Escape From a Deserted Island With Enemy Female Soldiers

114 – Awakening (7)

I wasn’t cut out for the military. That rigid, top-down culture was a real turn-off. The fact that I managed to get along as an officer during wartime was mostly thanks to Admiral Dietz.

The Admiral comforted me from day one after I got assigned to the front lines. He cared for soldiers and officers equally, and was a compassionate and virtuous man.

I came to respect him in an instant.

But I never imagined that there would come a moment when that same Admiral would make me so damn uncomfortable.

“You look worse than I thought.”

As if to answer the Admiral’s words, thunder rumbled from my stomach.

“Damn. The monsters not feeding you?”

“No, sir.”

“The hell you say ‘no.’ Your face is all gaunt.”

The fact that the Magic Kingdom was in cahoots with the Demon Lord’s army was already known. In that situation, Admiral Dietz appeared before my eyes. What that meant was obvious.

“Care to grab a bite to eat?”

The Admiral asked casually. I refused and retorted.

“…Before that, isn’t there something you need to say first?”

“Ah, right. That’s right.”

The Admiral saluted and continued.

“Congratulations on your return to the unit, Lieutenant Colonel Ronstein.”

*

Afterward, I asked him directly, but I didn’t hear anything meaningful. The Admiral avoided answering, offering various excuses.

His amiable demeanor was the Admiral I knew. If you excluded the fact that he was with the Demon Lord’s army, there was nothing strange about him.

I asked the Major if she had any suspicions, but she just shook her head.

“I know all the names of the Eight Heroes’ core members. The name Abraham Dietz wasn’t among them. Who exactly is that guy….”

Friend or foe?

That’s the hardest thing to judge. In truth, it could be just a hair’s breadth difference. Human relationships don’t flow so simplistically, do they?

Yesterday’s enemy can become today’s comrade, and today’s nemesis can become tomorrow’s lover.

“If you ever feel like having a meal, just let me know.”

In any case, the Admiral treated us humanely. If he was in league with the Vampire Princess, it could be a ‘carrot and stick’ strategy. That’s why I didn’t let my guard down even more.

And that night.

While training as usual, Salvira showed her face for the first time in a while.

[“My disciple, it seems you have met with your superior.”]

[“Just what in the hell is going on?”]

[“The Admiral is with us. But he’s not part of the Demon Lord’s army, nor is he affiliated with the Eight Shadows.”]

For the record, the Eight Shadows turned out to be a coven of black mages who extended a hand to the remnants of the Demon Lord’s army, who had been in hiding. Apparently, their goal is the descent of a Demon God, and judging by the context, this Demon God seems to refer to the Demon Lord’s soul.

[“He’s a man of many questions, that one. Even so, because of him, we were able to drastically shorten the time it takes to prepare the ritual.”]

[“In what way?”]

[“Before that, let me ask you something. Were you respecting that man?”]

I didn’t rush to answer. Salbira’s upper and lower eyelids simultaneously avoided my gaze.

[“…Let’s postpone this conversation for later.”]

[“No, I’d like you to tell me.”]

[“I’m afraid you’ll be hurt.”]

[“Even so, I’m curious.”]

[“Disciple.”]

Salbira sighed.

[“You’re still in training. I don’t want you to receive an unnecessary shock and lose your concentration. And you mustn’t waste energy on useless thoughts.”]

Then, Salbira added that she was sorry for needlessly piquing my curiosity.

Fine, sometimes ignorance is bliss. I decided not to dig any deeper.

In any case, everything will be revealed once the war is over and the nation is normalized.

Anyway.

The result of enduring hunger and entering the fourth week was astonishing. I had achieved a mana level that was in the top tier even by Laron Academy undergraduate standards.

My heart swelled with emotion, but it’s too early to celebrate just yet.

The real deal starts now.

[“I’ll show you the procedure.”]

Salbira put down the test mana stone. She remotely manipulated one of them, transforming it into a thread-like texture.

[“Now, return it to its original form.”]

[“How… how am I supposed to do that?”]

[“You must learn it yourself if you wish to stand on the same level as this teacher.”]

It was a difficult problem. Turning something that wasn’t a stone back into a stone. It was like trying to separate paint-infused water back into paint and water.

Salbira’s advice followed. Use as little mana as possible, think and act as if you’ve become one with nature, discard all existing common sense – all of it was abstract and hard to grasp.

