After meeting Hadem, I returned and went straight to meet Sharen. Although I made a choice for the sake of the territory and its People, I ultimately decided to treat my vassal as a weapon. I thought it was a Lord's courtesy to his vassal to be clear about this. It might be an excuse, but I really tried! That crazy bastard is the one making a fuss!! “Sharen, it has come to this. I must ask you to lend me your strength, for the people of the territory and for myself.” Sharen listened intently to my story until the end. Then she quietly opened her mouth. “It’s alright, My Lord. I understand everything.” She gave a calm smile. She looked as if she already knew everything, even without me saying a word. “I understand that your Lordship is working hard for the people, and that you hesitated to use my power until the very last moment.” She stood up, holding her red staff. Then, a storm of immense magic power began to rise, so powerful that even I, who possessed no magic or Blessing, could feel it. Wow... Even a Mage like this gets attacked by bandits once every two days when traveling? Those bandits out there must have about nine lives each. “And it is because you are such a Lord that I decided to become your vassal.” She politely knelt before me. It was the formal gesture a vassal makes to their Lord. “Give your order, My Lord. Red Mage Sharen is ready.” She, in her own way, had steeled her resolve and become my and our family’s Mage. If so, it was time for me, as a beloved Lord, to meet those expectations. “Sharen! Burn all those monsters that have invaded our territory to ashes!!” At my words, Sharen lifted her head and met my eyes. Her glowing red eyes shone more fiercely and beautifully than when I had seen them in the game. “Understood, my Lord.” As Sharen accepted my order, I was able to begin the 『Monsters and Lions』 operation, hunting Deep Rock while keeping the Lion Family in check. Now! It’s time to show them what we can do!! * The first to sense the anomaly was the Lion Family. Lagos, Lord Hadem’s right-hand man, was smoking while stationed at the borderline when he witnessed it. “The knights... are increasing?” Hadem’s order was to invade Crome’s territory the moment an opening appeared. And Lagos had been scouting for days, looking for that opening. If knights were moved to hunt monsters, it seemed the Lion Family’s knights could easily charge through that gap and occupy the territory. But that opening began to disappear as knights were quickly deployed to fill it. “If they deploy knights like that, how do they plan to deal with the Deep Rock?” Lagos had participated in a Deep Rock subjugation in the past. Therefore, he knew they were by no means an easy opponent and believed Crome would have to commit its full war power to defeat them. As Lagos was thinking this, he saw two figures riding towards them from the Crome Family’s side. One was a white-haired girl, and the other a Knight guarding her. The girl who reached him spoke, unintimidated. “Hello. I am ‘Noah,’ a vassal of Lord Callix. I have come to deliver a present sent by the Lord to Lord Hadem.” “A present?” “Yes!” Noah took out a small box. Inside were black glasses to protect the eyes. “The Lord sent this gift, saying another sun might rise today, so it would be best to protect Lord Hadem’s eyes with this.” “I see. Understood. I will deliver it to the Lord.” “Yes! Then, I shall take my leave.” With those words, Noah turned back. Lagos felt he understood somewhat the message Crome was trying to convey. It seemed he was warning them that Red Mage Sharen’s magic was so powerful that such preparations were necessary. However, Lagos had fought mages a few times and seen high-level magic before. It was certainly impressive, but he didn’t feel it was so extraordinary as to require glasses like these. “Still, just in case.” Lagos’s motto was ‘As long as I can survive, that’s enough.’ He valued survival above all else, and his efforts to survive had borne fruit, bringing him to his current position. He quietly took one pair of black glasses from the box and returned to Lord Hadem. * Near the Rage Coast, where the Deep Rock horde was emerging, a scene of hell was already unfolding. “Aoowook-!!!” “Aook!!!!” The disgustingly shaped Deep Rock monsters, with fish heads and limbs, were clustered in groups of dozens. They were attacking and devouring fish, cattle, pigs, chickens, other livestock, and animals like rabbits and foxes near the coast. “Truly disgusting.” “Indeed, My Lord.” Watching from a distant hill, Hart and I grimaced and spoke. Ugh, how can they be so repulsive? I like sashimi, but seeing that, I don’t think I’ll be able to eat sashimi for a while. As we were watching, a soldier ran up and said, “Preparations are complete, My Lord!” “Good, well done.” At the soldier’s word that preparations were complete, I mounted my horse. Then I felt the gazes of the knights and soldiers below the hill turn towards me. They were waiting for my order. Their eyes were full of fighting spirit, yet also held a hint of fear. It was understandable. Since the main force was deployed to the borderline to contain the Lion Family, the number of soldiers was very small, less than 10% of the Deep Rock monsters. If they faced a frontal confrontation like this, all the humans were certain to be slaughtered. Feeling that fear, I took a deep breath and steeled my resolve. Then I stepped before everyone and shouted so that all could hear. “Everyone must be afraid!!!” At my words, everyone’s gaze focused on me. As the Lord of Crome, responsible for proposing and commanding this operation, I spoke. “They are too many, and we are few. On top of that, those hyenas in lion’s skin behind us are waiting for an opportunity to bare their fangs at us.” The people here were elite soldiers from the Crome Knights. So they knew the situation better than anyone. But knowing and overcoming were two different things. For people to summon courage, they needed a message that resonated deep within their hearts. In a word, they needed a 『boost』!![TL] "뽕 (ppong)" is a Korean slang term that can mean a "high" or "rush" often associated with drugs, but in this context, it refers to a surge of morale, hype, or fighting spirit, often induced by an inspiring speech or event. [/TL] “But we must overcome!!!” I thought of my past life. Recalling the numerous war stories I had encountered in my past life, I said the words that would give them the biggest boost. “If we fall, our families and friends will be in danger. Our land will be ravaged by those fish bastards and lion scumbags!!” I pointed towards the territory and the border. I reminded them of what they had to protect and the enemies there. “The only ones who can stop that are us, here and now!!” I could feel the eyes of the knights and soldiers gradually igniting. A boost was welling up in their hearts. Now, let’s end it. “Even so, when you are afraid, do not forget that I, the Silver Dragon of Crome, am behind you!! For Crome!!!” I recently found out that I’m apparently called the Silver Dragon of Crome. Honestly, I don’t want a nickname that increases hostility like that. But now I had to use everything I could. At my words, as if their boost had exploded, the knights and soldiers began to shout. “For Crome!!” “For the Lord!!!” “We will be victorious!!!” “Uwooooooooh!!!!!!!” It seemed like they were ready to charge at the Deep Rock at any moment. Hmm... It's good that morale is high, but I hope they haven't forgotten that this battle is a luring operation... “Then, we will now begin 『Operation Deep Rock Annihilation』!!!” “Let’s go!!! It’s time to castrate those fish bastards!!”[TL] "거시기 (geosigi)" is a vague pronoun often used euphemistically for genitals or private parts, or just something unspecified. Given the context, it's a crude way of saying "kick their asses" or "destroy them." [/TL] At my declaration, Adjutant Brock, leading the knights in Rikain’s stead, rode towards the Deep Rock. Although they were knights, they had removed all their heavy armor and were armed only with light armor, bows, and crossbows. Brock rushed towards the Deep Rock horde and ordered. “Fire!!” Thwip! Thwip-thwip!! At Brock’s command, everyone fired their bows and crossbows at the Deep Rock. Dozens of arrows rained down on the Deep Rock horde. “Aoowook!!!” “Keok!!” The Deep Rock, turned into porcupines by the arrows, looked at the humans who attacked them. They became angry and began to charge after them. “Alright! Then, on to the next group!! Hyah!!!” Thus, the knights shot arrows at the dozens-strong groups