The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 377: The Three Key Positions

Chapter 377: The Three Key Positions

“…A-rise! House! Let’s go, Baladd!”

“Kyaaahhh! Rise, A-rise, A-rise! House! Come on out, Master Konoha!”

After Chappie Mask left the battlefield, Lina went over to Trace’s location.

Noticing Lina’s arrival, Trace immediately gave out her instructions.

“Miss Lina, assist Miss Irene in providing support! Baladd, to the front lines!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Listen, Baladd! Now is the time to show the results of your training! Mow them all down!”

“Hold on tight, then!”

Konoha, sitting on Baladd’s head, pointed straight ahead, his gaze fixing strongly on one location.

It was none other than the location of Billy, the one who had caused the death of his former Master Gaston.

Still, Konoha managed to keep himself from being consumed by revenge.

This was due to his fighting style being the same as Gaston’s — always assessing the situation calmly and dealing with it appropriately.

Baladd and Konoha joined up with Team Silver General, flying close to the ground and swiftly attacking the enemy’s formations. Most of the time, Baladd would attack, but she also spared whatever moments she could to cast recovery spells for the injured allies.

Billy, observing the scene, noticed Konoha sitting on Baladd’s head.

“Konoha!? How is he still alive!?”

“Why does it even concern you? It’s just a mouse.”

“Silence. The fact that he still exists means my previous mission did not, in fact, produce a perfect result!”

“Hehehe… Is that what makes all the difference in your ‘perfect result’? The existence of that mouse, and not that burn on your face?”

The burn on Billy’s face had been dealt by Gaston’s final attack. No matter how hard he tried to heal it, it would not go away — truly a mark of Gaston’s tenacity.

“Hmph! Just you watch, you little mouse! It won’t be long until I destroy you — and everyone else, too! Send in everything we have!”

“I still think we should wait for a better time… But fine. This ought to show them what absolute despair looks like!”

Following up Billy’s proclamation, Cleath raised his hand to command the Alphas and Betas in the rear guard to move forward.

Argent and Blazer’s faces were painted with even more concern upon witnessing the move.

[[We’ll be overwhelmed if they all make their way here!]]

Everyone else was similarly unable to hide their panic.

Even with the arrival of Claris, Anri, and the other mages, the strength they added did not amount to much. The defending side was severely outnumbered.

Irene in the rear guard grit her teeth as the additional enemy forces advanced closer.

“We don’t have enough power!”

They could only do so much to keep the Alphas and Betas at bay. The attacking force was gaining momentum, and they were going to breach the defending force’s vanguard at any moment now.

Moreover, two Devils were still at the far end of the enemy line, standing side by side.

If they were to go all out, the destruction of Eddo — and even the whole T’oued Nation — was but an inevitability.

“Ngh…!”

“GAH!”

One by one, the warriors fell, and it was only a matter of time before the creatures’ fangs reached Asley’s friends.

But then…

“Oh?”

Three shadowy figures emerged from the forest to the west.

One was a gigantic quadrupedal beast, the other a deep violet bird, and the last, a gigantic Elf astride the beast.

“The hell is this!? So this time, the Devil King’s army is attacking T’oued, too?”

The first one to recognize them was Bruce, who was fighting on the front lines as a part of the right flank. He instantly recognized who the Elf was.

“T?s!? What are you doing here!?”

“Running for my life, that’s what! GAHAHAHA!”

T?s said and let out a hearty laugh. The Alphas and Betas, waiting for their turn to attack, directed their hostile gazes at T?s, the gigantic beast Bull, and the violet bird Shi’shichou.

“What, you got a problem with me?”

And T?s glared back at them with just as much hostility, causing the Alphas and Betas to instantly flinch — as his arcane energy was of a greater extent than their masters.

“To think he actually survived the meeting with Master Gaspard… I suppose his reputation as a Philosopher is not just for show after all!”

“What now? If they join the fight, we lose. End of story.”

Billy and Cleath understood the threat posed by T?s and the other two.

They were as powerful as Asley, Pochi, and Lylia — they were among the ones they had to watch out for the most in this war.

“Hey, T?s! Mind helping us out a bit here!?”

