Sword, Magic and Academic Society-Chapter 305Vol. 1 - - Holy Land Lunazert (9)
“…Can’t you hear it? The approaching harbingers of your doom, that sound of wings...?"
the sound that’s going to lead you all to ruin.”
I walked over to the largest double window, positioned opposite the entrance, and drew the curtains.
“What—?!” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
The next instant, an irritating *brrrnn* wings split the air. Something flew in from nowhere, slapped against the glass, and began crawling soundlessly across it.
Everyone’s face drained of color at once at the sight of an ashen-gray body, much paler than the sub-adult corpse we had seen at the forest. In contrast, it was on an entirely different scale—easily seven or eight times larger than the sub-adult's soccer-ball-sized corpse.
It was an adult worker fly, the minion of Beelzebubble, the Fly King. (T/N - The name is slightly twisted, so yes, it’s not Beelzebub. I noticed the previous chapters have the Beelzebub mismatched term among a few others. It was an error between the editor, who has quit due to circumstances, so I will correct them ASAP.)
As I finally saw one up close, I realised its brown eyes, covering nearly half its face, were in fact compound eyes. They were clusters of countless tiny lenses, and according to Coco, there were as many as four thousands of them, capable of near 360-degree field of vision.
"......They must be drawn by the stench of Cursed Fruit. Hmph, however there was no one in this Holy Land who didn't know the terrifying consequence of laying a finger on minions of Fly Kin—"
Cornal spoke, about to dismiss my words, but stopped when he saw the minion's brown eye turning red.
The minion fly suddenly flapped its wings in increased intensity, clawing the window, even slamming into it as if to smash that reinforced glass panel.
The erratic gesture clearly meant it had found an "enemy."
"I-It can't be...... you bastard...! Have you messed with Fly King's minions?!"
The man who had tortured me shouted, clutching his left arm where Kiana-san’s arrow had pierced it, his face twisted with a mix of rage and terror.
"Come now, of course not. Well, at least I didn't. Do you know who did it, Jeu?"
I feigned ignorance, and inquired Jeu. The latter uttered a thoughtful groan, tapping her finger against her jaw, and pointed at Tomora next.
"Hmm, I believe this person did. He stomped on the body of the minion over and again, reaping away its last silver of breath. He must be a brave person in a way."
"Truly an idiot. The shining example of ignorance is a sin."
As I gave my head a shake in theatrics, everyone's gaze centred on Tomora.
Tomora darted his eyes around, then his flushed, ingratiating grin deepened in color.
“…You set me up? Me? Despite the oath of cooperation you took on choker?"
Jue merely shrugged.
“I never told you to kill them. And I did exactly as I swore; I did my utmost to help you reach the destination together. What happens after arrival, though, is beyond my responsibility.”
She said it flatly, without emotion.
Tomora’s reddened face turned white, and he stood frozen where he was.
I mean, what else was to be expected? Anyone who thought they could use a mana tool to threaten people into absolute obedience were deluding themselves. The history was laden with many failures that such control never lasts.
A threatened person would never completely act in obedience. And this had to be why the Choker of Virtue never made it beyond its time.
If you truly wanted to win people over—even if it’s arduous, even if you fail—you had no choice but to draw their hearts with light, not chains.
Perhaps drawn by the aggressive behavior of the adult minion, another worker fly, a sub-adult, jumped out from the crevice of curtain and the shattered window from Kiana-san's arrow earlier.
It was the beginning, and soon another flew inside, then another, a fourth one and continued on. In a swarm, they jumped at Tomora as soon as they were inside.
All of them were sub-adult size, the adult worker flies were apparently too big to fit through the shattered window.
It darted back and forth between the two windows, repeatedly hurling itself against the larger one behind them, as if trying to break through, its frustration plain.
"Shit, get away from me! Get away! Red-san, what are you doing standing there in silence?! Help me out quickly! You didn't forget it was my grace you managed to grow up, didn't you?!"
Tomora shouted help from Red as he flailed his hand in an attempt to throw away the chasing minions.
But, with a cold expression, Red distanced himself just as Tomora approached closer.
"...Your cries for help are going to be unheard, no matter how you cry. After all, many villages and cities had been decimated overnight by incurring the wrath of King of Flies in the past."
"I, I remember. The Holy Land was once sealed off for some time a few centuries ago."
Since the antiquity era, Belzebubble, the king of flies, was famed as an incarnation of disaster residing in the St. Angol Mountain Range.
With devastating examples as the backdrop, every single child was taught to never lay a hand on a fly monster in the Leverance region. And apparently, if one did make the fatal mistake, they would be turned into sacrifice for the King.
“Reap what you sow."
Casting a sideways glance at Tomora, now utterly abandoned by everyone, I used a short sword taken from the wall to cut the ties of the Boss, who had been crawling toward us like a worm.
“You all right, Boss?”
“Yeah… I’m… fine enough.”
