Ch.149War and the Vermilion Bird #5

As the small but intense storm blew in, the atmosphere that had been finding stability was once again thrown into chaos.

Despite having reduced its power through magic items, the shield-bearing soldiers were sent flying in all directions like bowling pins.

Of course, not the entire formation collapsed, but the gap created was quite substantial.

“Ugh! What’s the damage situation?!”

“Thanks to the shields, we avoided major injuries, but the impact was so severe that it’s difficult to maintain balance!”

The viscount glared sharply at the shield bearers sprawled on the ground as he received the report.

Not because the soldiers were pathetic, but because he was greatly irritated by the situation where only winds strong enough to make them groan had blown in.

“Uninjured shield bearers, fill the gaps, press your bodies together, and lower your stance! Don’t get swept away by the wind!”

Fortunately, the small typhoon only came from the front with no sign of striking the flanks, so the viscount formed a new battle formation based on this.

It was a formation where shield bearers with lowered stances stood at the very front, with those behind supporting their backs to create a sturdy wall.

Unlike lower-quality troops, the imperial soldiers followed the viscount’s orders swiftly and precisely.

With a bit of exaggeration, it happened in the blink of an eye.

Thanks to this, even when the storm came charging with its mouth wide open, they only shook momentarily but managed to hold their ground without collapsing.

That’s what the imperial army, including the viscount, had thought.

If only the storm’s size, speed, and power had remained the same.

“Aaaagh!”

Simultaneously with a loud explosion-like sound assaulting their ears, several soldiers were sent flying through the air.

If the previous gust had merely made them fall on their backsides, this one was powerful enough to lift armored soldiers into the air.

Nevertheless, to the viscount’s eyes, they seemed to be flying through the sky.

That thought came to him as he witnessed the miserable sight of soldiers falling with screams.

“What in the world is happening! We clearly reduced its power with magic items and had set up solid defenses to block it…!”

“It seems those elf bastards were hiding their true strength!”

“To think those high-nosed pointy-ears could be so cunning…!”

Encountering such shrewd tactics from a race known for being closed-off and prideful, the viscount’s brow furrowed magnificently.

It was so severely furrowed that any more would risk bursting a blood vessel.

The soldiers who still had some composure stiffened their expressions as they observed the viscount’s complexion.

When a commander became angry, they inevitably had to be cautious.

However, fortunately or unfortunately, they didn’t have much time to be cautious and anxious.

Because a black line had already penetrated through the sea of flames and was now diving into the gap in their broken formation.

“Grr, grrr……”

The black line was Helena with her sword, and with each flash of her blade under the burning light, more than one head rolled at her feet.

The viscount, standing a few steps away from the front line, watched this scene and hurriedly shouted:

“All troops! Discard your shields and retreat!”

Even as his whole body trembled at the sight of the sword wrapped in black aura, he somehow managed to issue the order, choosing to deliberately break his own formation.

It might have sounded like a decision made out of fear and loss of reason, but in a way, it was correct.

Shields were useless against a knight wielding aura anyway.

They would only obstruct vision.

In other words, it was better to discard the shields and rely on agility.

“Now! Charge in!”

The problem was that Helena, who wielded the aura, was a Sword Master, and the man who followed her, throwing himself into battle, also knew how to handle aura.

At a time when they needed to deploy knights who could handle aura against them, ordinary soldiers were of no help.

Shields were cut, swords were cut, and heads fell.

The blade wrapped in aura continued to bare its sharp teeth, taking the lives of the soldiers, while Zion, who followed slightly to the side, broke necks to reduce their numbers.

“The Duchess! The Duchess has appeared!”

One step. Another step.

The viscount, who had been unconsciously backing away, shouted loudly upon seeing Helena’s face.

He couldn’t fail to recognize someone who, from the Empire’s perspective, was a target that must be eliminated.

At this, soldiers who had been scattered in various groups turned their attention toward where Helena was rampaging.

“Knights! All knights, head that way! Stop the Duchess!”

They ordered the knights who were arriving in armor.

Even if victory was unlikely, they expected that just being able to use aura would be enough to fulfill their role.

Even if that expectation proved futile, they had no choice.

The flames that burned large and intense, illuminating the night.

The elven army that penetrated deeper, piercing the throats of soldiers.

And because of Helena and Zion, who led this devastation and expanded it, their minds were still in chaos.

“What should we do?”

“We need to reduce their numbers while we can. Ellen!”

After cutting down the last person who had discarded his shield and turned his back, Helena called for Ellen, who had been shooting arrows mixed among the elven troops.

With the crackling of burning wood and screams echoing from all directions, it seemed doubtful she could hear properly, but Ellen ran to Helena’s side as if she had been waiting.

“Yes. Did you call for me?”

“As you can see, knights are coming. I’ll handle them, so lead the troops and clean up the reinforcements following them. Don’t go in too deep. Stay within range of my voice.”

“Understood.”

Helena’s gaze followed Ellen’s back as she ran toward the elves rampaging in one corner, then turned toward the knights charging with aura-infused swords.

Zion, who had been standing shoulder to shoulder with her, stared at the scene for a moment before taking a step back on his own.

He knew it was absurd to try to keep pace with Helena, who was superior in many aspects, and that he might even hold her back.

“Be careful. If it seems dangerous, I’ll come to help.”

Zion took Helena’s hand and kissed the back of it with a smile.

As this was neither the time to be stubborn nor did he have any stubbornness to display, he decided to let her go so willingly.

Some might call it pathetic, but given the clear difference in capabilities, even such thoughts were a luxury.

Indeed, as soon as Zion departed, Helena didn’t retreat but instead threw herself toward the knights.

