Advancement
Caesars Wasteland. This land that’s easy to grow vegetation weather-wise, turned into a devastated wilderness from the countless wars. Before long, trees no longer grew here, and it came to be chosen as the battlefield for massive numbers of fellow soldiers to clash.
King Raizer, he chose the Pentacle Formation. Splitting the troops of 20 thousand into 5, deploying the infantry to the very front row, archers to both sides, and the Magician squad to the back. He himself takes his position at the centre that brings together the pentagram.
“Haahaahaa! What a brilliant view, what a brilliant view!”
Rizalt＝Enbrae. He is one of the Four Saints, a Magician who specialises in Flame Magic, and a hot-blooded man who believes in purity and righteousness. Zedes＝Garn and Vega＝Reel, who are similarly the Four Saints, are leading the Magician unit that’s at the back; they aren’t a part of the King’s squad.
“How reliable”
King Raizer, he laughs beside him.
“Please leave it to me. If you would like, I shall join the frontlines and blast through the enemies for you to see”
Rizalt, who pounds his chest hard and flaunts his bravery.
“Do you want to kill that badly?”
From behind the boulder. A soft voice reverberates.
“Who!?”
When he took his stance and raised his voice, a white-haired Dark Magician was standing over there.
“Fuu……you are quite late huh”
The Dark Magician who, for the sake of making a flamboyant entrance, had been hiding behind the boulder the whole time. ‘I should have brought a lunch box’, was his thoughts at the three hours mark since he sat there hugging his knees.
“Asch＝Dahl……”
Rizalt mutters, with his lips trembling.
“It’s been a while huh. You are still, stubbornly staying alive huh”
“Those are, my words. I thought you were sealed by Hazen-sensei”
“Rizalt……this man is?”
King Raizer asks, and before he even answers, the Dark Magician bows.
“Oops……I am late with my greetings. My name is, Asch＝Dahl. Pleased, to make your acquaintances. People address me with various alias like,『The Most Beautiful Man On The Continent』,『The Ultimate Gentleman』,『The Prodigious Dark Magician』, but call me whatever you like”
A narcissistic greeting as always. A narcissistic behaviour as always. Every single thing is, the same as always.
“He is the worst Dark Magician. Your Majesty, please step back”
Rizalt, he alights from the horse and stands before King Raizer.
“Hou. Are you going to be my opponent? You’ve grown quite a bit, haven’t you”
“Fuu……what it means is that against someone like you, I alone am more than enough. I don’t know what you came out all willy-nilly to do, but do you think you alone can stop tens of thousands of soldiers?”
“……kukuku”
“What’s so funny!?”
“As always, you are an idiot huh. It’s laughable how you didn’t grow at all”
“What did you say!?”
“You know, my aim is……this!”
The Dark Magician holds his hands up high.
At that moment,
a gust of wind blows.
Objects flutter.
They were, everywhere.
Numerously.
Endlessly.
Flutteringly.
Before long, one of the soldiers grabs it.
Every single one, they start picking it up.
All the advancement comes to a halt, and they start picking them up like crazy.
“That’s right……I may not be able to stop them with magic”
Asch laughs softly and gazes at the blizzard of fluttering paper in satisfaction.
A piece of paper that changes lives. A piece of paper that keeps people alive, and also renders people dead.
People call that paper currency.
“No, no way……such an enormous amount of Rale notes……”
Rizalt gazes at the soldiers who are fighting to be the first to pick the notes up tremblingly.
“Kuku……half of this continent’s wealth, is actually monopolised by 10 mega-rich. The one who possesses 20 per cent of the assets even amongst them is me. Preparing such, shredded paper, is a walk in the park for me”
Of course, Asch can’t do the same thing to five troops alone. That’s why, he asked for the Assassins’ assistance and brought upon a similar blizzard of Rale notes at the respective locations.
“……that’s not all”
King Raizer mutters.
Amongst the soldiers exists a good number of mentally fortified soldiers. Those imposed with strict military discipline and who usually won’t even give a second look to money. However, pretty much all of them, have their eyes stolen by the Rale notes and are desperately fighting to be first.
“Well answered. This is, my New Magic(Original). I had drawn on the land of the final battle beforehand, a magic circle that amplifies human’s desire”
Any and all soldiers have desires. No matter how much they regulate themselves usually, there are not many, who can go against those desires.
“……what for?”
King Raizer asks honestly.
“Hmm……as for my main objective, I can’t say it right here right now. That being said, it’s a matter that’s completely unrelated to you people. But if I had to tell you just the truth of what’s about to come from now on”
The Dark Magician, he spreads his arms out with an ominously delicate smile.
“I will, kill you people, every single one of you”
“……even though it has absolutely nothing to do with us?”
“Aah. Think of it as being unlucky”
“Are you messing around?”
“Messing around? Aah, I do like jokes. But, it’s different this time around. There are times when suddenly, in the middle of a clear day, it starts raining, right? It’s about the same as when at those times, you think,『Aah, unlucky』……kukuku……”
“You sure are……insane”
King Raizer stares at him with eyes like he’s looking at something filthy.
“Kukuku……I’m not insane. For example, there are carrots in the breakfast that you’d thought didn’t have carrots. You think that at times like that, right?『Aah, it ain’t my day』……kukukukuku……kukukukuku……”
“Just, stop talking”
Rizalt holds both hands out and starts chanting magic.
“Kukukukukuku……kukukukukuku……for example, you people raise an army, and there are people whose precious someone got implicated and killed at that time, right? It’s inevitable. It’s inevitable. At that time, I thought.『Aah, how unlucky』. You guys, every single one of you, will be killed indiscriminately from now on as well. At that time, you can just think of it like that. Kukukukukuku……kukukukukuku……ahahahaha, ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha……”
Looking up at the sky and spreading both arms, the Dark Magician laughs intensely as though he’s in ecstasy.
“……die”
“That’s wrong……you guys are the ones dying”
＜＜Oh Eternal Hellfire, Annihilate The Thousands, And The Enemy＞＞ーーJet-Black Great Flame(Para・Bulbous)
＜＜Oh Hails, Freeze, Even The Saint’s Time＞＞ーーAbsolute Zero Ice Strike(Age・Zels)
Two enormous magic clashed intensely.
