Dawn broke.
The sun rose in the east, and the area quickly brightened. Even in this
land which was in the northern half of the continent, and therefore warmer
than the kingdom, it felt cold at this time of year.
In the morning air, there were seven people standing near the western
gate: Halbert, Kaede, Ruby, Jirukoma, Lauren, Kuu, and Leporina. Behind
them were the soldiers of the Kingdom of Lastania, waiting for the time of
battle to come.
"Well then, shall we get started, Ruby?" Halbert asked.
"Yes. Let's get started, Hal."
Ruby turned into a red dragon, and Halbert jumped on her back.
"Sir Halbert. Madam Ruby. We'll be counting on you," Lauren, the
captain of the soldiers, said to them, bowing her head.
"We know," Hal nodded. "You take care of yourself too."
"You'll be working outside the walls, so you'll be in danger just like us,"
Ruby added.
Jirukoma pounded his burly chest. "Leave this place to us. We will put
our lives on the line to defend the work crews."
"Ookyakya! We'll be helping here too, so don't worry," Kuu laughed.
"Don't get carried away and screw this up, Hal."
"You're the one who's going to say that, Young Master...?" Leporina
muttered.
Yep, Kuu had the same baseless confidence as ever, and Leporina was
holding her head in exasperation.
Kaede walked over to where Halbert was, placing her hand on Ruby's
foreleg.
"Ruby, take care of Hal for me."
"To borrow a line from Naden, 'Roger that.' You can leave him to me."
"Hal, you too," said Kaede. "Don't go too wild, you know? Ruby is with
you, so make sure you don't act recklessly."
"I know, okay?"
Kaede took a step back from the two of them, then turned to the soldiers
and spoke. "His Majesty and Sir Julius are preparing our next move, so I
will take command here. Everyone, let's do our best."
""Yeah!""
The moment after everyone responded to Kaede's order, Halbert and
Ruby took off into the sky. As they left the ground, Ruby grabbed the
blocky object that had been prepared for her with her hind legs. That object
which had iron walls on five sides and a metal bar door on the sixth side
was a cage for the lizardman that had been fed the monster meat.
Carrying that cage with her as she flew, Ruby asked Halbert, "First, we
let this lizardman loose near the forest to the west of here, right?"
"Yeah. We'll have to touch down, so be careful."
"I know."
When they were flying alone, the chimera-like monsters that could fly
started to gather around. They probably considered Halbert and Ruby as
easy pickings because it was just the two of them. The monsters had no
understanding of how powerful those two were.
"Halbert Magna, coming through!" Halbert swung his two favorite
spears around, slicing apart the monsters that attacked from above. Then he
wreathed one spear in flames and threw it. The moment it planted itself in a
monster...
Boom!
There was a burst of fire, and even the other monsters close to it were
caught in the blast.
"Here, have another!"
Halbert pulled on the chain attached to his other spear, retrieving the
first spear from flames, then wreathed the other spear in fire and threw it.
Repeating that cycle, he made bursts of flame blossom like flowers all
around them.
Halbert smiled as he swung his spears around. "It's convenient not
having to throw them away after one use. I've gotta remember to thank Taru
for making these."
"Kaede warned you not to get carried away, remember...? I'm setting
down now."
"Sure."
Halbert crouched low on Ruby's back, and then Ruby came down to
earth at a forty-five-degree angle. As she touched down, she opened the
door to the cage, then immediately took off again.
Halbert spotted the lizardman crawling out of the cage down below. It
immediately ran off into the western forest where its kind were hiding.
"Nice! The lizardman is successfully freed. Next, we fly over the
forest."
"Yeah."
Ruby spread her wings and flew slowly, heading over the forest with
flying monsters in tow. They needed to pull in as many flying monsters as
possible, so they couldn't go too fast, which meant the faster monsters
caught up to them.
Bzzz! There was a huge, one-eyed, bee-like monster coming at them
with its wings buzzing.
"Do something!" Ruby shouted. "I don't want to be swarmed by bugs!"
"On it!"
Halbert quadrisected the bee monster with his two spears. The bee
monster's fluids splattered everywhere as it fell to the ground, with just its
translucent wings dancing around and refusing to come down.
