episode_0261

* * *

“Haaat!”

visor!

“This is a huge guy who took it himself!”

The swords clashing at the forefront―

Commander-in-Chief of the Karelian Army, Sad Astron.

And, it was Lunalien, the leader of the Lunalien Army’s interception force and the monarch of the Lunalien Army.

While on horseback, their weapons clashed several times without saying a word.

By dividing the sum in that way to some extent, THAAD was able to figure it out without much difficulty.

Lunalian Inian is―strong!

‘At first, I thought she was a crazy woman when I saw the monarch leap out in front… …!’

Now I know. It wasn’t the right decision to let someone like Lunalian rot away in the command center instead of being the vanguard!

Of course, this was the judgment of the unmanned Sade to the core, and it was the right judgment for a monarch, no matter how powerful, not to stand out unless it was necessary – but in any case, the experience of clashing weapons with such a powerful woman was very pleasing to his taste.

visor!

At the sight of the ruby red eyes glaring at him, Sade shuddered and sighed for a moment.

His trembling wasn’t from fear.

The opposite emotion – elation. The excitement that comes from meeting an overwhelmingly powerful opponent, typical of battle fanatics!

“You were hiding so well with this much power! You must have been sore, huh?!”

“… … !”

Instead of responding to his words, Luna quietly and quickly pushed Sade away.

‘… … Huh!’

THAAD… … began to be pushed out at an unprecedented rate.

From the moment he entered the Karelian Army and gained fame as a warrior before he lost his eyesight, until now – hasn’t there been a single person who has pushed himself forward so unilaterally like this!

I also never got to meet Chel Bruns, a powerful figure who I thought might be able to beat me, during his prime.

but!

‘This seems dangerous… …!’

Even though his body was heated up with the emotion of ‘wanting to fight purely’ before the battle with the strong, Sade was not a person whose brain was made up of muscles.

He slowly walked away from Luna, turning his horse’s head to fit between the gaps in the soldiers’ path.

“Are you running away, Saad Astron!”

“Think as you wish! It’s not acceptable to be grilled in a place like this!”

At this rate, I can’t beat that woman.

As soon as he realized that he could not possibly subdue Lunalian with his own skills, Sade stopped his 1:1 duel with her without hesitation.

The judgment that he could not win, and the feeling that he could not win against a young woman who was much younger than him, would have made any ordinary warrior fall into great despair.

Sade was not the type of person who talked about useless things like the soul of an unmanned vehicle, but the type who looked after the practical benefits that could be obtained right in front of him.

Isn’t it an absolute truth that I have experienced time and again while running a mercenary group that winning a 1:1 battle does not necessarily mean winning the battle or the war?

A situation where reinforcements suddenly appear from both sides.

I heard that our army is not in such a disadvantageous situation, but… … In order to recover the morale that has fallen due to the unexpected appearance of enemy soldiers, we need to take at least one head from the enemy general.

In that situation, as expected, the enemy’s lord suddenly appeared and stirred up the battlefield, so I went in wondering what was going on, but – for now, it was a failure.

If we had captured the monarch, it would have been a great victory. At that point, the battle would have been won.

It wasn’t a feat to just capture the ‘monarch’ forever.

Right now… … Yes. Judging that it was time to deal with the other general at the forefront of the interception force – Tifa, Saad quickly rode his horse and headed towards where Tifa was.

Finding her wasn’t particularly difficult, since she was a woman who was screaming and screaming and was anxious to let everyone know that she was here.

Sad naturally got involved in the fight with her.

“You’re having fun with the little guys, you ignorant woman!”

“I was wondering who you were, and judging by the missing eye, you must be SAD Astron!”

“Wow. You seem to know me?”

“Of course! Aren’t you a loser son of a bitch who got kicked out for not being able to properly control even one Karelia, and now runs a worthless mercenary group and masturbates by saying that you were not wrong? ”

“Ha!”

After hearing Tifa’s words, Saad laughed out loud as if he found it extremely amusing.

“Hey, girl. That’s not how you provoke someone. No, it’s more like it’s obvious… !”

visor!

“How cute!”

… … Okay. This is doable. I don’t feel like there’s an insurmountable wall that I felt when I first tried to unite with Lunalien.

This woman… … I can beat her.

If it’s just a sacrifice to boost the morale of our troops, this woman’s head will do the job well enough.

“Shut up, you rascal who crawled back under the master who abandoned you once!”

Sade shouted with a smile on his face and an unpleasant hissing sound.

“Even though I’m a dog that fights for my master even after being abandoned, aren’t I a much better person than you, woman!”

“What?!”

“Your lord Lunalien! Since you have ascended to the position of lord, you have no choice but to fight in the vanguard… … If you were even a little bit more powerful than the lowly master you serve, you wouldn’t have made such a stupid decision!”

“… … !!”

