Wood, who had been resting with his eyes closed, vanished almost instantly from sight. The first Albion soldier who poked his head out didn't even have time to react before he was beheaded by a flash of cold steel.
This was only the beginning. As the first Albion soldier appeared, the enemy's main force soon discovered the location of the Tristainian forces.
After pursuing Tristain's fleeing forces throughout the night, the Albion troops initially thought that since they were protecting the Queen and Princess, the fleeing Tristainians would have a substantial number of soldiers.
However, when they saw that Wood's group numbered only about a thousand, the nobles within the Albion army nearly burst out laughing.
They had expected some resistance, but this seemed like a gift—a free victory.
Just as in Tristain, nobility ruled Albion as well. Queen Marianne and Princess Henrietta were undoubtedly important figures in Tristain. Capturing or killing them would be a monumental achievement, one that would not need further explanation.
So the Albion nobles immediately ordered their troops to charge at the Tristainians.
The logic was simple: the Tristainians barely had a thousand soldiers, not even a fraction of Albion's army.
First come, first served. The glory of capturing or killing the enemy leaders would be immense. The Albion nobles were eager to seize this opportunity.
Sheffield, with her long purple hair and dressed in a black gown with a slit up the leg, stood on a tree branch, observing the situation from a distance.
She neither advanced herself nor stopped the Albion nobles from their actions.
Clever as she was, Sheffield had already figured out Tristain's strategy when she saw that they had fewer than a thousand troops.
But she didn't care. Whether Albion or Tristain won, it made no difference to her.
Prince Wales still had three thousand troops on his side. Even if Tristain managed to win, they would be left in shambles.
The focus now was on eliminating the "Lífþrasir" Wood, and his master, the Void user Henrietta. They had to die here today!
As Albion's army charged, the Tristainian soldiers, holding their defensive formation, naturally felt a wave of panic at first. The disparity in numbers was overwhelming.
However, after a brief moment of fear, they recalled Wood's earlier words.
There was no retreat. A single step back would lead them into an abyss of despair!
With this resolve, the Tristainian soldiers quickly steadied themselves, raised their shields, and repelled the Albion soldiers charging at them.
The forest's limited space meant that only a few thousand Albion soldiers could attack at a time. For the well-defended Tristainians, breaking through this force was no easy task.
When the enemy used arrows or magic, the Tristainian nobles in the inner circle of the formation would counter with water, wind, or earth magic for defense.
With the advantage of terrain and their elite status, the Tristainian soldiers managed to fend off the Albion forces, who were growing increasingly frustrated as they failed to break the Tristainian "turtle shell."
Meanwhile, Tristain's soldiers found their morale soaring.
They had expected to die in this battle, but after successfully repelling several waves of Albion soldiers, they began to believe that the enemy might not be as formidable as they had thought.
This newfound confidence was due in large part to one person on the battlefield.
That figure, clad in shining silver armor, moved like a phantom across the battlefield.
Every time he appeared, his twin swords would claim the lives of many enemies.
The Albion infantry could use their shields to block weapons, and their nobles could use magic to counter arrows and spells.
But Albion's forces also included numerous magical creatures summoned through magical devices.
Ogres, towering several meters tall with immense strength capable of crushing rocks, and gargoyles with the advantage of flight and claws that could easily tear through flesh, were not uncommon.
Without question, these powerful creatures could have easily crushed Tristain's outer defenses.
However, not a single one of these formidable monsters even made it to the Tristainian front line.
The reason for this was the invincible figure on the battlefield, who had left an indelible impression on both Albion and Tristain soldiers alike!
The most respected figure in this world's magical history is undoubtedly the Founder Brimir, who created magic.
But for the Tristainian soldiers on this battlefield, Wood had risen to a status equal to Brimir in their eyes.
The reason was simple: the figure before them was simply too invincible.
They had only heard tales of Brimir, but they now believed that Wood was every bit as formidable as the legendary founder.
Unlike the soldiers, who were entrenched in defensive positions, Wood was truly charging into the fray, taking on Albion's army of forty thousand all by himself!
Ogres and gargoyles, which should have had the strength equivalent to Square-class or even Triangle-class mages, were cut down as easily as if they were ordinary men by Wood's blades.
Now, nearly half of the fallen enemies had perished under Wood's swords!
Moreover, the majority of these slain enemies were those troublesome monsters and Albion's noble mages.
What did this mean? It meant that Wood alone had killed more enemies than all thousand Tristainian soldiers combined.
Not only had he slain stronger enemies, but while the Tristainians could only defend, Wood was cutting through the enemy ranks like a wolf among sheep!
"One-Sword Style: Kamaitachi!"
Some of the more perceptive Albion nobles recognized that Wood was the linchpin of the Tristainian defense.
If they didn't take him down first, breaking Tristain's formation would be nearly impossible, and Albion's morale would suffer.
No longer seeking individual glory, the Albion nobles collectively targeted Wood with their magic.
Dozens of spells of various elements coalesced into a barrage of colorful beams that rained down upon Wood.
At that moment, the runes on Wood's chest—belonging to the "Lífþrasir" power of his "God's Heart"—glowed brilliantly as he unleashed a wind blade to counter the incoming magic!
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 200+ at patreon.com/Betek.