"Hang in there, Ruby! This is where it gets serious!"
"I know!" she shouted back. Roarrrrrrrrr!
Blowing fire and shooting thorns, the monsters attacked from a distance.
A number of those attacks grazed Ruby, but she kept flying at the same
steady pace.
Halbert and Ruby finally succeeded in bringing the monsters they were
pulling with them over the top of the western forest where the lizardmen
were lying low.
Ruby roared, "We'll settle this in one try! Hold on tight!"
"Got it!"
As Halbert clung to Ruby's back, Ruby rapidly accelerated, lifting her
body, climbing higher into the sky, then somersaulting into a rapid dive to
behind the monsters.
In an instant, the hunters became the hunted.
"I'll pay you back a hundred times over!"
Bwoooooooooosh!
Ruby opened her mouth wide, unleashing a great gout of flame toward
the flying monsters.
Dragon breath was the attack most emblematic of dragons, said to be
able to lay waste to an entire kingdom. The monsters hit by Ruby's dragon
breath were fried to a crisp and dropped to the forest one after another.
Seeing that, Halbert scratched at his cheek. "Wasn't that a bit much? The
monsters were charred black, you know?"
"M-Meat tastes better well done."
"I prefer it rare, myself."
The two of them continued to squabble over things that didn't matter.
They could banter like this because the job was done, so they were now set
free from the tension they'd been feeling before.
Halbert looked down to the forest the burned monsters had fallen into.
Even from here, he could tell the lizardmen were making a fuss.
If the lizardman they'd freed started eating the fried monsters, the other
starving lizardmen would no doubt follow suit. Then, with them having
learned the taste of monster...the project would move on to its third stage.
"Let's head back, Ruby. Kaede and the rest will get worried."
"You're right."
They turned and flew back the way they came.
While Halbert and Ruby were luring in the monsters, there had been
movement on the ground too.
The gates of the city walls opened, and armed soldiers piled out. They
numbered roughly 600.
Once the soldiers came outside the walls, they attacked the monsters on
the ground that were eating the burned lizardmen corpses. The monsters
were so absorbed in eating that the soldiers were able to catch them by
surprise, cutting them down with swords, shooting them with bows, and
striking them with magic until they died.
These 600 soldiers were all battle-hardened. That was to be expected.
These soldiers were a mixed unit made up of the Kingdom of Lastania's
regular forces, the refugee volunteer soldiers, and the Kingdom of
Friedonia's Dratroopers. For this group of combat specialists, slaying
monsters that didn't fly and weren't particularly more powerful than
lizardmen was no different from going hunting.
Inside that group, Captain Lauren shouted to encourage her troops as she
knocked away a small monster with the large shield she was holding.
"While Sir Halbert is keeping the flying monsters at bay, we will carve a
path! There is no need to chase monsters that flee! Protecting the rear unit is
our top priority!"
Lauren's heavy equipment was ill-suited to moving quickly, but wellsuited to settling in and holding a single position. Lauren bashed the
monsters that came at her with her shield, cut them down with her sword,
and was defending the place where she now stood.
Once the weak monsters realized she was not an enemy who would be
easily defeated, they immediately started to move away.
As Jirukoma raced over, kukris in hand, he let out a gasp of admiration
despite himself.
"Splendidly done, Madam Lauren. I raced over because you seemed
surrounded, but it seems my concern was unwarranted."
"I am a professional soldier after all. This is nothing to me." Lauren
smiled proudly...and then wryly. "Well, even though I feel that way as the
captain of the soldiers, I'm a little embarrassed as a woman that I'm able to
fight monsters so easily. I wish I could be a gentle, graceful woman like the
princess too, but it's beyond me..." She laughed weakly.
Jirukoma was a little confused. "What could be wrong with being a
strong woman? In my tribe, strength and toughness are seen as virtues in a
woman. They can give birth to stronger children that way after all."
"Ch-Children?!" Lauren's cheeks went red. "Um... Do you like strong
women, Sir Jirukoma?"
"Hm? I suppose I do. My sister was a tomboy after all. I think I do like
them."
"Y-You do?!" Lauren wore a brilliant smile for just a moment, then
gripped her shield tightly as if getting her mind back on task. Then she used
the sword in her right hand to point forward. "Now then, Sir Jirukoma. I
want to ensure safety over the widest area possible, so I would like to ask
you remove the monsters from this area. Leave defending this place to me."
