Chapter 22 TSH Vol. 1 Chapter 4 Part 5

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When the princess’s party returned to the city, the sectors near the outer wall had already been abandoned, and the command center had been relocated inside the second wall. The populace was in the process of evacuating even deeper, behind the third wall.

Hearing Princess Cordelia’s report, the leaders in the command center erupted into debate.

“What! The Generation Zero didn’t have a Demon Core!?”

“Then where is the true body!?”

“Don’t tell me… we have to destroy every single clone…?”

“That’s impossible!”

A renowned monster researcher was tearing his hair out, while the Knight Commander, Chief Mage, Oracle Matriarch, and the army battalion leaders all argued at once.

Recalling the battle, the princess offered her own opinion.

“Um… when I defeated the Generation Zero, a black mist-like substance came out of the demon. Perhaps that… is the true body?”

The Knight Commander growled low in his throat. “Meaning… the main body transferred to another clone?”

The princess nodded. “Yes. I don’t know if possessing-type demons exist, but I believe it’s a possibility…”

The elderly Chief Mage grimaced and spoke. “A possession-type… It’s possible… The fact that the demons stopped moving for a moment could be explained as the time it needed to possess its next host. Hmm… If that’s the case, purification by holy magic might be effective against the main body.”

One of the Holy Knights spoke up. “In that case, why don’t we just defeat the new host body and purify the main body when it tries to escape!?”

“Oh! That might work!”

“That could be it!”

While a few voiced their agreement, the princess offered a reserved counterpoint.

“That might be possible if we knew which clone the main body is possessing… but the appraisal tool I borrowed only showed the generation, not its possession status.”

“Mmph…”

“Isn’t there a tool that can detect possession?”

“Perhaps the priests or oracles can tell?”

One of the high priests answered with a bitter expression. “It is true that some of our oracles can see such a state. However, they have no combat training. It would be difficult to ask them to fulfill their duty on a battlefield…”

He glanced at the princess and continued. “The only reason the Generation Zero was found, let alone defeated, is because Your Highness is an exceptional warrior. It would be cruel to expect an oracle to perform the same way…”

It was pointed out that the demons were still multiplying. Even if they sent an oracle with a guard detail now, it would be impossible to check every single clone. The idea was scrapped. The fact that the princess had managed to defeat the Generation Zero was, it seemed, a miracle in itself.

Everyone fell silent. A quiet despair settled over the command center. At this rate, they would be crushed by the overwhelming numbers sooner or later. It was then—that High Grand-Priest Roderick, who had been listening silently, finally spoke.

“Hohoho. Do not worry. We have a solution.”

All eyes in the room snapped to him.

“Many of you may not know this, but this city possesses a large-scale Sacred Barrier device. This barrier can not only repel the demons, but it should also be able to purify the possessing main body. After all, this barrier is the Great Anti-Demon Barrier, passed down in this city for generations.”

Those unaware of the barrier looked elated.

“Oh! Such a thing exists!”

“We had a secret weapon!”

“If it’s an Anti-Demon Barrier, it can definitely destroy the main body!”

But the few who did know about the barrier merely frowned, their expressions grim. They knew what price that barrier exacted.

The princess, too, sucked in a breath and half-rose from her seat to object. She also knew about the Sacred Barrier. The High Grand-Priest himself had told her about it.

Roderick stopped her with a slight shake of his head. He stood and continued.

“Now that we have a plan, we must begin preparations for the barrier. In the meantime, the Knight Order and the army will solidify the defenses of the inner wall and prevent any demon incursion. We will use the power from the leyline to reinforce the barriers and to power the [Teleportation Gate]. We will likely only be able to use the gate once… The viceroy’s family, the high nobles of the territory, the senior clergy of the temples, and—”

The High Grand-Priest looked directly at the princess. “—Princess Cordelia will be given priority to teleport to the royal capital. Begin preparations!”

“W-Wait! I can still fight!”

The High Grand-Priest’s expression hardened.

“I am the representative of this territory. Even you, Your Highness, must obey my command.”

“B-But that barrier—!”

Roderick immediately commanded the Knight Commander.

“Escort Her Highness from the command center! If she resists, you may detain her until the gate is activated! Place her under house arrest!”

“Grandpa!”

The Knight Commander, his face pained, said, “Forgive me,” and lifted the princess into his arms, carrying her from the room. Her guard, Emma, bowed deeply to the High Grand-Priest and followed them. The princess’s cries faded into the distance.

Roderick sank back into his chair and sighed.

Honestly… this is the one great moment of my life, you know? As if I’d let anyone else steal my final, grand performance!

He gazed at the door the princess had disappeared through, a sad smile on his face.

Cordie… my dear princess… Be well. I pray that you will one day meet your Hero again.

Afterward, the princess, who had been struggling violently, gradually grew quiet. Eventually, she just hid her face and stopped moving.

Preparations for the [Teleportation Gate] proceeded without a hitch. The viceroy’s family, along with key nobles and clergy, gathered in the teleportation chamber deep beneath the castle. The viceroy’s family was entrusted with a report for the king.

