C102: A King’s Murmur – Sequel

I am Genesis the 18th, king of the human race.

Sluuuuurp.

Squeezed fish juice is so good.
Fish goes to waste when being transported to the inland capitals, so only its extract is sent to preserve its taste.

It stinks, but it’s worth it.
It’s a luxurious item that peasants will never get to know of.

Such is a noble’s taste!
You’re jealous that a king like me can have this every day, aren’t you?

“Your Majesty, we have trouble!”

What’s the matter, servant?
Even if you make a fuss, I still won’t share my fish juice with you.

“I will never drink something so nasty even if I was ordered to! That aside, we have more pressing matters! We just received a message from the border!”

An urgent message?

“The Demon Kingdom gathered its troops and is headed this way to invade us!!!”

WHAT?!

…Why? Why?!
Why are they pressing forward when we’ve been keeping still this whole time?!
There must be some kind of misunderstanding here. Are you sure they weren’t just preparing for some festival?

…No?
Everyone was armed?

I see…
What a pity.

We have no choice. We’re intercepting them!
Dispatch our men at once!

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. The generals are returning to their territories along with their troops as we speak.”

What?!

“Calling them back now would take some time…”

Why are they going home on their own accord?!
Despicable! No one should leave without asking permission from me first!

“With all due respect, but it was Your Majesty who ordered to temporarily dissolve the army and to cease all plans to invade the Demon Kingdom until Saint Kidan is found.”

Huh?
I did?

“Yes, Your Majesty. It has been quite a while since they returned to their territories, thus they grabbed this opportunity to return at once. They said that there are a lot of matters that need to be dealt within their respective territories, including appeasing their people. “

They actually said that?!
Tsk, what a bunch of goody-two-shoes.

“…In other news, no information has come from the search party.”

I see.
If only we had Saint Kidan as one of my retainers, exterminating the entire demon race would be easy.

Tsk, everyone is so useless.
However, don’t think the human race will lose here! For we, the superior race chosen by the god of the heavens, have been granted multiple layers of divine protection!

And one of them is a sacred thaumaturgical spell called the Sacred Barrier!

Let me explain!
Sacred Barrier a magical spell that creates a huge border enclosing the entire Human Kingdom by borrowing power from Zeus, the god who reigns the heavens!

With this barrier, we can enter and exit our borders as we wish, while the demons are sent flying away, unable to penetrate through!
It’s because of this barrier that our kingdom has never been invaded by the demon race for the past thousand years!
Those fools won’t see what’s coming their way!!!

“But casting the spell will use up a lot of our natural mana, and there’s a theory that has been floating around saying the land within the Human Kingdom is going chronically infertile…”

Hush!
That’s no more than a mere theory!
What’s a small piece of infertile land to protect the entire kingdom from the demons’ threats?!

Anyway, those dimwits must have forgotten that they’ve had so many failed attempts of invasion because of the Sacred Barrier!

Fools never learn from history!
All right! Gather all the troops that you can!

We’ll deal a heavy blow on their army after they’re thwarted by our barrier!!!

“Your Majesty.”

Yeah? What is it?

“The Sacred Barrier has been shattered.”

…
…Huh?

WHAAAAAAAAAT?!

Why?! How?!
Isn’t the Sacred Barrier supposed to be invincible?!

“According to reports from the frontlines, there are two female generals leading their army. We have confirmed their identities to be two of the Heavenly Four—Astres the Wild and Glasya the Malicious.”

Hm?

“When the aura from their swords came in contact with the Sacred Barrier, it immediately shattered into a million pieces!”

Say what?!
Contact the church and tell them to put up a new Sacred Barrier!

“We have sent a messenger to inform them. But they said the Sacred Barrier is a large-scale magic that was invoked thousands of years ago and has been cast numerous times without encountering any obstacles. Its maintenance aside, the reactivation ritual for at has long been forgotten.”

I can’t even rely on the church at a time like this!
They would always extort an outrageous donation from us, yet they can’t even preserve the technique Zeus has given them?!

Unforgivable!
Once this is all over, I’m calling all of them to court!

“Your Majesty, I’m afraid that opportunity will never come.”

Ngh?!

“The demon army has already reached the capital. We have no one stationed there, it’ll be terribly difficult to last until the generals arrive.”

For a servant, you sure are handling this entire situation calmly.
So? What do you suggest we do?

“According to the demon messenger that arrived, the Demon King intends to dissolve our nation while our status as a race still remains.”

Ngh…

“They said that if we present Your Majesty and everyone involved with the church, the safety of the civilians will be guaranteed. They swore by their god, Hades, that they will keep their word.”

If they’re going to swear to someone, swear to Zeus instead.
…However, there’s no longer any way around this.

I, king of the human race, will do the last thing I can.
If offering my life means saving my people, then I’ll gladly do it.

“Your Majesty! Acting cool during your last moments like that…!”

Don’t waste your tears on me, servant.
Well then, let us go with dignity to the king who will slay me.