[WN] Emperor's Seventh Son : 17 - 6

17-6

Orpheus

Translator : PolterGlast

There was a man who descended into hell in search of his deceased wife. I believe his name was Orpheus. It is a tale of a journey through hell that exists in any world.

「I intended to fight. I didn't think you would accept the White Duke-sama's request.」

「Did your plans go awry? My bad, I am this much of a massive idiot.」

「No, it is worthy of respect... You are noble.」

「That is just a way of putting things.」

Guided by the Guardian, I descended the Abyss. At first, it was a cave. I saw the figures of Abyss Ants, but as soon as they saw us, they fled. It was probably because the absolute dominant species of the Abyss, positioned at the apex of the ecosystem, was there. Passing through the world of rock, next was a world of ice. There were starving Abyss Hounds and Ogres, but they too vanished in fear of the man who called himself the Guardian.

「The first Emperor also descended here.」

「That's a shame. Because surely, part of the reason I came here was a sense of rivalry towards him.」

「He was a great man. Everyone in the Abyss harbors a sense of respect for him.」

To be liked even by the people of the Abyss, the first Emperor truly was a strange guy. Through a cold world that chilled to the core of the bones, I advanced while looking around like Kachua. Writing a book might be good too. A travel book mixed with talk about food. If I wrote about the Abyss, I'd probably be laughed at for it being a tall tale. After that was a world of flames. A world like it was burning—or rather, the world was actually burning and magma was flowing. It seems this is the main habitat of the Abyss Ogres. The next world was a little strange. A world enveloped in minerals, primarily amethyst.

「It is fine now, but be careful on the way back. In this world, you must not look back. Got it?」

「Starting to sound like a ghost story, huh. Understood.」

Passing through numerous hells (Abyss), I thought about the travel book I might actually write. Eventually, we arrived at the destination. This must be the White Duke's mansion. It was a heterogeneous world within the Abyss, dyed in a red twilight.

「Think of it as playing house.」

「Playing house?」

「It is better not to eat the tea or sweets served. If you just make the gesture of eating and drinking, the master will likely be satisfied.」

「...Understood.」

If you eat the food of hell, you cannot return to the surface. I've heard such legends somewhere too.

「But it's a strange world. I don't know much about the Abyss, but it doesn't seem like the Abyss. No, I guess the Abyss is the Abyss after all...」

Perhaps because it was firmly managed, it was a relaxing space even within the Abyss. But I was wrong. The stagnant air and sticky presence remained unchanged. In the darkness, there were countless bloodshot eyeballs staring this way. I didn't feel any malice. They were just staring intently at us. That was all it was.

「Duke-sama, I have brought Ausar—Prince Ashley Gnosis Urgos.」

Ausar must be something like a title or position. That ghost blacksmith had said it too. The child of Ausar is Ausar. Be that as it may, in the garden where even the plants and trees were red, there was an old man in a wheelchair. Sitting at a table, his eyes quietly turned towards me.

「Thanks to you, I can finally leave my duty as well. I am grateful.」

The Guardian said only that and disappeared. Their request is a meeting. I sat at the table opposite the White Duke. Tea and sweets were already prepared, so when I showed the gesture of eating and drinking, the old man calling himself the White Duke smiled.

「What a reckless man. To accept the invitation of a Demon Noble of the Abyss and come all the way to the bottom of hell... Heh, fufu... You are more than what his report said...」

「Because it didn't seem like there would be any other opportunities to travel the Abyss.」

「That is true too. How is the tea?」

「It has a nice fragrance. I can't believe this is the bottom of hell.」

It was such good tea that it made me want to take a sip unintentionally. If I drank it, I might not be able to return above. Perhaps with that property added, I was unintentionally drawn to it.

「...So, what do you want to talk to me about?」

「You are young. Nothing, I just wanted to see that face and talk. Show me those eyes, and that arm too...」

「Fine. We are fellow monsters, after all.」

I removed the lens bestowed upon me by Father and took off my glove. A white arm and a dragon's eye. I no longer have any abominable feelings towards them. Surely it is because I gained a compatriot named Zirant. The White Duke placed his tea on the table and stared at me for a long time.

