Demon King of the Royal Class-Chapter 662

Meanwhile, at the outskirts of the Imperial Capital...

Flash!

“Huff... huff...” 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Cristina materialized in a secluded area, her heart pounding and her skin slick with cold sweat.

The Mass Teleport scroll had saved her life, but only just. She had narrowly escaped death. Sabioleen Tana had almost killed her without a second thought.

Still trembling, Cristina glanced at the unconscious forms of Louis and Anna beside her and let out a shaky sigh of relief.

“Unbelievable...”

She knew she was losing her grip on reality, but never had she imagined Sabioleen Tana would go to such lengths. Did she really think she could deal with the consequences?

Cristina's relief quickly turned to resolve, and her expression hardened.

She was connected to various points within the Immortals facility and to the Immortals, as she had been tasked with issuing numerous remote commands. However, there was no response from the laboratory.

It seemed Sabioleen Tana hadn’t lost her mind. As soon as Cristina had disappeared, the underground laboratory beneath the Temple had been completely obliterated.

“Was that her plan all along...?” Cristina muttered to herself in a daze.

Those facilities couldn't be recreated without the Empire's vast resources. Even though most of the Immortals were still intact, once damaged, they could not be restored.

With a steely expression, Cristina gazed at her two unconscious friends. She knew she had to persevere with the remaining Immortals no matter what.

A long time passed.

“Ugh... Ugh...”

“Argh...”

Cristina quietly observed as her friends slowly regained consciousness.

"What... Where is this place?"

Before the start of the Battle of Diane, Cristina had drugged them and put them to sleep, knowing they would have undoubtedly opposed her plan. For them, waking up outside after falling asleep in the lab was understandably disorienting.

Cristina bit her lip, watching as her two companions gradually sat up.

Where should she begin her explanation?

***

Rumble...

All that remained after that blinding flash was a massive crater.

An entire wing of the Temple University which housed the magic research department had been obliterated, and the surrounding buildings had collapsed in the explosion's wake. In the center of the crater, within which everything else had seemingly evaporated, stood a lone figure.

Sabioleen Tana and the area covered by her aura field were untouched, as if the explosion had never reached them.

—“I want you to plant explosives in the underground laboratory beneath the university.”

—“Explosives? You mean...?”

—“If the Immortal returns to the battlefield, detonate them. But do not kill those three.”

That had been the Emperor's order.

—“The Immortals will have no reason to exist after this battle anyway.”

The Immortals were only needed until the final battle. After that battle, the facilities for restoring them would be pointless. In fact, keeping them around would be dangerous.

Blowing up the laboratory would not resolve the issue that would arise from killing Cristina. The explosives Sabioleen Tana had planted would not have been enough to kill all the Immortals; instead, the explosion might provoke a response. Therefore, the laboratory could only be destroyed once all the Immortals had vanished from the laboratory.

—"But... if what His Majesty said is true... the Immortals—"

—"They will try to kill Reinhart."

That much was certain.

Once the Immortals returned to the battlefield, they would resume hunting down the remaining monsters. But if Reinhart and the Demon King's forces appeared, they would be forced to confront the Immortals as well.

The Emperor's response to that potential conflict had been straightforward.

—"That's Reinhart's problem to deal with."

—"Ah."

—"Isn't it enough that we've stopped the Immortals from automatically restoring themselves after being destroyed?"

Even if Sabioleen Tana hadn't intervened, Cristina would have sent the Immortals back to the battlefield.

Without Sabioleen Tana's help, the Demon King's army and the Allied Forces would have to face Immortals that could constantly regenerate after being damaged. Now, though, the Immortals could no longer be restored. The ones on the battlefield would have to handle the situation from this point forward.

Sabioleen Tana had the option to return to the battlefield and fight once more. Yet the Emperor had given her no further orders. Instead, he had instructed her to live as she wished. That was all he said.

Therefore, she chose not to return to the battlefield. Having survived her last battle, she set out to accomplish one final task—not because someone had commanded her to do so, but because she had decided on it for herself.

***

Unpredictable events were the norm on a battlefield. However, during humanity’s final confrontation, the Battle of Diane, such unforeseen situations were happening with alarming frequency.

First, the Immortals had vanished, leaving the monsters to rampage through the front lines unchecked.

Then, the Demon King appeared out of nowhere.

Next, a powerful yet unknown form of magic materialized.

Following that, the Titan was deployed earlier than anyone had anticipated.

Then came the death knights, performing miracles of both great healing and death.

Finally, the Immortals that had mysteriously disappeared suddenly returned to the battlefield.

No one knew why they had left or why they had chosen to return, but they had. They rejoined the fight, obliterating monsters and pushing forward.

Morale, which had been teetering on the edge of collapse, began to rise. And the moment the Immortals returned, spirits soared.

The army began its inexorable march toward Diane.

It was impossible to understand everything that was happening amidst the chaos, whether you were a soldier focused solely on the monsters before you, or a commander overseeing the entire battlefield.

