The Protagonists of Romance Fantasy Novels Have Escaped

60 – 60. God of War in War (2)

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Trapped in the realm of chaos, Rudmila exerted all her strength to break through the passage and return to the mortal world.

It could be broken.

As the door had not completely closed yet.

With each strike of her fist, surrounded by the flames of the crimson dragon, a deafening roar echoed from the passage as if screaming out in agony. The priests of calamity watching her trembled in awe at Rudmila’s power.

“The, the passage is collapsing!”

“To break the boundary dividing space…! This is unbelievable!”

Crash!

Thud, thud, thud──!!

With each strike of the fist, numerous cracks appeared.

And the fire pits that emerged through the cracks poured down like a meteor shower, turning the ground into chaos.

“Ahh!”

“F-Fire…!”

Strangely, the cascading fire pits specifically targeted the priests of the disaster god who had been unfolding the passage of chaos like guided missiles.

The priests, engulfed in flames, screamed sharply as they perished in the horrific blaze.

“Ugh, ugh…! Is that the power of the Seven Rivers of the Nation!”

The elderly man, who was the first to be attacked by the red dragon’s flames, rose with the support of the knight priests.

His face was half melted.

His body, engulfed in flames, was in tatters.

The injuries were so severe that he wouldn’t be out of place dead. If they didn’t retreat quickly, they would lose all their forces, including themselves, to the pouring fire pits.

“Ariel! Why is there still no signal! Could it be… a failure!”

He anxiously awaited the signal.

But the disciples of the Sunblood who had attacked the Imperial City remained silent.

Was it inevitable to give up?

He gazed at the collapsing passage of chaos with despair.

Roar──!!!

The flames that were burning down the half-collapsed barrier began to take on a massive form.

It was the head of a red dragon.

The dragon made of flames bared its sharp fangs and roared, expressing the dragon’s wrath that would never forgive those who invaded the empire.

“Chief of Staff!”

“Please make a decision quickly!”

The priests, who narrowly avoided being incinerated, demanded a retreat from the chief of staff.

There was no chance of winning.

They were only facing certain death.

In the fierce form of the burning red dragon, they had completely lost their composure. Even the fanatics who were willing to die for the disaster god were trembling in fear at the might of Ludmilla.

“For now, we must retreat from here…”

As the chief of staff sensed the impending defeat and was about to speak,

An unbelievable change occurred.

The flames ceased.

The raging flames of the red dragon that had completely covered the barrier vanished.

In such a perplexing situation, the chief of staff and the priests of the disaster god couldn’t help but feel bewildered. The flames, which seemed like they would destroy the barrier at any moment, disappeared without a trace.

* * *

With the next blow, they could break the barrier.

They could now go out.

Ludmilla, fueled by the rage burning in her heart, conjured flames to deliver the most dreadful death to those who set the Imperial City ablaze.

However,

Suddenly, a change occurred.

A massive presence that pierced her intuition was detected.

“To think that such a fearsome presence exists… It suddenly started to erupt.”

Ludmilla, who noticed the presence flowing from across space, immediately halted her attack. The intimidating aura she felt surpassed any enemy she had faced so far.

Unbelievable.

A power approaching that of the “Essence” was spreading rapidly.

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The suddenly intensified presence continued to expand limitlessly.

Ludmilla felt a suffocating fear. The enormous presence, whose victory even she couldn’t gauge, might threaten the Empire, causing her vision to momentarily blur with the thought.

“If that is truly the true mastermind behind the followers of the disaster god…! It must be stopped immediately! I sense that the space where it exists is connected to the Imperial City!”

She couldn’t afford to delay.

If the entity constantly expanding its presence were to fall into the Valtaria Empire, it would lead to an unprecedented catastrophe.

Ludmilla, showing a sense of urgency, clenched her fist.

In the space where the presence of the expanding entity could be felt.

Ludmilla, targeting that space, prepared to shatter the barrier of chaos.

She had to stop the overwhelmingly powerful unidentified entity from reaching the Valtaria Empire before it was too late. Making that judgment, Ludmilla postponed her return to the present.

“….”

A new space she faced.

An incomprehensible unknown territory.

Having broken through the boundary of chaos, Ludmilla arrived at the haven of the fairies where the battle had been raging moments ago.

As soon as Ludmilla entered the territory, she witnessed a multitude of guns and cannons spread out in the air. And her gaze met with a massive entity controlling numerous weapons.

The essence clad in black armor.

Just facing it for a moment made her hands tremble.

An overwhelmingly dominant energy that made it hard to predict victory or defeat was overflowing from the black liquid of ink.

Yet, despite being such a fearsome presence, there was a strange sense of familiarity. It was because a scent of gunpowder, now beyond familiarity and into intimacy, wafted from him.

