I will focus on the MC again next.
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The sun began rising from the eastern horizon, the sight akin a brilliant red flame gradually turning pale as it illuminated the world.
At a certain southern land, while basking in the early sunlight, an enormous number of humans started to crawl. They’re the Kingdom of Sandra’s army that was starting to attack the beastmen’s town.
“Advance!” Under the orders of the commander-in-chief, Barbarodem, the huge army started to move.
12 catapults on the frontline that were lined up side by side were pulled by large, western horses that were neighing in exertion while advancing. Behind them were carts loaded with stones and oil jars for catapults. Following after that were the infantries and the knights forming a line.
Their strategy this time was very simple. First of all, they will concentrate their attacks on the northern side of the town with catapults. If the beastmen can’t endure it anymore, and come out from the gate, they will send the infantry forward to strike the enemy while the Red Dragon Knight Order will perform a pincer attack from the side, and crush the beastmen. If the beastmen don’t come out, they will continue to shoot the stones and the oil jars. After the enemies’ fighting spirits have been chipped down, they will then let out the soldiers with battering rams to deal the final blow. Then, depending of the enemies’ level of resistance, they will then decide if the war will be short-term or long-term by performing a siege.
This was the strategy decided by the military council the previous day.
The Yellow Dragon Knights were located at the rear left wing, while the Red Dragon Knights were located at at the rear right wing. Amongst them, Mireille was positioned right at the front of the Red Dragon Knights. When the beastmen come out from the town, she will rush from this place and act as a vanguard.
The army had come to the point where the distance from the target was around 2.5 km. The battle was nigh.
Mireille thought that the enemy would come out suddenly. It was said that the beastmen were riding some kind of animal, so it‘s not impossible. If the lord of the town led a cavalry and attacked with lightning speed, they could still cancel the catapult attack, and turn it around.
But, the question was this - can the beastmen recognize the objects called siege weapons in the first place? If they don’t know of things called siege weapons, and got stunned, they will not notice the situation that will happen next. That was highly likely possible.
But, the Lord of the town, who was possibly a human, might know of the horror of the siege weapons. Thus, it would make him panic and organize a cavalry attack in hurry.
The Lord of the town came from the same country as Sano. Mireille had never met, or even seen him. But strangely enough, his panicked face seemed to float clearly in her mind.
[TL: what is love? Baby don’t hurt me]
The catapult group that was in front had already crossed the 2 km point.
Her body became hot. Every step her horse took was like firewood added to further heat up her body.
Then, Mireille was seized by a feeling that made her want to run away. When someone goes onto the battlefield, they should already have the intention to kill. She wondered how she should feel about it. She wanted to know especially because this was her first battle. Then, her eyes noticed the ladders that were being carried by infantrymen.
But, Mireille thought that the ladders were useless. She touched the handle of her sword and grasped it tightly to suppress her excitement. She must lead the cavalry that she led here with strength. She must let out this heat.
“We are almost there! Be cautious!” Mireille shouted at the knights. After she shouted, even though it was only a bit, the heat was reduced.
When other people looked at the knights’ expression now, they could see that everyone had calmed down.
The true nature of that unknown magic had already been revealed, that it was actually a personal weapon. In addition, there were restrictions on the number of times it could be used, so it would not be possible to use it against an army. On the other hand, the rain of arrows that poured down would be more terrifying. This was what everyone thought.
But, with the infantry acting as a shield, there was nothing to be afraid of. The enemy’s tactic will likely be similar like last time - they probably will only shoot the commander.
Everyone was calm as they thought about how weak the enemy was.
The army had crossed the 1.5 km mark.
Mireille suddenly turned her face to the sky. A clear blue sky was spread out above them. She had noticed that since they arrived here, there was only a few clouds in the sky, much unlike the Kingdom of Sandra. Because of that, the sky felt much larger than usual. Compared to the sky, how small was this land?