"No, but..."
"I'll be fine! I am a strong woman!" Lauren pounded her puffed upchest.
With an expression that looked dumbfounded by her sudden declaration,
Jirukoma nodded. "R-Right... I understand. But make sure you don't do
anything reckless."
"Right. You be careful too, Sir Jirukoma!"
Lauren him go as Jirukoma took off at a run.
While he raced around cutting down emaciated, goblin-like monsters
with his two kukris, he ran into Kuu, who had an awkward look on his face.
Kuu swung around his cudgel, crushing lizard-like monsters that raced
around, then stood back-to-back with Jirukoma and asked him,
"Buddy...you wouldn't happen to be dense, would you?"
"Dense? What are you talking about?"
Catching the blank look on Jirukoma's face, Kuu shook his head in
exasperation. "I'm talking about you taking responsibility."
"Responsibility? Um, what do you mean?"
"I wonder. Try thinking for yourself!"
As Kuu said that, he was confronted with a monster coming in at high
speed. It was larger than the other monsters, shaped like an ostrich with a
goat's head, and it had its head down and was charging him in as if it was
trying to gore him with its two horns.
Kuu put his cudgel behind him, then rushed toward the monster.
"Sir Kuu?!" Jirukoma cried out despite himself, but Kuu performed a
slide right in front of the monster, then used his momentum to kick out the
monster's left leg, which was bearing its weight.
"Down you go."
There was a snapping sound. With the combination of the creature's own
momentum going forward, Kuu's power coming at it, and the creature's
weight acting together, the monster's left leg snapped. With only one leg
left that it could still use, it rammed into the ground with all its inertia.
Kuu let out a laugh as he watched it. "Ookyakya! Like I thought, your
leg was wide open!"
Whoosh... Thock!
An arrow flew in, planting itself into the goat-headed monster's throat as
it writhed on the ground. That finished it off, and it ceased to move.
The person with a bow rushed over to Kuu. "Young Masteeer, don't
scare me like that!" Leporina begged with a tired look on her face. "Our
mission is to remove monsters from the mission area. There's no need to
charge in, so show some restraint!"
"Ookyakya! I'm fine, so there's no problem!" Kuu tapped his cudgel on
his shoulder, smiling unabashedly.
While Leporina frowned over Kuu's lack of repentance, she saw the
second group begin heading out from the city gate out of the corner of her
eye. The second group, unlike the first, numbered over 2,000, and in place
of weapons they were carrying large logs, pieces of firewood, basically any
lumber they could lay hands on.
Leporina tugged on the Kuu's outfit. "Look, Young Master. The second
group has come out, so we need to go and guard them."
"Whoops, you're right. If I play around too much, Bro will get mad."
"I would like to give you a proper scolding myself, but...perhaps it
would be better if I arranged some lecture time together with Taru."
"Y-You don't have to bring Taru into this, okay?!" There was panic in
Kuu's voice.
He thought nothing of being scolded by Souma or his father Gouran, but
an extended lecture from the girl he liked was something he wanted to
avoid.
Kuu clapped his hands as if trying to dodge the subject, then urged
Leporina to go on. "Look, we're supposed to be defending them, right?
Let's get a move on."
"Honestly..."
Leporina shrugged and took off after Kuu as he ran.
The one leading the second unit, which Kuu and Leporina were headed
to, was Kaede.
"Hurry," she ordered. "We have to finish before the monsters come
back, you know."
This second unit was the soldiers conscripted by the Kingdom of
Lastania. They had minimal equipment, using carts and their own arms to
carry logs, firewood, and straw bales. In short, they were a supply unit.
Kuu, Jirukoma, and the others had swept the monsters out of this area to
secure their safety.
As the supply unit reached the point Lauren was defending, at the
midpoint between the walls of Lasta and the forest where the lizardmen
lurked, they unloaded the lumber they were carrying. Then the soldiers
made a pyramid with the logs they brought, filled the inside with firewood,
and stuffed in straw.
What they were building was a giant bonfire, with a height of maybe
five meters. This same construction process was repeated in several places
simultaneously.