「To want to meet someone like me, you are quite the eccentric too.」

「Am I? You will understand too when you grow older.」

Since the White Duke drank his tea looking like it was delicious, I became envious. Let's at least burn the fragrance into my memory. Even if I said I went to the Abyss and smelled the best tea fragrance, neither Aneue nor Aniue would believe me, though.

「Sorry, but unlike Yord and Julius, I won't stand on your side. Thanks to you guys, things are a disaster over there.」

Let's advance the conversation. Reading the old man's thoughts, I gave a warning beforehand. Without returning a reply, he just quietly looked up at the sky of the Abyss. The sky shone so brightly red that it became creepy. Is this a world where evening never ends? The red shining sky, despite having no sun, unstably flickered its light strongly and weakly. It was a much more unearthly and eerie land than the ice hell or the flame hell.

「We had two goals. Both were difficult, hard-to-achieve dreams...」

「In the past tense?」

「Yes... One of the dreams can no longer be fulfilled. What remains is only the dearest wish to escape from this Abyss, unchanged since that day we were deceived by Samael and cast down into this land...」

「That is a problem. Over here, we are being troubled by the monsters of the Abyss. Even if you wish to return, we have our lives on the surface. Coexistence would be difficult.」

These guys are far too strong to live on the surface. If it turned into a fight, we might end up being conquered.

「Kukuku... That is right. We are evil. Perhaps that is why Samael also betrayed us. He ousted us gods and tried to become a god himself. Just to protect his own precious ones...」

「Even if you tell me such an old tale, I don't understand it. I am just a human, just the adventurer Shinza.」

I looked up at the red sky again, and when I got bored of that, I glared back at the eyeballs staring from the shadows. I can't eat the tea or the sweets. It was starting to become painful.

「I have a request...」

「What is it?」

「Even in this polluted earth, there is a land where flowers sprout. A land that drifted to this place hundreds of years ago, gradually becoming polluted, and slowly beginning to wither. Descendant of Ausar, with your rare power, pierce the vortex of impurity...」

That seems to be the true condition for the exchange. Thinking it was an easy task, I stood up from my chair, and guided by the old man in the wheelchair, arrived at a paradise within the Abyss. It was unbelievably beautiful, a pure world despite being in the Abyss. The White Duke seems to cherish this place more than anything else. He seemed to be genuinely heartbroken at the sight of that land being swallowed by the Abyss and gradually transforming.

We cannot coexist with the folks of the Abyss. Eventually, we will end up fighting again. But for me, who grew up confined in a tower, their feelings of desiring a paradise were not someone else's problem. Therefore, I sincerely fulfilled my duty, and returned to the surface without ever looking back. A ghost muttering "Samael, Samael" called out to my back, but that's not me. I am neither Ausar nor Ashley. Right now, I am the adventurer Shinza.

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[WN] Emperor's Seventh Son : 17 - 5

17-5

Invitation to the Abyss

Translator : PolterGlast

The underground passage was made of a heterogeneous material. A strange material that was neither iron, nor earth, nor wood was scattered hither and thither. The floor had a slight elasticity, a sensation like it was sticking to your shoes, making it extremely slip-resistant. The walls were smooth, showing no signs of deterioration over the years, and when I brought my face close, my own face was faintly reflected. Also, the sound of wind could constantly be heard. Contrary to the warm surface, it was cool enough to even feel a chill here, and if we stayed too long, it felt like it would chill our bodies to the core.

「Say Sig-chan, aren't you cold?」

「Nn, why?」

Sigrun prefers quite light clothing. No matter who looked at it, it was an outfit that looked cold.

「No... if you're fine, it's whatever...」

「Hmph, I'm one who the literal living embodiment of 'idiots don't catch colds'... What an utterly disrespectful fellow!」

We descended the underground passage while making idle talk. This is an Ark to preserve species. The facility was astoundingly vast, and occasionally branch paths appeared, at the end of which sturdy barriers stood in the way.

