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Crashhhhh─────!!

A tsunami crashes upon the land.

No matter how torrential the downpour, there’s no way this could be thought of as possible—this is something even a 9th-circle Great Sorcerer couldn’t manage—yet here it is, unfolding right before my eyes.

An illusion?

I wish it were an illusion.

All I can sincerely hope for is that the colossal wave approaching the gorge is merely an enemy’s illusion magic.

But this is reality.

It’s a sight that could only be described as miraculous, and it’s astonishing beyond belief; the problem is that the tsunami is rushing toward the Demon King’s Army.

“The Hero has summoned the sea with the Holy Sword────!!”

At Balbarado’s shout, the soldiers stationed in the gorge fell into pandemonium.

Is there any place to escape?

Is there a safe spot at all?

Can we even evade that?

“Ugh, aaaaah!!”

While the gorge may be a narrow passage, each individual’s surroundings amidst cliffs and waves are open spaces.

In other words, there’s nowhere to evade that tsunami.

If they could just run to the opposite side of the gorge and hide behind the cliff—

“Run, run away──!! Fall back, no matter what!!”

At Balbarado’s cry, the monsters hurriedly fled backward.

Dying by being swept away by the tsunami is worse than desperately squeezing out every last bit of strength to flee and survive.

Some might think that way.

Even though it’s a tsunami, it’s still water.

No matter how powerful the tsunami, isn’t there a chance of survival if I surrender myself to the flow as much as possible when caught in its currents?

They might think so, but that’s not the only thing approaching.

Boom, boom, boom, boom—

The sound of drums reverberates.

Whether it’s the sound of drums or some strange noise amplified by magic, I can’t tell.

But the black mobile fortress charging towards the gorge is definitely coming, cloaked in an enigmatic swirl of light!

“Help me…!! I don’t want to be crushed…!!”

The tsunami isn’t the issue.

It’s the enormous steel fortress crashing atop the tsunami that’s the problem.

“It’s coming…!!”

Until the very last moment, I wished it were an illusion.

Bang─────!!

The mobile fortress has entered the gorge.

Soldiers stationed below, who turned to flee in a hurry, were crushed beneath the fortress and swept away in the torrent, while those above the gorge fled behind the cliffs without even considering saving their comrades upon witnessing the horrific scene.

Splash!

The tsunami was turbulent enough to overflow the cliffs.

Although for a brief moment, a wave lower than the gorge’s height surged due to the bottleneck, it felt like waves would sweep through the entire gorge just after that.

“Balbarado, the ball!”

“Let’s escape for the moment!!”

“Let’s head that way!!”

Amducias pointed urgently toward the interior of the gorge, and Balbarado scanned the surrounding soldiers before grimacing.

“Damn it…! Everyone, run for your lives! Time your timing as you wish!!”

The only safe place in the raging tsunami-laden gorge.

That place is—

“Run──!!”

With a dash.

The soldiers atop the gorge leaped into the gorge at Balbarado’s command.

Is it to surrender themselves to the tsunami?

No.

“Climb atop the mobile fortress──!!”

From the very beginning, it has always been about riding the wave and ‘just running’ atop the mobile fortress!

Bang──!!

Balbarado and Amducias were the first to land atop the mobile fortress.

The surface of the mobile fortress was incredibly vast, far larger than a military training ground, and even if dozens, or hundreds of monsters landed behind them, there would still be ample space.

“Grrr…!”

Balbarado gritted his teeth as he surveyed the surroundings.

The mobile fortress racing through the gorge occasionally scraped or collided against the cliffs, and each time, the monsters’ red blood mixed into the tsunami foam.

“Those bastards…! Listen up, everyone! We will occupy this mobile fortress at any cost! Got it!!”

“Yes, General!”

Balbarado raised his staff and aimed it downward.

Amducias also directed his horn-shaped spear downward and gathered magic power.

“For the Demon Lord──!”

Just as the two demon races were about to strike below,

Whoosh─────!!

“Gyaaaaaaaa!!”

The blue ray that exploded from below made the demon races that had landed on the fortress scream.

Balbarado and Amducias hastily turned their heads sideways to dodge the attack, but had they not dodged, it felt like their faces would have melted away by acid.

“The Holy Knight Order!!”

Creak.

