Brissa Plain, the site of the final battle between the punitive force and Mercurio’s army.
The central battlefront was where the two armies clashed most violently.
Elsewhere, numerous smaller battles were taking place.
「Here they come, Mercurio’s army! Don’t let them pass! We are the last line of defense protecting Prince Kabajid and Prince Shurus, keep that in mind as you fight!」
The commander’s words echoed through the forest as the soldiers present gave quiet……but determined responses.
They were located in a forest not far from the punitive force’s main camp.
Anyone passing through here could advance directly to their camp, so soldiers were naturally deployed to protect this location.
For Mercurio’s army, which was already losing in terms of numbers, the best strategy to win this battle with as few casualties as possible was to prevent the enemy from advancing.
Even if they didn’t manage to do that, knowing that their main camp was attack would undoubtedly lower the morale of the punitive force.
That was why they hope to ambush the enemy main camp with a unit of elite soldiers……but unfortunately, there was no chance of success.
Of course, the punitive force wouldn’t just sit back and do nothing themselves. They had also sent out a unit to capture or kill the enemy commander, Mercurio, but they were similarly taken out by the forces deployed to keep guard.
「They’re approaching, blending among the trees in the forest! Be especially careful of their magic!」
No sooner had the commander finish speaking than they noticed something cutting through the air.
A dagger flew towards him through the gaps among the trees, but he easily deflected it with his sword.
With a high pitched screech, the dagger pierced into a nearby tree.
「Hmph, they’ve sent elites too. Good, don’t let them through!」
『Yes sir!』
With a brief response, the punitive force soldiers dispersed, blending into the forest as well.
A few seconds later, fighting broke out through the entire forest, which was by no means large.
It was a battle that left behind ‘introductions’ as well ‘fair and honourable combat’.
The battles unfolded with ambushes from behind and using injured soldiers to bait attacks.
「The enemies’ forces are gradually decreasing.」
「What about our own losses?」
「I believe it’s within our expectations. Since they are outnumbered, if we continue like this……」
The soldier collapsed without being able to finish his sentence.
Seeing that, the commander instinctively swung his sword.
He couldn’t see anything, but is his experiences as a veteran soldier drove him to swing his sword.
It soon became clear that he had made the right decision.
He felt his blade cut something, even if he couldn’t see it.
「What is it?」
The commander’s question was answered by the light that filtered through the gaps in the forest from the clear autumn sun.
It was something long and thing, reflecting the light with a sparkle.
Thread so thing it was basically invisible unless you looked closely.
(Thread? Why……no, that’s not right. Ah, I can see some over there too!)
The words ‘Demon Soldier’ crossed the commander’s mind.
「Watch out, there’s a Demon Soldier here! And they likely have the abilities of a spider like monster!」
The commander’s voice echoed through the forest, warning his subordinates of the danger.
Strange figures, not used by the punitive force and exclusive to Mercurio’s army.
From the reports that had made it back to the main camp, they had received reports that Demon Soldiers had been deployed to the frontlines.
Because of that, he had assumed that all the Demon Soldiers had been assigned there……
(But, thinking about it, not all Demon Soldiers are the same. Some……no, every one of them has different abilities. In other words, they’re more suited to individual tasks rather than group tasks. For example, they could be used to sneak up and ambush our positions!)
He looked intently at his surroundings, but unless the sunlight glinted off it, he couldn’t see any of the threads.
But, he couldn’t leave things as they were either……
「Damn it, someone contact the main camp! There has to be more skilled people there! We need to let them know right away.」
Slash.
Before the commander could finish his words, a long sword sung right past him.
For a moment, the commander wondered if it was an enemy, but it was clear that the attack hadn’t been targeted at him.
On the contrary, after seeing who it was, he was ecstatic.
「Bratta-sama!」
「I felt something suspicious in this area. As expected, it’s a Demon Soldier, right?」
「Yes, probably.」
「I understand. Leave the Demon Soldier to me. You go and take care of the rest of the soldiers.」
「Thank you very much. Leave the Demon Soldier to Bratta-sama! We’ll deal with the other soldiers who have intruded into this forest!」
Following those words, the commander left with his subordinates.
Watching them leave, Bratta readied the long sword in his hand as he spoke.
「Hey, what’s the matter? Show yourself, monster. I’m your enemy, aren’t I? I’m pretty annoyed that you took Crimson away from me. Come on, come at me. I’ll vent my frustrations on you!」
Bratta shouted out, but no one responded.
That said, it wasn’t that the Demon Soldier didn’t respond, it just wasn’t with words as they unleashed threads towards Bratta.
The same threads that had targeted the commander earlier
「Do you seriously think you can deal with me with such obvious attacks?」
He swung his long sword.
With one strike, all the threads that were flying towards him were cut apart, falling to the ground.
「ARRRGGH, ugh, I won’t forgive you. I’ll kill you, I’ll definitely kill you.」
Although they were hiding somewhere where Bratta couldn’t see them, the Demon Soldier still realised that their threads had been cut.
A voice, partially filled with bloodlust, echoed from among the trees.
「Hmph, go ahead, do it if you can. You’re a coward who can’t even show their face in front of me.」
「I won’t forgive you. I’ll kill you.」
Were they not intelligent enough to say anything else? Or were their words merely force of habit?
In any case, the Demon Soldier’s killing intent was clear from their broken speech.
As Bratta sliced apart the threads that continued to come towards him, he suddenly jumped back.
At the same time, purple liquid fell towards where Bratta had been standing from above.
As soon as the liquid hit the ground, purple smoke started to rise.
「Venom!? How bothersome!」
No matter how skilled Bratta was, he was ultimately still a warrior.
