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Master’s Emergency and Whether to Help
After Aquido teleported everyone away, a foreign-looking castle slowly appeared above Silke.
He then got in touch with Judo, a portion of the adult employees, and the Radol executives, quickly organizing all soldiers and prisoners to retreat.
Now, they were in Camelot’s meeting room.
The people attending were Sylphy, who had heard that Grey was captured, Judo, Aquido, Kurama, Hachi, and Kama. From the Radol army were Theo and Calogero, also present were representatives from the kingdom’s prisoner of wars who looked like they were well-versed in handling such situations.
Many agreed to hold off on informing Satella and Carla, who were prone to anger.
“What a blunder Aquido,” Judo criticized while tapping his foot on the ground in irritation.
“Yeah.” Aquido bit his lip and looked down.
“Judo-dono, there’s no point in blaming Aquido-dono. We’re in a race against time, so shouldn’t we be thinking about what to do next?” rebuked Kurama. Judo merely shook his head a few times before returning to his usual calm self.
“You’re right, sorry. So, what’s that castle?”
“Yes. It’s still towering above Silke and for better or worse, hasn’t even moved an inch.”
“Have we managed to get all the citizens to safety?”
“Just earlier, I received a report that all prisoners were safely teleported to Fort Arkroy.”
“Then I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts about what to do next.”
“There’s nothing to discuss!” shouted Kama as he picked up his sword and stood up. “We need to get in that castle and save our master!”
“I agree,” Hachi added and shot up. “I don’t know who they are, but I hope they don’t think they’ll get away with capturing our master! I won’t let him off easily! I’ll take my time and thoroughly torture him to death—” An evil look came onto Hachi, but—
Slam!
Sylphy pounded on the stone table, leaving a fist-sized cavity in the table. Hachi twitched but started again. “You—”
“Shut it.”
She turned her crimson eyes with slit pupils to glare at Hachi, who immediately froze up.
Kama clicked his tongue and obediently sat back down before folding his arms.
“So that Riemann was the one who had swallowed Grey up into that floating castle?” Sylphy continued, annoyedly clawing at her long blue hair as she stared up into the empty sky. Right now, she lacked the usual vigor she had when she was next to Grey.
“That wasn’t Riemann! He—He was a kind man, not the kind of person who could be a soldier, —” objected Nils, the kingdom soldier with short black hair.
To nobody’s surprise, Sylphy shut Nils up with a glare.
“I didn’t ask for your opinion. I’m asking if that human really accomplished imprisoning our master in that castle.”
“I’m not sure if this is related, but several soldiers stated that in the previous battle that they had seen Senior Officer Riemann-dono collapsed on the floor with blood pouring out,” Kai said.
If so, somebody had inflicted a severe wound onto Riemann? But he didn’t look injured at all.
“Let me explain, this is probably close to the truth,” said Theo, opening his mouth for the first time since the meeting started. He then began to recount the details about what had happened in Arkroy.
……
…………
………………
Nobody said a thing after Theo finished. Of course, it was so outrageous that they barely believed him.
When they stepped inside, the estate had turned into a mysterious world and they couldn’t interact with the outside anymore. There they met Radols that had been turned into monsters, and people like General Bull, and a shady man who claimed to be Blue-Beard controlled those pitiful monsters. Grey blew apart the mysterious domain with magic and triumphed over Blue-Beard. What a ridiculous story.
Everybody looked on in doubt, but only Sylphy spoke up. “Master, why didn’t you tell me!”
As sweat ran down her face, she clenched her teeth, and the strange look she had in her eyes from before returned.
“Do you know that person?”
“I guess.”
Sylphy returned back to a poker face, grasped a strangely-shaped sword, and stood up.
“Where are you going?”
“This enemy is on a completely different level. You guys stand no chance. Just wait here.”
“Why are you just deciding that on your own—” Hachi began, shooting out of his seat in rage. Sylphy, however, cut him off with her sword.
