Before the new year began, Lily, who returned to Pandemonium from the Lagna Principality with Chrono, was primarily seated on the white lily throne.
The heart of the Fifth Layer, the space where the Original Monolith stood, now functioned as the temple of the Fairy Queen Iris, adorned like a beautiful garden wrapped in lovely flowers.
In this place, whimsical fairies gathered, playing freely, occasionally doing work, creating a vibrant atmosphere that was far removed from the solemnity fit for the throne room.
Today too, amid the cheerful voices of fairies joyfully playing as background music, Lily was collecting information gathered from across the empire through the Original Monolith and directing it to where it was needed, diligently carrying out her daily duties as queen.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty the Queen.”
“Oh, Karen.”
The one who arrived was Karen, the fairy Lily valued most.
Having met as an information dealer for Spada, Karen possessed a mature intellect and experience, making her an invaluable asset. There were many duties, such as overseeing the Freedom Academy, that could only be entrusted to her.
Most matters could be handled through Monolith communication, but Karen had come out of her way to this place, likely due to a matter she wanted to discuss directly with Lily to seek her judgment.
“Is there a problem?”
“There is a prisoner by the name of Harold who wishes to have an audience.”
There was no way a mere prisoner could easily meet the queen, the de facto leader of the empire. While it might be different for royalty or a general from an enemy nation, they certainly hadn’t captured any such important individuals during the liberation of Adamantoria.
“Wasn’t he a knight captured during the conquest of Damascus? Since Chrono seemed to have taken an interest in him, I know his name.”
“Yes, he wishes to be formally recognized as an imperial knight and requests to take his selected subordinates with him.”
“Hm, I don’t mind, but did Chrono say anything?”
“He said he wants to support him, but he wants you to confirm whether Lily has any ulterior motives—”
I see. With the direct backing of the Demon King himself, Karen had come all this way, and Lily understood the circumstances.
“Understood. In that case, let’s carefully evaluate this.”
If it was a request from Chrono, it would take priority. Without a second thought, Lily granted Harold permission for his audience.
“Are there any other candidates wishing for an audience?”
“There are about two others who should be prioritized… I believe they will present themselves shortly.”
“That’s fine.”
Reading the faces Karen had in mind, Lily instantly expressed her desire to meet them.
“This will surely be something Chrono will be troubled about.”
Harold, the commander of the Rogentaria Army. He had no surname. He was an old veteran knight, having risen from the ranks of a mere soldier.
There are many knights from various nations, and he was just an ordinary middle manager.
“Phew, I can’t believe I actually got permission for an audience…”
Having willingly surrendered to the overwhelming military power of the Demon King’s army, or rather, the Elroad Empire Army, Harold seriously contemplated what to do next, more earnestly than at any point in his life.
After all, he was merely a prisoner. He had no noble status that would promise him good treatment. Despite being a veteran knight and a commander, he was merely one piece that could easily be replaced.
If it were just himself, he could have escaped and lived as an adventurer or mercenary, but Harold, who couldn’t quite abandon his knightly seriousness in the strangest ways, had to somehow protect his senior comrades and the younger ones led by his deputy.
From the moment he surrendered, he was eager to lead his unit, cooperating with the Empire Army, and he believed he had done as much as he could to appeal his case, but… it seemed that still hadn’t led to guaranteeing his status afterward.
“At the very least, I must prevent being sent to that terrible brainwashing prison.”
He understood that he was at the brink of whether he and his men would be sent to the so-called Freedom Academy, a name that offered no irony and was the worst kind of prison.
The prisoners, including Harold’s unit, which surrendered in Adamantoria, were currently being held en masse in a location adjacent to the Freedom Academy. Although they were in a state of effective house arrest, with no harsh interrogations or forced labor, they were living a dull existence akin to a boring camping trip, with boredom being their only enemy, and they could hazard a glimpse of what the Academy was like.
Harold instinctively understood that if he were incarcerated there, he would be subjected to a level of intense brainwashing that he would never recover from in his lifetime. He had once been involved with a covert unit that handled such jobs within the Rogentaria Army and was fortunate to have some knowledge of brainwashing and mental magic.
“—Harold, you have been granted permission for an audience by Her Majesty the Queen.”
“Haha!”
He was genuinely surprised and couldn’t hide his inner thoughts, thinking it was a long shot. Harold straightened up and saluted impeccably to the knight from the Empire who delivered the message.
The white-haired, red-eyed homunculus knight was often seen among unit commanders. It seemed the Empire was capable of mass-producing artificial humans, and that even ordinary humans could be transformed into similar personalities by the Freedom Academy. The terrifying foundation for preparing obedient and utterly loyal soldiers was now established.
