The battle between the rebel army and the punitive force was progressing tensely.
However, the superior numbers of the punitive force undoubtedly put them at the greater advantage. To overturn that advantage with quality over quantity would require someone at the level of a titled adventurer.
There was no such person present in the rebel camp right now, so even with the efforts of the guerrilla unit and Demon Soldiers, they were slowly being pushed back.
Some of the fences around the rebel camp had already been destroyed.
This was the fence that protected the rebel’s main camp. It wasn’t some flimsy fence that would be put up when setting camp for the night, but rather a sturdy defensive wall. The fact that such fences were being destroyed went to show how pushed back the rebels were.
「Damn it-, the east can’t push back anymore! Can’t we get more reinforcements somehow!?」
「It’s impossible! Almost all our forces have been deployed! All that’s left are His Highness Mercurio’s guards!」
「Gah, what do we do? If things continue like this, it won’t be too long before this position falls!」
「What about the Demon Soldiers!?」
「Theorem-dono!」
Inside the main camp, Theorem looked at the nobles and thought for a few seconds before nodding.
「I understand. His Highness Mercurio’s guards can’t be moved, but there are still some Demon Soldiers who had been left behind to stay guard. I’ll send them out.」
His expression didn’t change, but his hands were tightly clenched.
If things continued like this, the punitive force would eventually push through. But even though he knew that, he didn’t have a solution.
(Our military strength……it’s just too low. It hurts that all our reconnaissance soldiers were wiped out first. If it wasn’t for that, we might have caught wind of this earlier.)
Before Widele and Rei had gone to the Imperial Capital, all the punitive force scouts around their camp had been eliminated.
This wasn’t necessarily retaliation, but when the punitive force commenced their attack, all of the rebel scouts around the camp had been wiped out first, resulting in the delay in detecting the surprise attack.
(His Highness Kabajid must have been the one to plan this, with double and triple measures in place. There would have been more room to work with if we were just dealing with His Highness Shurus.)
Thinking to himself with both admiration and bitterness towards the person who had planned the attack, Theorem went to give orders to the few Demon Soldiers that remained with him……
『UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!』
He heard loud shouts from outside the magic tent.
If they had been shouts of despair, he would have assumed the eastern defense had fallen, allowing the enemy to enter their position, compared to the small incursions so far.
However……the shouts seemed to be cheers, not screams. They were cheers expressing joy beyond all belief.
「This……is Vihera-sama back?」
The figure of his master’s sister passed through his mind.
His belief was that Vihera’s return after clearing out the blockades was more likely than the approach of Frizione’s army.
Regardless, he wanted to see what was going on with his own eyes and the rest of the nobles seemed to have the same idea. They all left the magic tent immediately after Theorem.
Mercurio also looked up, wanting to go with them. But, understanding his position, he remained inside the magic tent.
Those who exited the tent were met with cheers from their position and screams from outside.
Thanks to the illusion covering the camp and the surroundings, the current hellscape could not be seen from outside.
Normally, Quantum Breath shouldn’t have been able to cover such a wide area, but the range was clearly even wider than what Theorem had heard from Mercurio.
He had guesses as to why, but that wasn’t Theorem’s current priority.
He spoke up sharply, looking at a nearby soldier.
「Bring me someone who knows what is happening.」
「Yes sir!」
Responding quickly, the soldier ran off.
As they watched the soldier leave, Theorem and the nobles were someone relieved that while they didn’t know what was going on exactly, it appeared to be something in their favour.
(After this……I would like to be able to successfully repel the rebel forces……or, if possible, destroy them here. This attack was carried out with multiple safeguards, requiring a lot of effort regardless if it was His Highness Kabajid or His Highness Shurus. In other words, if we can significantly reduce their strength here……)
While briefly considering the possibility of fighting back in his mind, for now, Theorem focused on trying to understand the situation as he gave orders to his subordinates.
Going back a short time ago.
Rei flew on Set’s back, locating various soldiers in the surroundings and dropping rocks on them from above or destroying them with fire magic. Rei turned to look forward after seeing the troop below him descend into confusion from his attacks.
To be honest, Rei had considered the possibility that he might have attacked allied forces by accident. But, considering he was following the road from the Imperial Capital and that the troops weren’t facing the rebel camp but where Frizione’s army would be coming from, Rei judged them all to be enemies.
Rei, who was throwing out what could be best described as rock bombs, suddenly heard Set give a cry.
「What’s wrong, Set?」
「Guru~, Gurururururu~」
Set turned his gaze forward at Rei’s question.
Turning to look in same direction, Rei understood Set’s discomfort and doubtful cry.
The sight before him looked normal, but it also felt strange.
The strangeness typically wouldn’t have been noticed by anyone else, but Rei and Set’s senses were far sharper than that of ordinary humans.
And, because of that……Rei felt a strange sense of discomfort.
