Paradigm Parasite

219 "Inversion"

When I - Ehrman - heard about the attack, I ran out of the room unexpectedly.

From outside, the sounds of sword fights, screams and shouts can be heard from everywhere.

Clearly, there is a battle going on.

I cluck my tongue inwardly.

The effect of Stanislas's magic tool made it impossible for me to notice anything unusual outside.

When I looked out of the corridor window, there was even fire.

'Do you know who the enemy is?'

I asked the holy knight who had come to inform me, and his reply was immediate.

"It's Durzain."

...Dersain?

To be honest, the first thing that came to mind was Oratorium.

I thought maybe he was trying to keep his mouth shut about Marslan, but... another mouth?

Or is he connected to them?

Not enough information.

Anyway, now we have to deal with the enemy.

"Stanislas!"

"I'll take overall command in the office building. You..."

"I'm going on the run and gathering information on the enemy. It's as if you've seen it coming. I want to check it out."

Stanislas nodded broadly.

"Cristela's probably already on the move, so you'll have to align yourself with her."

"Ok. The enemy must have a good chance of winning if they come at us head-on. Be on your guard."

Without waiting for a reply, I start running.

The destination is downstairs, in Cristela's private room.

I'm sure she's heading this way because she's that young lady.

If you do well -.

A little further down the stairs, we bump into that Cristela.

I knew it. Good call.

"Knight of the Cathedral of Hermann! The situation is..."

Her expression is unusually impatient.

This is the situation. Is it not unreasonable?

"I heard just now. It's an attack by Darzain, isn't it?"

"Yes. And the Knights of the Holy Temple of Stanislas?"

"The Holy Knights and the Knights of the Temple of St. Stanislas are all working together to rebuild. They're all on tenterhooks after the surprise attack."

"I understand. Then I'll go forward and hold them off."

"Please. I'm a ranger. I'm a ranger. I'm going to scratch and claw my way through the enemy..."

Suddenly, there was a shock and a heavy bass sound, as if something heavy had fallen. More than one.

...Shit! What the hell is going on one after the other?

I leaned out of a nearby window to check outside.

"Hey, hey, what the hell is that..."

I muttered unintentionally.

A full-body armour that seemed to have fallen from the sky and was glowing here and there was going wild.

The design of the armour gives you some idea of where it was made, but the people down there are all wearing armour of completely different shapes and ...... wait, is that armour?

It's hard to see in the rain and the dark, but if you look closely, the armour pulsates like a living creature, what's going on?

...Could it be some kind of cursed armour?

Cursed Weapon.

It is treated similarly to magical tools and armour that have been given effects, but the more powerful it is, the worse it is.

In exchange for their great power, they make their owners pay a price of some kind.

There have been cases of physical illness with light items, sight and the five senses with heavy items, and even whole parts of the body being taken away.

I've heard that in the case of armour, for example, you can never take it off again.

Their equipment looked like that kind of thing.

...because from the looks of it, it's not normal.

As reported, there are also scattered black-robed men from Darzain.

Looking at their movements, they don't look like they are used to fighting...

Are they not pure combatants? If so, are those armoured men the main force?

I still need to investigate a little...

Suddenly, I am grabbed by the collar and pulled backwards.

At the same time, a green flame-like object cleaves the place where my neck used to be.

A cold sweat runs down my back.

If it had been too late, I would have been in danger.

"Thanks for saving my life, girl."

I turn and thank Cristela for pulling me, but her eyes are looking towards the end of the corridor.

As I followed her gaze, something burst through the window and into the corridor.

It must be one of the armour pieces I saw downstairs.

Crack-like objects are running all over his body, and a green flame-like substance is leaking from them in time with the pulsation.

His face-cheek visor is firmly down and his face is not visible.

He holds a spear in his hand, which he dexterously rotates and holds with one hand.

The spear has a green flame clinging to its blade as if reacting to the Lord's wariness.

