Chapter 354

Translator: Nat

–Aegir POV–

I run towards the enemy in front of me .

If I break past this formation, will the headquarters be beyond them or will there be two more squads waiting behind?

Right now, I don’t know . I will leave that for Leopolt to think about .

I only know that I have to focus on defeating whoever is standing in my way .

「Let’s go . 」

Schwartz doesn’t slow down .

I notice an arrow is stuck near his face so I help pull it out for him .

Trailing us is my escort unit as well as the cavalry of the royal army .

As they did not have a role in the siege battle, they are pumped up and ready to contribute now that they have a chance .

We have already come far away from the dazzling flames which lit up the darkness .

Minutely maneuvering the cavalry to disturb the enemy while visibility is poor is out of the question .

「Our cavalry will be the drill . 」

Simple is best when it comes to cavalry . We can charge into the enemy lines, open a hole and create a foothold which allows the infantry in the rearguard to easily punch through .

I, as the lead cavalry, will act as the tip of the drill .

「Get into anti-cavalry formation! Defend……」

Schwartz accelerates further .

The enemy commander is giving out orders while overseeing the entire battle and he probably didn’t expect my horse to be this fast .

We reach the enemy before long spears could get lined up .

「S-so fast!」

「A black gale……」

Right before contact, one soldier turns his spear to me, but I throw my longsword at him .

「Gugh!」

My sword flies right into his stomach, the force of impact throwing him down on the ground on his back, which opens a hole in their lines big enough for a single horse to fit .

Schwartz quickly adjusts his path and heads straight for the hole .

He knocks away enemies coming from either side of him with his giant body and tramples through the reserve forces waiting behind .

「I let you borrow it and now I’m taking it back . 」

As I pa.s.s by, I pull out my sword sticking out of the enemy’s body, then bisect the upper half of the commanding officer .

「Crossbows, what are you doing!?」

「Idiot! How can we shoot in this situation, we will friendly fire!」

Schwartz travels like the wind through the enemy army .

The squis.h.i.+ng sounds beneath his hooves echo loudly .

I also recklessly swing my sword and s.h.i.+eld .

Being surrounded by enemies actually makes things easier .

On the contrary, the enemy has a difficult time .

The archers and crossbowmen especially have it the hardest as the darkness as well as how close they are together makes it extremely likely for them to shoot their allies .

In a short time, I was able to get through the second layer of defense .

「What are you doing, letting Lord Hardlett go alone like that!? Pulverize the enemy!」

「Aegir-sama, please slow down a little!」

It looks like my allies are colliding with the enemy behind me .

Having created a hole, the enemy is out of sorts and it should be a matter of time before they get run over .

「……that was pretty thin . 」

I mutter to myself and smile when I see what is waiting for me .

「No wonder…… it was all to buy time for the third layer . 」

The third line of defense has appeared in front of me .

Their soldiers are prepared and neatly arranged, and it looks hard to get through quickly .

「Loose!」

「Release!」

Countless flaming arrows and bolts fly from the new enemy .

While I cut down any arrows aimed directly at me, the ones which fall around me lights up the area and helps secure better vision for the enemy’s next shots .

Moreover, the bolts I could not defend end up hitting me and Schwartz .

Sure, most of them bounce off our armor, however a few bolts find their way into the gaps in Schwartz’s armor due to him being a larger target .

He exhaled slightly, pretending to be fine, but I know having him charge into this squad would leave him with more than a scratch .

「Your job is done here . 」

I dismount from Schwartz who continues to run .

He had a “oh, is that so?” face as he runs off to the side somewhere .

I let the momentum from jumping off Schwartz propel my dash toward the enemy .

「This guy’s whole body is black…… no, he’s just covered in blood!」

「d.a.m.n demon…… shoot! Shoot him full of holes!」

Multiple arrows and bolts soar at me .

The one that stopped was the enemy .

My s.h.i.+eld protects me as I’m charging and allows me to maintain speed .

I feel numerous blows. .h.i.tting my s.h.i.+eld and my armor .

Two projectiles dig into my flesh, although that is not nearly enough to affect my movement .

「Here he comes!」

「Light infantry forwar―― uwaaaah!!」

Almost like pus.h.i.+ng apart the sea of arrows, I lower my hips right as I reach the first soldier and then make a sweeping motion .

Four crossbowmen get sent flying all at once .

I saw blood squirt so my attack must have finished off a few of them, but I don’t have time to count how many .

Response time is fast on the opponent’s side, as infantry holding s.h.i.+elds and swords appear before I realized .

