Chapter 32……………………………………………………
War (2)
“No, Sir Leon! What was that?!”
“What.”
A group of knights came rushing toward Leon, who was sitting inside the tent sharpening his sword. Every one of them wore an excited expression.
“Did you leave the order and go through some special training or something? I was seriously shocked!”
“Me too! That huge demon just got sliced clean in half by your sword… I honestly thought I was dreaming.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“No, I’m not! Every time you swung, flames burst out and everything. Toward the end, it felt like the demons were dodging on their own!”
Leon glanced at the honed edge of his blade, replying just enough to satisfy their noise.
“Honestly, in this plains battle, you were the most noticeable one. While the rest of us were moving in formation, you were flying around on your own. I almost wanted to follow you.”
“And did you see the vice-captain of the Fourth Order? When you charged ahead, he looked completely flustered. Not gonna lie… it was kind of satisfying.”
“Seriously. If I’d known it would turn out like this, I would’ve left the order too and come back as a special knight.”
“Hey!”
Another knight smacked the man hard on the back for blurting that out.
They began bickering among themselves, but Leon didn’t particularly feel offended.
Because, in truth… the tactless fool wasn’t entirely wrong.
The immense magical power he had gained through his deal with Lowell—
It was strength he never would have obtained if he had remained an ordinary knight.
So Leon stayed silent, simply watching them chatter.
That was when, through the open flap of the tent, Leon noticed Agnes and Aria speaking quietly.
Aria was staring down at a sheet of paper, her expression grave.
Without meaning to, Leon recalled the battle at dawn.
Yesterday morning, Leon had pushed forward alone.
It wasn’t intentional—his magical range was simply so wide that in trying not to overlap with the others, he had gradually ended up at the very front.
Without realizing it, he became the one leading the assault.
Maybe that was why, even in the chaos, Aria had been able to reach him so easily.
“Ugh…!”
An arrow flew toward Leon as he swung his sword, grazing past his cheek.
Dark smoke rose from the air where it passed—an attack infused with magic.
“Damn it.”
A burning sensation flared, and Leon cursed under his breath.
His eyes sharpened as he scanned the battlefield for the archer.
“…?”
Then something unexpected happened.
Aria was suddenly beside him, placing her hand against his cheek and using healing magic.
A cool fragrance spread through the air, and Leon instinctively leaned back.
“Treat it later. Right now—”
Feeling the murderous energy surging around them, Leon irritably pushed her hand away.
“No. Treat it now.”
Aria didn’t retreat even a step, stubbornly meeting his gaze.
“…What?”
“Don’t get hurt.”
With that, she withdrew her cold stare and stepped back.
After that, every time Leon was injured, Aria would appear from somewhere.
And Leon began to find it increasingly bothersome.
His fighting style was to push through unless the wound was fatal—
Her healing only got in the way.
Leon lifted his hand from the cheek Aria had healed, pulling himself out of his thoughts.
Just then, Agnes bowed to Aria and entered the commanders’ tent.
Leon had a feeling he knew what they had been discussing… and what Agnes was about to bring up inside.
Something was definitely strange.
He murmured internally.
Leon’s outstanding performance in yesterday’s battle was partly due to his strengthened magic…
But it was also because the demon army had moved without structure.
They were large in number, but their command system was sloppy. Their attacks were far too uniform.
For a knight order that had come prepared for a major war, it was baffling.
This war had too many suspicious elements.
* * *
“I want to go home.”
A few days later, in the evening, a knight sat staring blankly at the burning logs, arms wrapped around himself as he complained.
“Same.”
“What is this, some kind of punishment for people without lovers?”
Several days had passed since the first battle, yet the front lines hadn’t moved at all.
The demon army remained focused on defending inside the boundary, while the knights attempted to break through.
A strange balance persisted.
Because of that, the days were almost peaceful—hardly believable for wartime.
In the past few days, there hadn’t been anything more than minor clashes.
Perhaps because of that, knights had started occasionally bringing their lovers into the camp.
With the tension eased, they wanted to see the people they missed.
“Can’t they just go meet them themselves? This isn’t some marketplace.”
“How would a knight leave the battlefield? It’s better to summon them briefly with magic. Besides, it’s tradition.”
“Tradition?”
“Apparently it started as a way for lovers to say goodbye before death.”
“What? How did something so meaningful turn into a dating plaza?”
“I don’t know. Hey, Sir Leon, aren’t you calling your wife?”
“…What?”