Kaede was using her earth elemental magic (gravity manipulation) to
make the logs ignore gravity, allowing the assembly to proceed more
efficiently.
In the middle of all that, Lauren ran over to her. "Madam Kaede. We
were able to drive off most of the monsters, so let us help too."
Kaede shook her head. "No, Madam Lauren, please remain on watch in
the nearby area. We can't be sure the monsters that followed Hal and Ruby
won't come back. Please stay extra cautious so we can keep the workers
safe from monster attacks."
"Y-Yes, ma'am! Understood!" Lauren gave her a salute and then
returned to her position.
The second unit under command of Kaede continued their work under
the protection of the first unit led by Lauren, and in a little over an hour,
there were about ten bonfires set up.
Right around that time, a massive shadow appeared in the western sky.
That shadow with its big wings spread out was Halbert and Ruby, returning
after their duties were complete.
Even though seeing they were well made her feel a sense of relief,
Kaede's face remained stern as she gave orders. "We can't overstay our
welcome. If you've finished building, set the fires, and return inside the
walls!"
"Yes, ma'am! Setting the fires!"
The newly built bonfires were all set alight at once.
The straw burned quickly, and the smoke turned orange as the light of
the fire began to rise.
With the bonfires burning behind them, the second unit hurried inside
the walls, followed by the soldiers of the first unit slowly withdrawing
while fending off monster attacks.
"I hope the plan goes well..." Lauren, who was in the rear guard, said,
sounding concerned.
Kaede chuckled. "We've done all we can. Now, we just have to pray it
works out."
◇ ◇ ◇
Gwah! Grrr!
Having lost many of their kind in the battle yesterday, the lizardmen
were now lurking in the dark forest. They were all looking up at the sky.
A red line raced across their vision.
For a while now, several red lights had been flying through the sky.
What are those things? they wondered as they watched.
Things fell to the ground in pieces. When they approached, it was
charred monsters.
The lizardmen turned their snouts toward the sizzling remains of the
monsters.
The cooked meat gave off a savory smell.
The starving lizardmen wanted that smell. However, they stopped short.
Before, when they had eaten similar monsters, many of their kind had
experienced stomach cramps, and more than ten of them had died.
Whether that was due to the monsters' meat being poisonous, because of
diseases they carried, or the result of parasites...they didn't know. The
lizardmen had no way to know, and they lacked the intelligence to attempt
to find out.
The information that "eating the mixed-up monsters can result in death"
was all that had been entered into the lizardmen's not particularly large
brains. That was why, even though they were starving, they made no
attempt to eat the mixed-up monsters.
But then...
Kshaaaa! ...Chomp!
One of the lizardmen started eating the charred monsters.
It acted as though they tasted good, eating several of them.
The pack of lizardmen watched that individual cautiously.
It was eating the mixed-up monsters, but not only was it not dying, it
didn't even seem to be getting stomach pain.
Why?
Looking at it, the individual was eating well-cooked meat, and avoiding
undercooked portions.
Seeing that, the data in the lizardmen's brains that said, "Eating the
mixed-up monsters can result in death" was overwritten to say, "Eating the
mixed-up monsters raw can result in death, but if they are well-cooked, they
can be eaten."
In the next instant, the lizardmen swarmed around the roasted monster
meat. Due in part to their hunger, they tore into the meat with reckless
abandon.
Even the lizardmen who hadn't witnessed the original individual
witnessed those who had seen it, learned the same information, and a battle
over the cooked meat began.
Eventually, that information spread through the whole pack.
However, there was far too little meat for 800 lizardmen. The wellcooked meat vanished in no time flat, leaving only the undercooked meat.
While they were wondering what to do, a light appeared near the outside
of the forest.
Looking at it, there was a place with fire burning brightly.
If I use those flames, I can cook this undercooked meat! The lizardmen
who thought that took the undercooked meat and approached the fire, then
threw it in. They ate it when it was cooked.
In the pack, there were some who could breathe fire themselves, and
those individuals cooked and ate by themselves.
However, there was a limit to the undercooked meat too.
I want more.
Looking around, they noticed that...there was plenty of "raw meat"
feeding on their kind's corpses.
The lizardmen began to hunt.
