< Mad Emperor POV >
Falken Dotzine Mira Dia Ordzit.
The Mad Emperor Zine looked out over the area from atop a hill.
He was looking at a cloud of dust in the distance.
Horses were moving in herds.
It was probably Alion’s cavalry that he heard about.
Looking as if he remembered something, the blowing wind shook Zine’s golden hair.
Two tufts of his hair were reaching his knees.
They were———– fluttered with the wind.
It was a pleasant breeze.
[Your Majesty.]
The one who called out from behind him was Wright Mira.
AD
He is Zine’s half-brother.
He is also Mira’s general and strategic commander-in-chief.
[I’ve just received a report that our forces in Fort Zord have fallen.]
[What about the Magic Knights?]
[It seems that they have retreated, seeing that they are no match for our Brilliant Squadron.]
[Will they be alright even without you over there?]
[They wouldn’t be in any problem for the time being. As Your Majesty knows, we have many excellent generals in our army.]
[That’s the result of their daily training huh.]
[Yes.]
[What about the reinforcements from Alion that I’ve heard about?]
[They haven’t arrived yet.]
[Luck was on our side in the Zord invasion huh. However, it will be troublesome if the people who fought at the Anti-Demon White Castle come there. They’re people who survived death after all.]
[I’ve instructed them to abandon the Zord fort and retreat only if the S-Rank Heroes appeared.]
S-Rank Hero.
Hijiri Takao and Takuto Kirihara.
The two of them are said to have made the Great Demon Emperor retreat on the eastern battlefield.
And then————- There’s Ayaka Sogou, who had taken down one of Great Demon Emperor’s Confidants.
She was apparently being called with the alias “Human-Faced Killer”.
[Do you wish to make any changes in their orders?]
[There is no need to make any changes at this time. Rather than that matter…… It was important to discuss what we foresee in the fights going on in our region.]
Zine’s eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to determine something.
[Currently, most of our Brilliant Squadron were facing against Urza…… but we could have some of them march back here.]
[No, there is also no need for that. Even if Alion’s Thirteen Cavalry were here, as per the information we received, I don’t think there would be that many formidable opponents.]
[The toughest opponent would definitely be the Sixth Cavalry huh.]
[Especially their Captain, John Doe.]
[Yes.]
[However, this may also be an opportunity for our Mira. It seems that the people of the Faraway Country have come out. Now then……]
Zine puts her hand on the bottom of the hilt of the sacred sword at his waist.
[As for what we, including myself, should do from here on out———— I guess it’s time to move some of my pieces forward.]
Hearing Zine’s words, Wright looked like he was hesitating.
However, as if he had made up his mind, he spoke soon after.
[I will be by Your Majesty’s side to protect you. Even if it costs me my life, but…… Please ensure your own safety above all else.]
Hearing his brother’s words, Zine turned around and looked at him with his clear blue eyes.
Smiling towards him with his eyes, he responded.
[Naturally. This Mad Emperor has no intention of joining hands with death yet. Besides, Wright…… we now have powerful allies on our side.]
On Zine’s right side…
A person stands a few distance away.
From atop the hill, she was gazing at the battlefield that was getting increasingly turbulent.
[Isn’t that right?]
His expression returning to normal, Zine called out to the person gazing into the distance.
[Asagi Ikusaba.]
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This marks the end of Volume 7. Thank you for sticking with me until the end of Volume 7.
Volume 7: “The Faraway Country Arc” felt like a volume where all the camps were finally starting to move. At the end, it seemed that not only the Mad Emperor, but even Asagi started to move. In the Afterword of Volume 6, I wrote “It looks like there’s going to be movement in various places”, so for the time being, I wonder if I successfully advanced the planned progress……?
Also, Volume 7 was somewhat different from the other volumes. This time, it was difficult to say that the simple solutions of “killing/erasing opponents” or “crushing everyone on his path” were the best, so Touka was looking for a different approach.
So, in Volume 7, I felt that things were starting to move in various places, but the following Volume 8 would be quite irregular…… Looking at it in a different way, it could even be described as a volume in response to what happened in Volume 7.
Volume 8 will start with the usual Intermission Chapters. Once the Intermission Chapter is over, I’ll announce the date for the start of Volume 8.
I’d also like to thank all those who gave me feedback, reviews, bookmarks, and rating points during the serialization of Volume 7. The response was amazing, especially after Liese’s appearance…… I wonder what will happen to her in Volume 8? I’m also very happy to have received many other nice comments such as “interesting” and “I like this character”. Likewise, I’ve received so many reviews as well…… I’m grateful to everyone for reading it. I’m also grateful to all of you who quietly bookmarked and left points for me in Volume 7. (Calculating it may look like…… It always makes me happy when I see my points increase after an update.)
I feel very fortunate to have the support of everyone for both the Web Novel and Light Novel. I will continue to do my best so that everyone can enjoy “Hazure Waku” even more. (Following the announcement of the release of Volume 7 in the previous chapter, I apologize for the long afterword as usual……)
I’ll see you again in Volume 8. Once again, thank you very much.