Chapter 226 – But What Now? (4)
Armageddon territory of Hermon Kingdom. It is a territory ruled by the fallen aristocrat, Baron Ragna Armageddon, and is currently protected by the magic fog, a large-scale barrier opened by the witch of mist, Mystria. The only people who can enter this land are those who do not treat Rag or Armageddon as enemies.
Due to Ragnar Armageddon’s aggressive territorial warfare, which can be called a war of conquest, the area of Armageddon reached approximately 5,000 pyeong. The Armageddon family, which has grown more than twice as large as when they were dukes, is currently the largest territory in the Hermon Kingdom… It is currently under siege by about 10,000 troops.
From the 1,000 privates of the only duchy left in the kingdom of Hermon to the 9,000 soldiers dispatched directly from the royal family of Hermon. Compared to the vast territory, its own troops are only 2,000, and it is difficult to fight properly due to the current situation of the Armageddon territory, which is difficult to say that even the quality of the troops is overwhelmingly good. The reason why the Armageddon territory has not yet been burned is because Mystria’s magic fog does not allow enemies to invade.
However, that was until today. Witch Mystria’s magical fog is a powerful barrier, but her enemy, the Smoke Witch Cigarete Tabacona, eventually created a means to break through her barrier and infiltrate. While Cigarette Tabacona was transporting the means, Hermon Kingdom’s forces were in a standoff with Armageddon’s territory under siege.
“Those damn children…”
Standing in front of her fog, he set up a camp and looked at the guarded soldiers with hateful eyes. Soon after, Mars chewed her lips and retreated. It’s already been a week since Armageddon’s territory was besieged. Troops capable of waging war are wasting valuable military resources to recapture one of their own territory. Contrary to the fact that supplies were gradually running out in the Armageddon territory due to the lack of communication with the outside world for a week, they were further strengthening their power through continuous supply.
If things go on like this, the moment Cigarete’s vehicle arrives, Armageddon’s domain is over. The land reclaimed by Ragnar Armageddon will be torn to shreds again by hyena-like nobles, and in the meantime, the majority of the territories who have gained a peaceful life in this territories will meet a bad end. Even if it is said that it is about 1,000 private soldiers of the duke’s family, even breaking the unwritten rule that the royal family of Hermon will not interfere in the territorial war between the nobles…!
Conversely, it means that taking the Armageddon territory is as important as it is. To be precise, the main purpose would be to confirm whether Ragnar Armageddon, the owner of the Armageddon Territory, is alive or dead.
In the state of being deprived of everything as a nobleman, Ragna Armageddon of the Black Army, a man who seemed to have built an independent kingdom within the royal family of Hermon, commanding the Immortal Corps with the power obtained through a deal with the devil he met in the ruins of the neighboring kingdom. In the battle with the hero, his survival became uncertain, and suspicions were raised that he might be alive because the magic fog persisted in the Armageddon territory. A situation that is presumed to be the previous state.
After helping Ragnar Armageddon, the prince who eventually ascended the throne feared the power that Ragnar Armageddon possessed that an individual should not have. And now that he is presumed to be in a precarious state, he sent the kingdom’s soldiers to support the private army of the duchy in order to restore stability to the kingdom by removing the uneasy factor and at the same time gain both the authority as a king and the support of nobles. Will be.
“Mars, how are the enemies?”
“I heard that the discipline was tighter than yesterday, but it hasn’t loosened up at all. If you keep doing nothing and keep vigilant like this, you’ll get bored and relax, but it seems the commanders are periodically putting the discipline in tight. Let alone people, you’re a rat. I don’t think I’ll ever miss a single one.”
“…Then, it would be impossible to obtain supplies from outside.”
Mia sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. She wanted to deny it, but she had no choice but to admit that the estate was now reaching its limits. The reason why the Armageddon Territory was able to remain intact until now was because Baron Ragnar Armageddon existed. When the territory was small, he ran with his feet and took away other territories, but even though he could quickly and surely take more territories, he appointed Mars as an agent to directly execute the territories war from the middle, and he continued to be stuck in the territories. What was there was to protect the regained territory from being stolen again.
A warlock lord who leads an army of immortals is in his domain, what kind of crazy idiot who doesn’t care about his life would invade that domain?
However, the survival of Rag or Armageddon became uncertain, and as he did not appear for a long time, the world forgot its fear of him and bared its teeth to regain their lost gains. Respect comes from fear, and those who forget fear forget respect too. The 10,000 troops waiting around the territory were proof of that.