◇ ◇ ◇
"It's incredible to see, isn't it?" I asked.
"Yeah..." Julius murmured.
It was around ten in the morning, with the sun was fully risen, and
shining brilliantly.
I was with Julius, standing on the wall, watching the scene unfold
beneath us in awe.
We watched the lizardmen surround the bonfires, cooking the meat of
monsters they had hunted. It was like a banquet for primitives.
The lizardmen were a threat to us, but this was like watching a scene
from ancient times, and it put me into a strange, indescribable frame of
mind.
Aisha, who could see well at a long distance, pointed and explained.
"Over in that corner, a group centered around a fire-breathing lizardman is
starting to form, sire."
Because we had taught them to cook before eating, there was now a
major shift in the balance of power happening within the lizardman pack.
Naden and Ruby were dropping in kindling and straw from the air to
make sure the fires didn't go out, but not that many could gather around the
bonfires, and the inevitable result was that the strongest individuals
monopolized them. With that happening, those that could breathe fire for
themselves were at an advantage.
The lizardmen who couldn't get near the bonfires were apparently
hunting an extra share of monster meat for the ones that could breathe fire
in order to have those cook meat for them. It was a very simple contract
based on a mutually beneficial relationship. There was a clear hierarchy
forming between the lizardmen.
"It's like watching a microcosm of society, you know," I said, and Julius
nodded.
"I couldn't agree more. I never would have dreamed the day would
come when I'd see society reflected in the actions of monsters."
"If we gave them another thousand years, don't you think they could
achieve something resembling civilization?" I asked.
"Possibly, but...we can't afford to wait a thousand years."
"True enough."
The relationship between mankind and monsters was one of kill-or-bekilled.
Because it was impossible to converse with them, if we didn't defeat
them, they would bring harm to those we cared about. It might be cruel, but
there were people and things we needed to protect.
Julius stood on the edge of the city walls, then gave the order to the
eagerly waiting soldiers.
"The number of monsters is down! Now, wipe out the lizardmen!"
At Julius's command, the north and south gates swung open.
◇ ◇ ◇
"North and south forces, begin the attack!" he ordered.
To deal with the lizardman gathered in the west, Julius sent 1,000 troops
out of the north and south gates, which then circled around to northwest and
southwest of the pack.
"We will go on foot to circle around behind the enemy!" Jirukoma
called.
"We will attack from the south side! Men, don't be late!" Lauren
shouted.
The one leading the northern force was Jirukoma, and the commander of
the southern force was Lauren.
Partially because the lizardmen were distracted by eating, they let these
two forces approach them easily.
Kaede, who was watching from the walls, raised her right hand. "Now,
light the signal!"
At Kaede's command, a smoke signal went up from the west gate.
When Jirukoma and Lauren saw it, their forces attacked the lizardman
pack from the northwest and southwest. With a force of 2,000 attacking
them in a V formation, the surprised lizardmen were pushed toward Lasta in
the east.
When she saw that, Kaede poked her head out over the inside edge of
the city wall, and said to the person down below, "The time is ripe! We're
counting on you, Sir Julius!"
"Understood!"
Moving away from the wall, Julius, who was riding on a white horse,
drew his sword and held it aloft.
The 1,000 soldiers around him were mostly elites, including Lastanian
regulars and the Dratroopers. The troops were waiting for the order to set
out to come at any moment, and Julius announced to them, "The fate of this
country hangs on this battle! Eliminate the lizardmen, for the sake of the
families huddling in fear behind these walls!"
"""Yeahhhhhhh!"""
While listening to his men shout, Julius gave the order to the gates.
"Open the gates!"
The west gate opened, and 1,000 troops led by Julius leapt out.
The soldiers kept going with that momentum to plow straight into the
confused pack of lizardmen.
"My life for Lastania!"
"Die already, you damn lizard!"
As if venting their grudges over the battle on the walls, they made a
bloody mess of every lizardman they came across. Julius rode around
swinging his sword too, lopping the heads off one lizardman after another.
There was a trail of lizardman blood left behind where he had passed.
At the end of that line, Julius pointed his sword to the west and gave the
order, "Keep going, and push until we've finished them!"
◇ ◇ ◇
"He's doing a brilliant job commanding them, huh?" I commented.
