Akatsuki Translations

“Demon species sighted! Demon species sighted!! It’s a 【Flame Demon】!!”

The urgent communication from the intelligence unit threw Babel’s defense forces into disarray.

The adventurer unit, in particular, visibly tensed. From experience, they understood that an extremely troublesome monster had appeared.

“Flame?! Of all things!!” one adventurer exclaimed.

“Moreover, they’ve appeared in multiple locations, surrounding almost the entire perimeter of the Sky Garden,” reported another.

“Oh, come on…” An adventurer grumbled as he roughly splashed a healing potion on his bleeding arm, his face contorted with bitterness. The Proudia Knights, unable to keep up with this blatant reaction, looked confused. Most of them never ventured beyond Proudia, so their knowledge of monsters from other cities was limited.

“Is it really that bad?” one knight inquired.

The adventurer, looking utterly dejected, readjusted his armor while responding. He seemed to be wrestling with how to explain the situation.

“Just getting close means intense heat. If you try to deal with them up close, you’re guaranteed to take damage. Plus, they’re ridiculously tough. But there’s an even more troublesome point,” he explained.

“Which is?” pressed the knight.

“Even if you defeat them, they’ll recover if there’s a heat source nearby,” the adventurer spelled out gravely.

His words plunged the area into momentary silence as everyone grasped the meaning of “troublesome.” Heat sources that could revive the Flame Demons were currently present throughout the Sky Garden.

As long as their 【Flame Demon】 comrades existed, they would keep reviving.

“Huh? Isn’t that cheating?” a priest blurted out.

“That’s quite the crude observation, Priest-dono. Though I agree,” another chimed in.

“In Envy, these guys appear in volcanic areas, so they’re practically invincible. Compared to that, this is better… No, with no escape route, it might be just as bad,” the adventurer mused, wiping sweat from his brow. It wasn’t cold sweat—the area was physically hot now. Even within the safety zone created by the knights’ barrier, heat from the surroundings was starting to seep in.

And in this situation, they would soon realize that they were in far dire straits than they had initially thought.

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【True Babel】 Frontline Barrier Unit

“It’s so hot…!!” One of the knights cried out in distress.

Among the Isralia continent, Proudia had the most stable climate, lacking the sticky heat of the Lust territory. As a result, they were simply unaccustomed to such intense high temperatures.

『A… AA…』

Flame Demons swarmed just beyond the barrier the knights had created. The knights’ barrier completely prevented their intrusion. Naturally, it also blocked their scorching bodies, capable of melting iron. Because of this, the knights’ bodies weren’t being burned directly.

However, the Flame Demons weren’t just burning the knights.

They were burning the very space around them. And that heat was tormenting the knights.

“I want to tell you not to whine… but this is indeed tough,” the senior knight next to him groaned. As knights, they were fully encased in armor, which now felt like a steaming bath inside. The armor was supposed to be engraved with 【Adaptation】 magic to optimize their bodies for various environments, but the magical effect was being overwhelmed.

“My head’s spinning. This can’t be good, can it…!?” one knight asked anxiously.

“Yeah, it’s bad. I know that. But…!” his comrade replied, trailing off.

They couldn’t leave their posts. The more they retreated, the closer the Flame Demons would advance. If the encirclement of Flame Demons filling the Sky Garden tightened, even more intense heat would assail them.

Yet they couldn’t use replacement personnel either. After all, they had just retreated half a period ago. If they disrupted the rotation schedule and increased the burden on some knights, everything would fall apart. If that happened, it would be over.

They had no choice but to endure. But this couldn’t last long.

“Can’t the adventurers do something about this?!” a rookie knight exclaimed.

“They are. Look,” the senior knight suddenly jerked his chin upward. The new knight looked up.

It was the same pitch-black sky they’d seen since the 【Sun-Devouring】 began, with not a single star in sight. Far above, the Dungeon of Sin, Proudia floated, blocked by the Solar Aegis, with underling dragons dancing around it. It was a nauseating sight to behold.

Through that darkness, a dazzling white flash of light raced across the sky.

“【Thunderclap】”

The 【Lightning Empress】 descended. Simultaneously, the surrounding 【Flame Demons】 were scattered in an instant.

“Whoa!!?”

The knight caught a glimpse of the empress’s figure as she fell with the lightning. The black and gold-clad woman was breathtakingly beautiful, even in this dire situation.

Ikaza then rushed past them, seemingly destroying the Flame Demons gathered around the barrier one after another.

“…No wonder the adventurers are so devoted to her,” a knight muttered in awe.

“Is this the time to be gawking?! Everyone, drink your recovery potions! Restore your condition before the demons revive!!!” the senior knight barked out orders. Even as he spoke, the shattered fragments of the Flame Demons were slowly coalescing again.

“We’ll hold out until headquarters comes up with a strategy!! Fulfill your duty as the shield of the Wise Heavenly King!!”

“Sir, yes sir!!!” the knights shouted, trying to rally their spirits.

