Chapter 332. Caesar of Belief (1)
I lightly raised both hands while looking at my happy father, saying, "I surrender. It’s inappropriate to fight considering the current situation or place."
This was the Demon’s Territory, but in terms of distance, it wasn’t very far from the Asteria Duchy.
If I had fought before I surpassed the limit, it was clear that I would be overpowered before the battlefield grew larger than ten meters. However, with my current self, it wouldn’t be easy for my father to overpower me, so there was a high risk of damage to the empire, or to be exact, to the territory of my maternal grandfather.
"Hmm, that’s true. That’s too bad." Fortunately, my father was also able to distinguish the situation, so he nodded and moved on.
"Oh, and the Demon King summons in my head were taken away,” I said in a passing tone as if it were nothing.
My father nodded casually and replied, "Really? That’s a big deal."
"Yes. It’s a big deal,” I affirmed as I magically helped the elders of the Butterfly tribe back onto their feet.
"So what are you going to do?" my father asked, in a tone that made it sound as if he were asking what I was going to eat for lunch today.
I shrugged and answered, "Well, even though they took the spell, they can’t summon the Demon King right away, so we still have time. It’s just that I have a time limit.”
In fact, it was quite urgent. I still hadn’t identified where the Demon King summoning would take place, and the Demon’s Territory was very wide. Considering that the previous Demon King had destroyed about five countries in the past, the Demon’s Territory was much larger than the total area of the empire.
"Then what’s your plan? Do we have to have a meeting again?” My father frowned, as if he considered it a drag to listen to boring explanations in the command room.
"No, there isn’t even time for a meeting. It’s a bit self-righteous, and I don’t like it that much, but I’ll have to give instructions to the Butterfly tribe without a meeting,” I said. Fortunately, considering how they had moved when we caught the phoenix, I thought they would cooperate.
"They did seem to love following what you say." My father shook his head, adding that he couldn’t understand.
In fact, I was a magician myself, but I couldn’t understand it either. They had looks of respect that were too pure to just be attempts to suck up. If someone didn’t intend to take advantage of you, whether they were higher or lower level than you shouldn’t matter.
"Yeah, I’ll follow your or Hestia’s opinion anyway, so do as you please,” my father said. He passed everything on to me so naturally.
"Then let’s get back to the military and talk after we eat,” I said.
My father nodded with a smile of satisfaction. "That’s a good idea. Wise."
I thought so, too. But, I didn’t know if the kitchen soldiers had made lunch before running away as the imperial army retreated.
* * *
My father took a big bite of red-seasoned meat and asked, "So what are you going to do?"
I bit some meat and answered, "First, we have to destroy the Demon King worshipping organizations. The basic course of action remains the same."
The meat was more delicious than I had thought. For a military meal, it was very fresh meat and expensive seasoning.
"However, I think we should split up into groups and move separately,” I added.
"Separately?” my father asked as he discarded some ribs he had finished all the meat on and lifted the front legs of a large boar.
"Originally, I was going to have us move together and see the reactions of the enemy, but we don’t have time. So we’re going to make all our military forces engage in guerrilla warfare." I created a simple hologram with light magic, and it floated in the air for everyone to see.
"Oh! That’s cool."
"Is this magic?”
The Butterfly tribe people looked at the hologram calmly, but the people of my hometown looked at the hologram in amazement. It was like a reaction one might expect from a Stone Age caveman seeing a bronze tool.
Indeed, in the Olympus Forest, this kind of complex formation magic was difficult. Although it wasn’t impossible in the village, it was meaningless to make such a thing because the terrain steadily changed due to the demons, except for the roads that had been deliberately paved.
"Everyone, listen while you eat. I’ll organize the groups as soon as the meal is over and explain everything,” I said.
In the hologram, flags were present across the map of the entire Demon’s Territory. The flags marked the target sites; that is, the locations of the confirmed Demon King worshipper organizations.
I marked movement paths for the groups I would divide later with triangles.
"The previous plan of action was intended to defeat them in order, but since we don’t have time, we’ll move all at once and destroy our enemies simultaneously,” I explained as I showed my future plans with the hologram.
At the end of my explanation, William stroked his chin and raised his hand. "Is there a reason... for why you suddenly changed our tactics?” William was naturally inclined to speak informally, but he began using honorifics under the eyes of elders of the Butterfly tribe.
"It’s simple. It turns out that the Demon King worshippers have found out that the Demon King summons have been stolen,” I said. I wasn’t lying. I hadn’t been aware of it either, but I had found out after coming to my senses.
The Butterfly tribe people were flustered and made a commotion, and most of the people in my hometown tilted their heads.
"Uh... Little Chief. Is there a problem with that?” someone asked.
Since there were only a few elders who had been alive during the advent of the Demon King incident 120 years ago, they were unaware of the seriousness of the situation.
No, unlike then, since my father was around, they might not consider it a problem. My father was clearly so strong that he couldn’t be compared to my great-grandfather in the past.
I answered with a light shrug, "Well, there’s no problem, except that if you fail to stop the summoning ceremony of the Demon King, the Demon King will be summoned within about three days."