The report detailed the characteristics of the appearing demon and also stated that the High Grand-Priest, by his authority, would be activating the sacred barrier of Ecclesia.

The princess, likely wanting to hide her tear-stained face, kept her mantle’s hood pulled down low.

The teleportation officials activated the device, and the magic circle on the floor began to glow. An official announced in a monotone,

“Connection to leyline confirmed. Mana levels stable. [Teleportation Gate] activating normally.”

A wind seemed to blow up from the floor, stirring everyone’s hair and clothes. Those who had come to see them off bid their last farewells. Some wept, some trembled, and some forced a smile.

“Destination: Royal Castle, Underground Teleportation Gate. Destination is clear.”

“All systems nominal. May the gods grant you grace. —Activating teleport.”

The magic circle shone with a pale blue light. The figures standing on it wavered and gradually faded. When the light subsided, no one was left.

Several of those left behind, who had been holding it in, collapsed into sobs. The sound of weeping filled the room. Was it sorrow for the parting, or were they lamenting their own impending fate?

Only twenty people had been able to teleport. No one else could escape the city now.

Around that time, demons mimicking soldiers appeared, managing to infiltrate the second wall. The knights were responding, but suspicion and paranoia were spreading, throwing the area into chaos. A single demon, once inside, could multiply endlessly. They sealed off streets, abandoning the outer wards one by one, and the front line fell back toward the third wall.

Since demons hate holy magic, the priests set up holy barriers, using them to test who was a demon and who wasn’t. But the screening process couldn’t keep up with the infiltration, and soon the entire identification system collapsed.

Before long, the order was given to abandon the second wall, and the command center was moved again, this time behind the third. The third wall had to be held at all costs. The vast majority of the evacuated civilians were behind it.

There wasn’t a moment to spare. While everyone fought a desperate defensive battle, preparations for the barrier were proceeding in the Grand Temple’s Chamber of Prayer. Many of the priests, being healers, had been dispatched to treat the wounded soldiers and knights. The absolute minimum number of priests remaining hurried to complete the preparations.

This Sacred Guardian Barrier was a large-scale spell classified as Ritual Magic, meaning it could not draw power from the leylines. Ritual Magic was a miracle that could only be invoked by human hands.

The priests channeled their mana into the barrier device, and a giant magic circle glowed to life on the floor. This impossibly intricate magic circle was an artifact built by the mages of antiquity, a relic of their collective wisdom. It could no longer even be deciphered. It was a secret art, protected by the lords of this city for generations, its activation method passed down only to the High Grand-Priest. Now, this relic from the Age of the Gods was about to be activated.

“The High Grand-Priest has entered.”

The doors opened, and the High Grand-Priest appeared. He had purified himself and was dressed in ceremonial robes. He walked slowly toward the magic circle. He bowed deeply to the circle, then removed his shoes and stepped onto it barefoot. He walked to the center and bowed to the four cardinal directions.

The High Grand-Priest swept his robes aside, knelt in the center, and leaned close to the circle. Hiding his mouth with his sleeve, he whispered something. It was the activation phrase. The words were from the lost language of the Age of the Gods; their exact meaning had been forgotten. But the pronunciation had been passed down from one High Grand-Priest to the next, unbroken.

As he finished the phrase, the corresponding quadrant of the circle lit up. The High Grand-Priest turned to the remaining three directions, spoke the words, and activated them one by one. Finally, all four quadrants were lit, and the magic circle activated.

A deep rumbling echoed from beneath the floor. The circle was a three-dimensional structure that extended deep underground, and those subterranean arrays were now resonating, creating the sound.

The priests, witnessing this mystical sight, reacted in their own ways. Some stared, their eyes wide; some trembled uncontrollably; others wept, their faces masks of ecstasy. Few in history had ever been privileged to witness this miracle.

The High Grand-Priest looked at the surrounding priests and smiled.

“All of you, you have served me well to this day. You have my gratitude.”

“Your Eminence…!” The Vice-Minister, standing among them, cried out, his face wet with tears.

“Now, let us begin.”

The High Grand-Priest placed his hands on the circle, about to pour in his mana. At that moment—

“Who goes there!? This is a sacred ritual! Leave at once!”

A commotion started at the entrance. A woman who looked like a royal guard pushed past the priests, and a hooded figure followed. The figure pulled back their hood, and long, pale gold hair spilled out. That woman was—

The High Grand-Priest cried out in shock. “P-Princess Cordelia! Why are you here!? You were supposed to have teleported!”

The princess, her face a mask of desperation, spoke. “Your Eminence! It is madness to attempt to raise the Sacred Barrier alone! Please, let me help!”

“…C… Cordie…”

The High Grand-Priest’s face twisted. The ‘princess’ who had teleported earlier had been a lady-in-waiting, a body double. They had used a hood to hide her identity. When the princess had insisted on staying, Emma had, of course, fiercely objected. But the princess had desperately argued that she wasn’t staying to die, but to save the city. Faced with her unbending resolve, Emma had no choice but to relent. In the end, Emma stayed too, to follow her princess as her guard.

