Black Badger

I had them right where I wanted them.

Like a dog....

I crushed the boiling irritation down as I hacked away the building debris raining over my head.

BOOM!

Of course, I had no intention of ending it like this.

I’d change tactics.

Not take his life—cripple him.

That wasn’t as difficult as killing him. All I had to do was coat the blade with poison. And I had a subordinate who always carried poison.

Batting away the collapsing wreckage, I sprinted toward the trench.

In the air, I saw twelve hands slowly folding closed.

I had to stop Navarate’s avatar from tearing the headquarters apart any further.

I frowned as I watched Meierbold bloom up from the fire in the western ruins.

Two Grand Mages.

Before the First War broke out, they’d practically been classified as being in a vegetative state. The fact that both had awakened like this was ominous.

Was this even possible without recruiting Cecil?

Maybe that obsessive blooming of flowers had been for this very reason.

To meet Cecil. To use her help to restore the Grand Mages—and to recruit Cecil herself.

Otherwise, why go through the trouble of making the flowers bloom?

Thoughts flared up all at once, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on them.

Even if the Science Wing had collapsed, I couldn’t allow the headquarters building and the Medical Wing to follow.

But Navarate’s true body was still at the main base.

Even if I blocked the energy cannons those hands were firing, directly attacking Navarate herself wouldn’t be easy....

“Detonate.”

Yehyeon’s voice came from the trench.

“All of it.”

There was no explosion sound.

But the six faces floating in the air—Navarate’s—went icy pale.

「What?!」

All six heads snapped around, staring at some point in the void.

「What’s exploding?!」

Ah.

「Damn it!」

They were detonating the bombs planted in Kyle’s territory last time.

「Barrier!」

Navarate’s avatar shouted, losing her composure.

Her final cry was a mixture of rage, panic, and fear.

「Meierbold, barrier!」

「You hold it!」

The flame mage snapped irritably.

「You’re the one whose main body’s at the base!」

When my leaf veins had been damaged—

The Black Badgers had briefly stepped into Kyle’s territory. They’d slipped in through a gap torn open by the Remnant Wraith and scattered surveillance devices and micro-bombs.

Originally, the plan had been to detonate them and push straight into enemy territory—but disputes among the Elders over raw materials had left them short on Core devices, and the plan was scrapped.

So the bombs had remained undetonated all this time.

And now, we were benefiting from that.

Navarate spat out a sound thick with stress and vanished from the air.

“Yo. Lend me the poison.”

I had no intention of missing this opening. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

I moved up beside the trench and extended my sword.

The tactician sprang up, squeezing an arm through the trench opening and offering a poison pouch.

I flicked my sword, coating it as casually as if dusting it with frying batter.

“It’s a neurotoxin.”

Yo recited the line he always did.

I nodded once.

Kuuung...!

At that moment, the Science Wing—already slowly collapsing—finally gave way completely. A dull roar like a massive landslide slammed into my ears.

A dizzying stench of dust and sand.

Smoke billowing thickly upward.

Of course, Meierbold took no damage at all.

From within the smoke, the brightly flaring mage sneered.

「To the point of coating your blade with poison? You’re no longer a Knight Commander—just a worthless street mercenary now.」

「Hey!」

Deltei shouted.

「Don’t talk like you know everything!」

She’s gentle, even when she’s cursing.

I thought something that would definitely make Deltei furious if she knew.

The Saint raised her alluring voice.

「I’ve been sick of hearing ‘traitor’ over and over! Who’s the traitor?! Prince Kysis handed command over to Hilde!」

「Hah.」

The mage snorted in disdain.

「And what is this?」

Still—thanks for drawing his attention.

The instant I reached Meierbold, I twisted my lips into a grin.

A split second decides victory or defeat.

Didn’t I say it earlier?

Focus on me.

Slice—

「Ugh!」

It landed.

I laughed long as I saw the fresh cut blooming on the man’s cheek.

The board flipped.

「On the battlefield, you must never look away.」

Because real combat turns in an instant.

Just like that, the tide flipped once more. Navarate was gone, and Meierbold was poisoned by the neurotoxin. The Science Wing had collapsed, but Martin was still advancing steadily—and Kairos was driving the eastern monsters straight toward the teleportation arrays.

“Blocked it!”

Igor’s joyful report came through. It seemed they’d sealed one array together with Martin.

“We’ll keep blocking them like this!”

I wished I could just take his head here and now.

But that didn’t happen.

He hadn’t earned the title of Grand Mage for nothing—Meierbold covered his cheek with his hand and began chanting a healing spell.

At the same time, he demonstrated staggering skill, sending pillars of fire surging from the ground to the sky.

KABOOOOM!

“Igor!”

I called out to my subordinate through the heat.

The reply came instantly.

“I’m fine, so stop worrying!”

Good.

I stopped worrying about my subordinate and began sprinting, weaving through the pillars of fire.

“Medical Wing!”

Leeho’s shout rang out from behind.

He was right—Meierbold was heading toward the Medical Wing, which was on the verge of collapse.

“Careful! That one’s about to fall too!”

「Mou!」

Someone running east shouted.

「We’re pulling back!」

So the young summoner’s name was Mou.

New blood that delighted Kairos....

