「One of their units has broken out! They’re trying to break out and circle around us! Surround and destroy them!」

The battle on the right wing, between the White Rose Knights and Shurus’ cavalry was gradually tipping in the favour of the White Rose Knights.

The two sides had been evenly matched just earlier……or rather, Shurus’ cavalry had the advantage due to the greater numbers of infantry supporting them. However, the sudden appearance of Gurgast and his troops had overwhelmed their infantry and, with the severe chaos present in the center front lines, the tides of battle had started shifting back in favour of the White Rose Knights.

Of course, Shurus’ cavalry weren’t just standing around doing nothing.

Worthy of their reputation as an elite force, they were trying to break through the White Rose Knights. Unfortunately, the White Rose Knights themselves were considered one of the most elite units in the Bestir Empire, as the direct subordinates of Princess Frizione.

Once the situation shifted in the favour of the White Rose Knights, it was hard to stop the swing in momentum and Shurus’ cavalry had to push themselves to their limits.

「You’ve underestimated us, trying to break through our forces! We will not let you do something like that!」

The captain of the First Unit shouted out as she led her subordinates to surround and attack the unit of Shurus’ cavalry that was trying to break through.

As the Second Unit joined them, the number of cavalry attempting to break through quickly decreased……

「No, it’s just a decoy! They’re launching their main offensive!」

Widele, captain of the Third Unit had realised that the unit had been sent out as a decoy and their main force was starting their attack as she moved to stop them.

The First and Second Units responded quickly as well, but there just wasn’t enough time to halt the charge of Shurus’ cavalry.

The Third and Fourth Units alone didn’t have enough strength to stop the charge and even with the help of the Fifth and Sixth support units, it would be a hard task.

(Are they going to break through!?)

For a moment, Widele’s mind was filled with despair……

「Gururururururu~!」

A cry rang out as a fire breath poured down from the sky towards the charging cavalry at almost the same time.

「AHHHHHHHHHH-! What, what, what’s going on!?」

「Above! Above us……ahhh, a G-Griffon, there’s a Griffon!」

「That means Crimson must be here as well. Everyone be careful! According to our intelligence, he can use the same skill as Immovable. Don’t be careless with melee attacks, attack from a distance……damn it!」

One of the cavalry commanders shouted out as he swung his spear.

His swing deflected the ice arrows raining down on him, scattering ice fragments under the sunlight.

(Is it targeting me, the commander? What a pain!)

The ice arrows seemed to target him the moment he shouted his orders, as if waiting for that moment.

It was only natural for commanders to be priority targets on the battlefield.

However, he hadn’t expected a Griffon to do the same. As the commander went to turn a resentful gaze toward Set……he found a claw right in front of his face.

「Gaaah-!」

The commander’s head was shattered by Set’s attack as he was mid scream.

Set’s claws crushed the commander’s head……as if it were an egg.

「Gururururu~!」

Set’s attack didn’t stop after killing the commander, slamming their horse into the ground as well.

「Neigh-?!」

The horse died without understanding what had happened as its spine was broken.

Set gave another cry after killing the horse.

「Gururururururu~!」

Set used King’s Awe.

His cry froze all those who heard him and even those who managed to resist had their movements slowed.

It would have only been possible to ignore the effects completely if one were stronger than Set, like Noiz was.

But, unfortunately for the punitive force……and fortunately for the White Rose Knights, there was no one stronger than Set among Shurus’ cavalry and the infantry present.

The White Rose Knights were also surprised by Set’s sudden arrival, but they didn’t miss the opportunity given to them by the sudden pause of the punitive force’s attack.

「Now!」

「Stop them here!」

「Kill them all!」

The White Rose Knights shouted loudly as they launched an all-out offensive.

The next thing to happen was……

「Gurururururu~!」

Set spewed fire from his beak towards the frozen cavalry beneath him.

