Ch.320320. Starting Point (2)

The signal fired from the trench where the battle with the beasts took place was visible upstream, so it would certainly be visible downstream as well.

The signal from the main force reached Michelle, who was waiting downstream, and she immediately ordered everyone to prepare for battle, warning that this area would soon become a battlefield.

Naturally, they didn’t believe it at first.

This was Ashpern’s beast legion. Even though they had fought along the river and dug trenches, could they really have succeeded with just a fraction of their forces against such formidable beasts, especially when the enemy had been divided into three?

Since only a select few knew the specifics of the operation, most couldn’t judge its merits, but doubt was inevitable.

Most soldiers probably thought: This must be a lie to boost morale. Rather than admitting total defeat, they’re sending false signals to give us some small hope to cling to.

A moment later.

-SWOOOOSH!!

A powerful rush of water was approaching downstream.

They understood that the operation involved releasing water from upstream, but…

-SWOOOOSH.

By now, the water should have arrived, yet looking at the river, it hadn’t. Still, the sound kept growing louder.

Now it must arrive. Surely this time.

Each time they thought this, they looked at the river, but still nothing had arrived.

As the sound became deafening, they began to wonder: if it hasn’t arrived yet, what will happen when it finally does reach us?

The sound grew ever closer, making their ears ring. Yet their eyes kept checking the river.

It was as if their eyes and ears were experiencing two completely different phenomena within minutes of each other.

Finally, the moment when sight and sound aligned, proving they were witnessing the same phenomenon.

They faced it.

-SWOOOOSH!!!

The once-gentle stream had transformed into a threatening torrent with a murderous current rushing downstream.

Along with the powerful sound of water, they began to see beasts being swept along with the current.

The flood carried so much debris that it muddied the once-clear river water, but seeing the beasts made the soldiers tense up again.

-SPLASH!

“H-huh!!”

One beast, unable to withstand the current, was flung onto the shore. A soldier immediately swung his weapon.

But strangely, it felt light.

“Huh? Why is there only the lower half…?”

The upper body was missing. At first glance, it looked torn off, but that wasn’t the case. The wound showed a cleanly cut cross-section.

“Yaaah!! Hmm…? An arm?”

“This one’s already dead. It drowned.”

“What’s this? I thought I couldn’t see both legs, but they’re actually cut off!”

Beast bodies were being flung ashore in other places too, and everyone was having similar experiences.

Reports spread that the beasts were in an abnormal state—they were corpses floating down the river. This could only mean one thing: the main Imperial force that had fought at the Ripol River had reduced the beasts to this state.

“Living beasts are starting to appear!”

“Everyone, battle positions!”

While many dead specimens had been seen, not all were eliminated. Living beasts that the main force couldn’t handle were being swept downstream.

On the battlefield, carelessness is a shortcut to death. Michelle kept the soldiers alert, ensuring they maintained their vigilance.

The beasts, nearly incapacitated by the rapid current, were eliminated one by one.

However, one forgotten presence revealed itself.

“Grrr, you humans…!”

“A-Ashpern…”

The soldiers had been dealing with beasts that had died for various reasons and were swept downstream, or those that survived but were nearly incapacitated. They were briefly intoxicated with the feeling that victory was within reach.

But when they saw Ashpern—the source of their consecutive defeats and the Imperial Army’s worst named beast—the fear ingrained in their bodies naturally resurfaced.

-SWOOSH!

Just as the Imperial troops downstream froze at the sight of Ashpern, an arrow of blue flame flew toward the dragon-man’s forehead.

Of course, the arrow didn’t hit its mark. It was completely nullified by Ashpern’s magic.

Yet the archer continued to draw the bowstring, knowing full well that no matter how many arrows were fired, they would be nullified by Ashpern’s power.

“The commander’s order is to exterminate these beasts. If you have time to hesitate, take even one more step forward!”

“E-exterminate…?”

Exterminate? Against Ashpern?

The Imperial soldiers were bewildered by the signal that only Michelle understood.

How many had died from the barrage of magic Ashpern had unleashed? Even those who fought with weapons, once pierced by the spear of magical energy and subjected to its formula, had their existence erased from this world, becoming no different from stones.

The soldiers couldn’t move, paralyzed by fear—fear of having their existence erased by that power of oblivion. They couldn’t immediately follow Michelle’s instructions.

-FWOOSH!

Not content with just deflecting her arrows, Ashpern countered by firing flame magic, putting Michelle in a difficult position.

She shouted angrily at the still-frozen soldiers:

“It’s the commander’s order. Move, I said! How long are you going to stand there?!”

