Chapter 326: Orders Betrayed

The sandbags binding his body seemed to vanish all at once. Deon swayed for a moment, but quickly regained his balance, clenching and unclenching his fists in a daze, relishing the liberating sense of relief.

It was an unexpected boon.

“Was this… their doing?”

They must have been causing a ruckus somewhere and accidentally triggered the linchpin of the array. It certainly helped… but he wasn’t exactly thrilled.

After all, they had ignored his warning and barged into this dangerous place.

‘Now that the array’s gone, there’s nothing stopping them. They’ll beeline straight here to find me, no doubt.’

The Heroes wouldn’t ignore the appearance of such perfect hostages.

So, while they deserved a scolding later, it was best to deal with this situation first.

With his shackles gone, there was no need to stick to his old fighting style. He’d already shown enough to set the tone, and the madness he’d deliberately suppressed returned the moment he sensed the mad dogs were near.

Having regained his strength and seemingly his composure, Deon’s eyes, now devoid of madness, scanned the Heroes before curving into a smirk.

“Looks like our mutts are on their way. Let’s wrap this up before they arrive.”

“……”

…He was back to that detached demeanor from the beginning.

‘Our mutts’ could only mean the Killer Knights. But why? Their weakness was approaching. Aletea frowned, a sense of dread washing over her.

“…Could it be?”

That signature nonchalance, the brazen declaration that his weakness was approaching, and the confident assertion that they could finish this before they arrived.

Only one thing came to mind. She frantically pulled out the charm from her pocket. The watching Heroes gasped, but she paid them no mind.

“Just as I thought…”

Despair flooded her senses.

“The array is broken.”

“……!”

“You can discard the charm now. In this situation, it’s nothing more than a useless piece of paper.”

“No way…”

Even with the array, they couldn’t decisively end the fight, remaining locked in a stalemate. Now, the very shackles that suppressed the Hero’s movements were gone. The Heroes were aghast.

…Horror soon turned to despair, and despair morphed into resignation.

Aletea’s face twisted as she sensed the palpable shift in atmosphere.

“…Get a hold of yourselves. Even if we’re going to die, we should at least struggle on our way out.”

How could those who were humanity’s last hope be so weak-willed?

No matter how hopeless the situation, they couldn’t simply offer their necks willingly.

Even as her own hand gripping the sword trembled fiercely, she spoke in a composed tone.

“Who knows? Maybe we can at least take Deon Hart down with us.”

“…….”

“Forget about survival. We’ll die whether we attack or run. Since death is inevitable, let’s at least die taking Deon Hart with us.”

So, hold your weapons properly.

A desperate cry echoed from within her pocket. A heartbreaking scream that felt like the sky was collapsing and the earth was crumbling. It was the first time she’d heard her brother’s voice like this. Startled for a moment, Aletea, her resolve firm, coldly took out the communicator and crushed it.

She pointed her sword at Deon Hart, who watched with amusement.

“You are truly the worst person in history. You won’t find peace even in death, and even if you don’t die here, you will ultimately be miserable. You will be punished.”

“…Mentioning the afterlife and invoking divine retribution sounds like the mental gymnastics of the defeated, but…”

Deon gave a faint smile.

“I won’t deny being the worst person in history, for now.”

***

With the array shattered and no hostages to hold him back, the outcome was swift.

Even fighting in perfect condition might not have been enough, let alone after exhausting themselves in the previous battle. How could they possibly stop the Hero?

‘Damn it….’

All the melee Heroes were dead. More accurately, everyone except Aletea herself was dead.

Even she was in no condition to fight, with a broken leg and a severed arm. Aletea could only helplessly watch as Deon Hart picked up weapons scattered near the corpses of the melee Heroes and leisurely finished off the ranged Heroes.

‘I don’t know why he’s leaving me alive….’

Perhaps he intended to kill the royal last, as she was royalty. Her eyes, having lost all interest and turned lifeless, passively followed Deon Hart’s movements.

Finally, after dealing with all the Heroes, Deon Hart turned to face her.

He brought the tip of his sword to her neck, his unreadable red eyes gleaming as he asked,

“Now that things have come to this, something suddenly piqued my curiosity.”

His tone was light, as if driven by pure curiosity.

“I know you have a good intuition, Your Highness. Didn’t you sense, even instinctively, that you would die in this battle?”

“…Of course, I did.”

A dry laugh escaped her lips.

Her intuition had certainly warned her. It had warned her more strongly than ever before. It had screamed that she would die, urging her to abandon this path immediately.

Deon Hart wore an expression of disbelief.

“…Knowing that, you still came simply because you were a ‘Hero’?”

“Yes. So, let’s cut the pointless Q&A here.”

Aletea smiled sharply.

“Just kill me, you bastard.”

“…Don’t you have any last words?”

“I have no last words, but there is something I want to say. Something I’ve been wanting to say throughout our encounter…”

“…….”

“Drop the honorifics, you’re annoying. You spoke informally earlier, so why the politeness now?”

…These are my last words.

From the moment she spat out the curse ‘bastard,’ the sword tip, which had been subtly wavering, visibly trembled at her sharp words.

Her eyes widened momentarily at this unexpected reaction, a first for her.

“…Then.”

Deon swung his sword.