However, it was an undeniable fact that the heat emanating from the Flame Demons was draining their strength at an alarming rate.

                    ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

Of course, Knight Captain Victor understood this reality all too well.

This situation was extremely dire. After all, even the headquarters was feeling the heat.

While it was still better than the hell the knights at the barrier were enduring as they directly prevented the Flame Demons’ intrusion, even the knights who had returned for supplies and the adventurers couldn’t properly rest. Just lying down caused sweat to pour out and their strength to be sapped continuously.

Due to the severe toll on the injured, they had set up partial barriers for temperature control. However, the constant exposure to high temperatures was draining magical power rapidly. A fundamental solution was essential.

“We must deal with this while Ikaza-dono can still move,” one officer stated.

“But how? Even with her efforts, the Flame Demons are reviving each other. Half-hearted counterattacks will only waste our strength,” another argued.

“Then we have no choice but to annihilate them all at once,” a third suggested.

“Easy for you to say…” someone grumbled.

They understood that this was indeed the only solution. But it was precisely a case of “if we could do that, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” If there was someone who could do what even the gold-ranked Ikaza couldn’t, it would be—

“I’ll go,” a voice suddenly declared.

The entire strategic headquarters was shocked as Sua appeared unexpectedly during their meeting.

“Sua-sama!” someone exclaimed.

“Gather them. I’ll return them,” Sua stated cryptically.

“That’s…!” Victor began, but before he could confirm, Sua had already strode back to the center of Babel, to the Wise Heavenly King’s side. The priests, knights, and adventurers all gaped, trying to understand her words.

Victor cleared his throat and clarified, “So, we’re to lure the Flame Demons and gather them in one place, is that it?”

“Presumably…” a priest agreed.

An adventurer scratched his head and grumbled quietly, “Couldn’t she, you know, explain it a bit more clearly?”

“Watch your tongue, that’s disrespectful. There are things you shouldn’t say even if they’re true,” another chided.

Despite the banter, they began formulating a strategy based on Sua’s suggestion.

“The Flame Demons seem to have sacrificed speed for their invincibility and firepower. We should be able to herd them just by physically pushing them,” one noted.

“Shall we use the reserve barrier units to push them?”

“No, we don’t know when or where a wall might fail in this heat. We need to keep replacement personnel on standby.”

“Let’s allocate some Sun Knights. They can blast those creatures from a distance.”

Victor rejected some ideas and reconsidered others. They couldn’t go all out yet, as they needed to think ahead. Efficiency was key.

“In that case, we’ll help too,” a new voice chimed in. It was Ur of【The Walkers】. The smell of singed flesh suggested he’d just escaped from a skirmish with the 【Flame Demons】.

“Hey, brat, what surprising gizmo are you going to pull out this time?” an adventurer asked teasingly.

“You caught on quickly,” Shizuku, the silver-haired adventurer next to him, nodded appreciatively.

The teasing adventurer frowned. “Wait, you’re seriously going to use something weird?”

“Yep, something weird. I’m preparing it now. But first, I need to confirm something,” Ur said, looking around. Spotting what he was searching for, he pointed at the knights’ spare equipment and asked:

“Can I borrow the barrier unit’s 【shield】?”

                    ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

【Lightning Empress】 Ikaza was still fighting on the frontlines outside the barrier.

“【Thunderclap】”

She swept away the Flame Demons with a single strike. While the Flame Demons had near-immortal regenerative abilities, shattering them completely could significantly delay their recovery.

“Getting old is really not something to look forward to…” she muttered to herself.

Naturally, such thorough destruction took its toll on her stamina. The area outside the barrier had already become a scorching hell. Sweat poured out with the slightest movement. She could still fight, but there was no time to dawdle.

In her younger days, she could have pushed through on sheer willpower without a second thought. But now, considerations of what came next slowed her steps slightly. Recognizing this fact as a sign of aging, Ikaza laughed self-deprecatingly.

“Teacher, let me help,” came a voice as the 【White Sea’s Ripple】’s Begude and his party approached. Despite wielding a thin sword suited to his small stature, with a single swing, he shattered the Flame Demons around Ikaza into tiny pieces. While not as lethal as Ikaza’s attacks, it would certainly slow their recovery.

“Ikaza-sama! Take this!” one of Begude’s subordinates called out.

“Ah, much appreciated,” Ikaza replied, taking a moment to drink the offered recovery potion. She then turned to Begude and asked, “Has a strategy been decided for this situation?”

“The plan is to gather them in one place and annihilate them all with 【Heavenly Prayer】’s power,” Begude explained.

Ikaza groaned at this. “Sua-sama is as vague as ever. What’s the plan for gathering them?”

“They’re forming mixed units of adventurers, knight mage corps, and Sun Knights with the【Blessing of the Wind】 and the【Water Spirit】’s abilities,” Begude replied.

“Quite elaborate, but we can’t leave a single one. Shall we move as well?”