「Everyone dismount! Attack from the front!」

Catching up with me after enduring the harsh barrage of arrows, the escort squad get down from their horses and choose to fight .

It’s probably going to get messy from here on out .

「Look how this guy is dressed . He’s a commander . 」

「How brave of him to lead the charge . Now I’m going to finish him and turn him into one of my achievements!」

Oops, I better focus on the enemies in front of me .

When I take a deep breath, the world seems to move slowly .

About twenty enemies stand before me, all with the same swords and metal s.h.i.+elds, plus the man at the far back with the red s.h.i.+eld is the commander .

「Prepare yourself!」

The very first man shouts as he approaches me and swings down his sword, which I block with my s.h.i.+eld, and then I return a slash to his torso from the right .

My sword tears through his armor, rips through his soft innards and cuts through his solid spinal column .

He lets out a sluggish scream .

I don’t force my body back after it s.h.i.+fted to the right, instead I use the momentum to bash the next enemy with my s.h.i.+eld .

The sensation of his facial bones getting crushed is transmitted through my s.h.i.+eld .

Using the foe’s body to stop my initial slas.h.i.+ng motion, I focus my gaze at the sword being thrusted at me from the front .

My response is a powerful slash to the opponent’s legs .

I purposely aimed low because stabbing him in the stomach would restrict my movement .

In a forward-leaning position, I bring myself down barely touching the ground to avoid attacks from two enemies on either side of me, then bounce back up in a spinning manner to slash their backs .

Showing my own back to the enemy will naturally invite attacks .

From what I saw last, they were aiming at my head, side and thigh .

「Hup!」

My s.h.i.+eld is lifted to defend my head, I twist my body to dodge the thrust at my torso, then I s.h.i.+ft my leg to allow the armored portion to take the hit .

The enemy’s astonishment was also sluggish and hard to make out .

Now is when I hear the first guy I cut fall to the ground .

I return to my normal stance and then throw my s.h.i.+eld at one enemy while slicing in half another through his s.h.i.+eld .

Noticing that the enemy let go of his sword, I leave my s.h.i.+eld where it is, grab the spinning sword in midair and lop off the head of a third enemy with it .

「Fuuー」

Time moves at regular speed once again after I exhale .

「Mo…… monster……」

「Eight people in a single breath……」

Before the enemy could finish speaking, I inhale deeply and start moving again .

I draw the Dual Crater at my hip for the usual dual-wielding setup and swing at two enemies in front of me .

My attack was faster than their attempts to defend .

The Dual Crater went on to bisect one of them, meanwhile the blade of my longsword was deliberately tilted to the side to deliver a blunt hit to the other .

A dull edge makes slicing cleanly hard, although the man’s head is caved in so I guess the result is pretty much the same anyways .

Another man cries out sluggishly as I block the slash from my right with my longsword, then use the tilting center of gravity to launch a kick to my left .

I let my leg fall back down and lower my hips for another powerful sweep with my longsword .

The circular slash at shoulder level chopped off one head and four hands .

Positioning my Dual Crater lower at the same time I spun around sliced the faces of the two enemies who crouched .

That wasn’t the end .

I follow up the rotation by running forward .

A fierce slicing of wind can be heard as my Dual Crater and longsword cuts through a head and body respectively, strengthened by the energy of my dash .

Retaliating slashes from the enemy are so slow they seem to be stopped .

I dodge one sword, then the second, then the third, and then slaughter their owners with my Dual Crater .

I’m unable to evade the fourth slash to my waist, so I block with my longsword, proceed to tackle that soldier and finish him off after he falls by stomping on him .

The fifth sword which comes along with the shriek of the man I just took out gets grabbed with my bare hand and snapped in half after I toss my Dual Crater up in the air .

When I catch the Dual Crater, I behead the dumbfounded enemy .

Now the only one left is the commander .

「A-a dem――」

「Who’s a demon?」

I cut his words short with a headb.u.t.t, bas.h.i.+ng my helmet-wearing head against his skull and splitting it open .

With a chance to look back, I see the ground littered with twenty corpses, and none who looks remotely able to get up and attack me from behind .

「……hiiih!」

「This is impossible…… it’s not real……」

Bystanding enemies immediately take steps backward .

Those I determined to be commanders hide behind their subordinates when their eyes meet with mine .

「We can’t fight head-on against that kind of beast! Shoot him down! Kill him with crossbows!」

c.r.a.p, I let go of my s.h.i.+eld .

I have no other choice except to deflect with my sword .

Just when I thought I was in a little trouble, my escort unit rushes in .

