···The Kingdom of Cartedia, nearby small nations, numerous large and small cities. Countless humans living there.
Those placed in the path where the shadow was heading were people Raniel could neither abandon nor turn away from. Raniel gritted her teeth. Frowning nervously, she mumbled.
“It’s the kind of thing that Braver would do.”
It was truly something that bastard would do.
Braver always forces choices. He mocks humans standing at a crossroads. Humans faced with a situation where they must give up something, no matter which path they choose, are ridiculed by him as he laughs madly.
Grit.
Gritting her teeth, Raniel stared at the chessboard.
She glared at Braver sitting on the opposite side of the chessboard. Braver looked at Raniel with a grin, dramatically pointing at the chessboard and exclaimed.
「Did you think you had to kill me first?」
「Did you think you could thwart my plans by defeating me before the Demon Lord? You think I wouldn’t know that? You think I would be unprepared?」
Braver scoffed.
「You will have to choose.」
「Will you turn your eyes away from the massacre that the shadows will unleash and run to me? Go ahead. I know you are capable of doing so.」
Grinning wider, he continued.
「Or will you try to stop the Demon Lord despite knowing my plans? Will you fight to defeat the Demon Lord? If you want to, go ahead! You can do it. You are certainly capable of it.」
You have the ability to do so.
Braver whispered as he laughed.
「But you cannot do that.」
Because you are a hero, striving to be a perfect one, wishing to be a symbol, you cannot sacrifice innocent people. I know that you are not someone who can throw everything away for a purpose.
「Choose, Raniel van Trias.」
No matter what you choose, you will lose.
「You will fail.」
Your defeat will be my victory.
“······.”
Raniel lowered her head. She directed her gaze down.
She didn’t look at the opposite side of the chessboard but at the chessboard itself. She saw the pieces she had gathered and protected over the past years. Knights, rooks, bishops, and a pawn nearing promotion.
Raniel slowly began.
Very slowly, she opened her previously closed eyes.
“Kalt.”
“Yes, senpai.”
Raniel spoke.
“Gather them.”
Crack, Raniel grasped all the pieces tightly.
“All of them.”
Base, Kateron Castle.
Originally positioned close to the front lines as a stronghold, Kateron Castle transformed into a place serving various roles after continuous expansion of the front. Aside from storage and distribution of supplies sent from the royal capital, and a base for movement, it performed countless other functions, but…
「Gather here.」
Being located at the center of the battlefield, Kateron was sometimes used as a gathering place. A location to assemble scattered forces. Today, humanity’s total strength gathered at Kateron Castle.
Clack.
In front of a gathered personnel, two of whom were missing from the team during the Betrayer’s subjugation, Raniel spoke. Her voice heavier than ever.
“From now on, some parts of what I say will be heard, and some parts may not. You don’t need to worry about the parts you don’t hear.”
Only those here had touched the golden words and constraints to some extent, or guessed accordingly. Therefore, Raniel omitted detailed explanations. She immediately unfolded a map and began to speak.
“At the edge of the continent, beyond the place where death is silent, lies the Temple of Shadows in Gehete.”
The end of the world. The edge of the map.
Pointing at that place, Raniel spoke.
“An anomaly has occurred from there. It means the Demon Lord, the master of that place, is showing signs of movement — rising lightning, drought, suicides of astrologers, and the spread of madness.”
The movements of the deity, who had long been absent, naturally brought numerous signs. Even if it were an incomplete being that fell and lost immortality…. The shadows, freed from all constraints, would reveal their true nature.
The world was creaking under the weight of that nature. This was a sign that the Demon Lord was moving.
“The Demon Lord moves.”
The being that should have been defeated last, according to the original plan, suddenly began to move as if mocking Raniel’s strategies.
“I don’t know the reason. I have no idea about the cause. The only guess I can make is that this situation was orchestrated by the First Braver.”
The target for the next subjugation: the First Braver.
The expressions of those who received related messages stiffened. Those like Lac, who had experienced the battle with Braver, frowned, along with the others raised by Raniel.
“If the Demon Lord is moving, where is it heading?”
Destel, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.
Raniel drew a line on the map. The direction in which the Demon Lord was headed, as told by the star. Though the final destination was unknown, humanity’s territories lay along the Demon Lord’s path.
Click, Destel’s tongue clicked as he rubbed his forehead.
“We need to stop it. Absolutely.”
“···That should be the case.”
“Do you have means to stop the Demon Lord?”
Raniel nodded.
“I have means. I’ve been preparing.”
“It sounds like those means are imperfect.”
Destel squinted at Raniel. She always spoke with certainty about her preparations. However, there was no confidence in the current Raniel.
“There’s a problem.”
Raniel exhaled deeply.
As she breathed out, her finger moved. The place where her finger halted on the map was…
“The place where death is silent, Gehete.”
The realm of disaster located right in front of the Temple of Shadows.
No one was unaware of who the master of this place was.
“···Ganikalt.”
Destel groaned.
Raniel pointed at Gehete and continued.
