Chapter 218 Those Who Devise Countermeasures Against the Evil God
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”What… is that…?” one of the knights asked.
”Like blood… a pillar of fire…” another muttered.
The clamor echoed from the town, and a blistering heat wave reached all the way to our position. Why did a pillar of fire suddenly erupt in a place where there should have been nothing? No one present had an answer.
”Kh…! Hey, Lista!” Glazheim shouted.
”……! Grasp the situation!” Lista replied.
”I know! Clary, Tianic! Don’t you two leave her side!” Glazheim ordered.
The blood-like, reddish-black pillar of fire showed no signs of losing its momentum. We decided to approach the blaze to gauge the threat. Glazheim turned his face toward Belius.
”…Belius. The Black Dragon Knights¹ should also head to that spot,” Glazheim said.
”Are you for real?” Belius asked.
”If you want to enjoy the party here, it would be best to eliminate any lingering worries, wouldn’t it?” Glazheim countered.
”Well, that’s true. Hey, you guys! First, we’re going sightseeing!” Belius shouted to his men.
A small number of Purple Dragon Knights, along with the Black Dragon Knights who had just arrived at the town, began running toward the southern pillar of fire. The residents were fleeing north to distance themselves from the heat, but when they saw us, they quickly cleared the path.
Every member of the Beastman Knights² was a warrior handpicked from among their kind. Their movement speed was exceptional. We reached the plains stretching between the town and the Demon Forest almost immediately.
”This is…”
”Really… a pillar of fire is just standing there…”
A massive pillar of fire continued to roar on the plain. The air was becoming too hot to breathe; we couldn’t approach any closer without being reckless.
”Look at the size of it…”
”…Hey, Clary. Is that sorcery?” I asked.
”……I can’t deny the possibility. But even for high-ranking sorcerers of the Emmeld Kingdom³, it would take at least ten masters working in unison to pull off a feat like this,” Clary explained.
In other words, the phenomenon defied logic.
Either way, we couldn’t let our guard down. For a while now, I’d been feeling an indescribable, predatory chill in my tail. I had never experienced anything like it.
”Ah…”
”The flames are…!”
The pillar of fire that had been raging began to shrink. When the flames finally vanished, a single silhouette stood in the center of the scorched earth.
”What…?”
”Inside… a person…?”
Where the fire had stood, not a single blade of grass remained. The earth lay flayed and blackened. The sheer radius of the burn mark revealed just how massive that eerie pillar had truly been.
I stood at the vanguard with Glazheim and Belius. Behind us were the veterans of the Black Dragon Knights, and further back were Lista and her guards, Clary and Tianic.
It was then that we closed the distance to the mysterious figure. The crouching entity slowly rose to its feet.
”Wha-“
”Ar… armor…?”
”N-no… that’s not right…”
At first, I thought it was a suit of armor. But it was different. Its appearance gave the impression of plate, but its form was not human.
It had thick, powerful legs that pulsed with the suggestion of raw muscle beneath the metal. Its arms were deceptively thin, but long, wicked claws extended from the fingertips. A heavy tail covered in metallic plating grew from its waist, wreathed in a swirling black haze. Where a face should have been, there was only a helmet with disturbing, twisted carvings.
It was a monster clad in full plate. Its frame was at least two sizes larger than any man. It didn’t look like a disguise; it felt as if a beast was wearing armor forged specifically for its nightmare proportions.
Faced with such an alien presence, we were all lost for words. The armored figure turned toward us.
’A return to the mortal world after so long…’
The voice was dark and sharp, sounding as if it had been exhaled from the depths of an abyss. The moment I heard it, a sharp, electric tingle shot through my tail.
’Hmm… this is good. Quite a few lives worthy of being my sacrifices have gathered here, haven’t they?’
”What… are you talking about…?” I asked.
’Heh… heh-heh… gah-ha-ha… GA-HA-HA-HA-HA!’
