Chapter 65
The Order of the Holy Knights was an armed religious force that didn’t fall under the control of the empire. Therefore, their actions were not driven by the national interests of the empire, as they followed their religious convictions instead.
The very fact that they were dealing with demons they deemed necessary to be destroyed would be enough to spark an enormous conflict between the two groups. And justice would be on the side of the Holy Knights.
"Once the Holy Knights intervene, there will be a huge uproar, and in the end, the black-market auction and its backers, along with its participants, won’t have any grounds to prevent their interference. Ultimately, the custody of the prisoners will have to be transferred to the Holy Knights."
The empire would have to withdraw. It was not feasible for them to antagonize the Holy Knights just to make some money by selling demons.
Since the empire had no justification for stopping the interference of the Holy Knights, this result was inevitable, regardless of the power the empire wielded.
It was clear that killing all the demons would be the right thing to do, yet they were trading demons in secret.
For the Holy Knights, who regarded the Great War as a sacred duty, such an act by the empire would already be seen as a tremendous betrayal. The faith prescribed by the Temple of Almighty was naturally prevalent within the empire, and the same was true within the principalities. Religion, after all, was a force that controlled the hearts of the people. Opposing them was a choice the empire would never consider.
Eventually, they would either have to admit their own mistake or cut their losses. The prisoners would end up in the custody of the Holy Knights.
That is why I proposed that we completely destroy the black-market auction. Not with our own hands, but using someone else’s. Using one enemy’s hand to crush another—it was a very old strategy. Since we could not do it ourselves, we would make others do it for us.
Eleris nodded. "Your Highness, that method will certainly prevent the trading of demon prisoners on the black market. But if that happens... all of the prisoners will be executed without exception."
"That’s right."
This strategy would merely take the prisoners out of the hands of those who wanted to exploit them as slaves and place them into the hands of those who would kill them.
"But still, the idea is to first get those pissed-off Holy Knights to storm the place where the diverted prisoners are being held."
I began to explain my plan slowly. This too was just one of the many gambles.
"Surely the Holy Knights will take possession of the prisoners, and it will be done in a forceful manner. However, they probably won’t consider the possibility that someone might try to whisk the prisoners away using a Mass Teleport spell. They’ll be too angry to think about that.
“Of course, the Holy Knights might come in and try to slaughter all the prisoners right away. But as long as the prisoners are alive, they’ll serve as evidence of the empire’s betrayal, and thus, the knights won’t rush to dispose of them that quickly. Rather, they will likely use that evidence to leverage an apology from the empire."
Even if the prisoners were eventually doomed, they wouldn’t be disposed of right away. At the very least, the Holy Knights would take a day or more to hold talks with the empire, which would buy them some time. This would be more of a rebuke than a discussion, though.
"Of course, if this rumor spreads too far, sparking fears that the Holy Knights might attack the black market, the organizers of the auction might change the location. But if that’s the case, that would actually be in our favor, since the new site would likely be hastily arranged, and the organizers would not have the time to implement any anti-magic countermeasures. And it doesn’t matter if the location changes, because the auction attendees will be notified of the new location anyway. Which is why we absolutely need tickets."
A hasty change of venue would mean that the new venue might be less protected against magic use. That might make it easier to infiltrate, and Eleris could potentially teleport the prisoners out using Mass Teleport with no difficulty.
"When the Holy Knights take control of the prisoners, they’ll want to keep them in their custody, and not leave them with the empire. Our plan remains the same if that’s the case as well. We’ll just infiltrate the place where the knights are holding them."
In the end, everything relied on Eleris’ use of Mass Teleport.
"Well... There’s also a third method. After figuring out the route along which the prisoners will be transported, Eleris could prepare the Mass Teleport spell at a prearranged location, and when the prisoner convoy passes through it, she can trigger the spell and whisk all of them away."
We would prepare the spell at a predetermined location and wait to intercept them. When the prisoners passed through, we could teleport all of them away.
Ultimately, everything came down to Eleris and her Mass Teleport spell.
The assumption that the Holy Knights would take custody of the prisoners was a precondition of this plan, but I believed there was a high probability that it was going to happen.
"In the second scenario, infiltrating the temple of the Order of the Holy Knights could be challenging. Aside from the magical protection barriers, they might detect my presence since I am an undead."
"Ah, is that so?"
"For the moment, the third scenario seems to be the most likely to succeed."
Whether the black-market auction’s location was changed or not was beyond our control, so we could only make a decision when the time came.
As it stood, knowing the location at which the auction will be held, predicting the route along which the Holy Knights would escort the prisoners, and having Eleris waiting at a designated point with her spellcasting complete seemed like our best option.
"Still, in the end, we can only save up to twenty prisoners in this scenario. All the remaining prisoners would likely end up dead.”