The west gate opened, and the 1,000 troops coming out of it were
attacking the lizardmen who had been pushed east. Under attack from three
sides, the lizardmen were in a state of terror.
Hal and I were watching the scene unfold from up in the air on Ruby
and Naden's backs.
The forces led by Julius had just surrounded the lizardmen in a triangle
formation. He didn't close the encirclement, however, leaving a slight
escape route to the west, between Jirukoma's and Lauren's units. If he
closed all avenues of escape, the enemy would focus on his forces, but if
there was even a narrow way out, the lizardmen would be distracted by it.
As the lizardmen turned their attention to the west, Julius's forces
moved to crush the pack from the east.
Somehow, it reminded me of a pastry bag.
"In my world's military tactics, this would be an example of, 'In order to
capture, one must let loose,' but you wouldn't get that reference. Let's call
it the Pastry Bag Strategy instead."
"No, no, a name that makes you want to use it is no good," Naden said,
poking fun at me with her telepathy.
Hmm...
"Then, since it looks like a ryuu's mouth, how do you like 'Naden's
Mouth' instead?"
"Don't go putting my name on it without permission!"
"Here's how it'd sound on the battle field: 'Let's use Naden's Mouth
here!' 'This is the essence of Naden's Mouth.' 'Is there no one here who
can break out of Naden's Mouth?!'"
"Stoooop iiiit!"
"You two...I know I'm not one to talk, but this is a battle, so be a little
tenser, would you?" Hal, who was had brought Ruby's body closer, said in
exasperation.
Ruby nodded. "You too, Naden. Take your job more seriously."
"I didn't do anything wrong this time, did I?! Souma's the one acting
silly!"
"...You have a point," Ruby admitted.
"Don't worry, I'm looking around like I'm supposed to!" I called back.
My job in this battle was to monitor the area and ensure no unexpected
crises arose. We couldn't be sure there would be no sudden influx of
reinforcements. That was why I was using Living Poltergeists to scatter my
wooden mice and monitor a wide area around the battlefield.
As we were talking, I had a response.
"Hal, there's a group of lizardmen coming in from the north. New ones
that've crossed the river. There's fifty."
"Got it! We'll wipe them out real quick. Let's go, Ruby!"
"Okay!"
Ruby flapped her big wings and flew off to the north.
Hal and Ruby were a commando unit. They used their power and
mobility to support areas that looked ready to collapse, or to respond to
unexpected situations like just now.
"Now then..." I said, looking down.
There was a one-sided fight unfolding. The lizardmen were being
pushed back by the force Julius was leading and gathering at the narrow
escape route to the west. With all the pushing and shoving to get there,
some were even being trampled to death by their own kind.
It looked like some lizardmen were getting out of the encirclement
through the escape route. They were trying to flee into the woods, but...it
wasn't going to be that easy. This was a war of extermination. In order to
avoid later troubles, we couldn't let them get away here.
"So, I'm counting on you for the finishing touches, Aisha."
My strongest fiancée was waiting for the ones fleeing into the woods.
◇ ◇ ◇
The lizardmen fleeing into the forest must have thought they'd escaped.
However, there was no time for them to feel relief, as another crisis came
down on them from above.
"Hi-yahhh!" Aisha shouted.
Thud! There was a loud sound as her greatsword swung into the ground,
and a large lizardman was split in two.
The bisected lizardman's dead body crumpled.
Aisha, the strongest fighter in the kingdom, lifted her greatsword with
one hand, a weapon heavy enough to split the ground after cutting through
the lizardman, then effortlessly swung it to clean off the blood.
"This feeling... It's been a while." Aisha held her greatsword level with
her eyes. "Today I am not here as His Majesty's fiancée, or as his
bodyguard, but as a single warrior here to demonstrate her skills. Aisha of
the God-Protected Forest is coming for you!"
She held her greatsword sideways as she ran forward. As she passed by
some lizardmen bewildered by the sudden surprise attack, a single flash of
her sword divided three of them in two simultaneously.
"Gishaa!" the lizardmen shouted.
Coming back to their senses, the lizardmen pounced at Aisha, but she
used nearby tree trunks as footholds to bounce from tree to tree.
