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The advance of humanity towards the northern lands where the gate had opened was going smoothly.

The demon race, too, attempted various strategies like defense, ambush, and breakthrough to hinder the united alliance closing in on the gate, but thanks to the gate being incomplete, they were unable to inflict significant damage due to being outnumbered.

It was a good thing that we were able to maintain almost all our forces as per the initial plan while surrounding the gate, but—

“After coming this far, to not meet Zion…”

The gate was right before us, yet I still hadn’t met Zion. How did it come to this?

I had assumed he would head towards the gate since he was beyond the northern border…

“Things didn’t go as expected, Naou.”

“True.”

Hanamana and I took out our respective spheres to check Zion’s location once more, but he was still to the north.

Arriving at the gate without meeting Zion was an unexpected situation.

The demon king extermination operation was based on the premise of Zion’s joining, so even though we were on the brink of confronting the demon king, his absence put the united alliance in quite a bind.

“What should we do, Your Highness? It looks like Plan A is unusable.”

Even in this situation, Duke Crofel of Libya maintained a calm smile while seeking opinions.

Since all forces had completed their advance and were surrounding the gate, the heroes and generals were currently gathered in the imperial army’s barracks to discuss strategies.

“The longer the gate remains open, the more complete it becomes. They likely left such a rudimentary gate open for that reason. Even now, the demon realm and the intermediate realm are gradually merging, so we have no time to waste. Our overwhelming power gives us the upper hand, so I’ll engage directly on the original plan.”

Ultimately, Naou opted to use strength first.

The opponent was just the demon king and a few of his upper echelon backed by an imperfect gate.

On the other hand, our world’s heroes and troops were nearly all gathered, and we had a complete encirclement, meaning we could resort to a war of attrition if necessary.

No matter how transcendent the demon king might be, if multiple parties alternated to confront him, allowing for rest and recovery, he would exhaust and collapse eventually.

Since this war of attrition might take days, Naou’s judgment to initiate as quickly as possible before any variables arose through the gate was absolutely sound.

“Then I suppose I’ll be the hero.”

“I’m counting on you, Duke Crofel. The spotlight can’t be easy, though.”

“After all, it’s just a fight against one demon king. As long as I don’t die, it’s a good profit. But that thing…”

“Yes?”

“I heard the plan is to gradually exhaust him through infinite rotation, but it doesn’t really matter if we just cut through, right?”

“Of course.”

With Zion absent, the original plan for the demon king attack team consisting of the heroes from around the world was set.

The first party based on the hero party would feature Castiel Crofel, the strongest swordsman of the Siloia continent, taking Zion’s place in swordsmanship, while Naou Nutriot took on the role of the magic support.

“Thank you, Duke.”

“Good luck.”

With healing magic from Hanamana, Cherrybell, and login Serin Roundhall, and…

“I’m honored to be coordinating with the elf king.”

The last support being space mage Keineu May Boltra.

Thus, five of us would head to confront the demon king first.

“Just enough to have some fun, you pointy ears.”

And the second party would feature the dwarf warrior Leonard Bangbeard.

“Please refrain from making disrespectful comments towards His Highness.”

“Your Highness? You pointy ears act like you’ve got a king or something, huh?”

“I do.”

“I see.”

With the consistent damage dealer being elf ranger Captain Heymin Odina.

“So, Your Highness, can you really only use space magic?”

“Am I going to lie about that?”

“Heh, you might be hiding your cards.”

While the tower chief and first magician, Demiano Maple, held the fort.

“……”

Lastly, there was the healing saint Seiya Silane, sister of the saint Eina Silane.

These four formed the second party, while heroes from various nations would be allocated according to their positions across a total of seven parties aimed at confronting the demon king.

“Everyone here is aware of the original outline for the demon king extermination operation, but let me reiterate: seven parties composed of elites made up of heroes will each enter from different directions. The first party will hold the demon king until the upper ranks are dealt with, and each party will take on one of the demon king’s subordinates through numerical superiority. That’s the basic outline, and for details or rotations in the demon king battle, we will decide after seeing how the parties fare against the upper ranks. If any vacancies arise, we will conduct repairs or reorganization.”

Everyone nodded to Naou’s operation summary.

The smooth flow of operation explanations was partly due to Naou’s charisma but fundamentally stemmed from her thorough preparatory work.