If there were fewer than twenty prisoners at the black market, we could save them all; however, if there were more than that, the strategy would inevitably mean abandoning the rest.
Loyar, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
"Your Highness, what if we use a warp gate instead of Mass Teleport?"
"A gate?"
"Yes. It seems plausible that the Order of the Holy Knights will remove all the prisoners from the auction, and whoever is in charge of them currently would lose control over them. If that happens, then instead of saving just a few using Mass Teleport, we can use a warp gate to save everyone."
"But that would only be possible if there’s a warp gate along the route that the Order of the Holy Knights will take, right?"
I had also thought of that as well. However, since warp gates were in fixed locations and we still didn’t know where the black-market auction would be held, it was a strategy I couldn’t get behind just yet.
"There are numerous warp gates in the imperial city, Your Highness," Loyar stated.
Loyar was in charge of an information-gathering network throughout the city and therefore knew much more about the imperial city than the three of us.
"Naturally, there is a warp gate in front of the temple of the Order of the Holy Knights too, which is one of the main institutions in the imperial city."
No matter its route, the destination of the prisoners and their escort was predetermined, and the warp gate would inevitably be along it.
"Alright, that sounds like a feasible plan," I agreed.
Using the warp gate, we could rescue any number of prisoners.
"If the escort reaches the front of the temple of the Order of the Holy Knights, we’ll cause a commotion and have everyone flee towards the warp gate. You won’t need to worry about a party pursuing us through the gate, as Eleris can simply destroy the gate that is at the exit point."
Eleris nodded with a tense expression. "Got it.”
Warp gates were bi-directional. That meant that destroying one side of the gate would prevent anyone from passing through the other.
"Okay, good. But we still need to plan this carefully in advance. We can’t expect everything to go the way we discussed. First, we have to ensure that the Order of the Holy Knights finds and heads towards the exact location of the auction. We also have to hope that they don’t immediately slaughter the prisoners. Then, we will have to disarm the forces stationed at the warp gate. Moreover, we need to provide enough of a distraction so the Order of the Holy Knights won’t pay attention to the prisoners."
"I’ll take care of distracting them," Loyar volunteered.
"Are you sure you? You could die."
"It’s not like I’m fighting them. I’ll just be distracting them. There’s a chance I might get hurt, but I’m sure I’ll be fine."
"I’ll also help distract them with magic."
With Eleris’s help, Loyar wouldn’t be alone in causing the diversion.
"I’ll disguise myself as one of the soldiers by the gate," Sarkegar declared, taking on perhaps the most crucial role of overpowering the defenders of the warp gate.
Once the prisoners were through the warp gate, Loyar, Eleris, and Sarkegar would all jump in, and then Eleris would shatter the gate to prevent any pursuit. Then, we could return using the Mass Teleport spell.
If everything went the way we discussed, it would be a perfect operation.
However, with so many assumptions and preconditions, it was possible a variable that we had not accounted for could arise at any point.
Although I wouldn’t be taking on any direct role in this operation, I planned to observe the whole situation from afar and see how everything unfolded. Therefore, in case of an emergency, I would be prepared to use the Revise function.
***
The three of them were reluctant to undertake any sort of dangerous task because I was around, but due to my orders, they were on their way to conduct a demon rescue operation.
This operation required sowing immense chaos within the imperial city, and it was not a secret or safe task. Even if we succeeded, the city would be on high alert for a while, since powerful high-level demons would have created havoc right in the heart of the imperial city.
Even if everything went according to plan, we would all be exposed to a certain amount of risk; if things didn’t go as planned, one of us might end up being sacrificed. Everyone had agreed to this fact.
I had sternly warned the three of them that if any of them were caught or failed, and there was a risk that their true identities or mine could be revealed, they should use Sarkegar’s ring to escape.
I didn’t know whether the captured demon prisoners held that much value or not. However, it seemed that the three of them couldn’t stand the sight of their fellow comrades living a miserable life, unable even to die if they wished. That was why they were willing to risk their lives. Though I, as the sovereign of a fallen realm, could not risk my life, I was dedicated to doing the best I could in this situation, within my capability.
Strictly speaking, it was an action I shouldn’t even be considering.
However, by deciding to rescue the prisoners and issuing detailed instructions, it appeared that Loyar, Eleris, and Sarkegar had already developed some intangible amount of trust in me. Whether this was out of respect for me as a lord of demons or personal respect for me as an individual, I couldn’t say.
They had already accepted my authority simply knowing I was an Archdemon, but from the moment I decided to rescue the prisoners, it seemed they held me in even greater respect.
Therefore, that night, Eleris repeated words of gratitude to me several times as she lay in bed.
"Your Highness, thank you."
"Why thank me when it’s you guys who will be doing almost all the work?"