He replied, forcing bravado into his voice, but it was apparent he had strained himself in battle too much.
While I looked at the situation with more optimism, Jeu intensely stared at Boss as he breathed shallowly, and promptly spoke in an urgent voice.
"This... his internal organ has suffered damage...! We must do something about it now..."
I-Internal damage?!
I immediately thought of solution, but Jeu was still restrained with mana-sealing chains, and my recovery potion were taken away before torture.
"......Come here, Rina-san."
Jeu beckoned Rina over. Kneeling down, she met her at eye level and spoke gently.
“I’ll support you. Please save Lynd-san with your holy magic.”
Rina's face turned pale when she heard Jeu.
"I-It's impossible! I have never used holy magic before! And, isn't it supposed to be something super incredible? There's no way I can do it."
“W-what?! I’ve never used holy magic before! Isn’t it supposed to be some incredibly rare gift? There’s no way I can do something like that!”
Jeu greeted Rina's perplexion with a gentle shake of her head, and spoke with an unwavering gaze and a steady voice.
"You're the last hope we have now to save Lynd-san. Believe me, I am urging you precisely because I know your talent. ...Don't you, too, want to save Lynd-san... no, your father who barged in this secured place out of worry for you?"
Drawn in by the strength of Jeu’s gaze, Rina stared back for a long moment, then tears began to spill down her cheeks as she nodded.
"...Help him. I... want to help my father!"
Jeu gave a short nod, and pulled her into an embrace from behind. She guided her hands to rest on Boss's abdomen.
"I knew it. You're a brave person. ...There's no concrete shape to prayer. You may speak your heart as it is."
With her hands supported by Jeu, Rina squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
"......Get better, father. You've done enough impossible for our sake. We just want you to stay by our side. That's why... let's return to our home, Apple, together."
The moment Rina said that and hugged her father, Jeu began chanting something in ancient Lavandran.
A gentle light overflowed from Rina, enveloping the old man’s body, and at the same time, strength seeped out of Rina.
“…Rina?!”
Boss jolted upright and pulled her into his arms in alarm, but Jeu smiled reassuringly at him.
“…It’s all right. She’s only asleep. She used up all her mana. She’ll wake up soon.”
◆◆◆
After safely helping out Boss, I turned my eyes back to Tomora. Several crushed flies lay scattered around his feet, but more than a dozen were still clinging to him, leaving him barely able to breathe.
The sub-adult's poison wasn't as potent, but it must be accumulating inside him all the same.
Tomora finally collapsed to his knees.
At that very moment, the King’s minion—having slammed its body against the window again and again—at last shattered the rear window and forced its way inside.
Without sparing us so much as a glance, it flew straight at Tomora and wrapped him tightly in its legs.
“Hah… hah… no! Stop it! Get away, you vermin! How dare you—! Someone! Please! No! No, no, no—this can’t be how it ends!”
It was a gruesome sight, but there was no other way to describe it than karmia. He had brought it all upon himself.
I had not even the glimmer of sympathy. However—
“…Yeah. Figures.”
The instant I saw the King’s retainer lifting into the air, preparing to carry Tomora away, I swung my shortsword in a wide arc and stepped in front of the double window, blocking its path.
◆
Cornal's expression momentarily twisted into aghastness when he saw Allen swung his sword, blocking the window.
"...W-What the hell are you thinking?! Let them go! You, me, and everyone would be marked as the enemy of their King if you insist on it. Once they're all over, it would be a pipe dream to stop the disaster. They will not stop until the Holy Land is raged to the ground, you hear me?!"
Ever since they'd come face to face, Allen finally saw that impassive expression descending into horror. As Cornal's warning reached his ear, he simply harrumped. Then—
In a single bound, he closed the distance to the adult minion crawling through the air with Tomora in its grasp, and without the slightest hesitation, he slashed his blade through it.
The retainer’s face was split clean in two, and a spray of blood rained down over Allen.
He did not stop at it, and severed its wings next, hacked through its legs, and thrust his sword deep into its abdomen.
Drenched in blood, Allen was immediately swarmed by the sub-adults' minions.
Regardless, he cut them all down without leaving a single one alive.
“…F-fool…!”
Cornal, who had stood frozen in shock, suddenly turned on his heel.
“…Where do you think you’re going?”
Allen addressed him, but he acted deaf against it, as if he was afraid of even a fragment of implication.
Allen raised his palm in a shrug, and chanted in a sonorous voice.
“—Fly Carnival.”
A sudden swirl of wind picked up the chunks of flesh or the splattered blood into the air, and scattered them through the room, bathing Cornal, his subordinates, Pirka and even Red into it.
A dumbfounded silence enveloped everyone, but just as soon it took the shape of despair into their faces.
"No, nooo... you bastard, what are you plotting!?"
Cornal spoke to Allen with an enraged tone, but the latter just raised the corner of his lips into a devil-like malevolent grin.
"Where do you think you're doing? The party has just begun."
