Magical Forces Commander Reina.
And four direct-subordinate squad members. Codenames Fox, Rabbit, Kitty, and Piggy.
Among them, Fox and Rabbit were elites who had assisted Reina for a long time, but Kitty and Piggy were new recruits assigned to Reina's party for this deployment to Crossroad.
Of course, even as newcomers, they were part of the Magical Forces.
Like a magic wand swayed by the needs of the Imperial Family, they had been involved in large-scale slaughter without batting an eye.
Because it was their duty.
Because it was an order from their country.
That's why they could set up a sacrificial magic circle capable of annihilating tens of thousands of city residents in an instant without any emotional wavering.
"...Huh?"
"...Gasp!"
However, at that moment, Kitty and Piggy spat out strange noises in bewilderment.
They had been caught in the act by civilians.
A sniper from the front lines named Damien and a red-headed young man with a limp in one leg.
Upon recognizing them, Kitty and Piggy quickly exchanged glances.
'Weren't evacuations complete?! There shouldn't be anyone left in the city, right?'
'How should I know? This sort of thing always happens during operations anyway!'
Unexpected situations always occurred.
And for those who witnessed such activities, there was only one way to respond.
'Silence them by killing them!'
Without hesitation, Kitty and Piggy simultaneously unleashed their magic spells.
Naturally, their target was Damien.
They were aware of Damien's prowess as an exceptional sniper.
Leaving the red-headed man with an apparent limp alone, it was logical to first deal with the more dangerous Damien.
"I'm sorry, Sniper!"
"No personal feelings—!"
The magic spells shot by the two mages rushed towards Damien.
Damien just stood there, his round eyes wide open, mumbling something like 'Huh?'
***
"If Your Highness cannot make an accurate judgment... then I have no choice but to decide on my own."
Standing in front of me, Reina said so while lifting a finger towards the switch she held.
"..."
My mouth had gone dry.
An accurate judgment? They want me to make an accurate judgment?
Is that accurate judgment to annihilate Crossroad to save the world?
"It will take approximately one hour from the preparation of the magic to its activation. To press this switch, it must be done now."
"..."
"Do you find it difficult to make an accurate judgment, Your Highness? In that case."
Reina's finger began to apply pressure.
I couldn't help but yell.
"Reina, wait—"
But Reina didn't press the switch. Instead,
Whoosh.
She threw it at me.
"...?"
Confused, I caught the switch and looked at Reina with a bewildered expression. What's going on?
Reina gave a bitter smile.
"Then force the issue, Your Highness."
"What?"
"What a soldier like me needs is a cool judgment. But what a leader like you need is the willpower to force an issue."
"..."
"Even if the path before you is a narrow and steep cliff, and everyone advises against crossing it, it is your job to stubbornly lay down a bridge and lead the people across."
I didn't fully understand this crazy mage, but,
"Your Highness, what would you like to do?"
I knew what he was trying to say.
With a snap, I tossed the switch away from Jormungandr's body.
The switch flew far and shattered upon hitting the ground.
"This is my decision, Commander Reina."
"..."
"I'm carrying out the operation. I won't give up on Crossroad or the world. I'll protect them both."
I spat the words out.
"This was my path from the beginning."
From the moment I entered this world, my path had been a lone one.
No other options existed.
"Thank you, Your Highness. You've cleared up the doubts in my mind," Reina said, her empty hands clasping and then opening again as she smiled and nodded at me.
"Then let's hurry and channel the last of our power to destroy that final vertebra!"
I nodded and started walking toward the vertebra, Reina following behind me. I asked her, "Why did you do this, Commander Reina?"
If Reina had decided, she could have safely activated the shutdown protocol to get rid of Jormungandr.
Or even if she decided not to activate it, there was no need to inform me of the existence of this magic.
She could have kept it a secret.
But Reina had revealed the magic's existence to me, passed the decision-making to me, and then let me destroy it.
I was grateful, but why?
"Well, maybe I'm getting old," Reina responded vaguely.
"I guess I've grown tired of warming the empire with firepower that burns innocent people."
Reina's eyes were on Junior, who was lying next to the vertebra, resting.
Junior, with her head on Evangeline's knee, was breathing shallowly, her face pale.
With an emotionless expression, Reina looked down at the young magician as if she were contemplating the mistakes of her past.
"I want to prove that the empire can be protected in other ways."
"..."
"Let's go, Your Highness. We're out of time. Even rest is now a luxury."
Reina was absolutely right.
Click-click-click!
The final 10 percent of the part destruction gauge.
The vertebra, buffed with hardening, was repelling every drill bit.
The Penal Squad was yelling in pain and frustration, while Kellibey was fixing the drill next to me, his hands covered in blood.
"Lucas, Evangeline, join the field."
As if they had been waiting for the command, Lucas and Evangeline stood up.
Reina, holding up a groggy Junior, grinned faintly.
"Come on, get up, Jupiter's daughter. That horn has been our responsibility from the start, right? Our team of magicians should be the ones to finish it off."
"...You're not telling me to use 'Elemental Disassembly' again, are you? If so, I'll die..."
"You won't die, you won't."
Holding onto Junior's shoulders, Reina murmured as if reassuring herself.
"I will never let you die. Not on my watch."
