Chapter 282: Heaven Above Heaven (4)

Elizabeth was thinking about how to enter Zveta.

“Let’s disguise ourselves as imperial soldiers. We just have to kidnap three.”

That was Gott’s proposal, while Gorio thought of another method.

“What if we go in pretending to be prisoners from the detention camp?”

“Isn’t that too risky?”

“But it would be more natural.”

Elizabeth couldn’t decide easily. In any case, the risk was high.

“You two.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go alone. You wait outside.”

Elizabeth thought that was the best option.

Unfortunately, both of them lacked the necessary skill to move with her.

Gott shook his head.

“No, I’ll go with you, Lady Elizabeth. As someone from Briol, I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”

As president of the Briol Comrades Association, Gott felt great anger toward the detention camps for foreigners that the Empire had set up.

He clenched his fist and expressed his determination.

“I’ll risk my life to accompany you.”

Seeing that Elizabeth was uncomfortable, Gorio stepped in to stop Gott.

“Gott, in this Lady Elizabeth is right.”

“Are you telling me to just stand by and watch?”

“Reality is different from ideals. We would only be a hindrance. You have to accept what is.”

“Tsk…”

Elizabeth valued Gorio’s judgment highly. Even on the way to Zveta, she had received much help from him.

That realism was surely what had made him the boss of the underworld.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes…”

Gott let out a long sigh and nodded.

“Alright. But it’s frustrating… that I’ll only be a hindrance.”

“Everyone has their time. Yours is not now.”

“Lord Gorio…”

“When this war ends, you’ll have plenty to do. So take care of yourself. If you wear yourself out beforehand and aren’t there when you’re truly needed, that will also be a serious mistake.”

“I understand.”

With his experience leading an organization, Gorio knew how to move people’s hearts.

Then, he turned to Elizabeth.

“But we should help at least a little. Lady Elizabeth, may I give you my opinion?”

“Of course.”

“If you’re going in alone, it will be easier to disguise yourself as an imperial soldier, as Gott said. So at least we can help lure some soldiers.”

“Thank you.”

They searched for a suitable target.

The soldiers guarding Zveta’s surroundings were not ordinary. All had been modified by black magic and seemed as strong as a trained knight.

But Elizabeth was one of the Ten Greats.

“Hey, you! Who are you? Stay right there!”

They saw three soldiers patrolling a bit away from the wall.

Following the plan, Gorio and Gott leaned on each other, pretending to be injured as they hobbled toward them.

The soldiers drew their weapons and approached cautiously.

“Don’t move. Stop there.”

“We’re imperial citizens. We were walking along the road and were attacked by a beast…”

“Shut up and lie face down. Hands behind your back.”

They were following the standard protocol for detaining unknown intruders.

“Face down, hands behind your back!”

“It hurts…”

“You bastard…”

“I’m sorry, I’m injured…”

“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll kill you right here.”

“Alright!”

While they were talking, Elizabeth suddenly appeared and killed the three soldiers in an instant.

She decapitated two with a single swing and broke the third’s neck.

She did it this way to avoid staining the uniform with blood.

The soldiers died without being able to utter a single scream.

“This one has a build similar to mine.”

Thanks to her skill, the job was easy. She stripped the corpse of its uniform and put it on.

Once she lowered the helmet properly, her face was hidden, and she looked like a real imperial soldier.

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s move to the next phase.”

“Understood.”

Gott and Gorio nodded seriously.

Their final task would be to create a distraction so Elizabeth could enter without trouble.

“I wish you luck.”

Elizabeth returned their look.

“Thank you.”

“Come back safe.”

They separated.

She headed to the least guarded part of the wall, a place she had already located.

Zveta, turned into a detention camp, gave off an ominous energy even at a glance.

“Hoo…”

Waiting for her companions to do their part, she hid in a corner.

Shortly after, the commotion began.

“Fire!”

“There’s a fire!”

They had succeeded.

The imperial soldiers shouted at the sudden blaze.

“Fire!”

“Fire!”

But something in their voices sounded strange. Perhaps because of the emotional numbness caused by black magic, there was no real urgency in them.

It seemed they were shouting only out of formality.

Elizabeth gave a bitter smile.

“Black magic should never have been allowed here…”

The inside of the wall began to stir.

It was time.

She ran to the wall and quickly climbed it.

The soldier in the watchtower, who was looking toward the fire, didn’t see her pass.

Elizabeth joined a group of soldiers running and pretended to follow them.

“What are you doing there? Go put out the fire! Find the arsonist!”

“Yes!”

Following the soldiers, she saw an opportunity.

Between two aligned buildings was a path she could use to advance.

Taking advantage of everyone being distracted, she darted in and continued running toward the back of the detention camp.

She moved between the buildings quickly and silently, avoiding prying eyes.

Soon she hid in a shaded area and regulated her breathing.

“Huff…”

Her target was the black magic sorcerer and, if Cedric was there, she would kill him too.

So far, everything was going well.

Peeking out, she saw a huge building that dominated the entire prisoner camp.