「Somehow, I feel like I understand, man... These guys are certainly outrageous. Coexistence? Yeah, that's impossible...」

「For the record, our ancestors had a weakness too. Their bodies were weaker than other races.」

「That's the exact opposite of you, Sigrun-sama...」

「Hahaha, I agree with that! I have a strong body, but my head is disappointing—oi hey Kachua, what does that mean?!」

「Man, you're way too slow to notice...」

「S-Sorry, I didn't mean it that way... Sigrun-sama is sturdy and cool! Right after Shinza...」

In terms of sheer robustness, it felt like there was absolutely no way I could compete with her.

Sigrun was entirely, through and through, a singular existence. She was just like the female protagonists from the stories of other worlds that I used to admire.

As we talked and proceeded further and further down, a rustling, unpleasant sensation began to run through us. It seems everyone felt the same. Only Sigrun joyfully curled up the corners of her mouth.

「Man... Maybe I should've just waited... Something's outrageous up ahead...」

「Hahahaha, since it's the gateway to the Abyss, naturally! I've always wanted to cross swords with a big shot once!」

「No, don't say ominous things!」

「Let's stop, Sigrun-sama, if you say things like that, it'll come true!?」

「Whaaat? Don't you guys want to cross swords with an Abyss Demon Noble?」

「You massive idiot!」

「A horde of Abyss Ogres is still better!」

That in itself is what you call a flag, isn't it, Kachua. But the option of retreating is non-existent. We advanced through the world drifting with stagnant air. The further we advanced, the stronger the presence became.

・

We arrived just before our destination. There was a distinctly thick metal gate there, with strings of text arranged here and there.

「What does this say?」

「Danger ahead. Absolutely do not open. Those who open it without permission will be subject to punishment. Death penalty. ...Kuhaha, in other words, it means open it!」

「Those words make it completely understandable why the village folks didn't tell you about this place.」

We borrowed a thing called a keycard from Village Chief Plea. She tried to explain, but I replied that I was used to this kind of thing from books of the other world.

「Never mind that, hurry up! The firefight with the Abyss is about to begin!」

「No, don't start it!? Ore-chan can't keep you company for something like that!?」

「Wahahaha, what naive things are you saying! An Abyss Ant nest might be waiting on the other side!?」

That's possible. Since Sigrun hurried me to open it, I hung the Shovel on my other arm and inputted the keycard and PIN into the device.

「Oi oi oi oi... Just how vigilant were they against the things inside...」

「It's thick...」

The gate had more depth than vertical width. For the sake of something they absolutely didn't want to let through, multiple layers of armor were sucked into the wall one by one. And endlessly at that. At the same time, the terrifying presence that had been pushed deep inside reached its climax.

Even I trembled. Reflexively, Kachua nocked an arrow to her bow, and Zirant stuck to my back, using me as a shield.

「So that's the Great Gate of the Abyss! Mu, but someone is there.」

「What did you say...」

「No, there's no way there could be a person in a place like this—ugeh, don't tell me that's a Demon, Noble...?」

Sigrun drew her twin swords, rested one on her shoulder, and boldly walked inside. I can't let her go alone. Leaving Zirant to the old man, I chased after her back.

Beyond the bulkhead, the Great Gate of the Abyss was indeed sealed. The Gate of Hell. An eerie gate befitting that name. It was placed in the center of the room, half-open. Beyond the door, there were countless eyeballs, staring fixedly this way.

And in front of that gate, there was a giant man holding a sword. With skin as pitch-black as a rock and red eyes, a monster that looked nothing like a human.

「How many millennia has it been since we had guests here... Guests, I welcome you.」

「Hahaha, don't speak as if this is your territory. But you are wrong, this is our sanctuary! My name is the Black Horn Sigrun! In this land, the child of curse and calamity!」

Curse aside, calamity isn't exactly wrong... I stood in front of the man who seemed to be an intelligent lifeform of the Abyss. In front of Sigrun, that is.

「And you are?」

「Just the adventurer Shinza. It helps that you are someone I can hold a conversation with.」

「............I am the gatekeeper of the Abyss. Sorry, but I do not have a name; you can call me a Guardian.」

「Then Guardian, step aside. We came to close that gate.」

He's not belligerent and we can hold a conversation. Learning that, the rearguard also came over here. They probably also want to hear what this strange man has to say.

