Episode 229 The Temple of the Abyss – The End of Despair
I had forgotten about it, but the light that should have naturally come from the sky filled my eyes.
The storm of light that pushes away the purple fog seems to also remove the despair in my heart.
After staring at the pillar of light for a while, my thoughts were broken by a clanging sound.
Taang!
Christine’s pistol bursts into flames and the charging drone falls down.
Suddenly, a sense of reality returned.
Still in battle.
There are still a lot of drones everywhere, and screams and battle cries are coming out from everywhere.
I adjusted my sword, pulled out the dagger, and fired it at the head of the drone approaching from our horse.
There was no need to run that long. Because everyone was following me and fighting fiercely.
As soon as Christine stopped the horse by the reins, I jumped off the horse.
“Thank you, Christine. “The situation is urgent, so let’s talk later.”
“You’d better be prepared. … thank you. “For being alive.”
Christine’s voice gives a cold answer, but her final words are filled with emotion.
I nodded to her and turned around to face Gaston and the Cuirassier who had somehow followed me here through the sea of drones.
“His Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette!”
“Give me one of Gaston’s warhorses!”
“All right!”
After seeing the cavalry bring spare horses at Gaston’s command, I turned my gaze and saw a wave of reinforcements coming behind the drones that were attacking the Allied forces’ positions.
The French cuirassiers attack, supported by Krafte’s hussars on both sides.
And behind them, infantry units waving the Franzian and Krafte flags are shouting and charging.
“Long time no see, Your Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette!”
“Dje!”
Louis Dejet.
A man who should have stayed in his home country and acted as the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army on my behalf ran towards me and saluted.
“What are the reinforcements now? Who commands the Krafte army?”
“The Revolutionary Army has 30,000 people, and the Krafte Army has 50,000 people. The commander of the Krafte army is His Majesty King Heinrich of Krafte!”
…The king himself came to this island?
I’m coming across. Christine may have picked me up and brought me to land, but I don’t know what it is.
I don’t know what’s going on, but…
“By agreement with His Majesty Henry, all 70,000 reinforcements are under the command of His Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette! Please give me orders!”
It wasn’t until I heard Louis Desget’s words that my confidence came back.
“Infantry units attack the drones attacking the defense line! Receive instructions for the cavalry to join me!”
“As instructed by His Excellency the Marquis!”
I turned my back and aimed my sword at the red devil, who was staring at me from behind, surrounded by drones.
This is something I didn’t expect, but you said it yourself, right?
It was a fight where you had an overwhelming advantage from the beginning.
So don’t be too dissatisfied that we can finally fight on equal footing.
“Cavalry, follow me! “Block the enemy’s retreat route and annihilate them!”
The tide has already turned.
* * *
Reinforcements joined and the tide of the war turned, but due to the scale of the enemy, the battle continued for quite a long time.
However, after receiving an unexpected counterattack, Paimon was eventually forced to retreat, losing more than half of his enormous drones.
This is my first time chasing and dealing with fleeing drones with cavalry.
There were many sacrifices while fighting against an overwhelming enemy, but it is hopeful that the wounded soldiers were saved thanks to the surviving paladins and those with stronger divine power than anyone else.
And the possessor of that overwhelming divine power was sitting in front of me, drinking cocoa and taking a break.
The fog so thick that it obscured her vision was pushed away as if to avoid her presence, but it did not erase the curtain that covered the sky.
Perhaps that’s why Eris’s silver hair, which is rare without a hood, shines in its natural color even under the purple sky.
As if to say that even the evil of this island cannot invade her.
Although it must be a similar purple color, I realize once again that the fog on this island, which gives an indescribable sense of uneasiness, and the color of her eyes, which seem to reflect everything about her, are so different.
But that’s it.
What if the trick of silencing me with my mysterious appearance also works on me?
“…So what happened? “There is no way the National Assembly would have allowed it?”
From the beginning, Eris wanted to land on this island with an advance party, but it was canceled due to the desperate opposition of the National Assembly.