The High Grand-Priest roared in anger. “You foolish girl! What is the point if the royal line does not survive! Do you have any idea what the noble blood of our kingdom means? Can you not see that everyone is risking their lives to protect you!?”

The priests trembled at his thunderous voice. But the princess shook her head, her expression resolute.

“No, you are wrong! I am not someone to be protected! A true royal stands at the front to protect the people! And the one who taught me that—was you, Grandpa!”

The High Grand-Priest was speechless. Long ago, when the princess was sickly, he was the one who had comforted her, the one who told her stories of past Heroes and great kings to encourage her. She had begged him for those stories again and again, vowing in her heart that one day, she too would be like the Hero, like the great kings of old—someone who could protect others.

The princess, her eyes brimming with tears, spoke with determination.

“I possess an enormous amount of mana. It is the result of the royal blood that flows through my veins! In this time of crisis, how can I not use this power? That is my duty as a royal!”

Her face crumpled, and she continued. “Please… Grandpa Roderick! Please, use my strength!”

“Cordie…”

They stared at each other. After a long moment, Roderick let out a long sigh. He looked at her with gentle eyes.

“Honestly… I’m no match for you… You’re just like Leo, stubborn as ever…”

“Grandpa… does that mean!?”

The High Grand-Priest put on a serious face and raised his voice.

“Not ‘Grandpa.’ It is ‘Your Eminence!’ Very well, Your Highness. Let us become the power source for the Sacred Barrier together!”

The princess nodded, her face wet with tears. “Yes… Yes! Your Eminence!”

Her guard, Emma, who was standing behind her, spoke in a choked voice.

“That’s great, Princess! But please… don’t push yourself too hard…!”

“I will, Emma… Make sure you watch me.”

Emma nodded repeatedly, her expression pained as she watched the princess go. The two knelt on the magic circle’s power supply nodes, assuming a posture of prayer.

The High Grand-Priest nodded to the princess and said, as if making a light-hearted joke, “Well then… shall we begin for real this time?”

The first to notice were the evacuated civilians. Suddenly, the air grew still, and an overwhelming power washed over them. It was so pure and gentle that their chests tightened, and tears began to flow without reason. They couldn’t put words to what this power was, but they knew they had touched something sacred.

A thin, iridescent membrane of light began to spread rapidly from the Grand Temple. The soldiers and knights on the walls noticed it immediately. The expanding membrane crushed the demons in its path. Those that resisted were pushed back, scraping along the ground, until they were trapped between the membrane and the wall and annihilated. Strength surged through the bodies of the soldiers and knights, and their courage was renewed.

The Holy Knights fighting the demons inside the second wall were the first to notice the change there. The Vice-Commander shouted,

“Commander! Is this…!?”

The Commander’s eyes widened as he looked around.

“Mmph… So this is the Sacred Barrier! What incredible power!”

The demons were being forcefully pushed out, crushed between the wall and the membrane. The barrier reached the second wall, then continued to expand into the sectors now swarming with demons.

“GYGYY!”

“QUAAAA!?”

“ZYGYAAY!”

“GZZZ!”

The demons, unable to withstand the barrier, were crushed or shoved back, their numbers dwindling in an instant. The demons who had mimicked soldiers collapsed the moment the barrier touched them, dissolving into black particles. The membrane passed the outer wall, completely encasing the city, and then stopped its expansion. The demons inside the barrier had been wiped out in an instant. The demons outside the barrier were now blocked by the solid membrane, unable to enter.

This was the grand defensive art of the Holy City of Ecclesia, a relic from the Age of the Gods—the Sacred Guardian Barrier, the Bulwark Against Divine Enemies.

The soldiers, knights, and commanders roared in triumph.

“Whoa! So this is the Sacred Barrier!”

“The demons are being crushed!”

“What power!”

“Amazing!”

“I feel stronger all of a sudden!”

“It must have a support effect, too!”

“Thank the gods!”

The command center buzzed with renewed energy, and new orders were immediately sent to all troops. ‘The demons cannot breach the barrier! All forces will now engage and annihilate the demons trapped outside!’

“—Ooooooooooooh!”

Though their numbers were reduced, many demons still remained. And as long as one was left, they could multiply. The Knight Commander led his knights back out of the gate. A massive horde of demons was swarming around the barrier, like moths to a flame.

The Commander shouted. “Leave the ranged attacks from inside the barrier to the army! We will take small units, pass through the barrier, and destroy the demons piecemeal! Leave not a single one alive!”

The Vice-Commander immediately organized the squads.

“Four men to a squad! If you encounter a strong demon, two squads will merge to form a platoon and deal with it!”

The Commander drew his Holy Sword Durandal.

“Then let’s go! Vice-Commander and two other knights, with me!”

“Sir!”

The Ecclesia Holy Knights and the city’s soldiers finally began their counter-offensive. The Commander glanced back at the city behind him, his expression grim.

I’m counting on you, Your Eminence… Maintain that barrier for as long as you can! In that time, we will annihilate every last demon!