Those ‘bad kids’ who might cause trouble would be sent to the Freedom Academy to be transformed into ‘good kids.’
“Please appear in knight formal attire.”
“Understood! All for Elroad!!”
Receiving the mechanistic message, Harold immediately prepared.
Although he had no weapon, he donned the full armor of a Rogentaria knight that had been returned to him and informed the homunculus knight of his readiness.
“All right, I’ll have to flatter and ingratiate myself as best as I can.”
“—Hmm, I see?”
And now Harold was being looked down upon by a little queen who appeared to be only a young girl, completely frozen in place. Even a frog glared at by a basilisk wouldn’t be this stiff.
But it was an understandable reaction. It was precisely because Harold had had a variety of experiences that he instantly grasped the significance of standing in front of Queen Lily in this throne room.
“Oh no, this is bad… my thoughts are completely laid bare…”
“Because it’s faster this way, don’t you think?”
Whether he was merely thinking it in his mind or actually voicing it, he couldn’t even tell.
He had made it to the throne room for the audience, escorted by the knight. However, as soon as he stepped in, his inner thoughts were completely stripped bare.
In a space that hardly resembled a throne room, filled with small fairies flitting about in a garden-like atmosphere, it was imbued with the blessings of the fairy goddess. In other words, it was entirely Queen Lily’s domain.
In such a place, he was no more than an insignificant old knight, unable to resist anything. Even his innermost thoughts were laid bare by the powerful fairy clan’s unique magic, telepathy.
There was nothing more terrifying than this.
He hadn’t felt such fear even in front of the Demon King Chrono. Rather, he had felt a sense of relief that at least they could communicate as fellow humans.
However, this cute-looking fairy was different.
This was genuinely a monster. Far more merciless and cruel than any arrogant noble nearby, the Fairy Queen.
“U-uh… Your Majesty the Queen, I hope you are in good spirits—”
“Words beyond this point are unnecessary. That’s the purpose of telepathy.”
Exposed to the powerful telepathy, even amidst confusion, Harold managed to sputter out a greeting fitting for addressing royalty, but it was soon disregarded.
Everything was as Her Majesty the Queen said. Words were unnecessary in this moment.
Those mesmerizingly glittering emerald eyes could literally see through everything.
“…”
“I understand your wishes.”
At this point, Harold could do nothing but kneel and remain frozen in place.
He felt as if he were caught in the hands of a dragon, being licked to taste whether he was a delicious morsel or not. He made an effort not to think of unnecessary things and to clear his mind.
“Harold, you are an honest person.”
Just a mere human, being truthful about his desires.
He possessed neither grand ambitions nor lofty morals.
He wanted to eat good food, live comfortably. He wished to be with beautiful women and win in battle. He didn’t want to die; he was averse to pain.
His own life was important to him, as were the comrades who followed him. He disliked certain people, but he would not go to the extent of killing them with his own hands. He merely hoped that those he disliked would die on their own in the battlefield.
That was how he had lived. How he had survived. Although the blessing of Freesia had been bestowed upon him, he carried no special divine mission—nothing extraordinary about him; just an ordinary human. That was Harold.
“Heh, I can understand why Chrono would take a liking to you.”
He was a person who harbored ordinary desires and possessed corresponding reason and morals. Lily understood that Chrono must have empathized with such simple human traits.
In truth, she wanted to be like him. She was supposed to be. But the weight of what she carried no longer allowed that.
“Harold, I shall formally recognize you as an imperial knight. You may take your selected subordinates with you.”
Reading his heart and memories, Lily decided to grant Harold’s wish.
“Just in time, I have a job I would like you to handle—will you do it?”
“Yes! Whatever your command may be, Your Majesty the Queen!!”
Thus, another knight of the Elroad Empire was appointed here.
However, Harold would only realize that his wishes had all been granted long after he left the throne room.
After Harold departed, Lily decided to enter the next audience.
Lying on the white lily throne, she waited while taking a break.
Before long, the next visitor appeared.
“—I am Charlotte Tristan Spada, the Third Princess of Spada.”
The one who respectfully bowed was Charlotte, who was unusually dressed up in a dress.
Spada continued to exist as an exile government, and her title as a princess had not disappeared. However, as she was participating in the conflict against the Crusaders as a magician, her current life involved donning a robe in preparation for battle.
Although they were somewhat familiar with each other, Lily did not probe into her heart with telepathy as mercilessly as she did with Harold, waiting for Charlotte’s words. Nonetheless, she had already formed a pretty good idea of what Charlotte wanted.