「Then let me offer a condition.」

「A duel!? Very well, in that case, let's kill each other with me!!」

「That is also deeply interesting... However, let me measure the vessel of the Reincarnated-dono here.」

It seems that is referring to me. The Guardian of the Abyss was staring at me with his red eyes. Interrupting here will complicate things. Let him say what he wants to say first.

「I had grasped beforehand that you would come here. And fortunately, there is an entrance here...」

「Somehow, I've got a bad feeling...」

「The leader of the Demon Nobles, the White Duke-sama, will meet you. Come to the Abyss.」

At those words, everyone fell silent.

「I heard the Abyss is polluted land. Who would willingly fall into hell.」

「You are the only one invited, Shinza. You are an exception. Only you cannot be polluted even by the Abyss.」

Is that so, I turned my eyes to Zirant, and after hesitating, she gave a small nod. It's said the first Emperor went around dispelling the poison of gods. Did he possess qualities to counter the poison?

「Wait, wait, that's boring! Shinza, reject such a negotiation! And let's kill each other!」

「Sigrun-sama's way of saying it is extreme, but they really might be trying to deceive us!」

「I understand how you feel, but only a naive greenhorn would bite. That being said, picking a fight with this guy is gonna be a massive pain in the neck...」

I glared at the Guardian for a while. I hear the people of the Abyss are distorted down to their very hearts, but this man looks noble. That was also true for that white knight. Their interests do not align with ours at all, but the single point that they are noble was certain.

「The other party is saying they will discuss things in a gentlemanly manner. If we reject this, we are worse than barbarians.」

「Worse than a barbarian is fine by me! This one has no desire to lose her favorite partner! If you're gone, who else is going to make the villains foam at the mouth?!」

She has a point.

「Shinza, no, Prince Ashley-sama, you're really an idiot, ain't ya...」

「You can't go! What will you do if you can't come back!?」

「Stop it, this is an order. Throwing away the future of the Empire just for the sake of pride is exactly what an idiot would do.」

My judgment is probably not rational. But I am curious. What is the world beyond the Abyss Gate like? If this physical body can see it through without being polluted, then I want to go.

Shaking off the restraint of my comrades, I stood next to the Guardian of the Abyss, in front of the Great Gate. It's a huge gate; I could probably fit through the gap.

「I told you not to go! The folks on the other side might bear a grudge against you! To the Abyss, it is only natural that you are the child of their sworn enemy, do not go!」

「Sorry, but I've decided to go. I'll probe their intentions while I'm at it. I'll say this much: I will definitely return.」

Shaking off my comrades' restraint, I departed for the other side of the Abyss Gate. It's all an excuse. Simply, I wanted to see the unseen world.

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[WN] Jitsuwa 3-Domedatta : Chapter 369

Chapter 369

(Kyle Calendar Year 515: Age 22)

Northern Front ⑦ – The Arrival of a New Ally

Translator : PolterGlast

Driven by an ironclad resolve to safeguard his beloved Rosa and the innocent citizens she was desperately trying to guide to safety, Viscount Durul, his eyes burning with a fierce intensity, led his 1,000 elite cavalry in a charge straight into the marching columns of warhorses led by the King of Ville. Among his ranks were numerous warriors who had originally been saved from the brink of death by Rosa and the others during their captivity at Teigoon—men who had now risen to become intermediate commanders within the Empire Army. Their souls blazed with an unyielding fury, steeled by the singular purpose of rescuing their lifesaver, as they threw themselves into the enemy ranks, hacking and slashing with terrifying ferocity.

「 Hiiiiieee! 」

The sheer violence of the impact was so staggering that the King of Ville, despite holding an overwhelming numerical advantage, let out a pathetic, high-pitched shriek of pure terror. Similarly, the Ville Kingdom army, which just moments prior had been casually hunting down the Demon Territory Dukedom soldiers from the position of a hunter, was instantly thrown into total, uniform panic all at once.

