Going back a little bit in time.

On the Brissa Plain, where Mercurio’s army and the punitive force were fighting.

The fighting near the center of the battlefield had been going on for a while……and after the defeat of Water Dragon Digma, had turned into a fight of sheer numbers with Mercurio’s army gradually being pushed back.

But they managed to hold on and, as time passed, the situation started to shift back in Mercurio’s favour. ……The first thing that changed was that Mercurio’s army began to regain their momentum as they launched a counterattack.

Up until that point, the punitive force had been the ones pressing the attack, so they didn’t know what had happened at first.

However, there was no doubt that the pressure they were receiving from Mercurio’s army had changed.

The punitive force had been the ones attacking aggressively, but at some point they realised that they were now the ones being pushed back and suffering the greater losses. This was the current situation.

「Damn it, what the hell happened?! We might not have had an overwhelming advantage, but we were pushing forward!」

A punitive force soldier on the front lines shouted in frustration.

As as they had said, they had been using their superior numbers to their advantage up until this point, but before any of them had realised, they were now on the back foot.

As the soldier’s rage filled shout echoed out, a voice answered them.

「It’s because you relied on the difference in numbers and didn’t properly read the flow of battle. Though considering how this battle has turned out, it might have been inevitable.」

「……Eh?」

A beautiful voice rang out, captivating not his eyes……but also his ears.

Turning towards the direction of the voice, he saw a woman clad in thin clothing that was almost see through. Despite being on the battlefield……or maybe because of it, her clothing only served to highlight her captivating beauty and breathtaking body.

As someone from the Bestir Empire, the soldier knew who it was.

「Vihe-……」

Just as he was about to speak the name of the person in front of him, he realised that Vihera was no longer a short distance away but right in front of him, within arms reach. He caught the sweet scent of her body in his breath……before collapsing to the ground unconscious as Vihera’s palm touched him.

「You don’t ask others about changes on the battlefield, you feel it for yourself.」

Vihera muttered as she glanced at the unconscious soldier on the ground.

However, she couldn’t afford to waste anymore time on an enemy who was already incapacitated as she shouted out.

「I’ll cut through the enemy forces, so follow me. You’ll be the tip of my spear as we pierce the enemy lines.」

『UOOOOOOOOOOOOOH-!！』

Vihera’s words caused the surrounding soldiers from Mercurio’s army to let out a loud roar.

Among those shouting were Gurgast and his men, who had just swung back around to where the White Rose Knights and Shurus’ cavalry had been fighting after wrecking their own havoc. That said, Vihera didn’t seem particularly bothered.

Gurgast had always been doing as he pleased on the battlefield, even when he was still part of the Second Princesses’ faction.

Considering Gurgast’s personality, Vihera knew that it would ultimately be better for her to give him a general outline of the plan and letting him do what he want rather than give precise instructions.

Tilleyle, who was also with Gurgast, held great admiration for Vihera.

So it was only natural for him to rush over after sensing that Vihera was leading soldiers in a charge towards the enemy lines.

「Alright, let’s go!」

With those words, Vihera moved forward with her soldiers.

From horseback, the punitive force drew ever closer in her eyes.

The soldiers following behind her.

As for the rest of Mercurio’s army who were fighting on the front lines, noticing the war goddess charging forward from behind them, they all shouted loudly to boost their own morale and to crush their opponent’s.

「Vihera-sama! Vihera-sama has arrived! Now we can win! We will definitely win!」

Those shouts filled Mercurio’s army with joy and the punitive force with despair.

With such shouts around her, Vihera charged into the punitive force.

「Haah-!」

Jumping off her horse, Vihera used her momentum as she landed on the ground to touch the armour of a punitive force soldier with her palm.

Magic power slammed into the soldier’s body in an instant, knocking them out.

Magic Palm was effective with just a touch, making it particularly useful for dealing with large groups of enemies.

1, 2, 3, 4……as soon as she made contact, the punitive force soldiers crumbled to the ground.

Vihera took advantage of every hit……no, every touch, to take out more soldiers, incapacitating one after the other as she charged into enemy lines.

The soldiers following Vihera moved in to protect her back and before they knew it, they had penetrated deep into the punitive force’s formation like a single spear.

「Defend, defend, defend! Don’t let them go any further!」

A commander shouted out in response to Vihera’s incredible push, but just shouting wouldn’t improve their soldiers’ ability.

In fact, as it was Vihera leading the charge, some of the punitive force’s soldiers respected her enough to not even fight against her.

……Conversely, there were also some soldiers who were filled with thoughts of defeating and taking her for themselves.

However, all those men were seriously injured by Vihera in return, with some even losing their lives.

From here……the punitive force’s luck only grew worse.

「Behind us, behind ussssssss-!」

The voice that echoed through the battlefield was so desperate that other punitive force soldiers started to feel their lives were in danger.

The emotions behind the shout were so intense that even some of the soldiers in Mercurio’s army started to look to see what was going on.

「What? What’s going on?」

The commander, who had been desperately dealing with Vihera and her soldiers’ charge into their lines, shouted in frustration.