“B-but…”

“How can we possibly defeat Ashpern…! Even Professor Muniher and Professor Jake fell to the power of oblivion!”

“Dozens, hundreds attacked, and all were pierced by the spear. We should just run away…”

“Fight. You all want to live, don’t you? If you want to live, if you don’t want to die, the only option is to exterminate them here and now!”

If they wanted to return alive from this place, if they didn’t want to face life-threatening danger from these accursed beasts again—

Pick up your weapons.

Fight here and now.

That was Michelle’s order, carrying on the commander’s signal.

But orders alone weren’t enough. No matter the command, the fear instilled by the being before their eyes wouldn’t easily disappear.

They needed motivation to move their bodies.

Taking a deep breath, Michelle thought about what Junon would have done—what he would have instilled in these soldiers frozen with fear.

-Just a handful is enough. With that, I can move any number of times.

“!!!”

And the answer lay in the past.

“Ashpern isn’t at full strength either. The beasts that were once formidable are in this state—do you think Ashpern would be any different?!”

“Huh…?”

“Come to think of it…”

“It’s much weaker. It’s not even using half the magic it used before!”

What those facing fear need is just a handful of possibility—that tiny spark of hope that they can defeat the mighty being before them.

Even if it’s close to madness, Junon had said that as long as that small possibility isn’t extinguished, it’s enough.

His will, his unyielding spirit from the past, moved the frozen limbs of the Imperial soldiers.

“UWAAAAAH!!!”

“!!!”

They raised their swords again and gripped their spears. Those with weapons were the first to charge at Ashpern.

Humans freed from fear began to pour everything they had at the object of their terror.

With the determination not to let a single one escape, they wielded their weapons and squeezed out every drop of mana, continuing their frenzied battle.

‘These humans, what on earth…!’

This was the second time.

Just moments ago, seeing their fear-stained faces, Ashpern had thought it was as expected. But now the humans were charging again as if they’d forgotten their fear.

Even without that man present—the one who had threatened Ashpern’s life—the beast began to feel the tide of defeat once more.

‘This won’t do. I can’t let this continue. I must show them the overwhelming difference in power…!’

───!!

Ashpern howled to gather the beasts, trying to break through the humans’ concentrated fire while simultaneously drawing numerous magic circles.

Having used too much magical energy fighting the deadly current, and with conditions not right for deploying powerful magic, Ashpern was at a disadvantage.

Desperately trying to break the humans’ fighting spirit, Ashpern resorted to overwhelming them with numbers. Even this would be effective if it could reinstill fear in them.

However.

-TING!

“…!!”

The magic circles Ashpern had been deploying suddenly began to shatter one by one.

Turning toward the clattering sound, Ashpern saw a man riding a horse in the distance.

“T-the commander is here…?”

“The main force! The main force is coming into view!”

“Maintain the Hasiret 3 formation until we join up!”

It was Junon—the relentlessly persistent leader of the Imperial forces, their commander.

“The vanguard reports all beasts have been eliminated! The path is clear!”

“!!!”

“The way is open! There aren’t many left!”

Ashpern was beginning to be surrounded on all sides.

This wasn’t good. The beast legion had been severely weakened after being swept away by the river. Since learning human battle tactics, they were outmatched in numbers, terrain, battle dynamics, and tactics.

Moreover, once surrounded, the humans would launch a concentrated attack. While Ashpern could still fight them with its power, the mysterious force breaking the magic circles was threatening.

“Grrrr…!”

Ashpern wanted nothing more than to tear apart the man who had inflicted defeat and humiliation. But this mysterious power had to be treated with caution.

Hadn’t Ashpern already experienced it once? Being directly hit by that enormous spear.

“───!!!”

“H-huh? The beasts are retreating…!”

“Chase them! Don’t let a single one escape!!”

With almost all the beasts that had survived the river now annihilated, Ashpern had only one choice left.

It had to escape, shaking off the pursuing humans.

***

“”WOOOOOOOO─!!””

The soldiers cheered.

They had repeatedly retreated and suffered bitter defeats, gradually falling into a pit of despair, almost reaching the door of surrender.

But then, a change occurred. They had achieved a miraculous victory with their own hands.

Many were even weeping at this precious and valuable triumph.

However…

Only one person wore a puzzled expression.

“Why is that?”

“Junon? What’s wrong?”

After such a long-awaited victory, with possibility now open to the Imperial Army, Junon was instead questioning it.

Had things not gone as well as they seemed? Michelle, confused, gently asked him the reason.

“Was something wrong?”