Naou had concocted strategies to mobilize the world over the last three months in anticipation of the gate opening and had prepared various simulations for hero compositions and combinations.

She was simply reminding everyone of the information already shared through operational documents detailing strategies for various situations.

The discussions proceeded with all prior disagreements having been reconciled.

“However, the top priority in this operation, as in previous ones, remains preventing any casualties. Remember, all of you are fighting to survive. While we can replace personnel, there’s no need to bear excessive responsibility or make sacrifices. If your life is in danger, retreat immediately for repairs. Our main force will support you and fill in any gaps. It would be foolish not to utilize the overwhelming advantage we possess. Understood?”

Once again, everyone nodded affirmatively.

Naou confirmed that the operation had been clearly communicated and nodded back.

“Now, let’s return to our respective lines to finalize preparations. Once finished, we will advance immediately. I wish you all good fortune.”

As the meeting concluded, everyone except the first party rose from their seats, leaving the conference room to return to their positions.

Finally, the demon king extermination operation was at hand. The final battle that would determine the world’s fate…

“What will Director Hop do?”

Once more in this operation, I was given no role.

I could have participated in combat as an auxiliary mage like Keineu since I also dealt with space, but Naou likely excluded me from the party out of consideration.

And my choice was only obvious…

“I’m going north.”

To find Zion.

If Zion was indeed to the north of the gate, then that was the direction I would go.

“Director, if that’s the case…”

Naou approached me quietly, grasping my hand and lifting it.

“?”

Caught off guard, I made a surprised expression as our eyes met, yet Naou ignored it and set something in my open right hand.

“This is…”

“Take this with you. You’ll need it to find Zion, right?”

It was none other than the hero party’s sphere, devoid of gold light that represented Naou’s share.

“…Thank you.”

I quietly closed my hand around the sphere without needing any further confirmation.

No need to ask if it was okay for her to give this to me; if it hadn’t been, she wouldn’t have placed it in my hand.

This was an essential item for finding Zion.

Had Naou not prepared it, I might have demanded it from her.

“Director. Bring Zion back. I haven’t forgotten what you said back then.”

“What do you mean…?”

“When Zion picks up his sword and fights next time, it won’t be for the world, it will be for you.”

Those words from the ball…

Thinking back, I had complained at that time about how the Pope had brought up extreme examples when he mentioned the demon king opening and attacking through the gate, but now it had all turned real.

“I can’t pinpoint why Zion is absent, but if he’s not fighting here, it must be because he’s fighting for you. So go find him and bring him back. Got it?”

For my sake…

Was there a reason for Zion to abandon the demon king and the gate to fight something else?

If there’s someone he needed to fight first…

‘?!’

A sudden sense of unease struck me.

Now that I thought about it, wasn’t there one more person I should have met at this point besides Zion?

“Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“Is there a member of the demon king’s upper ranks called Mirae?”

“Mirae?”

That was a demon with enough power. Mirae should also undoubtedly be here.

In previous lives, Mirae had always stood by the demon king.

If Mirae wasn’t here, it would explain Zion’s absence.

‘If Zion had visited my home, he would have seen evidence of the attack. If he knew I had been attacked by Mirae, he would likely eliminate her to protect me. If there was something Zion would abandon this place to chase after, it would only be Mirae.’

Thanks to Naou, I finally managed to glean the reason for Zion’s absence from here.

And at the enemy stronghold, just as I expected—

“I checked right after arriving at the enemy stronghold, but Mirae was not there. If I had seen a familiar face, I would have noticed immediately.”

Mirae was absent.

Was Zion really off fighting not for the world, but for me?

A wave of self-loathing surged within me, and I bit down hard on my lip.

Even at this moment, Zion was making painful choices to protect me, yet I had despaired and done nothing, claiming that my relation with him was over?

I really was pathetic.

“Thank you, Your Highness. I’ll take my leave now.”

Naou nodded silently in response.

I steadied my boiling emotions and took a deep breath.

“Creating Simplified Space Movement Array.”

First, I’ll move north to slip out of formation, then use the sphere to find Zion.

Both Naou and the others, Hanamana, Serin, Keineu, were watching me as I departed.

I’m heading towards her with everyone’s hearts, fighting for the world in place of Zion.

While I acted solely for myself, I couldn’t help but feel the weight of their hopes upon me.

“Mobilization.”

I transcend space, time, and memory to go to Zion.

Wait for me, Zion.

I’ll be there soon…

 

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