Clad in light armour that balanced mobility and defence, with a bow strapped to her back, she was clearly a ranged combatant. She, Holone, had been assigned to Evan as a secretary of sorts.
Seeing her incredulous expression, Evan raised an eyebrow.
"I'm being serious right now. Do you guys have any place like that? It's very important."
"…I'll have to check to know if there are any zones like that," she replied, clearly still caught off guard by the unexpected question.
"Okay, cool. Do that after this battle." He nodded before continuing. "Now then, what was it you wanted to say again?"
"Ah!"
Holone immediately snapped back to her senses and began her report.
"From what was reported to Central Command, the army currently attacking is led by an Infernal Devil Vice-Commander, identified as 'Titan Fist' Ukath."
"Ooh, the title sounds cool," Evan commented.
She paused momentarily, then took a deep breath before continuing. "He's leading an army that's roughly 1.5 times larger than the average force for a Vice-Commander at his level. Alongside him is a battalion of Vanguards of Trifid. The Elders have requested that you eliminate the Vanguards of Trifid as quickly as possible to minimise casualties on our side."
They moved up the stairs as she spoke, and soon they reached the command room where the city's military higher-ups, the City Lord, and a number of other officials were gathered around a table. A detailed map had been spread out on the table, complete with tactical markers—those symbolic pieces used to indicate troop positions and movements.
Some officials were holding communication devices and shouting orders, while others were engaged in intense discussions. When Evan's group stepped in, they were initially met with confusion, until the gathered spirits recognised who he was, having been briefed a few days earlier.
Evan, however, didn't spare them a glance as he walked around the table, heading straight for the balcony that overlooked the entire hillside city. Smoke from battle fires rose into the sky and streaks of magic tore through the air as the spirits shot down airborne devils.
"Sir Evan?"
Holone called after him, but Evan raised a hand to cut her off and said, "Hold on for a second. I want to see what these Vanguards of Trifid look like for myself."
His words made her blink in confusion. "But we're over fifty kilometres away."
Indeed, they were situated atop the hill around which the 100 km² city had been built, and since the main enemy forces had yet to breach the city's outer walls, there was still more than 50 kilometres of distance separating them from the Vanguards.
But to her words, Evan simply turned, the golden symbol of his Mystic Eyes lighting up as he responded, "I have very good eyesight."
With that, he stepped out onto the balcony and rested a hand on the railing. Activating Farsight, he zoomed past the chaotic skirmishes on the terraces and city walls, and into the ranks of the invading devil army.
There, a particular group immediately caught his attention, radiating energy that pricked at his senses. Creation law energy, in considerable abundance.
"These Vanguards of Trifid…" Evan muttered aloud, "They're basically humanoid golems."
Artemisia and Beatrix, walking in beside him, each held up a pair of binoculars, and upon seeing the same thing, nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, they're golems all right. Though they still have branches and leaves sticking out of them," Beatrix remarked.
"And their faces…they're oddly detailed," Artemisia added
"Probably the faces of whoever they were before being turned into Vanguards of Trifid. Still, the fact that they can't be fully killed unless taken out with destruction energy means Trifid must be paying some heavy price to give them that ability."
To Evan's assumption, Artemisia pondered for a moment before responding.
"Maybe it's a Geass of some sort. In exchange for heavy resistance to all other forms of law energy, they become even more vulnerable to destruction, their original weakness."
"Hmm, that sounds about right," Evan nodded. "Anyway, I've seen all I need to."
He deactivated Farsight and turned to face the spirits gathered behind him. "Hello, everyone. Nice to meet you. My name's Evan, the destruction guy your elders contracted to deal with those walking golems outside your city."
He stepped back into the command room, sweeping his gaze across the officers. "If I'm not mistaken, your elders asked me to eliminate them as quickly as possible to prevent further casualties among your forces. Unfortunately, that's not going to be possible if your troops are still tangled up in combat with them, since my attacks are a little…too destructive."
Upon hearing this, the commander of the city's armed forces instantly understood what he was implying.
"You… you want us to pull our forces back?"
"Glad you're quick on the uptake," Evan replied with a nod. "Have your troops fall back behind the city and activate those magic barriers you've got installed on them."
