Chapter 45: Trump Card and Conclusion
I am the apex of all monsters.
Now I was hunting alone, separated from my master. After all, if my master is with me, the prey gets snatched first. Then it’s better to act separately, even if it means yielding big game, so I can eat as I like.
Besides, this land was now overflowing with monsters giving off a very appetizing scent. If I had to say, it’s similar to the act of humans adding various things to their food to change the taste.
This is unbearably good; I can understand the feeling of humans taking the trouble to painstakingly change the taste.
“Gaoooo!!”
Furthermore, these guys are very easy to fight. They scream incomprehensible things while attacking, so I don’t know what they’re thinking, but their fighting style didn’t utilize their own power at all, it was like a human’s fighting style.
To go out of their way to discard their own fighting style and imitate humans, how truly foolish. Well, for me, it just means they are easy to eat, so I can take it easy.
◆
Seeing the monsters being subjugated one after another, I finally made a decision.
“If it’s come to this, ignore the adventurers and make the monsters head for the Royal Capital!”
Yes, hasten the coup d’état plan.
“What!? It’s still too early, Commander! Wasn’t the coup d’état planned to start after perfect preparations were complete!?”
My subordinate voices his opinion to me, but the situation is already moving.
“Fool! Our trump card, the monster army, is being neutralized! If we don’t move now, our war potential will only decrease! Even without that, monsters have been decreasing recently due to monster-repelling potions.”
Honestly, I don’t know who it is, but that potion starting to flow into the market has begun to hinder our monster gathering as well.
“However, putting B-Rank and lower monsters aside, when dealing with A-Rank monsters, careful control is needed for domination. Much less S-Rank monsters, which we still can’t completely control; if they go berserk, there’s a danger the citizens will suffer damage.”
Hmph, what problem is there if commoners suffer some damage.
“Furthermore, since the S and A high-ranking monsters have already been subjugated, isn’t it meaningless to attack now?”
“It’s the opposite. You should think of it as the opposite.”
“What do you mean?”
“Listen well. Monsters like S-Rank and A-Rank are dangerous existences that can’t be defeated unless the Knight Order goes all out. Certainly, being able to subjugate those monsters in this short time is worthy of praise, but do you think such a thing can be continued forever?”
“That means…”
“Umu, the enemy must be continuously using something that serves as a trump card to subjugate high-ranking monsters. The reason S-Rank monsters were consecutively subjugated at first was probably a threat, no, a bluff to show us that they have means to easily defeat even S-Rank monsters.”
Yes, a bluff. Because it’s impossible for such absurd stuff to be usable without limit.
“Most likely what was used was a Lost Item concealed by a high-ranking noble family, or perhaps… a National Treasure.”
“””National Treasure!?”””
Agitation runs through my subordinates. The National Treasure Laverein, our country’s secret treasure whose power no one has ever seen wielded. It is passed down as the holy sword wielded by the first king who founded the country after subjugating the mighty evil dragon that once ruled this land.
Its appearance is only revealed at the coronation ceremonies of successive kings. If it’s the power of that sword which has become a legend, it would probably be possible to subjugate S-Rank monsters too.
“However, if the National Treasure possesses such tremendous power, that power should have brought further prosperity to our country. In other words, we should think that some kind of compensation is needed to use it. Compensation like magic power, or perhaps life as payment.”
That’s why the enemy probably hopes we will withdraw on our own. But, using the trump card was a bit too early.
“…Certainly, if the National Treasure is such a thing, it cannot be used casually.”
“Umu, therefore, we will advance the monsters to the Royal Capital. If high-ranking monsters attack the Royal Capital all at once, even a Lost Item user won’t be able to handle it!”
“””Yes sir!!”””
Convinced by my explanation, my subordinates nod.
“Use low-ranking monsters to stall the adventurers. They are disposable existences anyway.”
“Understood!”
“Inform the whole army. We will subjugate the horde of monsters headed for the Royal Capital! Tell the Guild to let the adventurers subjugate the small fry!”
