episode_0142

The person who greeted us after successfully breaking through was Leopold, whose face was full of color.

His usual dignified and splendid demeanor, as befitting a member of the royal family, was gone, but his dark circles, matted hair, and torn and dirty uniform made him look quite haggard.

“Just in case, you are the Princess of Aishangior! Did you come to help us?”

The voice was exalted, as if grateful for unexpected luck. The bandage wrapped around his right shoulder was particularly noticeable.

It’s not like my arm was cut off, but seeing it like that without proper treatment… It looks like all the potions and healing arts were poured into the soldiers, right?

“Ha… . ha… . For now, yes.”

I sat down on the floor, took a deep breath, and nodded.

Although the priests’ blessings restored some stamina, that much stamina was consumed again in the final breakthrough.

The smell of rotten blood all over my body made me dizzy.

Are you here to help? Well, it had to be that way.

If you fall now, I won’t be caught up in it either.

Everyone who knows me already knows that I belong to the 1st Prince faction.

“Thank you very much. With the help of a strong person like a princess, it’s like gaining a thousand soldiers and ten thousand horses.”

Leopold smiled as if he was trustworthy.

From my point of view, seeing that mess, I felt nothing but annoyance.

When I thought about the number of soldiers who would have died after being caught up in the prince’s gambling, I wanted to throw out a bunch of swear words.

Really, if it weren’t for the prince… .

“By the way, is this the first time you’ve seen the article next to you? Her bravery was comparable to that of a princess.”

“This is Asha of the Red Copper Clan. You may have seen it at the medal award ceremony.”

We didn’t talk to each other, but since we were standing behind the podium, we probably recognized each other’s faces.

“Ah! Was he a half-human knight who received the Medal of Honor that day? It’s become so grandiose that I can’t even tell. Thank you for coming, Sir Asa.”

Perhaps because he remembered it only then, Leopold looked towards Asha and said hello.

“Hehe, yes. Hehehe… .”

Asha seemed to not have the energy to respond politely, so she took off her helmet and continued to pant.

The exposed face was soaked with sweat and looked like it had been poured with water.

Well, it’s worth it.

After losing the jetpack’s propulsion, I had to run around desperately.

Perhaps because the armor was so strong, there were no scratches.

“Like the princess, they both look very tired. Thank you for your hard work. Please rest for now until your stamina recovers.”

“… I don’t think it’s time to take that kind of leisure.”

He sighed and pointed to the middle of the castle.

Two huge monsters are roaring and going on a rampage, and five men and women are surrounding them and engaging in a fierce battle.

Explosive sounds and screams echo, and piles of broken rocks and raging fire decorate the air.

“Gooo!”

Its long front legs with sharp claws keep swinging at them.

The ground touched by the claws was dug deep as if an excavator had dug into it.

A medium-sized command bell measuring over 20 meters in size.

The whale-like head had completely rotted away, with nothing but skin scraps hanging over the exposed skull, and the long vertebrae were bent in an arched shape, as if unable to withstand the weight of the head, with only the middle sticking out.

The black flesh inside the ivory-thick ribs filled the chest and fluttered, and the internal organs in the abdomen protruded beyond the rotten skin and wriggled like tentacles.

Grave predator.

It was a monster that devours human corpses and strengthens itself with the bones and flesh.

There are two monsters that are difficult for even a master to deal with on their own, running rampant inside the castle.

Nevertheless, the surrounding soldiers only dealt with the enemies beyond the castle walls, showing strangely no interest in them.

Does that mean you trust those five people that much?

Well, watching them fight, they all seem to be at the level of experts.

One paladin and two men who appear to be knights.

There is one female mage and one female knight… Oh, that’s Nigel.

Certainly, with five master-level talents fighting together, the tomb predator was no different from a hunted animal, only with a loud voice.

The whole body’s skeleton was deeply gouged and torn here and there, and it looked as if it would break at any moment, and every time the flames fired by the wizard woman burned its skin, it was screaming and shaking its body.

“It’s okay. Those monsters have been successfully trapped and will soon be subdued. A significant number of other monsters were also destroyed thanks to you. It won’t be long before we retreat.”

“Retreat? A monster?”

My eyes widened in shock.