“For the next battle, could you please assign me to the First Assault Brigade?”
“I figured you would say that.”
Her golden eyes, filled with strong determination, looked up at Lily without fear.
In the imminent decisive battle in Parthia, she would finally confront Nero.
Having already become an apostle and led the Great Expedition Army in invasions, Nero was now an archenemy who could never be allowed to live. Even if he surrendered outright, execution would be unavoidable.
For Charlotte, this battlefield would be the last chance to see the living Nero. Given that she was currently assigned to the defensive magician unit of Shangri-La, even if she were to participate in the decisive battle, she would not be able to lay eyes on him.
“Can you make Nero surrender with a single word?”
“From the outset, I have no intention of persuading him.”
Lily confirmed through telepathy that this was not merely a bravado.
Charlotte was also a Rank 5 adventurer. As a magician endowed with powerful blessings, she was fully aware that she was under the effect of telepathy but showed no signs of wanting to deceive her innermost thoughts.
“Why not leave it to Chrono?”
“Of course, I won’t interfere with His Majesty the Demon King. I merely wish to have the opportunity to face Nero once more, and that would be sufficient for me.”
“Is that so… However, will that truly be enough to satisfy you? You know that the emotion I believe in the most in this world is ‘love,’ don’t you?”
Even someone who has committed unforgivable sins can be protected by love, betraying all obligation and compassion. It cannot be stopped by reason or logic. It is because it cannot be stopped that it is love.
And although at this very moment, Charlotte was certainly resolved to kill Nero—she could still very well end up showing her feelings at the critical moment. Could she bear to see her former lover suffering, or would she be able to deliver the final blow with her own hands?
“Indeed, I was in love with Nero. I believed without a doubt that I would marry him, living in peace…”
This would not be considered mere complacency.
In fact, despite being a princess, she had thrown herself into adventuring, reaching Rank 5. She must have gone through more than her share of hell. Therefore, it was only natural that she would believe in Nero, with whom she had shared such days together.
That heart of love could not be denied by anyone.
“However, the one I love is Kai.”
“That is all right, then?”
“Nero chose the Saint and the Cross Religion. Kai chose me and Spada. Therefore, I too, made a choice—I vow to be engaged to Kai Est Galblaze as the Third Princess of Spada and to spend my life together with him.”
If concerns about her feelings for Nero arose, she would dispel them with her love for Kai.
Lily pondered whether this was the right love.
There is only one person to whom she could dedicate her love. Was a life in which she loved two people truly an act of disloyalty?
“No, this is also destiny.”
She merely met Chrono first. She believed that this was destiny and the guidance of the Fairy Queen Iris.
But at the same time, it signified that she had been fortunate to be loved by destiny.
The world is filled with misfortune. Thus, it is only natural that there are those who cannot meet the person they should truly love first.
“No matter how tainted I become, I only need them to be by my side in the end—I’ve heard words like that, and it feels I have just begun to understand their meaning.”
Her feelings for Nero were no lie. But even her engagement to Kai, chosen after this difficulty, was a truth of love. To defeat the now-archenemy Nero and be united with Kai—that was the conclusion of love that the girl Charlotte had chosen.
“I will change your assignment to what you hope for. Charlotte, I believe in your new love.”
“Thank you very much.”
Lily decided to grant Charlotte’s wish.
Whether she would indeed be able to face Nero at his end was uncertain. It was possible that she might not be able to forget her past feelings at the critical moment.
Still, she thought that she should be given a chance.
“By the way…”
Thus, this was merely a pure question for Lily. There were no ulterior motives behind it.
“Although you have kept your purity, Kai is no longer a virgin; is that all right?”
“Huh?”
The face of the girl who had made a strong resolution turned into a blank expression in an instant.
“I was quite concerned, but I wondered how you felt about it.”
“Wait, who has Kai…?”
It seemed Charlotte genuinely did not know that Kai had an actual female experience. It appeared she had never even thought about it.
“Apparently, he has had maids and various others.”
“Huh, really? Why…?”
“Because he’s a noble. It seems it was part of his education.”
This was a story Lily had once heard through Chrono.
When the topic had come up at a drinking party, Kai had laughed and recounted that he had been educated in various ways, even managing the ladies’ affairs, as the next head of a noble family.
His first time had been with a mature maid who took care of him; it had been rather awkward because she had been like an older sister to him—this was how Kai had speaking about it.
Of course, this was a conversation meant for men, and even a swordsmanship enthusiast like Kai had the delicacy not to discuss such topics with women.
“Well, it seems this is quite common for Spada nobles… Did you perhaps not know?”