The Immortals advanced, slicing through waves of monsters, seemingly clearing a path for the army. In truth, they were pursuing the Demon King, who was forging ahead beyond them.

Boom!

The Immortals were not cutting a path through the monsters in order to reach Diane. Their true goal was to eliminate the Demon King, who was heading in Diane's direction.

Roar!

The path ahead of them was littered with monsters, and they were clearing them as they advanced, but their immediate target was completely different from the Allied Forces’ destination.

The Demon King continued his charge into the heart of the monster horde, with the Immortals in pursuit, slaying beasts along the way.

Meanwhile, the Allied Forces advanced along the path the Immortals had carved out.

The Demon King and the Hero had joined forces to carve a path toward Diane, the Immortals trailing behind them, and the Allied Forces advanced along the route they cleared.

To outsiders, it seemed like a coordinated effort. But for those who were directly involved, the truth was far more complex.

The Demon King wasn't cutting through the monsters.

He was running from the Immortals.

***

Harriet and Riana also saw the Immortals making their return from where they stood.

"The Immortals... They’ve returned?"

Their group could clearly see the Immortals converging on the Demon King's location. The Master-class superhuman soldiers charged forward, while the archmages unleashed their powerful bombardments from the rear.

Harriet watched the scene unfold, her eyes wide with a mix of awe and fear.

She knew the Immortals would obliterate the monsters, but they would also be targeting the Demon King's forces, as well as Riana and herself.

Reinhart was too far away from her for her to provide any meaningful support with her magic. The distance between them was simply too far.

She could only use her magic to support the Allied Forces around her, channeling it through the magical star, to fend off the waves of monsters closing in from all directions. Despite her efforts, she felt helpless.

The Immortals were relentless in their mission, and had prioritized killing the Demon King above all else.

There were too many of them. At this rate, even Reinhart would be overwhelmed by the concentrated fire.

The distance between her and Reinhart was too great, and if she recklessly unleashed any large-scale destructive magic, Reinhart might be caught in the blast.

The Immortal mages scattered across the battlefield had already begun their magical assault on Reinhart. They didn't care if their own kind were caught in the crossfire.

The Swordmasters pursuing Reihart were a threat, but the mages were an even greater one.

What was the best course of action in this chaos?

Harriet lifted her head.

Explosions tore through the space all around her, the low booms mingling with the high-pitched screams and monstrous roars that filled the air.

The sky was unnaturally clear.

Harriet's eyes widened in realization. "Riana! We need rain!"

"Rain?"

"Yes, we have to make it rain!"

"Understood!"

Riana, sensing the urgency of the situation, didn't hesitate. She reached out with her abilities without needing further explanation. While it wouldn't offer much help to Reinhart, who was far away, it could at least disrupt the mages' spells from reaching their targets.

Olivia Lanche, who was casting her healing light across the battlefield, also stood out. Both Reinhart and Olivia were in danger of being targeted by large-scale magic. To protect them, it was crucial to interfere with the mages' line of sight as much as possible.

Rumble...

In an instant, the clear sky was swallowed up by dark clouds that were gathering at an unnaturally rapid pace.

Drip, drip.

Very quickly, the gentle patter of raindrops turned into a torrential downpour.

Though not of a magical nature, the rain was the most effective way to obscure visibility.

After all, the Immortals were golems that operated independently. Without a clear view, the accuracy of their magic would undoubtedly suffer. Harriet and Riana hoped this would help Reinhart hold out a little longer.

The downpour greatly obscured the Immortals' vision, but it severely limited the sight of all the other combatants on the battlefield as well. Identifying friend from foe up close was not an issue, but it was impossible to get a true sense of what was happening throughout the battlefield as a whole. Although this development might put the Allied Forces in an unfavorable situation, they had to prevent the worst-case scenario: Reinhart's death.

Rumble... Rumble...

The storm raged on.

Blue lightning flashed between the dark clouds, striking the ground with reckless abandon, while meteors continued to fall. It was a scene straight out of hell, as if the world itself was coming to an end. But they couldn't stop, and neither could they focus solely on Reinhart.

Even though Harriet had managed to cast a powerful spell, it was one she wasn't familiar with. She refocused herself, determined to give it her all.

Just then, she noticed something moving through the torrential rain, barely visible at the edge of her sight. A soldier, his face covered by his visored helmet, was running—not away from the monsters, but towards the Allied Forces.

A shiver ran down Harriet's spine.

The Immortals weren't just attacking the Demon King. Now that their vision was obscured and they were unable to pinpoint the Demon King's location, some of the Immortals had begun targeting the forces of the Demon King that they could still see.

Naturally, Harriet and Riana were among those in their sights.

There was no time to scream.

The Immortals' focus shifted, providing Reinhart, who was being chased by the largest group of Immortals, some slight relief.

"Riana...”

"I see it too."

Riana had also noticed the lone Immortal advancing towards them.

Though the monsters were a threat, the Immortals posed a far greater and more imminent danger to Harriet and Riana.

Flash!

