Chapter 194 – The Imperial Palace (1)

After delivering death to the former Chinese military officer, I returned to the barrier as quickly as possible.

As expected, the area in front of the barrier was in complete chaos, unlike before.

Crossing through the disorganized undead camp, I climbed onto the barrier, where the Marquis looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Didn’t you say you were going to stop the falling shells?”

“Yes, I did. And I actually stopped them.”

Although I was surprised by the sudden appearance of the tank unit, the self-propelled guns were all that was there.

I had checked on my way back, and after I wiped out the self-propelled gun unit, no more shells were flying in.

I thought I had handled it quite well, but the Marquis didn’t stop questioning.

“Look at that. You said you’d only stop the shells, but it seems like you did more than that.”

Indeed, the Marquis was right.

I had already passed through, but the undead forces below the barrier now were not the Demon King’s army, just a disorganized horde of undead.

Of course, their numbers were overwhelming, but without leadership, a zombie horde is no different from wild beasts.

It seemed that attacking the Lich had been far more effective than I had thought.

“I was lucky enough to land a hit on the Lich controlling the humans near the cannons. However, I didn’t inflict a serious wound, so I only bought us some time.”

At my answer, the Marquis twitched his eyebrows.

“Don’t tell me those shells were fired by humans allied with the Demon King.”

The Marquis, visibly upset, was standing behind the Archmage, who nodded in agreement.

“That must be it. Firing shells isn’t something mindless undead can do, and not all of them can be turned into Liches like mages, so they must have used humans.”

Though he was with the Marquis, the Archmage wasn’t exactly a pleasant person either.

At the mage-like remark, the Marquis shot a glare at the Archmage before quickly softening his expression and speaking to me.

“By the way, instead of going to the capital, how about coming to our territory? I’ll give you the chance to spar with me one-on-one every morning.”

His tone was uncharacteristically gentle.

It seemed that what I had done had pleased the Marquis.

However, hearing such words from a muscular, macho-looking old man was uncomfortable.

Moreover, the mage and the Marquis’s knights behind him were vigorously shaking their heads at the Marquis’s words.

They were clearly telling me to refuse unconditionally.

Of course, even without their signals, I had no intention of following the Marquis’s suggestion.

“I’m sorry, but I’m still part of the Allied Forces, so I must follow orders.”

This time, my party members looked at me with bewildered expressions.

Honestly, I felt a bit embarrassed, but what could I do?

Others couldn’t know about my actions.

As expected, the Marquis nodded at my words.

“I see. Well, if you ever change your mind, come to our territory. Our land will always welcome you.”

Of course, he didn’t let me go without a fuss, but it seemed like we ended the conversation on a good note.

“If you go to the Imperial Capital, that’s it. Do you think the Imperial Family will let go of a knight of your caliber?”

It seemed like things had been wrapped up nicely, but the Archmage chimed in from the side.

“No, you’re not even a knight of our country. What can the Imperial Family do?”

“That applies to you as well, Marquis.”

“I don’t know, I can’t hear you. I’m busy, so you should hurry up and leave.”

Leaving the two who were bickering like children, I busied myself with moving people.

The Marquis’s knights began evacuating civilians and soldiers from the barrier in an orderly manner, while noble officers pressured the mages managing the gate to start sending knights and officers to the capital.

Thanks to the undead horde in front of the barrier being in disarray, the barrier remained intact even as soldiers and knights withdrew.

“What a waste. Without the bombardment and the Demon King’s army in disarray, we could have counterattacked if it were any other time.”

The situation on the battlefield was such that even the Archmage, who was heading to the gate with us, felt regret.

“The shock to their minds will wear off soon. Moreover, other barriers have already been breached, so retreating quickly is the best option now.”

“I know. That’s why I said it’s a waste.”

The area behind the barrier was chaotic with people running around, but no one approached us as we headed to the gate.

Thanks to that, we were able to reach the gate comfortably, where we met the priests and apprentice knights we had brought with us.

“Fortunately, everyone made it to the gate on time.”

“Thanks to you, Sir Knight, and everyone else.”

After exchanging brief pleasantries, we all headed toward the portal.

Unlike the gate that connected to another world, which looked like a door floating in the air, the portal for moving within the same world looked like a large altar with a magic circle.

After stepping onto the altar, the mage activated the magic circle to traverse space, but the portal before us now looked more like a bustling marketplace than a neat altar.

Soldiers surrounded the altar, and a long line of people stood in front of it, with others lurking nearby, watching.

Since they were all knights, officers, nobles, and their families, the ordinary soldiers were uncontrollable.

“Please maintain order!”

The mage managing the gate kept shouting with a tired expression, but some nobles pretended not to hear.

As a result, other nobles who were pushed back exploded in anger.

“Who’s cutting in line?”

“I am Baron Schmidt! I have urgent official business!”

The person who cut in line retorted by flaunting his position.

“What does a rural baron think he’s doing? I’m a baron from the Imperial Capital! Shouldn’t you step back?”

Of course, that wouldn’t work here.

Everyone trying to use the portal was either a knight, mage, or noble.

The baron who had cut in line bowed his head deeply and stepped back at the other baron’s shout.

Seeing this, the baron who had been heading toward the portal with his family raised his head proudly, but then twitched his eyebrows at the next words he heard.

“Baron, if you and your family are going together, please wait a bit longer. There are others who need to go first…”

The person who stopped him with polite words was the mage who had been managing the crowd.