They’re not other monsters, but spirit species that hate the living and retreat when humans are in front of them?

An act that directly goes against their instincts. In other words, it meant that someone was controlling those monsters and controlling them to do their will.

“You look like you can’t believe it. I understand. I, too, couldn’t help but be shocked the first time I saw it… . But, it’s true. They have a command tower. A person with the intelligence to understand tactics.”

In my memory, there were only three types of intelligences that could dominate low-level monsters.

It’s probably not a high-ranking monster.

If someone like that had appeared at this point, we would have been annihilated before we could last even a day.

Then they are either worshipers of evil spirits… Are they cult bastards?

Neither of them were originally particularly active at this point.

Should we already be concerned about them?

“… For now, I understand. Then, let’s take a breather.”

There are not just one or two, but thousands of enemies, and if you don’t recover your stamina, you may get exhausted at a critical moment.

I’ve killed four hundred monsters, so I’ll be able to stop the rest somehow.

“Ah. The Margrave of Landenburg is over there in the building being used as a makeshift headquarters. If you wish, go and meet him.”

“Of course.”

“Good. Then I guess I’ll have to go encourage the soldiers again. I’m saying this again, thank you so much for coming.”

Before I could reply, Leopold ran back to the front line.

No matter how good you are, your skills are only at the level of a semi-knight… It seems that the fact that the prince is fighting next to him boosts the morale of the soldiers and knights.

Should we call it an advantage or a disadvantage of the caste system?

If you think about it, the reason they fought to the death here was that prince.

“Knights! And soldiers! Hang in there just a little longer! They too have suffered great damage, so it won’t be long before they retreat! We will win today too!”

From afar, Leopold’s voice rang out.

Your voice is good. Although the content is half false.

I stepped on the lit match to extinguish it, got up from the floor, and headed toward the building I called headquarters.

First, I need to meet Ludwig.

—-

Marquis Ludwig was alone in the building, puffing out smoke.

Staring at the map-like piece of paper placed on the table.

“It’s good to hear you’re resting alone. Are you thinking about a way to retreat?”

The Marquis heard my voice and raised his head.

He seemed surprised, as if he hadn’t expected to meet me in a place like this.

“… This is another unexpected meeting. I never thought the lady would come all the way here. Wasn’t she headed to the Carmine Forest? That’s what I heard from Sir Nigel.”

“In that case, you should have sorted it out a long time ago. When I came back, I heard that Prince Leopold had walked into a dangerous situation, so I ran quickly without even being able to rest.”

“Saji, is it… . I guess so.”

Marquis Ludwig nodded with a somber expression.

It’s as if he also agrees with the statement.

I sat down on the chair opposite the Marquis and exhaled smoke toward the table.

“So, what is the situation so far?”

“… It’s not good.”

Are you asking because I don’t know that?

An entire castle wall had disappeared, the command bell had numbered several thousand, and the number of soldiers seemed to be smaller than I had heard.

“That’s natural, right? It’s crazy to think that 8,000 members of the 3rd Legion will fight against thousands of Command Servants. Marquis, you should have stopped him. The prince is throwing his life away at the gambling table. What did you do instead of stopping him?”

“If everything went as planned, there was no chance of victory.”

The Marquis said something as if making an excuse.

Looks like there was some way to win, right?

“It looks like there is no chance of winning now. I don’t know what the plan was, but it seems like it went terribly wrong.”

“It’s just as they said… .”

Marquis Ludwig began to explain the current state of the war.

I listened to his story silently.

—-

They say the first fight wasn’t bad.

After hearing Leopold’s speech – I didn’t hear what it was about – the imperial army’s fighting spirit was quite high, and the castle corps were always in a state of high morale.

There seemed to be no problem with the formation.

While the Holy Legion and Paladins hold out at the front, the Imperial Army and Imperial Knights are positioned in the center and on the left and right to block enemies coming in bypass.

Saints and battle priests support them in the rear row.

You could say it’s typical herpes.

In the end, they say they held up well.

Until the masters who formed the reserve unit fought and subdued the Skeleton Snake.

The problem occurred next.

It was time to retreat to the castle for a defensive battle.

“… From there, the plan started to go awry.”

Marquis Ludwig sighed.