「Quantum Breath, is it? Unless they were told it was an illusion, ordinary people wouldn’t have any idea. It’s fine Set, just charge in. In any case, we’ll need to damage the punitive force in order to save the rebels. Considering that, it would be better to attack before they know what’s going on.」
「Gururururu~!」
The forces that Rei and Set had attacked previously were still in chaos.
Of course, they had probably sent out messengers, but it was hard to tell if horses would be faster than Set.
Set and Rei quickly decided to enter the illusion first as they flew through the sky.
With a flap of his wings, Set flew forward cautiously……and went through what could be best described as a wall of air of sorts, changing the scenery completely.
Until just now, the temperature had been cool, typical of an autumn day, and there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. But now, fighting could be seen everywhere below them.
It also became immediately clear that the rebels, who still held the camp for now, were at a great disadvantage with fences around the camp destroyed in various places.
Looking at two particularly intense areas of combat, Rei first smiled before becoming shocked.
He smiled when he saw where the guerrilla unit was fighting and became shocked after seeing the Demon Soldiers.
「The guerrilla force aside, they’re even sending out the Demon Soldiers, who are supposed to be their trump card. And in those numbers as well……」
Rei muttered to himself.
Of course, Rei had his own thoughts regarding the Demon Soldiers.
It was only natural, as an opponent that he had fought many times before.
Of course, he knew that there were Demon Soldiers in the rebel army.
They weren’t so good at hiding their presence to avoid being found out by Rei and Set and Rei had sensed some of them guarding Mercurio from underground.
However, it was also true that he hadn’t expected there to be so many of them.
Enough to form their own unit.
Still, they were still undoubtedly a major force in the rebel’s current position.
「Well, right now, I’m more concerned about the rebel soldiers than the Demon Soldiers. We’ll fly by the guerrilla unit to let them know I’m back and boost their morale. After that we’ll split up and attack the punitive force separately. ……How does that sound?」
「Guru~!」
Understanding Rei’s plan, Set flapped his wings as he flew over to the guerrilla squad according to Rei’s instructions.
The rebel camp might have been the size of a small town, but flying to the guerrilla unit with Set’s speed was basically instantaneous.
「GURURURURURURURURURURURURU~!」
As he flew by, Set gave a loud cry, as if to announce his presence to all below.
At the same time……
「Flying Slash~!」
The slash flew out from Rei’s Death Scythe towards the rear of the punitive force that was fighting the guerrilla unit.
It wasn’t powerful enough to kill a soldier wearing armour in one hit, but it was still enough to cause a decent sized wound.
This was only made easier after they froze up from Set’s cry from above.
At the same time……
『UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-!』
A joyful roar rose from the guerrilla unit.
The rebels were still at a disadvantage, but their cry felt like they were certain of their victory.
The reason was obvious. For the guerrilla unit, no one understood Rei and Set’s strength better than them.
Since Rei had returned, their victory was assured.
What remained was how much damage they could inflict without taking more losses.
It might be hard for the other soldiers to believe, but the guerrilla force was serious in their thoughts.
Plunging the ground into chaos in an instant, to the delight of their allies and despair of their enemies, Rei and Set headed for the east side of the camp, where the rebels were struggling most.
As they arrived at the largest contingent of enemies, Rei lightly stroked Set’s neck.
「Set, I’ll deal with the ones here, so you can go elsewhere.」
「Guru~!」
Set gave a cry at Rei’s words.
Hearing that cry, Rei jumped off Set’s back.
As he fell through the air, he used the Shoes of Sleipnir to slow his descent.
The direction of his descent wasn’t towards the front line of the rebels but the front line of the punitive force.
It seemed that Set’s cry had been heard even at this distance and quite a number of punitive force looked up into the sky and saw Rei coming down towards them.
As this was still some distance from where Set had made his cry, the punitive force soldiers hadn’t frozen up like those who had been fighting the guerrilla unit.
They didn’t have enough time to target Rei with arrows or magic, but did have enough time to ready spears in response.
They waited for Rei to fall onto the spears.
Normally, that would have been enough. However, as he fell, Rei continued to increase the output of his magic power.
「Don’t think I can’t do something about that!」
With a shout, his magic power was compressed into visible form.
Overlord’s Armour was actived with Rei’s enormous magic power.
His magic power cloaked him entirely.
That alone was enough to prove that half hearted attacks were pointless.
Some of the people on the ground, looking up into the sky with spears at the ready, had gone to see the fight between Noiz and Rei. Naturally, many of them had seen the finals with their own eyes.
In other words, they instinctively realised who the person falling towards them was.
As Rei had jumped off Set, the soldiers should have known who it was by them. But even so, their bodies couldn’t stop shaking after seeing Rei directly activate Overlord’s Armour.
They still held on to an incredibly small spark of hope as they pointed their spears at Rei, but Rei didn’t seem to care as he struck the ground.
Their spear tips didn’t even break Rei’s skin, let alone injure him. The moment they came in contact with his Overlord’s Armour, they were broken, shattered, and destroyed……as Rei landed on the ground unharmed.
Like so……despair arrived for the punitive force as hope emerged onto the battlefield for the rebel army.