About 20 minutes had passed since Rei and Set had attacked the soldiers surrounding the rebel camp.

The damage that the punitive force had suffered in those 20 minutes was staggering.

The first unit that Rei had charged at had already been annihilated, followed by two more units.

However, even though they were annihilated, it wasn’t like there wasn’t a single survivor, like had been the case with the units Rei had burned with the fire tornado.

In fact, there were quite a number of survivors.

However, they had all lost their will to fight due to fear and despair, it was impossible for them to gather back up under a commander to continue fighting.

The reason there were comparatively low casualties was because Rei was using Overlord’s Armour.

It was certainly a powerful skill and anyone he charged into with it active would had their bones broken at minimum if not die.

However, the effective range of Overlord’s Armour was touch……in other words, only those Rei could directly contact.

Its range was much different than his fire magic, which could affect a much wider area.

Because of this, even when Rei charged straight into the soldiers, the actual number of casualties was much lower than could be achieved with his fire magic.

That said, it did have the effect of shocking and confusing many of the soldiers.

「Retreat! Retreat, Retreat! This is an order from above! Retreat from here!」

Hearing that voice, Rei stopped moving.

There were only a few soldiers left around him, they all just stared at him with eyes filled with fear.

At the current rate, they were either going to die……or be severely injured.

In addition to their fear, the soldiers were beginning to show signs of resignation to their fate. However, Rei just waved his hand to tell them to leave as he removed Overlord’s Armour.

「Phew……I guess it really is draining on my magic power.」

Though he had only been using it for 20 minutes, Rei’s magic power had been depleted significantly.

His eyes narrowed as he felt the fatigue take over his body.

(It would be nice to sleep right now.)

That was what he thought, but it was impossible for him to sleep on the battlefield here.

This was Rei’s first large scale battle using Overlord’s Armour, but he was satisfied as it had helped him to see various problems. He lightly swung the Death Scythe at the enemy soldiers who were still frozen in place.

Murmuring ‘Flying Slash’, a slash flew out, slicing through the ground next to the soldiers.

「Hii-, Hiii-!」

The attack seemed to bring the soldiers back to their senses.

When they saw that Rei wasn’t planning on attacking them any more, they threw their weapons to the ground as if they were in the way of their escape as they ran off.

「Well, I hope they can escape the pursuing force.」

As he watched the soldiers run off immediately, he placed the Death Scythe on his shoulders as he looked around.

Rei saw a larger number of soldiers lying on the ground and groaning.

Many had died after coming in contact with Rei’s Overlord’s Armour, but many more had simply lost limbs or broken them, making them unable to move.

It was quite a big difference from magic that burned his enemies to death.

「It might be quite useful for taking prisoners. However, I’m not sure if the rebel army is in a good position to take prisoners right now.」

In the first place, the roads leading to the camp had been blocked in order to starve them out.

Even if it was a pretense to attack the camp, the roads were still blocked.

Since Vihera had led and army out to unblock the roads, the blockade would be lifted soon, but supplies were still precious for now.

「Well, that’s not something I have to think about. After all, I’m just being employed.」

Rei muttered as he waved lightly at Set, who was flying towards him with a happy cry.

Landing on the ground, Set rubbed his face against Rei.

「Guru~, Gurururu~, Gururu~!」

「Clingy as ever, Set.」

Rei muttered as he stroked Set’s head. The soldiers around him, where were unable to move due to their broken legs, could only stare in amazement at the sight of the two of them.

A rider on horseback approached Rei and Set.

「So, it was you, Rei-dono.」

Turning to see who it was, Rei saw Cyanus, Theorem’s adjutant.

Her figure on horseback was best described as dignified.

Her expression remained completely bland at the situation and she didn’t seem particularly surprised at the sight of Rei and Set playing with each other among the countless fallen soldiers of the punitive force.

Rei understood Cyanus’ personality, so he nodded back without any surprise as he spoke.

「Yes. A messenger came from the rebel army and told me you were under attack, so I came here quickly. Was it unnecessary?」

「No. Honestly, if things had continued as it were, we would have been pushed back, so you came at the perfect time. Thanks to you, they have retreated.」

「So, will you be sending out a pursuit force?」

「I would have like you to lead the pursuit force, Rei-dono, but it looks like that isn’t going to happen.」

Although it wasn’t too obvious……Cyanus could see that Rei was tired.

It was probably due to the fact that it was his first time using Overlord’s Armour for so long.

During his training with the rebel army, he would only use it for a dozen seconds at most, so he had underestimated the intensity of the stress and fatigue it would cause from using it for so long.

「Sorry. So, will it be the guerrilla unit then?」

Rei enjoyed the feeling of stroking Set’s head as he asked, but Cyanus shook her head.

「We pushed the guerrilla unit too hard this time. They were barely able to hold off the attacks from the punitive force, and even though their morale was boosted after Rei-dono’s return, now that the punitive force has retreated……」

「In that case, will their be a pursuing force?」

「If Rei-dono can’t do it, then we’ll just have to let them go. There are still some soldiers with stamina left, but we can have a small force give chase.」

「I guess so.」

Rei agreed with Cyanus’ words.

Even if they sent out a small force in pursuit, unless they were as strong as Rei, they would just end up dying instead.

「……Well, I guess there’s no other way. I might be able to pursue them if I push myself, but there’s no need to do that right now.」

「That’s right. There’s not need to push that hard right now.」

Cyanus agreed with Rei’s word as she calculated in her mind how much of the punitive force would likely be able to fight in the next battle after having seen Rei……Crimson’s strength, with their own eyes.

