Ch.294Chapter 294 – Same Flag, Different Thoughts (2)

“Kicking off the water…!”

“Die, you barbaric heretics!!”

With those words, a soldier’s head went flying.

The holy knights of the Emiris Order who emerged from the water seized the opportunity and began swinging their weapons, slaughtering the resistance fighters.

The bridge quickly became a scene of utter chaos.

“Offer the screams of heretics to our god!!”

The holy knights of the Emiris Order shouted as they cut down the soldiers.

Caught by surprise on the bridge and having lost the initiative, the resistance soldiers began to fall one by one.

Seeing this, Domestica quickly looked toward Count Rizolkobu.

And soon she cried out in disbelief.

“What are you doing, Commander?!”

“Hii, hiiiieek!!”

Count Rizolkobu was lying face down on the bridge, screaming.

In this situation, he should have been calming the chaos and organizing a response, but he had essentially abandoned his command.

Sure enough, the elite soldiers around him were also panicking, adding to the confusion.

“Ugh…”

Even the soldier binding Domestica was in a state of confusion.

She quickly drew a dagger hidden in her sleeve and swiftly cut the ropes.

She had planned to use it after assessing the situation further, but she realized she would die if she didn’t free herself now.

As soon as she was free, she quickly threw herself to the ground.

Blood immediately began to pour down on her.

“…Spear…!”

The soldier who had been binding her was impaled on a spear along with a lizard.

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Domestica quickly shouted.

“Calm down! Follow your training! Form groups of three and respond…!”

As a voice of command spread across the battlefield, some soldiers regained their composure and began forming groups.

However, this only applied to a small number of soldiers under Archery’s command.

In the midst of such chaos, it was impossible to quickly organize into three-person teams.

And before Domestica could realize her mistake, she had to quickly duck her head.

“Like a damn rat…!”

A holy knight from the Order had swung his sword at her.

Barely avoiding the attack, Domestica rolled across the ground.

She looked around to seek help from other soldiers, and…

Once again, she was dumbfounded.

“No way, that crazy…!”

A curse escaped her lips, something unusual for someone who never swore.

She had witnessed some of the elite soldiers and Count Rizolkobu fleeing at full speed.

On the bridge, their reckless galloping was causing fellow resistance fighters to be trampled by their own cavalry and fall into the water.

‘…Is this the end?’

Domestica was shocked as she watched the resistance fighters gradually falling.

She saw no way to survive.

Below was water, the front was blocked by the fleeing Count Rizolkobu, and the rear and middle ranks were where the holy knights of the Emiris Order were holding their bloody festival.

To make matters worse, several holy knights were approaching her as well.

“…No choice.”

Holding out her dagger, Domestica thought to herself.

Since she was going to die anyway, she tensed her frail body, determined to take at least one enemy down with her.

And in the next moment.

“Damn it, things just keep going sideways!”

A familiar voice complained.

Suddenly, someone appeared in midair, swinging a halberd that sliced through the air and cut down the holy knights.

+

Right after Domestica was taken by Rizolkobu.

We hid the carriage and Muu with magic and quietly followed the soldiers.

Logically, our entire group shouldn’t have been able to keep up with the cavalry, but they weren’t just cavalry—they had infantry mixed in.

Since they always moved in formation, they weren’t traveling at an extremely fast pace, and with Vanilla using magic for concealment and detection, we were able to pursue them.

When the path became difficult, Gigas forcibly created a path for us to pass through easily.

By the time the river came into view, we quickly hid in nearby bushes.

“When will we attack?”

“When they’re about halfway across the bridge.”

I answered Sia’s question as we watched Domestica being dragged away in the distance.

“I’ll dive in there and extract Domestica, then immediately cut off their retreat.”

“Will you be alright alone?”

“It’s better if I go alone.”

I quietly told my concerned companions.

“If I go in alone, you only need to worry about me and Domestica.”

“What about me coming with you?”

