Chapter 24:

Before It's Too Late

The Demon Lord Shouldn’t Be At This Much Of A Disadvantage!!: What do you mean the descendants of the Heroes are overpowered due to nepotism?


Number of times König Geistdunkelrustung has resurrected: 83

While she had been able to return to the capital as needed while touring the kingdom with Prince Liamion, Inessa had been looking forward to a week of rest and relaxation when the tour concluded. Her regular training sessions with Maxine had been suspended while the fiery redhead was out of the capital on a quest, too, so the only worry she would have had was not being able to visit Varney easily.

And yet, halfway through the week, she found herself as part of another procession of armed and armored knights on horseback and transporting supplies slightly southwestward from the capital.

Unlike when escorting the second prince, she was on horseback, which was far less comfortable than the cushioned seats of the royal carriage. Her butt was already sore from a day of riding, and they wouldn’t reach their destination until near midday the next day.

“This sucks… Why did bandits have to choose now, of all times, to be a nuisance?” She moaned, leaning forward and lying against the strong neck of her mount. “It’s not fair.”

“By definition, bandits are not but nuisances, Champion Inessa.” A female knight a bit younger than Inessa said as she advanced to the front of the force deployed to suppress the outlaws with the Champion and Saintess. Though her hair was a natural blonde, the genes from her mother gifted her with a strong, athletic build and the bronzed complexion of the Qunetellia lineage. “Taking advantage of the increased attention on Dhanfell to take Fort Galafern is just the sort of underhanded ploy expected of lowly bandits.”

“I guess… But I wonder what drove them to banditry.” The brunette pondered aloud, sitting up straight. “Don’t the border towns get more resources since they’re bordering the Badlands?”

“That doesn’t mean the settlements themselves are managed properly, Essa,” Lylia said, riding next to her. “The nobles overseeing any given area only need to ensure their armed forces are capable of fighting any Corrupted coming from the west. The common people do not need to be a consideration.”

“Life in a border town is wrought with dangers. It is because of the guards and knights that the commoners can live in relative safety, so it is only logical that they would be prioritized.” The noble-born knight said dismissively. “As for your curiosity, Champion Inessa, it is precisely to prevent future such incidents that you and Saintess Lylia capture and restrain the occupying bandits with nonlethal force. Her Highness, Princess Cynthia, and Mother were very clear on that.”

“That’s fine with me, Gloria. Back in my old world, killing anyone was typically seen as a crime, except for accidents. It was Maxine and Lia who got me to accept killing greater demons.” Inessa said, reassuring the blonde. “Besides, I’m pretty sure there is nothing these bandits could do to threaten us, so we’ll have plenty of leeway when dealing with them.”

Nodding with a stern look of approval, Gloria silently agreed with Inessa’s reasoning. “Very well. Once you enter, our spellcasters will seal the fortress's gates with barrier magic, and we shall remain on standby until we receive your signal.”

“Yes, yes. We know. Just make sure none of your troops get too eager for glory and storm the fort before we enter.” Lylia said, disinterested in the whole affair. “I would rather not have to worry about anyone being taken hostage.”

“None in this deployment would be so reckless, Saintess Lylia. However, I shall pass your concerns on.” Pulling on the reins of her mount, the young noblewoman returned to the main group of the suppression force, leaving Inessa and Lylia in the lead.

“Why did we even need to bring so many others with? Lia, you grew up in Twilight’s Glory, right? Couldn’t we have just teleported over, bonked all the bad guys, and been done with this in a day?” The brunette whined, rubbing her throbbing lower back and shifting in her saddle.

“I could have, yes, but who would have replaced the soldiers in the fort once we left?” Lylia replied, glancing back at the men and women accompanying them. That said, is it not a bit inappropriate to send so many veterans and notable knights to a fort in a border town? Some of them should have retired from frontline service, too. Something feels wrong here.