Her body began to boil again. Although she would never reach the sky, she would like to do what she wanted on land. That was the humans’ dream.
The battle today was only the prelude. Signs of war had already been seen on this continent. How far can she herself go? Wielding this sword, she will engrave her fame deep into this continent.
Mireille heaved a sigh while overflowing with ambition.
―― Then, at that time.
From the front, a large ‘boom’ sound resounded, and it occurred several times too.
(What?) Mireille thought as she turned to observe the front of the army.
As she looked at the front, the sound of something flying could be heard. Then, the sound of something breaking echoed suddenly while a big cloud of dust whirled about unceasingly.
“What?! What happened?!” While suppressing her agitated horse, Mireille shouted.
However, no one responded her. It was clearly an abnormal situation. Soon, the cloud of dust faded quickly, and the answer naturally came.
“Wh...” Mireille’s voice was stuck in her throat.
There were no signs of catapults at the place where the catapults should be.
“What was that just now?!”
“The catapults were smashed?!”
The Red Dragon Knights started stirring up.
―― Don’t be confused!
Mireille opened her mouth, but the words she wanted to say did not come out. Mireille herself was also in dismay.
What on earth happened?
Most of the catapults were destroyed. Behind the catapults where the oil pots were placed, a large fire had erupted, encouraged by the oil that had splattered out. The screams of people being roasted by the flames could be heard.
She didn’t understand. She didn’t see anything. But, there was one thing that she understood - they had just been attacked by the enemy.
The army naturally stopped. But, there were still some catapults that were undamaged.
What should she do? Do they protect the remaining catapults? But, from what? How?
“Vice Leader Thomas!” This time, her voice came out properly. Her feminine voice resounded loudly. It jolted the panicked soldiers.
“Leader Mireille!” The one who answered was Vice leader Thomas, who took a step forward from the center of Red Dragon Knights.
Mireille was leading the right half of the Knight Order, while Thomas was entrusted with the left half.
“Divide the cavalry! Dispatch them to scatter in front of the stone walls to disturb the enemy! We will become decoys! Use speed to not let enemy focus on you!” Mireille commanded.
Whether they attacked or retreated now, Mireille thought that both were bad options as it was right now.
The army hadn’t moved yet. The soldiers did not understand what happened. If there was a second attack, then next target would be the humans, which why the running horses would become decoys.
It was a childish trick. They know that there was no point in moving the cavalry this soon. But, if they can earn that bit of time, Barbarodem might be able to make a decision by then. Also, if they got close, they might be able to understand what kind of attack the enemy just made.
Then, the ‘boom’ sound rang again from above the stone walls.
Mireille stiffed her body unconsciously. Numerous loud sounds reached her ears. The source of the closest one came from close by.
When Mireille turned to the left, Thomas, who had lost the lower half of his body, was blown away, and fell onto the ground with a thud.
[TL: RIP Thomas]
“Ah...” Her body froze.
Nevertheless, Mireille did not release her reins. She skillfully handled her horse that was about to go wild. It could be said that this was the result of her daily training.
Screams erupted from people around her. The horses were rampaging around, and a person was just thrown off. There were people who lost their arms while other lost their legs.
Then, coldly and mercilessly, the ‘boom’ sound resounded from the beastmen’s town once more.
◆
The point of view of a knight from the Red Dragon Knight Order.
What happened?
He remembered that there was a heavy sound from the front. Before he realized it, he already fell down. He placed his palm on the ground and tried to stand up by stretching and bending his arms.
But, it was strange. He couldn’t stand up like he usually did. Looking down, he saw that his legs were gone.
“A... Aaaa...” He could only cry out weakly.
(Why?) The knight thought.
This should have been an easy battle. The cavalry should be mowing down the enemies as they come out from the town. It was supposed to be just that.
The unknown magic doesn’t exist. That should have just been a story.
(Then why..? That’s right, this must be a dream. I can’t hear any sounds because this is just a dream. It is a dream, this must be a dream. Let’s sleep now. We will depart tomorrow.)
