Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

This is Satou. Someone once said in a space-themed anime, “There is no eternal, indestructible nation,” but when you live in a relatively stable country, the idea of a nation’s collapse tends to feel like a distant event from another world.

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“Has there finally been a revolution or a coup?”

I asked Tifaliza, who came to inform me of the fall of the Parion Divine Kingdom, speaking casually.

Although the situation had been somewhat critical during the divine punishment incident, the monsters around the Parion Divine Kingdom had been eliminated by the heroes of the Saga Empire, so it was hard to imagine the kingdom falling due to external factors.

An attack by the Demon King or high-rank demons might be possible, but such beings usually give some warning before appearing. Besides, the central temple of Parion has several Divine Oracle Shrine Maidens, so if an assault that could cause the kingdom’s destruction were imminent, a prophecy from the Parion God would have been given.

“N-no, that’s not it! The Parion Divine Kingdom suffered a devastating blow from a surprise attack by high-rank demons. All the senior officials of the Papal Royal Court, including Pope Zazalis who was in the Holy Capital, are either dead or missing.”

— Damn. It really was a collapse.

It’s strange that the Parion God didn’t warn through prophecy despite being the kingdom’s protector—but then again, maybe not. The core of the country was controlled by Demon King followers, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the Parion God had abandoned them.

Fortunately, the attacking high-rank demons only seemed interested in the buildings of the Papal Royal Court, starting with the Cathedral. After sporadically tormenting the residents with magic attacks, they apparently summoned their subordinate demons to drive the citizens out of the city.

“Are the other cities besides the Holy Capital safe?”

“Information is chaotic, and we have no intel on cities other than the Holy Capital, where Shiga Kingdom’s agents were present.”

Well, considering how slow information transmission is, it’s understandable.

When I checked with Tifaliza, several days had already passed since the incident occurred.

“We have to send reinforcements immediately!”

“Food distribution?”

“Leave crowd control to Pochi.”

With her fists raised high, Arisa insisted, flanked by Tama and Pochi striking sharp ‘shupitsu’ poses.

“Both of you, clearing out the demons and monsters that attacked the cities comes first.”

“Yes!” “Understood!”

When Liza admonished them, the two said they were ready for deployment and dashed out of the room.

“Mito, sorry, but could you guard the rear with Princess Sistina?”

“Yeah, got it.”

I feel bad there aren’t many chances for Mito to shine, but Hikaru can handle most problems.

“Satou, won’t you listen to me?”

Princess Sistina spoke, sounding a little sulky.

“Princess Sistina, would you please defend the Royal Capital alongside Mito?”

“Of course, if you ask, Satou.”

I entrusted the Orichalcum Golems equipped mainly for defense to Princess Sistina, so she could protect Hikaru’s retinue.

“Tifaliza, sorry to trouble you, but please contact the Royal Castle. Inform them that hero Nameless has headed to the Parion Divine Kingdom.”

“Understood. Shall I also tell them that Mito will remain to defend the Royal Capital?”

I nodded to Tifaliza and ordered everyone to prepare for deployment.

◇

“Wow, they’re thorough…”

While everyone was changing gear, I went alone to the teleportation base we set up in the Parion Divine Kingdom to update map info through unit deployment scouting.

The cathedrals of the Papal Royal Court in each city center and the churches scattered around were mostly destroyed.

From the map scan, it seems that more than half the priests have perished.

Since politics and religion are intertwined here, administrative functions must be completely paralyzed.

As expected from prior intel, the citizens have been expelled outside the cities, so there’s no one inside to rescue.