「Aaah!」

A young scream pierced my ears.

The smell of blood grew thicker.

Following it, I halted atop a corpse.

BOOOM!

A sword arc I hurled toward the mage.

It carved through the ground, bending as it sliced away part of the flames wavering within the smoke.

The mage stopped before reaching the Medical Wing.

He must have halted to retrieve the young summoner.

Kairos must have severed one of his tendons.

Though the smoke from the Science Wing’s collapse had reduced visibility to nearly nothing, tracking them wasn’t difficult.

I pursued with my sword.

KABOOOOM!

「The blood is black!」

I drove them all the way to the eastern teleportation array.

From near Meierbold’s left shoulder came a terrified voice.

「It’s poison, right? You can detox it, can’t you? You can detox it, right?!」

「Wall of flame.」

BOOM!

I’d lost him.

I stopped, staring at the wall of flame blocking my sword arc.

The teleportation array activated.

Brilliant light wrapped around the enemy’s body. If I reached out or swung my sword now, I might get dragged in as well.

So I abandoned the attempt and stood outside the array.

Sword in hand, I watched the mage being dyed in the light pouring from the array.

The young summoner too.

The Grand Mage, poisoned by the neurotoxin, seemed to be struggling to maintain invisibility magic.

The summoner looked like a man in his late teens or early twenties.

I paid little attention to the fear and hatred pooling in his young eyes.

Instead, I spoke to the mage.

「Do you know this?」

I tried to sound calm, but the bitterness bleeding into my voice was probably impossible to hide.

「Even if two Grand Mages came here, even if Kyle joined them, the overall tide wouldn’t have changed.」

Meierbold frowned.

「Because humans possess the means to wipe all of us out at once.」

If Kyle had joined this battle—

The human side would have gladly dropped a nuclear warhead here.

That was all it would take.

Everything would end just like that.

Kyle, me, these mages—dead. Easily. At the cost of many Black Badgers, a few Titans, and some humans.

Because he knew that, Kyle had summoned Navarate’s avatar and ordered Meierbold to retreat.

If Yehyeon hadn’t covered the headquarters with a Core, the damage would have been far worse.

By rapidly sealing the space, he’d drastically reduced the options available to [N O V E L I G H T] Kyle’s side.

Of course, it would have been ideal for them if all the Badgers trapped inside the Core had died.

But neither the Black Badgers nor I were that soft.

Thus, a catastrophe that ended with the collapse of the Science Wing—and the Medical Wing just barely spared.

「Even if the two of you have recovered, the tide won’t flip dramatically going forward.」

I said coldly.

Look at Navarate—wasn’t she neutralized the moment her barrier failed?

Grand Mages were a fearsome force, but also a force that couldn’t avoid being tied up on defense.

As Kyle’s territory expanded, the situation would only worsen.

The Grand Mages would be forced to protect ever-wider lands, and that would drain them steadily.

「So please—read the situation before you move.」

I was sick of it.

So sick of it I felt like I’d go mad—but I still begged.

「My victory and humanity’s victory aren’t on the same track.」

At least until I brought Colton down.

「Do you still have a card left that can turn this around?」

I hadn’t expected an answer.

But I got one.

An answer I didn’t expect.

「Don’t you think you’re arrogant?」

Meierbold smiled, even as the neurotoxin took hold of his face.

His fluttering blond hair slowly turned into flame.

「Blinded by your admiration for humans, you’ve lost your pride.」

Quiet contempt seeped into his voice.

「Drown in that arrogance. Soon, I’ll have you live in regret so deep your bones will rot.」

I already am.

I didn’t say that to the disappearing mage.

Just as he hated me yet still took care of Mou—

I didn’t say that I, too, hated some humans while being unable not to love others.

Because it wouldn’t reach him.

No message would....

Knowing that no matter what I said—whether I knelt and begged or raged like a madman—my words would never reach them, I stood there in silence.

At some point, Kairos hauled me up onto a flying Creature.

The situation wasn’t over yet.

I returned to my kin—the ones who had listened to me.

***

Ricardo Sordi woke with a pounding headache.

His vision sharpened, sounds gradually clearing.

A white ceiling and IV drips hanging thickly overhead caught his eye.

Colorful medicines sealed in bags, translucent tubes.

Staring at them blankly, he listened to people bustling around him.

“He’s awake!”, “I’ll call it in!”, “Nurse!”

He lay there, quietly listening to familiar voices.

Then he spoke.

“The headquarters?”

His first words came out hoarse.

Jonathan answered.

“The Science Wing and the Medical Wing collapsed, but there were no casualties.”

Good lord.

Collapsed?

How much happened while I was out?

Thinking that, he furrowed his brow. Ricardo had to suppress the urge to click his tongue.

What on earth had happened?

He frowned, gathering his memories again—the last scenes and circumstances he could recall.

The horde of Creatures crashing into the isolation ward....

It’s obvious why there were no casualties.

“Hilde?”

He asked, his voice a little sharp.

“He didn’t do something stupid and get hospitalized again, did he....”

Then came the surprising reply.

“I think he said he went to shoot a commercial.”

...What?

“He said the schedule might change, so if you wait a bit, he’ll come back.”

A commercial?

...What kind of commercial.

Don’t tell me....