His fire breath was carefully weakened so as to not harm the White Rose Knights, so it wasn’t strong enough to reduce the cavalry to ashes in one hit……but it also wasn’t so weak that it could be simply ignored.

And Set was attacking a stationary target.

The damage suffered by Shurus’ cavalry, both physical and mental, was beyond words.

And, Set’s attack was far from over.

「Gururururu~!」

With that cry, five ice arrows appeared around Set as they shot out at the same time.

The ice arrows themselves weren’t particularly high level but they were still sharp enough to be pierce through skin.

The ice arrows not only pierced the cavalry riders but also their horses.

「Gurururururu~!」

Water balls, wind arrows, and even bubble breath was used one after the other, focused on the horses of the cavalry.

Of course, the Bestir Empire also had heavy armoured cavalry outfitted with metal armour. However, Shurus’ cavalry were often sent on a wide range of missions.

As a result, their horses weren’t armoured to avoid reducing their mobility.

As a result, Set’s numerous attacks were focused on the horses rather than the metal armoured knights.

「Hihihihihi-!」

「Brrrgh-!」

「Hihihi-!」

The horses cried out as their bodies were gouged, slashed, and held down by the bubbles.

To finish them off, the Fifth and Sixth Units, who specialised in support, unleashed arrows and magic to take down the remaining cavalry.

Of course, no one dared to hit Set with their attacks.

While many of them still had reservations regarding Rei, most didn’t dislike him.

More than anything, although they were shocked by the range of skills used by Set, skills that an ordinary Griffon shouldn’t be able to use, they put those thoughts aside as they focused on the opportunity offered to them to attack.

Five minutes later, Angela gave the order for the whole right wing to charge Shurus’ cavalry, which had already suffered heavy losses from Set’s attacks.

 

 

With Set’s intervention, the right wing quickly shifted in favour of Mercurio’s army.

On the left wing, the situation was also changing drastically with Rei’s arrival.

「Uwaaaaaaaaah-!」

「What, what, what’s going on!?」

The punitive force had been pushing back the Demon Soldiers, taking advantage of their numerical advantage, but they came to a halt when they heard a scream in the distance.

Several soldiers, who were using their spears to hold back Demon Soldiers who appeared to be a mix between Lizardmen and Centaurs, turned to look in the direction of the scream.

What they saw seemed unbelievable.

Soldiers in full armour were flying through the air.

Of course, they weren’t actually flying, they were just being blown away.

The surrounding temperature was also starting to rapidly rise, causing the soldiers to feel uneasy.

The next moment, pillars of fire appeared where their allies had been, causing significant injuries.

「Damn it, hey, what’s going on?」

「Who cares! Don’t get distracted! We’re fighting a death battle here……ahhhhhh!」

A soldier tried to tell their comrade to focus on the battle at hand when a Demon Soldier with the upper body of a Lizardman took advantage in that moment to open their mouth wide and bite off the soldier’s right shoulder, along with their leather armour, using their small but sharp teeth.

The other soldier, enraged by the attack on his comrade, thrust his spear out, but……

「You two could barely hold your own against me, so do you really think you can do anything to me on your own?」

The Demon Soldier spat out the flesh in their mouth as they spoke. Parrying the spear with the curved sword in their right hand, the Demon Soldier used the momentum to slice through the soldier’s neck.

The Demon Soldier squinted their eyes as the blood gushed out from the soldier’s throat before looking around for their next prey……but at that moment, a chill ran up their spine as they instinctively swung their curved sword to the side.

A loud metallic clash rang out as sparks flew out.

「Not bad.」

The Demon Soldier spoke with admiration.

However, the attacker, Pelfiel, didn’t seem impressed by the Demon Soldier’s words.

「I can’t let any more of my subordinates die. Besides, something strange seems to be going on in the center. I want to deal with this quickly and head over there, so……I’ll have to take your life.」

「Hah-, this is a life I’ve finally manage to keep. I won’t just give it up like that……hah……」

Another chill ran down the Demon Soldier’s Spine.

