ERTHMB Chapter 182

The Precipice

“Why are you here?”

Beelzebuth lowered his sword-wielding hand vacantly and blinked. Heidi grinned at his face, which looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

“I came because you’re here. You should’ve just kept ransacking houses without their owners.”

“……Did Ian come too?”

Beelzebuth’s red pupils swept the surroundings in narrow arcs. Heidi approached, dragging a greatsword as large as her own body along the ground.

“Did you think you were the only one with a brain? This is why you’ll never succeed, Beelze.”

“Ian’s not here, I see. You’ve got guts.”

Beelzebuth muttered heavily, gazing into the distance.

New soldiers Heidi had brought were swarming in like a tide of black ants. However, the other silver-haired figure who should have been at the vanguard was nowhere to be seen.

Having assessed the battle situation, Beelzebuth’s gaze finally fixed on Heidi. His sharp eyes made Heidi’s lower lip tremble, but she forcibly concealed it and covered it with boldness.

“And unfortunately, today won’t work out either. Today will be recorded in history as Ian Fevernheim’s day, not Beelzebuth Fevernheim’s day.”

Heidi carefully wiggled her tingling fingers. It was because Beelzebuth’s clucking laughter had suddenly burst forth.

He expelled the air from his lungs carelessly before opening his mouth.

“It seems like just yesterday you’d cling to your brother and burst into tears whenever you saw me. When did you become such a fine young lady? Really… you’ve grown so much. It’ll be worthwhile killing you.”

Despite his pleasant tone, his weighted voice was endlessly heavy. Beelzebuth raised his sword again.

Heidi stopped walking at a distance just before his attack could reach her.

“You said that last time too, and you still haven’t come to your senses.”

Heidi muttered something more. At her small voice, Beelzebuth made a show of listening intently.

“……What?”

The next moment, a small magic circle bloomed and wrapped around Heidi’s wrist holding the sword. Even amid the swirling dust clouds, her two eyes looking straight ahead beneath silver eyebrows were vivid.

“It’s not ‘young lady,’ it’s ‘Your Highness,’ you ill-bred Beelze bastard. Show some respect.”

The greatsword that had been dragging finally lifted with a flash. Beelzebuth quickly assumed a defensive stance.

A sound like a massive boulder shattering into pieces rang out.

Pushed back by the shockwave, the distance between Beelzebuth and Heidi widened again.

Swallowing the breath that had surged up in an instant, Heidi corrected her stance.

Heidi quickly dove in with her next attack. Another loud sound erupted, but this time neither of them was pushed back.

At a distance where acrid breath touched, Heidi moved her tongue.

“It seems you were thinking about the distant future, but wake up from your dream. Do you think there’ll be a next time? Do you really think we couldn’t find that house of yours?”

“—!”

Beelzebuth’s sword wavered for an instant.

Heidi didn’t miss the opening and pushed forward with force on her heel.

Even as cold sweat traced down her spine, Heidi smiled, immensely pleased by the bewilderment that rose on Beelzebuth’s face.

“Brace yourself, Beelze. When this war ends, you’ll have nothing left.”

****

A salty sea breeze blew. The calm before the storm lingered.

Ian looked out at the low cliff region spread not far away. Though it appeared to be nothing more than barren land on the surface, Beelzebuth’s stronghold lay beneath it.

‘Finally.’

Ian inhaled and exhaled calm breaths. Between the saltiness, the acrid smell of gunpowder occasionally mixed in.

The cannons lined up like a fence centered around him. Every large gun barrel was aimed at the cliff region.

Ian saw a soldier placing ammunition trembling at the edge of his vision.

“Nervous?”

“N-no, sir!”

Nearly dropping the ammunition he was holding, the soldier answered sharply. Ian plainly patted his shoulder and turned his head back to the front.

“It won’t take long. Trust me.”

Ian raised his outstretched palm. Creak, click, click. All the gun barrels were raised to the correct position in sync with the signal. Even the extremely nervous soldier rolled the ammunition and lit it with fairly neat movements.

A faint smile hung on Ian’s lips. It was the final anchor dropping into the heavy silence.

Soon Ian’s hand fell.

“Fire!”

Fireballs that shot out with explosive sounds split the blue sky. The cannonballs that drew long parabolic arcs struck the bedrock simultaneously, sending shockwaves downward.

Ian spread his hand once more, clenched it, and brought it down. Cannonballs fired in a line filled the sky again, and the earth shook.

The region was splitting as if it might collapse at any moment. Then, from between the split gaps, pushing open the firmly closed giant stone door, Eugene’s armed soldiers began to pour out.

There was no rat that would continue to endure in a burning house. The vast land was covered in a black wave in an instant.

“This is incredible.”

Ian muttered in a tone that was either admiration or surprise. However, he instead turned his horse’s head toward that chaos.

Gripping the reins tightly, he kicked the horse’s flank hard. Ian shot forward prominently at the vanguard. He plunged between the allied and enemy forces rushing at full speed from both sides.