***
Central Square of Crossroad.
Kitty and Piggy were subdued.
With clear fist marks on their cheeks and jaws, their bodies wrapped in ropes, they were kneeling on the ground.
"How dare you fire magic at your friend, magic!"
Kureha was standing in front of them, scolding.
"Shooting magic at each other like that, you think that's okay?"
"..."
"You going to answer? Yes or no?"
"Ah, it's not okay..."
"I'm sorry..."
Witnessing this scene, Damien was sweating bullets. Kureha nodded his head and continued speaking.
"You're all about the same age as my younger brother, so let's be friendly. Understand?"
"..."
"..."
When the two mages remained silent, Kureha clenched his fist in the air.
"Understood?!"
"Y-Yes, understood!"
"Be friendly! We're friends!"
"Good. Now, apologize to each other and make up."
"I-I'm sorry, Sniper!"
"Sorry for sending magic your way!"
The two mages bowed their heads in apology.
'I never saw that coming...'
With a cloudy gaze, Damien looked at Kureha.
This guy, who appeared to be the most sane, was just as crazy as everyone else in this town...
"It doesn't sit well with me when kids are tossing around dangerous spells like this. They're all like my brother."
"If by brother you mean... Bandit King Kuilan?"
"Yeah. Just another cute kid."
No, your brother is over 6 feet tall with muscles thicker than bricks...
'Does he find that hulking frame cute because it's his brother...?'
Breaking into a cold sweat, Damien suddenly noticed Kureha's right arm.
The skinny fingers were spasming.
Moments before, when the two mages had shot their magic at Damien, Kureha had stepped in. With only his right fist, he deflected both spells and in one swift move subdued the mages by striking their chins.
Immediately after that.
Crumble, crumble.
His right arm began to wither like an old rock, and the flesh and muscle disintegrated into dust.
Once the dust had settled, all that was left was a shriveled right arm, not unlike his twisted left leg.
"...Ah. Don't worry about it. No need to be concerned."
Noticing Damien's gaze, Kureha calmly pulled down his sleeve to cover his right arm.
"I'm 'cursed', you see."
"Cursed...?"
"Whenever I use my strength, a part of my body turns into a mummy. It's just a silly curse."
It was far from silly, but Kureha lifted his index finger to his lips and smiled.
"Let's keep today's incident a secret from others. My brother would scold me."
"..."
"Anyway, what were you two mages doing here?"
As Kureha turned back with a sharp look in his eyes, the two mages jumped in surprise.
"W-We were just preparing for a worst-case scenario!"
"We were only acting for the benefit of the Empire and the Imperial Family!"
Damien furrowed his brows.
"A worst-case scenario?"
"In case the attack force that just left fails to stop Jormungandr...!"
"That's why we were preparing to return through the teleport gate for Plan B, but you two stopped us! Now there's no Plan B!"
Just then,
Rumble, rumble...
The ground began to tremor faintly.
Both Damien and Kureha flinched, while Kitty and Piggy started hopping around.
"Whoa, Jormungandr is here!"
"The ground is rumbling! He must be really close by now!"
"What happens if the operation fails?! What do we do if it fails?"
"We're all dead meat!"
Ignoring the noisy chattering of Kitty and Piggy, Damien turned to Kureha.
"Let's go up to the ramparts. We need to assess the situation."
***
As the four reached the top of the fortifications, they saw soldiers who had formed the last line of defense.
Cannons and ballistae, along with various artifacts, were loaded and ready to fire.
But the expressions on the soldiers' faces were grim.
They already knew that the colossal monster approaching from afar wouldn't be significantly harmed by any of it.
Roarrrr...!
From the southern plains, a gigantic serpent was advancing, raising clouds of dust and reverberating roars as it moved.
"It's... it's getting closer."
Unconsciously, Damien mumbled. Kitty and Piggy clung to each other, screaming.
"See! The giant snake is still not stopping! I told you we needed our magic!"
"It's the end, the end for us all! We're going to die!"
At their noisy complaints, Kureha clenched her fist. The two mages immediately shut up.
"Damien!"
Just then, Lilly hurried over from the artifact firing station, pulling a wheelchair behind her.
"Do you have any idea how long the Saintess has been looking for you? What are you doing here?"
"Lilly."
Damien looked at Lilly with a stern face.
"...Bring me my gun."
"What?"
"If I have [Black Queen], I can stop that snake!"
Lilly hesitated, stuttering.
"The Crown Prince and the assault team are still in the middle of the operation. We can stop it when it comes into firing range. We have cannons, too..."
"You know that won't be enough, Lilly!"
"..."
"If I hold the gun, it'll be a sufficient safeguard. You know my skills!"
"..."
"Lilly!"
If Lilly gave the [Black Queen] to Damien, there was a risk he could shoot at their own troops. In the worst case, he could even annihilate everyone on the ramparts.
Despite receiving orders not to give it back to him—
Roarrrrrrrr—!
The intimidating presence of the enormous Jormungandr, which was now dangerously close, seemed a greater threat than any friendly fire.
Lilly shouted to the alchemist team.
"Get Damien's magic gun, now!"
And then—
The magic gun, enveloped in a dark aura, was handed over to Damien.
"..."
Slowly, Damien reached out both his hands towards the [Black Queen].