As a circular hole opened in the central part of the mobile fortress, dozens of Holy Knights burst out from below.

“In the name of the Moon Goddess!”

“There’s no shortage of succubi here!”

With a blue aura flowing over them, they appeared not only with divine power but garbed in attire more sinister than that of the succubi of the Demon World.

Some might say, “Oh wow,” but from the perspective of the demons, it was no different from dressing up livestock in swimwear.

“You filthy minions of the Demon King! Face divine judgment!”

“Shut up!! If it weren’t for your divine power, you wouldn’t even be a mouthful for us! Attack──!!”

Waaaaaa───!!

The battlefield racing through the gorge on the waves.

Though it wouldn’t take long to exit the gorge, battles still unfold in that brief moment.

Kaang, kaang──!!

“Stop them from climbing up! Intercept those jumping down from above! We must secure the top of the fortress!”

The Holy Knight Order aims to ensnare the demons using their divine powers.

“The hole they came out of is the entrance! Let’s pierce through there and invade the mobile fortress to trample the human village! Waaaaaa!!”

The demons desperately trying to seize the mobile fortress.

As the mobile fortress reached the middle of the gorge, the situation was—

“Grrr…! How can the demons wield such power…!”

“Kuhaha! Holy Knights! Did you think we didn’t prepare against you!!”

Surprisingly, the Holy Knights were being pushed back.

“If the divine power doesn’t work, they’re just useless bugs!”

“This, this…!”

“Wondering why the divine power doesn’t work? Kahaha! Thanks to your tsunami, we were surprised, but magic is at play in this gorge!”

Whooooooosh.

The upper part of the gorge fluttered in the wind.

Though it shouldn’t have been fluttering, given it’s supposed to be a night sky, the gorge was distinctly rippling.

“Don’t tell me…!”

“Haha! You’ve been deceived! The blue moon you prayed for is fake! It’s a large-scale illusion, a mirror image!”

The cloak of darkness spread above the gorge unmistakably blocked out the moonlight.

The light of the blue moon was desperately trying to penetrate the curtain, yet today the blue moon, oddly enough, was obscured by clouds and struggled to cast its light.

“Block the moonlight’s blessing, and you’re merely a divine power storage pouch!”

Balbarado and Amducias pushed the Holy Knights back towards the entrance they came from.

One by one, the number of demons leaping down from above the gorge began to increase.

“Gahhh!!”

Though the demons on the gorge floor, scraping against the bottom of the fortress, screamed in futility, it mattered little to the Demon King’s army.

“What matters is victory for the Demon King’s army, no matter the cost!”

For the Demon King’s army, victory is all that matters.

No matter how many die, they can just be resurrected…!

“We have the blessing of Demon King Satan! No matter how many times you kill us, thanks to Satan’s power, we will be reborn! And!”

Balbarado raised his staff high.

“Now it’s your turn! Kihi, come──!!”

Whoosh.

A burst of scarlet flame erupted from beyond the black curtain.

With that flame, a scarlet woman in a black nun’s habit landed next to Balbarado.

“Y-you…!”

“Mercenary King Bearnes?!”

Formerly the Flame Hero.

Though her attire is said to be a bit more refined than that of the Holy Knights, Bearnes, donned in a black eye patch, sported hair not red but flame-like orange.

“Why…!”

“Of course, it’s because the Demon Lord brainwashed me! Hehehe, it’s useless even if you try to break the brainwashing!”

Having brainwashed the former Hero of the Holy Sword.

Just those words were enough to shatter the morale of the Holy Knights and Spartan warriors.

The Mercenary King.

One of the strongest who displayed overwhelming power even before wielding the Holy Sword.

And now, she appears as an enemy, grasping her sword while unleashing the flames burning her divine power.

“A fallen hero, indeed.”

Splash.

With the sound of water, a blue-haired woman stepped boldly before Bearnes.

“I have no lack in facing you.”

“……Hero, Liriez Cesarcross!”

Swish.

The blue hair of the Water Hero, Liriez, began to gradually take on a deep blue hue.

“Your attire directly contradicts the doctrine of the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess! I, Liriez Cesarcross, shall break the shackles of that brainwashing and liberate you!!”

Liriez’s eyes were a blend of blue and red, forming a purplish hue.

 

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