They may be off their horses, but the heavily armed soldiers should be more than enough to defeat crossbowmen .

「Aegir-sama! I’ve finally caught up to you . Gosh, how could you leave your s.h.i.+eld!」

「Gununu……」

It’s Celia and Mack .

Mack’s entire body is dripping with sweat as he picks up my s.h.i.+eld .

Oh, thanks .

「I saw what you did earlier . It was so fast my eyes couldn’t follow . 」

Celia’s eyes are sparkling .

Hahaha, I’m glad she’s fallen for me all over .

During my escort unit’s fierce attack, the bow cavalry and royal army also catch up and the third army starts to collapse .

It’s not a rout . They are maintaining order and retreating to their headquarters .

In any case, the attack on the headquarters can finally begin .

「They’ve pushed through! Stop them at all costs, those who can move go to the front!」

A group of large men come forth amidst the melee .

「Warhammer…… no, it’s even bigger . They’re equipped with giant hammers and large axes!」

「Those are siege weapons used to destroy fences and gates . 」

In no way do they look like a squad meant for field battle, but I guess the enemy is desperate .

「「「Hrggooooh!!」」」

Over 2 m tall men wielding enormous weapons come at me .

They’re equipped with gigantic two-handed weapons, wrapped in coa.r.s.e-looking chains, and wearing a helmet that resembles a can covering their entire head except their eyes .

The pressure exuded by their sheer size and executioner-like appearance overwhelms our allies .

A boost to their morale is required .

「Mack, let’s do this . 」

「’Kay . 」

Mack and I stand in front, facing off against the executioner look-alikes .

「Hnngooh!」

The irregularly-sized hammer is swung down .

Since two hands are needed to use it, I can easily dodge and slash the man’s vulnerable stomach, but I purposely block with my s.h.i.+eld .

A loud clang rang out like the sound of the bell signaling the daytime, and then Celia and the others closed their eyes instinctively .

「……fumu, is that it?」

The impact only pushed my s.h.i.+eld back slightly .

Of course, the executioner’s eyes open wide like he can’t believe what happened .

「Hmmph!」

When I return the favor and bash the hammer with my s.h.i.+eld, the large man flies backwards .

「Uooooh!!」

Mack is also forcibly pus.h.i.+ng the executioner to the ground with his warhammer .

As expected, since in terms of strength Mack is even stronger than me .

「Hnggoh!」

Once again, the executioner challenges me .

I meet his downward attack with my longsword .

Sparks fly when our preferred weapons clash, and then the executioner’s hammer shatters .

「It’s over . 」

I grab the man by the chains around him with my right hand and lift him up .

「What…… the……」

He mumbles astoundedly in a low growl .

His weight should be around 150 kg .

「Off you go . 」

I throw the big man .

He didn’t fly far because he was so heavy, however he fell head-first and snapped his neck .

It would have been simple for Celia to land on her feet . I guess being heavy has its merits and demerits .

「Guaah!!」

At the same time, Mack also manages to get a hit on the other executioner’s head with his hammer .

「Incredible…… Lord Hardlett is strong . 」

「If you stay calm and think, those guys are full of openings . They’re nothing to fear . 」

Now the morale of our allies has recovered .

They are quickly finis.h.i.+ng off the executioner’s with spears and crossbows .

With Leopolt and Myla also in command, our forces are slowly pus.h.i.+ng the enemy back .

I take a step backwards so I can look at the bigger picture and determine where to attack next .

「Enemy general, prepare yourself!」

「Watch out!」

Celia’s warning alerts me to an incoming spear .

The owner of the spear is a knight wearing red armor unlike the small fry around .

「Woah . 」

That thrust was dangerously close to hitting me .

The spear is also a nice silver color .

「I’m not done yet!」

The knight retracts the spear so a follow up attack can be performed, a feat which takes considerable skill .

Although not as heavy as a strike from Irijina, it is comparable in speed .

「This is the finisher!」

I falter when dodging the spun spear, allowing an opening for a full-powered thrust .

Failing to evade the sharp thrust―― it gets caught in my left hand instead .

「Yes, your attack is quick, but has no weight behind it . 」

Unless such an attack was a surprise, it won’t finish me off .

A prompt yank pulls the spear out of the knight’s hand .

「A…… ah……」

「Sorry . 」

I position my Dual Crater above the blankly staring knight’s head .

Right before my sword reached the downward looking head of the knight resigned to the inevitable outcome, I see long hair spilling out from beneath the helmet and catch a whiff of a sweet scent .

「Guh!」

My Dual Crater barely stopped in time .