It was an excessively harsh training for me, who had learned magic through mathematics-based theories.

I exhausted all the knowledge I had studied for hours, concentrating with every fiber, but it wasn’t enough. As the deadline approached, my anxiety only grew, without yielding any meaningful results.

Am I really this inadequate? After studying so hard, after training like a madman?

[“Don’t be so impatient. There’s a saying, ‘the more hurried you are, the further you must go around.'”]

[“I know. I know, but… Master, there isn’t much time left. Those kids might die any minute now…”]

[“It’s alright. It’s alright, so even out your breathing and clear your mind. Trust your body’s senses over theory. Even if you know the principle of buoyancy, you don’t know if you can swim until you enter the water, do you?”]

Perhaps it was because I was hungry, but despite Salbira’s repeated advice, I ultimately failed to grasp the procedure. In the end, all I gained was more mana.

Even this was a great achievement, but thinking that there was a higher level, I couldn’t help but feel ambitious.

One way or another, the final day of the ritual was approaching.

The question of whether I could fight and defeat that vampire constantly nagged at me, until Commander Adora’s words gave me a little courage.

“It’ll work out somehow, Lieutenant.”

It’ll work out somehow, huh.

Isn’t that much better than a careless “It’ll be alright”?

Yeah. People are about momentum. Let’s just figure it out. Even if I haven’t reached the pinnacle, I’m going out there without losing my nerve.

And so came the final day of the ritual.

The time of the grand sacrifice for the Demon King’s resurrection approached.

*

Admiral Abraham Dietz waited with a dozen or so officers. Flanking him on both sides were dozens of heavily armed special forces soldiers.

The Admiral took out a pocket watch from his breast pocket.

He pressed a button. *Click,* the capsule opened, revealing a photograph inside. An officer affiliated with the Palyeong Society, standing nearby, peered over.

“Is that your daughter?”

“A picture taken when she was young. It’s already been 20 years.”

Time flies so fast, the Admiral muttered.

“Still, if we finish this thing, I can go home. I’d love to be able to play with my daughter after so long…”

“Hey, if it’s been 20 years, she’s gotta be more than an adult by now, right?”

“I suppose so.”

“By any chance, haven’t you seen her in a long time?”

“A long time. Been busy with a lot of things.”

The officer who had initiated the conversation sensed something was off.

No matter how busy you are, the war’s only been going on for 3 years. Even if this is a remote area, not seeing your family for 20 years straight doesn’t add up.

The officer caught on and didn’t pry any further.

The Admiral checked the time and put the pocket watch away. At his single gesture, the special forces who were ready began to move with perfect precision.

*

The closed-door training was over.

Commander Adora and I enjoyed a feast for the first time in almost a month. Even while eating, the food wouldn’t go down smoothly.

“What happened to the Holy Nation prisoners?”

“Why do you care about those guys?”

“I was just wondering if they’re eating properly.”

Admiral Dietz sighed.

“You haven’t changed. You barely have enough time to worry about our own men, yet you’re thinking about the enemy’s well-being? I’ve said it before… you have too much pity.”

That was the only thing the Admiral ever pointed out about me. That I was too kind. That I needed to learn to be cold sometimes. That I needed to prioritize practicality over compassion.

I didn’t understand back then why the Admiral, who was known throughout the entire unit for his good character, was saying those things. He was a compassionate person himself.

Maybe that’s where the difference between me and the Admiral lies.

“How does the soup of our homeland taste, after so long?”

“It’s delicious.”

Maybe it’s because it’s been so long, but it’s palatable. But on the other hand, it’s empty. It felt like what I was doing now wasn’t a delightful meal, but a mechanical intake.

“…I want to eat Tiria’s stew.”

I murmured softly in the Holy Nation language.

After finishing the meal, our hands were bound by Salbira’s spun web.

[“Follow me, vermin.”]

When Salbira gives the signal, the threads will loosen, and the basic plan is to take advantage of that opportunity to keep the Blood Countess in check while collapsing the altar. Of course, if things go wrong or the situation flows in an unexpected direction, we’ll have to use other methods…

Thinking about this and that as I walked, I made eye contact with three female soldiers being dragged along, tightly bound by spiderwebs. Without a doubt, it was the Valkyrie squad.

The Valkyrie stared, eyes wide; the Saintess, with pity; the fox sisters, faces impassive, all fixed on me.

“My dears, the time has finally come. You’re about to witness a moment of glory.”