“What? Why do I gotta do that?”

But their fears proved to be unfounded.

T?s got off Bull and sat down, leaning his back against a nearby giant tree.

Then he proceeded to say something that astonished everyone present…

“Meh, whatever. Just tell me whenever this thing is done, whoever wins.”

This was not even the full extent of his laziness, as those who had trained under him — including Irene, Lina, Viola, and Jeanne — understood quite well.

Both of the opposing sides found T?s’ behavior to be quite off the rails.

“Damn it! I see you’re as buttheaded as ever!”

Irene furiously chastised T?s for his behavior, but the latter was already snoring, giving himself in to his desire for a nap.

Bull and Shi’shichou even started chatting on the spot.

“Ngh…! He’s as incomprehensible as Master Gaspard’s stories of him suggested! No matter — the situation is still in our favor! Keep on the offensive!”

As it turned out, however, Billy was mistaken.

The Betas, having sensed the extent of T?s’ arcane energy just now, chose to — or rather, were driven by instinct to — unleash their most powerful breath attacks at him.

“KAAAHHHHHH!!”

“THE HELL IS THAT FOR, YOU LITTLE SHIT!?”

The moment T?s’ snot bubble burst apart, he unleashed a breath attack — one so overwhelmingly large and dense that those of the Betas looked like a fine thread against a whole anchor rope.

“An Elf is using a breath attack!?”

“Impossible!”

Billy and Cleath were more surprised by T?s’ breath attack than the fact that so many Betas were being vaporized.

The amount of arcane energy the blast packed was an obvious enough indicator of its power. But to Billy, who strove for absolute mastery of the arcane arts, it was incomprehensible that an Elf — let alone those of a humanoid race — was able to unleash a breath attack.

“How is he able to unleash it? What terrifying power… And he’s not even a Devil…!”

Cleath was surprised by that, too — and also by its destructive power.

The fissure resulting from the breath attack even swallowed down hundreds more of the Alphas and Betas.

Billy and Cleath understood quite well that, if T?s were to unleash another blast in a wide sweep, at least a thousand would be destroyed.

“Listen up, you Devil wannabes!”

T?s roared at Billy and Cleath.

“You wake me up… and I’m gonna kill you so hard, you won’t even wake up in Hell!”

The two men’s faces contorted as they were hit with a sharp glare and hostile intent.

In an attempt to regain composure, Billy whispered.

“L-let’s just ignore him. He’s not helping our enemy, either — that works perfectly well for us.”

Billy and Cleath decided to treat T?s and his companions as tumors — they would leave those three untouched and carry on.

And they immediately ordered their Alphas and Betas accordingly.

“Ugh, T?s’ snoring really is too loud. I think I will sleep over there instead.”

Quickly understanding T?s’ intention, Shi’shichou leaped to the opposite side — the left flank — and landed right in the middle of it.

“”What…!?””

Though on opposite sides of the battle, Billy and Irene noticed at the same time…

“The bird is right — T?s’ snoring IS loud. But his snoring is quite loud as well, so…”

Bull stepped forward, going between T?s and Shi’shichou… and sitting down right in the middle of the whole battlefield.

And then T?s, leaning against a giant tree, suddenly rolled over, stopping in the middle of the right flank.

“Whoops, I rolled quite a bit in my sleep. Well, whatever. Walking back there is a hassle anyway.”

Then he said that without even hiding the fact that he had done it on purpose.

“They… they can’t be serious!”

T?s, Bull, and Shi’shichou took up positions on the right, center, and left… the three key positions of the battlefield.

The Devil King’s army could not let themselves even touch T?s — because if they did, they were sure to be annihilated.

The Alphas and Betas, with their routes already set in stone, lost a great deal of momentum, with some even entirely refusing to move.

T?s was not going to take a side — unless someone attacked him, in which case he would side against those who did.

Billy and Cleath gritted their teeth.

It was up to Billy and Irene to decide for themselves whether this strange situation was a crisis or an opportunity.

But there was one thing they could agree on…

“”THEY’RE SO OBNOXIOUS!””

Once again, Billy and Irene scoffed at the same time.