'Search. Crown Prince of the Empire.
Copy that. ...end of search. Copy that.

　With a stoppage, a green pin fell on a corner of the Imperial City. It seemed to be moving in small increments, so it seemed to be alive. Thank goodness.

''It looks like he's alive, but........ Where is this place?''
The headquarters of the Imperial Western Army, the residence of General Romero. I see, the Crown Prince is safe.

　You're okay with this being a military place? Perhaps he read my thoughts, but His Majesty the Emperor laughs and replies.

''Not all the soldiers in the imperial city follow Bazur. General Romero was opposed to the plan to invade other countries by summoning demons, you know. Perhaps the Crown Prince read that and fled too.''

　I see. Not all the soldiers in the Imperial City are blindly following Bazur, he said. It sounds like they're being well hidden, but I guess we don't have much time.

''Then shall we ride into the imperial capital first thing in the morning tomorrow?
Wait, wait! Now that it's out of date, I'm not sure it's really all right! We're up against an army of over ten thousand troops and an army of summoned demons! You're on your own...!

　His Majesty the Emperor stops me as if in a hurry. Well, normally, I wouldn't even be able to deal with him. But I don't feel like I'm going to lose at all. It was the same with Yisheng, but I guess I'm getting used to this kind of thing.

We can get by. I have friends.

　She nodded vigorously as she turned her gaze to Yumina.

''Well........tomorrow morning, can you take me to the imperial capital too?''
'Isn't it dangerous? I think we should just wait here...
No, I want to see how this ends. It is my duty as an emperor to do so.

　Hmm, what to do.... We can't leave His Majesty the Emperor in the rear, but we can't take him to the front line with us either.......

''Let's have the Knights of Belfast as the Emperor's bodyguard. I'd like to see myself fight in Fuyu-dono's battle as well.

　Since the king said so, I'll agree for now. Then I guess it's all right.
　It's agreed that tomorrow morning, I'll ride into the imperial capital with some of the knights.
　We'll send the king to the royal palace at the "gate" and leave the emperor's room.
　I went out to the terrace and called Amber, Black Day and Coral and asked them about summoning magic.

''Then basically, the target to be summoned by summoning magic is supposed to be random, but if you have a contract with a higher-ranked species, you can summon their families and lower-ranked species at will?''
''Yes. Since the Lord has made a covenant with me, I can summon nearly every beast and demon species.''
"We have a contract with them, so we can call in the 甲 甲scale species as well.

　To summarize the story of Amber and Black Day, it seems that in other words, if it's a four-legged mammal or a reptilian-like demonic beast with scales, you can call it freely.

You'll need to sign a contract for each species. If you name the head of the race, he or she will become the Lord's hands and feet and will be obeyed. The devil is not the number of things.

　Coral laughs at that. 'No, I'm not going to rub it in.

''Let's call them anyway. Um... what kind of stuff do you have?
'Yes, although Cerberus and others are more powerful in combat.

　Oh, I know that. The Watchdog from Hell. The black big dog with three heads. Well, let's start with that one.
　That day, I stayed up late that night naming monsters, naming them, naming them, and finally coming up with an appropriate name, I hope you don't mind. I'm not that stocked....
　Well, let's get to bed for tomorrow.





　The next morning, we were on the roof of a building on high ground, in a corner of the Imperial City.
　I took out my phone and checked the time, it was a little over eight o'clock. I thought I was going to jump all the way to the imperial castle, but the wards had been set up. I'm sure you'll be able to find out that I'm a user of transference magic, so do you take countermeasures?
　The faces here, besides me, are Else, Linse, Yae, Yumina, Amber, Coral and Kuroshio. And His Majesty the Emperor Regulus and His Majesty the King of Belfast, General Leon and Deputy Commander Neil, Rion-san and ten people each from Belfast's army and knights. Also, I didn't want to bring them with me, but Lou and his bodyguard, Carol-san.
　For now, everyone but us guild members will be waiting here. The "gate" has also been left open here so that we can escape to Belfast in case of an emergency. We've also programmed it to close a minute after someone passes through it, so the other side won't be able to attack us. Well, I'm not going to let that happen.

''Then let's start with a declaration of war, shall we? Let's see, play the first video over the center of the Imperial City.
Copy that. Regeneration.

　A large screen spread out in the sky of the imperial city with a bang. It should be about two hundred meters in size. You can see it from a distance with this one. Up close, though, you might not be able to see it clearly.
　The music starts playing loudly and continuously. This will start to draw the attention of the entire Imperial City. The music playing is Wagner's Ride of the Valkyrie. Eventually, the volume will gradually decrease and the Emperor will appear on the screen. I had recorded this video earlier in the day.

It's "To the people of the Imperial City, I am the Emperor of the Regulus Empire. I am the Emperor of the Regulus Empire, Zephyrus Roa Regulus. This whole affair started when some of my troops went out of control. I am deeply sorry for the trouble I have caused you all. But it will soon be put down. I hope you'll be relieved. We will take action to retake the imperial capital only now. I hope that you will never leave your home.''

Do I sound like that?

　The Real Emperor twists his head to ask his daughter beside him. I know, it sounds weird when you hear the recorded voice for the first time.

