Vol. 1 - Ch. 307 - King of Flies - Beelzebubble (1)

"......You did well. Now, leave the rest to us."

Though the Master urged me to back down, I took a stance once again.

"...I am fine. I can still fight. In fact, I am feeling quite better......"

However Master squinted, and after a look at me, exhaled a sigh.

"...Do not lose yourself to the surroundings. It's not your fault they died. You're... just too soft-hearted to turn your eyes away. You can try to appear nonchalant about it today, but this will surely leave a ripple that will come to haunt sooner or later."

...Ah. 

I know Tomora and Dolittle deserved all the shit coming their way. But, it was also true I hadn't wanted them to turn into flies's meal. Even if they would've met the same fate, "Death", I had preferred to see them being prosecuted justly, and climb the stairs of execution. 

Ultimately, I was just not strong enough. And I might have unconsciously thrown myself into the battle by trying to keep it out of my mind as much. 

"Understood......"

I tossed aside the sword. It was quite high-quality, set to use for torture, but it wasn't familiar in my hand. 

I had retrieved my equipment when the flies burst in, but there were too many of them, and eventually the sharpness of my favourite dagger grew dull. I had to switch it with the weapon from the wall. 

"...You should... take a rest, Boss. Rest assured, these three can take care of the situation."

As I cued in, Boss, who had been using a spear as cane to support himself, knelt on the spot, perhaps his legs gave in due to accumulating exhaustion.

"Father!"

Rina sprinted in his direction when she saw this. 

"Hey! ...You were amazing, Rina. You saved my old bones earlier."

I glanced at Boss rubbing Rina, tears streaming down her eyes, and passed my mantle to Jeu. 

"I am sorry you got roped in due to me, Jeu. Here, you can put it over yourself."

 Jeu lowered her eyes to the mantle into her hands for a short moment before shaking her head.

"...Please do not apologise, Allen-san. Every step I took was of my own will. I, too, should be thanking you for taking the risk to help me out. Thank you very much."

I noticed a lurking melancholy beneath her smile, piquing my interest. Though I, too, focused on leaning my back to the wall, and sat down. While my mana was brimming, the exhaustion from stamina consumption was something else.

I hadn't put myself into the rest as soon as we'd picked up the hidden route, so it was no surprise my body was screaming.

"...I am taking a short respite. There... are still much left... to do."

After all, in a truest sense, I had yet to rescue Jeu and Rina safely out of this place. 

......Soon, we should have to face that legendary monster. 

I need... need to stay up until «King of Flies» Beelzebubble was handled——

◆◆◆

"Good morning, Allen-san."

Jeu's radiant smile, devoid of any clouds of hesitation, greeted me first thing when I opened my eyes. 

I was in a trance for a moment, confused where I was or what I was doing here. The gears in my mind finally picked up their pace, and the flooding realisation sprang me back to my feet.

It appeared Jeu was giving me a lap pillow.

"Good morning, brother Ren."

"......I am amazed you manage to sleep soundly given the location. Is it the heart of bold, or something else, eh?"

Boss murmured in sheer amazement. 

......I must have dozed off while I was trying to formulate a strategy against the King of Flies while Master, Dante-san, and Kiana-san sorted out the situation. The physical exhaustion must have caught up.

"W-what's the follow up situation?"

The Holy Land had fallen into a dreadful silence, a palpable tension coursing through the air. There were no more flies coming to attack us. 

The answer to my inquiry came from Kiana-san. The latter was sitting by the window, her hands folded, and her eyes looking beyond it.

"The third wave wasn't as fierce, and after a short while, they'd pulled back like a receding wave. From past precedence, the next fourth wave would bring their true force—King of Flies. The others are currently fortifying the place as much as they can with whatever they find. ...Well, paladins have also become cooperative after the young lady by your side showed herself."

Kiana-san said last bit while glancing at Jeu, the latter reacting with a chuckle.

"It's more due to the familiar faces who have deep ties with the Leverance family. Besides, we haven't yet revealed the situation completely. It wouldn't do well to cause chaos and create division among people when King of Flies fast approached. I only requested to work out as one team."

......I guess so. Even an idiot would be able to tell Jeu had been brought in through untoward means given her uncharacteristic appearance. Perhaps, the people in deep with Leverance should've already been informed Jeu was abducted as well.

But she didn't blame them, and simply sought cooperation. Paladins should've felt compelled. Besides, the fault couldn't be extended to an innocent who'd no hand. 

They must be moved by magnanimity of her. To be able to act with precise benefit despite her situation was what made Jeu fearsome. 

"At present, the priests and monks have been split into two temples. ...We did hope to evacuate at least practitioners who were innocent in the cause, but Commander Dew rejected the notions. They'd already stayed too long in the holy land's air for far too long as death stench permeated every bit of this place. They wouldn't be able to escape either way."

So, they'd split the crowd into Temple of Prayer and Temple of Trial. I guess so. Their robust structure offered much better defense unlike flimsy quarters of monks and practitioners. 

The King of Flies would spare no one. Once the King was on the battlefield, it matter no more who'd laid their hand on his minions. 

From Kiana-san's explanation, Master's strategy was to focus on defense and draw out a battle of attrition. The paladins, priests, and mages have been split between the two temples for this purpose. 

There was another Temple of Hunger too, but it wouldn't bode well to stretch our limited strength too thin. Of course, overcrowding was no answer either, as that would simply limit the space for proper act.

It was certainly a thought out approach. 

"To put it another way, we're damned if we do not do that much at least. A majority of mages are specialists in holy magic. The reserve of arrows is far from enough to keep King at bay. We can only trust Coco and draw it out until the reinforcement of supplies and mages."

"Believe in Coco...?"

Kiana-san nodded.

I see. He was beyond my range to notice, but she apparently saw him running down the hidden route promptly after tossing out Cursed Fruit to lure in flies. He should've figured the situation would go down this route, and had already departed to seek help from Marquis Leverance's army even a second earlier. 

The key to subjugate King of Flies was long-ranged means. Cavalry would only be a sitting duck, it was plain as sight. A proper counter-force was only possible if the army knew whom they would be fighting in, and that's where believing in Coco came in, eh. 

Well, that's truly like him. His analytic insight and realistic mean to achieve efficiency had always been his highlight, but—

"...The King of Flies can show up at any moment. Meanwhile, the army would need three days at minimum to perfectly face him."

This was the crux of the matter. 

—Would we be able to hold on until then? Would the front line stay strong? 

"...Can we even hold on until then, eh?"

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