Rumble. The entire eastern mountain range quaked, from deep valleys and high summits to slopes and paths. Cliffs fell apart, ponds and puddles overflowed, and creeks flooded. It roared out two billion liters of noise as the Frona River nearly exploded.
Kwoooooosh!!
The Frona River flowed down from the eastern mountains and enriched the southern soil of the Frontera Estate in a clockwise pattern, providing necessary freshwater to the citizens. But it was crying out like a fierce predator about to devour the poor prey right now. It crushed and pushed the debris in the way aside, before reaching the northern part of the Maritz Farmlands at the speed of 100 miles per hour, carrying with it the crashing wave with a height of over 400 feet.
Kwoooosh!!
Commander Sir Kalidus of the Second Corp of hell's army was shaken by the sight. He had seen his share of violence in the underworld, but nothing was quite abysmal like the catastrophe that came at him.
"Wh-what kind of--"
The storm from the fierce currents reached him first even before the crashing waves did.
Kwoooosh!
Sir Kalidus faltered, as did his war steed, giving Ppodong a chance to distance itself from its chaser
momentarily. That little bit of distance and time created a perfect opportunity for Lloyd to move on to the next part of the plan.
"Ggoming!" Shouted the estate developer.
"Ggoming!" Responded a creature in white silhouette, showing itself through the storm and descending rapidly. "Ppodong," Lloyd quickly moved around as Ggoming flew down. "Eat this."
"Ppodong!"
Ppodong took the blue sunflower seed as Lloyd stretched out the other hand backward.
"My queen, please take my hand!"
"What did you just say?"
"We don't have enough time, so just take my hand please!"
Poof! Lloyd grabbed hold of Her Majesty's hand urgently and picked up Ppodong, who had minimized again. Ggoming's talons stretched out to Lloyd and the queen in the air at that moment.
"Ggoming!"
Clutch! The flying beast successfully grabbed Lloyd by his shoulders.
"Up! Up!"
"Ggoming! Ggoming!"
Ggoming flapped its wings robustly, away from the frightening 400-feet-tall wave that ferociously and destructively crashed towards the farmlands with the intent to devour everything in its wake.
Kwooooooosh!!
The top of the wave touched Lloyd's feet, nearly sweeping the queen away with the current. Appalled, Lloyd urgently pulled her out from the water. His shoulders were massively sore.
"Ugh... Huff! Huff!"
Lloyd clasped onto her so as not to let go of her again as he looked down.
Everything was being swept away, from the hell's knight that was fiercely chasing after them and the knights under his command to a third of the Maritz Farmlands Lloyd and the citizens worked so hard on. It was like a colony of ants being washed away by a rainstorm.
Of course. That's two billion liters of water for you.
Lloyd recalled the incident at Vajont Dam in Italy. The landslide allegedly caused twice as much damage as that inflicted by the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima.
The size of the landslide was a little over 230 million square meters. And the flood I'm seeing is carrying two billion liters of water. Holy.
Lloyd was in so much awe that he couldn't even do the math at the moment.
I just hope it doesn't flow towards the estate.
That was the last thing he wanted, as he anxiously prayed and monitored the flow of the currents. In fact, he had designed the gigantic waterway to control the direction of the flow without overflowing.
And the northern part of the Maritz Farmlands was the perfect destination. It borders the Frona River and used to be swampland, ideal for controlling the crashing waters, not to mention no one resides in this area because it consists of fields.
Repairing the damages in this area was going to be way less challenging as compared to residences.
I think it's going as planned.
Lloyd internally shouted out in excitement as he got on Ggoming and gently tapped the queen in the back, who was still coughing intensely from the incident. The immense flood that began from Lake Kapua was being controlled just as he had intended, sweeping only through a third of the Maritz Farmland and touching nothing else.
The hell's knights were being destroyed by the crashing waves that carried an extraordinary type of water. Lloyd looked down towards the scene of the catastrophe and shouted out.
