episode_0026

Gunshots echoed endlessly in the forest.

Many fell victim to the elves’ arrows.

Thud!

Bang!

Just now, an arrow struck in front of me.

The elf who shot the arrow at me locked eyes with me.

Ignoring the elf I was aiming at, I targeted the elf who shot an arrow at me.

The elf who locked eyes with me stood frozen, staring at me.

Bang!

As I pulled the trigger, flames spewed from the gun.

Luckily, the elf was hit in the neck, clutching it in pain before losing their life.

“Cease fire! Cease fire!”

At Romel’s command, the soldiers stopped shooting.

I quickly got off the carriage and surveyed the area.

The casualties from the elves were numerous, but the gunpowder smoke made it difficult to see clearly.

It felt like we had fired so much that a cloud had settled around us.

Walking through the acrid gunpowder smoke, I checked on the others.

Rotus and Aramis skillfully cleaned their guns and wiped away the gunpowder residue, while Laurent displayed exceptional marksmanship in killing the elves.

Meanwhile, one of the Flondor soldiers seemed shocked by his first encounter with elves in battle.

“I… killed… a person…? No, it’s an elf… but still…”

He stood there, gun in hand, staring at the bodies of elves scattered around.

New recruits were always like that.

Easily swayed by unnecessary emotions.

They shouldn’t harbor anything other than hatred and anger towards the enemy.

Fighting with a single-minded determination to kill them is the right mindset, not dwelling on such thoughts.

Most new recruits end up like that.

In the brief moment of hesitation due to guilt, the enemy seizes the opportunity to attack.

If I don’t inform Laurent in time, that guy will die.

Thwack!

I ran towards the recruit and kicked him away.

“Ugh!”

He rolled on the ground a few times from my kick.

“Snap out of it, you worthless brat. Don’t get lost in useless thoughts.”

I stepped on the recruit’s chest, sprawled on the ground.

“Y-you…?!”

Seeing me angry, he widened his eyes.

“What were you thinking when you saw those elves?”

“…”

Growling at him, he finally managed to answer.

“I felt sorry for them.”

I slapped the recruit’s cheek hard for not answering.

“Answer me, brat.”

“I felt pity for them.”

Pointing to the corpses and wounded soldiers piled up in a corner of the carriage, I said, “The actions of those elves that made you feel sorry for them led to this.”

Tears streamed down the recruit’s face as he gritted his teeth.

“Feel ashamed for those who died and got injured over there. If you fight while thinking of the enemies as fellow beings, you’ll never be able to fight.”

“He’s at it again.”

“Shouldn’t we stop Mari?”

Laurent shook his head at Romel’s words.

“But we should keep it in mind.”

Seeing me scold the recruit who was lost in thoughts, Rotus and Aramis chuckled and looked at us.

“Get yourself together. Shoot the elves without hesitation. Or cut them down with a sword.”

After shaking him by the collar, I let him go.

“Sigh…”

The recruit lay flat on the ground, exhaling heavily.

“Marie, you were a bit harsh.”

Aramis approached me and whispered.

“If I don’t speak firmly, he’ll keep getting lost in thoughts and end up dead.”

“True.”

Aramis looked at the new recruit sitting on the ground with a bewildered expression on his face.

“Get up!”

I shouted at the soldier who was still lying down.

Startled by my voice, he quickly got up.

“Load your bullets! Get ready for battle!”

“Yes!”

The recruit answered in a shaky voice and started loading his bullets.

Trembling, he struggled to load the gun.

“If you don’t have the motivation yourself… it has to be created from outside.”

“Oh, you’re here. I heard your excellent speech.”

As he was loading his gun, Romel approached me.

“Well… please stop saying that, it’s embarrassing.”

Romel nodded in response to my request.

“Anyway, the smoke doesn’t seem to dissipate easily.”

Although some time had passed and the gunpowder smoke had cleared somewhat, it still lingered in the air.

“That’s true. But now the elves are starting to prepare their formation and will soon attack…”

Clang!

As Romel spoke, I drew my saber from my waist.