The blade actually split open the helmet and cut off a few strands of hair .

With a dry clang, the two parts of the helmet fall to the ground .

「You were a woman!? You should have said so in the beginning, I almost cut you!」

The woman was taken aback when I yelled at her, then her face becomes dyed with anger .

「So what if I’m a woman!? I’m a soldier of South Yuguria, whose allegiance is sworn to Her Majesty Wilhelmina, and I’m your enemy!」

Pulling out the knife at her waist, the female soldier a.s.saults me .

「Careful! Let me take care of it!」

I hold out a hand to stop Celia from jumping in and stand in front of the woman myself .

「Die, enemy of the Empire!」

Her knife easily gets deflected by the arm guard on my left hand while my right hand dives into her crotch .

「Ah!?」

Finding a gap in her armor, my hand squirms into her pants and I insert three fingers in her hole all at once .

Messing around with Sekrit paid off .

「Owwーーーthat hurts!!」

I see blood trickling when I pull my fingers out .

「Oops, you were a virgin? Treat this as lesson of war then . 」

「What lesson……」

She drops the dagger and squats down .

「Uuuuu…… my virginity…… I had the resolve…… even so……」

At least I made her lose the will to fight safely .

「How dare you do that to big sis!」

Woah, a sword this time?

It’s a pretty silver sword too .

When I bend my body backwards to avoid the slash, I discover the attacker is another female knight . This one looks to be one size smaller than the first .

「I’m coming to save you now!」

She shouts as she charges again .

Unfortunately, her attack is much lighter and much slower than the first woman’s attack .

「I’ll take that . 」

I steal her sword, lift her up and roll her pants down enough to fully expose her a.s.s .

「What are you doing!? Stop thaaat!」

I thought I could demoralize her in the same way, but I guess she’s a little too young .

「How about this?」

「Ah!?」

I shove two fingers into her a.s.s .

Now she’ll lose her will to fight and will obediently become my prisoner .

「Nhiiih! Don’t…… I was nervous this whole time because this is my first battle…… ah, ah, ah, aaaahーーーーーー!!」

「She peed herself . 」

「Oh my . 」

Celia calmly states .

This is a wonderful mess I created .

The small knight slumps to the ground in tears .

No shred of defiance remains in her .

My goal is achieved for now…… I guess .

「I’ll make amends later . 」

Let’s leave these two to our allies .

Mack, Celia, and I found the place where the fighting will revolve around .

「If we can take that hill by dawn, the bow cavalry can overlook the enemy and shoot as they please . The enemy won’t be able to remain here!」

Looking closer, I see Myla has taken command of a battle around the hill too .

She must have also figured out the importance of this point .

Reinforcements from the enemy are coming out in droves .

The enemy commander has been properly identified as well .

「Let’s a.s.sist Myla and secure that hill . 」

I want to get to her as soon as possible, but I can’t relax when the night limits visibility so much that enemies can be hiding anywhere .

「Hmph!」

I cut down one of them .

「Eei!」

Celia slashes at the feet of another, then stabs the fallen soldier to finish him off .

「Mmngh!」

Mack crushes the head of yet another with his warhammer .

「Hup . 」

Sekrit severs the arms of an enemy soldier with her swords, then severs the man’s legs while she’s at it, and leaves him to die .

「When did she……」

She found her way behind us in this chaos .

Oh well, she’s good with swords so I’m sure she’ll be a good help .

「Myla, I’m here to a.s.sist . 」

「Lord Hardlett!」

Myla smiles happily .

The commanding officers around her also cheer .

「Ooh, Lord Hardlett has arrived . 」

「Our victory is practically a.s.sured!」

I don’t know if she unconsciously let her guard down when we get praised but Celia doesn’t realize the enemy behind her .

「Take that!」

「Auu!」

The enemy’s sword grazes Celia’s shoulder .

It was a shallow wound which the enemy intends to add on to .

「Kuh . 」

Celia hastily holds her sword up in defense .

It ends up being unnecessary as my body automatically takes action, jumping in from the side and slicing off the enemy soldier’s dominant arm .

「I’m fine! It’s a minor scratch!」

Celia pleads her case that she’s still in good shape, except I can only focus on the blood staining her clothes .

My vision instantly turns red .

「You hurt my cute Celia…… unforgivable…… absolutely unforgivable . 」

「Hiiih……」

I grab the legs of the fallen soldier who lost his arm .

This guy seems to be the lead so a few others are following behind .

They’re all equally guilty .

「Ugaaah!!」

「Gyaaaa!!」

I swing the man’s body at the other incoming soldiers .