of Deep Rock on the coast and fled, luring them. The Deep Rock groups, recognizing them as enemies, began to pursue them. The dozens-strong groups instantly began to swell into hordes of hundreds, then thousands. “Everyone, don’t stop!!! If you stop here, you’ll be crushed to death!!!” “Yes!!!” Thus, the Deep Rock legions pursued them. The Deep Rock legion, now a massive group, began to pick up speed. Trampling their slower kin, their speed increased, and the knights rode their horses with all their might to avoid being caught. And they arrived at the final location of the operation. “Everyone... Scatter!!!!!” “Yes!!!” It was the widest valley in the Crome territory. It was very far from any human settlements, and due to the gloomy humidity and intermittent swamps, even animals didn't live there. At the entrance, the knights scattered, and instead of the dispersing humans, the Deep Rock legion saw mountains of Boar carcasses. “Aoowook♥!!! “Ooowook ooowook♥♥!!! At the sight of the delicious piles of meat before them, the Deep Rock paid no attention to the knights who had attacked them and rushed into the valley. The quiet valley was instantly filled with hundreds, thousands of Deep Rock. With this, all preparations were complete. I said to Sharen, having already arrived at a safe location some distance from the valley. “Sharen, please take care of the end.” “Understood, My Lord.” Sharen flew into the air. Before flying off, she looked at me and said, “It’s dangerous, so please make sure to wear the colored glasses and stay within the protective magic.” “Understood.” As she warned, I put on the colored glasses and stepped into the protective magic. And having soared into the sky, she began her chant. Then, little by little, red magic power began to swirl around her. “Domine Ignis. (Lord of Fire.)” Sharen was called the Red Mage and was respected and revered, but subtly different from the one I knew. I learned the reason after taking Sharen as a vassal. “Incarnatio Draconis. (Incarnation of the Dragon.)” I first encountered Sharen as a game character and knew her abilities. So I knew how powerful she was. “Supplico tibi. (I beseech thee.)” But people didn't know that. Because Sharen had hidden her abilities until now. “Flamma diei ultimis orbis. (The flame that will burn on the last day of the world.)” Sharen had suspected all Lords, using her abilities only minimally. Even hunting orcs, from her perspective, used only very weak, basic flame magic. “Descende. (Descend.)” In other words, the moment Sharen truly used her genuine magic in front of everyone... Was this very moment. “Ignis Lanix. (Flame of Lanix.)” 『Flame of Lanix』 The ultimate flame magic that Sharen, said to borrow the power of the Fire Dragon God Lanix, could use. And the magic that only the successor of the Red Magic Tower could use. As Sharen’s chant ended, red magic power gathered above the valley and began to transform into the shape of a fire dragon. How must that scene have looked to the Deep Rock below? While enjoying a pleasant meal, they looked up to find the sky burning, a fire dragon from hell glaring at them. It would be nothing short of a Cthulhu Mythos scene.[TL] Cthulhu Mythos refers to the shared fictional universe created by H.P. Lovecraft, known for its cosmic horror and incomprehensible, powerful entities. [/TL] “Awoo...” “Ah... Awoo...” The difference from Cthulhu was that this fire dragon desired not corruption or mutation, but their utter annihilation. The Flame of Lanix fell directly onto the valley below. And... Woooosh—--- A nuclear explosion erupted before my eyes. Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!!!!!!! “Uwaaaah!!!” Even though I was some distance away and Sharen had even cast protective magic, an immense heatwave washed over me. When I finally regained my senses and looked at ground zero... “...Good heavens...” The pillar of fire that exploded in the valley created a column of flame hundreds of meters high, forming a mushroom cloud that billowed into the sky. I remembered the description of Sharen’s ultimate skill that said it had power comparable to a nuclear explosion. But it wasn't a metaphor; it was a genuine nuclear explosion itself. That day, in this other world, I acquired a nuclear button.

The Red Mage's Flame