"How did you like the fierce current of the holy water?!"
A massively muscular upper body appeared from the torrential currents all of a sudden. The mightiest aquatic creature was not being swept away by the disastrous flood and was even swimming against the flow. It was the mermaid queen.
"I think this is awesome! Even though the water is a bit murky, it feels more exhilarating than riding the waves in the ocean during a thunderstorm! And the water tastes amazing!"
"Of course it does! That's holy water!"
"Great! Thanks for an opportunity like this! I appreciate it!"
"Glad to hear," shouted out Lloyd robustly. "Hope you keep enjoying it!"
The mermaid queen dove back underwater after hearing the reply and glanced at five hundred hell's knights, helplessly waving around their limbs against the overwhelming currents of holy water. Those who were hit directly by the crashing waves had broken their bones, and even those who hid themselves behind ditches had sustained significant injuries. They were all writhing in pain, being swept away here and there. Valiant mermaids and mermen actively and robustly swam through the water and appeared one by one.
"My faithful warriors!" The mermaid queen shouted out solemnly and majestically, grabbing the warriors' attention. "Answer me. What do I despise the most?"
"Water pollution, and doing nothing about it!"
"Then what do you think we must do at the moment?"
"We must get rid of the filthy contaminants!"
"Precise what are those?"
"Those bastards!" The mermaid and merman warriors ferociously glared at the hell's knights.
"Well, then. Attack!!" Commanded the queen.
"Hraaaaaaah!"
Mermaids and mermen flexed their muscles as they charged underwater towards the hell's knights. Aquatic creatures with monstrous strength and agility underwater jumped on the evil soldiers that were flapping around like plastic bags out in the ocean.
"Urgh...!"
From Sir Kalidus of the Second Corps to the hell's knights under his command, none of them could withstand this attack. The impact from the flood of holy water was overwhelming on its own, having soaked the bone marrows of the knights after fracturing them, but unexpected enemies were rubbing salt in the wounds.
Stomp!
A colossal foot covered in red scales stomped on Sir Kalidus, whose bones were all fractured and weakened. The damage was too tremendous for the knight to withstand. After stepping on Sir Kalidus, the young dragon Solitas rubbed his heel against the bottom of the river.
Crush!
Sir Kalidus was no more, as his body was shredded to pieces and swept away by the currents.
"One down," said Solitas with a smirk on his face, putting his thumbs up towards Lloyd with a hopeful expectation in his mind.
It'll go well since I decided to help out. And if he survives... I'll get to go on a blind date!
The red dragon was burning with the passion to triumph over the enemies, as he continued to stomp on other hell's knights. Mermaid and merman warriors endeavored to hunt down the foes, pulling those who were trying to escape back into the water. They surrounded each knight in groups and ganged up on it shamelessly. Hell's knights did not remain so helpless, despite the weakened state they were in. Being superior to even swordmasters, they resisted the attack even though they were soaked in holy water. But they still couldn't flee from the crashing currents of holy water. Lloyd monitored from above and clenched his fist.
Good. The first part is a complete success.
His strategy had worked. Lloyd was convinced this battle would be remembered as the Great Battle of Holy Water and go down in history.
"We were able to stop the hell's knights from charging further, Your Majesty. I think we should move on to the next part of the plan."
"...Whew. Good. That's a relief."
"Are you alright, Your Majesty?"
"I am," said the queen majestically and elegantly, as she shook the excess water off her hair and condescendingly glared at Lloyd. "But I must ask. What did you call me before?"
"Huh?"
"Before the wave crashed down on me, as you stretched your hand out."
"...Uh, well, please forgive me," said Lloyd apologetically.
"I'm listening," insisted the queen.
"But I do not remember."
“...”
"The situation was so dire."
“...”
"I speak the truth, Your Majesty."
"Really?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Ha. You're as shameless as usual."
"Your grace knows no bounds, Your Majesty."
"You must return the favor then."
"Huh?"