It was a similar chill to the one he had felt when Pelfiel had attacked them several seconds earlier, but sensation was completely different. The Demon Soldier turned to face the direction they had felt the formidable foe.

Then, contrary to the chill he had felt earlier, he now sensed a heat, like they were being scorched by the midsummer sun.

It wasn’t just the Demon Soldier who felt this, Pelfiel felt it as well.

The Demon Soldier before her might have been a dangerous enemy.

Nevertheless, her instinct told her to look towards the direction the heat was coming from.

「A Demon Soldier and……I see, you’re with the punitive force. I’m sure I saw you in the Imperial Capital.」

The figure who had appeared, completely unnoticed by Pelfiel and the Demon Soldier up until just now, spoke as he swung his scythe over his shoulder.

「……Crimson……」

The words that escaped Pelfiel’s mouth were tinged with a sense of awe.

As one of the most elite serving the First Prince, she knew the strength of the person before her……Rei.

Rei looked completely different to when he had fought in the fighting tournament.

The armour he was wearing was similar yet also different to the Overlord’s Armour she had seen him wear in the tournament.

She felt sweat run down her back, which wasn’t just from the heat coming off Rei.

The soldiers around them were keeping their distance from Rei due to the heat, but Pelfiel sensed something else.

Of course, only the highly skilled soldiers, including Pelfiel, could sense it. The rest of the soldiers simply tried to get away from Rei to avoid the heat.

Ignoring the situation around him, Rei turned to look at the Demon Soldier who had been fighting Pelfiel.

The Demon Soldier flinched. They had been acting arrogantly up until this point, but they stopped moving with just a glance.

It was precisely because of how strong they were that they understood the difference in strength between them and Rei.

They already knew the difference in their strength from the Spring War……and that was before Rei had learned Overlord’s Armour.

Yes, this Demon Soldier was one of the ones to survive from the Spring War, which was why they were as strong as they were, but Rei had not just learned Overlord’s Armour since the Spring War, he had now learned an even more powerful skill.

Even though Rei was now their ally, they still couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear.

That was the kind of presence Rei now commanded.

「Mercurio’s army seemed to be struglling on the left wing. That’s why I’ve come here……would it be fine for me to go on a rampage?」

「Go ahead, do whatever you want.」

The Demon Soldier simply agreed without a thought of opposing Rei.

Pelfiel felt it strange why the Demon Soldier, who had crossed swords with her earlier and appeared to take pride in their own strength, would follow Rei’s orders so obediently……it was strange, but she also understood why.

The difference in strength was so great that she could tell just by looking.

She could sense it as well.

However, things were moving faster than Pelfiel had anticipated.

「Okay then. Be careful not to get caught up in my attack. I have yet to fully master this skill unfortunately. Just standing too close could cause you to get caught up in it.」

「Yes, right away sir. ……Get away from the enemy for now! You’ll be dragged into Rei-dono’s fight!」

The voice the Demon Soldier echoed out into the surroundings.

The other Demon Soldiers immediately retreated upon hearing those words.

The didn’t even think of disobeying.

Not a single one of them had failed to sense Rei’s immense power after he had appeared on the battlefield.

It was precisely because the Demon Soldiers weren’t ordinary soldiers but chimeras of monsters and humans that they were able sense the danger emanating from Rei more clearly.

The majority of Demon Soldiers had been former criminals, but Rei’s overwhelming aura made all that irrelevant.

This wasn’t just limited to the Demon Soldiers around Rei.

The same was true of the Demon Soldiers who had been hiding underground.

Led by a Demon Soldier who could control tree roots, the Demon Soldiers who had the ability to freely move underground also fell back.

The only ones who remained were those fighting some distance away from Rei.

The punitive force soldiers were surprised to find the enemies they had been fighting disappear……but they would soon find out why a few seconds later, and with their own bodies.

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