“Whoa…”
Mia struggled to hold back her tears, and hung her head. The man made it clear that she would come back. He’s not sure when, but he said he’ll definitely be back. He is not a liar, and he believes he will return, by any means, but he is certain. Even if he bribed the boatman in the underworld, he would surely cross the river of oblivion again and return to those who were waiting for him. So, for when he comes back, I decided to keep the place he will come back to.
However, he has been able to barely defend the territory until now by desperately trying, but that is the limit now. Mia is tired of waiting without a promise, and shameless thieves come to rob the ownerless house. Now, there is no other way…
Thud…! Thud…! Thud…!
“Ah…”
A heavy sound gradually approaching. Mia turned his head in the direction of the noise, and even through his enchanted mist, the outline of the terrifying thing could be clearly seen. The weapon specially designed by Cigarete Tabacona, the Witch of Smoke, to get rid of the magical mist of Mystrina, the Witch of Mist, finally arrived.
That weapon, which emits powerful heat created by magic engineering through its muzzle, is a weapon that reproduces the breath of hell exhaled by the demon dragon that the hero defeated. In particular, its heinous function of burning even all magical powers floating in the air was the only means to completely dissipate the magic fog protecting the Armageddon territory, albeit temporarily. The weapon of genocide, created by the Smoke Witch out of hatred for her former friend who had betrayed her and gone astray, had finally arrived.
“…”
The last spark of hope was completely extinguished.
Mars bit his lip, unable to contain his resentment at the overwhelming power gap with his enemies. Beast trainer Ray and gentleman closed their eyes as if they had experienced it, and Hokuna lowered his head. Mist Rina looked up at the dragon Apoh’s ferocious appearance with her stunned face, and Mia finally dropped to her knees. An enormous amount of heat that could melt even a mountain in an instant gathered in the muzzle of the huge weapon shaped like a dragon’s head. The heat from the gun’s muzzle emitted dazzling brightness and hot heat, and even though it hadn’t fired yet, the magic fog surrounding Armageddon’s territory was already beginning to distort.
The moment that weapon spews fire, the fog guarding the Armageddon territory will completely clear and the soldiers waiting outside will rush in. The land will be completely consumed by the flames, and many will lose their lives, or worse, die. All those who sided with Ragnar Armageddon, officially designated by the Hermon family, will be punished. There is now no way to prevent that tragic future. The moment Mia, who had been protecting the territory without him, gave up everything.
“Sorry. And thank you.”
“…!!”
A voice she couldn’t hear, but a voice she knew for sure, passed her.
“Leave it to me from now on.”
“Ah…!”
Realizing that the person she had been waiting for had finally returned to keep her promise, Mia soon let out her suppressed cry.
With her own eyes, her great darkness biting off the head of her dragon, which was about to burn all of her.
The woman who waited for the dead, she was finally able to put her mind at ease.
*
[You really succeeded in getting the information out of Justia’s mouth. Then, as promised, I’ll grant you one wish if possible as a reward.]
“My wish has been one since before. To live peacefully in a different world with my people in the world of Luminous.”
While I was making a wish for Nia, the goat-headed black devil kept looking back at me and licking his lips in regret. He keeps trying to persuade me to sign a contract with him and become a devil, but it seems that he still hasn’t given up even after being beaten by Nia-san with his tentacles.
[Is that wish really enough?]
“Yes, of course.”
[Okay, then…]
Deed deed deed.
Black tentacles of earth rise from the floor, mingling and weaving together to form a round, arched door. Deep purple light gathered inside the door, and soon it became an entrance to another world.
[I’ll be looking for a world where you’ll spend a good old age, so you go directly to her world, and she brings those to go with you.]
Beyond the purple portal, the land of Armageddon surrounded by magical fog and countless soldiers surrounding it. And a gigantic weapon that clumsily imitated the form of a dragon approaching from afar.
I didn’t even need to hear the exact circumstances separately. After all, while I was gone, the stupid nobles who had forgotten their fear of me must have started talking nonsense saying that they shouldn’t miss this opportunity. Without hesitation, I threw myself into the portal and soon arrived at a familiar place with a dizzying headache that gave me motion sickness. This is… The room where I did most of my business when I was playing the role of Baron Ragna Armageddon in the world of Luminous. There, the woman I longed to see was sitting on the floor and shedding tears.
Missing child.