Of the nearly two hundred people accompanying them, only roughly seventy-five were trained soldiers. The rest were either young nobles sent as a means for them to gain an accomplishment, like Gloria, or non-combat personnel tasked with supporting the soldiers and getting Fort Galafern up and running again.

“I guess… But we can teleport back once we finish tomorrow, right?” Accepting the inconvenience, Inessa instead focused on what came after they fulfilled their roles.

Not wanting to cause the brunette any undue worrying, Lylia kept her suspicions to herself and nodded, offering her a smile. “Once I get back from dealing with our other annoyance, we’ll wrap all this up and go get something to eat.”

“You call him that, but admit it, Geisty’s grown on you.” Teasing the blonde, Inessa giggled as she looked forward to the promised meal.

Lylia, however, turned up her nose and looked away, huffing dismissively. “The only ‘side’ he’s frown onto is the underside of my heels.”

*****

Number of times König Geistdunkelrustung has resurrected: 84

Unable to attack until Lylia returned from dispatching Geist, it wasn’t until after noon that the two stormed the fortification. Built on a patch of arid, barren land flanked by infertile land and a river bed that was dry for years at a time, Fort Galafern had little to defend it other than the tall, sturdy, thick walls and ramparts surrounding it. If anything, the location was more fortified than necessary, given the strength and number of golems that come from the Badlands; a relic of more troubled times.

However, regardless of how imposing or thick the walls might have been, it meant nothing to the Champion and Saintess, who could simply teleport into the center of the courtyard.

“Alright, everyone! Surrender quietly, and nobody has to get hurt!” Addressing all the men and women who could see or hear her after the flash of light announcing their arrival faded, Ineesa was impatient to finish everything.

Lylia, by contrast, still couldn’t understand why something felt off to her. The inside, too? I had assumed that these bandits had someone working on the inside, so there being no signs of a recent battle on the outside made sense. She thought, looking at the structures and equipment around her. No bloodstains. No structural damage. Not even any bodies.

“Surrender? This is our fortress now! Get them, everyone!” Ignoring the offer for a nonviolent resolution, one of the shabbily dressed outlaws rallied his compatriots to fight, signalling to someone up on a tower in the middle of the courtyard.

Before the sounds of combat could fill the air, the sounding of a deep bell resonated from the tower, alarming anyone as far away as the horizon.

“Seriously? They’re going to make us do this?” Ineesa asked, heaving a deep sigh.

“I could end this–”

“Don’t shrink them, Lia.” Cutting the blonde off as she was about to suggest the most pragmatic course of action, Inessa stepped forward, keeping her sword sheathed. “I would be too easy to kill them.”

“You do realize that my Divine Artifacts don’t offer me as much protection as yours, right?” She asked back, though effortlessly dodging arrows and bolts shot at her. Twirling around a bandit who attempted to tackle her, she brought the head of her staff down on his head hard, causing him to crumple to the ground in pain.

“Then don’t get hit.” Inessa joked back, pummeling multiple assailants at once, each with measured, reserved strength. Even holding back, though, she sent bandits skidding along the ground and crashing into a wall, only to lie in a heap, unconscious. “S-Sorry… But I gave you a chance.

The ‘fight’, if it could even be called a fight, lasted less than five minutes. Just long enough for enough of the bandits to come out, see the courtyard littered with the beaten and bruised bodies of their comrades, and choose to either surrender or foolishly fight back. As the number of defeated bandits grew, however, the number of bandits who believed violence wasn’t the answer sharply fell.

Is that really it? Lylia wondered as Inessa tied up their prisoners while she ensured none of the bandits they beat down would succumb to their injuries. Did they not expect that Essa and I would be sent to deal with them? Even then, they gave up too easily, seeing how they had the resolve to take this place. And who would take Fort Galafern? What could they possibly have hoped to–!? Wait. Who even was the leader here?