“I’d prefer if you stayed here to protect the others, just in case.”

Since we don’t know how things might unfold.

I thought we might have too much firepower, but with the battlefield being on a bridge, there was no need for too many people to go.

Only those who could quickly extract and escape needed to go.

“I’m worried about you going into the heart of enemy territory…”

“That’s a valid concern, but I’ll be fine for a short while.”

I told the worried Chris.

“First of all, cavalry on a bridge are essentially like walls.”

Whether horses or those bipedal lizards, they weren’t small.

Plus, since they’re clearly expensive assets, they’d be careful not to damage them.

So if I could just extract Domestica from the one cavalryman holding her, the cavalry would likely become entangled and form a wall.

Of course, with infantry behind them, I’d essentially be cornered, but…

“I just need to extract her before the infantry can organize themselves.”

Still, I needed to block any pursuers, just in case.

So I prepared one more thing.

“Here.”

Sera took out an item from her chest.

It was a small bomb I had seen before.

“It has enough power to blow a hole in the bridge. However…”

“It would be disastrous to use against people.”

The power was certainly sufficient.

But if we blew a hole in the bridge, we wouldn’t have to worry about the infantry in the rear rushing in all at once.

Carefully taking the bomb, I addressed my companions.

“Once I dive in and successfully extract Domestica, immediately cut this side of the bridge too.”

“The soldiers above will be isolated.”

I nodded at Sia’s comment.

That was the plan from the beginning, so there was nothing to hesitate about.

“But how will Kei escape?”

“Once I get Domestica, I’ll jump into the water.”

I might take some enemy attacks in the process, but honestly, dealing with resistance fighters wouldn’t be difficult.

I just needed to extract Domestica, hold them off briefly, then dive into the water.

And then.

“You go to the designated spot first and pull me up.”

“Well, aren’t you making efficient use of a mage.”

Vanilla, who was supposed to pull me up with magic as a precaution, complained a little.

The initial attack also depended on Vanilla sending me over there.

Thinking how convenient magic makes everything, I told Vanilla:

“Magic is the best. Get to work.”

“I want a vacation.”

Despite his words, Vanilla didn’t seem too displeased.

As we finalized the plan and prepared to execute it…

Sia suddenly frowned and said:

“There’s something there.”

“What?”

“Something in the water. Let’s hold off on the operation for now.”

Sia muttered that he had noticed it a bit late because he was focused on their army.

And as Domestica and the vanguard reached about the middle of the bridge…

Suddenly the water’s surface exploded as holy knights of the Emiris Order emerged.

“What the hell.”

They seemed to have timed their attack similarly to ours.

If we had made a mistake, I could have jumped in to rescue Domestica only to be surrounded by the Emiris Order’s holy knights.

The bridge quickly descended into chaos, and I hastily said to Vanilla:

“Send me over now. Right now.”

“Be careful, White Dragon.”

If things continued like this, Domestica would be in danger.

Some holy knights were already targeting her, so I spoke urgently.

Vanilla immediately prepared the spell.

The next moment, I was flying over the heads of the resistance fighters, about to land next to Domestica.

“Damn it, things just keep going sideways!”

I shouted my complaint loudly as I cut down a holy knight with my halberd.

Domestica stared at me blankly when I suddenly appeared.

“How…?”

She seemed to have many questions.

However, I couldn’t talk with her now.

The Order’s holy knights were already charging toward me.

“Capture the heretic!”

Holy knights near me began rushing at me from multiple directions.

I quickly swung my halberd to cut down the closest enemy, then grabbed Domestica’s body while dodging a sword strike aimed at us.

I immediately kicked the sword away with my foot, picked it up, and threw it at a holy knight who was about to shoot an arrow, then raised my halberd again to block and cut down an enemy attacking from behind.

After quickly dispatching several holy knights, I looked around to see other holy knights and resistance fighters fighting each other.