Unlike the other gentiles with whom I happened to be connected, the first woman I reaped by completely destroying her foundations of my own will. My maid, a woman who loves me and hates me at the same time.
Seeing her weeping, who had never shed a tear even when her own family and her family were burnt away, made my heart ache. While I was gone, I could guess how much effort and hardship she had to protect this territory by looking at her exhausted look. Originally, I was going to say ‘I’m back’ first, but somehow, there’s a problem right in front of me that needs to be dealt with.
“Sorry.”
While I’m gone, by making them suffer for a guy like me.
“And thank you.”
While I’m away, for working hard to protect the place I’m coming back to.
“From now on, leave everything to me.”
I didn’t have time to go out the door and down the stairs, so I jumped out the window without hesitation. Real man special, there is a door but you go through the window.
“Hey, did you prepare a lot?”
Even if the number of heads is approximated, it easily passes four digits… It seems that he came with a real purpose. Well, it doesn’t matter
“Hmm…”
With the sound of something crunching, familiar power gathers in me. My entire body remaining in this world is turned into powder, and the power of the immortal dragon contained within it returns to the user. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been dealing with this power, but I don’t know if it will work better than I thought? As I regained my strength, the magic fog dissipated, but the soldiers on standby did not move recklessly. That gigantic weapon was already on the verge of spewing out hot flames, so unless you want to bake my body to a crisp, you’ll have no choice but to wait.
“Is that what you were doing?”
With sense, not knowledge, I raised the power I had previously handled. As if pouring water from a spring that never dries up, endless magical energy gushes out and a great darkness arises. The reason why I was called the Black Army is because I raised my territory through unilateral massacres and victories with immortal soldiers. And this huge darkness was created by gathering the immortal army into one. In the current situation, what was needed to destroy that gigantic weapon was a gigantic monster, not immortal soldiers.
“——!!!”
I waved my hands like a conductor in an orchestra. In fact, I didn’t have to make such a gesture in order to use this great darkness that I had summoned, but I couldn’t help it. Because this is a kind of performance.
“Monster, monster, monster…!”
“It can’t be…! Ragnar Armageddon, Baron, died…?!”
A performance to clearly imprint in their eyes that I can wield this enormous darkness freely. Even if I don’t show up, it’s a work to make them never have the heart to invade this land again. As I waved my hand, the Dark Giant swung his fist in response and struck the head of the weapon that was about to spit fire. The impact pushed the huge weapon back, and intense fire poured out toward the empty sky, not the Armageddon territory. A dazzling pillar of fire lit up the sky, and within a moment, the dragon head weapon completely fell behind and a huge shock occurred.
The eyes of those who had been silent with shocked faces as their trumpet weapon prepared by them was destroyed in a single blow soon turned to the giant made of darkness, and to me, who commanded the giant right in front of their noses. Eyes pouring down on me, dotted with fear, loathing, and hatred. As if in response, I responded kindly, showing a very evil-looking smile that I had grown accustomed to.
“A long time?”
Transforming the great darkness back into an immortal army of thousands of undead, I met their expectations.
“Did you live quite well while I was gone? Seeing how you dared to attack my territory?”
I am Ragna Armageddon. A villain who must be killed by a hero and provide catharsis to the audience.
In this world where the hero who has to kill the villain is dead, there is no one who can stop me.
“Baron Ragna Armageddon…”
“Are you alive…?”
With me appearing in front of my eyes, fear that I had forgotten about creeps up again, and the invincible soldiers, who seemed to be unaware of fear, slowly walk backwards one by one, grinding their teeth and shaking their arms. It is the job of the commanders to stop the deserters, but the commanders in question already couldn’t afford to do that. The majority of those who trespass on my domain have either met me before or seen the horrors I have caused, and the fear etched into their memories erodes their fighting spirit.
“Baron Armageddon lives!!”
“Damn it…! This is, this is crazy! I’m getting out of here!”
“I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die!”
“Aaaaa!!!”
If the demon king, who was thought to be dead, is suddenly resurrected one day, wouldn’t it be roughly this kind of reaction? Commanders, soldiers, and all of you, it was truly spectacular to see them running away throwing away their weapons and armor with pale faces. Of course, I had no intention of saving him.
“Where, in order to imprint the fear of me again… Wouldn’t it be enough to send 30 percent alive?”
Following my instructions, the Undead Corps, which had been awakened after a long time, advances again. To deal with the cowardly thieves who lost their fighting spirit and fled the battlefield, trying to rob an unoccupied house.