But I didn’t say that my great-grandfather, the biggest problem, was an enemy. The fact that the warrior who had defeated the Demon King was trying to summon the Demon King again wouldn’t only cause a considerable stir, but would also be bad for our village.
"Mr. William, please lead the imperial army and take care of the supplies,” I said.
It was unreasonable for the imperial army to go deep into the Demon’s Territory to fight when it was missing a considerable amount of its forces. However, they might be sufficient to deliver the necessary supplies to the Crow and Butterfly tribes.
William nodded and said, "All right, I’ll take responsibility for that part."
I clapped after finishing the operation instructions. "Okay! Since we’re tight on time, let’s move right away!" In response, the Crow and Butterfly tribes began to form groups of well-matched people.
I approached my father and whispered softly, "Father, you and I are going to attack the sites that are predicted to be potential Demon King summoning locations. There are about three sites.”
My father whistled with interest and said, "You and I can go to two places. What are you going to do about the other place?"
"I’ll have to talk to Grandfather or Aunt. So, please contact Aunt for me,” I said. It wasn’t because I was scared to let her know that the Demon King summons had been stolen due to my mistake. Of course. It was just that there would be no way she wouldn’t be hysterical, right?
* * *
The Spirit Sword fell to the ground. The mountains and fields that had been lush with greenery disappeared, and turned into plains with red blood spilling across them.
"Cough!” Zendia vomited blood and collapsed, helplessly falling backward. "I lost." He didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger. It was a perfect defeat.
"You’ve gotten a lot stronger, Son." The bloodied Galak took a deep breath, reabsorbing the grains of golden mana that surrounded his body.
"Haha, I’ve become stronger? When you didn’t even use your favorite sword, the Phantom Sword, and beat me down with your bare hands?” Zendia clenched his teeth, feeling discontent. At this moment, he was angry that he had simply lost the fight, apart from the cause. He felt as if tears might stream down, due to the fact that he was weaker than his opponent. As a fighter, he was shaken by the sense of helplessness that came from feeling he had no more strength left to fight.
Galak laughed cheerfully at the sight. "Ahahaha! You’re also a Crow! Yes! That’s right! If you lose a fight, you have to grit your teeth and be angry!"
"Is that what you should be telling your angry son!?" Zendia protested.
Galak burst into laughter. "Puhahahaha! Then what should I say? Do you want me to sympathize with you or laugh at you? I’m sorry, but I can’t do that!"
After some time, though, he said seriously, "I’m speaking not as your father, but as a fighter! You fought well! You were the best opponent! Today was definitely the first time I’ve ever really almost died since I faced the Demon King 120 years ago!"
At Galak’s affirmation, Zendia’s mouth twitched, and Galak guessed what his son would say with his unique instincts. He remarked, "Ahh, the older grandchild? He was strong. But he doesn’t want to kill me sincerely. It’s no exaggeration to say that today is the best day in my life. It was my first time having such a refreshing fight!”
Zendia frowned because of Galak’s sincere laughter. He asked, "Are you teasing me because you won?”
"Ahahaha! The loser talks a lot. The loser is supposed to do as the winner says. Stay laying down and take my compliments,” Galak replied.
It was extremely insulting. Zendia grit his teeth, but asked while holding back his anger, "...Why can’t I beat you, Father?"
Galak shrugged. "That’s a task you have to figure out on your own. All right. Take it as the last homework this father will give you. Find out why you lost."
Zendia grit his teeth hard. "If it’s homework...! At least have an answer in mind before leaving!"
"Kuhahaha! If I had prepared something like that, I wouldn’t have heard all my life that I was a selfish person." Galak smiled playfully and contemplated. "Well, then to give you a hint... I have a goal. And I was desperate. So I did my best. That’s all."
Zendia got angry at Galak’s hint and said, "I have a goal, too! I also did my best! But...!”
"Then the direction was wrong. You should have fought me like this from the beginning, rather than interfering with what I was doing from behind. You should have clashed and been broken, then charged in again." Galak’s cold voice stuck into Zendia’s heart like a dagger. "Yes, because you were born to this fool and were irresponsibly given the position of tribe chief when you were young, your instincts as a fighter have been suppressed. It must have been heavy because the lives of the tribesmen depended on your choices. You would have had no choice but to have been cautious."
He smiled as he took off his mask and added, "You’ll get stronger. Someday, you’ll overcome the limit like me. I’m proud of that future of yours." He then turned around and said,” "See you again."
With a sincere smile, Galak left. Zendia was left alone, and barely managed to raise his arm to block the sunlight. The Spirit Sword on the ground resonated and was sucked into his hands. He forcibly raised his body that had not even a shred of strength left.
"See you again? You always say such irresponsible things,” he muttered. As always, it was really selfish. So at least this time, he thought he also wanted to be selfish. After having grown old, he decided to properly be rebellious, unlike when he was young.
Let’s destroy Father’s long-cherished purpose by using every means possible. Let’s break down the limits that are in the way, Zendia thought.
It was said to be scarier when the model students who were normally calm started to go on a rampage.
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