In an instant, Tifa’s eyes became four hundred eyes.

And then, he charged at Sade threateningly, holding an axe!

Once again, the two weapons clash powerfully… …

With their faces so close that she could feel each other’s breathing, Tifa spoke with trembling lips.

“You… …what did you just say?”

“Did I say something wrong? If you were just a little stronger, that bitch wouldn’t have to risk her life to fight! That is! If Lunalien dies in this battle… … !”

visor!

“It’s all your fault! Tifa! You killed your master! You’re such a murderous bitch!”

Tifa, who had been making loud noises and stirring up the battlefield throughout the fight, suddenly became quiet.

And then, after slightly stepping back, he glares at the THAAD in front of him as if he were going to burn it… … and then he mutters in a low voice.

◦ This is a dying

‘You’ve completely fallen for it.’

Sade laughed and shouted, “Snickers!”

“Yeah. Kill me, Tifa!!!”

And then the two clash weapons again.

* * *

How much time has passed?

A very intense 1:1 fight, to the point where the soldiers fighting in the crowded space couldn’t even approach the two people.

This fight, which seemed like it would continue until one of them, Saad or Tifa, lost their life… … As time passed, the balance gradually tilted towards one side.

That person… …

“Give up and accept your fate, you stupid bitch!”

Little by little, the one who was definitely being pushed back was Tifa.

‘no……!’

It’s getting pushed.

Can’t win.

In fact, I had been feeling for a long time that I couldn’t win on my own.

However, she had no choice but to keep fighting. If she ran away from here, it would really… … seem like what he said was true.

What if you fight as a general to help Luna, but end up performing much worse than Luna on the battlefield?

In the Lunarian army, aside from the monarch Luna, he was the person closest to being a warrior.

Even though there are Francis and Charlotte, they are still just rookies who cannot be expected to perform well as generals, and it is at times like this that I need to keep the balance on the battlefield.

Since it was a situation where that wasn’t possible, I thought that Luna, who was supposed to act as a commander in a safe place, should have come out herself… …because of that thought.

“Haaat!”

‘Huh!’

I almost dropped the axe I had put down from my hand due to THAAD’s blow.

I managed to avoid dropping my weapon by barely maintaining my stance… …but that gap.

A small gap that is bound to appear between ‘readjusting one’s posture’.

“Got it!”

It was impossible for THAAD, who made a living by roaming around the battlefield, to miss it.

That’s the moment when Sade’s sword digs into his arms.

‘no……!’

Tifa… … sensed her own death.

For a very brief moment, I suddenly experienced time slowing down, as if to let her know that my last thought before I die was right now.

In this place… … I die?

I was prepared to die fighting. But, just now… …just now the Lunalian army’s flag was raised over the castle again.

I haven’t even been able to do my job properly yet.

The first battle that took place after undergoing harsh training every day for the sake of time, and when the time finally came to rise up and fight.

In that first battle… …you die? You die without being of any help?

‘no……!’

I’m not afraid of dying.

However, I wanted to leave some kind of mark.

Whatever it was, it was fine. Anything was fine as long as it laid the foundation for the Lunalian Army.

Tifa herself knew that her current abilities were practically at their limits, and she was a woman of an age to understand that.

Francis and Charlotte are talented. They are the outstanding people who will become great heroes in the future, standing on both wings of the Lunalian army and becoming her swords.

So, at least until those kids become proper generals… … I was going to survive and fight somehow to earn some merit… … !

‘I can’t… die here… … !’

The last moment.

A multitude of faces flashed through her mind.

Childhood friend and monarch Lunalien.

In fact, Grandpa Kane was a great person, and the children he brought.

People I met and became connected with when I came to the Karelia region.

Swen, the now distant bookworm who performed incredible miracles.

And the last moment.

Ironically, the face she recalled in her last moments of life was―

“Look. I’m saying this for your own good, but if you don’t want to die, you’d better give up.”

“… … Shut up… … you fucking bitch… … !”

“Courage is not a trait of arrogance, my friend. What a shame. If I were on your side, I would have told you more.”

A man who, looking down at himself from the saddle, clearly showed ‘mercy for the weak’.

Yet… … I still haven’t repaid my debt to that woman, the red-haired knight-Irene… … !

I can’t die without giving her a proper return――

–doesn’t exist!!!!!!!!

―――Crunch.

“… … ?!”

Sade, who thought he had won everything, hesitated for the first time with a puzzled expression on his face.

what?

What just happened?

The last sword he swung at Tifa――was cut off.

It wasn’t meant figuratively. It was literally cut in half the moment the sword collided with her axe.

Sad looked in surprise at where Tifa was.

‘Wh… what… what…!!’

A blue light-like substance was emanating from Tifa’s axe.

It wasn’t just the axe.

She herself… …was shining.

Like a blazing blue flame.