He’s being treated like an abnormal warhammer .

「Gueh!」

「Guaa!」

My swings come from above to crush my enemies and then from the side to knock them away .

「This is absurd…… Lord Hardlett goes crazy when a woman gets injured?」

「How frightening…… it’s not any different to the rumors . 」

You guys, be quiet .

I hear Sekrit’s laughter as well, although it doesn’t matter to me now .

「Gaah!」

When I smash the final enemy, my human warhammer seems to have gotten lighter .

I look over and see that the soldier’s body has torn apart, leaving only his legs in my grip .

「Fumu……」

Celia’s not too badly injured so I guess I can let them off .

That guy’s head and body flew off somewhere .

If I rely on my anger to fight, I tend to make more careless mistakes .

Taking a deep breath, my eyes happen to find Sekrit facing off against an enemy .

The enemy is attacking her and she’s merely blocking .

Don’t tell me she’s struggling .

「Kuh, I got hit . 」

To my surprise, the enemy’s sword cuts Sekrit in the thigh .

Thankfully it was a small nick, however it’s the stream of blood on her dark-skinned thigh that sets me off .

Once again, my vision turns red .

「She did it on purpose! That’s definitely done on purpose!」

Celia’s voice seems far off in the distance .

I let out another animalistic roar and lift up the enemy over my head .

「You hurt my Sekrit!」

「Ugyaaa!」

I snap the enemy in half by bending him too far in the opposite direction .

Blood leaks out from the deceased man’s mouth, a.n.u.s, and the crack in his body .

「Sekrit, are you okay?」

「It’s only a scratch . ……pfft, that wasn’t bad . 」

I’m relieved they’re both okay, but they have to be more careful .

If you girls got hurt, I wouldn’t be happy even if we won .

「Guoh!」

Mack was the next to grunt .

An arrow apparently struck him in the shoulder .

「You alive? You’re a pretty big guy so you’re an easy target . Be careful . 」

「…… okay . 」

Let’s get back to fighting .

We help out Myla’s squad by rampaging wildly .

We defeat a tenacious enemy unit and take out the commander at the head of the army .

When the morale of our soldiers start darkening, we pick a big fight to encourage them, and push the enemy back again .

Myla commanding well at the head of her army and then Leopolt mobilizing the reinforcements at the optimal timing gradually tilts the battle in our favor .

A crack of light appears on the horizon to start brightening the sky and by that time most of the hill is in our hands .

Our bow cavalry is on standby and ready to rain down arrows on the enemy when the sun clears up the field of vision .

The end is near .

「Infantry, go rout the enemy left wing! Just one more push . If we fend off this counterattack, we can drive off the enemy!」

Myla wipes the sweat off her forehead as she yells her order .

Her dignified voice rouses me to fight harder on the frontlines .

I find a chance to take a breath and our eyes happen to meet .

Myla, while her face is dirty and stained with blood, nods and gives me her best smile, feeling that our victory is all but guaranteed .

At that time, I feel my face tense up .

「――――!」

I shout as loud as I can, but my voice gets drowned out by the background noise .

Myla notices my mouth move and smiles, her body acting on its own .

「No need to worry! I won’t be done in by something of this level!」

Myla deflects the spear aimed up at her on horseback with her s.h.i.+eld, then finishes off the enemy with a nicely timed counterattack .

That’s not it .

I’m not worried about that guy .

I run to her while pus.h.i.+ng aside enemy and ally alike .

There’s no way I make it in time though .

One enemy makes his way through to Myla’s side .

He was most likely remarkably desperate to get this far through all the jostling .

A sword is swung in pa.s.sing .

Fresh blood gushes out from Myla’s neck .

More was spilled this time than when Celia and Sekrit got hurt .

Myla holds her hand to her neck, looking at my face as she slowly falls off her horse .

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett . 24 years old . Winter . Wartime .

Libatis Reinforcement Army Supreme Commander

Subordinate Squad:

Goldonia Royal Army – Seventh Division Army Corps – In Battle

Infantry: 6800

Archers: 1100

Cavalry: 1500

Hardlett Army – In Battle

Bow Cavalry: 3700

Escort: 160

Chariots: 75

(including vacancies left by wounded)

Subordinates: Leopolt (staff officer), Celia (minor injury), Myla ( ), Irijina (charge), Luna (charge)

Gido (charge), Pipi (charge), Pochi (charge), Marta (standing by), Keith (corps commander), Sekrit (minor injury)

Current Location: Melisbark outskirts

Achievements: Defeated siege army, repelled Melisbark first and second attack