“””Yes sir!”””
With this, it will become difficult for the enemy agents disguised as adventurers to pursue us. Well, the monsters move fast, so many sacrifices might be born before we arrive at the scene, though.
Now, this is the time when the ruler of this country changes!
◆
“Phew, with this, I guess I’ve finished subjugating the S and A-Rank monsters around here.”
I stored the defeated monsters in my magic bag and searched for the presence of new monsters with detection magic.
“Huh? This is… bad!?”
Oh no, a group of monsters is heading towards the Royal Capital! A group, probably a Knight Order reaction, is following from behind the monsters, but at this rate, they won’t make it in time.
“Ugh, I don’t want to meet the Knight Order, but it can’t be helped!”
That’s right, if I leave them be, many people will become sacrifices. As an adventurer, I can’t allow such a thing!
“Let’s go!”
I headed for the Royal Capital with flight magic. If I fly at full power, it won’t take long to reach the Royal Capital. While doing so, the main gate of the Royal Capital and the horde of monsters approaching it came into view. The Royal Capital is entirely surrounded by walls, but against this many monsters, it doesn’t seem like it will hold.
“There’s a danger the castle walls will be destroyed, so first, the large monsters! Lightning Rain!!”
From the cloudless blue sky, rain of lightning poured down with a roar, blowing away the horde of monsters. Lightning Rain, an outdoor-only attack magic to reduce a wide-range enemy group before contact.
“Alright, the first wave is neutralized!”
I hurriedly headed to the Royal Capital’s main gate and spoke to a knight who was on top of the wall.
“There are still subsequent monsters! Quickly close the gate and evacuate the citizens to the center of the Royal Capital!”
“W-Who on earth are you!?”
The knight asks for my identity, but I don’t want to answer that so I ignored it.
“If the monsters destroy the wall, they will invade the Royal Capital from there. I will prioritize defeating the large monsters, so everyone please subjugate the small monsters from atop the wall. The Knight Order that was participating in the subjugation will come as reinforcements soon.”
“U-Understood! I don’t know who you are, but thanks for the help!”
Now, I won’t let monsters get close to the Royal Capital!
◆
“It’s terrible, Captain! An unbelievable number of monster groups are heading towards the Royal Capital!”
“What did you say!?”
Receiving my subordinate’s report, I hurried to the watchtower atop the wall surrounding the Royal Capital. And I saw it. The figures of monsters heading this way.
Monsters of different sizes and species are heading this way in droves. I don’t know the exact number, but to be able to confirm their figures from this distance means it’s a considerable number.
“No good, this is going to be terrible! Emergency seal the gates! Call back those who went out of the Royal Capital! You may use horses! Also, report to the castle! Tell them a horde of monsters is heading for the Royal Capital!”
“…Y-Yes sir!”
My subordinates hurriedly began to act.
“But how long can we hold out in this situation? Even if there are walls, they are dilapidated walls that haven’t been properly repaired, you know?”
These walls were built shortly after the Royal Capital was established. Unlike the castle walls that protect the castle, they’ve been neglected since they were built, so they’re all about to collapse any moment. They don’t seem like they can withstand an attack by those monsters at all.
“Moreover, the ones here are all new recruits with no actual combat experience. There are hardly any war veterans.”
No matter how you think about it, it will only result in a desperate outcome. But even so, I had no option to run away.
Because protecting this place is our mission and pride. My subordinates are also moving according to my orders because of that. Even though everyone probably wants to run away after seeing that spectacle.
Well, there’s also the fact that even if we run away now, we probably won’t make it in time.
“Maybe I’ll let the young ones escape with some excuse, and try to buy time somehow with just the old folks.”
But it was at that moment. Suddenly, a blinding flash ran through the cloudless blue sky. Next, a roar loud enough to break eardrums drowned out all sounds.
“W-What happened!?”
Surprised, I hurriedly looked around. At that time, I witnessed an unbelievable sight.
“T-The monsters were wiped out!?”
