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Relias maneuvered his horse in front of mine before I could signal the knights to raise the gates. “We really should keep Captain Corwin abreast of our findings,” he advised, holding out his orb.

What if that’s just what they want us to do? This is still a trap; I just don’t know what for at this point.

Try as I might, I had no rational justification for keeping Corwin in the dark. It was probably me just not wanting to burden him with something he had no control over.

And what’s this about not pillaging the city? What if they said that to lull us into a false sense of security?

Relias cleared his throat. “Captain Corwin is intelligent enough not to take anything said by a demon at face value. But if we do not keep him informed of the situation, he will not be able to respond appropriately.”

“You’re right,” I conceded. “I guess I just wish I could handle this all myself.”

But I couldn’t. It was way too big for me.

It always was, and it always would be.

It took only a few minutes to update the Captain of the Silver. Although he was mostly silent, it was evident that he was considering deploying his troops.

“I’ll send a few squads of knights and priests in your direction,” he eventually grunted through the orb. “I can spare that much for now.”

“I’ll keep in contact,” Relias assured him. “You should be able to overhear everything happening at our location.”

“See if you can keep the heralds busy for at least fifteen minutes after your appointed rendezvous time,” he advised. “We’re almost done fashioning a makeshift barrier around the Sanctum.”

“Is the Periphery almost cleared out?” I asked hopefully.

“No, Captain. But we’re doing our best to move people along.” He sighed. “We’ve started arresting those who block our passage; the rest are getting the hint to evacuate.”

Aurum stomped at the ground, and I, too, felt his sense of impatience. “We’re off.”

“May the Goddess be with you, Captain,” he declared.

That’d be a first.

“And also with you,” I replied as evenly as possible.

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Minutes dragged by as I waited on the other side of the South Gate. Although it was probably useless, I had the knights shut the double portcullises behind us. At best, it would stop a few stray arrows, but a demon could quickly slither through the holes in the gratings.

“He did say South Gate, right?” I asked for the third time.

“Yes, Captain,” Aleph rumbled from behind.

“What time is it now?” I asked Relias.

Surely I’ve been waiting for hours!

“Seven minutes past the appointed time. An additional two minutes have passed since your last inquiry.”

I clenched my fists, no longer able to remain stoic. “They’re late!”

Relias shook his head. “They’re demons. They will invoke any method possible to stir our negative emotions. The key is to keep calm and carry—”

“This is all just a distraction!” I shouted, heedlessly ignoring his sound advice. “They’re wasting our time, planning something sinister!”

In retrospect, I was probably stating the obvious.

A dark portal swirled from nothingness about fifty feet from where we stood. Private Belgaldi stepped out first, ducking his head so his antlers passed through cleanly. Sergeant Bodil came next, roughly shoving him out of the way before adjusting the crimson cape clasped around her neck. Her eyes were still flames that danced in hollow eye sockets, though they appeared to be a dark crimson rather than the orange she had sported during our first encounter. A furious sneer twisted her face as she stormed forward. Even though they were both quite clear of it, the portal continued to churn, roiling with waves of cloudy haze.

I wonder…

“Where’s your boss?” I asked as rudely as possible. “Did you forget to bring him?”

“Please, watch your words, Captain!” Relias pleaded, his voice trembling through our mental link.

I nodded, not bothering to turn back to him. I was too busy being secretly impressed by how her flaming eyes bulged with rage, with wisps of fire shooting across her eyebrows.

“Insolent brat! You’re in no position to mock us!” She gestured to the shattered fragments of crystal that lay all around us. “Don’t you see what we’ve done to your precious barrier?”

“Morcelos did that, not you,” I countered. “Which screwed up the General’s plans, right?”

The Sergeant quivered as if she were reliving a terrible rebuke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

A little longer…

“Your associate mentioned it in passing,” I advised, pointing at the cringing Private. “Something about waiting for a signal.”

If looks could kill, Belgaldi would have been nothing but a steaming pile of ash. However, just as she opened her mouth, she seemed to think better of it. “It matters not,” she scoffed as she turned her attention back to me, crossing her arms. “We’ve only moved up the timetables.”

“To what?” I asked.

Unfortunately, she ignored my question, tilting her head to a somewhat jarring angle. It took me a moment to realize she was looking past me and over to my companions.

I could read her expressions better if she had natural eyes!

“We didn’t say to bring anyone with you,” she almost purred. “It looks like you aren’t complying with the General’s request...! Oh, he hates it when people don’t take his instructions seriously!”

Nora jabbed an index finger at Belgaldi. “He never said not to. Instructions unclear.”

“Maybe you should have just written down what you wanted verbatim,” I suggested with a shrug. “If you wanted us to follow some specific procedure, you have only yourself to blame for not providing the proper guidance. With a little self-reflection, maybe you’ll get it right next time.”

I heard Relias choke somewhat behind me.

“You would lecture me?!” she screeched.

“Well, if you were punctual, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But you’re late, and I don’t think you want the General to know that, either. What if I tell him about your earlier temper tantrum? He probably would be quite disappointed in your lack of professional demeanor.”

Before she could explode in literal flames, the portal behind them expanded.

A deep, reverberating voice that had probably never uttered a joke in all its years came from the opening. “Sergeant Bodil, your report is overdue.”

Called it!

“She’s here, General Ragnerus,” Sergeant Bodil shouted, snapping a salute to the still-empty doorway. “However, she—”

“That will be enough, Sergeant.”