The monster’s laughter triggered a reaction. Several smaller pillars of fire erupted across the landscape.
What a monster… a complete surprise attack. If those flames had sprouted right under us, we wouldn’t have been able to dodge.
’Listen well, you tiny offerings. My name is Lord Blazer⁴… the Flame God who scorches the world. Tomorrow night, in celebration of my resurrection, I shall welcome you as my first glorious sacrifices.’
”Huh…?”
’Enjoy your final night tonight.’
What was this guy talking about? Sacrifices? Offerings? An “Evil God”?
’Now, let us construct the altar of sacrifice. …Hnnnnngh!’
The armored monster raised its arms. Suddenly, a massive wall of fire roared into existence in the distance. Looking closely, the wall was expanding to encircle the entire Kaibel territorial capital.
”I-impossible…!”
”A spell of this magnitude…!?”
”No, it’s not possible! You can’t do this with sorcery… not this…” Clary stammered.
Clary and the others couldn’t hide their shock. Neither could I. The idea of a wall of flames appearing out of nowhere to swallow a whole town was beyond my imagination.
’The altar is prepared. No one shall leave my sanctuary. Tomorrow night, I shall consume the vermin nesting in this town. Until then… savor your final moments.’
Black flames erupted from beneath the monster’s feet. By the time the fire dissipated, the creature was gone.
”What… what the hell was that…?”
”You’ve got to be kidding me…”
”This… isn’t a dream, is it?” Rista asked.
I look out across the horizon, but the wall of fire – a towering inferno that seems to pierce the very heavens – remains. It is a cruel reality: every soul within the territorial capital of Kaibel ⁴ has been entombed by these flames.
”Wait…” I muttered.
A sudden, acrid scent stings my nostrils. Almost at the same instant, I see them – birds, charred into winged husks, plummeting from the sky in a rain of soot.
”This is…!” I cried out.
”Everyone, we are returning to the city at once-desu no,” Rista said.
”Rista!?” her sister asked.
”We need to bring order to this chaos-desu no,” Rista replied.
”We will mobilize the Purple Dragon Knight Order ⁵ and the Black Dragon Knight Order immediately. Split them into two divisions: one to suppress the panic in the streets, and the other to commence a full investigation into the perimeter of the flames-desu no.”
* * *
*Rista’s side
(This has become… an impossibly tangled mess-desu no!)
It has been five hours since the appearance of the Archfiend, Lord Blazer. I am currently presiding over a war council within the Lord’s manor, synthesizing the frantic reports trickling in. The agenda, of course, is the catastrophe that has quite literally fallen upon us.
The only true military assets currently in the capital are the two Beastman Knight Orders and Glazheim of the Imperial Heaven Eight Swords ⁶. Consequently, the council chamber is filled with nothing but beastmen.
”Clary, report on the perimeter-desu no,” I said.
”Yes, your Highness,” Clary replied.
”I led a scout unit to the edge. The wall of fire completely encircles the city without a single gap. Escape is… impossible.”
Clary’s report noted a chilling detail: the flames emit no heat, even at a hair’s breadth away.
However, any object thrown into them – be it stone or steel – is incinerated instantly. Even a deluge of water vanishes into steam in a heartbeat.
More terrifyingly, the barrier is not merely a wall, but a dome. It extends into the high heavens, invisible to the eye but absolute in its lethality. We witnessed birds being scorched the moment they hit a specific altitude.
”The barrier likely holds firm as far as the sky goes,” Clary continued.
”Which means…”
”Escape via Skygoon ⁷ is off the table-desu no,” I noted.
”Precisely,” Clary said.
Having established the nature of our cage, we turned our attention to the jailer: the Flame Demon God.
”That creature… Lord Blazer. It spoke of ‘sacrifices’ and an ‘altar.’ If we assume those weren’t metaphors…” Clary began.
”It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Belius interrupted.
”The ‘sacrifices’ are the people trapped here. The ‘altar’ is this entire city, gift-wrapped in fire.”