“What is this now!”

The baron exploded in anger and looked at the people behind the mage.

At the front was a middle-aged mage, followed by a group of knights, nobles, young knights, and priests.

Except for one person, the group didn’t look like nobles, but the problem was the noble mage at the front.

He locked eyes with the mage, and the mage apologized to the baron.

“Sorry, but this is truly official business.”

Though polite, there was a sharp edge to his tone, and the baron’s face turned pale as he bowed his head.

“…My apologies. I didn’t realize it was Count Gunter.”

The baron stuttered without realizing it.

Not only was the other person a count, far above his own rank, but the mage before him was also one of the most renowned mages in the empire.

He was a swordmaster, a mage known for his temper, who wouldn’t hesitate to strike down anyone, noble or not, if they displeased him.

“Now that you know, step aside. I need to get to the Imperial Palace immediately.”

“O-of course. Please go ahead.”

At the mage’s words, the baron hurriedly stepped back.

His family was watching from behind, but now wasn’t the time to worry about his authority as the head of the household.

Moreover, his family had already stepped back far away.

Seeing his family pretending not to know him, he felt a momentary surge of anger, but that bitterness quickly vanished at the sound of the undead’s roars outside the barrier.

Thanks to moving with someone of high status, we were able to use the portal ahead of others.

Since it was a portal at the barrier, it could transport a considerable number of people at once.

We were all able to move through space simultaneously.

“Is everyone on board? The destination of this transfer is the Imperial Capital. You may feel a bit dizzy, so once you arrive, sit down and take deep breaths…”

Listening to the mage’s tired voice, we traversed space.

Contrary to the mage’s warning, the portal didn’t cause much dizziness.

Party members who had crossed through gates multiple times didn’t feel dizzy at all, and the apprentice knights and priests quickly overcame their dizziness.

However, many people here were sitting on the ground, retching.

The place we arrived at was inside the portal building in the Imperial Capital.

The large indoor space had several massive portal magic circles drawn on the floor.

On the magic circles were people who had come from other places besides the barrier, some lying down, covered in blood, and others vomiting in terror.

Unlike us, who were relatively unscathed, the people from other places were all in bad shape.

“It hurts!”

“Is there no priest here? We need a priest immediately!”

People were screaming, and those covered in blood were calling for help.

“The priests in the capital are all at the treatment center! You need to go there!”

The portal guards and soldiers rushed to move them outside, but more injured people kept being transported in.

“Is there no priest? Someone’s dying! Can someone give me a potion?”

Those who were relatively unharmed helped the injured, but it was difficult to handle the sudden influx of wounded.

“We’ll help.”

At that moment, the priests who had come with us rushed to the injured.

The apprentice knights also carried the wounded and ran to the treatment center.

As our companions scattered in all directions, a holy light rose from behind me and spread throughout the area.

“Grant the grace of healing to all who are in pain.”

With a short prayer, an immense divine power spread, and everyone’s gaze turned in one direction.

There, Yerim stood with her hands clasped in prayer.

Wherever her divine power reached, people’s wounds began to heal.

Severed wounds closed, and lost blood returned.

Even old wounds started to heal, and people looked at Yerim, invoking the names of their gods.

“Goddess…”

“Was it the God of War who helped?”

“Thanks to the God of Wine…”

I thought I heard the name of an odd god at the end, but regardless, everyone looked at Yerim in awe.

Even the Archmage beside me was no exception.

“I thought she wasn’t an ordinary priestess, but this divine power is almost on par with a saint…”

The mage, who had been muttering to himself, suddenly caught himself and closed his mouth.

He was a noble, and this was the Imperial Capital.

Even he, a swordmaster, couldn’t speak carelessly about such matters.

In any case, thanks to Yerim healing everyone, we were able to leave the building quickly.

Though not as chaotic as inside, the Imperial Capital outside the building was quite tumultuous compared to the last time I had seen it.

People were running home, soldiers were nervously scanning their surroundings, and officials had tense expressions.

The air in the capital was filled with unease.

And the people who most clearly showed that unease on their faces came running toward us.

A noble’s butler, noble officers, and private soldiers.

They had been waiting for us, and as soon as they saw us, they threw aside their dignity and rushed over.

“Sir Egar! We’ve been waiting. I am the butler of Baron Kreize, the deputy commander of the expeditionary force, and these are the aides of the staff officers.

The Baron and the staff officers have been waiting for your arrival.”

The middle-aged butler at the front introduced himself in one breath.

His face looked anxious, and his expression was uneasy.

Hearing his introduction, I could guess why they had been waiting for us.

“It seems the hasty retreat has become a problem. They want to get their stories straight before I report to the higher-ups.”

At my blunt words, their expressions darkened.

But they didn’t get angry at my words.

My guess was correct.

“It seems they’re very upset about being left behind. There must be some misunderstanding, so why don’t we go and clear it up?”

The old butler forced a smile and urged me again, but unfortunately, that was pointless.

“Sir Egar and his party will come with me to the Imperial Palace. Inform your masters of that.”

“What? Who are you to… Oh my, Swordmaster…”

Hearing the middle-aged mage beside me, the butler and his entourage all prostrated themselves on the ground.

“We didn’t realize Count Gunter was here.”

They apologized loudly, but the mage paid no attention and led us toward the Imperial Palace.

His earlier statement about going to the Imperial Palace was no joke.