“Even if the elves come rushing in, it doesn’t matter. We’ll just… endure.”

“Wow…”

Romel exclaimed at my words.

Thunk! Thud!

The sound of arrows hitting the shield was heard.

“The elves are attacking again!”

One soldier shouted urgently.

“Prepare for the attack!”

I quickly loaded my gun and waited until the smoke cleared a bit.

Before long, the smoke dissipated and I could see the numerous elves advancing.

Bang!

As soon as I saw the elves, I fired my gun.

Rat-a-tat-tat! Bang!

Starting with my shots, the other gunners also began firing.

The overlapping gunfire sounded like a continuous barrage of shots.

After shooting for a while, we found ourselves in a difficult situation due to the jammed gun barrels.

“Damn it.”

I got off the carriage and placed the gun on one side.

Clang! Clang!

Realizing it was difficult to suppress them with long-range shooting, the elves armed themselves with swords and charged towards our troops.

“□□□!”

“Die, you bastards!”

Thud!

They launched a fierce assault to break through the shield wall, but Halberd’s body stood firm.

Then, he pulled out two musket pistols from his waist.

“My lady.”

I opened the carriage door and approached the Flanadre lady crouching inside.

“Use this in case of emergency.”

I handed her the loaded musket pistol.

“W… when will this end…”

“I don’t know.”

When the Flanadre lady looked at me with fearful eyes, I gave her a reassuring smile.

“No one knows when it will end, or how it will end.”

At my words, the Flanadre lady looked at me with empty eyes.

“That pistol has a symbolic meaning, but…”

I deliberately left the rest of the sentence vague.

Use it for self-defense when captured by the elves or in a desperate situation.

“I’ll be back.”

I closed the carriage door tightly and headed towards the shield wall.

“Stab!”

“Ahh!”

An elf was pierced through the shield gap and fell to the ground.

I climbed onto a box to check the situation unfolding beyond the shield wall.

About one hundred and fifty elves were still charging towards the shield wall with fierce determination.

“Rotos! Aramis!”

At my call, they nodded and drew their sabers.

Laurent, who met my gaze, turned his head.

“Laurent, draw your sword too!”

At my call, Laurent nodded and drew his rapier.

“Open the wall!”

At my command, the soldiers turned back and looked at me.

“What are you doing! Open it now!”

“Yes!”

In response to Romel’s command, the soldiers opened a gap in the shield wall.

“□□□!”

The elf who entered the shield wall cheered, thinking he had broken through the wall.

Clang!

“Ah!”

But his joy was short-lived as I mercilessly slashed his throat.

It seemed that his head didn’t completely detach due to my lack of skill.

His throat spurted blood as he fell to the ground, only partially connected.

I swung my sword without hesitation to create an opening.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

My sword clashed with the elves’ daggers countless times, but due to the difference in length, the elves were sliced up like butchered pork.

Emboldened by my momentum, the other three joined in, cutting down the elves.

Rotose intentionally twisted his sword to inflict fatal wounds on the elves.

Aramis sliced only the elves’ wrists with restrained movements.

Like Aramis, Laurent also sliced the elves’ wrists with his sword.

Where we passed, there were only shredded chunks of meat and scattered elf hands.

“Ugh…!”

A Flemish soldier behind us couldn’t bear the gruesome sight and vomited.

It didn’t matter.

We continued forward, cutting down the elves.

Covered in elf blood, our bodies turned crimson, our blue dresses becoming purple.

Splat!

“Ughhh?”

An elf pierced through the heart by my sword let out a grotesque scream before collapsing.

Thud!

I kicked the elf’s belly as he lay there, clutching my sword.

“□□□□! □□□ □□□!”

The remaining dozens of elves roared like whales, facing off against us.

“Laurent, how are you feeling?”

I called out to Laurent with a tense expression as we faced the elves, engaging in meaningless conversation.

“What?”

“How does it feel to be on the battlefield for the first time?”

“I’m not sure. It’s a complex feeling.”

“Yeah, it’ll be like that.”

Without further ado, we charged at the elves.

“We can’t afford to lose.”

Rotose chuckled and charged at the elves with Aramis.