The vampire hummed a little tune, tugging at the ropes binding the Holy Nation’s female soldiers. As she did, she began to unravel a story she’d clearly been wanting to share, meticulously rearranged in her head. Some of it was deeply shocking, deeply unsettling.

“Take a look at this map.”

The vampire pointed to a large world map hanging on the corridor wall.

“See the marks made with blood? The sacrifices made to revive the Supreme Being weren’t just these few, you know.”

Connecting the dots on the map with my eyes, a consistent pattern emerged.

The symbol of the Eight Shadows Assembly, a cult of mages: the ‘Silver Ring.’

Now I get it, more or less. These lunatics painted a magic circle on the Holy Nation’s lands and seas with human blood. They sacrificed countless lives for the single purpose of resurrecting their lord.

The moment that dawned on me, I could naturally infer the truth of the suffering Rachel and the fox sisters had endured in their childhoods.

“Everything you’ve fought for, the interesting incidents that have taken place all over the Ascalia continent before that, the disappearances and massacres of the beastfolk, all of it, all of it was groundwork for our Demon Lord’s return!”

Rachel’s village was burned down in arson set by an unidentified mage cult.

The fox sisters were kidnapped by the Eight Shadows Assembly and subjected to horrific vivisections, one of them losing her physical body in the process.

“Could it be, all the unexplained incidents that have been occurring in the Holy Nation…?”

The Saintess seemed to have realized it too. She raised her voice, even abandoning honorifics.

“Blasphemous! How could you commit such terrible acts! What did the people who lost their families do to deserve this! What about those struggling because of war!”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right. They did nothing. But what’s that got to do with me?”

“…What?”

“I don’t care how pathetic you humans are. A lower species that’s born and dies, riddled with disease, in less than a century. Why not just be handled like docile livestock?”

“Livestock? You can just spout out such trash…!”

“Hey, c’mon. What’s so trashy about this? You humans do it too. You raise and slaughter pigs, cows, chickens, all that, and you offer sacrifices when you pray for good luck. We’re just doing the same damn thing, so why’s it okay for you and not for us?”

“We only do it to survive. Not to do evil things like you.”

“Such eloquent bullshit.”

The vampire just sneered down at the Saintess.

“So, when I needed human blood and drank it, what did you do? Say, ‘Well, it’s for survival, what can you do!’? No, you called us incarnations of evil and launched a massive extermination campaign. Do you know how many of my comrades died because of that?”

The Saintess’s lips tightened. The vampire, sensing victory, pressed on.

“One thing’s for sure, Saintess. Humans and us demons can’t share the same sky. Because that’s the law of nature. Your precious Goddesses molded the world this way, so we gotta follow, right?”

“Indeed, there’s a certain logic to your words. Bat girl.”

“……Huh?”

Someone’s blocking the entrance to the altar.

Mage Kingdom officers.

A heavily armed unit, not there before, now guarded the Admiral like a personal guard. Their chests and shoulders bore a crossed staff and pistol insignia.

A symbol she’d never seen before.

The Major muttered, flustered.

“The National Intelligence Agency Special Operations Unit… why are they here?”

Click, click, click.

The Special Operations Unit’s gun barrels all targeted the vampire. The Vampire Princess scowled, speaking in an annoyed tone.

“What the hell is this all about, Admiral Dietz?”

“Just as you said a moment ago. Humans and demon vermin can’t share the same sky. Different habits, different values. In that case, shouldn’t one side disappear?”

“You lowly things… we were just being nice, and now you betray us?”

“Is there a damn problem with me boiling down my own hunting dogs for a health boost?”

“Huh? Look at these b*stards? Who the hell do you think you owe for succeeding with necromancy, acting so ungrateful like this?”

The vampire’s forehead was bulging with blood vessels. But she didn’t have time to rush at Admiral Dietz. The sound of gunfire erupted the instant the Admiral finished speaking.

“Ghk…”

The vampire, hit by dozens of bullets in an instant, vomited a mouthful of blood.

“What… is this…”

“Silver bullets, smuggled in from the Holy Spirit Empire and made with their holy artifacts. There’s no better medicine for a good-for-nothing bat who makes a habit of sucking other people’s blood, wouldn’t you agree? Rest in peace.”

While everyone else wore bewildered expressions, I alone calmly grasped the situation.

This flow, it’s definitely unexpected.

But if I play my cards right, I can grab an easy win.