The old saying holds true: experience is a blade that never dulls.
And women? Same applies, perhaps even more so. Kaguya's near-supernatural intuition had caught Shin off guard more than once already.
Luckily, after Shin offered a rough, somewhat fumbled explanation, Kaguya chose not to press further — and Marika raised no objection to his request, approving his [Boundary-Breaking Talisman] application.
The Lands Between were chaotic enough as it was. One extra outsider wasn't going to matter.
A month had passed, and the situation in the Lands Between had shifted considerably. Marika needed someone to keep an eye on things for her.
And so Shin set off for the Lands Between again — this time, for Trina's sleep nectar.
His capabilities and condition now were worlds apart from his last visit — as were, naturally, his appearance and identity.
Caelid. The Altus Plateau.
The Caelid of Radahn's era had not yet been consumed by the crimson rot that would one day become synonymous with the region's desolation. If anything, the vivid vitality of the land surpassed even Liurnia. The sky, too, was not the blood-red despair it would one day become — it was a sky of cold, clashing steel-light.
On this land, the fief of the Starscourge General, two great armies that had marched together as allies to lay siege to Leyndell just days prior now stood locked in a deathly standoff.
Banners of opposing houses snapped in the wind that swept across the open field.
The heavy crunch of the Redmane Knights' armor, the cold scrape of the Cleanrot Knights' plating — the prelude to blood and fire sweeping across the earth.
Two demigods — one bearing the name Undefeated, the other The Mightiest — faced each other here.
"General Radahn. This is a final ultimatum on behalf of my liege."
At the center of the field, Finlay — Knight Commander of the Cleanrot Knights — rested her hand on the hilt of her blade, her voice tight and hollow beneath her helmet.
(Legendary Ash of War, the Cleanrot Knight who carried Millicent home in the original story.)
Before her stood a figure like a small mountain —
Starscourge Radahn.
That massive frame, incongruously perched atop the small horse named Leonard, held a pair of colossal greatswords wreathed in crackling, gravity-infused black-violet lightning. Even in silence, even without moving, the very air around him seemed to compress and solidify under the sheer weight of his gravitational pull.
"Lord Miquella has gone missing during the campaign. All evidence points to Caelid in the south."
Finlay held her ground against the suffocating pressure that radiated from the demigod known as The Mightiest, and stated her terms clearly:
"Hand over Lord Miquella — or permit us to enter Caelid and search for his whereabouts. If you comply, my liege will overlook your betrayal of the alliance. If not, you will answer for it."
"Preposterous."
Radahn's voice rolled out like thunder through stormclouds.
"Even in my hunger for battle, I would never stoop to abducting a child. Has Malenia's proud sword grown dull with her blind devotion?"
"If Malenia wants a fight — then I will give her a fight!"
His words were answered by the roar of thousands upon thousands of Redmane soldiers behind him, their battle cry shaking the very stones from the earth.
"TO WAR—!"
The air in the field turned absolutely lethal.
And then, at that precise moment, an energy appeared — from nowhere, from everywhere, arriving from outside.
A figure materialized seemingly from thin air. Their face was unreadable at this distance, but the aura of blood emanating from them carried the crushing, primal dominance of something at the very top of the food chain.
Ordinary soldiers and horses felt it all at once — the gut-level, instinctive terror of a rabbit cornered by a lion. As though a supreme predator had just stepped onto the battlefield.
For those with stronger senses, the recognition came more clearly —
A Great Rune.
An aura that could only belong to a demigod. Just like Malenia and Radahn — this newcomer, too, perhaps carried the blood of that exalted lineage.
"Who is that?"
"Look — someone — someone actually dared to step into the battle between the General and the Valkyrie!"
The sudden arrival brought the tension between both armies grinding to a halt. There, in the no man's land between the two forces — standing directly in the sight lines of both Radahn and Malenia — a figure had appeared from nowhere.
"Wait… that person is —?"
"That red hair, that face — why does it remind me of General Radahn somehow?"
A girl with vivid, striking red hair stood alone in the field.
The Great Rune radiating from her carried the unmistakable pressure of demigod blood, and no one was naive enough to think that hair — an exact match for Starscourge Radahn's — was a coincidence.
"L-Lady… Ranni? No, that's not right — the face is different…"
"Then who is she…?"
Some of the older Redmane veterans were puzzled, and they looked back toward Radahn — watching to see how their general would react.
As for Radahn himself — still perched on Leonard — he appeared to have completely short-circuited.
The towering demigod seemed to be running a full mental inventory, trying to determine whether he had, in fact, had an unmet sibling somewhere along the way.
"Radahn. Malenia. Listen well."
"I come by the order of my mother — no, my father — to put a stop to this pointless conflict."
"Answer me — are you searching for the divine being known as Miquella?"
To be continued…
Advance 50 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus