The communication came to René’s call mark, who was in the middle of leading Bloodsuckers in a one-sided massacre that could not even be called a battle, as she led a back attack on the city walls.
“Princess, two go-reports.”
“What is it?”
“They are information about the enemy…The holy beasts received the enemy’s wounds. When we attacked, it was not the attacker who was cut, but a nearby holy beast was wounded.”
Amidst the blood splatter and screams, a call (?) from Alastair for reports, René watched the battle outside the city from atop the wall of chaos.\
Amidst the encircling army of undead, adventurers were struggling in numbers that could be counted on the fingers of their hands and feet. The light of holy energy from holy magic flickered from time to time.
The fact that they were able to hold their own in the midst of a complete siege was a testament of strength on the part of the country’s most powerful party, the “Sub-Zero Crystal Spear”. But even so, they were persisting.
If they were to score a good clean hit, and if the holy beast were to take the damage and die instead, it would certainly be a much greater danger.
–So it was the power of the holy beasts, not Morgana.
Well, the “Sub-Zero Crystal Spear” should not be a problem. Udanosuke also had the “Wedge of Fallen Heaven” in his possession. What they needed to watch out for was René, who was going to cut into the castle.
“I’ll be careful. So, what’s the other report?”
“The advance party of Bloodsuckers has arrived at the castle walls and started to engage the garrison. They are having a hard time.”
“When the gates open, I’ll take the garrison I’ve recruited from the area and head over there. In the meantime, use the pieces that you can discard to analyze their strength.”
“Understood. In addition, the enemy’s main strength seems to be a dragon-type holy beast that is even larger than the holy beast we fought earlier.”
“That’s… Oh, I can see from here, too.”
This time, René looked toward the castle, inside the city.
The lights on the castle walls illuminated a huge white and gold shining figure wriggling in the air. It was a caricatured-looking dragon walking on two legs with stout hind legs. It was perhaps five meters tall. René had never seen one in person, but it must have been small compared to a real dragon.
“A Fighter with holy energy breath and combat skills. Bloodsuckers are not pawns to be discarded.”
Bloodsuckers were small fighters. They were useful for devouring the city due to their lack of maintenance costs and ability to self-propagate, but as a fighting force, they were a bit ineffective.
Even when armed with items they found on the street or scavenged from local homes, they were no more reliable than a peasant revolt. There was no way they could compete with a dragon of holy energy.
–The dragon-shaped holy beast was the trump card, I guess, since they had been so reluctant to use it.
“Let them mainly try to stall it, so as not to reduce numbers as much as possible.”
“Yes… The remnants of the Second Order have already left the front line and have begun to retreat. The rest are fighting to stop the invasion from the city walls…”
＊ ＊ ＊
The area around the lord’s castle in the center of Terra Kaine had already turned into a battlefield.
At first, the castle was almost perfectly defended by the dragon-shaped holy beast (René gave it the code name “Illuminator” for now, following precedent), which reaped the bloodsuckers that came rushing in, and those who could not handle it and attached themselves to the castle walls were removed by fire from the top of the walls.
However, the situation was changing with the arrival of reinforcements. The zombies and skeletons that had been packed into the city walls for defense until a few minutes ago attacked the Illuminator.
A single blow would almost certainly end their lives, but those who had been fighting since before they were created moved differently. They were also well equipped.
A well-placed arrow pierced the Illuminator’s wings, and a sword that was repeatedly swung down gradually tore through the scales.
Beside them, the battle was gradually intensifying as more and more undead appeared in the walkways on the walls by ladders and forceful climbs. Support for the Illuminator was dwindling.
“… Oswald Mikal Keely.”
When René quietly called out his name, the knight, who was relatively lightly armed, turned toward her. The surcoat he wore over his armor undoubtedly bore the family crest of the Keely family. A sort of handy-sized lyre hung from his waist.
Oswald drew his sword from the bloodsucker he had just thrust down and lowered its tip, not pointing it at René.
In the chaos of the battle, René had magically disappeared and was scrambling up the castle wall, out of sight and out of mind.
Although there was an option to continue fighting the Illuminator, she decided that it would be better to eliminate the key defensive force that had taken up position on the walls first.
In other words, Oswald, who was in town on a visit to see crown prince candidate Ghislain, was forced to participate in the battle.
“Your Highness… Do you know me?”
Oswald replied to René.
He was not surprised by the sudden appearance of René, and was in a calm state of mind.
In the sky above, the Hippogriff Zombie Riders and Watchers were engaged in dogfights, and feathers were occasionally fluttering in the air, like light snow flakes.
“Ooooooooo!”
The Illuminator below roared.
It flapped its wings to shake off the bloodsuckers that clung to it, and as soon as it appeared on the wall, it released a breath of holy energy. A dazzling pale, clean light billowed over the wall like a raging wave.
René dodged the nauseating storm of holy energy, jumping lightly away from it.
The illuminator took a breath and was about to breathe out another breath. Oswald stopped it.
“Head for the defenses below, Holy Beast. I want to talk.”