Elizabeth stepped out and began walking as if she were just an ordinary soldier.

Suddenly, she ran into someone.

It was a short man with a hood pulled low, limping as he approached.

Elizabeth tried to pass by naturally.

But.

“You… you… who are you?”

The man suddenly pointed a finger at her.

“Take… off the helmet.”

In that instant, she realized she had been discovered.

She planned to quickly knock him out and flee.

At that moment—

[Voice of Authority — kill.]

With strange words, an unknown force seized Elizabeth’s body.

It was a sensation she had never experienced before.

A will as red as blood tore at her mind and body.

Her consciousness plunged into the deepest depths.

Elizabeth drew her sword, struggling desperately not to collapse.

“So you’re an intruder.”

“Y… yes.”

Through her fading consciousness, she heard another voice.

Elizabeth’s eyes flew open and she swung her sword, but without strength, it was stopped immediately.

Then, a heavy blow shook her head.

Just before losing consciousness, their voices reached her distantly.

“Take her too… as an offering… Throw her into the pit.”

“Understood.”

***

Cruar spoke.

“This may be the first time in history that all Ten Greats take part in a war…”

She was standing next to Sidherst atop the Magic Tower, gazing at the distant horizon.

Only clouds floated in the blue sky, but both could glimpse the fierce battle taking place beyond.

Sidherst stroked his beard and smiled.

“Hahaha, but you’re here, Lady Cruar.”

“My body is here, but from behind I am greatly influencing this war. Perhaps I should chew up and spit out any foolish old man who doesn’t recognize the true nature of the great dragon Cruar…”

“Ahem, ahem…”

Sidherst pretended to cough to hide his discomfort.

Polymorphed into human form and dressed like a noble lady, she appeared to be an aristocrat of great beauty, but within her dwelled the last dragon of the continent and one of the Ten Greats—Cruar.

Sidherst asked,

“Are you sure you shouldn’t go?”

“I would like to go right now, but that pact forces me to stay here. I can’t help it…”

“What if you simply break it?”

“A dragon cannot do that.”

“I see.”

The dragon race was whimsical, but also very pure.

Asking them to break a promise was like asking someone with vertigo to walk a tightrope high in a tree.

Cruar made a gesture of annoyance.

“In any case, Yuri Briol… that human will succeed.”

“Have you given the prince of Briol any teaching?”

“No.”

“Then what do you mean by indirect influence?”

“It’s not teaching, but the opposite. If I give him adversity and, thanks to that, Yuri Briol manages to win this war, will he thank me or hate me for it?”

“That depends on the kind of adversity.”

“Exactly.”

She sighed.

“It wasn’t my intention from the start, but in the end it turned out this way.”

“Will humans be able to win this war?”

“Who knows. The sky is opening.”

Cruar looked up.

Beyond the blue sky, she could see the gate to outer space beginning to open.

She still didn’t know what kind of being Cedric would summon.

“It will be very difficult, but even so, it must be done.”

The sky was clear, as if none of this mattered.

Perhaps this moment was the last peace the races of the earth would enjoy.

“Lady Cruar.”

Sidherst’s voice turned grave. He asked with a serious expression,

“What if, for ordinary people, the new world Cedric wants to create would be better?”

Cedric saw humans as mere monkeys.

It was a perception that could be considered insulting.

But for those monkeys, oppressed under an unjust balance, perhaps the impartial administration of a transcendent being that would not be swayed by emotions would be better.

A world without wars.

Without hunger.

Where criminals were punished and those who contributed to society were rewarded.

Everything functioning efficiently, without the slightest waste.

That was Cedric’s plan.

“Sidherst.”

Cruar, who had listened in silence, smiled faintly.

“I am a dragon, so I will tell you from my perspective.”

“Yes.”

“A dragon cannot live like that.”

Under that gaze that saw him as a child, Sidherst felt calm.

He released his beard and returned her smile.

“I suppose you’re right.”

“I am not human, and I am the last dragon, but even so, I could not live like that.”

Black magic was a powerful tool, but to use it, human lives had to be sacrificed.

The world Cedric would create would be beautiful, but under that radiant stage, there would always be a handful of victims suffering in silence.

A dragon’s conscience was firmer than that of a human.

Sidherst said,

“You may think that way, but humans will gladly ignore it.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I think they will.”

“Have you become disappointed in humans, Sidherst?”

“It’s just that, living so long, one ends up seeing many things. Hahaha…”

“It’s because you’ve lived long but not long enough, you naïve old man.”

“Hmm…”

“To live long means to reach my level. And a being forced by the world to carry so much time eventually realizes something.”

Cruar turned her gaze toward the horizon.

“That this world is full of wonders.”

“I didn’t expect you to say something like that.”

“Oh, you didn’t?”

Cruar smiled.

“Well, some would call it wonder, others would call it chaos.”

The language of a dragon was power in itself.

Through words, it conveyed internal images that could not be shared otherwise.

It was the purest magic that connected two beings.

Cruar’s words, turned into power, reached Sidherst.

[Because this world is full of chaos, it was possible for someone like Yuri Briol to exist.]