Overtaking all the cavalry, Ian arrived at the very center of the battlefield before anyone else. Then he suddenly turned direction perpendicular, riding as if drawing a line between the two armies.

‘I need to find the core.’

The vibration of the galloping hoofbeats pounding the ground was sent directly up through Ian’s body. Finally, when the moment came to reach a certain point, Ian leapt from his horse.

He drew the sword slung on his back and tapped the ground where he landed a few times with the blade tip. As if his existing conviction had deepened further, the corners of his mouth rose even more pleasantly.

Meanwhile, Beelzebuth’s army had approached right before his nose. Ian, standing alone before them, raised his sword gripped in both hands. The blue sword aura rippling along the blade spread throughout Ian’s entire body.

The imperial army that had been charging as if they would clash at any moment suddenly stopped advancing. The rebel army also hesitated, sensing signs of a trap in the sudden movement. However, it was too late a response.

Like chess pieces moving according to plan, they were already on Ian’s board.

Ian’s aura became more ferocious. He amplified it without restraint as it undulated like blue flames.

‘Today, everything Beelzebuth left behind.’

This land, the gold he had accumulated, his people, his damned ambitions—all of it.

Ian thrust his raised sword into the ground with all his might.

“Will not remain even as a single line in history.”

Kwa-kwa-kwang—!

An earth-shattering roar split the ground. It was as if the sky had been torn. A dust cloud rose like a giant mushroom.

The thunder still left vibrations in the air as it subsided, and the ground underfoot shook savagely. Ian mounted his horse as smoothly as flowing water and kicked it toward his camp’s side.

Behind him racing like mad, cracks drawing wide arcs to the left and right announced a new course.

It was a dizzying precipice. A pitch-black precipice with no end in sight.

Lucia Bay had many eroded sea caves, and Ian found the most vulnerable support and collapsed it.

So that Beelzebuth’s kingdom would be buried with it forever.

Kuuung!

The earth that had been seething like a wild beast sank deeply downward just as Ian barely escaped from the line of the crack.

The majority of the rebel army was swallowed without even being able to properly let out a single scream. Only an empty space remained, as if a meteorite had struck.

Ian pulled the reins to stop the charging horse. The remnants of the rebel army who barely survived attempted a counterattack while avoiding the sinkhole, but they were woefully insufficient in number.

“I said it wouldn’t take long.”

Ian muttered to himself and took out a small pocket watch from his breast. The second hand moved tick, tick like someone’s heartbeat. Though the needle wavered unstably, there was nothing wrong with the watch.

At that moment, a soldier rushed over urgently and reported.

“My lord! Giant warships are approaching the coast!”

Ian’s head immediately swiveled, quickly scanning the coastline. Three giant warships were growing larger as they approached. The silhouette standing upright at the bow was familiar.

Soon, sunshine unsuited to the situation illuminated him brightly. Thanks to this, Ian could recognize him. It was Eugene Evergale.

“At this rate, won’t we be surrounded…!”

The soldier spoke in a trembling voice, alternately looking front and back.

The rebel army crawling up clinging to the edge of the hole and the massive forces surging like a tide were right before their eyes.

Ian looked at the pocket watch in his hand again. Unlike before, cracks had formed on the glass covering the dial. The second hand that had been wavering unstably was also noticeably bent.

‘No, you have to hold on just a little longer, Heidi.’

Until he gave the signal, Heidi had to withstand Beelzebuth. And that signal had to come at least after piercing Eugene’s chest.

Ian anxiously glanced between the watch increasingly losing its circular shape and the warships.

However, the next moment, a sleek bow riding the swift current cut in front of the warships.

The caravel ship came all the way up to the sandy beach at the speed it had built up. Though the narrow width and small size meant fewer people aboard, it was the first ship to arrive.

“Everyone to your positions!”

Under Gelda’s booming voice, the knights of Partren busily disembarked from the ship.

Setting foot on land, they each raised their shields and planted them in the ground click-click-click like fitting puzzle pieces. Stacked three levels high as well as horizontally, they looked like a single solid wall.

Finally, last of all, Helena jumped from the ship. She looked like a notorious pirate captain.

“Our mission is to seal this place until reinforcements arrive. Even if they reach land, they cannot get past us. Understood?”

A resounding answer came back, but Gelda confirmed once more.

“You properly stuffed it in your ears, right? Not even a single abnormal ant bastard gets through.”

An even louder cheer poured out. Smiling satisfactorily, Gelda drew her sword from her waist. Helena used the brief leisure to move in quick steps to Ian.

“Were you waiting?”

Ian approached, keeping his gaze fixed on Helena while flinging far away a soldier trying to stab his flank.

“A little.”

Simultaneously with his answer, broken watch pieces fell pattering from Ian’s grip.

Helena cupped Ian’s cheek in her hand and spoke softly but firmly.

“You go to where you need to be. Leave Eugene to me.”

Ian silently gazed at Helena. Instead of answering, Helena nodded her head resolutely. Understanding her will, Ian finally dropped the watch to the ground and stomped on it, completely crushing it.

The next moment, a magic circle spread across the ground, and Ian’s figure disappeared.