Blood splattered. The blood-water, an illusion or perhaps reality, that had been slowly rising with each Hero’s death, surged again.

…It seemed Aletea Deserte, still seated, was completely submerged in the blood-water.

As she newly recognized her own madness, she calmly looked down at the crimson liquid that had risen to engulf even her ribs, just below her chest. In the distance, the commotion grew louder, drawing nearer.

“There he is! Captain!!”

“Are you safe?!”

Finally, they found him!

Having routed the Primiero Knights faster than expected by regrouping, the Lofty Knights finally reached Deon Hart.

Their shouts of relief and concern resonated loudly to Deon, who was in a somewhat dazed state. Only then did he snap back to attention, turning to look at those calling to him. His eyes, scanning the familiar faces, turned cold.

“…You.”

“Yes, Captain! We’re here!”

“Why are you here?”

His voice was as frigid as his gaze.

Pause. Those approaching faltered. Ignoring their reaction, Deon rebuked his subordinates as if cornering them.

“I clearly issued an ‘order.’ Why are you here?”

“…….”

“This is insubordination. Is my word worthless to you? Or did you think you could ignore it because it was a ‘final order’?”

If the timing had been slightly off, or if something had gone wrong on their way, these men would surely have died.

He knew they had come out of concern for him, but anger flared within him.

‘Who do they think they are to worry about me?’

They needed to know their place.

His anger was greater than he anticipated. Deon watched the smiles fade from the mad dogs’ faces, yet he couldn’t bring himself to soften his tone.

“Do you take me for a fool now?”

“…Captain….”

Those who had been silently enduring the fierce torrent of anger that seemed ready to erupt at any moment quietly spoke.

Ignoring the barrage of words hurled at them, they asked only one question.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“…….”

“We know you recover quickly from injuries, but pain is still pain… You’re not badly hurt, are you?”

“…Ugh….”

The blood-water churned as if about to engulf him. Faced with his subordinates’ careful question amidst the sea of blood, Deon’s composure finally crumbled.

“Why did you even come….”

His voice, now weak and wavering, emerged with a sob.

Thud. The weapon he held fell to the ground. The knight order members, noticing his statue-like stillness, sensed the softened atmosphere and cautiously approached.

“We heard you were cursed.”

There was no need to ask who told them.

“…Demon King.”

That bastard had stirred the pot. Spreading pointless rumors.

There was likely no special reason. Just as a child mindlessly tears off a dragonfly’s wings, there was no grand purpose. He simply felt like it, acting on impulse.

Damn that bastard. Deon shifted his anger, hardening his expression and grinding his teeth.

“…I’m fine. If it were a problem, something would have happened already.”

“Of course you’re not fine. Don’t lie to us.”

“I said I’m fine. Why are you worrying so much about a Hero anyway?”

“Because Captain… you’re not a character from a fairy tale.”

Deon froze at the tearful voice.

“Unlike fairy tale Heroes, happy endings aren’t guaranteed for you….”

When they first heard about his curse from the Demon King, the Lofty Knights had jokingly compared their captain to a fairy tale character.

Contrary to their lighthearted, jesting words, they secretly wished that their captain truly was a character from a fairy tale.

‘Because fairy tales usually have happy endings.’

Even if he was cursed, even if the whole world pointed fingers and cursed him, they wished for a happy ending for their captain. The Lofty Knights forced the corners of their trembling lips upward.

“If someone cursed was perfectly fine, would it even be called a curse? It probably wouldn’t even get labeled as a curse in the first place.”

“…So?”

His voice sharpened again.

“What can you do about it?”

“…….”

“Undoing the curse? That’s impossible.”

“We can at least try to reduce the blood on Captain’s hands.”

If they could slow down the curse even a little, that would be enough.

“…….”

“Is even that much help… not allowed?”

Damn it. They even knew the details and conditions of the curse. That Demon King had blabbered everything.

The loose-lipped bastard. As he cursed inwardly, another commotion drew closer.

“There’s Deon Hart!”

“The Lofty Knights are there too!”

“Looks like the battle is over. Good timing. Kill them all!”

“Protect Sir Deon and his knight order!”

Demons had arrived.

And before Deon could even turn his head, light flashed.

***

Outside the array’s perimeter, each legion was engaged in battle.

Having already experienced the oppressive pressure and the absence of magic within the array’s territory, no one dared to approach it amidst the chaos. They actually fought at a distance, wary of accidentally stepping inside.

The discovery that the array had vanished was purely accidental.

During the fight, a misaimed magic attack landed inside the array’s former territory. Those who saw the clearly cratered ground abruptly stopped.

‘……?’

‘Huh…?’

The unexpected sight stunned them, their minds slowly beginning to process the situation.

If the array were still active, magic wouldn’t have been able to penetrate the area; it would have vanished upon entering.

Which meant….

“The array vanished…?”

Confirmation was needed. Derniban gestured to one of his subordinates to go inside and check.

Hesitant to relive the same sensation, the subordinate still obeyed the order and stepped inside.

“Huh…?”

“…….”

“It’s fine.”

Idelia, closely observing the subordinate’s bewildered expression, seemed to make a judgment. She turned to her own troops and shouted,

“…Pursue the Lofty Knights!”

“Block them!”

Lirinel reflexively shouted in response, and belatedly, the other legion commanders issued their own orders.

Chaos erupted once more.