I'm going to tell the military who started the rebellion. You can't let this happen. But I accept your surrender. I will not blame you if you take off your uniforms and follow me while I count to ten, but if you are still in uniform when I finish counting to ten, I will not condone your surrender. Think carefully before you act. One ... two ...'

　A sub-monitor was projected beside us, and the red dots representing military members were all over the map of the imperial city, but little by little they disappeared. He must have obeyed the emperor's voice now and took off his military uniform.

''I will count to ten and attack those who are still in the military gentry, is that alright?
It's unavoidable. But try not to take a life.
Copy that.

　The emperor on the screen slowly counted. The red dots gradually faded away, but two-thirds of them still remained red.

''Nine........ten. The concessions end here. From now on, we will take back the imperial capital by the use of force.''

　As the emperor is handled and disappears from the screen, a loud trumpet fanfare sounds again. This time it's Suppe's "Light Horseman". Alright, let's get started then.

'Target lock on those still in the military. Paralize activated.
Copy that. ...target acquisition complete. Activating paralysis.

　There are small screams and collapsing sounds here and there in the Imperial City. Looking at the screen, the red dots aren't diminished at all. Huh? Oh, the ones who are incapable of combat need to be labeled differently. Paralyzed or not, they're still soldiers, right?

"Members of the Armed Forces who are incapacitated are marked in yellow.
Copy that.

　Poof, poof, half of it turns yellow. Hmm, there's quite a bit left. Does it have a protective amulet, or does it have a high magic resistance?

''Fuyu-dono! That one!

　Looking towards the imperial castle that Yae was pointing at, the huge demon of the example, the Demon's Lord, appeared. Along with it, various demon relatives appeared in the sky and on the ground. There's quite a lot of them. There are about fifty of them on the screen.

Which one, let's call this one too, shall we?

　Concentrate your magic and draw a magic circle on the ground.

"Come, Darkness, I seek Cerberus, the Guardian Dog of Hell.

　The magic circle on the ground was drawn and a black mist appeared, and a three-headed demon dog appeared. It's about one size larger than a lion. The summoned beasts that were contracted yesterday are called out one after another.
　Lizardman troop, Griffon troop, Armor Turtle troop, Flame Lion, Power Bear, Lizard Knight....

'Target lock on the demon. Activate Shining Javelin.
Copy that. Activating the Shining Javelin.

　A shining magic circle appeared in the sky and spears of light poured down. However, none of the demons fell.

''They were played by an invisible barrier. It's ineffective.

　I knew it. That Demon Lord's blessing is having an effect on the Lieutenant, isn't it? Then use your strength.

All of the summoned beasts will follow Amber, Coral, and Kuroshio to mainly deal with the demons, while Else and Yae will take care of the remaining soldiers on the ground. Yumina, Linse, and Cerberus will stay here and provide cover fire with magic and guns. I'll hit the Demon Lord and the General.

　With a puff of smoke, Amber and the others return to their original form. It's been a long time since I've been in divine beast mode.

''Well, I'm going to go for a bit.''
Please.

　Turning back, I told the emperor that, and we ran out on the roof of the Imperial City toward the enemy lines.
　Else, Yae, Coral, and Kuroyuki took the ground troops and descended into the city center of the imperial capital. Me, Amber, and the Gryphon unit faced the demon flying through the air and coming towards us.

''Listen, there's no need to force them down. Aim at the demon's wings and attack it. If we drop it down, the ground troops will take care of it.

　That's what I order the gryphons flying around me. The wingless demons are heading towards the ground troops, but the flying ones are coming towards us. We'll have to drop that one first.

"Well, you're not John... and you're Paul... and you're George. You're the ones to the left, eh, Ringo? Intercept the demons on the right.

　Quaah! And then some of the gryphons split off to the left and right. To be honest, all the gryphons' faces look the same.... One of these days, I'll have them wear a different color collar....
　As I sprint from roof to roof, I take out a large sword that is 40 centimeters wide and has a blade length of more than two meters from "Storage". With a mithril blade made of mithril, made even lighter by Gravity, you hold it in one hand as you face the approaching demon.
　Using Boost, you leap from the roof to the demon's head. When you pull the trigger on the hilt as you swing down on the demon, Gravity is activated and the sword's weight is doubled by super-heavy magic.
　The demon is cut down to pieces by the sheer weight and slash. The momentum sent him spinning once in midair, but he pulled the trigger again, returning it to its original lightness and landing on the roof.
　That's useful for an improvised creation. The demon attacking me from my right hand is slashed down with a sideways cleave as well. Hmmm, the Yokonagi is a bit hard on your arm if you get the timing wrong. You'll get used to it, though. I mean, even if I don't use 'Gravity', it's a reasonable slash, so it's okay.
　Right beside me, Amber was attacking the demon in the air and tearing its wings apart with her claws.

''Ember! I'll take care of this one!
"As you wish. Good luck.

　I activated 'Boost' and 'Axel' and headed to the Imperial City at once. For now, if I could manage the General, the demon would disappear. With the momentum of stepping through the roof, I jumped over the castle's ramparts.