The Youngest Son of the Northern Grand Duke Wants to Break Off the Engagement-Chapter 97

Benelrode the Incandescent first tried to eliminate the humans.
He couldn't afford to leave behind any forces that might join Tiksa the Frostbane.
Moreover, some humans were making a noisy scene, so he had to take care of them ahead of time.
'What did you receive from the humans? Did they even release your seal for you?'
Benelrode the Incandescent glared over the castle wall with a look of utter contempt.
Tiksa the Frostbane had yet to even reveal his form, but his magic power was sharply perceptible.
Could it be that, right before his eyes, they were attempting some pointless trick?
'Does that mean you do not want to be annihilated like Ekexax the Tempest? How can you be so foolish!'
The humans' castle was being swallowed up by a massive conflagration.
However, if it were his own kin, if it were Tiksa the Frostbane, an attack like this wouldn't work at all.
'The humans who tried to stand in my way are no longer present. Not few of them died on the spot, too.'
While he himself had merely retreated, the humans had paid a considerable price in sacrifice.
Not only did they have shorter lifespans than dragons, but each individual's power was woefully insufficient.
And yet now, they were on the verge of repeating the same mistakes—how utterly foolish could they be?
'What can you possibly do? Are you, now bound to humans, trying to stand against me?'
In the end, Tiksa the Frostbane had abandoned the pride of a dragon and the absoluteness of a transcendent.
He had become nothing more than a being who sought to please mere humans.
Wouldn't it be better to accept an honorable death than to cling to life in such a wretched state?
'You do not even deserve to be called kin.......'
Benelrode the Incandescent stopped dead upon witnessing the flames surge and twist.
His fire certainly surrounded the castle, but it couldn't penetrate deeply within.
Just how long did these insignificant beings intend to endure?
"This energy..."
The crimson blaze began, before anyone noticed, to gradually recede.
The magic power surging from within the castle was causing the flames to shrink in size.
Additionally, the faint chill seeping out was eradicating the fire itself.
'Though much weakened... it seems it will at least be a worthy contest.'
Benelrode the Incandescent advanced again, manipulating his magic power.
A tremendous inferno spread and, in an instant, blotted out the sky.
The earlier attack had only been a light attempt; from here on, he would apply earnest pressure.
'Whatever you may wish for, I will not back down. Do I not need to reclaim my strength?'
* * *
Alter was constantly expending magic power to fend off the enemy's assault.
Though his heart had taken a blow, the flames wielded by a dragon were simply overwhelming.
Fortunately, his own chill could push them back, so for now, there had been no notable damage.
'With this kind of power, did he really not step forward from the very beginning?'
Having faced the dragon's might directly, Alter couldn't help but wonder.
Had Benelrode turned instead to another castle, the soldiers there would have been incinerated to a man, and the walls blasted to ash.
But Benelrode the Incandescent had only sent his minions and monsters, taking the field himself just now.
'... He must have been trying to conserve his strength.'
That's why Alter was confident that Benelrode the Incandescent had been driven into a corner.
He hadn't recovered fully since that event, so even expending magic power would be a burden.
In other words, if Alter just maintained his defensive posture, Benelrode the Incandescent would gradually tire out.
'Just wait for him to weaken a little more and then strike at once—that should be enough.'
Of course, he and his allies would have to defend the castle capably in the meantime.
That would cost quite a lot of magic power, and sometimes casualties would occur.
So they had no choice but to keep calm and hold their respective stations to keep up morale.
'My magic power is wavering. It's not that I'm afraid of dying... but rather, it feels like something is out of sync?'
Alter had felt a sense of dissonance ever since being attacked by Benelrode the Incandescent.
It seemed as if those flames were entangling with his own chill in a subtle way.
Though they sought to erase each other, some fundamental aspect was intertwined.
'Is my magic power somehow connected to dragons?'
Unthinking, Alter recalled the curse of the Frost Witch.
He had suffered for ages because of that curse, yet gained the strength to defeat her.
Perhaps the frost bloodline the Frost Witch had mentioned was somehow bound to dragons.
'If this too was something mother intended.......'
If one looked to the future, they could gather knowledge in many areas.
But his mother had said that recognizing the future came with great cost and that she couldn't reveal things carelessly.
So although she had discovered the secret of the Frost Witch and dragons, perhaps she had to hide it by necessity.
'Was my future battle with Benelrode the Incandescent predetermined as well?'
Unable to dispel his doubts, Alter shook his head.
At this point, the truth was out of reach.
He could only do his best to overcome the reality that had come to meet him.
'What does my "destiny" even mean?'
His mother had said that his fate had saved Brillie.
