A few days later, Baron Harden issued one final military order. Damian's squadron was required to pass through a specific passage in the mountains and, along with the fortress forces and Baron's Cavalry Regiment, seek out a particular demon for assassination.
Accompanying the baron's messengers, who returned roughly at the same time, were over nine hundred wounded soldiers. Last month, the Seventh Squadron had been quite active: Baron Harden and Lieutenant Colonel Marvin led the cavalry and participated in several battles.
The outer cavalry and the brigade of monstrous wolf cavalry were engaged in fierce combat, and casualties began to exceed severe levels. Even powerful knights and prominent mages perished, with deaths continuing to accumulate to the point where bodies could not be retrieved.
After two months of continuous fighting outside, Baron Harden's cavalry was on the verge of collapse, necessitating a rest period. Although the baron had retired from active service, the king still appointed him as the supreme commander of the mountains, requiring all high-ranking officers to obey his orders.
The baron issued the order, and the Seventh Squadron took immediate action.
After more than two months of combat, over five thousand wounded soldiers were gathered in the castle. Some of the soldiers here were not in bad condition and were expected to return to the battlefield after recovery.
The wounded soldiers who participated in the initial battles, mainly from the Seventh Brigade, had mostly recovered and were ready to fight again. They cooperated well with the reorganization of the Seventh Squadron, forming a temporary squadron under Damian's leadership as a prominent mage.
Damian knew that his parents had been recognized by Erwin and Harden, giving him the courage to lead soldiers despite being just a mage.
"Once again, leader..." Damian murmured, looking at the order in his hands.
There were also many soldiers from the old Seventh Squadron in the temporary squadron. With the help of these familiar faces, although it was his first time independently commanding such a large squadron, Damian adapted quickly.
The two squadrons left Harden's castle and entered the halfway canyon passage, where they saw Luther riding a warhorse in a panicked state.
Luther was a good soldier, in a similar situation to Harden but still fighting demons despite his age, which was admirable. He might be promoted soon, at least receiving that as a minimum reward.
Unfortunately, communication was inconvenient during the war, so he couldn't report to the brigade headquarters for a military rank or official position promotion.
Currently, Damian's group has a shortage of officers, and the group headquarters would not allow veterans to serve as basic soldiers. Luther was expected to be transferred to other squadrons after some time to serve as an officer and replenish battlefield losses.
Now Luther was temporarily in charge of two scout squadrons.
"The demon army appeared at the canyon entrance. The flags indicate soldiers from a Demon General; that's what we know so far."
After hearing Luther's report, Damian summoned the key officers and calmly said, "They're just remnants of a defeated army; I don't think they'll be a problem for us."
"It seemed like Harden sensed the danger and gave up on conquering the southwest defense line, preparing to gather his troops and retreat."
Damian, upon hearing this, asked, "Did you alert the demons during your reconnaissance?"
"They didn't see me," Luther thought for a moment but didn't recall being spotted, so he said, "We didn't encounter anyone during our reconnaissance; we just observed some distant flags and estimated the enemy numbers before returning."
While Damian believed encountering powerful enemies was unwise, there was no need to mention it as it would scare the soldiers.
"Damian, lead the temporary squadron to ambush the enemy from both sides of the canyon. I'll take a group and stay on the sidelines, waiting for any developments without drawing much attention."
With too many in motion, it was understandable for their numbers to decrease now.
Damian led the temporary squadron to scale the cliffs on both sides of the canyon and, once in a favorable position, ordered the soldiers to set up camp.
As soon as preparations were complete, the demon squadron attacked them.
Damian was surprised to see the demons riding boars. Although boars had thick skin and strong defenses, they were not very intelligent. Letting a squadron dominated by boar-spines act as the vanguard could easily fall into the enemy's trap.
But now the demon brigade had no available troops. The boar squadron had the fewest deaths and the most soldiers. Whoever was leading them thought it was the best option.
"Sir, there are orcs too."
Upon discovering the enemy camp, Damian immediately ordered the soldiers to attack the camp, regardless of the enemy's obstruction.
"The first archer group is ready, fire!"
As the orders were issued, more than a hundred arrows flew violently. The few boars that rushed to the front were instantly turned into pincushions by the barrage of arrows.
The temporary squadron under Damian's command, although not equipped with enchanted bows and arrows, consisted mostly of veterans. Many were skilled archers, and in the first round of arrow rain, they killed seven or eight boars.
"I want continuous attacks; now, second group, fire!"
"Fire now!"
The lower-ranking officers orderly commanded, continuously launching a rain of arrows that filled the sky, killing demon soldiers and orcs in the enemy group.
Within just a hundred meters of entering the firing range, the boars threw more than thirty orc corpses. Although casualties were numerous, they still couldn't halt the enemy's charging momentum.
While this species was stupid, their will was strong, allowing them to endure significant losses.
In normal circumstances, they wouldn't attack like this, but there was no choice.
If the enemy retreated, they would continue facing deadly arrow attacks.
Desperate, the demons wanted to end this once they reached the enemy.
"Raise spears!"
The enemies fiercely broke into the camp, and Luther calmly ordered the Seventh Squadron soldiers to attack once the enemy was in range.
Damian led a temporary squadron of soldiers and continuously shot arrows at the cliffs on both sides of the road to suppress the second wave of orcs and reduce the pressure on the camp.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Damian continuously attacked with powerful, concentrated thunderbolts that exploded forcefully in the distance.
Being at a distance was Damian's best aptitude; he knew there was nothing better than giving it his all from afar.
He also kept his eyes on the sky, searching for any other unknown enemy types.