Volume 2 - CH 65

Amidst the black magical fog, combatants from the first to the fifth squads take up their positions and await orders.

As soon as they arrived at the battlefield, the five elite units and the archers were in battle formation. Leaving the construction of the garrison and trenches to the two reserve units, the swordsmen and archers headed for the demons.

Aiden, too, was clad in armor and had drawn his sword, waiting for the captain’s command to be given.

The fog is thicker than ever, and it’s hard to breathe.

From the center of the fog comes the sound of flapping wings and a roar. The owner of this noisy sound is their opponent this time.

A dragon-type demon.

It is pitch black and looks like a winged lizard. Sharp claws and fangs are troublesome. By the time the battle sweep is over, the combatants’ armor will probably be shredded…

The only fortunate thing was that the dragon was small. Two men could hold it in their arms. Everyone was relieved that it was not a large dragon.

Just recently, he was surprised by the card he drew at a fortune-telling shop. He stopped by for fun, but got the [Dragon] card, but if it’s small, well, it’s a relief.

Charikot, who was the most scared, is now complaining next to him. “Give me back my worries! You demon bastard~! ’ or something.

However, the dragon-type demons were ridiculously numerous. It seems that the recent demonic fog has been mass producing demons at an alarming rate.

Archers rained down arrows from their large bows and shot through the dragon’s wings one after another. The arrows are made of iron for anti-demon use.

The dragon, with its wings wounded, falls to the ground and goes berserk. It is the job of the swordsmen to strike it down. It is about time for the signal to charge.

Soon after, Aiden’s ears heard the loud voices of the captains.

“All demons confirmed flightless! Archers, cease fire!”

“Fifth squad stand by! squad 1, squad 2, squad 3, squad 4, prepare your swords! Prepare to attack!”

Aiden gripped his sword again with both hands as instructed. Aiden belonged to the third squad, along with Charikot.

He tensed his body and waited for the next order.

“Sword Corps, attack! Forward!”

With a shouted order, the combatants with swords began to run. They charged into a group of dragons that fell to the ground and the battle began.

Aiden cut off the first dragon’s head with the momentum of running. Black bodily fluids splattered, and his armor instantly turned black.

He thrust the sword once more into the rolled torso. The dragon stopped moving. After quickly checking on it, he flipped his sword and headed for the next dragon.

He slayed the dragon, which bares its fangs, and pokes it in the chest.

Avoiding the one that jumped from the side, he swung his sword down again.

Three, then four, and so on, until just after the fifth one’s head was dropped, he felt a jolt in his leg.

His leg gave out and he lost his balance.

Rolling on the ground, he checked and found a pitch-black claw lodged in his shin. It pierced through his armor and dug deep.

It seems that the dragon that lost its head moved only with its body and attacked.

And the moment he confirmed the situation, a light flew at his feet. This is the healing magic of a priest.

The military priests stand surrounding the battlefield. Protected by a large shield-bearer, they send out healing light with their magic wands.

After a brief flicker of light, the pain had already eased. There was not much blood. It was very quick magic. The priest who cast this magic seemed to be very skilled.

The claw is still stuck, but he’ll have surgery to fix this later. For the time being, during the battle, a first-aid treatment is enough.

“Now you did it! Go back to hell!!”

After piercing the dragon’s body with his sword once more, he sliced its arm off. The claw stuck in his leg had not come off and is still attached with the dragon’s arm…it’s heavy and difficult to walk with it dragging behind him.

Before he had time to worry about that, another dragon jumped at him. He caught its fangs with his sword and swung it away. A garrulous, unpleasant sound echoed as it scratched at his armor with its claws.

The dragon decided to land and jumped on him again without a pause. Aiden found it hard to move and slow to react.

He took a defensive stance to catch it – and just as he was about to do so, the dragon was powerfully cleaved in half. It was Charikot who sliced through it.

“Aiden! Are you okay!?”

“Oh! Thank you!”

“You’ve got a claw stuck in your leg! Is that a new fashion statement?”

“Ena’s bracelet is enough.”

They exchanged light banter and held their swords while standing back to back. Thankfully, Charikot seemed to provide support. This should cover the difficulty of movement.

Aiden caught the running dragon and Charikot cut it down.

After working together to take down a few of them, they heard the captain’s voice.

“First, second, third, fourth squads, stop fighting! Get back! Fifth squad, take care of the failed attacks!”

At the same time as the command, the four swordsmen from the 1st corps who were fighting withdrew, and the 5th corps ran to replace them.

At the same time as the order was given, the swordsmen of the first four squads who had been fighting pulled out, and the fifth squad came running in to replace them.

Borrowing Charikot’s shoulder, Aiden escaped from the front line – the center of the demon fog.

A demon-proof trench had been built around them, and they rested in it for the time being.

The first group of demons seemed to have been cleared, but the sweep is not over. The fog has not yet lifted, so there should be a second wave soon.

In preparation for this, treatment is carried out while taking a break. He called one of the priests who were busy running around and got a cloth that determined the order of treatment.

Blue cloth is for seriously injured people, and treatment is given priority. Yellow cloth is for injured people who receive treatment next. Those who did not receive a cloth are treated last.

This system of the treatment order had been in place for some time, but it was thoroughly enforced after the arrival of Shirotaka. Those who had been doing things improperly before were all scolded by him, both soldiers and priests alike.

He is always a cool-faced, elusive priest, but when he gets angry, he is said to be quite scary.

Aiden was given a blue cloth. It looks like he can get treatment for this level of injury quickly, since no one seems to be dying or injured.

He sat down on the ground and removed his helmet. His leg armor was impeded by the dragon’s claws and could not be removed.

“Should I just pull this claw out myself?”

“Don’t…stop, you’re going to bleed, aren’t you? If you do something unnecessary, that Shirotaka bastard will get mad at you… Uwa, he’s here.”

When he was talking about such things, Shirotaka himself came in front of them. Shirotaka, or Falk spoke to Aiden while crouching down and immediately started treatment.

“Hello, Mr. Aiden. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Oh, oh, good work… Um, I heard from Ena, are you really Mr. Falk? We met in the underground palace before…”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m sorry about that time. When we return from the battlefield, let’s have a fellowship meeting again as friends.”

Recently, Aiden was surprised to hear about Shirotaka’s true identity from Ena. He didn’t think he was Alme’s friend. Or rather, when did he end up like that… It’s a mystery.

Aiden had a lot of questions he wanted to ask him, but somehow it kept getting put off. When this battle is over, he would definitely like to take the time to talk to him.

While chatting lightly, Falk pulled the dragon’s claw out of his leg. His blood had been stopped by magic, but Aiden was taken aback by the treatment without hesitation or mercy.

Falk removed his armor and performed the procedure briskly.

In the midst of all this, he looked next to him and saw Charikot with an evil grin on his face. This grin is the face he makes when he’s trying to pull a prank.

It is a face he has seen many times since his military academy days.

He tried to stop it before he caused any trouble, but he didn’t make it in time.

“Mr. Shirotaka, that bracelet you’re wearing is the one Alme-chan gave you, isn’t it? Look, look, I got it too. She chose my favorite red color. And it has the blessing of the God of War.”

“…you, by any chance, have you had a dinner party with Miss Alme recently?”

Falk said in a low voice without stopping his treatment. He didn’t even look at him and kept his cool, serious face, but the air was clearly tense.

“Oh, what is it? Did you hear that from Alme? That’s right, we had dinner together and had a lot of fun. Alme-chan gave me this bracelet because of the promise we made at that time.”

“What kind of promise did you make?”

“It’s a secret between the two of us, so I won’t tell anyone~!”

Squinting his golden eyes, Falk kept his mouth shut. Now, he is using healing magic to heal Aiden’s injuries, but despite the magic, he looks like he’s going to kill someone.

It’s scary, awkward, and not to mention a pain to the person receiving medical treatment.

Charikot’s pompous “Secret Promise with Alme” is a mundane request for an early reply to his confession.

