447 Successful Defense
When we returned to where Blanc and the others were, Zehsion was the first to notice our arrival.
"Oh? That was fast. Was the army so fearsome you needed to retreat?"
Zeshion asked with a hint of teasing, but I quickly shook my head, smiling back at him, and responded.
"Nah, it's just that there were too few of them. Fang, Minerva, and Hekate wiped them out in minutes."
"Hahaha! Good one!"
Zeshion laughed, but seeing that I was still just smiling at him, his face slowly turned to confusion.
"That was a joke, right?"
"Nope. It's real. Alpha should be able to tell."
"..."
His face went through several transitions, from shock to doubt, then surprise, before finally smiling wryly.
"To think the little guy that could only run around from before could now wipe armies of god-level demons... I myself can't do that, even if I bring everyone with me."
"You must be exaggerating."
I sat back down before looking at Ember's setup. She was creating a live screen showing the eastern front, where Igni was fighting.
"You could've done the same with the number of god-level monsters you tamed."
After that, although he seemed like he wanted to say something else, he decided to just keep his mouth shut. He moved closer to where I was and stared at the screen, watching the live stream of the battle at the southeastern end.
Igni was leading the charge, with her body covered in wild flames. Each wave of her flaming sword was taking a god-level demon's life!
"Igni's power is rising..."
I muttered, noticing that her damage output was already more than double what she had before. It wasn't that obvious, however, since she could already one-shot demons even before.
Still, probably driven by her desire to succeed, she was exerting more than 100% of her strength right now.
"I'm not angry or disappointed at her anyway, but seeing her this motivated should be a good thing."
I nodded my head as I continued watching.
Igni wasn't only leading the charge toward the enemies; she was also shouting orders to the tamers and monsters that were following behind her. She looked gallant, like some veteran general, as she commanded the battlefield.
She valiantly forged ahead of the corpses of demons, creating a wide space that the others could take advantage of, where they would surround and eliminate other god-level demons one after another.
Enchanted by her performance, the tamers and monsters following behind her were greatly encouraged. The way they fought started to get more fierce, and the number of demons dwindled rapidly.
"At this rate, they'll clear the wave in under an hour."
Zeshion commented as he watched close to me. When I was about to ask him some random questions, a voice suddenly called for me from behind.
"Will!"
It was a familiar voice, one that I felt I hadn't heard for a long time.
"Princess Ha—!"
Before I could completely turn around, however, something jumped toward my face and blocked my vision. Two soft things were squishing my nose and cheeks, making it hard to breathe. It smells nice, though. Since it wasn't hurting my sense of smell, maybe a cologne?
"I was worried when I heard that you went to fight a Void Beast! You weren't injured, were you?!"
She asked in a panic, quickly releasing me from her embrace as she touched my body all over. It was quite heartwarming to see her get this worried, but the briefness of the heavenly softness wrapping my face earlier made me feel like wanting more of it.
Before I could even let my gaze wander to Princess Hazel's chest, a pair of hands wrapped around my neck from behind. Two soft mountains were pressed tight against the back of my head, making me realize who it was instantly.
"Ember?"
It was rare for her to be this assertive. I tried tilting my head to the back, but the two mountains were blocking the view of her face.
"Princess Hazel, don't worry; Master wasn't injured heavily during the fight."
But her voice sounded intimidating for some reason. Wait, is she getting jealous of Princess Hazel, perhaps? Just as that thought entered my mind, her arms wrapping around my neck tightened by a tad bit.
"Is that so?!"
Princess Hazel, however, didn't bother with Ember's antics and simply sighed in relief.
"It's good that you are safe, Will."
Well, there were moments when I almost died, though. Not that I need to tell her that anyway.
"But why did you come here, Princess Hazel?"
As someone who has yet to gain her system, she's basically useless in this place right now. It's not that I'm looking down on her for being young, alright?
"That would be due to me, President… No, is it Emperor now?"
As if to respond instead of Princess Hazel, Queen Thalia appeared. She was walking forward with graceful steps, although her feet were hidden under her bell-like, long skirt.
"Queen Thalia, to think you'd come here despite your supposedly busy schedule... Don't tell me, did something bad happen to the Cleaver Kingdom?"
If that is true, then we should address it immediately. Wasting time here could worsen the situation, after all. However, before I could even stand up, Queen Thalia laughed gently, as if genuinely amused.
"Fufu, no, I'm just here as my daughter's guardian. After all, she's the one who was begging me to come here out of worry."
"..."
I turned to Princess Hazel right after hearing what Queen Thalia said and saw her face turn beet red from embarrassment. That part was probably something she was supposed to stay quiet about, judging from the playful glare she turned to her mother.
"Hmmm? And that is? What weird Broadcast Crystal you have..."
As if trying to change the topic, Queen Thalia turned to the monitor with eyes sparkling with curiosity. Of course, I acted proud, with my chest puffed out, and started boasting about this electronic device.
"This is called a monitor, and its working principle is way different than a Broadcast Crystal. It's something that Ember here made herself! Amazing, right?"
Join me in my lonely discord server: https://discord.gg/DEVbwSbZUh
SeraphWedd
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