「 Intercept them! Reorganize the formation immediately! 」 「 E-Eek, pull back! Retreat! 」 「 W-Which way?! Where the hell are we supposed to go?! 」

The chaos was total; they had just emerged from the narrow highway passing through the forest into a crossroads where vast grasslands spread, expanding their army largely, but that very expansion had now sealed their doom, leaving them conversely trapped and unable to move. Having completely spilled into the sprawling, wide crossroads, attempting to reverse their trajectory into the narrow southern highway to secure a retreat was an agonizingly slow process that demanded a massive window of time. Worse, as the entire unit dissolved into a frantic panic, every single soldier aggressively rushed and clawed their way toward the narrow highway entrance all at once, creating a catastrophic, suffocating overcrowding that left the army completely frozen and unable to move.

※

Despite being overwhelmingly outnumbered, Viscount Durul's highly motivated army assumed a razor-sharp Wedge Formation, violently slicing through the absolute center of the enemy lines to split their force wide open. The exact instant the rupture formed, they forcefully wheeled their mounts to the north and south, aggressively compressing the fractured remnants of the Ville Kingdom army from both sides.

「 I'll leave the south to you! I shall personally annihilate the enemy army deployed to the north and save our allies! Entire army, become death-defying soldiers and charge! 」

Viscount Durul personally led half of his army, surging northward like a massive drill prying open a hole, systematically suppressing the highway extending to the north. He rode at the absolute front of the vanguard, his blade thoroughly dyed crimson as he brandished his blood-stained sword through the field. The sheer, unbridled violence of his fierce attack was extraordinary, successfully pushing his lines all the way to the coordinate where their allies were desperately holding out.

「 Allow us to extend our deepest gratitude for your timely assistance! 」

「 Think nothing of it—it is only a matter of course. Tell me…… is Rosa-sama safe?! 」

「 Yes! She preceded us and is currently hurrying north at absolute full-speed, Rosa-sama taking along nearly two hundred innocent children! 」

「 Mm…… did she make it in time…… Thank goodness. 」

Even while exchanging this brief conversation, Viscount Durul and the commander responsible for Rosa's escort were both continuously swinging their swords in perfect, frantic synchronization to confront the swarming enemy army.

「 We will take over this place! Take your remaining men, proceed north immediately, and protect the children and Rosa-sama! 」

「 Gratefully…… my thanks will be for another time! 」

Saying so, the commander gathered the battered remnants of his remaining cavalry and hurried northward along the highway at top speed. The battle would continue to bleed forward, and these men, completely covered in horrific wounds all over their bodies and exhausted from fighting to their absolute limits, probably wouldn't last much longer. Yet, if they could successfully link up with her who wielded the supreme miracle of the Goddess's healing…… surely she could save them. Exactly as he himself was saved once; Viscount Durul chose to let them go ahead driven entirely by those profound thoughts.

「 I am Durul of the Imperial Army! From here on, I will not let a single living soul pass! 」

Shouting his thunderous challenge, he aggressively drew the miscellaneous soldiers to himself, standing as an unyielding bulwark in the way of the highway. While his heroic stand successfully guaranteed the safe withdrawal of the escort unit from the battlefield, it brought a swift, hazardous misfortune upon his own head. In the midst of the swirling melee, the archers who were still hiding in the shadows of the forest, upon knowing that the enemy army's general was right before their eyes, began to release a simultaneous, concentrated volley of arrows uniformly aiming for the Viscount. Simultaneously, a massive wave of enemy soldiers also began swarming him from all sides all at once. Even so…… due to the Viscount and those he led fighting furiously like a wrathful Asura, it was just when the enemy army was almost entirely swept clean from the highway—

「 Guh…… 」

A single heavy arrow pierced deeply into the chest of the Viscount, who let out a short, muted gasp of agony.

「 What of it, I cannot permit myself to die just yet! 」

Forcefully snapping the heavy arrow that pierced through his armor and stood upright, the Viscount readied the highly improved crossbow given by Takuhir, equipped on his horse gear. And locking eyes with the enemy archer nocking an arrow within the forest lines, they released their shots at each other at the exact same fraction of a second. At that moment…… the enemy's arrow grazed the Viscount's cheek and dripped blood down his face, while simultaneously his own mechanical bolt struck the archer who aimed at him dead-center between the eyebrows, dropping him instantly into the dirt like a stone.

