For a moment, the air itself fell silent.
Lord Helant's handsome face was frighteningly cold, but at least he had already said what needed to be said, right?
"Demon, get to the point," he said.
Basterlo subtly reined in his expression and continued, "Lord Helant, I would like to play a game with you."
What trick is this demon up to?
Calca's delicate brows knit together. For a moment, she could not fathom what Basterlo was planning.
Still… "Never trust a demon."
Whatever scheme this fiend had concocted behind the backs of the Holy Kingdom and Helant San, she had to prepare for the worst.
"Why should I play any game with you?" Helant's eyes sharpened. A terrifying aura burst from him, and his silver-white hair whipped in the wind. He was clearly enraged.
Zesshi Zetsumei's cute fair face was etched with resolve. She re-summoned her war scythe and stood ready to charge into the sky with Helant San and tear this projection to shreds.
Basterlo smiled politely. "The one before you is merely a projection. Why not hear me out first?"
"Speak. Let's see what trick you're trying to pull." Helant reined in his aura, though his razor-sharp gaze never left Basterlo.
Indeed, this was only a projection. If the demon's true body did not come, even the Holy Queen alone could handle the situation.
Zesshi Zetsumei leaned on her scythe, tilted her head, and mused, "A pity. If Thousand Leagues Astrologer were here, she might be able to trace this projection spell back to his real body. Then Helant San and I would hold the initiative."
Everyone's attention fixed on Basterlo, waiting to see what game he intended to play.
High above, Basterlo's projection unhurriedly and elegantly cast his spell. Blood-red runes spiraled in his hand, splitting into five separate small screens.
The five screens hovered before him, facing everyone in Diborne City.
Then the screens lit up.
"This…!!"
Calca, Remedios, and the other Holy Kingdom citizens stared wide-eyed.
Each of the five screens showed a city from a bird's-eye view, with the layout and surroundings clearly visible.
"The five border cities!"
"Indeed. At this very moment, those five cities are occupied by demi-humans," Basterlo said with a smile. "And I…"
With a wave of his hand, the view zoomed in, making the scenes inside the cities ever clearer.
On-screen, defenders, civilians, children, and the old and infirm were all herded onto each city's plaza.
Some were trussed up. Others had already had their limbs severed, lying helplessly on the ground and gazing skyward with hollow eyes.
Beneath them, the plazas were carved full of dense, blood-red array runes.
Around them stood packs of demi-humans, some green-fanged, some grotesquely hideous, eyeing the captives with bloodthirsty hunger.
Some of the demi-humans even clutched severed arms or legs, grinning hideously.
"That's my child!"
"Father, that's Father!"
"My husband is there!"
Cries erupted across Diborne City as people recognized what they were seeing.
"My people!"
Calca's voice cracked, tears glimmering in her eyes, her heart wrung with grief.
She could almost smell the blood wafting from the five border cities. She could almost hear her people's helpless sobs.
"Arrays?!"
Quaiesse's sharp eyes caught the runes carved into every plaza.
"Don't tell me…"
A bad premonition struck him, and he turned to Sir Helant.
Quaiesse saw Helant San's sharp brows drooped, his eyes filled with pained reluctance.
If this demon uses the people of those five cities as leverage, Helant San's sense of justice and kindness might make him fall into the trap!
He paused, about to step forward and warn him, when the demon moved.
"As you can see, most of them are still alive, inside my sacrificial arrays." Basterlo's crimson, grotesque face wore a malicious grin, his eyes brimming with ill intent. "Lord Helant, the game is simple. You simply have to save them before sunset. How about it? Shall we play?"
A flash of resolve crossed Helant San's eyes, but before he could speak, Quaiesse seized his arm.
"Helant San, don't agree. He's trying to wear you down with this trick!"
"Never believe a demon's words. You and I should track down his real body and kill him together!" Zesshi Zetsumei gripped Helant's wrist, her black-and-white twin-tails whipping like drumsticks.
It was clearly a trap.
Remedios, whose intuition was terrifyingly accurate, ground her teeth. "That damned demon must have some other goal!"
She was not trying to dissuade him. In her heart, she actually hoped Helant would go. After all, part of the Holy Knight corps she had trained was there, comrades she had lived with day and night.
The soldiers on the walls and the civilians in the city also knew it was a trap.
In just half a day, Helant had left them with a deep impression: warm, reliable, charismatic.
Moreover, he was the emissary of a god, once saving them from an evil deity.
Emotionally, they truly did not want him to accept the demon's game.
Yet their loved ones were in those five border cities. Secretly, they lifted their eyes, gazing at Helant San, but after hesitating for a long time, they still could not bring themselves to say, "Please go and save them."
"Let me go and save them."
Calca's words broke the silence, drawing every gaze to her.
"Your Highness, the Holy Queen?!"
Someone murmured in disbelief.
You are the monarch of a nation. How can you go to the front yourself?!
Calca stepped in front of Helant, looked up, and smiled. "Helant san.. It's an obvious trap. If I don't stop you, with your character you'd walk right into it… I can't be so ungrateful, relying on you to solve every problem."
She took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her Helant san's waist, breathing in the scent that steadied her. "So my people, let me save them myself!"
Helant did not rush to answer. He simply stroked Calca's soft hair.
"I believe that with you at full strength, plus Miss Zesshi Zetsumei, you can definitely slay the demon."
"Mm… If I should fall in battle, then as I said before, I want you to take charge of the Holy Kingdom. All right?"
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