“Yes… hm?” Begude tilted his head, turning around. Ikaza did the same. A strange, large presence was approaching from the direction of the barrier—

『HAHAHAHAHAHA-!!!!!』

And soon enough, it arrived.

In a word, it was a massive pile of bones. It resembled a carriage, but without horses, somehow galloping on its own. Instead of horses, giant “bone hands” extended out, gripping the knights’ “shields” in both hands, deploying a barrier as it raced along.

『HAAAAHHAHAHAHA!! This is fun!!!』

“Watch out! Even bones will crumble if they burn!!” someone shouted.

『AAAA…』

The Flame Demons were being forcibly gathered, pushed by the deployed shield barrier. It was a reckless method, like sweeping dust with a dustpan, but it was undeniably moving the Flame Demons.

“Rock!! Message from Shizuku! Looks like we missed some on the front left side!!” Ur yelled from atop the bone contraption.

『Alright, let’s go!!』

Ur, riding on top of this tank-like structure, shouted directions here and there as they sped past Ikaza’s group, moving to collect the missed Flame Demons.

“…What on earth is that?” one of the members of【White Sea’s Ripple】 muttered.

Unsurprisingly, no one present could answer that question. Even Ikaza, a legendary veteran adventurer, had never seen such an bizarre contraption.

“I told them to stand down if they couldn’t help…” Begude grumbled, frowning.

Ikaza laughed. “So they went to prepare something useful and came back, is that it?”

“And that preparation resulted in… that,” Begude sighed, looking pained.

Ikaza laughed even more. “You seem to be enjoying this, teacher…” Begude observed.

“It’s fun to watch people who go all out,” Ikaza replied.

“I’d rather the young ones didn’t imitate such recklessness… right?” Begude glanced back at his subordinates, who had been seriously considering “how that thing moves” moments ago. They nodded desperately. Begude let out another sigh.

“You don’t like them?” Ikaza asked.

“They’re reckless, dangerous, and attention-seeking. How would you feel if your child said they wanted to be like them?”

“Haha, I’d certainly rather they didn’t,” Ikaza chuckled, then readied her sword again. The Sky Garden was vast. There were still many Flame Demons that Ur’s team had missed. It was far beyond what they alone could cover.

“Shall we blast these burning remnants to the designated point?” Ikaza suggested.

“I’ll assist you,” Begude agreed.

Soon after, the sound of thunderous explosions and sword strikes echoed throughout the Sky Garden.

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The operation to guide the Flame Demons proceeded swiftly.

Spirits’ powers blasted them away, mages froze them, warriors shattered them to pieces, and then they were blown away again. The strange bone chariot scooped up any stragglers or remnants. Gradually, the heat subsided.

Though they couldn’t let their guard down due to attacks from other monsters, the barrier unit could finally catch their breath.

And then,

“Flame Demons have gathered in the southeast sector!” Shizuku shouted, confirming the 【Footprints in Fresh Snow】. But even before she spoke, everyone in the command center could see the result with their own eyes. In the southeast, countless Flame Demons had gathered, swelling up like a single gigantic flame.

While the overall temperature rise had stopped, this was a formidable threat in itself.

Victor turned around. “Sua-sama!!”

Sua, standing next to the Wise Heavenly King, gave a small nod and suddenly vanished from the spot.

Teleportation magic. It was immediately clear where she’d gone. A white light appeared above the massive ball of fire formed by the gathered Flame Demons.

“【Fire Spirit Faranan】【Wind Spirit Fynellian】”

Her voice wasn’t loud. It was like the soft chime of a bell. Yet it reached the ears of everyone in the Sky Garden.

Ruby and emerald lights ignited around the white light.

“【Water Spirit Fisherain】【Earth Spirit Urigandin】”

Sapphire and Amber lights ignited.

The four lights circled around the central white light, accelerating to form a halo.

“【Four Sources, Unite As One】”

The rising flames below wavered violently. Having sensed the threat from above, the Flame Demons reached upward with terrifying speed, using themselves as footholds. They writhed, trying to eliminate the white light.

But it was too late.

“【Annihilating Light of the Four Conquests】”

The halo released its light.

An aurora that momentarily outshone even the wicked demons’ flames slowly engulfed all the fire, erasing it from the edges inward. It was silent. It was closer to annihilation than destruction, and all who witnessed this merciless, unstoppable attack held their breath.

Soon after, the light subsided. Simultaneously, all traces of the demons had vanished without a trace.

“We did it!! As expected of Sua-sama!!” a Sun Knight shouted. Other warriors followed with cheers.

Of course, the situation wasn’t over yet, but it was a cheer for achieving one victory, and for being reminded of the formidable power of the Seven Heavens fighting alongside them.

“Warriors. Stand tall. All the spirits and the Sun God are with us,” Sua’s voice echoed again.

The warriors were about to raise another cheer praising the 【Heavenly Prayer】—

『A—–HA』

—when they witnessed that white light being engulfed by something pitch black.