Junon was silent for a moment, then pushed back his bangs and explained:

“Ashpern is a beast that can handle all types of magic. It used so many spells that even if Tembris fought with full power, we couldn’t win.”

“Was it that powerful…? I thought… maybe I couldn’t win alone, but if all of Tembris fought together, we could.”

“That’s what’s strange. While Ashpern was weakened by the Ripol River’s current, it shouldn’t have been this weak. Plus, it’s an intelligent beast, right? If it had just evaporated the river water with fire magic or dispersed it with point explosion magic, it could have saved at least half its legion. It could have even frozen the river with cooling magic to reduce casualties.”

“Now that you mention it, that does seem odd…”

For a named beast, even if Professors Muniher and Jake had fought with full power, they should have at least inflicted some wounds on Ashpern, but they couldn’t even do that.

With numerous spells, Ashpern had disrupted human formations and easily dismantled tactical advantages.

Most decisively, Junon, who could directly compare past and present, couldn’t have failed to notice this difference.

“…Michelle. After receiving my signal, how did you move?”

“Since I knew the main force was coming, I followed your instructions to hold Ashpern back. Why?”

“Hold it back. Hold…”

Recognizing a massive discrepancy, Junon decided to thoroughly investigate this mystery.

“Tell me in detail everything you saw and experienced here.”

***

“Kelnur, you…!!!”

“You dare betray us, you vulgar wretch!!”

While Junon was delving deep into the massive discrepancy, Kelnur, who had gone to find Dusen, had successfully exposed the internal betrayal.

Despite briefly belonging to the same faction, he had reported the location of soldiers who had been diverted to avoid participating in this battle, and the remaining officials who hadn’t given up were also captured.

“I should have torn that mouth of yours apart, that cursed mouth should have been ripped to shreds!!”

“Ha.”

“H-ha? Are you sneering at us?!”

I’m sneering because of the state you’re in. Kelnur gave another irritating sneer to provoke them further.

“Y-you!!!”

“That’s enough. What right do you have to be angry when you secretly diverted soldiers and abandoned the battlefield?”

“Step aside, Dusen! That lowlife needs to have his limbs cut off… Gah!”

“Tsk. Take him away.”

The official fainted from a punch to the solar plexus. The soldiers followed Dusen’s orders and dragged away the limp body.

‘Losers, the lot of them. I don’t care what happens to you anyway.’

Although he was suspected due to his association with the same faction, his internal whistleblowing should have cleared his charges.

The officials were being led away in chains like criminals.

“Lord Dusen. Do you know?”

“Hmm?”

“I know the commander’s ugly secret.”

Once all the officials had left and there was no one to refute his story, Kelnur slyly leaked a secret to Dusen as well.

Would Lord Dusen be any different? No, he would react the same way.

Now, it wasn’t difficult to neatly unwrap the packaged secret.

By adding impurities to an unknown truth and slightly altering the timing of a previously unknown secret, it becomes a grave sin in others’ eyes.

Leaking the truth that someone concealed information for personal gain. The fact that his achievements were built on lies and cover-ups. Finally, connecting the dots to suggest that Junon, who had bewitched Tembris with his silver tongue, was trying to drive out Erika.

With the most desperate acting possible.

If he told the story this way, the other person would surely see Junon as a criminal, just like the officials who had just been led away in chains!

“…Is this true?”

“It is…!”

“Truly without a shred of falsehood?”

“What would I gain by lying!!”

He’s completely fallen for it.

Just one more word, and this man would become a sword pointed at Junon.

“As I just said, if we can just find Miss Erika, everything can be proven…”

-SMACK!

Before Kelnur could finish, Dusen’s hand struck his face. Though he had restrained himself somewhat given Kelnur’s non-combat role, blood still trickled from Kelnur’s mouth.

“Kuh… W-why are you suddenly doing this!”

“You truly are beyond redemption.”

“Redemption? What wrong have I—”

“Come out, Miss Erika.”

Come out? What could that mean?

-Step, step.

But footsteps were indeed heard. Turning his head, Kelnur saw someone enter.

Beautiful, flowing beige hair. The noble and perfect hair he had always admired.

Though her clothes were a mess from being somewhere rough, how could Kelnur not recognize her? She was undoubtedly the woman he had followed, calling her “Miss Erika.”

“M-Miss Erika!”

Kelnur rose with a cheer and approached her.

But he soon found himself sprawled on the floor again.

-SLAP!

The cheek opposite to the one Dusen had struck now turned red from Erika’s hand.

“M-Miss…?”

“Because of you… because of you, I…!”

For some reason, the lady he deeply admired in his heart was pouring out great anger toward him.