The topic suddenly shifted to Leon, who had been leaning quietly nearby.
“You haven’t been married long, right? You came to war during the time you should be inseparable. Don’t you miss her?”
“That’s enough.”
Leon answered flatly, without even looking.
“If you have any sense at all, you don’t bring someone you cherish to a battlefield.”
The knights beside him let out impressed sounds.
“Ooh…”
Then—
“Sir Leon!”
A suddenly high voice rang out.
The admiration turned into confused noises.
Everyone’s eyes shifted toward a black-haired woman running toward them, waving her hand.
“…You?”
Leon froze.
It was Lowell, grinning brightly in front of him.
“I came—oh?”
But she didn’t finish.
Leon immediately grabbed her and dragged her into the tent.
The other knights were left behind, only having caught a glimpse of who the person Leon “cherished” was.
“…What was that?”
“What do you think? Sir Leon’s still a man, that’s what.”
They grumbled as the tent flap fell shut.
* * *
“You—why are you here?”
Leon shoved Lowell against the wall, breathing sharply just inches from her face.
“Huh? I came to destroy the regression magic circle. That’s what I’ve been practicing for.”
Lowell blinked innocently.
“What?”
“But why didn’t you tell me you could summon me here? If I’d known civilians could come to the battlefield, I would’ve followed you from the start and stayed by the lady’s side!”
“You…”
“I practiced properly! Now I succeed seven times out of ten. And I heard the war situation is leaning—”
Lowell began rambling rapidly about everything she’d learned.
Leon cut her off, irritation replacing the brief worry he’d felt.
“Are you insane? In this situation, you want to go alone to find demons and destroy the magic circle? That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“Then if I don’t do it… who will save the lady?”
Leon’s deliberate silence made Lowell realize it anew.
“If I earn more merit in this war, I can gain the imperial family’s trust. Then I can go to the temple and speak about regression and destroy the circle—”
“That’ll be too late.”
Lowell’s voice sharpened.
“I told you why the lady joined this war. She intends to disappear here.”
“….”
“If we wait until the war ends… and she vanishes forever, just as she wishes?”
“So what? You, who just started learning magic, want to face that demon again? And I’m supposed to just watch?”
“Yes.”
Lowell didn’t back down at all.
“Just watch. Because I have to go save her.”
“You think the young lady will thank you? If you get hurt trying to save her, you think she’ll be happy?”
Leon ran a hand through his hair, feeling his blood pressure spike.
His tone had grown harsh, but he had no room to care.
“Even if she resents me, I don’t care. If I can save her, I’ll do anything.”
“Aren’t you afraid of confronting demons?”
“The only thing I’m afraid of is losing her and having everything fail!”
Lowell finally shouted, her voice tight and trembling.
Her hands shook, though she didn’t know whether it was anger… or hurt from not being understood.
“Then what about us being married…?”
Leon asked, staring down at her.
Lowell cut him off, looking him straight in the eyes.
“Our marriage doesn’t mean anything.”
“…What?”
“I heard. You’ve already achieved so much in this war. You got what you wanted, so none of this matters anymore, right?”
“But I haven’t forgotten what you said to me.”
“Yes. You have.”
Their gazes locked.
They were close enough to feel each other’s heat.
“We’re bound by a contract. Without that, there is no ‘us.’ So don’t interfere.”
“I’m going to save the lady. That was always my goal.”
Leon stared down at her.
Their heated breaths tangled together, emotions swirling violently.
For a moment, a question flashed through Leon’s mind—
Then why did we share kisses… why did we comfort each other at all?
A contract didn’t require that.
But Leon couldn’t speak further.
Maybe it was Lowell’s trembling breath…
Or the tears gathering in her eyes…
That made him feel something he couldn’t name.
* * *
“Are you leaving now?”
A demon cloaked in black looked upward.
Under the crimson moon, the man standing above slowly turned his gaze.
“…I know it’s too late to say this now, but…”
As the man’s wings began to spread, the demon continued.
“Do you truly believe there is no chance that she has been reborn as someone else? That woman who became the axis of time… When I saw her, not only her scent, but even her appearance resembled her so much—”
“Be silent.”
The man’s cold voice cut him off.
“The only reason she became the axis of time is because that body carried her scent. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
Clear fury was embedded in his tone.
“…Yes. I spoke out of turn.”
The cloaked demon bowed deeply.
Tap.
The man leapt from the height.
Behind him, crimson wings fully unfurled—
A vivid red against the pitch-black sky.
The lord of the demons moved.