"I fully acknowledge that you saved my life just now. I intend to duly reward you for your act of bravery." "By reward--"
"I will actively look for a suitable spouse for you to court after all this is over."
"...Pardon?"
"Because you're an extremely shameless individual, no ordinary woman would be able to deal with your character. She'd either have to be headstrong, or skilled in swordsmanship. That is why I'm thinking of holding a contest of swords for single women."
"Y-your Majesty?"
"Speak."
"D-do you intend to make the winner of the contest my... bride... by any chance?"
"Of course I am. And I was thinking of participating as a contestant myself."
"I-I beg your pardon?!"
"Is something wrong?"
"N-no. It's just that if you were to partake in the contest, Your Majesty, you'd--"
"Win."
“...”
"I'd better work hard on honing my skills."
“...”
Lloyd became speechless, even though he desperately wanted to call it an absolute abuse of power, tyranny, and dictatorship.
But I'm kind of excited and glad... except what kind of marriage proposal is this threatening...?!
But Lloyd couldn't bring it out in words, as his queen had already taken him by his hand.
“...”
It was rough, yet warm. He could feel every heartbeat that was clearly pounding faster than usual.
Ugh. There goes my dream of ordinary living.
Lloyd quickly wiped off the tear that was about to fall from his eyes at the thought of the frightening romance. But this wasn't the time to joke around, as the battle had only just begun.
"Please allow me to take us back to the hell's gate so we can carry out the next part of the strategy."
"You have my permission."
Lloyd turned Ggoming around and went back towards the north, at which the hell's gate had opened. The area was crowded by the time, not because of the demons that flooded out from the portal, however.
"Her Majesty is back!"
"Hooray!! Long live the queen!"
Ten thousand royal soldiers shouted out as their well-polished armors, helms, shields, and halberds glowed under the moonlight. Next to them were rather disorganized, yet clearly battle-ready musclemen.
"Destroy we, today!" Shriek!
"Crush we, today!" Shriek!
"Fight we, today!" Shriek!
"Date we, today!" Shriek!
"...There's a spy among us!" Shriek!
Thirty thousand orc warriors flexed their muscles as they shouted out like wild beasts. Elf sharpshooters were calmly readying their arrows while riding on the backs of 500 centauri, next to another 500 White Cavaliers eager to outperform their rival riders. Behind them were 1,200 Mamluk cavalry, 700 pikemen from Namaran, and 36 artillery units from Cremo, all awaiting the moment to launch their attacks. Last but not least, a large silhouette flew this way from the eastern mountain range. It was that of the bone dragon Yong Yong, carrying Javier on its back and Bibeong in its arms.
Perfect. Everyone is here.
Javier, Bibeong, and the bone dragon had broken the dam at the impeccable timing, contributing greatly to the success of the holy water flood. It was thanks to them defenders of Frontera were able to rout the hell's knights.
"Your Majesty."
Lloyd glanced at Queen Alicia, signaling her to give the speech before leading them into battle.
"No. It is you that devised this strategy carefully," replied the queen, shaking her head. "It is fitting for you to act as the commander. Give the speech."
"Your grace knows no bounds, Your Majesty."
Lloyd accepted his queen's request graciously and stood firmly on Ggoming's back, speaking out to the alliance of more than 40,000 soldiers.
"This is Lloyd Frontera speaking. I won't be long. Thanks to everyone's efforts to conceal themselves as per the plan, we were able to hold the hell's knights down. Their main attacking forces are being curbed, and it is our turn to counterstrike."
Simply focusing on defense against a mighty adversary wasn't going to suffice. Besides, Lloyd wasn't the type of person to only be on the receiving end of things. That was why he lured the advancing units, crushed them, and held them down in a spot. It was his turn to fight back.
"Are you ready to invade the underworld?!"
Lloyd shouted out energetically, powered by his mana. 43,500 soldiers of the alliance responded in an even greater battle cry. The Battle of Holy Water was successful. It was time to use the momentum against the enemies and attack their base in hell.