Yes, the horde of monsters that should have been trying to drive us into the depths of despair just a moment ago had completely disappeared!
Furthermore, something surprising happened. A single boy descended from the empty sky.
“There are still subsequent monsters! Quickly close the gate and evacuate the citizens to the center of the Royal Capital!”
D-Did this boy repel the horde of monsters!?
“W-Who on earth are you!?”
But the boy didn’t answer my question, and after just conveying that Knight Order reinforcements would come, he disappeared into the sky without a sound. And again, when the roar from earlier echoed several times, smoke rose in several places, and those places were overflowing with monster corpses just like earlier.
“It’s just like the legend of the Hero King of Founding, Lord Wardrum…”
Suddenly appearing in this land swirling with monsters, exterminating the monsters in the blink of an eye, and defeating the evil dragon that was the ruler of the land, the country-birthing hero, the Founding King and Sword King, First King Wardrum His Majesty. His battles must have been spectacles like this.
I was unconsciously saluting the boy who disappeared into the sky.
◆
“It’s terrible! The monsters we sent to the Royal Capital were wiped out!”
“Why does it turn out like thiiiiis!!”
Why!? Why does such a thing happen!? Could it be, the enemy predicted we would move like this, and saved a trump card in the Royal Capital beforehand!?
“If it’s come to this, it’s that! We’ll use that!”
“That? …Don’t tell me you’re going to use that guy!? It’s reckless! That is a thing we can’t even properly control, you know!?”
My subordinate turns pale and shouts.
“I don’t care! If it’s come to this, throw that in and give them true despair!”
Kukuku, my enemies, it’s your fault. You who threw cold water on my ambitions!
“Awaken our true trump card, the Dragon!”
◆
“Huh? The Knight Order suddenly changed direction!?”
For some reason, the Knight Order that had been heading towards the Royal Capital suddenly changed course and started heading in a completely different direction.
“If I recall, that’s the direction of the wilderness… Did something happen?”
Curious about the Knight Order’s suspicious movements, I decided to follow them.
Fortunately, I mostly defeated the enemy groups heading for the Royal Capital, and the remaining sporadic monster attacks should be manageable by the Royal Capital’s defense corps and adventurers.
“Alright, then I’ll go too!”
◆
Having arrived at the secret facility hidden in the wilderness, we began taking action to awaken our trump card, the Dragon. Before our eyes is the figure of the Dragon confined in a large cage.
“Commander, please reconsider! The Dragon is only asleep because of a powerful sleeping drug made from Demon Grass. There’s no guarantee we can control it even if it wakes up!”
But at this late stage, my subordinate says something timid.
“What timid things are you saying. Didn’t we research the technique to manipulate monsters for this purpose?”
“But Dragons are different from normal monsters. Their very being is different even from S-Rank monsters, which are similarly powerful existences. Therefore, there is a high possibility it cannot be dominated by the monster manipulation technique.”
“Then if it fails, we just have to put it to sleep with drugs again. Just do it already!”
“…Understood.”
My subordinates finally accepted the order and began preparations to awaken the dragon from its slumber. Hmph, even if it’s a Dragon, it’s just a giant lizard after all. Even if we can’t control it completely, if we can give rough orders, that’s fine. The point is, it’s fine as long as I don’t get attacked.
“We made the Dragon drink the potion to undo the sleep. It will wake up shortly.”
“Cast the domination technique simultaneously with the Dragon’s awakening! Barrier Mages, put up barriers with full power!”
Then, the Dragon that had been sleeping on the floor of the facility faintly opened its eyes along with a small groan.
“Domination Technique activate!”
“”””Domination Technique activate!””””
The casters cast the technique to dominate monsters on the Dragon. At that moment, the figures of the casters were wiped out.
“What?”
Then, a squelching sound is heard from a corner of the room. When everyone present looked in the direction of the sound, there were the figures of the casters lying covered in blood. And a clanking sound rang out, and when we returned our gaze, the cage that confined the Dragon was crushed and caught on its tail.
“Wha-!?”