That was the truth. The only task I had was to use the Revise function to stop events that could occur from happening and manifest events that wouldn’t occur; in a way, it was the most crucial role, but it was also something I couldn’t openly discuss with anyone.
"I am grateful merely for your permission to undertake such a dangerous task."
Ultimately, even if I did nothing, I had given them permission to take action.
Compassion was not necessarily a trait of a ruler. Knowing this, Eleris highly valued my intentions and the decisions I had made.
If I chose to coldly abandon the demon prisoners to their fate, Eleris and the others would have understood my decision, as I would have done what any other ruler would have done. But at the same time, they would have been saddened and disappointed on the inside.
Amusingly, even Sarkegar, who had a different stance than Eleris, seemed impressed by my permission to allow this reckless operation and the recommendations I had made for it. Perhaps Sarkegar saw my actions as those of a lord who valued all the demons in the Demon Realm.
As for Loyar, I still wasn’t sure what her stance was, but ultimately, she too wanted to rescue the demons. And now that I had provided a concrete plan, she seemed to be moved by it as well.
"But are you sure you’re okay with it? No matter how careful we are, someone, whether on our side or not, is bound to get hurt in the end."
Eleris did not enjoy slaughter or violence, but she would inevitably have to use magic to distract the Order of the Holy Knights. Since the three of them were risking their lives in this venture, it was natural that someone from the Order of the Holy Knights or someone else could get hurt or killed.
My worry right now was whether or not Eleris would hesitate or make a mistake when the situation presented itself.
"... I have already claimed the lives of many people," Eleris muttered sadly, her eyes closed as if lost in thought. "And I’ve become so used to it that I’m sick of it now."
I thought she had never intentionally killed anyone until now; instead, it appeared she was too experienced at it, and had done it too much.
I had no words to offer to her sad self-mockery.
***
The festival began on Monday, and Sarkegar would procure the auction tickets. Only then could we pinpoint the location.
The sum of forty gold coins was enormous, but it wasn’t impossible to cough up. I hadn’t used any of the money that was prepared for my Temple enrollment fee. Moreover, Sarkegar, living the life of a noble, would also have reserves, which meant he could still manage to have a somewhat-independent life in case he lost his connection with the club.
The long festival, which began on Monday, would continue for a whole month.
***
Sunday went by, and it was Monday.
We entered the streets of the imperial city, bustling with the festival atmosphere.
—Whooooooo! Yeaahhhhhh!
—Long live the allied forces!
—Long live Artorius!
—Long liveeee!
People were cheering for the soldiers arriving through the giant warp gate in the northern part of the Aligar district, the Temptoan district. A continuous procession of soldiers was passing through the warp gate.
An enormous number of people kept emerging from the blue portal within the gigantic circular gate and were marching towards the imperial palace.
If this were compared to Seoul, it was as if they were starting a march from Jung-gu to Jongno, with people cheering loudly as the procession of soldiers continued to advance.
Mounted knights and cavalry were the first to arrive, followed by a long line of infantry and others. The cheers were nonstop, and did not discriminate. Every soldier was met with the same enthusiastic applause and praise.
Everyone was cheering boundlessly for the allied forces for achieving a miraculous victory in the Great War.
Ludwig was probably watching this spectacle from somewhere, too. With festivals all around and parties being held in many places, he’d be wandering around, observing, and sampling the delicious food.
During this time, it was highly likely that Delphine Izadra would be kidnapped by someone. If that didn’t happen, well, that would be good as well.
There were a tremendous number of soldiers, all marching in step. Since this was the allied forces of humanity, an incredible number of nations and groups had participated. Each group marched while holding their own symbolic flags up high.
This triumphant procession would continue for a long period of time. They would march on amidst the cheers of the citizens and have the honor of entering the imperial palace, receiving exceptional treatment. Those who had contributed significantly would inevitably receive the rewards they deserved.
We were huddled a distance away, conversing amidst the outpouring of cheers from the vast crowd.
"The prisoners might come through a different gate from this triumphal procession."
"That’s a possibility."
We weren’t here just to witness this spectacle—after all, it was the kind of scene that would only irritate us.
The real reason we had come this far was to determine with our own eyes if the prisoners were being dragged through the same gate as the triumphant returning army. If there was a chance to secure the prisoners now, it would be an opportunity to do so.
We also wanted to assess the scale of the prisoner transport, if we could. But no matter how hard we looked, we couldn’t spot any carriages or convoys that appeared to be transporting prisoners.
Since this was the gate through which the triumphant forces were passing, it was highly likely that the prisoners, often seen in a more disfavorable light, would be transported to a different location.
"Even if we succeed, the only ones we can save are those at the black-market auction, right?" I questioned, contemplating the scope of our rescue operation.
"That’s right.”
We could only reach far enough to rescue the demons considered valuable merchandise on the black market.
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