Interlude ~Baltoria Castle~
That day was the second worst day in Baltoria’s history.
… No. It might just become the worst day of all.
“Report.”
The king, his impatience showing, urged the soldier to speak. The soldier hesitated… but after glancing at the Death Knights standing around him, he seemed to finally steel himself.
“… All ships carrying our soldiers have sunk. And it appears the port has been breached. We have failed to prevent the enemy’s landing.”
“What?”
The situation was worse than the king had anticipated. It was already hard to believe that the ships had been completely wiped out, but to think the enemy had actually made landfall!
“… We were on alert at the borders, but we didn’t station many troops at the port. I never imagined they would attack by sea…”
The king stroked the white armrest of his throne, and its smooth texture helped him regain some composure.
Just a few days ago, he had decided to bring Fractalia to ruin. The kingdom had rotted from within to the point where it was no longer a problem worth considering, and its internal administration had all but collapsed. There should have been no one left capable of mustering troops. And yet…
“Between those pirates and this army, it seems they still had some military strength left.”
They were likely individuals who had broken away from the Fractalian royal family. Without the kingdom’s official sanction, they had gathered and were now interfering with Baltoria’s plans.
Still, he had made a miscalculation. The plan had been to send out three warships. If all of them had been sunk, then he had no choice but to acknowledge the enemy’s power. They had likely executed a precision strike with a small, elite force…
… Just as the king was beginning to piece things together—
“Y-Your Majesty… I hesitate to say this, but… I don’t believe these soldiers were from Fractalia.”
“What?”
The king frowned at the soldier’s strange statement.
If they weren’t from Fractalia, then who were they? Had another neighboring country that had signed an agreement with Fractalia come to their aid? Or perhaps someone had taken advantage of the chaos to launch their own invasion? Could it be that… the Mirasta Kingdom, which he himself had once destroyed, had somehow returned?
The king rapidly considered every possibility. But none of them were correct.
“A giant… A giant large enough to rival an entire island is walking across the land!”
“… What?”
The report ended with something so utterly absurd that it seemed beyond belief.
“A giant…? What are you talking about…?”
“I-I don’t know. We only received a message stating, ‘A mysterious giant has emerged from the sea. Our fleet is decimated. The coast is breached. The giant is advancing toward the royal castle.’”
The king, feeling something akin to dizziness, adjusted himself on his throne.
“A giant appearing out of nowhere and ravaging the country” sounded like a bad joke—or perhaps a nightmare.
But it seemed to be real. The king gradually accepted this fact as he observed the soldier’s bewilderment and pondered.
… Just what kind of “giant” was this? That was the first mystery. Could it be an ancient magical artifact? A new weapon developed by Fractalia or another nation?
If it was some unknown magical creature, he would need to find a way to weaken it… and then bring it under his control using his “secret art.”
“Your Majesty! The giant is in sight!”
“What!?”
At the guard’s report, the king abruptly stood from his throne.
If the giant was already visible, then it had closed an alarming distance. Had the capital already been breached? Had the city gates failed? What were his soldiers doing? The king’s mind raced with fury, despair, and mounting anxiety.
But he swallowed his emotions and immediately stepped out onto the balcony from the throne room. He had to see this “giant” with his own eyes.
And then—
“… W-What in the world is that?”
Thud. Thud. Each step reverberated through the air.
The massive figure was… much farther away than he had expected. At the very least, the capital had not been directly invaded.
But that was precisely the problem.
“It’s outside the city… and yet… we can see it so clearly?”
Yes.
The giant had not “drawn close.” It was simply so enormous that it could be seen from an incredible distance.
Its movements did not seem particularly fast. However… that was only because it wasn’t moving quickly in a conventional sense. Each step it took was so vast that despite its slow, deliberate pace, it was advancing at an astonishing speed!
And above all, its size was incomprehensible.
“N-No way…”
“It’s as if an entire island is walking…”
Hearing the murmurs of the soldiers guarding the castle, something flickered in the king’s mind.
“… It can’t be…”
Sweat slowly beaded on his forehead.
His pupils dilated.
And then… the trembling began to rise from the ground beneath his feet.
It was the words “as if an island were walking” that triggered his foreboding. Yes. The king had an unpleasant association with the word “island.”
… Fractalia’s most fearsome military force—Marylia Odeil Typhon.
He had manipulated the Fractalian king into ordering her execution. But in the end, she hadn’t been executed. She had been “banished to an island.”
Of course, a noblewoman abandoned on an island would never survive. And the idea that she had turned the island itself into a giant and returned for revenge was far too ludicrous.
And yet—
“Surely… that thing… isn’t a ‘golem’…?”
Still, an ominous feeling gnawed at him.
Because that enormous figure… had the shape of a person.
While the king watched the approaching giant from the balcony, soldiers issued commands, alarm bells rang throughout the castle, and in the city below, people ran in terror.
Everyone was shouting, “What is that thing?” Yes. No one knew. No one had ever seen anything like it before—something so impossibly massive, so completely beyond comprehension, now striding toward them with unwavering purpose!
“Prepare the cannons! Don’t let it enter the castle!”
“Damn it, what about evacuating the civilians!?”
“What’s left in its wake!? Did it… crush the port underfoot!?”
The cacophony of voices reached him, but they seemed distant, almost unreal.
A shiver ran down his spine.
It was the scent of ruin. The foreboding presence of death—something that should have been far removed from him.
“… Forget the civilians. Focus on defense.”
At last, the king spoke.
“We have the superior numbers. No matter how large it is, it cannot withstand an assault from ten thousand soldiers. Hold the cannons until the last moment—let it get close first. Do not concern yourselves with the city or the gates.”
This was his way of escaping the terror—the terror of death. But now that he had given the order, his mind began to clear.
Yes. It didn’t matter how many civilians perished. They were all bound by necromancy, unaware of their own nature. He could resurrect them as many times as needed. Within the capital, he could maintain control over their souls with ease.
And—
“I shall go to the gates as well.”
That was his decision.
“Y-Your Majesty!?”
“Your Majesty, it’s too dangerous! We don’t know what that giant is capable of!”
His advisors objected in unison, but the king merely smiled and shook his head.
“No need to worry. When the cannons strike, that will be the perfect moment to unleash my miracle. I cannot afford to miss it.”
Though he explained, his aides remained uneasy. They feared that if anything happened to him, their own souls might be erased.
But unbothered, the king strode leisurely toward the castle gates.
… Even if his foe was an unknown giant, it didn’t matter. Even if it was a golem created by a “legendary golem master,” it was the same.
“The time has come to show them my secret art.”
… Indeed, fighting a golem was not ideal. His power was tied to humans—specifically, their souls.
But it didn’t matter.
Yes. It didn’t matter.
No matter how strong the golem was… its master was still human.
What do you think about this chapter?