"I was born and raised in the God-Protected Forest. I have a slight
advantage fighting in the forest," Aisha grinned with confidence.
It wasn't like the lizardmen could understand a word of what she was
saying. But Aisha turned toward the ones who were bunching together to
try to attack her and swung with her greatsword's flat side down. Like
swatting flies, the lizardmen were smashed.
Aisha shook off the blood like before, then looked at the lizardmen as if
searching for her next prey. That glint in her eye intimidated the creatures,
and they stayed still.
"You aren't coming? Then I will go to you!" she yelled.
Aisha cut down the lizardmen one after another in order of proximity.
For the lizardmen further away, she sent a cutting blast of air pressure,
Sonic Wind, to cut them up. Her Sonic Wind slashed up not just the
lizardmen, but the surrounding trees as well, making it like a violent wind.
This is crazy. There's no way we can take her. The lizardmen
instinctively sensed that and scattered.
However...
"Whoa, there. Young Miss Aisha's not the only one used to fighting in
the forests!" a voice called.
Having circled around in front of a fleeing lizardmen, Kuu took a hard
swing with his cudgel into the underside of the lizardman's jaw.
An arrow that flew in from between the trees in yet another direction
planted itself in the lizardman's forehead.
Up on a branch in a large tree nearby, Leporina held her bow at the
ready.
Kuu jumped up into the branches, hanging down by his tail with a
cheerful laugh. "Members of the snow monkey tribe are good at climbing
trees, and Leporina's from a family of hunters. It'll be another thousand
years before you're any match for us in the forest."
"If you get too cocky, you'll get hurt," Leporina warned him as she
jumped from branch to branch.
"Oh, come on, like that would ever—Whuh?!"
When Leporina landed on a branch in the tree Kuu was hanging from,
the branches shook, and his tail slipped, making Kuu fall headfirst to the
ground.
Leporina quickly looked down below. "Wait, Young Master?! Are you
all right?!"
"Ow... I didn't quite land properly." Though he was rubbing his head in
pain, he didn't seem particularly badly hurt.
Though Leporina was relieved, she puffed up her cheeks. "Geez, don't
worry me like that."
"Sorry, sorry... Now, let's clean up the rest of them."
Kuu shouldered his cudgel and took off running. Leporina hurried after
him.
Those like Kuu, Leporina, and Aisha, who excelled at fighting in the
forest, had been lying in wait to exterminate the lizardmen when they fled
in there. The lizardmen who had been hunting chimeras were now being
hunted themselves.
Just as the battle in the forest was ending, the battle in the field wrapped
up too.
As might be expected from the side that had held the advantage from
beginning to end, compared to the piles of lizardman bodies littering the
battlefield, the combined forces of Lastania and Elfrieden had taken only
minor losses.
The battle near Lasta was about to end in victory. However, it wasn't as
though it was all over, so they couldn't afford to stop.
In with the soldiers, Julius was shouting, "The liberation of Lasta is a
success! However, if nothing changes, we will be surrounded again! We
will continue north from here, seize the fortress at the river crossing, and
push the line of defense up! Only once that is possible can the families
inside the walls get a good night's sleep!"
Then Julius thrust his sword skyward.
"It's just one last push! Let's go!"
"""Yeahhhhh!"""
With that, 3,000 soldiers marched on the fortress to the north.
They advanced up to the Dabicon River, taking out a group of a little
over ten lizardmen that were heading south along the way, and approached
the fortress near the crossing point.
It seemed there was no shortage of lizardmen nesting in the fortress, but
they didn't have the intelligence to fight a siege and were quickly
eliminated to retake the fortress.
"Well done, everyone!" Julius called. "Give me a cry of victory!"
"""Hip, hip, hooray!"""
The soldiers' victorious shout echoed as dusk fell on the fortress.
Souma and Julius went on to use this fortress as their base, eliminating
the lizardmen that crossed in small numbers, as they waited for the main
body of reinforcements to arrive from Friedonia.
Material aid from the Union of Eastern Nations was now able to enter
the liberated Lasta, and supplies were carried to the front-line fortress by
the wyvern cavalry who had returned.
Then, a week later, roughly 60,000 reinforcements at last arrived from
the Kingdom of Friedonia.