“D-Drugs! Feed it meat with sleeping drugs!”
My subordinate hurriedly ordered the use of drugs. The Dragon, having just woken up, blinked its eyes a few times, then bit into the feed brought before it.
“Good! Put it back to sleep like this…”
However, far from falling asleep, the Dragon spat out the meat it should have eaten, opened its eyes wide, stood up, and spread its wings. And it broke through the ceiling and soared high into the sky.
“Guoooooonn!!”
“Impossible!? It spat out the drugged meat!? …The drug isn’t working? No, don’t tell me the drug refinement failed!?”
“W-What is happening!? Why did it spit out the drugged meat!?”
I grabbed my subordinate’s collar and made him explain the situation.
“M-Most likely, it seems the quality of the Demon Grass we procured was poor, and the drug refinement failed…”
“Then what will happen to that Dragon?”
“It’s an opponent we were able to capture by chance when experimenting with sleeping drugs using Demon Grass, so I think it’s impossible to capture it again.”
“In other words…”
At my words, my subordinate nodded with a pale face.
“Since it woke up after a long time, it is thought that next it will eat until it’s full.”
“And that food is…”
“First us, and next would probably be the Royal Capital where there are large amounts of humans nearby.”
“E-Evacuate!! All personnel evacuate!!”
We immediately chose to run. But the moment we decided so, the ceiling blew away. To find us, its food, the dragon swept it away with its tail. Just with the feeling of sweeping away something slightly in the way.
“Awawa.”
“Gururururu.”
The Dragon is looking this way. It definitely sees us as food.
“Gahaaaaa…”
The Dragon’s mouth slowly opened, and drool dripped down.
“I-I don’t taste good…”
“I think it’s useless to say such things to a Dragon.”
“Then you get eaten first! I’ll escape during that time!”
“Either way, we can’t escape in a place like this! The only difference is who dies first!”
“Gyaooooou!!”
The Dragon roared at us who were arguing.
“”Hii!?””
And the Dragon tilted its head back just a little, then opened its mouth wide towards us and attacked.
Ah, we’re dead. Without even being able to start the coup d’état, we are going to die. What a miserable life it was.
“Teryaaaaaa!”
It was at that moment. A sudden gale crashed into the Dragon’s body. And the Dragon’s body danced in the air, blowing away while destroying the hideout’s walls.
“”Wha-!?””
“Are you alright!?”
What appeared there was a single boy.
◆
That was dangerous. A strange knight was about to be attacked by a Dragon just now. I don’t have many good memories with the Knight Order, but I still can’t overlook people whose lives are in danger.
Even so, as expected of the Knight Order. To think they noticed a dragon was hiding in a place like this. But I can’t imagine a dragon would hide in a place like this on its own. If so, did someone bring it here trying to control it?
Ah, maybe the Knight Order people noticed that the cause of this abnormal monster outbreak was in this building and were searching it. I see, not bad, Knight Order of this era. When I hear Knight Order, I have an image of corruption and graft, but as expected of a Knight Order from a future era! I misjudged you!
“Anyway, let’s defeat it quickly!”
The opponent is a Green Dragon again, so I’ll just defeat it quickly.
“Taa!”
I leaped greatly and harvested the head of the Dragon, which was dizzily slammed onto the ground, in a single blow.
“Yup, as expected of a sword made from a Mutant’s blade. It has better sharpness than a normal iron sword.”
With this sharpness, the purchase price might be higher than the Green Dragon I hunted before! I stored the defeated Green Dragon in my magic bag and turned to face the knights.
“Thank you for your hard work! I will return to monster subjugation in the surrounding area, so everyone please continue searching this facility with peace of mind!”
“A-Ah.”
After conveying just that to the knights, I hurriedly returned to monster subjugation.
◆
The Dragon was defeated by a boy who suddenly appeared. And in a single blow.
“Hey…”
I spoke to my subordinate.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Shall we turn ourselves in?”
“Let’s.”
Yeah, ruling a country with monsters like this via a coup d’état is utterly impossible.