“Hey, wait. When did she unsheathe that?” Aquido thought. He hadn’t seen her begin the unsheathing motion. Before he knew it, her sword was in front of Hachi.
“The man who captured Master is a true monster. If you can’t even react to something like this, then going against him is out of question. You’re sitting this one out” said Sylphy. She then turned her back to the others and began to teleport away.
“Still, we must go!” shouted Theo, stopping her teleportation. She narrowed her eyes.
“Even though I said it’s impossible for you?”
“Even if it is!”
“I see.”
Sylphy disappeared. The next moment, Theo crumpled over and flew into the wall.
“As fragile as you are, I only punched you with enough strength to keep you down. Stay there. Everything will be over soon.”
Sylphy turned her back towards the others once again but was blocked by Hachi, Kama, and Kurama.
“Ah—!? Even you guys!?” she shouted.
“We swore to walk down the path of hell alongside Grey-sama. It would be ill-fitting for us to turn tail and run away now.”
Sylphy continued to stare at them, completely unamused. “So, you’re all……. the same too.”
She sighed.
This related to the safety of her master, Grey, after all.
Even if there was an unbridgeable gap between her and her enemy, she wouldn’t just watch like some coward.
“Yes, so please take us as well,” declared Judo from the side.
Aquido couldn’t infiltrate a castle floating in the sky, but Sylphy could. Or at least she wouldn’t have said what she did if she couldn’t.
Sylphy languidly shook her head back and forth.
“Stupid, all of you.”
Then the surroundings changed.
The room suddenly warped into a different world, and something heavy was pushing the back of their heads into the floor.
Everyone was sitting on their knees and had their heads on the floor, unable to move an inch.
“Frustrated?” she asked without a hint of warmth.
“Damn it all!!!!”
He was frustrated! So frustrated, he could cry. His master, Grey, was facing a crisis, and the danger couldn’t even compare to what he had experienced with Duke Cyrus. Now was the time to rush forward and be useful, and yet, he couldn’t even move a finger.
“This is just pressure, an insignificant amount of power. And still, it’s like poison to your weak bodies.”
Weak. Of course, he admitted it. They were so weak that every last time, Grey would have to settle things on his own.
From the very start, Grey had a strange and mismatched feel to him. Almost as if the mind of an adult had been implanted into a child’s body, but the impossibility of that unsettled him.
That’s why they had all seen him as an impeccable and supreme master.
And they were right, in a way. His resourcefulness in the empire stood unparalleled, and he could use super powerful magic. They were sure of it, and it should have been an unshakable fact.
But when Satella told him how Grey had cried like a child when his mother pulled him into an embrace, Aquido realized Grey had another side to him: he was a child who had just turned thirteen. And that didn’t mean that he was a child, but that he was just a boy who wanted to be spoiled by his mom. A child was to be protected, even if he was his supreme master.
That’s why—
“Uwaaaahhhh!!!!”
Just trying to move his arms sent an intense pain through his body. He felt like his heart was being crushed to death and vomited all over the floor.
“My pressure isn’t so weak that a mere human can break through it. Stop resisting, or you’ll die.”
Die? What was she saying! This was an emergency for Grey, and not standing up here would really be death.
“Guhaaaaa!!!!”
He pushed the discomfortable feeling like his heart was about to be crushed aside and forced his feet to move.
Normally, they obeyed his every command, but now they were like lead, refusing to listen. Even still, they all carried out their mission with only one wish.
Then—
“You have met the requirements to release the Title—’Human Realm’. Reconstruction of your body and mind to that of Grey Ines Navarro will now begin.
Confirm operation of the passive effect, ‘Perfectly Enlightened One’.  Those who have attached their souls to Grey Ines Navarro will be given the effect, ‘Enlightened One.’
—84% until ‘Human Realm’ is unleashed.”
Suddenly, a monotone female voice echoed in his head.