I agreed and said I would do my best as a queen, but why did you suddenly appear here?
After hearing what I said, Eris took a sip of her cocoa and answered with a smile.
“I ran away from home.”
“What did you say, Your Majesty?”
“I said I ran away from home. Because no one will allow it.”
Oh wait.
I’m in the back….
“Okay then. Doesn’t the National Assembly know that Her Majesty the Queen is here?”
“I only secretly told President Brisso in the early morning of the day of departure. I also asked you to clean up after me! …Wouldn’t it have worked out somehow?”
Eris proudly replied, “Ahem.”
So, at dawn on the day of departure, the Queen, who was thought to be quiet, made a declaration as if notifying one of the governors and went straight to the island of demons.
I wish the old lawyer-turned-governor hadn’t collapsed from a heart attack…
but more than that, I was thrilled because I could clearly imagine what the Count of Anjou’s face would be like right now.
The Central Party is a conservative party in name, but this naive, progressive, and even radical Majesty the Queen of Saints….
In fact, if she had told the Count of Anjou, Eris would have been immediately read as protection and confinement.
Eris must have noticed my expression as she cleared her throat and added.
“It’s not like that for no reason. I had a feeling. “I have a strong feeling that if I don’t come forward now, I will regret it very much.”
“…presentiment.”
Although she behaves in such a playful way, she is a saint that no one can deny.
And maybe really.
I quietly expressed my gratitude to God.
If she hadn’t come, we would all have ended up here.
“…Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Eris responded with a grin.
“So, that’s all well and good, but how did you bring His Majesty the King of Deje and Krafte?”
Isn’t it too big of a scale to say that you ran away from home just because you had a premonition that you should come?
Without permission from the National Assembly, there were only 80,000 troops.
Among them, 50,000 were not even the revolutionary army, but the Krafte army, and that was the elite army directly under the king’s command that was supposed to come over when the gate was opened.
Eris cleared her throat.
“I did something sorry to Lord Desais. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to do anything if I went alone, so I asked Lord Desais. “You came along with the intention of taking off your clothes, so the Marquis needs to speak to me carefully?”
“Haha… do you mean this?”
He always seems sincere and calm, but even though he looks like that, he is a former member of the old guard.
He is a friend who is loyal to the royal family, and Eris is a queen who is worthy of that loyalty, so was he able to make a move?
“But what about King Krafte?”
“I agreed.”
The answer came from behind me.
Heinrich, who fought against me on the battlefield of the Great King as the crown prince of Krafte in the past, was looking at me and Eris with his arms crossed, wearing a military uniform reminiscent of the Great King.
“It was quite sudden, but the Queen of Saints said she had a feeling that if it were me, she would help me.”
…Honestly, this is really surprising.
It worked?
No matter how you look at it, Henry I was a person who was far from religious.
Heinrich looked at me with narrowed eyes and added:
“Yes, as you think, I do not depend on God. “But it doesn’t seem like my judgment was wrong.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your most timely salvation.”
When I bowed my head politely, Heinrich was silent for a moment and then answered.
“no. “I made this decision because I knew that if you failed, I would also fail, and I am the great king’s opponent.”
When Heinrich looked up, his eyes were similar yet different from those of the Great King, who was burning with desire for a great war.
A pure, youthful passion and at the same time a shining flame of revenge.
“Because Krafte has a reason to seek revenge on these demons.”
I don’t know why he did this, but I guess I’m grateful.
While thinking like that, Heinrich quickly turned his gaze to face Eris.
“Of course that’s it. “The Kingdom of Krafte will expect the Kingdom of Revolutionary Franzia to provide appropriate compensation for this cooperation.”
Eris smiled awkwardly and answered.
“Of course, the National Assembly will prepare a worthy reward for the salvation of the Kingdom of Krafte! …Is that right, Marquis?”
What a great salvation. Because thanks to you, we all survived.
but.