“Lower the shield wall and attack together!”

At Romel’s command, the soldiers lowered the shield wall and began attacking the elves.

When Halberd’s axe struck an elf’s head, it split in half.

Thud!

A bullet from a musketeer pierced an elf’s belly as he tried to flee.

Splat! Thud!

Two spear blades thrust out fiercely, piercing an elf’s chest and belly, causing him to convulse before collapsing.

“□□□□□!!!”

As I killed the elves, a strange aura elf suddenly appeared.

“□□, □□□ □ □□□!”

“□□□□!!”

Even among the elves, he seemed quite powerful, as the terrified elves cheered for him.

I quickly approached the elf.

“□□, □□□.”

The elf muttered something to me in a low voice, closing the distance between us in an instant.

Clang!

My saber clashed with the elf’s longsword.

I quickly tilted my blade to the side, deflecting the elf’s sword.

We backed off slightly and engaged in a standoff.

The elf muttered something and enveloped himself in a green aura.

“Using aura… I can’t hold back either.”

I also surrounded myself with aura, both on my sword and body.

A bright golden aura enveloped me and my weapon protectively.

Soon, my saber clashed with the elf’s longsword again.

Boom!

The clash of auras created an explosion, and a fierce wind blew.

Due to my saber being a one-handed sword, it was challenging to withstand the elf’s two-handed longsword with all my strength.

Clang! Crash! Splat!

I braced myself against the force of the descending longsword, then redirected it to swing back towards the elf’s neck.

The elf immediately assumed a defensive stance and blocked my sword.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Soon, sparks flew as the clash of swords erupted.

The Flangdor soldiers and my two friends cheered me on with excited eyes, while the elves cheered for their leader, shouting his name.

In the midst of it all, Laurent looked at me with a worried expression.

As our swords clashed, we locked eyes, ready to see who would emerge victorious.

We were so close that we could see every pore on each other’s faces, engaged in a battle of strength.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of our swords colliding pierced our ears.

“What are you saying, you bastard?”

The elf said something to me, but I couldn’t make it out.

But we couldn’t keep stalling like this forever.

It was time to see who would come out on top.

I pushed the elf away.

Seemingly thinking the same, the elf pushed back with force.

As we pushed each other, a slight distance opened up between us.

About 5 meters apart, we glared at each other.

The elf brandished his sword, indicating his readiness to attack at any moment.

But I no longer wanted to face off against the elf with our swords.

As I said before, it was time to see who would win.

“Take this!!!”

The elf charged at me with a shout, and I quickly drew my pistol.

“What…?”

Seeing the pistol in my hand, the elf looked at me with confusion.

Bang!

The gunshot pierced through the elf’s chest, causing him to collapse in front of me.

I grabbed the sword and raised it upwards.

With a swift motion, I plunged the sword into the elf’s neck, separating his body and head in one fell swoop.

Seeing the death of their leader, the elves began to flee.

“Chase them!”

As the elves fled, dozens of soldiers mounted horses and began to pursue them.

Running on foot had its limits, and soon the mounted soldiers caught up to them.

Slash!

“Ahh!”

One fleeing elf was deeply cut in the back by a sword.

Thud!

“Ugh?!”

Another elf was impaled by a spear as he tried to escape.

Thus, the 200 elves who had charged at us that day were completely wiped out by our group of about a hundred.

I grabbed the head of a strong elf and approached the carriage of the Flangdor princess.

“He… help!”

The princess looked at me with tear-filled eyes, trembling as she stared at me.

“It’s all over.”

“Wha… what?!”

Thud!

“Ahhhh?!!”

As I placed the elf’s head down, she screamed in shock.

“We’ve killed all the elves. We’ve won.”

Unconsciously, a smile crept onto my face.

The soldiers were slightly taken aback by my cheerful declaration of victory after killing all the elves.

How exhilarating victory can be.

The victor takes everything, while the loser is left with nothing but despair.

That’s the battlefield. That’s my homeland.

And so, the battle with the elves in the Erzen Forest ended with 15 allied casualties and a perfect victory.