Belius spat the words out, his eyes fixed hatefully on the flickering orange glow beyond the window.
He is likely right. Yet, so much remains shrouded in shadow.
”Why would such an entity manifest here, without warning-desu no?” I asked. “And given that level of overwhelming power, why grant us a night’s reprieve? It defies logic-desu no.”
”Hey, Clary,” I said.
”You’re the walking encyclopedia. You ever heard of this ‘Archfiend’ before?”
Clary shrugged, her expression grim.
”Princess, with all due respect, even my studies have never touched upon a ‘Demon God.’ What I can tell you is this: that thing exists beyond the boundaries of our common sense. It manifested a phenomenon of that scale with zero magical precursors – no incantations, no mana-flux. Even the Great Guru of the Kingdom of Emmeld couldn’t dream of such a feat.”
I felt a prickle of genuine irritation. To be labeled a ‘sacrifice’ by some wayward deity… I had spent weeks refining a diplomatic masterstroke against the King of the Magic Labyrinth, only for this monster to burn the schedule to ash.
There are reports to file with the Imperial Capital, logistics to manage – I am a busy woman. And now, my to-do list has just grown exponentially.
”The Archfiend said it would return tomorrow night-desu no,” I said.
”I require a candid assessment: can we actually kill it-desu no?”
I am no soldier. While my physical constitution is superior to a human’s, I lack formal combat mastery. I simply cannot fathom the gulf in power between us and that… thing.
My sister responded with a predatory, teeth-baring grin.
”Heh… the entrance was flashy, I’ll give him that. But kill him? Yeah. No doubt in my mind.”
My sister is a force of nature. Even among our kin, her prowess is legendary – especially when she taps into her Grade-Two Secret Treasure Orb ⁸, the ‘Body’ type. She didn’t earn a command in the Knight Orders through her lineage alone.
And she wasn’t the only one. Belius, commander of the Empire’s most feared beastman unit, bared his fangs in a matching smirk.
”Haha! The Black Dragon Knights haven’t had the pleasure of hunting a ‘God’ before. Suppose it’s about time we added ‘Deicide’ to our resumes!”
”Oh? Weren’t you the one shaking in your boots when he showed up?” my sister teased.
”Careful, Princess,” Belius shot back.
”Those are big words from someone whose tail was tucked so tight I thought it’d disappeared.”
”…Come again?” my sister growled.
”Do you actually have a strategy, or just bravado-desu no?” I asked, cutting them off.
”Both,” my sister replied.
”I’ve wielded the Sovereign Blade Reskenza ⁹ against enchanted plate armor a thousand times. If it has a form, I can cleave it. As the Empire’s strongest, that is simply my reality.”
”And I’ve spent my life in the trenches, Highness,” Belius added.
”Our friend out there is just an oversized sorcerer. I’ve hunted plenty of those. You can breathe easy – we’ve got this.”
It wasn’t just heat-of-the-moment posturing. They were weighing the enemy against decades of blood-soaked experience and finding him wanting.
Finally, our eyes turned to the third man in the room: Glazheim of the Imperial Heaven Eight Swords. He sat quietly, his hand resting idly on the hilt of the longsword said to have once felled a fortress.
”The sorcery is a threat, certainly,” Glazheim said.
”The lack of ‘tells’ makes it unpredictable.”
He paused for a moment.
”But whether his flames can stop my edge is a different matter entirely. If that is the extent of his power, any of the Eight Swords could handle him.”
”I see…” I whispered.
With Glazheim’s confirmation, the knot in my chest finally loosened. The Eight Swords weren’t some vanity project of my father’s; they were eight individuals, each possessing the localized power of an entire legion.
Glazheim in particular was a living legend – the man who cut a castle. He was a warrior who could treat an entire nation as his personal dueling ground.
I had been shaken by the unknown, but with these three pillars of the Empire standing here, perhaps we weren’t so helpless after all.