But the reasons were unclear and it was hard to even infer what future that fate pointed to.
Even if this war ended safely, what new crisis would come next?
'There must be something hidden.......'
"He doesn't get tired, does he. He's coming at us again!"
Berhan swept away the flames in front of him with both hands gripping his hammer.
For a brief moment, their sights cleared, then more red projectiles came raining down.
Alraune calmly scattered fire, and with his left hand, invoked a separate spell.
"We just have to keep blocking for now. We don't have many options for responding on our side...."
Alraune shook the ground, raising mounds of earth.
Then he conjured up walls in succession, and the troops began lining up behind.
Since earth and stone didn't burn, only left with some soot, they could effectively block the dragon's fire.
"We're being attacked unilaterally—how long can we endure this?"
"Even a dragon doesn't have infinite magic power. From the account in the diary, his magic ought to have diminished since then!"
"......"
Alter, in a hush, spread his chill swiftly.
Just as Alraune said, there would be limits sooner or later.
From that point on, the enemy could no longer press their attack, so their hand would be forced.
'Either he'll retreat as is, or try to intensify his attack before reaching that point.'
That's why Alter was sure that a critical moment would soon come.
Merely breaching the castle in this way would secure the advantage.
If monsters rushed in right after, the allies' casualties would increase, and the front line would be breached thereafter.
'The Knight of True Flame hasn't appeared yet. Is the treatment still not finished?'
Alter had no choice but to factor in a situation where the Knight of True Flame intervened.
Whatever his purposes, he was still the empire's enemy.
Above all, since Brillie was wary of the Knight of True Flame, he had to ensure that he was eliminated quickly.
'Now that I look, the attacks seem weaker. Has his magic already run out?'
Alter snuffed out the flames with ease and scanned the area.
The fire that had enveloped the castle was steadily thinning.
Alraune also seemed to notice and looked perplexed.
"Society head, doesn't something seem off?"
"It's too early for him to give up. If he intended to end it like this, would he have appeared in person?"
"......"
"......?"
Alter and Alraune exchanged glances, then belatedly turned toward the front lines.
Once their sight cleared, they spotted Benelrode the Incandescent.
He was already concentrating his magic power, aiming at the castle.
"A breath......."
"So this was what he was waiting for!"
Alter immediately spread his chill near the castle gate, and Alraune quickly began erecting an earth barrier.
Berhan fled beneath the wall with the troops, but Brillie didn't budge an inch.
She simply waited at Alter's side for the critical moment.
"Is it over?"
"Eh? I've done what I could, but whether it's enough to block...."
"You did what you could, right? Now we just have to take our lumps."
Brillie sheathed her sword and in a flash pulled Alter into an embrace.
Alraune glanced at them sideways as he moved out of the range of attack.
Alter seemed confused for a moment, then realized her intent.
"There's no need to go this far...."
"It's too late if you regret after losing something. You've got to take care of it before it's gone."
"......"
Brillie looked seriously into his eyes and lightly bounced on her feet.
There wasn't time to descend the stairs.
Given the crisis, they had to act swiftly, even at the cost of wasting some magic power.
"The Great Mage should be all right... As long as we dodge well, we'll be fine."
"What are you... Uh..."
Alter, without thinking, gripped Brillie's shoulder.
As she jumped from the castle wall without hesitation, he had to brace himself for the shock.
No matter how much swordsmanship and stamina he'd built up, could she really act so boldly?
"Hm... Why are you so light? I feel like nothing's changed since then."
Brillie landed lightly and immediately took off running.
Though the wall was quite high, by channeling magic power she could mitigate the gravitational impact.
Even with Alter's weight added, it wasn't enough to be a burden.
"Was this your plan from the start?"
"Yes. There's no time to hesitate in an emergency. Easier to just come down at once, right?"
"Isn't that a bit reckless?"
"I'm not sure it's reckless. Isn't it better than trying to block the breath?"
"......"
At a loss for words, Alter tacitly agreed.
Even the strike force that defeated Benelrode the Incandescent had done everything they could to avoid the breath.
With the enemy obscuring their sight and preparing, it was truly aimed at destroying the castle itself.
"If the castle falls, we won't retreat, right?"
"We'll have to gather the ambushed troops. If we retreat once, we'll just keep falling back."
"Fighting without a castle will be a huge disadvantage."
"If the front line collapses..."
"Duck your head!"
Brillie pulled Alter down and bent her body low.
At that moment, a gust of wind swept in from all directions.
A vivid red beam shot from the distance, smashing through the earth barrier at the castle's front in an instant.
Then it forced back even Alter's chill and collided with the castle wall.
'The castle can't withstand it... Will we have to abandon this siege defense?'