―― The knight stopped breathing.
◆
The shell that was launched from the beastmen town broke the catapults in the blink of an eye. The battering rams at the back were also crushed.
Many of the siege weapons lost their functions with a single bombardment. Then, a shell rained down on the soldiers next.
When the shell landed, the impact triggered the fuse, causing the shell to explode. Just by the sound of the explosion, a person’s eardrums would be ruptured, and they would also be blown away by the explosion. The iron fragments of the exploded shell would then be sent to the surrounding area of the impact point due to the the shockwave, and the soldiers within that area would be severely injured.
Blood and flesh scattered onto the ground. The scream of the soldiers echoed. The attack released from beastmen’s town took the soldiers’ arms, legs, and lives away.
‘Boom!’ ‘Boom!’ ‘Boom!’ The heavy sounds could be heard from above the stone walls intermittently.
Agonized cries resounded in the battlefield. This place had become hell within a short period of time. The earsplitting cries could be heard in many places as the soldiers rolled around on the earth before their cries ended as their death finally arrived.
Even so, the army of the Kingdom of Sandra still didn’t move. The one who should sounded a retreat gong already fell victim to the shells. The commanders’ voices were also being drowned out by the screams and the sounds of explosions.
Many people from the cavalry had already been thrown off by their horses, which became violent and out of control due to the loud sounds and fear.
Although it was invisible attack from the sky, a blow from the highly reactive projectile wasn’t very large. But, the person-in-charge could not notice the extent of the damage, and was not able to take action.
The humans stood at the spot as if they were receiving God’s judgment.
Then, one cavalryman stood up and turned his back to the army. That person had a tiger beard, and was riding a huge horse that weighed around 1.3 tons. His name had echoed through the world as he overwhelmingly defeated his enemies with his halberd - it was Barbarodem, the General of the Yellow Dragon Knight Order.
When Barbarodem approached the stone walls, innumerable arrows poured down from atop of stone walls. However, they were repelled like annoying flies by his halberd and his thick armor that looked like several iron plates laminated together.
“Beastmen! Fujiwara! I apologize for not following the etiquette of war!” Barbarodem shouted.
The apologies began. But, his roars couldn’t beat the cannons’ sounds.
Originally, war on this continent started only with the declaration of war. After that, the location would be decided, along with the date and time to start the war. This was the basic etiquette.
But this time, what the Kingdom of Sandra did was a one-sided invasion. It could be said that this act was equivalent to a surprise attack.
But, for the Kingdom of Sandra, this town, although not having any humans living in it, was treated as their own territory. For that reason, the war against the beastmen’s town was treated as civil war, and there was no need for a declaration of war.
The arrows stopped pouring down, and the sounds of cannonfire disappeared.
Barbarodem had a smile when his intentions were successfully conveyed.
“My name is Barbarodem, the general of the Yellow Dragon Knight Order! Enemy General Fujiwara! I wish to have one on one duel with you!” He declared.
A one on one duel was common in this world. It was an act which could also be said to be the flower of the battlefield. It was a knight's duty to respond to a one on one duel and accept it.
That was why Barbarodem bet on this. The army of the Kingdom of Sandra was already in disarray. Their defeat was inevitable. But, if he was able to capture the enemy general, then there will be peace. That was what Barbarodem thought.
And then ――
*Bang* *Bang*
That sound echoed twice. It was the sound of rifle shots from the top of stone walls. It goes without saying what the objective was.
“Argh..!” Blood dribbled out from Barbarodem’s mouth.
A total of four bullets were fired from the rifle, and three of them penetrated into Barbarodem.
The halberd fell to the ground, clattering loudly. Following that, the horse reins slipped out from Barbarodem’s hands.
“...Ru... Run away...” After choking out those words, he fell off from his horse.
Barbarodem was a hero of the Kingdom of Sandra. It was hard to forget his huge physique even if people only glanced at it once.