Dozens of lightning bolts crashed down from the sky, targeting the approaching Immortal.

Boom!

The air, superheated by the intense heat, expanded outward in a massive shockwave that sent the Immortal tumbling across the rain-soaked ground.

Despite being struck by a bolt of lightning that would have killed an ordinary monster or human, the Immortal rose again and charged forward.

The Immortal, a monster who had reached the Master class, charged at them with a speed that surpassed any human sprinter. Its approach was more akin to a galloping horse.

Boom! Boom!

Riana continued to bombard the Immortal with lightning strikes as it continued its relentless advance. Astonishingly, it refused to fall, deflecting the falling lighting with its sword as it charged forward.

In an attempt to halt the charge of this lone Immortal soldier, Harriet launched precise magical attacks at it, but it moved out of the impact zone before the light from the magical star struck the ground.

She sucked in a breath.

Booooom!

If a single attack couldn't stop it, she would try to pin it to the ground with sheer force.

Yet, even as she applied the full weight of her magic, the Immortal only slowed slightly before continuing its relentless charge.

Most knights underwent anti-magic training to prepare for enemies that wielded magic, and the Immortals were all war heroes or legends of the ancient past, made even more formidable than they had been in life. Those who reached Master class naturally possessed an extraordinary level of anti-magic resistance, and their Aura Armor could block both physical force and magical attacks.

"No, no...”

Harriet watched in disbelief as the Immortal evaded the deadly magical bombardments, deflected the lightning directed at it, and resisted all direct magical interference as it charged at them.

It was just one being. She couldn't even halt the advance of a single Master-class Immortal.

The sudden surge in the number of Immortals had made everyone overlook an important truth.

Even just a single Master-class individual had once been regarded as a strategic weapon.

A warrior that had reached the Master class and possessed both formidable physical prowess and exceptional anti-magic resistance was considered a strategic asset. This held true even against Harriet, who had mastered the most powerful magic.

Moreover, it was difficult for Harriet to control this newly-developed spell of hers. In fact, even completing the spell was close to miraculous. Had she been more accustomed to this magic, the outcome might have been different.

The situation they were in highlighted just how extraordinary the human force was. The fact that even Harriet and Riana working together were struggling to stop a Master-class Immortal explained why the Allied Forces had advanced so effortlessly.

They couldn't stop even one Immortal. And Reinhart was being hunted by thousands of these strategic weapons.

Faced with this dire situation, however, worrying about Reinhart was pointless. They had to survive. They needed to endure to ensure a future.

Riana and Harriet did everything they could to halt the Immortal's advance, but it wasn't forcing its way through a horde of monsters; it was leaping over soldiers of the Allied Forces.

They considered using large-scale magic to shatter the ground beneath the Immortal. While it might not kill the Immortal, it might at least stop it from advancing further. However, such a spell would also decimate a large number of their own troops.

Therefore, they found themselves unable to halt the single charging Immortal, who was cleverly using the Allied soldiers as a shield.

If they had been facing it on an empty battlefield, there would have been countless ways to stop it. But whether the Immortal realized it or not, it was using other humans as a shield, preventing Harriet from unleashing her powerful magic as it closed in.

A decision had to be made.

In that fleeting moment, a moment in which countless choices and strategies flashed through her mind, the Immortal soldier, flying at them at a terrifying speed, raised its sword. It pointed the tip of its Aura Blade at Riana, who stood protectively in front of Harriet.

"Riana...!"

In that instant, Harriet knew she couldn't let her friend die. She extended her hand, casting a powerful protection spell over Riana.

Clang!

Out of nowhere, someone crashed into the side of the Immortal with incredible force.

"Cliffman...?"

Cliffman had managed to knock the Immortal off balance.

Riana and Harriet barely had a moment to register their surprise.

The Immortal, hardly defeated, was still sent reeling.

There was no time for lengthy exchanges.

Riana lunged at the staggered Immortal.

Before it could recover, she seized it by the nape.

"You... damned corpse!"

Boooom!

Fierce lightning cascaded from the sky, striking Riana with relentless force. The electricity surged into the Immortal's body, as if being forcibly injected, determined to find its mark.

Riana had gained the power to control the weather, but her true gift had always been the manipulation of electricity. The range of her abilities had grown through the years, but the strength of her power always hinged on proximity to her target.

She unleashed a flurry of lightning at point-blank range, the electric shock radiating from her body with devastating intensity.

Crackle!

The lightning was so intense that Harriet quickly cast a spell to protect everyone nearby from the electricity.

Boooom!

If the Immortal did not fall after dozens of lightning strikes, she was prepared to unleash hundreds more.

Pushed beyond any conceivable limit, the Immortal lay convulsing on the ground, unable to rise.

"Die...!"

Boom!

With a blinding flash that transcended that of any ordinary bolt of lightning, the Immortal disintegrated into ashes in Riana's grasp as both Harriet and Cliffman looked on.

"Huff... Huff...”

A concentrated lightning strike at point-blank range.

Cliffman had carved out an opportunity, and Riana had seized it.