Interlude - War Emperor Lindworm
A slender man in a green cloak stood atop a hill in the Tomino Basin, at the center of the army that had appeared from the pillar of light that burst out of Neuro. His eyes were string thin, and he narrowed them even more…
“I see. So it was Neuro who made the gate.”
…as he looked down at Neuro’s corpse.
There was a coldness to the contempt in his gaze.
“All I sense here is a body, no soul. He must have reduced it to magical energy to manipulate high-grade space-time spirits. Doing so would make it possible for a human body to open a gate of that size.”
The brutish-looking man in the black cloak standing beside the green-cloaked one nodded in agreement. Then he turned his attention down to the base of the hill, where a group of Yamato soldiers stood on the border of a forest. “I sense Yggdra’s seal down there, by the trees,” he spat in a voice dripping with annoyance. “That’s what I was trying and failing to find the whole time we were searching that sand- and rock-riddled continent. Looks like the elves pulled a fast one on us.”
“Indeed. They must have intentionally left a trail for us to follow when they set out for the New World. Neuro surely realized it and tried to hog all the glory for himself. But the elf fought back, and this is the result.”
“So he called us here to clean up his mess? The work never ends when you’ve got an idiot little brother who can’t even house-sit properly.”
As the black-and-green duo lambasted Neuro, their fragile-looking yellow-cloaked companion embraced Neuro’s gunshot-shredded body tightly…
“Wahhhh! Oh, poor little Neuro! If you’d only resigned yourself to being our stupid little errand boy, they never would have done this to you! Wahhhhh!”
…although the way he mourned Neuro’s passing sounded less like sympathy and more like scorn.
Those three, with their disparately colored cloaks, were the other members of the Four Imperial Grandmasters, the reincarnated homunculi who’d come to this world with the otherworldly mage known as the evil dragon.
“Belial. Luther. Deneb.”
The man who addressed the three stood at the center of the army and cut an imposing figure thanks to his sharp features and the massive sword hanging on his back. He was the emperor of the Freyjagard Empire, Lindworm von Freyjagard.
He peered down the hill from atop his massive steed, which was a full two sizes larger than a monoceros…
“That girl… That’s her, isn’t it?”
…and posed a question to his confidants—or rather, the people he believed to be his confidants.
The three living grandmasters promptly knelt. “You can tell, my emperor?” the narrow-eyed Green Grandmaster, Deneb, asked without rising.
“I can. I can’t tear my eyes from her. I sense it—the fire sealed deep within me is stirring.”
“Precisely. These are the followers of your hated foe, Yggdra. And that girl is a descendant of the elves, the race that locked away your tremendous power out of contempt for humanity. Once you execute her, all the power you feel sealed within your being will be set free, and you will become the flawless ruler you’ve always dreamed of being.”
Deneb kept his head lowered respectfully as he spoke; as he lied. The homunculi hadn’t told Lindworm about the evil dragon they schemed to revive. They definitely hadn’t told him that doing so would consume Lindworm’s soul.
However, Lindworm had no way of knowing that.
“In that case…”
Thus, he got to work trying to release the seal on the power the Four Imperial Grandmasters claimed slumbered inside him.
He wished to become stronger still.
“All units, open a path for me.”
“““For the emperor!!!!”””
The bellows of a thousand warriors shook the air like thunder, and the red cavalry charged down the slope. They were an avalanche, and when Tsukasa saw where that avalanche was headed, he realized what the enemy was after. “Dammit, they’re targeting Lyrule! Stop them, no matter what it takes!”
The fact that the Prodigies had sent their soldiers back ahead of time ended up working in their favor, as their forces were able to swiftly move to intercept.
The Qinglong Gang got in formation and opened fire on the incoming cavalry. Their bolt-action rifles allowed them to loose a storm of bullets denser than this world’s technology could manage. The imperials who rushed into it unprepared suffered incredible damage.
“GAHHHHHHHH!”
“H-how are they firing so many bullets?!”
“I’ve never even seen guns that can shoot so many times in a row!”
“Fire, fire, fire! Hit ’em with everything you’ve got! Any dead cavalry in the front row will block the way of the ones behind them! Build a fortress out of their corpses!!”
The hail of gunfire shredded soldiers and horses alike, and when the horses in front collapsed, they took the ones to their rear down with them. Casualties spread like wildfire. The cavalry was completely helpless before the might of a modernized army’s firing line.
However, that was only true of those on horseback.
“Wind Edge.”
“Gyack!”
“Hurgh!”
“…?!”
Suddenly, the entire formation standing beside Masato went flying. A hundred soldiers were split like rice stalks.
The massacre came from invisible blades of air conjured by a man leisurely descending the hill, his green cloak fluttering after him—Green Grandmaster Deneb ul Typhon.
“I see, I see. Bolt-action rifles, huh? This world doesn’t have those. Not yet, at least. You haven’t changed a bit in the last thousand years, have you, little sis? Still causing problems for the family.”
“Protect the chancellor advisor!”