His martial art was called Ikki Tousen. When on the battlefield, Barbarodem was like a flag that emitted an intense light.
[TL: Ikki Tousen.... That is ecchi manga/anime]
His existence was known even by infantrymen living in rural areas. Those who stood on the same battlefield as him spoke of his achievements like it was their own. When Barbarodem charged as the vanguard, the soldiers would follow behind him without hesitation. He was like a dazzling light piercing through the darkness.
That Barbarodem was now dead.
That became the trigger.
“U-UWAAAAAAA!!!” As if the invisible rope tying him had loosened, one of the infantrymen cried out and tried to push other people out of his way to get out of this place.
The other soldiers also started to move as if a dam had broken.
Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away!
The soldiers switched from confusion to panic. But behind them, a dull sound began to ring again. The iron bullets were fired mercilessly at those who were escaping.
◆
The forces of the Kingdom of Sandra collapsed. Everyone escaped from that world of fear. The first ones who returned to the camp were the cavalrymen who didn’t lose their horse. They weren’t exempted from that fear. They returned with frustrated thoughts while trying to control their rampaging horses.
When the cavalrymen entered the camp just now, they fell down from their horses, and grovelled on the ground at the same time.
They couldn’t hear the artillery sounds in the camp. Did they stop shooting? Or maybe the sound doesn’t reach this place?
“What... What is that thing?!” One knight shouted.
He was still immersed in complete terror.
They witnessed an attack from more than 1 km away. They couldn’t resist and escaped with their horses. But, the cavalrymen that were a mere 2 km from the town were annihilated. It was like they were trying to block the escape path of those who survived.
Flesh were scattered around, and the earth was soaked by the rain of blood. But, the knights still swing their whips recklessly and escaped.
The terrified knights became nauseated just by recalling it. Comrades that had stayed together till yesterday were dead without being able to resist. They don’t even know what happened. There was no one alive at the spot where the thunder-like sound echoed.
Their knees trembled. Their teeth chattered. There were also some who began to cry.
Their expression of fear varied, but everyone uniformly feared the attack which they had never seen or heard before.
“Barbarodem-dono! Did anyone see Barbarodem-dono?!” Among the soldiers, someone cried out in a panic.
It was Mireille. She was also the same as the others, her face is pale. But, she still cried out while looking for Barbarodem.
“Has anyone seen Barbarodem-dono?!” She screamed at the top of her voice.
Mireille didn’t know what to do. That was why she wanted to rely on Barbarodem, who was a commander-in-chief who had great experience due to his long service in the military.
When Mireille found the deputy commander of the Yellow Dragon Knights, she excitedly asked for Barbarodem’s location. But, the answer was completely different from what she expected.
“Barbarodem-dono... Probably already... He said that if he doesn’t return, we should immediately retreat back to our country...” The deputy commander broke down.
“No way...” Mireille felt as though all the strength had left her body.
Barbarodem was dead. Mireille will promoted to commander-in-chief.
“Uu... Oeee..!” Mireille vomitted on the spot.
But, no one here blamed her. It was common to vomit on the battlefield, especially when it was such a gruesome battle.
“Is this the war... Is this the war that I desired..!” She slammed her fist onto the ground.
Mireille was tortured by a sense of helplessness. When hit by a catastrophe, and they were in despair from the things they couldn’t resist, all they could do was vent their anger at the gods.
After that, Mireille and the deputy commander of the Yellow Dragon Knights discussed about what they should do from now on. Since the horses were running at full speed since just now, they can’t move anymore for now. In addition, the soldiers were scattered in all directions.
Eventually, after two days of serious discussion, they concluded that they should retreat back to the north.
The soldiers in camp worried.
How far could that attack reach? Perhaps it might be able to reach this place?
The soldiers spent their time trembling in fear whenever night came.
But, they still didn’t know that the enemy attack had only just begun.