The resistance fighters had barely recovered from the confusion and were starting to fight back against the holy knights.

“Don’t let them escape!”

Water splashed again as more hidden holy knights emerged.

“Do these guys think they’re turtles or something?!”

This meant we had to be wary of more enemies potentially emerging from the water.

I quietly told Domestica to watch the water’s surface too, then sent her behind me to ensure at least minimal safety.

And just as the holy knights were about to charge at me again…

-BOOM!!

An explosion sounded, and the bridge shook slightly.

Sera had cut the bridge as planned.

“Damn it!”

As the bridge shook, the holy knights’ stances faltered.

A momentary opening created by the sudden explosion.

I couldn’t miss this opportunity.

I quickly pushed off the ground and used my halberd to cut down multiple enemies at once.

Several holy knights whose stances had collapsed couldn’t block the attack and fell into the water.

“You, bastard…!”

A holy knight who was fortunately outside my range regained his composure and swung his sword.

I changed my weapon to a sword, deflected his blade with a swing of my arm, and thrust my sword into his body.

“Kuhk!”

With a painful groan, the enemy’s body went limp.

As I pulled out my sword and lifted his body, I felt several arrows embed themselves in the holy knight’s body.

I immediately threw the holy knight’s body away, changed my weapon to a spear, and threw it at another holy knight who had been shooting arrows.

“…I saw it at the mountain fortress, but the Order’s holy knights are no match for you at all.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

I immediately changed my weapon back to a halberd.

Then I looked at Domestica.

“We’re escaping now.”

“But…!”

“It’s okay. Once the confusion settles, they’ll manage on their own.”

Fortunately, the soldiers who had recovered from the chaos were now using their numerical advantage to attack the holy knights.

Although there were quite a few holy knights, they couldn’t have hidden hundreds in the water, so they were beginning to succumb to the numerical advantage.

“But still…”

“From our perspective, you’re more important.”

Because we needed Domestica for communication with Beatrice.

In the end, Domestica didn’t argue with me further.

She asked me:

“How are we going to escape?”

“By jumping into the water.”

Domestica nodded at my words.

I was about to grab her and jump into the water.

And at that moment, I felt something chilling.

‘Killing intent.’

Sensing the sudden killing intent, I quickly pulled Domestica back.

“Cough!”

Suddenly pulled back, Domestica coughed, momentarily unable to breathe.

However, there was no time to apologize to her.

I looked in the direction of the killing intent and changed my weapon to a halberd.

‘What is it?’

I remained vigilant while wondering what was there.

Then I saw something like a ball flying toward us at tremendous speed.

Reflexively, I raised my halberd and deflected it, sending the ball rolling across the bridge.

I turned to confirm what it was, and for a moment, my body froze.

“This is…!”

The ball was a human head.

“Count Rizolkobu…?”

Domestica said in dismay, looking at the disfigured face, slightly misshapen from my deflection.

Various emotions flashed across her eyes.

But there was no time to focus on that.

Screams were coming from right in front of us.

And soon, giant lizards were being cut in half.

The people riding them either fell into the water or met the same fate as their mounts, struck by something swung at incredible speed.

And walking between them was a man with platinum blonde hair.

“When I followed the man Somnus told me about, I thought I had made a mistake.”

Though no one had asked, the man spoke in a dry voice.

Despite having cut down many, not a single drop of blood stained his sword. Seeing this, every nerve in my body suddenly began to sound an alarm.

“But your presence here means I came to the right place.”

My heart also began to beat rapidly.

“It seems God’s blessing is with me.”

With those words, he swung his sword.

Somehow, the bridge behind me was cut off.

As if declaring that he would allow no one to enter, my escape route was blocked.

Facing a formidable opponent, my body took a combat stance.

Soon, the man and I began to face off against each other.

Except for Domestica who held her breath, no one…

“We meet again, Kei.”

“…Idea.”

The platinum-haired swordsman was slowly approaching.