“I-I knew! At least to that extent!”
How could she tell a lie knowing her thoughts would be read through telepathy?
Although she pondered this, Lily reflected that she had been too careless in asking.
“I’m sorry, please forget this conversation.”
“Y-yes…”
Charlotte seemed profoundly shocked by Kai’s experience, leaving in a daze.
Today, in addition to Charlotte, there was one more scheduled audience. For Lily, this individual could be considered the main event of the day.
“Charlotte was just here a moment ago. You should have come along with her.”
“No, that is a reflection of Charlotte’s resolve. No matter how close friends we are, I cannot interfere with that.”
The one who arrived was Nel.
She was now one of Chrono’s fiancées and could easily meet Lily in her private life. The reason she insisted on an audience was that she had something to discuss privately with Lily.
“So, what secret discussion do you have for me about Chrono?”
“Yes, I believe Chrono-kun is currently in a great dilemma—specifically, how to stop my brother, the Thirteenth Apostle Nero, when the time for the decisive battle comes.”
“For that, there is the ‘Anti-Cross.’”
“However, for us to certainly confront the Thirteenth Apostle, we must clarify his whereabouts.”
In other words, he must either appear on the battlefield or they must infiltrate his main camp. Either scenario must occur for a confrontation to take place.
If they misidentify Nero’s location even once and the ‘Anti-Cross’ were to assemble in an entirely different place, it would not end well.
“The next battle will likely take place on the vast Reberia plains. It seems difficult to make a sudden aerial assault on his main camp from Shangri-La.”
“Nero has the ‘Dragonheart,’ after all. Approaching the enemies’ airspace carelessly would be dangerous.”
“If that is the case, the battle will commence as a head-on confrontation. And the Thirteenth Apostle initially devastated the Parthian armies with his great magic.”
“Indeed, that’s right. If Nero comes out from the start, considerable damage will be inevitable.”
Given Nero’s capricious nature, he wouldn’t always charge in at the front. However, there were times he emerged, as he did during the battle against the Parthian centaur army.
At Adamantoria, they had also executed a descent operation on the royal castle alongside Misa. Nero had absolute confidence in his strength, usually taking on critical moments on that battlefield himself.
Hence, in this decisive battle, there was a very good chance he would emerge right from the beginning, intent on scattering the Demon King’s army with full force.
And if that were to transpire, it would be difficult for the ‘Anti-Cross’ alone to preemptively fend off Nero’s assault. Whether Nero might target the front, right flank, left flank, or even raid Shangri-La along with the ‘Dragonheart’ was uncertain.
If they spread their members to every potential location, the danger of being picked off one by one would increase, and they could not guarantee a proper stop. Conversely, even if they waited in a single place, the likelihood of it failing was higher, and in the worst case, Nero might notice and avoid them.
“Thus, you are not inclined to move us until our whereabouts are confirmed, right, Lily?”
“This is a necessary sacrifice.”
“However, that sacrifice will cause Chrono-kun distress, won’t it?”
The Great Expedition Army was formidable. Even having lost Misa and the floating fortress Peaceful Heart, they still had numerous troops, including the elite ‘Dragonheart’ and the Armored Knight Corps, remaining unscathed.
They had confidence that they could form a Demon King’s army capable of adequately countering those forces… Yet still, the apostles were beyond their standard power to be dealt with.
One had to make the decision to endure extensive losses to secure a kill, or to cut corners with thousands of casualties merely for stalling. Such judgments had to be made.
Since they were at war, it was understood that Chrono would naturally accept some casualties among his own ranks, but it was hard to tolerate losing soldiers as mere playthings of the apostles.
In the liberation of Avalon, the Twelfth Apostle Mariabel had deliberately been lured into confrontation. Misa had charged straight in, allowing Zenongart and the others to skillfully stall her. However, this time, such convenient circumstances were unlikely.
“I too find it burdensome. It will inevitably lead to great sacrifices.”
“Yet it cannot be exchanged for Chrono-kun’s safety.”
“That’s obvious, isn’t it? The Demon King’s army exists because of Chrono. And without him, Pandora will perish.”
Therefore, they would have to accept the sacrifices required to be the first to face Nero. It was a frustrating prospect, but ultimately, Chrono would likely have no choice but to abide by it.
“Indeed, I shall stop Nero.”
“Oh? Are you perhaps going to lay a grand barrier to protect us?”
In response to Lily’s question, Nel quietly shook her head.
However, within her blue eyes that met Lily’s gaze, a determination shone far greater than that of the earlier Charlotte.
“—Before the decisive battle, please send me as an envoy.”