(Those who have seen Rei fight up close will undoubtedly refuse to take part in the next battle…..if not, they would at least hesitate. They might even drink and tell others about it in order to ease their own fears.)

In addition to hiding their own fear, there would undoubted be those who would speak out in order to avoid being called cowards.

If that were to happen, there might even be some soldiers among the punitive force who will build up a fear of the illusion of Rei.

(In that situation, even those who had only heard stories about Rei might feel hesitant about the next battle. It would be better not to send out a pursuing force in that case and let the seeds of discord sow themselves.)

After quickly collecting her thoughts in her mind, Cyanus spoke again to Rei, who was playing with Set.

「So, Prince Mercurio and Theorem-sama want to hear from you, Rei. Can you come with me?」

「I understand.」

Rei nodded readily at Cyanus’ words.

They had originally been sent out to guard Frizione’s army, but even though he had attacked the soldiers lying in wait to ambush them, he had still abandoned the army he had meant to be protecting.

Naturally, Mercurio and Theorem would need to hear his reasoning.

That was what Rei was thinking, but Cyanus, who hadn’t expected her request to be accepted so easily, had her eyebrows twitch.

In the end, that was her only change in expression as she quickly turned around.

「Thank you. In that case, let’s go.」

「Yeah. Set, please keep it up.」

「Guru~!」

Giving a cry, Set turned his back to Rei.

Rei stored the Death Scythe into the Misty Ring before jumping onto Set’s back as Set started moving slower than usual.

As expected from being at Rei’s side for so long, Set seemed to understand that Rei was quite tired right now.

Knowing that, Rei gently stroked Set’s neck as he rode on his back.

「Thanks.」

「Gurururu~!」

Set gave a happy cry.

Seeing Rei and Set like that, Cyanus didn’t quite understand what was going on. She tilted her head slightly, but continued on her way into the camp, judging that her first priority was to take Rei to Mercurio and Theorem.

Around them, everyone who was in the camp was exhausted as they started to clean up the aftermath of the battle.

The injured were gathered and treated, the corpses were gathered and burned. The prisoners were disarmed and gather at one location for the time being.

The fence surrounding the camp was also repaired in preparation for the night and broken tents, wooden boxes and barrels cleared away.

This kind of cleaning up could be done by the ordinary people in the camp, not just the soldiers, so the merchants and prostitutes who had remained all assisted the soldiers in cleaning up the camp.

Meanwhile, the soldiers who saw Rei and Set all paused to look at them.

This was because they understood who they owed their lives to.

They had shown this tendency before, but the way they looked at Rei now was closer to worship.

「Hey, that’s……」

「Yeah. It’s Crimson. Thanks to him, we were able to survive.」

「This was the first time I’ve seen someone crushing their enemies like that on the battlefield.」

「Yeah, he seemed to having something pouring out of his body. That was amazing.」

Such voices were heard, but Rei didn’t pay them any attention as he headed for the magic tent at the center of the camp with Cyanus.

「Set, I’m sorry, but please wait outside.」

「Guru~……」

Set wanted to stay longer with Rei, but there was no way for Rei to bring him inside the tent, so Set just lay down near the tent outside.

Set himself was probably tired as well, although not as tired as Rei, as he closed his eyes.

The knight guarding the magic tent looked at Set with gratitude for a moment before returning to his guard duties.

 

 

After entering the magic tent, Rei looked around.

The rebel leaders were all gathered here, but their numbers were clearly much lower.

(Perhaps they were in charge of cleaning up after battle or……

In such a fierce battle, it was only natural that many of the rebels had died.

And death did not distinguish based on rank or status.

……No, if you thought about it, the higher ranked one was, the more likely you would be targeted by your enemies. You could even say that the higher rank one was, the more likely they would be to die.

「So, why did you call for me? Well, I guess it’s about why I’m here.」

「That’s right. I wonder what happened with regards to guarding Frizione? I assume that since you’re here, there’s no problem there.」

「Yeah, I attacked all the troops that were lying in wait for us along the road. I won’t say that I managed to wipe them all out completely, but they were in disarray. They couldn’t move properly and even if they tried to attack, it would be almost pointless considering the strength of Frizione’s army.」

「The White Rose Knights, is it?」

Theorem muttered, finishing Rei’s words.

Everyone here had heard of the White Rose Knights.

It was a famous knight order not only among nobles, but even adventurers and mercenaries.

Although they were mostly know for the fact that they comprised only of beautiful female knights, rather than their abilities.

As a knight order under the direct commander of the royal family, most assumed them to have a certain level of skill. But even so, many were amazed at Widele’s skill when she had first joined up with the rebel army.

……After all, Widele was someone with the potential to be the next leader of the White Rose Knights.

「Anyway, I think Frizione and the others will arrive here today……in a few hours. Well, it might be difficult to receive them in the current situation.」

The rebel army had suffered great losses in the battle with the punitive force.

Not only in terms of human casualties but also in buildings and tents that had been built up into a city like environment after setting up camp.

Although the punitive force hadn’t attacked the camp directly, they had still been attacked by archers, magic, and catapults, so the damage to camp itself was significant.

「Regardless……Rei, I’m grateful that you brought Frizione here.」

Mercurio spoke with a slightly tired look on his face.

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