「 Maintain absolute vigilance against the ambushers hiding in the forest! One unit will remain here and mop up the ambushers while securing the highway; all others turn south with me to utterly strike the rest of the enemy army! 」

Issuing those sharp instructions, the Viscount advanced his horse forward to confront the other half of the divided enemy army.

※

Confused by the sudden, unexpected appearance of the enemy army and completely overwhelmed by their explosive, vigorous fighting spirit, the Ville Kingdom army, despite being overwhelmingly superior in numbers, had already lost over 1,000 allies, and was truly on the absolute precipice of a catastrophic rout.

「 Why can we not advance south?! The miscellaneous soldiers are blocking my absolute path of retreat, are they not! 」

The King of Ville shouted in pure frustration, but the narrow highway leading back to the Lorelei area they had passed through so far was completely choked off, rendering an escape in that direction a supreme impossibility. If calm, the highway possessed enough width for over fifty people to run parallel with absolute ease; however, with a panicked horde of thousand-scale men and horses violently rushing into the bottleneck all at once, they got in each other's way and became packed like sushi, falling into a suffocating, gridlocked state where they could no longer move at all.

「 Your Majesty, right now your honorable self is what matters above all else! I believe it is best to change course to the highway leading east and join General Golpa's army! There are also confirmed scout reports that the General is moving to solidify our right flank…… 」

「 Tch, to that guy's place……?! 」

It felt terrible to flee and seek asylum under the command of that nagging, insufferable old general, but the reality of the situation didn't allow for pride. Reluctantly making the bitter decision, he abandoned his confused, chaotic allies and began to systematically withdraw from the warzone. The exact instant his guard broke into the eastern highway, a thundering storm of fresh hooves erupted from the path ahead, as a cavalry unit raising the military flag of the Ville Kingdom appeared.

※

「 Golpa! Why did you not come to help immediately?! You were confronting that army, were you not! 」

Upon successfully joining the cavalry unit led by General Golpa and catching his breath, the King of Ville instantly unleashed a torrent of vicious curses right to the old general's face. Beholding that sight, the King's close aides trembled with pale faces, while Golpa's close aides conversely flushed deep red with silent, unbridled anger.

「 Your Majesty, despite commanding an army more than four times the enemy, you have managed to fight a rather wretched, poor battle. 」

Golpa, who answered only that dispassionately, also had a highly distinct set of unyielding circumstances.

※

He himself had personally confirmed the exact instant a military force of nearly 1,000 cavalry slipped out from the enemy army they were confronting. And he was also fully aware of the movements of his lord, who stepped deep into hostile territory without a shred of prior notice…… Responding to this, he tried to move his army east just in case, but the 7,000-strong military force he was confronting was also not straightforward. The enemy commander moved their army ingeniously with supreme capability, executing a relentless sequence of blocking maneuvers to continuously obstruct their movements. Faced with this ironclad containment, Golpa proceeded with countermeasures on his own independent judgment.

「 It cannot be helped, shall we use that. 」

「 Um…… is that alright? As a siege weapon, you were explicitly told to keep it secret until capturing Kusanagi…… 」

「 There is no longer any need to mind such trivialities! When the Cain Kingdom army was unsightlily defeated, it must have been captured by the enemy as spoils! Then, what earthly point is there in keeping it secret now? Much less…… 」

Golpa, who paused his words there, knew a harsh, unyielding truth. Not a single person in the expeditionary army knows the true, terrifying caliber of the Archduke called the Demon King and the peerless army he leads. In this campaign, let alone capturing Kusanagi, they will probably face a wretched, unsightly defeat midway through the battlefield…… Based strictly on that grim prediction, Golpa was moving with the intention of minimizing the sacrifices of his allies to the absolute limit.