Just as Evan finished speaking, Danger Sense suddenly blared an alarm in his head, and simultaneously, the communication devices of the military commanders in front of him began ringing.
They accepted the incoming transmissions, and loud voices immediately shouted through the static.
[The Vanguards of Trifid are making a move!]
[Vanguards approaching fast!]
[T-they're coming!! They're coming straight for us—huh? What the hell are they doing?!]
Feeling the absurd spike of creation law energy in the distance, Evan cursed.
"Fuck… they noticed me."
While the others around him were still trying to make sense of the situation, Evan turned, raised his right hand, and activated Stout Guardian.
"Artemisia, buff. Beatrix, enhance my barrier, please."
The two girls responded without a word. Artemisia activated her Unique Skill, applying a series of buffs onto Evan, amplifying his durability, which the durability of his Stout Guardian scaled off, while Beatrix used her spatial power to reinforce the Stout Guardian's shield.
Barely a second later, the Vanguards of Trifid, who had all simultaneously turned their gazes toward the hilltop building, ignored the devils' commands and pooled their creation law energy, unleashing a concentrated beam of white death that tore through the air, aimed at Evan's location.
**BOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion rocked the hillside, and the entire hill trembled under the force of the impact. The beam struck the projected shield of the Stout Guardian, punching straight through it with a loud crack, before smashing into the armoured body of the knight-shaped construct.
The body cracked and groaned under the pressure, but it held, successfully shielding the command building from destruction.
Evan immediately turned towards the shocked commander and spoke
"The Vanguards of Trifid have detected my existence and are trying to eliminate me since I am a walking mass of their one weakness."
As he spoke, he released his magic power, mixing it with the ambient law energy and saturating the surroundings with an oppressive pressure. His Intimidation skill activated in tandem with BoD, and the pressure had the city lord and other non-combatant officials nearly buckling, sweat pouring down their faces, while the expressions of the military officers grew grim.
They all instantly understood that even though they were over 30 levels higher than he was, Evan's power was no less than theirs.
"Get your forces out of there. nOw.¬|
A slight static accompanied Evan's voice, his words laced with law energy he'd unconsciously infused into his tongue.
Noticing this, Artemisia narrowed her eyes.
'It happened again. And weirdly enough, Evan doesn't seem to realise it himself.'
It wasn't the first time something like this had happened, where Evan, while speaking, would unknowingly infuse law energy into his tongue, and the result would be a distorted, static-laced faux True Voice.
It had even happened before, back on Aidos, long before Evan had any idea that he was the reincarnation of a Race King.
And just like before, Evan didn't seem to find anything strange about it. As if, just as he subconsciously infused the law energy into his words, he was also subconsciously treating the act itself as normal.
Still, Artemisia didn't dwell on the thought for long. Now wasn't the time.
Evan had already turned, his Mystic Eyes glowing as multiple skills activated simultaneously. She layered even more buffs on top of the ones she had already placed on him, boosting the strength of whatever he was about to do next.
Meanwhile, the Spirit Army commanders exchanged uncertain glances, wary of the risks involved in issuing a retreat during active combat, even one that led behind fortified walls.
But one of them quickly grabbed his communication device, activated it, and barked urgent commands, ordering every spirit engaged with the Vanguards to fall back immediately and retreat behind the city's defensive walls before they were caught in whatever Evan was about to unleash.
Artemisia and Beatrix followed Evan out onto the balcony, and just as the spirits inside were about to turn more questions in Evan's direction, they suddenly saw Beatrix pull out chairs from her inventory, handing one to Artemisia before sitting down on one herself.
The unexpected scene made Holone blink in confusion, prompting her to ask, "Wait, what? Why are you two sitting down?"
She had assumed that the two girls were about to join Evan in the battle, but they clearly had no intention of doing so.
Even Evan, whom they expected to leap off the balcony and charge into the fray, remained where he was, gazing across the battlefield as if simply waiting for the spirits to finish retreating before making his move.
At this, Beatrix turned toward Holone and asked, "Well, these Vanguards of Trifid aren't like the main one, right? They don't have flame resistance, do they?"