”Still, a barrier that can’t be easily breached is a nuisance,” Glazheim noted.
”We’ll treat him as a high-level sorcerer and wait for the opening. Even a God has to blink.”
”Right,” my sister said.
”I don’t care how big he is in that armor – nobody moves that much metal forever without gassing out.”
”Watch the magic, wait for him to tire, then end it quick,” Belius said.
”Sounds like a plan.”
The three of them began to trade tactical minutiae. It was a reassuring sight.
(And yet… where did it come from? Why does it demand blood? There are too many questions-desu no.)
The Flame Demon God had said: ‘The mortal world, after so long.’ As if it had been exile to some outer realm. And the way it spoke… it had been here before.
(I want answers… but first, we have to break out of this cage-desu no.)
The black flames he wielded felt like a living curse – a miasma that choked the spirit. I have a bad feeling about this. If we survive this night, the report I have to bring back to the Capital is going to be far longer than I ever intended-desu no.
—
Summary:
A massive, blood-colored pillar of fire erupts near the town of Kaibel, prompting the combined knight forces to investigate. From the embers, an inhuman armored entity named Lord Blazer emerges, claiming to be an Evil God. He declares the townspeople as sacrifices and traps the entire city within a colossal ring of fire before vanishing.
Rista and her military advisors assess the sudden appearance of the Flame Demon God, Lord Blazer, and the impenetrable fire barrier trapping the city. Despite the overwhelming power shown, the Empire’s top knights remain confident they can defeat the entity through physical prowess and experience. Rista, however, remains troubled by the mysterious origins and ominous words of the Demon God.
—
Trivia:
- The protagonist (narrator) has a tail that reacts instinctively to the threat.
- Lord Blazer is described as having metallic claws and a tail, suggesting he is not a human in armor but a monster.
- The wall of fire encircles the entire territorial capital, not just the immediate area.
- Lord Blazer’s laughter literally summoned secondary pillars of fire, showing casual control over high-level phenomena
- The fire wall emits zero heat even when touched.
- The barrier is a dome that kills birds at high altitudes.
- Rista was in the middle of a political strategy involving a Magic Labyrinth King.
- The Demon God mentioned this being its first time in the ‘mortal world’ in a long time.
- Glazheim’s specific feat is cutting an entire castle down
—
Character Insight:
The protagonist experiences a unique ‘predatory chill’ in their tail, highlighting their beastman instincts as a survival mechanism against an overwhelming predator. Lord Blazer demonstrates extreme arrogance and theatricality, treating a whole city as a mere ‘altar’ for his resurrection feast.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The use of ‘Lord Blazer’ as a name is a classic high-fantasy naming trope for fire-elemental deities/demons in Japanese web novels.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Glazheim – Member of the Imperial Heaven Eight Swords. Known as the ‘Castle Slasher.’
• Lista – Judiette’s younger half-sister. A fox beastman sorceress and the only Imperial citizen capable of riding the Skygoon. Have long dark hair. Wearing ornate Imperial princess robes with gold trim. A cup.
• Tianic – A promising new recruit and follower of Judiette. Despite a timid and stuttering demeanor, she has a sharp, dignified face. She has silky grey short-cut hair and wears modest, military-style clothing.
• Clary – A rare beastman sorceress and follower of Judiette. Older than Judiette, she speaks bluntly despite the princess’s status. She has light purple hair split in the middle and reaching down to her waist. She is described as having a large bust and wears dresses with loose necklines.
• Belius – Leader of the Black Dragon Knight Order. A battle-hardened beastman.
• Ami – A palm-sized fairy-like being from a world separate from both Earth and the isekai realm. She has light blue hair tied in a ponytail, mischievous blue eyes, and tiny wings that flutter behind her. Her outfit consists of a provocative high-cut leotard and a short jacket that looks like a miniskirt from the back, leaving her legs bare. Despite her playful appearance, she is actively searching for a contractor who can protect her from dangerous pursuers in exchange for the powers she offers.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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