...What is it?

I frown a little. I felt a strange sense of dj vu in its appearance.

The movement and stance of that armour looked familiar.

"A Knight of the Cathedral of Marslan?"

When I heard Cristela mutter that, I thought of it too.

Yes, that's right. It's Marslan. It looks like his movements.

"You... you're Marslan?"

Green particles of light leak from the face cheeks of the armour as they scatter.

"Yes. That's right, Knight of the Cathedral of Hermann."

The voice sounded distorted, perhaps due to the cheeks, but it was definitely Marslan's. "Are you sure you betrayed me?

"Are you sure you betrayed ......?"

"From your point of view, yes, I suppose it is. But I have realised something. I've realised something more worthy of belief than such vague things as spiritual knowledge."

There is an air of euphoria in his tone.

What has this done to you?

"What happened... no, you, what did the Oratorium guys do to you?"

Marslan tilts his head curiously at my question.

"Oratorium? What are you talking about? I just woke up to the truth. Yes, that their ideals are the truth."

"And? You've woken up to the truth, you've thrown away your title as a knight of the cathedral and you're an errand boy for Durzain?"

I tried to stir things up lightly, but Marslan didn't seem bothered.

"Pardon me. I've just been given the honour of the first spear. I'm new here and I want to make quick work of it, so you two will be the cornerstones of my rise."

Oh, come on. You've cooled down a lot, Marslan boy.

Where have you gone, you greedy, self-promoting, greenhorn in the worst sense of the word?

The tone and mannerisms haven't changed, but at the core you are strangely calm....Are you not being manipulated?

... you're not being manipulated?

There is a sense of discomfort in her words and actions, but everything else is too natural.

Rather than saying that he has turned the other cheek, there is even an atmosphere of believing him even if he says that he had originally betrayed us.

It becomes even more difficult to understand.

Were Marslan and Oratorium connected? Or was Oratrium uninvolved and in league with Darzain? Or were all three of them connected behind the scenes?

We have too little information.

We need to catch this guy somehow and get him to tell us everything so we can get the full picture.

"I understand. You turned your back on the Order, and you will pay for your treachery with your life. Knight of the Cathedral of Hermann, I am enough here. You take care of the others."

Cristela steps forward with her sword drawn, as if to say that the conversation is over.

It's fine that you switch so quickly, but we don't want you to get killed.

"Pfft, if you want, we can both do it at the same time?"

Marslan snickers and confidently agitates me, but I ignore him.

"...Okay. Just don't kill him. I want them to tell me what's behind this.'"

"I can't promise you that, but I'll do my best."

"Do that. I'm sorry, but I'm counting on you."

When I saw that Cristela nodded, I left.

Sorry, but I'm not much of a head-on fighter. Plus, it's a narrow corridor.

As long as cover is also difficult, I'm in the way.

And the situation outside is not good if we don't do something about it.

As I ran down the stairs, I had a small internal grumble that it was going to be a long night.

"Well, I guess we can call it a success first?"

I - Fatima - muttered quietly as I gazed at the scene below from the back of the flying Kongamatou.

The preliminary preparations - the blocking of the retreat route and the diversion by DARZAIN - had gone well.

The surprise attack went well.

Aerial surprise attack by Kongamatoh.

Was it called airborne advance airborne?

The first line was led by newcomers, former Holy Knights.

There was no time, so with the exception of that Marslan guy, all the Holy Temple Knights were treated with just a root strike, while the Holy Knights were used to experiment with new mutations.

Globster.

It looks like a white lump of flesh, but it is an odd species that said it mutates its host by parasitising the target.

According to Mr Rothfeldt, the shape of the mutant is determined by its own image...

A small tilt of the head at those fighting the Holy Knights below.

It is surprising that they have all mutated into a shape similar to armour, although there are differences in the shape itself.

Perhaps that is their ideal form.