The holy beast obeyed Oswald without complaint. The figure’s head on top of the wall retracted, and the Illuminator began to reap the undead around it again.
“Thank you for your concern, Earl.”
“… Your Highness. What can I do for you?”
“May I ask you something? Why are you here, fighting against my army, when you had not given your allegiance to the Pretender Hilbert?”
She had no intention of blaming him that much, but when she said it out loud, her words were still in a questioning tone.
The reason why René did not kill Oswald without question was because she had doubts about his behavior.
He did not support Hilbert and had no particular ties to Ghislain or Marquis Edfeldt. Why was Oswald there at the moment?
She wondered if there might be some political move that she had overlooked, and she was both annoyed and simply curious.
She also thought that perhaps she could persuade them to withdraw by persuasion or negotiation, which was why she approached him. It would be beneficial to René if the balance of power among the factions of the lords changed, so depending on Oswald’s position, it would make sense to keep him alive.
…In the meantime, there were other reasons to be reluctant to kill Oswald, but they were relatively trivial. René dared not think too much about it.
René’s question still seemed to hit a sore spot, and Oswald’s emotions showed signs of bitterness.
Oswald looked around him, and when he was sure there were no undead attacking him, he withdrew his sword and lifted the face coverings of his armor with his fingertips in a saluting posture.
His gray eyes glowed piercingly with the radiance of reason and knowledge.
“Your Highness, I…”
“What are you doing, Earl Keely!”
As Oswald was about to say something, a magically amplified voice came down from out of nowhere.
It was a voice she had never heard before, but she recognized it under the circumstances. It belonged to Marks, Marquis Edfeldt.
“The opponent is a treacherous undead! Do you know how many cities she has invaded and how many people she has slaughtered? There is nothing to talk about! Spurn the holy beast and continue the battle!”
“Marquis! It is unbecoming of a knight to be intimidated by force without listening or speaking! And she is the daughter of King Elbert. It would be dishonest for one of the lords of the kingdom to cover their eyes, ears, and mouths in the face of Her Highness, whose life was unjustly taken during the frenzy of the coup d’état!”
“You’ve lost your mind! … Enough is enough! Holy beasts +*&? +*&$+. &=#@. *$@%”
Just as Marks was about to give an order to the holy beast, Oswald quickly picked up the lyre on his waist and played it.
With a desolate melody that clawed at his heart, Marks’ voice became a hoarse sound, like some kind of background noise.
“Pardon me, Marquis.”
–The lyre disrupted the voice and stopped the order …?
She did not know whether it was the lyre’s power or Oswald’s, but this was a fleeting game between Marks and Oswald.
If the holy beasts, including the Illuminator, flooded to René, the others would be outnumbered, and if Oswald chatted long enough, defeat would be only a matter of time. There would be no room for negotiation, and the only way to win the battle would be to win it all at once. Marks hoped for that development, but Oswald refused.
Oswald returned the lyre, which continued to play on its own accord, to his waist and saluted again.
“Your Highness. I am trying to preserve the shape of our country. People without power need a country to live. They need a government. A king. Please understand that I am doing this only to protect the people!”
Oswald’s words were without hesitation and his heart shone as brightly as the sunlight breaking through the snow clouds.
Oswald asserted himself like a young man who speaks of justice in a youthful manner.
There was no intention of making excuses. On the contrary, Oswald was even hopeful. He wondered if René would be understanding of his point of view.
Oswald forgot to maintain his salute, put his hand on his chest, and shouted as loud as he could over the noise of the battle. His heart raced.
“Calm your anger, Your Highness! If Your Highness continues to fight, it is the innocent people who will suffer and fall! What crime have they committed? Please have mercy on them! Let them suffer the sorrow of being torn apart from their parents and children, the pain of having their lives taken away from them… Do not inflict any more on these people!”
She thought it was unexpected.
–Yes, yes. Oswald Mical Keely is not that kind of person…
René had once possessed Iris, an adventurer who had made Earl Keely ‘s estate her home, and had caught a glimpse of her memories.
Memories of when Iris was involved with Oswald on several occasions.
The story of Benedict, who was closely associated with Oswald.
And the rumors of the people in town.
René knew about Oswald’s heart and soul.
There was no lie or deception in Oswald’s heart.
He only cared for his people. He did not care for his people as his property, but only for the people who lived in this country, wishing for order in the country and justice in the world.
This was the way of royalty and chivalry that Oswald believed in. It was the duty of a man who had been given a territory by the royal family and was to live as a lord.
Furthermore, Oswald was trying to change René’s mind through persuasion.
Oswald wanted to change René’s mind by persuasion, and he was not willing to eliminate René by fighting.
And Oswald thought that … ‘if I talk to her, she’ll understand’.
Oswald didn’t think of René as just an ‘extermination target’.
It was like a sweet poison being poured into a hole in her heart.
–Oh, my. Oh, God.
“Everyone, including the people, should die.”
René muttered, in a mood of wanting to laugh while crying.
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