“The Death’s Blade, Ganikalt, is the sword of the Demon Lord. It is both a being that protects and restrains the Demon Lord, and if the Demon Lord moves, it must lead the way.”
The moment the Demon Lord moves, Ganikalt also moves.
That only meant one thing.
“While the Demon Lord prepares to move now, if we do not subdue Ganikalt… we will have to face both the Demon Lord and Ganikalt at the same time. That is absolutely impossible.”
Raniel asserted.
Even if she poured in all her preparations and every piece she had gathered, facing the Demon Lord and Ganikalt simultaneously was impossible.
“What we need to aim for is to defeat them one by one. The problem is that our time is limited.”
She spread her fingers wide.
“We have ten days.”
The Demon Lord would begin to move and break free from all constraints, stepping outside the temple, ten days from now.
“In those ten days.”
Raniel tapped on the map.
“We have to subdue the Death’s Blade and prepare for the coming defeat of the Demon Lord. There is no other way.”
Originally, the plan was to subdue the Braver, prepare, and then engage in a battle against Ganikalt and the Demon Lord. But the plan had twisted. The board had been overturned.
“···But.”
Ayla, who came all the way here despite the royal family’s objections, slowly opened her mouth.
“The moment we defeat the Demon Lord, the Braver’s plan will be completed. If that happens… everything will go to waste, won’t it?”
She hit the nail on the head.
Not everyone present knew the details of the Braver’s plan. But the shared information made it clear that if the Demon Lord was defeated before the First Braver, a being similar to the Demon Lord would emerge.
“This is ridiculous.”
Destel ruffled his hair in frustration.
“It’s a no-win situation.”
Failing at either side is a guaranteed defeat.
In the end, only the lesser of two evils could be chosen. A situation where they had to pick a choice to avoid the worst was present. Sighs and grinding of teeth filled the room.
The options rolled around: perhaps to go with the Braver’s side, then the royal castle side, no, maybe…
Voices began to leak out all around.
Each voice filled the conference room with noise. Amidst the clamor, Raniel took a long, drawn-out breath. Finally, she tapped the table with the back of her hand Bang.
“······.”
The noise faded and silence enveloped the room.
In that silence, attention turned to Raniel. Under the concentrated gaze, Raniel spoke up.
“Your Majesty.”
“Yes, Hero.”
“Has the true body of the Braver been identified?”
“It has been narrowed down to two locations, and I have sent reconnaissance there. A search party made up of Royal Guards and…”
Ayla shot a glance at Resti sitting next to her.
Resti continued Ayla’s words.
“Our special forces from the Ashen Tower set off three days ago. We expect a report back within today.”
Both pointed at the far edges of the map.
One was the Frozen Tower located beyond the northern mountains, at the northernmost tip of the continent… and the other was an abandoned ruin to the northwest.
The true body of the Braver was in one of those two places.
Raniel gripped the chess pieces beside the map. She began to position the grasped pieces on the map, treating it like a chessboard. In silence, the sound of Clack echoed softly as the pieces were placed.
“There is a way.”
She said.
“It’s not a no-win situation. The Braver is only wary of me, Stella, and the Watcher. That bastard doesn’t care at all about the other forces.”
The direction where the Braver was presumed to be.
Raniel placed the pieces one by one toward that direction. The sound of Clack, Clack, Clack echoed as the number of pieces steadily decreased.
“Earlier than expected, but…”
Having placed the pieces, she lifted her head.
She looked at those gathered here.
“It’s the final act.”
Final Act (最終章).
“I will summon those for the Braver subjugation battle. Those not summoned will be sent to the Death’s Blade subjugation.”
Raniel van Trias spoke.
“Ayla Clen Cartedia.”
Despite calling the Queen’s name, no one caught the tail of Raniel’s words. With the end of the world approaching, no one here bothered to discern the formalities.
“Resti Elenoa.”
“Chloe.”
“Belnoa van Dragonik.”
“Destel.”
“Karioth.”
“Remia.”
“Natida.”
As she called out names, the expressions of the gathered individuals stiffened.
“Hey.”
The moment only two individuals remained.
Destel stood up abruptly. Approaching Raniel, he grabbed her by the collar as he stood.
“Right now.”
Holding her collar, Destel glared at Raniel.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Everyone was being sent to the Braver subjugation battle. There were only Kalt and Lac left. Did she expect to subdue both the Death’s Blade and the Demon Lord with so few people? It was suicide. It was like asking for death.
“I’m ready to die if I have to…”
“Lac von Grace.”
While Destel clung to her collar, Raniel said calmly. She tilted her head, glancing at Lac standing behind Destel.
“You are on hold. You can join the battlefield of your choice. It doesn’t matter which.”
Saying that, Raniel tightened her grip on Destel’s wrist.
“It will be me, and Kalt. Depending on the situation, Lac von Grace. This trio will be sent to the Death’s Blade subjugation.”
Then, Raniel continued.
“The one to confront the Demon Lord will be Rania van Trias.”
Raniel spoke her final words.
The moment those words were heard, Destel’s expression distorted.
“One person.”