The Qinglong Gang moved fast. Even in the face of such a tragedy, they acted with efficiency befitting a mercenary outfit of its pedigree. After quickly surrounding their employer, Masato, they took aim and concentrated fire on the incoming Green Grandmaster. However, Deneb simply held out a single hand and summoned a thin layer of wind to block the bullets. The mercenaries succeeded in stopping him in his tracks, but not one of their shots reached him.
Seeing that confirmed something for Masato. Trying to fight with these enemies was a no-go, given how completely unprepared they were. If they wanted to prevail, there was only one option available to them. “Aoi! I’ve got a job for you!! That guy on the hill with the giant-ass gold sword on his back is the emperor!”
“Understood!”
At Masato’s shout, the Prodigies’ strongest combat asset, Aoi Ichijou, sprang into action. She raced up the hill with the speed of an arrow and charged for the riders beneath the Freyjagard flag. Hundreds of cavalry soldiers stood in her way…
“What’s the deal with this girl?! She’s rushing a group of charging horses on her own!”
“Ignore her! Just crush her underfoot!”
“HRAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”
…but they posed no threat to Aoi Ichijou.
While the cavalry soldiers raced down the hill, Aoi stormed their line and broke right through with a series of lethal slashes that laid fifty of her foes low.
She was nearly to Lindworm.
However, her blade failed to reach his throat. Right before she got to him, a dark figure swooped in from the side to keep her in check. It was a knight clad in a black cloak—Black Grandmaster Belial ul Salamandra. “Going straight for the emperor? Looks like we’ve got an upstart ape on our hands.”
“Grahhhhhhh!!”
Aoi’s assault was cut short when she locked blades with Belial, but she reacted swiftly. Instead of continuing the clash, she spun her body like a top and kicked Belial in the side. Belial prevented her from getting a clean hit by blocking with his arm, but the weight of the impact still sent him skidding to the side.
Having overcome her obstacle, Aoi made to resume her charge on the emperor. Unfortunately…
“Heh-heh-heh, you’ve got some skills. That auto-translation charm you’ve got… I can sense Yggdra’s magic. I swear, that woman doesn’t know when to quit. Even as a bone-dry corpse, she’s still nipping at our heels. Once dad gives me my perfect body back, I’m gonna dismantle her piece by piece. Just like this! Fire Vulcan!”
“Gh!”
…her advance was stalled a second time over.
The tactical magic Belial cast created an array—or rather, a gun battery—of fireballs and rapidly shot them much the way a vulcan cannon did. The shots lacked the raw power of a Firebolt, but they were still more than enough to gouge through soft human flesh, and there were too many of them for even Aoi to dodge with her back turned. She had no choice but to pull her gaze away from the emperor.
Aoi had been stopped short…
This is bad…
…and Tsukasa felt a cold sweat gathering on his back. The grandmasters joining the fight had sent the Qinglong Gang’s formation into disarray, and the imperial cavalry was taking advantage of that to break through here and there. They were even starting to tear into the Yamato forces behind the mercenaries. The successive battles had sapped the Yamato soldiers of their stamina. This clash was a one-sided massacre, and it had already reached the final line of defense protecting Lyrule.
If Yggdra’s story was to be believed, Lyrule’s death would spell defeat for the Prodigies and the entire world. They had to keep her safe at all costs.
To that end, Tsukasa turned and shouted to Lyrule, who was over in the distance with the rearguard. “Lyrule, you have to make a break for it into the forest!! We can’t let you die, no matter what!”
However, his shouting was in vain, for the trees burst into flames as though to mock him. Lyrule had tried to follow his instructions, but she had no choice but to stop. Heading into the burning woods was tantamount to suicide. Lyrule could safeguard herself with magic, but even that had its limits.
Right as her escape route was cut off, Lindworm took off down the hill, racing along the path his grandmasters and cavalry had carved for him.
“He’s coming!”
Now there was only one way to protect Lyrule.
They needed to kill Emperor Lindworm, the man Neuro and his siblings had chosen to be the evil dragon’s vessel. With no vessel, their ambitions would be thwarted, and their reason for wanting to kill Lyrule would vanish.
To that end, Tsukasa ran up the hill and leaped directly into Lindworm’s path. Any shots he took from the side were more likely to miss, and Tsukasa didn’t want to waste a single bullet. He quickly readied his rifle and pulled the trigger again and again, firing every bullet left in the magazine.
However, Lindworm swatted them all aside with his massive sword like he was slicing through cardboard…
“Out of the way.”
…and sent Tsukasa flying with his gigantic warhorse without so much as slowing down.
After soaring more than thirty feet, Tsukasa crashed into the ground and rolled another thirty.
“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gh, ngh…”
Tsukasa only lived because he’d used his gun’s barrel as a shield at the very last moment. He’d still sustained a serious shock, though. The force of the impact made his body go numb, and his vision spun. He tried to get back to his feet, but the task was beyond him. His limbs gave out, and he collapsed.
He glanced down and saw that his right leg was broken. He wasn’t going to be standing or walking soon. The only thing left he could do…
“W-wait!! Emperor Lindworm!!”
…was shout after the emperor as he rode off.