At the same time, the overwhelming pressure immediately subsided. Sylphy must have let off.
“What?” gasped Sylphy.
Or maybe not. Everybody who had been pale and kissing the floor stood up.
“That voice…….and ‘Human Realm?’ is that…….”
Sylphy waved her index finger in the air for a bit but covered her mouth and began to tremble.
“Sylphy-dono?” Judo raised his eyebrow.
She looked at the ceiling and burst out in laughter.
“Hah…haha…hahaha! As expected of Master to have this kind of ace in the hole!! Honestly, I’m speechless.”
Instead of giving off that explosive prickly feeling from before, she returned back to her usual cheery self.
“That means this could be a trial for his subordinates. It’s not my duty to butt in.” Sylphy picked up a chair that had been tossed aside and sat down on it. “As you wish, I’ll bring you to the castle in ten minutes. Now hurry and make your necessary preparations.”
“Please take me too!!” said Nils. She staggered forward and gripped the table, bowing before Sylphy.
“Nils!” yelled Kai, forcefully reigning her back. She paid him no heed and just stared straight at Sylphy’s black pupils.
“Hm. I don’t mind. I can see how this charade will end. Besides, you seem like you’ll be useful to us. But keep this in mind: stepping in the castle will leave you with unhealable wounds, no matter how things go down.”
“Unhealable……wounds?” Nils parroted back.
“Yeah, it’s a hard decision. But it’s your life, so do as you want.”
“I’ll go as well,” one kingdom soldier said.
“Me too,” said another.
“You know that you’re my master’s enemy, right? Do you still want to go, even if I can’t guarantee your safety?” asked Sylphy.
“……” They silently nodded.
“Then start getting ready.”
Right now, they were above Fort Silke’s castle walls.
A giant castle solemnly floated in the skies above.
“So how about now? You can still turn back,” asked Sylphy, but nobody responded. They merely focused on the castle floating above.
“There is a special space inside the castle. Once in, escape is pretty much impossible unless you destroy the creator of the space, disturb the space itself, or the creator themselves releases the spell.”
“Basically, it’ll all end once we crush the creator.”
“That’s the fastest way, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no time limit.”
“Boss’s safety?”
“Yes. Since we can use Master’s abilities, he’s still safe. But if that person succeeds in snuffing out Master’s life, then the castle will disappear and that person will get away.”
Sylphy looked over at everyone.
“We won’t let him get away with that!!” roared Kama.
“Of course! I don’t know who the hell they are, but I won’t forgive them. I’ll dissolve his toes!!” said Hachi as he glared up at the castle.
“Right, let’s give them hell for disrespecting our great master,” said Kurama, snapping his fingers as a vein bulged on his forehead.
“Lord-dono is our Messiah. We won’t let that vulgar person snatch him away to a place like this. Besides—” Theo paused for a moment, looking to the side.
“Right, we also need to free our people. We’ll succeed no matter what,” nodded Calogero.
“Boss is our precious family. We’re bringing him back!!” shouted Judo.
Yes, Grey had personally tasked Aquido with bringing things under control. He would need to settle the score.
“Give it your all! We don’t need to hesitate or show any mercy to a heretic who turns people into monsters. Trample him into the ground!!”
“Yeah!!!”
Aquido unsheathed his sword and pointed it to the sky. Then, everyone else followed suit with their weapons in hand.
“I’ll bring you guys inside the castle now. That kind of territory is made easy to infiltrate but hard to escape. The fact that we can see the castle lends itself to that tendency too. In short—”
Sylphy’s pupils dyed red, and she raised her right arm. Then, several magic circles appeared in the air and revolved around them.
“This spell cuts you off from space, so once you fly up there, you can get inside.”
A blue spherical membrane enveloped everyone, bringing them up to the air and gradually increasing in speed.
“Oh, one more thing. It’ll be a bit rough so forgive me.”
Then, they shot up and completely crashed into the castle.