Black Iron Magician

Chapter 483 The Noisy Imperial Capital

After Titos accepted the declaration of war, Deris and Vakala disappeared like a mist, saying that he should contact them before the day ended if he had any questions. Titos was dumbfounded for a while, unable to move or speak. When Vakala magic was canceled and the women around him screamed, he finally came back to his senses.

Then, Titos told his women to put on their clothes and he went to a certain place in a hurry. The place he went to was the meeting room for the Great Eight Generals.

「Are the Great Eight Generals here!?」

Titos opened the door roughly and raised his voice to the limit. And the eight generals he was looking for were all gathered and were making plans around a round table.

「If it isn’t the Emperor. You don’t look good. Is something wrong?」

A giant man with a black muscular body, the 『Flame General』 Zool, greeted Titos.

「…… Do you guys not understand this situation at all?」

「?」

Zool was puzzled by Titos’s unusual atmosphere, but he didn’t seem to feel any discomfort. In other words, even the Great Eight Generals didn’t realize that their consciousness was frozen not long ago. He knew about it when there was no help coming, but this fact was extremely difficult for Titos to bear. Above all, it was enough to make him worry about the severity of his future.

「Y-Your Majesty, w-was the illusion I saw just now real…!?」

However, there was only one of the Great Eight Generals who break Vakala’s magic on their own. It was the 『Ice General』 Ernest, whose consciousness was frozen again by Vakala. He looked extremely confused and stood up from his seat at the round table with great force.

「Ernest, what’s wrong with you? You’re in the presence of His Majesty, you know? It’s very unlike you, who always calm and collected.」

「Come to think of it, you have been acting strange from a while ago. Your face is pale. What’s wrong?」

Saying so, the 『Wind Demon General』 Acerola, who was sitting next to Ernest, turned her attention to him. Her eyes didn’t express concern out of kindness, but out of suspicion of his suspicious state.

「Oh! I see, he said something about Blue Dragon Magic. If it’s Ernest… wait, let me ask Ernest first!」

「Y-Your Majesty?」

Titos approached Ernest, shaking off the words of the surrounding Great Eight Generals. He didn’t have the composure of an absolute ruler, and he was looking strange like Ernest. Even the other Great Eight Generals began to feel something was wrong with the situation.

「Ernest, did that hateful enemy, Vakala, came here too!?」

「「「「「「「――!?」」」」」」」

The Great Eight Generals were astonished by Titos’s words. However, most of them still didn’t understand the meaning of what Titos was saying. They waited for Ernest, who seemed to know what was going on, to respond.

「…… To be honest, I couldn’t even confirm who it was. But I did regain consciousness at least once, even though vaguely. It was only for a few seconds, but I was able to see the situation around me. At that time, everyone was frozen in place, as if time had stopped except for me. I shouted and called out to others, but no one responded, and the next moment, I thought I heard someone’s voice behind me…. I don’t remember anything from that point on.」

「Nonsense, it’s impossible for such a thing to happen! Are you saying that there’s someone who can do something nonsense such as passing through our view and detection skill, and even depriving us of our consciousness!? Such a thing is impossible, no matter how powerful Vakala is!」

A long-bearded man wearing dull-colored heavy armor, the 『Steel General』 Galesse, raised his voice and stood up.

「I still can’t believe it myself, but the time will tell you the truth. Galesse, when was the last time you checked the time?」

「Time? I was checking on that clock there just five minutes ago…. W-What the hell!?」

Galesse and the other generals naturally turned to the clock installed in this room when Ernest pointed it out. However, the time shown on the clock was more than an hour after the time they knew.

「I was extremely shaken too when I checked the time. There was this blank space of time that we didn’t know existed. No matter how unbelievable the phenomenon is, we have no choice but to accept it.」

「But!」

「The fact that His Majesty visited this place is enough proof. Or do you doubt his words, Galesse?」

「T-That’s….」

Galesse couldn’t argue any further when the emperor’s name came out. Then, he sat down in his seat. On the other hand, the others seemed to have finally understood why Ernest was acting strange.

「Your Majesty, you said too, so does that mean Vakala also appeared at your place!?

「…… Yeah, they invaded my bedroom in the inner palace, which is the most guarded place in the capital. It was just a moment ago.」

When Titos said so, there was the sound of someone gulping their saliva.

「Just a moment ago…! Let’s send pursuers immediately! They may still be in the capital!」

「Wait! They can’t be caught anyway, and there’s nothing you can do even if you find them! You should listen to what I have to say first, this is an order! Everything I say from this point is the truth and will determine the future of Elderado! Listen carefully, and don’t doubt anything I say!」

After that, Titos revealed that war had been declared by Vakala. He revealed everything, about the special rules and that he accepted them.

「――Those are the rules he proposed. The battle will begin at midnight tomorrow. We have to take countermeasures as soon as possible.」

「Damn! How insolent of them to aim at His Majesty’s head!」

「They will only send four people against Elderado’s total force!? Are they sane!?」

「Tch, they are underestimating us.」

「…… Your Majesty, could it be that he was coming here to assess the strength of our side? I’m ashamed to say that we succumbed to Vakala’s dubious magic. I think Vakala judged that four people are enough based on that.」

「Then, when he said that the subordinates of the other Great Eight Demons will appear, was that a bluff? Against all of us, it would be reasonable to expect Carmine’s executive class to appear.」

「No, if Vakala declared it boldly like that, there’s a possibility that someone from who-knows-where will be chosen, right? Even though Lilyvia is the closest to the lowest rank, her subordinates are still the subordinates of the Great Eight Demons. It’s better to assume that they are at least strong enough to compete with us.」

「I think that’s an overestimation….」

「I don’t care about Lilyvia’s subordinates. What we should discuss now is about Vakala’s subordinates! The 『Long Sword』, 『Black Armor』, 『Iron Spider』, and 『Headless』 that recently appeared are likely to participate! Unfortunately, we always lost when they appeared in war. They are clearly the main force this time!」

「We don’t have enough time. First of all, shouldn’t we gather the forces we can move to the fortress at the national border? Movement time is essential in this battle!」

The night was drawing to a close in the imperial capital, and the sun was about to rise. It would be a little later when the news would spread from the capital that made the whole territory of the Elderado Great Empire engulfed in an uproar.