All the suspicions she had been carrying were screaming at her that nothing about their current circumstances made any sense. She couldn’t sense any bandits hiding in the fortress either. Despite being under attack, not a single one tried to run and instead came to them. Looking around, she tried to identify anyone who looked to hold any authority among the outlaws, but they all looked eerily similar.

“No… It can’t be.” Hoping she was wrong, Lylia held out her hand, pointing an end of her divinely floating, golden silk scarf at a group of unconscious bandits near her. “Use: Nullify.”

At her command, a soft, white glow surrounded the targets she designated, and as it faded, so too did the visage of dirty, poorly equipped, uncoth outlaws. As her spell pealed back the veil of magic disguising them, Lylia saw soldiers and guards in armor.

Standing and turning, she was at a loss for words, but needed to communicate what she found with the brunette. “Essa! We–”

However, before she could finish, the whinnying of a horse pierced through the general quiet of the courtyard as their reinforcements arrived.

What? Why are they here? They were supposed to wait for– huh? Whirling back around to see Gloria at the lead of the battalion of knights entering the fortress, Lylia saw all the other ‘bandits’ in the courtyard turn into the soldiers and guards who were supposed to be stationed there.

“Huh? What’s going on?” She heard Inessa ask, but she couldn’t turn to look at her. Her eyes were fixed on the malicious grin that Gloria and several of the other knights were barely even attempting to hide. “Lia? Why did all the bad guys turn into–?”

“Oh, th-thank Goddess Lini’s divine light! Help up!” Not letting her or Inessa have a moment to think, one of the still-conscious ‘bandits’ called out to the approaching knights. “The Champion and Saintess just showed up and attacked us out of nowhere! They’re trying to take the fortress! They’re rebelling against the kingdom!”

“Say what?!” Used to acting on her emotions without much thought of the consequences, Inessa spoke up and approached Gloria before Lylia could wrap her head around everything happening. “We came here with Gloria and them because bandits took this fort. Right Gloria? Tell him.”

Her face having returned to an unreadable mask of etiquette and noble grace before the brunette could see her, the blonde turned her head and raised an eyebrow. “Champion Inessa? Saintess Lylia? What business have you here?”

“Huh? Gloria, is this some sort of joke or prank? We came here with you.” Inessa said, though her voice was more reserved and confused as she looked at some of the other knights. “Th-The bandits… a-and the plan…”

“We have been dispatched to audit Fort Galafern and relieve the knights stationed here. It is surprising to find both the Champion and Saintess here.” Not faltering even slightly, Gloria looked at all the beaten and restrained soldiers and guards, then back to Inessa. “There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding here. Please, surrender yourselves for the moment, and relinquish your Divine Artifacts until we can ascertain the truth behind this incident.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Gloria?” Her emotions working against her, Inessa couldn’t think straight.

Lylia, however, understood everything clearly now. It all made sense. The location, the lack of battle damage, the abnormal size and make-up of the suppression group, the magically disguised soldiers, and now the clearly rehearsed lines Gloria was reciting. The methodical, uncompromising malice that set everything up so this exact situation, an impossibility that could be viewed at a distance as plausible, was as clear as sharply as it cut.

But the thing that got her the most was that she knew this plot accounted for and hinged on her and Inessa being too nice to fight back. And that was both a step too far and a fatal miscalculation.

Fuck it… The storm of confusion and panic in her mind calmed instantly. The serene tranquility and clarity of thought were almost surprising, as she knew the perfect way to flip the whole plot on its head. “Sorry, Audrey.” She whispered under her breath as she looked up at the mounted noblewoman, not even twenty years of age yet fully confident of the future she had waiting for her. “Sorry, Essa.” She added, slightly louder than before, but still too quiet for anyone but the brunette to here.

“Huh? Sorry for what?” Inessa asked, turning to see the blonde’s hand held up at her.

“Allow the moon to guide you and drift into serenity. Slumber (Advanced).” Capitalizing on Inessa’s compromised mental state, Lylia recited her incantation and forced the brunette into a deep, tranquil sleep.