And in the end, he heard that Charikot was rejected.

“Hey…don’t get into any fights with me in between. Be considerate of the injured…”

The treatment was very efficient, but Aiden was exhausted. What is he going to do now that he has to fight demons again?

Falk and Charikot glared at each other one last time, and then they both pouted and turned away. A children’s quarrel.

Charikot is a guy like this to begin with, but it seems that Shirotaka is also a bit more irascible than one might think.

…but he seems friendlier than Aiden thought he would be, so he should look forward to the fellowship meeting and all that.

After finishing his treatment, Falk quickly got up and walked to the next injured person.

Above the trenches where the combatants rested. While gazing at the magic fog, the captains discuss their future movements.

“The fog hasn’t lifted at all.”

“It shows no sign of diminishing. Even though it’s small, it still maintains that density while producing so many dragons…”

“This time it’s going to take longer.”

The magical fog disappears after all the demons are produced. Normally, the fog should diminish with each demon that is created, but this time it is still thick.

In other words, there are still many demons to come. It is going to be a long battle.

All of them let out a sigh of reluctance.

At that moment, the fog began to shimmer and move.

“…should be here soon.”

“Archers! Swordsmen! Take up battle positions! Prepare for the two sets of demons!”

When the command was given, the combatants staggered out of the trenches. Arranged their equipment skillfully and got into position as instructed.

In the midst of this, the voice of a young swordsman who had just graduated from military academy reached the ears of the captains.

“Dragons like this are nothing.”

“I just killed five of them!”

“Let’s compete to see how many we can kill next time!”

It was a hoarse voice with no tension at all. The commander-in-chief scowled and let out an angry roar.

“Fool! Anyone who wastes his words on the battlefield will have the priests sew his mouth shut! Don’t think you’ll get the same type of demons as before! Don’t let your guard down!”

“Yes, yes ……!”

“I’m sorry!”

“Sorry about that…!”

The three young men who were yelled at bowed their heads and ran.

The young and inexperienced ones are more likely to get carried away after defeating a few demons, because they have not yet seen a terrible battlefield.

“Well, it’d be better if they never see such a battlefield.”

“It seems that we can’t say that, look at the shape of that magic fog…”　

The two captains point their fingers, and the other captains turn their eyes.

The demonic fog was shimmering and gradually beginning to take shape. When the shape is completely formed and fixed, the fog begins to move as a demon.

Only then will sword and bow attacks work.

The waiting time is frustrating, but on the other hand, it is also easier to fight because the shape of the demon can be anticipated.

But the next demon is not going to be so easy to defeat, even if they know what it looks like.

“…large dragon, huh?”

The commander-in-chief groaned in a low voice.

After taking a deep breath, he gave orders to the captains of each unit.

“From the looks of the fog, a large dragon is predicted to be next. So far it has one head, one tail, four legs, and two wings. As soon as it immobilizes, we will shoot out its wings with the large bows and drop it before it flies away. At the same time, swordsmen start attacking and cut off the two front legs. When its movements slow down, we will launch an all-out attack by the entire squadron.”

When dealing with large four-legged dragons, this flow of attack is the most efficient.

However, the process of cutting off the two front legs is really troublesome. The front legs of a four-legged dragon are powerful and mobile.

A squad that serves to distract the dragon and a squad that cuts off its front legs. And a team that recovers the injured, each shares the work.

One team is selected for the role of front leg cutting. The squad that has the fewest flaws and moves the best at the moment will take on the role.

It is the role of the proud warrior who confronts the sharp fangs and claws of demons head-on. In other words, it is a role that brings you the closest to death.

The commander looked around at the captains lined up and gave the order.

“I order the 3rd squad to cut its front legs. 1st and 2nd squads distract the dragons and support the 3rd squad.”

“3rd squad accepts the order! I, Sig Sergio, will lead the squad and surely sink the dragon into the ground. Please, everyone, please pray for the protection of the God of war.”

With a heavy air, the captain of the 3rd squad drew his sword and walked over to the swordsmen.