Episode 43: Thus Spoke the Emperor ⑨ ~Snow Falls on the Burning Imperial Capital~

"Uwwoooooooooooooooooooooo! ! "

　I squeezed my voice from the bottom of my stomach, strengthened my body, and put all my strength into it, but it didn't budge. ……Right now, I was completely immobilized, with the Devil holding me in a bear hug from behind, unable to move a muscle. The body of the Devil restraining me should be soft and feminine, but even with all my strength, I cannot shake her off.

"I am in charge of watching over the Celestial Knight―――The Queen of Ice and Snow staked her life on this wish, so I cannot ignore it."

"Setsu-chan, that girl was shot. ―――I have to go help her right away. That child is undoubtedly Irene's daughter! ! How can I just stand here and watch that? I'm going―――"

　The devil quietly shook her head at my cry.

"It's too late, the Queen of Ice and Snow has been destroyed. ……She is no longer anywhere in this world. In human terms, she died."

　―――『Died』.

　Those words weighed heavily on me, and I felt the strength drain from my legs. With my body pinned like that, I was barely able to stand with the Devil supporting me from behind.

"……I couldn't protect them again. I, couldn't…… I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't…! ! WHY―――"

　What use is being the Celestial Knight, of what use is having the evil sword. I failed again. This time, I thought I had made it in time in the city of Irene, but what I thought I had protected slipped through my fingers.
　Why am I so powerless……!? !

"Ah-ahhhh, uh-ughhhhhhhhh! ! "

　I'm being held down by the Devil, so I can't even wipe away my tears. How pathetic, how miserable. Then, the Devil buried her face in the back of my head.

"This was just me being selfish. Please blame me."

　……There's no way I could ever blame you.
　It's because I'm weak that Setsu-chan protected me and sent me away.
　That's why the Devil is trying to stop me from leaving, so that I won't die.
　So there's no way I'd blame anyone else.

　It's all my fault. What I can't forgive is my own weakness.
　It's frustrating... I thought I had obtained the power to defeat the calamities by obtaining the evil sword, and that I had become as powerful as Al, but I still can't do as well as Al. I'm not a hero, I'm just a Celestial Knight, so to put it in clichéd terms, I couldn't become a “hero” who can make the impossible possible.
　And so, with my eyes closed and my lips clenched, I trembled with regret and disappointment―――Then, feeling a cold sensation on my cheek, I opened my eyes.

"……Snow."

　The cloudy sky was suddenly lit up by an aurora, and small snowflakes began to fall. It feels like Setsu-chan is saying goodbye, and I can't stop crying.

"……It's okay, Celestial Knight――――“They” have arrived.
　The Queen of Ice and Snow made a final gamble: at the moment she returned to the world, she opened the Gate of Aurora and summoned “them” who had scattered throughout the world into this land."

　Feeling something unusual in the Devil's words, I looked up at the sky again, and a huge white whale, as big as an airship, appeared, cutting through the snow-filled clouds.

『Gwooooooooooooooooooooooo.』

　With a roar like an earthquake, the flying white whale rammed into the flying boat.

"Here they come, Celestial Knight. The Gate of Aurora is the Queen of Ice and Snow's secret weapon, opening a door that connects spaces through the light of the aurora. 'They', who were scattered throughout the world, answered the Queen of Ice and Snow’s prayer."

　While vaguely hearing the voice of the Devil, I couldn't take my eyes off the scene.
　The flying ship that was hit head-on also deployed a barrier to stop it, but it was unable to withstand the impact and was blown away.
　While spinning in midair, they are moving their sails to regain their balance.
　Is the position of the ship being controlled by the phosphorescent light emitted from the sails?
But just as they managed to recover, lightning struck from the sky, destroying the barrier. The deck, now defenseless, was mercilessly struck by lightning, and the soldiers on deck were blown to pieces like blood bags.
　Looking closely, an old man with a thick beard was flying through the air, waving his cane and raining thunderbolts down on the flying ship.
　On the other hand, a huge snake-like creature emerged from a river flowing near the empire――― A sea dragon with fins emerged and blew compressed water from its mouth, piercing the side of the airship.
　The flying ship attempted to fight back with its remaining secondary guns, but many of them were destroyed by Setsu-chan, so it took a long time to get into position and it was unable to counterattack the sea dragon.
　The white whale approached the airship, which was full of gaps, but the airship also deployed barriers again in the direction of the white whale's charge and tried to stop it somehow.
　The barrier, which was not in perfect condition and only partially deployed, barely withstood the white whale's charge, but before anyone knew it, a six-armed warrior standing at the tip of the white whale's snout leaped into the air and sliced the airship's sails to shreds.
　Perhaps the warrior also saw how the sail was used to control the boat's position after the initial collision.
　Having lost its sails, the airship began to drift aimlessly through the sky, unable to control its position…… The cries of confusion and despair from the surviving crew members could be heard even here.
　Meanwhile, the warrior who cut the sail landed on the deck and was annihilating the surviving soldiers.
　The soldiers on the deck bravely attacked with guns and swords, but the warrior was overwhelmingly stronger. With each swing of his sword, he cut off several heads and bodies, and with each thrust of his spear, he impaled several soldiers at once.
　The soldiers lost their will to fight and fled in panic, but there was nowhere to escape on a ship floating in the air.

　―――And from beyond the aurora, a cavalryman riding on a six-legged horse came galloping, its hooves clattering.

　A thin single-edged sword―――He swung such sword-like object, passing by and cutting the airship's bridge in half horizontally.
　……Ah, so he beheaded the emperor.
　The fierce sword technique that cut the people inside the ship's cabin in half was so impressive that even I, a swordsman, couldn't help but stare in awe.
　I watched blankly as the overwhelming force ravaged them, but then a lightning strike to the rear seemed to knock out the engines, and a huge fire erupted from the rear of the ship.
　The flying ship, which the empire was proud of for defeating numerous calamities, crashed into the imperial capital like a ghost ship drifting in a stormy sea, and disappeared in a pillar of fire.

　―――From then on, it was one-sided destruction.

　I had seen the scene of monsters led by a calamity attacking a city in the kingdom, but now a group of calamities was unleashing their power on the imperial capital.
　Amidst the heavy snowfall, you could hear the screams of people running away.
　The white whale lunged toward the ground, crushing the city and its people.
　The old man's thunderbolts struck and exploded, and the waves swept through the city.
　Soldiers with skill and presumably renowned warriors armed themselves and challenged the six-armed warrior, but they were defeated one after another.
　And the horseman who cut off the emperor's head just stared intently at the scene.
　It was as if everyone, young and old, male and female, good and evil, were equally reduced to ashes―――
　Although they did not speak, the relentless and fierce attacks of the calamities conveyed their intense anger. Once they confirmed that the imperial capital had been completely destroyed, the calamities left the scene, leaving behind nothing but scorched earth. In just a few moments, the empire disappeared from this world without a trace, leaving nothing behind.

"……So this is the end of the empire?"

　It was too sudden to mark the end of an empire that had lasted for hundreds, even thousands of years, and I muttered unconsciously, but no one responded to my words except for the sound of Falty's breathing as she lay at my feet.　

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