“The Four Imperial Grandmasters are just using you! I don’t know what lies they’ve been feeding you, but if you kill Lyrule, that elf girl, then you’ll be sealing your own—?!”
Unfortunately, Tsukasa’s voice was blocked by a stone barrier that rose to separate him from Lindworm. The yellow-cloaked Yellow Grandmaster, Luther ul Fafnir, sat atop the rock with a look of scorn adorning his androgynous face.
“C’mon, that’s not going to fly. Look, I get that little Yggdra ran her mouth about a bunch of stuff she really shouldn’t have, but the actor’s already taken the stage. Trying to shut the play down now is a major faux pas. The clown’s gotta keep playing the part of the fool until the curtain falls, see?”
“…”
Tsukasa wasted no time commenting on Luther’s decision to call Lindworm a clown. Instead, he discarded his bent rifle and drew a new weapon from within his jacket.
It was the small flintlock pistol he’d taken from Marquis Findolph and asked Ringo to modify.
The relief of victory had been snatched away. Now the Tomino Basin echoed with cries of fear and despair. Neuro’s gate had brought the emperor’s personal army over from the New World, and it was composed of the best Freyjagard had to offer. Neuro’s army wasn’t weak by any stretch of the imagination, but these soldiers were on a different level.
The imperials had appeared at the top of the hill, too, which gave them an excellent advantage. The Qinglong Gang managed to hold them off at first with their bolt-action rifles, but the emperor’s forces quickly figured out a way to respond. Instead of bunching up and getting into multi-horse pileups for no reason, the cavalry units spread out their formation and went for an enveloping charge.
Not even the Qinglong Gang could stop all of them. Holes began popping up in their defensive line, and when the cavalry poured through those openings, they widened further. The avalanche consumed the Qinglong Gang and drained it of its ability to serve as a breakwater.
Once the Qinglong Gang fell, the battered Yamato army was the only thing standing in the imperials’ way. After how hard the Yamatoans fought just to get to this point, they lacked the strength to hold back such a mighty force.
They got massacred. There was nothing they could do.
Seeing that…
“Ahhh…!”
…pained Lyrule deeply.
What should I do? What…what can I do?
The situation had deteriorated so awfully. Lyrule still struggled to accept everything that was occurring. Tsukasa’s voice had been her guiding light, but her escape route was ablaze now. Fleeing wasn’t an option anymore.
Lyrule was growing more flummoxed by the moment, and in the midst of her confusion…
“So you’re the Key Maiden that my grandmasters told me about.”
“~~~~~~~!”
…her path crossed his.
At long last, she met the man she never should have. The menace that her parents, Elch’s father, and so many other people died trying to keep from her. And yet…
Wait, but he…
…when she nervously looked up at her mounted foe, the fear that had kept her so paralyzed faded away. For the man looking down at her, the one trying to kill her, had a certain look on his face and a light in his eyes.
A sort that reminded her of the young man she loved so dearly.
“I have no interest in the past. Nor do I care why you elves sealed my power away. But in order for me to bring about a perfect world, I need you to die,” Lindworm declared matter-of-factly. As Lyrule stood there, too dazed to be afraid, the emperor raised his greatsword.
If he brought it down, Lyrule’s life would end.
Then…
“If you have any last words, then speak.”
…he asked for her final statement.
The unmistakable murder in his voice returned the terror to Lyrule…
“If you kill me, you’ll die, too.”
…and she fought for her life.
Her weapon of choice was Yggdra’s information about the grandmasters’ ambitions. They intended to sacrifice Lyrule, holder of the seal, and Lindworm, the man who would become the vessel.
She spurred herself on with all the courage she could muster and glared at Lindworm. “Two souls can’t coexist in one body. When the other soul is freed, it’s going to swallow yours and extinguish it. Did they tell you that?!”
“No.”
“Then…”
She meant to say “Then why don’t you stop this foolishness?” She never got the words out, though.
“But it matters not.”
Before she could, Lindworm declared the whole thing to be trivial.
“?!”
“Whether the Four Imperial Grandmasters lied to me is a trifling matter. I understand the power that slumbers within me better than anyone. If it tries to consume me, I will simply devour it first and subsume it into my own flesh and blood. Survival of the fittest is law in this imperfect world, and I need only abide by it.”
If Lindworm was a man who abhorred putting himself in danger the way Neuro did, then Lyrule might have been able to convince him. However, he was an emperor in the truest sense of the word. He was willing to risk annihilation to see his dream fulfilled. Lindworm heard the truth, and it didn’t shake him. He believed Lyrule, but after hearing her, he decided that it didn’t matter.
With that, the final tool to stop the emperor was gone.
“But that all ends today. This inane world where people use petty tools like power, wealth, and lineage to squabble over insignificant pecking orders will be no more. In the New World, there will be no strong or weak. All will be equal before my supreme might. They will know my protection equally.
“In surpassing humankind, I, Prodigy King Lindworm von Freyjagard, will create a world without flaw!”
The sword came down, sending blood spraying.
Lyrule’s vision went dark.
Her consciousness slipped away.
The cries of the young man she loved seemed terribly distant.
The world ended for the girl who’d inherited an ancient fate.
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