The portal shimmered before collapsing inward, materializing into the imposing form of the Great General himself. He towered nearly eight feet—if you count the broad ebony horns that curled around his temples before shooting toward the sky. His skin appeared to be scorched crimson, but the true hue was hard to discern beneath the translucent veil of shadows that pulsated around him.

No. It’s not just the shadows that are translucent; his entire form is!

A projection… they really didn’t bring him, after all.

A long, black trench coat trimmed with silver draped over his bulky, muscular form. He wore no shirt beneath it, revealing a chest that would be the envy of any bodybuilder. His pants were as dark as his shoulder-length hair, which remained eerily still even while the wind swirled around us. Silver chains adorned his shoulders and waist, fastened by blood-red rubies that gleamed brightly despite the dim light. His gaze bore into me with a single dark eye, his other missing, with several claw marks heralding the tragedy of its loss.

I would have thought he would be in uniform like his subordinates… but instead, he looks like some anachronistic punk!

After a cursory glance over my companions behind me, his eye settled first on Nora, and then on Relias, a faint wrinkle curling his upper lip. Ragnerus gestured, twirling his clawed fingers, and both of their orbs shot out of their hands toward him. He caught Nora's in his grip and crushed it into pieces, letting its remnants fall to the ground. Relias's orb had also sped toward the General, but it merely hovered unaccosted a few inches from his face.

Okay, maybe it's a little more than a projection...

"Despicable demon!” Relias cried, his hand glowing gold as he tried to summon it back to his side. The orb, however, resisted after just a few violent tugs. General Ragnerus simply shrugged, then cleared his throat.

“Captain Lightbringer,” he said, speaking directly into the orb. “You have one lunar cycle to meet me on the battlefield in single combat. Should you fail to comply, Chairo will be razed to the ground.” His expressionless gaze shifted deliberately toward the city behind me. “I advise you to make your preparations swiftly. It is a long journey to my sanctum. Leaving within the week would be... prudent.”

Single combat? In the Southern Wastelands? With him?!

“Ah, Great General…” Private Belgaldi called softly with a deep bow.

“Speak,” the General ordered.

“It seems the Chosen One’s shield is missing,” he murmured.

General Ragnerus glanced at my targe. “That would explain the toy she carries.” His brow creased slightly. “Morcelos?”

“No,” Belgaldi replied, closing his eyes. “Even he doesn’t know who has it.”

The General also closed his eye and inhaled deeply. A phantom sword appeared at his feet, its point driven several inches underground.

All of us gasped as one.

Even I recognized it.

How did he get ahold of my sword?!

The Will of Euphridia’s golden hilt gleamed with its own inner light as he grabbed it with both hands. He screamed as he poured black energy into the sword, its aura snapping and crackling against him in defiance.

“Summon your brethren!” he bellowed. “I will not allow my destined battle with the Chosen One to be once again stained by whispers of deceit!”

The sword flickered and dimmed before erupting in a flash of brilliant light. The General screamed again, then released the hilt to cover his remaining eye as if it had been struck directly.

“Alert. NAUGHT Emergency Protocol active,” a light but robotic voice called in my mind. “Override activated. Faith Of Euphridia located. Location equals Speranza. Ecclesia. Chairo. Specific location censored due to the SSS Class Threat in the nearby vicinity. Alert. NAUGHT Emergency Protocol active. Disconnecting from server.”

“Server?!” Nora echoed aloud, much to the confusion of the others.

She heard it, too?!

“Captain!” Relias shouted. I turned just in time to witness a wide, faint beam of light rise from the city’s center. It pulsed outward in all directions until it reached the outer walls, shooting toward the clouds before vanishing as swiftly as it had appeared.

“Clever,” the General conceded begrudgingly, his hand still cupped over his eye. “The sword confirms that your shield remains within the holy city’s borders, yet it refuses to divulge its exact location. The burden of finding it now falls on you.”

Too shocked to respond with words, I could only stare at him blankly, fulfilling the role of oaf that Belgaldi had so generously assigned to me earlier.

Sergeant Bodil grinned wickedly at me before inclining her head to her superior in mock piety. “General Ragnerus, it would be my pleasure to assist in the search. A few attacks on the populace here and there should motivate the thief to come clean. If you’ll allow it, I’ll personally take charge of—”

“You would do well to return to base. I’ve already recalled the others.”

“What?!” she screamed, discarding any semblance of humility. “Why?!”

“Stay and find out. Or come back as ordered. It is your choice, Sergeant.” The General straightened, finally lowering his hand from his bloodshot eye, which was weeping black tears from the corner. His face, however, was immutable as he once again looked at me.

“I look forward to our forthcoming battle.”

The orb he had stolen from Relias shimmered and fell to the ground, cracking in the process. Just as the General and the sword vanished from sight, Bodil snarled, summoning her two giant fans. “I’ll be damned if I’m leaving here without a fight!”

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Post-Chapter Omake:

Nora: He wasn't supposed to be able to use the Will of Euphridia!

Rae: Well... he didn't use it... as a sword, at any rate. Pretty sure he can't operate it for its intended use.

Nora: I'm still blaming Euphridia for not including any security features.

Rae: Um... she might have, maybe. Did you see his remaining eye?

Nora: That could have been just because he didn't follow the manufacturer's instructions.

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