…So, the Queen ran away from home without permission from the National Assembly and persuaded the Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army and King Krafte to land on the island.
Do you want me to do something to not only clean up the situation but also repay Krafte?
“That…”
Is that possible?
Wouldn’t it be easier for me to just take my clothes off?
As if my expression clearly revealed my feelings, Eris answered while quietly avoiding her gaze.
“If you’re in trouble, ask your wife, Marquis de Lafayette. If you are Christine, you can prepare enough compensation for Krafte, right? Yes? “I believe that the Queen I serve will not make it up to me to have written a bad check.”
I remembered Christine’s cold face from a moment ago and swallowed dry saliva.
Just kill me, Your Majesty.
* * *
It took a little more time to collect the fallen.
Since no one wanted to be buried in this purple mist-covered land of demons, all the bodies, including those of the soldiers who had fallen over the past week, had to be embalmed to a minimum and piled up on the side of the cliff.
When our struggle finally comes to fruition and the door opens,
we hold out hope that through that door we will be able to go to our hometown… or at least bury ourselves in the land of the Central Continent.
Christine was standing on a hill next to a cliff where corpses were piled up, looking at the horizon and the Union Navy ships passing between them.
“Thanks for coming, Christine.”
Christine used her hands to tidy up her hair that was blowing in the wind, tied it with a hair tie, and turned her head.
“You’re not reprimanding me? “He ran to a dangerous place again.”
“Because I know very well that I don’t deserve it.”
Just like I don’t want her to take any risks.
She also doesn’t want me to take any risks.
Nevertheless, because of my role, I have taken risks again and again.
I feel this again after this incident, but if it weren’t for God’s protection, I’ve been fighting fights where I would have died several times.
But how dare I scold her for coming here.
Christine smiled lightly, came closer to me, and opened her mouth.
“I thought about it quite a bit, Pierre. Also, how should I scold you for jumping into enemy territory alone? How can I hold back this burning anger?…”
It’s rare for Christine to express herself so openly….
“I’m sorry, Christine. “It wasn’t my intention, but…”
I don’t think it was desperation.
At least, unlike when I gave up in Iberica, I tried to fight until the moment I collapsed… but
in the end, it probably looked like a suicide charge.
As I was thinking about what to say, Christine smiled bitterly.
“Actually, I know it in my head. That was the only solution you had in that situation. At least he didn’t give up and fought until the very end. “You rushed there and clearly attracted the enemy’s attention, so our reinforcements were able to properly attack the flank.”
Christine added, running a hand through her hair.
“Still, emotions are difficult. “I didn’t know I was this hot-tempered.”
I ended up laughing out of context at something that was truly uncharacteristic of Christine.
“If you are hot-tempered, then everyone else in the world has anger management problems-”
The next words were swallowed by the overlapping lips.
The combination of the salty smell of the sea breeze and Christine’s body scent instantly made me dizzy.
Feeling as if my reason was about to disappear in an instant, I barely managed to keep my composure and opened my mouth as soon as she fell –
“Christine.”
Tears flowed from Christine’s eyes.
“So I just want to be honest with my feelings. “I’m just happy that you’re alive in front of me right now.”
I couldn’t think of anything more to say.
In that despair, how desperately I felt her emptiness and how desperately I missed her.
I just shared my breath, felt relieved by the presence in his arms, and realized that the long despair was coming to an end.
After some time, I don’t know how long, Christine, who was breathing heavily, collapsed into my arms.
“It’s the last time.”
A small but resolute declaration.
“This will be the last time I allow you to risk your duty.”
I answered by rubbing her back soothingly.
“Yes, this is the last one. After this fight is over, I will always be by your side. forever.”
Christine raised her head and smiled with red, tear-stained eyes.
“No, I will be by your side from now on. Even if I live or die, I will be with you.”
Will she feel the same way now as when I stubbornly insisted on boarding her ship heading for a naval battle?
My heart was so full that I hugged my black rose and answered.
“Yes, forever my Christine.”
