White Principality, Duke’s Mansion.
Sebas and the others were waiting, gathered around the long-distance teleportation array that Elena had set up in the mansion yesterday.
From time to time, servants submitted the latest front-line reports to Sebas, but with each new battle report, the old butler’s brow furrowed deeper.
Outside the mansion, troops continuously rushed toward the coastline, and wounded soldiers were steadily being replaced.
“…This isn’t normal.”
Staring at the latest intelligence, Sebas muttered this unconsciously.
But what Sebas referred to here wasn’t whether the early arrival of the Monster Tide was abnormal.
“The scale of this Monster Tide, the number of casualties, and the consumption of Magic Stone Bombs… none of it adds up.”
This old butler had witnessed three attacks alongside the late Duke White.
If you counted the one Siris led the defense against nine years ago, that would be four.
He had a good idea of what the front lines should look like.
Leaving aside why the Monster Tide’s scale was far smaller than the previous four, the army’s attrition and Magic Stone Bomb consumption were completely disproportionate to the Tide’s scale.
Facing such a small-scale Monster Tide, the Duchy’s defensive losses should have been much lower.
And most importantly:
“Is there still no sign of the Leviathan?”
The greatest danger of the Monster Tide, that colossal beast as huge as a mountain, still hadn’t appeared.
At this moment, Sebas couldn’t help but raise a question—
Was this Monster Tide really a “Monster Tide”?
The next moment, the long-distance teleportation array before them began to activate. After the white light faded, Elena and the others appeared in the center of the magic circle.
“Young Lady!”
Taking the intelligence Sebas handed her, Elena said nothing.
She simply summoned her staff, gathering the surrounding Mana toward herself.
Until the moment the Hexagram formed behind Elena, until the moment the Flight Magic Circle took shape—
Ai’er noticed that Elena’s body was trembling slightly, and in those ink-blue eyes was seething excitement and joy.
As if a long-cherished obsession had finally received new information, or like a hunter who had caught the scent of prey.
Those ink-blue eyes, usually as calm as the Night Sky, now held a hint of madness…
Ai’er had seen that look before.
In the memories the System had shown earlier, Anna had looked exactly like that when she first appeared.
And people like that had placed their goals above everything—
Even surpassing their own lives.
“Elena… I…”
A trace of fear rose from the silver-haired girl’s heart.
She tugged at Elena’s sleeve, causing Elena, who was about to rush out, to pause for a moment and turn back.
Ai’er didn’t want to stop Elena.
But—
“Don’t push yourself, okay? I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”
That was the only thing Ai’er could do now.
Elena couldn’t respond. The words she wanted to say, the replies she wanted to give, were all blocked in her throat by the surging impulses in her heart.
It was as if something was calling out to her, urging her to head to the battlefield immediately.
So she couldn’t even pat Ai’er’s head one more time, only managing a smile.
The next moment, Elena flew into the sky toward the coastline.
—
“Get the Magic Stone Bombs up here!”
Outside the makeshift camp tents, the clamor continued.
But most of it was demands to transport Magic Stone Bombs to the front lines; personnel redeployment was secondary.
“General, it seems you have something to say?”
The middle-aged man addressed as General turned around, looking at this “advisor” sent by Marquis Siris.
The general’s sideburns were somewhat gray, but that didn’t affect his still-piercing gaze.
He looked at this “advisor.” While he didn’t exactly have strong complaints, the general felt this man didn’t have the bearing of a military man.
If his soldiers were tigers and wolves, then this man was a fox—the kind of fox that always wore a fawning smile.
“Let me confirm again: ‘Use Magic Stone Bombs as much as possible, do not let the soldiers fight directly’—is that truly the Marquis’s exact words?”
“It is the Regent’s command, my esteemed General.”
Seeing the advisor bow to him, the general only furrowed his brow tighter.
“Answer my question.”
“It is His Majesty’s will, my esteemed General. In recent years, the Duchy’s Mana Stone production has been rising steadily, and correspondingly, Mana Stone trade volumes have hit record highs. Even the stockpile of Magic Stone Bombs is enough to handle next year’s Monster Tide!”
Words from a fox are not to be trusted.
Moreover, this expression, this face boasting of achievements—this was the expression the general hated most.
These words that were obviously an exaggeration no matter how you heard them—how could this bastard say them with a straight face! Pah!
…But fine.
The general took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled as he once again cast his gaze into the distance outside the tent.
“…Someone. What is the consumption count of Magic Stone Bombs?”
“Reporting, General, just over 300.”
300! That’s nearly sixty percent of the total stock!
Even with the Leviathan not yet appearing, sixty percent of the bombs have already been consumed!
The general whirled around; the advisor still maintained that fawning smile, as if the number didn’t even sting.
Damn it all… if this keeps up, when the Leviathan comes, everyone will die!!
“By my order! Cease use of Magic Stone Bombs until the Leviathan arrives—!”
Boom!
A thunderous explosion stunned everyone in place.
The general knew this wasn’t the sound of a Magic Stone Bomb.
If it were Magic Stone Bombs, it would have been the sound of the remaining 200 bombs detonating all at once.
But if not…
Then it was the appearance of the being that required all those remaining Magic Stone Bombs to deal with.
“Report!”
Inside the tent, it was the messenger’s shout that tore through the dead silence.
The general was silent, waiting for the next words.
“It’s—the Witch.”
At that moment, all the soldiers on the coastline turned their eyes to the sky, to that “Witch” who had just released a high-level spell.
The next moment, Elena raised her staff in the air.
The sound of ice crystals forming immediately raced across the coast, freezing the flowing seawater and the roaring Magic Monsters in their path.
But this was not the end.
The ice crystals spread like blazing flames, climbing along invisible walls, ultimately forming a frozen tsunami-like ice wall, blocking all the Magic Monsters outside the towering barrier.
Then there was no sound between heaven and earth, as if all time had frozen at that moment.
All the soldiers could only silently watch, watching this Witch slowly descend to the ground, watching her walk toward the tent in silence.
“Who is the commander?”
At that instant, the general couldn’t register the young girl’s true identity.
He was silent for a moment, until he saw the girl’s ink-blue eyes.
Those eyes, like the Night Sky, were identical to the late Duke’s.
“Reporting, Miss Elena, it is I, your subordinate Braine… It has been a while, Miss Elena.”
Braine Reinhardt.
Elena knew this man. Her mother had once introduced her to this general who had fought through life and death with her father.
But she only knew him; she wasn’t familiar with him.
As for the man beside General Braine, Elena didn’t recognize him at all.
He looked like an advisor, but the moment he saw her, he suddenly averted his gaze, almost as if bowing to her.
But Elena saw it.
Though it was just a flash, she definitely saw the displeasure and surprise in that man’s eyes.
“You are—”
“Report!”
It was again the messenger’s loud shout.
General Braine probably understood; this time, the Leviathan must have arrived.
“Intelligence from the front lines, the Monster Tide—is beginning to retreat!”