「 Orders to the ballista unit! Shoot the exact coordinate where the enemy army checking us will move next at our normal maximum range! It is fine even if we cannot totally annihilate the enemy, as long as we can create a physical opening for the cavalry unit I lead to pass through! 」

That order was executed in perfect, terrifying synchronization matching the departure of the cavalry unit he led. The monstrous, simultaneous firing of well over 500 ballistas violently gouged the earth at the exact point where Dlements was about to move his army to check them, trampling the area with a catastrophic rain of heavy spears. The sheer scale of the onslaught vividly echoed the past, as if to recall the exact tragedy when the former First Prince of the Imperial Army was ruthlessly repelled by the combined Lute, Ville, and Cain Kingdoms…… Although a small number, Dlements, whose soldiers who had gone ahead to the destination were utterly annihilated, hastily pulled back his army to preserve his strength. Because against an overwhelming, unilateral long-range attack conducted so one-sidedly, there was absolutely no effective means of counterattack. Utilizing that exact window of opening, Golpa also led 1,000 cavalry and aggressively chased after the enemy army. But…… the precious time Dlements bought by devoting himself to ingenious obstruction had, as a result, successfully given Rosa and the escort soldiers the vital time to be saved, and was also the absolute reason why Golpa was delayed.

※

「 Then Your Majesty, I intend to show you what a true, legitimate battle looks like from here on! Please, take your time comfortably here…… 」

「 U-Uh…… Mm. 」

The old general floated a ghastly, chillingly intense smile, took his leave from before the King, and galloped his warhorse at absolute full-speed straight to the active battlefield.

※

Viscount Durul's furious, unyielding fighting continued without stopping, and it was just when everyone thought their absolute victory was mathematically certain. The Ville Kingdom army had already lost nearly 1,500 of the 4,200 men who aggressively invaded this direction, and that catastrophic damage was growing exponentially larger with the passage of time. But here, at that exact critical juncture, the war situation completely changes once again.

「 Your Excellency! A brand-new enemy army is charging towards us! 」

「 Guh…… retreat temporarily! Lay an oblique order with your back firmly anchored against the highway leading north, and parry the enemy's pressing momentum! 」

While enduring the agonizing trauma of his injuries, Viscount Durul squeezed the commands through his lips and issued accurate, flawless tactical instructions. But…… his army, which had been unilaterally cornering the enemy taking advantage of their victory, had overextended their cohesion and could not rapidly reorganize its formation to parry the new enemy as desired.

「 It's no good, they're already coming! 」 「 Guh! 」

Realizing with absolute clarity that his own instructions would not make it in time against the speed of the charge, the Viscount let out a short, guttural voice of agony. When both armies clashed head-on with bone-shattering violence, horses and horses, people and people violently collided and were sent flying, but the overwhelming majority of the carnage was borne by the Imperial Army led by Viscount Durul. There is an absolute tactical reason for this as well: the Imperial Army had forcefully retreated and killed its own momentum, while the Ville Kingdom army violently charged while riding its momentum. Furthermore, the Imperial Army was thoroughly exhausted from the brutal battle so far, but the newly participating Ville Kingdom army was completely fresh and not exhausted at all.

「 Damn it……! But…… we haven't lost yet! 」

Even while their lines were violently cut to pieces in various places by the first strike, the Viscount's army fought with terrifying, desperate tenacity, stubbornly defending only the part leading to the northern highway like a vice. But…… the Viscount himself was completely spent, having suffered deep wounds all over his body; his whole body was dyed completely crimson with the blood he himself shed rather than the enemy soldiers', and the absolute final light of his life's lantern was flickering out and extinguishing.

『 I wonder…… did Rosa-sama manage to escape safely……? My life was saved by her grace once before…… to die while shielding my beloved her above all else…… perhaps that isn't a bad way to go…… 』

While that quiet thought drifted through his fading mind, the Viscount slipped from his beloved horse, collapsing heavily into the dirt.

「 YOUR EXCELLENCYYY!!! 」

While his close aides raised frantic screams resembling shrieks of absolute despair, there was an army making the earth violently roar with horse hooves, charging from the west side of the highway. Billowing proudly at its absolute head was the unmistakable, notorious military banner of the Bottakuri-na Trading Company…… no, rather, Viscount Kamin's banner was raised! The trajectory of the war situation was about to violently alter towards a new direction once again.

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