Is it their own way of equipping themselves with the equipment of the knights of the cathedral?

...It's not important, is it?

Rather than the shape, etc., it is whether it is useful or not.

All I want from them is usefulness.

I am sure that is also the case with Herr Rothfeld.

The name "Revenant" seems to unify the two.

According to Mr Rothfeldt, the origin of the name is "he who returns", but why?

Is it because the Holy Knights came back here?

It doesn't sound bad, and it would be unwise to go into too much detail.

The number of Revenants is less than 20.

I think we have been able to deploy them effectively, but it is time for the enemy to regroup.

...So let's surprise them again, shall we?

I'm going to instruct Riley on the comms.

--Set up a trap, he says.

Riley, who had been hiding nearby, waited and led his men to the enemy.

He gleefully attacks the Holy Knights.

A little later, the second group of Congamatoes reached the skies above and dropped Jevordan and his mounted Monos.

Shrigala and Jevordan are particularly useful in these situations because they move fast and do not choose the terrain.

Shrigaras in particular are easy to get into towns.

They are humanoid, so if they are lightly disguised, they can move around the city without problems.

It was late in the day, so there would not be many witnesses.

The heavy Revenant and the prominent Gevaudan and the slow-footed Monos took the form of air transport, but with the Congamato, slow footing is not a problem.

After all, it is easier to do a lot of things when you hold the skies.

...Although the expense of the magic tool of invisibility used at the time of the airlift is quite painful.

The enemy's strength has also been studied in advance.

First, there are three cathedral knights with the highest threat level.

Christella Albertine Marguerite.

They are probably the most well-known in the vicinity.

I've heard that she has defeated bandits, fought off demons, and has usually taken care of major incidents in this neighbourhood.

Rumours have a way of following one another, but what is the real story?

If I were to describe my impression of her in person, I would say that she is "a dreamer who is all ideals and no reality who enforces her good intentions".

At least she didn't seem to be familiar with the subtleties of profit and loss, but that was simply because she didn't have any experience.

He must have led a very unusual life to have been able to live up to that age without being involved in such matters.

Or was it deliberately created that way ?

Then there is Herman Abekasis.

This man is troublesome. I was convinced he was a troublesome opponent at first sight.

I have ordered my men to kill him as soon as they find him.

It was a pity that Dylan and Alex only knew Dylan and Alex by name, as they had hardly ever visited this neighbourhood, and that we had insufficient time to examine the capabilities of their equipment in detail.

Finally, Stanislas Etan Althusser.

He seems to be the man in charge of the Muslim Reishan, but I didn't know much about him other than that he often imitated a priest and that he was more magic-oriented in terms of combat.

These are the highest priority targets to be disposed of.

The next threat is the Knights of the Holy Temple.

The total number of people packed here is just over four hundred, but around a hundred have houses in the city.

Finally, the Holy Knights.

This is between six and seven hundred. If you subtract those who commute from the city and those who have houses, it's around five or six hundred.

If you include the apprentices, there are a bit more, but that seems to be about the quantity.

The rest are non-combatants, like priests and nuns.

This one will not be a problem.

In contrast, there are 20 Revenants here.

Shrigala, Gevaudan, Monos and others total six hundred.

Kongamatos are valuable and will basically be used for airlift only, and will be deployed into the battlefield as required.

The rest, I would say, are just under two hundred DARZAINs.

They have done their job of distraction, diversion and impressing the other side, so let them rampage as they see fit.

When Mr Rothfeldt had something to do, he went downstairs with the Rebennants.

I don't want him to do anything too dangerous with his precious body...

...I've got Trust and Savage on my escort, and it looks like I've got two of Durzain's guys with me, so that shouldn't be a problem.

But I don't think I can stop worrying.

If it were true, I would have liked to go with them, but my role is to take command here.

I can't leave my post.

...It's a bittersweet feeling, isn't it?

With this in mind, I continued to look at the battlefield below.

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