Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

Tullius proposing a ceasefire in the face of monster invasion bolstered the soldiers’ feelings to the side of Tullius. The common sense he advocated for — that humanity should unite to fight against the monsters — created sympathy towards him. In the eyes of many of the soldiers, the young man who disappeared in a cloud of dust seemed to be a tragic hero.

Notwithstanding the fact that Tullius Oubeniel was the one who had brought them to this miserable battlefield.

(No, it can’t be. I’m probably being overly distrustful......)

She shook her head as she slashed at some enemy. It could have been a zombie or an enemy soldier. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t imagine how this situation could have been pulled off intentionally. He won the trust of a large number of refugees and recruited them to counter the St. Gallen's army, and finally gained victory. And how is it possible for a human to manipulate this many monsters? If such a thing were possible, the balance between the four major powers would have been broken long ago. Humanity has been fighting amongst themselves and monsters. Monsters were the enemy of all of mankind. It should be impossible to ally with them. Surely this chaotic situation was a product of chance.

However, no matter how much she tried to think so, a vague unease would not leave Elisha's heart.

It grew deeper into the night. The war raged on.

※ ※ ※

On the surface, overlooked by the moon and the stars, the battle continued endlessly.

The army of Arquell were defending the western area of Clavicule Basin.

To the east, the Army of St. Gallen was trying to overrun Arquell and take over the basin.

And behind them, the horde of monsters attacked any human, regardless of their affiliation.

With three different parties on the battlefield, the war only became more and more chaotic as time went on.

The Arquellian soldiers shouted.

"Drive back the invaders!"

"Avenge our villages and fields!"

The soldiers of St. Gallen shouted back.

"Stop lying! Your nobles were the ones who burned the lands!"

"Are you trying to pin the crime on us?"

And then, even more fierce and hateful curses were exchanged.

"Stop finding excuses! You burned our village to the ground! You poisoned our wells!"

"I saw with my own eyes how you burned the wheat field!"

"My village's daughter was toyed with by you guys! I'll never forgive you!"

The two armies saw each other as the perpetrators and called out the guilt of each party. They pointed blades at each with more hate than they do against monsters.The chain of hatred spreaded between the humans killing each other. As if to join them, the undead attacked from the side, gnawing on them.

If hell were to appear on earth, there would be no other better place than Clavicule Basin now.

It was quite the horrifying sight for those witnessing hell unfold from the VIP seats a hill away.

"Hahahahaha! That's good, that's good! Humans who don't know any better, killing each other in hatred, and turning into blood craved beasts! Nothing beats this!"

"Are you sure? I express my disagreement. Inefficient attacks, defences, and manoeuvres due to heated emotions. I don't think any of it is worthy of appreciation."

"Fem, you're so serious....... But you're right, it's a little boring. One flashy spell to them and it would be all over after all!"

"Indeed. We went to a lot of trouble to prepare this. I would have expected a greater spectacle from the monkeys, though."

The minions of the devil were busy working at various places in Volden, spreading the seeds of hatred on both sides. The Opus series. They were the demons capable of taking entire battlefields on their own — the pride and joy of a certain heretical alchemist. All of them, except for the two who were in the midst of battle, were gathered in one place, watching the fruits of their labour.

The dark elf woman, Drei, shrugged her shoulders.

"But that magic that ruined master's proposed ceasefire. That was the only nice thing that happened."

"Oh, that? Yeah, thanks to the idiots at St. Gallen, they saved us a lot of trouble. Pfft...... Such fools! They couldn’t even discern who would benefit most from that proposal!"

Charl laughed, hugging his belly.

"The plan was for me or Miss Drei to blend into their camp, right? I'm glad they went ahead and did it on their own..... Though I would hate that father was attacked by magic, ahhh"

"Indeed. I agree with 06. The St. Gallen people. Were kind enough to reduce stress on us."

"Hey, hey. If they are really kind, then they wouldn't have bothered us by starting the war, would they?"

"Hahaha, that's true too~!"

While looking down on the scene of the horrific killings, the "masterpieces" were all merry. If the soldiers on the battlefield below noticed them, they would immediately be enraged and rush to attack them. But the "masterpieces" considered such an event laughable. No way a bunch of brutes in the heat of war could ever hope to detect them in their advanced magic concealment.

"And yet, Mr. Oubeniel still thinks up the most outrageous things. After burning everything to the ground with a scorched earth campaign, he wants to be a hero."

"What do you mean, Charl? It's only because of master's efforts that we can defeat the enemy army with the strength of just one province. Isn't that much more beneficial than having the whole kingdom go to war? Even the lowly brains of the monkeys can do that kind of arithmetic."

"Recovering from strategic inferiority with a small number of troops...... That is sufficient. To be deemed as a hero."

"Yes, yes! Father is amazing!"

The sound of Seis' innocent giggling echoed through the air, but was blocked by a sound dampening barrier and did not leak outside.

Meanwhile, the voices of the soldiers fighting in the basin could be heard by them individually through their own skills. Drei and Seis used wind magic. Charl has hearing abilities far surpassing that of humans. And Fem used her high spec sensing machinery to detect their voices.

Among the voices, those on the side of Arquell were showing concern to Tullius. They idolised him as a hero for exposing himself to negotiate for a ceasefire.

They were unaware of the person who led them by their noses to the war, who burned their villages and poisoned their wells. The ridiculousness of it all earned Drei's scorn, and stimulated Charl’s sadism.

"However. I present my doubts. I feel that. Being famous is not to Master's tastes. He does not desire the recognition of the world."

"What do you mean, Fem? As long as it is advantageous, master would want it."

Drei gave a wry smile.

"Yeah, yeah, politics, y'know? The more points you collect, the better off you'll be later on."

Charl added.

"Ugh~...... sounds difficult to understand......"

"It's not our area of expertise. I conclude. I am built for combat, and you are for research. If it is in the field of politics, Sir Victor or Sir Laubert would be better than the Opus series."

As she said this, Fem turned her gaze in another direction.

An army of monsters was in the midst of laying waste to the St. Gallen's army. One girl stood out from the rest, rampaging around.

"I like to change the subject. Rather than that, I'm more interested. In the results of the test subject."

"The test subject......? Oh, that?"

Charl became somewhat unenthusiastic.

The performance evaluation test of the V-01Y, or Vee, had already been done on the thousand St. Gallen soldiers the other day. And in his view, the battle now was no longer a test, and was just a way to sacrifice her. She was being used in a suicide attack against St. Gallen's army because she and her undead have little connection to Tullius' camp and there was no problem discarding her. Of course, they were not going to declare her as an ally, so she would naturally be attacked by Arquell too.

"I wonder if there's anything left to test on that thing? This fight is just an expanded version of the last one."

"Oh, I get it! I know what you are hoping to see, Fem!"

Seis clapped her hands in realisation.

"There is, isn't there, one person in this battlefield. Someone who could fight a vampire on even terms. Fem, you want to see V-01Y fight that person, don't you?"

"You are right. I confirm."

Fem mimicked a happy smile on her mechanical face. It was rare for this golem girl to even attempt to change her expression. The friends who had the opportunity to see it looked at each other to confirm the unusual sight.

But she continued.

"We've already evaluated the mop-up battle against miscellaneous soldiers and given it a fair score. Next, I want data on the pure combat capability of targeting powerful individuals."