They were already so busy dealing with the enemy, so what had happened now?

But……the commander froze as they turned to look behind him.

A woosh. It was as if a heatwave was flying towards him.

Indeed, if he listened closely, he could hear loud screams not just from the battlefield in front, but also from behind.

Worst of all, he could see that the creature breathing fire towards the ground from the air above the rear guard was a Griffon.

Someone had seen Set flying over the rear guard earlier and had called it out, but the commander had been too busy dealing with Vihera to notice.

Rei and Set had been fighting Noiz behind the rear guard and the rear guard had also moved up, so it was hardly surprising that they hadn’t noticed.

But the rear guard had now run into issues.

And the Griffon was flying overheard.

For a moment, the commander wondered if the heat wave he had felt earlier was caused by the Griffon, but he instinctively realised that it wasn’t the source of the heat.

As a commanding officer who had survived countless battlefields, he had a keen intuition.

That was why……he knew that he would have been happier not knowing the truth.

(That Griffon is Crimson’s tamed monster. So……was the heat wave caused by Crimson?)

As if to answer the commander’s question, his gaze landed on the rear guard, where he saw several people being blown into the air.

He had seen this scene before.

At that time, the punitive force had used multiple strategies to capture the then still rebel camp.

The plan had been largely successful and things had been going as expected. But, at the very last moment, someone had appeared and turned the battlefield into chaos.

He had witnessed the same scene back then.

And that was why the commander said that name.

「Crimson.」

His words were filled with a bitterness and hatred that anyone who heard those words would understand his feelings.

However, right now, Vihera’s soldiers were charging from the front, Crimson was rampaging from behind. And, in the sky, a Griffon was breathing fire, shooting ice arrows, and launching balls of water at them.

The soldiers didn’t have the leisure to hear out their commander’s emotion filled words.

(Why? Things had been going well up to this point. Water Dragon Digma was defeated, but we were still cornering them with our numbers. So why?)

The battlefield, which had been in their favour just a moment ago, had been turned around in an instant.

This was something the commander couldn’t accept.

「Commander-!」

Head pounding with rage, the commander went to shout at his subordinate to shut up, but……

「What a leisurely way of thinking of things while on the battlefield.」

The moment he heard that voice, he lost consciousness.

 

 

「Seriously, letting your guard down like that while on the battlefield? No matter what, that’s being too careless. The quality of soldiers in the Bestir Empire army has really gone down.」

Vihera muttered to herself as she looked at where the commander in his thirties was lying on the ground.

He had been so deep in thought that he appeared to be completely unaware that Vihera had gotten so close to him.

「……Well, that’s understandable.」

She glanced towards the rear of the punitive force and the skies above.

There, Set was spewing fire everywhere, destroying the punitive force to his heart’s content.

「If Set is there, then the commotion has to be caused by Rei. He really does make people anxious. Not just in love but in battle as well. Elena sure has a hard time. ……I shouldn’t be the one saying that though.」

「Yes? Did you say something?」

Tilleyle had caught up with Vihera as she muttered to herself. She shook her head to dismiss those thoughts as she looked up.

Following her gaze, Tilleyle smiled slightly as he saw Set.

「Since we’re up against Prince Kabajid and Prince Shurus, we can’t let our guard down until everything is over……but it seems that the outcome of this battle has been decided.」

「Yes. If nothing strange happens, our victory is certainly assured……」

Vihera spoke with a hint of sadness in her heart.

Vihera knew Kabajid as a person, but she never understood what he was thinking and she didn’t know what he would do in a situation where he was cornered either.

Her brother was intelligent and no doubt had the ability to rule the Bestir Empire if he became emperor.

After all, he had received the necessary education as the First Prince and had achieved many great things up until this point.

But……even so, Vihera had always felt a sense of mystery from Kabajid……to be more exact, it was as if he was always wearing a mask.

That was why when Theorem had told her that Mercurio was being held under house arrest and that his life was in danger, and that Kabajid was one of the people behind it, she couldn’t leave things be.

「Even so, he’s very late to show up.」

Perhaps sensing Vihera’s depression, Tilleyle changed the subject as he drew his bow to shoot an arrow.

Whether she understood his consideration or not, Vihera dodged a spear that was thrust towards her before using her gauntlets to cut off the spear tip.

She then dove straight towards her attacker before using Magic Palm to knock them out before flashing a smile towards Tilleyle.

「Well, it can’t be helped. Since Rei was so late, he must have been fighting a powerful enemy.」

「A powerful enemy you say?」

「Yeah.」

Vihera deliberately avoided mentioning Noiz, whom Dimga had told her about, causing Tilleyle to be a little suspicious.

Was there someone who could fight Rei on equal terms?

But, when he turned to look at Vihera for answers, she didn’t seem to want to give any. Vihera looked towards the punitive force’s camp with a faint smile.

And, as she did so, she noticed the temperature around her rising quicly.

At the same time, screams rang out from within the enemy force……with Rei eventually appearing, clad in crimson magic power as he split the enemy force apart.

Rei also seemed surprised to find Vihera here……

「Did I keep you waiting?」

He asked.

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