Volume 1 - CH 223

Chapter 0223 Defense of the Western Forest Part 3

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

The Imperial troops’ flare signal was, of course, visible to the elves.

Although they did not understand the exact meaning, they understood that reinforcements had arrived for the enemy.

It was synonymous with despair.

“No, not yet, it’s not over yet! ”

Obaba-sama scolded her subordinates who were about to drop their heads and lose their will to fight.

“To the north, our brethren from the Autonomous Region who returned from the royal capital are still fighting! If we persevere, they will definitely defeat the enemy and put an end to the ones in front of us! So don’t give up fighting!”

There are times when a commander must speak out loud to raise morale, even when they did not believe in what they were saying.

For Obaba-sama, that time was now.

The Autonomous Region forces will for sure have a hard time defeating their opponents.

The enemy, having seen the flare magic just now … would no doubt switch tactics to ‘I just need to not get killed until our reinforcements arrive’.

It won’t be easy.

There’s no mistaking, the defenders would reach their limits way before the Autonomous Region forces arrive.

She knew all that, yet she still had to say it.

However, it was also true that the hearts of the elves, which were on the verge of breaking, was somehow held together by Obaba-sama’s fierce encouragement.

We have not lost yet!

Those who sealed the enemy’s movement with Downburst, those firing arrows at the enemy… they began to give it their all, more desperately than ever before.

Twenty minutes after the flare magic was shot.

On the north side of the central fortress, the battle between the four hundred men of the Imperial ‘Shadow Army’ flanking assault force led by General Rancias and the fifty returnees from the royal capital led by Carson, the Chief of the Autonomous Region, raged on.

“How many have we lost?”

“Yuri and five others…”

“Goddamn it.”

Among the elves, a few specialize in recovery magic.

It is fundamentally different from the magic system of the Central Nations; they heal injuries by borrowing the power of spirits to speed up the recovery process.

Thus, they are not able to repair missing body parts like the high priests.

Even so, they are valuable resources among the elves, and a few of them are always included in combat squads.

Yuri, who died this time, was one of the most skilled elves in the Autonomous Region in terms of recovery ability, and as a combat squad, that was a loss that far surpassed the drop in numbers.

Carson, as the commander, naturally understood this.

Both sides vyed for the upper hand.

In normal conditions, it’s unheard of for elves to be struggling in a battle in the forest…but it was happening right in front of him.

As their numbers dwindled, the situation gradually worsened …

Chief Carson was pretty much cornered mentally.

Not only do they need to defeat their current opponent, but they also have to attack the thousand enemies that the central fortress is holding back as soon as they’re done here…in order to win.

However….

“It’s already taking all we have just to fight evenly with our current opponents…”

His frustration got to him.

“What’s our loss count?”

“About forty.”

“What in the world…”

General Rancias, on the other hand, frowned at the amount of damage to his army.

Since seeing the flare magic, he had given the order, ‘Don’t do anything reckless until reinforcements arrive’, and yet it still turned out thus.

If they fought head-on, there was a very big possibility that they would lose to the returnees from the royal capital…frankly, he felt so.

“Don’t get too worked up. We just need to drag things out until reinforcements arrive.”

It was the moment when Rancias called out to his men nearby.

“Gotcha!”

A slash directly from behind.

But Rancias dodged the slash with ease.

“You’re the commander.”

Despite the fact that he dodged the slash, his opponent remained calm.

“And what if I am?”

“I’ll be taking your head.”

General Rancias asked, and his opponent…Chief Carson made the declaration.

Naturally.

“You think you’re up to it?”

“Watch me!”

Rancias threw some provocative words at him, and Carson responded equally.

Rancias was perhaps more of a warrior than a general, as he ordered his men to continue dragging the battle while he engage in a direct swordfight.

His sword was one devoted to defeating the enemy in front of him, with not even hint of stalling for time.

However, Chief Carson is no simple elf either.

He’s an elf who voluntarily took special training from Sera, who is younger than him, to hone his skills.

Even after Sera returned to Rune, he never once missed a day of training.

The sword never betrays effort.

Their sword fights continued endlessly.

Finally, Imperial reinforcements appeared in front of the fortress.

The moment the reinforcements came out of the forest, even Obaba-sama almost fell to her knees.

Since their defeat was pretty much set in stone….

But even so, she continued to stand her ground, mustering all the mental strength she could muster.

But many of them hung their heads dejectedly.

Only those who were unleashing Downburst carried on with the magic…because their magic power had been expended to the point where they could no longer perceive their surroundings.

Then, Obaba-sama heard some voices.

“Help…”

“No, please…”

“I surrender…”

“Please, no more…”

Those voices, coming from the Imperial reinforcements, disappeared as soon as they exited the forest.

And those the voices belonged to all fell one after the other.

Soon…the voices stopped altogether.

The next moment, a streak of platinum light flashed through the vanguard of the Imperial ‘Shadow Army’, who were unable to move freely due to the Downburst.

The light moved without pause.

Wherever the light passed, a cloud of blood danced in the air.

The blood spurted from slain Imperial soldiers.

The fire arrows stuck in the ground.

And the platinum light running through.

It was like a scene out of some fairytale.

A fleeting dream, claiming the lives of a thousand imperial troops in exchange….

“Just in time…”

Obaba-sama muttered and fell to her knees, exhausted and relieved.

At that moment, the dream came to an end.

Upon waking, there were a thousand Imperial soldiers, bleeding profusely and unable to move, but apparently barely alive, and a standing lone elf with fluttering platinum blonde hair.

“Sorry, Sera, but could you please help out the ones up north.”

Obaba-sama’s voice was very faint.

But Sera nodded and vanished.

It was only after a few seconds that those present realized that she had moved.

“She’s really become an outrageous elf.”

Obaba-sama chuckled as she said that.

The sword fight between General Rancias and Chief Carson was still ongoing.

Both sides were holding nothing back in the sword fight.

Otherwise, they would have lost instantly…that’s how little the difference between the two was.

Thus, they were slow in noticing the changes in their surroundings.

For the umpteenth time, the two of them took some distance to catch their breaths…but then, they noticed something unusual at almost the same time.

“The sounds…”

“It’s too quiet.”

Both Rancias and Carson muttered quietly.

At that moment, a streak of platinum light emerged in front of Rancias.

“Impossi…ble…”

Rancias received a blow to the gut and went out cold.

Just before he passed out, he thought he heard the voice of his sword-fighting opponent.

“Sera…”