As soon as she clashed swords with the knight at the front, she swung her arm in a circular motion.

The knight caught in the circle moving from inside to outside was momentarily confused but tried his best to hold his ground.

It was a natural choice, as men generally had better physical abilities than women, even if she was a Sword Master.

Especially in a simple contest of strength like this, there was no reason to back down.

However, there was one crucial factor missing from the knight’s calculation:

The vast difference in the ability to handle aura, or mana.

“Ugh, ugggh……”

Just as the sound of steel clashing against steel rang out, and a numbing sensation spread through the knight’s hand from the impact,

The knight who had crossed swords with Helena spat out bloody foam as his last sight was of his sword flying through the air.

In that instant, his throat had been pierced.

If the knight had held out just a little longer, Helena would have pulled back.

In a chaotic melee where they were outnumbered, if one got tied up with a single opponent, someone else would surely cut down the exposed back.

“Stay calm! Don’t attack one by one, form teams! At least three per group!”

At the shout of a knight who appeared quite senior, the other knights began to close in on Helena in groups.

The circular encirclement formed by teams of three was so thick that there seemed to be no gap to escape through.

Moreover, since the knights were also using aura, it wasn’t easy to cut them down quickly.

Naturally, Helena’s aura quality was far superior, and she could cut through their aura after a few swings.

The problem was that she didn’t have enough time and space to make those few swings.

Yet if she remained still, she would be strangled by the tightening encirclement.

Helena quickly scanned her surroundings with ice-cold eyes, then lunged toward the man who had ordered them to form teams.

He too was in a team like the other knights, but she showed no concern for that.

“Strike!”

Although she charged in with the lowest possible stance, almost as if crawling on the ground, to the knights it looked like she was rushing in, unable to overcome her impatience.

So even Sword Masters are human after all.

Or perhaps lacking in experience.

The knight who gave the order, reminiscing about the incredibly experienced Imperial Count Helix, swung his sword upward from below.

It was a natural choice given that Helena was swinging her sword from below.

Soon she would be shredded by swords flying in from all directions.

All the knights following the senior knight’s lead thought so.

However.

“What?!”

The knight struck down the sword coming from below and gasped as he saw Helena leaping up with the rebound.

It was a technique impossible for ordinary people, but feasible when superhuman strengths collided.

If those wielding the swords hadn’t been knights, they would have been overwhelmed by the force.

“Don’t panic! Look for openings and strike!”

The senior knight, true to his experience, was the first to calm his confused thoughts and shouted as he swung his sword.

He aimed for the large opening created by Helena’s inability to correct her posture while airborne.

The knights, understanding this, swung their swords from all directions as if filling the air. It was truly a storm of blades.

“Kuh, kuhak……”

Yet, the tragic result was that the throat of the knight who had been giving orders was pierced by a black line.

The knights who were about to swing their swords downward froze at the sight.

With a thud, Helena, who had somehow planted her feet on the ground, slowly rose while swinging the black line now held in her left hand outward.

It was an aura branch-like technique she had mastered when she tried to kill Holly before.

The aura transmitted the soft sensation of cutting through flesh to Helena’s fingertips as it protruded outside the neck.

Following this, a red line bloomed, bubbles frothed beneath it, and eventually the knight’s neck slowly broke with a cracking sound.

What on earth was happening?

From the strange motion of extending only her left arm to the sudden end of a skilled knight’s life because of it.

The knights felt not only their bodies but also their minds turning blank white at the sight they couldn’t comprehend with their common sense.

And that was the last thought they had in this world.

Because Helena, not missing the moment they froze, swung the black line widely, cleanly cutting the necks of the knights surrounding her.

With a thud, numerous heads fell and rolled on the ground.

Bubbles boiled beneath the cut surfaces before fountains of blood erupted.

Helena, drenched in the hot, fishy red rain, still surveyed the battlefield with coldly calm eyes.

Zion, who was slightly separated, was still meticulously breaking the necks of imperial soldiers one by one, and the elven army was also sweeping through the camp according to orders.

Avoiding the orange-flagged army as planned.

“Are you okay?”

Zion, who had somehow approached Helena, asked as he wiped the blood from her face.

Although he had killed by breaking necks and hadn’t seen blood, he was in a terrible state due to sweat and dust.

“Yes. Thanks for worrying. But this cloth…?”

“I took it from a nearby tent. In my spare time.”

“Hehe. You’ve become quite the homemaker.”

Helena exchanged silly jokes while surrendering to the touch of the man wiping her face.

Though they couldn’t completely remove the curse-like sticky blood, it felt much less uncomfortable.

Enough to think that this was sufficient for now.

The soldiers watching them were too terrified to dare approach, and the nobleman hiding behind them, shouting at the top of his lungs, was also trembling.

It was understandable, having witnessed with their own eyes the slaughter of dozens of knights in an instant.

“Your Grace!”

Just as Helena was about to prowl around looking for her next target, Ellen approached with the magic battalion.

Her expression clearly showed urgency.

It made sense. Helena seemed to have a rough idea as she narrowed her eyes sharply.

She knew the disturbing presence was drawing closer.

“Is that old man Count Helix coming?”

“Yes. What should we do? Not just the count, but the number of soldiers regrouping and coming is increasing.”

“Let’s retreat. Just fire a few more wind blasts as a parting gift.”

If a knight heard that the most famous warrior was approaching, they might want to at least see their face once.

However, Helena was far removed from such emotions.

Therefore, she issued the retreat order without even a speck of lingering attachment, with absolute determination.

As someone once said, what mattered to Helena was not honor, but the man who had been wiping the blood from her face.