“Your Excellency… No, Edanant.”

With a trembling heart, the name was spoken.

It might have been a mistake.

But the precious memories shared until now were insisting it was the truth.

Following that, Ludmilla, with a look of conviction, took steps forward. She wanted to hear in detail what the situation was.

“Could it be, Your Excellency, that I was… the warmonger I’ve been searching for?”

Looking at the well-organized guns and cannons armed like an artillery unit, Ludmilla, the sixth member of the Saint Party, thought of the warmonger.

Warmonger.

The enigmatic hero who led the Third Race War to victory.

Ludmilla, recalling him, finally grasped the truth.

“….”

“Do not remain silent, Edanant!”

In response to Ludmilla’s question, Edanant exercised his right to remain silent. Whenever faced with a situation where it was difficult to respond recklessly, Edanant’s usual reaction was to remain silent.

Soon, a stern voice cut through.

“How did you know?”

“The Empire’s princess has her ways of knowing everything.”

She could tell by the smell.

The memories they had shared so far were telling her.

Ludmilla, unable to give a shameful answer, blushed and evaded the response.

“Since I’ve been caught red-handed like this, it seems impossible to deceive you. No matter how clumsily I try to make excuses, I won’t be able to deceive you, Your Highness.”

It must be a situation of being caught in the act.

Edanant let out a heavy sigh.

“As Your Highness says. I… am indeed the warmonger enlisted as a member of the Saint Party.”

“…As I suspected.”

“And as you can see, I serve as the harbinger of war.”

“….”

Harbinger of war.

Harbinger.

At Edanant’s consecutive statements, Ludmilla’s eyebrows twitched involuntarily.

She tried hard to hide her confusion with strong patience, but it was in vain.

The shocking fact that a man she had sincerely admired was a harbinger of disaster, a harbinger, came dangerously close like a sharp blade cutting through her chest.

“War….”

Since the beginning of human history, the inexorable liquids of darkness that had always threatened the world.

Among the four liquids of darkness, war was included.

Harbinger of war.

Just thinking about it was chilling.

Ludmilla finally accepted that Edanant served as the harbinger of war. The revealed truths were too shocking to ignore.

“Are you going to arrest me?”

“…If I were to do so, would you obediently comply?”

Instead of responding to Edanant’s question, Ludmilla countered.

Edanant seemed to be at a loss for words, unable to answer.

“For now, I will attach a non-disclosure.”

“But….”

“I said I will attach a non-disclosure! Dare you challenge the princess’s decision so audaciously!”

“….”

It’s a common occurrence for people who are usually diligent to become shameless.

And that was the case with Ludmilla now.

In response to Edanant’s rebuttal, Ludmilla remained ignorant and showed a defiant reaction. Since it was a greatly agitated voice, Edanant eventually fell silent.

“First, leave. I will break the boundary.”

“…Just send word to the Louisians, and they’ll open it for you.”

Breaking the boundary that divides space?

Good heavens.

Did she just arrive in paradise by such an ignorant method?

Ludmilla’s bones chilled at the sight of her suddenly pulling out a fist.

“Ah. Please wait a moment.”

Edanant, recalling something, paused for a moment.

He turned his head.

And he stared at the vampire covered in blood like a fallen mountain pine.

“I am the apostle of calamity who tried to assassinate Your Majesty. I managed to subdue them before Your Majesty’s arrival. There’s much to hear about the details of the attack, so it would be wise to capture them alive.”

“Hmm, do as you wish.”

In truth, Rudmila had intended to kill the vampire before her sudden appearance, but her thoughts changed. It seemed wiser to keep them alive.

The sudden emergence of the background.

The acquisition of the Sage’s Ring by the sage.

And the desire to find out if there was a mastermind behind this attack.

As Edanant tucked the Sage’s Ring dropped by Arrielle into her bosom, a sly smile escaped her lips.

“Oh! And Edanant….”

“Please speak.”

What could she be trying to say?

Surely she wouldn’t suddenly change and unleash flames.

With a sense of doubt, Edanant awaited Rudmila’s words.

“When we are alone, didn’t I ask you to address me by name? I call you by name in a friendly manner, yet you address me with difficulty. Quickly, call me Rudmila.”

“…I will do it later.”

“Quickly.”

“Ru, Rudmila….”

“Mmhm! I hope you will continue to call me by name when we are alone.”

“….”

She called out the name in a melancholic tone.

Upon which Rudmila nodded in a satisfied manner.

It’s truly hard to understand.

I can’t grasp what she’s thinking at all.

Edanant scratched the back of her head, staring intently at Rudmila’s retreating figure.