He couldn’t use wide area magic like a mage could nor could he disperse the smoke with the flap of a Wyvern’s wings, like a Dragon Knight.
「I’m going to kill you. I will kill you for sure.」
「Hah, then stop doing such petty things and show yourself. After all, you’re just a cowardly weakling who won’t even reveal themselves before me!」
「I’m not a coward.」
With those words, a unique figure appeared, just as Bratta expected.
A previous commander of the Demon Soldiers had also been a Demon Soldier themselves, with the features of a spider like monster.
They had the body of a giant spider with the upper body of a human growing out from it. However, the Demon Soldier before Bratta was different, having a spider’s face but an otherwise very human appearance.
Of course, there were minor differences to a human body.
For example, their limbs and face were covered in spider like hairs and they only had three fingers on each hand, tipped with sharp claws.
In addition, even looking at them from the front, a tail like appendage, like that of a Beastkin, could be seen extending from their waist.
Rather than a Demon Soldier, it would have been more accurate to describe them as a Spider Beastkin.
(Well, it’s still a spider, so it’s definitely a Demon Soldier.)
Thinking like that, Bratta gripped his sword, preparing to strike at any moment……and the moment he saw his opponent swing their tail, sending threads flying, he dashed forward to close the distance.
Just like before, he could feel the thin threads flying towards him, barely visible as he moved and swung his sword to cut them.
「How insolent. Take that.」
The Demon Soldier followed up with an attack with their right hand.
However, it was still too far for an attack using their claws.
As Bratta wondered what they were doing, purple liquid was expelled from the claws on their right hand.
「Tch-!」
Clicking his tongue, he forcefully redirected his charge as he circled around his opponent, using the trees as a shield.
Just like before, smoke rose from wherever the purple liquid landed, making it clear that it was no harmless liquid.
(I knew it when I saw that purple liquid! But even so, why does the thread come from their tail, but the poison come from its claws?)
While cursing the person who had conducted the Demon Soldier ritual under his breath, he closed the distance using the trees as a shield.
Of course, the form a Demon Soldier took largely depended on the qualities of the individual undergoing the ritual.
From the perspective of the person conducting the ritual, they would probably say that they were being wrongly blamed.
「Run. Coward. Die.」
The Demon Soldier seemed to have grown annoyed at Bratta as he weaved his way through the trees. They started shooting out purple liquid, not just from their right hand, but also their left.
While troubled by the doubled number of liquid sprays aimed towards him, Bratta still steadily closed the distance to the Demon Soldiers.
And, right after another round was shot out, he closed the gap in one swift leap.
「Die you monster-!」
The blow, with the aim of slicing the Demon Soldier in half at the torso, seemed impossible to stop.
The attack had taken advantage of the moment when they had to pause to fire their attack.
If the Demon Soldier had tried to use their tail to defend, Bratta would still have been fine with that.
Cutting off their tail would allow him to deal with the troublesome threads.
However……the Demon Soldier didn’t seem to react at all. Instead, they raised both their arms, as if welcoming Bratta’s attack to cut them in half.
Something was wrong. Such a premonition crossed Bratta’s mind for a moment, but his current priority was to kill the Demon Soldier before supporting the soldiers he had seen off earlier.
Suppressing his rising anxiety, he followed through with his attack, intending to cut the Demon Soldier in half as he had planned. But, just as Bratta’s blade was about to reach the Demon Soldier’s body……
Before it even came in contact, the Demon Soldier’s sides split apart as tentacles sprang out, wrapping around the sword and snatching it from Bratta’s grasp.
「What-!?」
Bratta was frozen in shock for a moment, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
For the Demon Soldier, that moment was enough.
「You fool. Die.」
Along with those words, the Demon Soldier Made a single strike with their claw.
There was no liquid released, but rather an attack intending to inject it directly into Bratta’s body.
……If Bratta had been of average strength, he would have been hit as soon as he froze.
But, Bratta was one of the strongest fighters serving under the First Prince.
He had frozen for a moment, not understanding what had happened, but as soon as he saw the incoming claw attack, he instinctively dropped his waist as he fell to the ground to avoid the attack.
At the same time, he pulled a dagger from his waist and plunged it into the the Demon Soldier’s foot.
「GAAAAAAH-!」
As blood spurted out, the Demon Soldier let out a horrifying scream.
Sweeping the Demon Soldier’s legs from under them, Bratta knocked them to the ground.
「Die!」
Bratta swung his dagger down towards the Demon Soldier’s unprotected head, but a tentacle sprang out from their side again, attacking Bratta.
Bratta responded by swinging his dagger around towards the tentacle attacking him.
The tip was sliced off, sending it flying towards a tree, which it hit with a loud smack before falling to the ground.
「GUUURGH-!」
The Demon Soldier groaned in pain as its tentacle was severed.
And that groan opened a crucial opportunity.
The moment the Demon Soldier recovered, Bratta’s dagger was already right in front of them……and with a squishy sound, the dagger pierced into their head, killing them.
「……Phew, what a pain.」
Bratta, who had collapsed alongside the Demon Soldier, stood back up with a sigh.
He flicked his dagger, which was covered by what seemed to be blood or bodily fluids, to clean it.
「Is it because they were a spider like monster that they didn’t have a skull? Well, thanks to that, I was able to kill them with this weapon.」
He looked around for something to wipe his blade, but all the trees had already lost their leaves.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he wiped the blade roughly with a cloth from his pocket.
Picking up his long sword, which had been sent flying, he looked around……before walking in the direction of sounds of combat.
Before long, the forest was wiped clean of Mercurio’s assassins.