15: A bloody battlefield

"Lord Tengu, our preparations are complete."

"You did well, Felicia."

The skeleton Tengu, was talking to Felicia, the new captain. Tengu was the commander of the military, but he needed a deputy. The centaur known as Felicia, showed the most promise, so he appointed her as captain.

"Felicia, this is your chance to shine. Show me what you can do. You will take command and kill every last one of the humans. But leave that archer girl to me. She's the strongest one in that group and the only one who might entertain me."

"Understood!"

They were currently on a hill top, observing the humans. Tengu thought that even for scouts, they were way too weak. Their gear, their defense and the fact that they didn't notice the centaur squadron coming so close, was all Tengu needed to realize that he was dealing with rookies.

"Then, shall we attack at once?"

"No. It wouldn't be any fun. And this is a perfect stage for you guys to harness your skills. I don't want to make it too easy for you. Felicia, cast [Sound Boost] on me."

"I understand."

As instructed, Felicia casted the spell on Tengu. He was enveloped in a green light. He then shouted:

"HUMANS! HEED MY WORDS!"

------

Momoyo quickly rushed out of her tent when she heard a loud voice. She tried to look for the owner of the voice. Her eyes could see a good distance thanks to her archer class.

"Lady Nakano, over there, on that hill!"

A random soldier pointed out. Momoyo glanced over and she could see a group of centaurs and a strange looking skeleton. How did they get so close without anyone noticing? Momoyo couldn't come up with an answer. But the answer was rather simple. All the units the archbishop gave her were rookies. New recruits from the church that barely finished basic training. To ensure her failure, he gave Momoyo useless troops.

"You have soiled the land of the great Demon King of Insanity! You keep invading our land again and again to satisfy your greed! And now, you shall all perish!"

Invade? Wait, why are they saying we are invading them, when the demons are supposed to be invading us? Momoyo thought the skeleton might be lying.

"We shall slaughter you all. But we are not that cruel as you butchers. We allow you 10 minutes. In those minutes, pray to your Goddess, pray for your souls, say your goodbyes. After 10 minutes have passed, we shall attack and spare none. Your time starts now!"

Panic could be read on everyone's faces.

"Don't give into the enemy's taunt! Prepare our defense. Shields up front and and archers to the rear. We outnumber them, so if we work together, we can win!"

Momoyo quickly took the initiative. The troops settled down. They were reassured because they had a hero on their side. They followed her order and put up their formation. Soon, 10 minutes have passed.

"Here they come. Stay strong!"

------

The battlefield was a mess. Blood could be seen everywhere. But it was only human blood. The enemy didn't suffer a single casualty. The human formation broke fast. All their arrows were easily deflected.

"I can't let it end like this!"

Momoyo took aim in the sky.

"[Rain of Arrows]!"

She fired a single green glowing arrow. The tetra bow didn't need physical arrows. It would generate elemental magic arrows each time the string is pulled. As the name implies, the arrow soon scattered and multiplied into hundreds of arrows. Momoyo thought that an AoE attack would be good to hit all the centaurs at once, even with the risk of hitting her own men. But…

"[Aqua Shield]!"

The centaurs all lifted one hand in the air and made a bubble like shield. The arrows failed to pierce them.

"No way… not even… one?"

Momoyo was scared. She got scared. Heads were flying left and right. Eventually, her whole party was wiped out. Until only she remained. 50 centaurs have killed 199 humans. She was the last one. Felicia and her squad cleared a path and Tengu stepped forward.

"You did well, Felicia! You're skills have improved greatly. I might introduce you to Her Highness! But now it's my turn."

The skeleton approached Momoyo.

"Come, little one. Try your best to entertain me! If by any chance you can defeat me, I shall spare your life."

Tengu pulled out a bone spear. It wasn't his strongest weapon, but it was the weapon he liked using to give a handicap to the opponent.

Hope could still be seen in Momoyo's eyes. She didn't want to die here. She was scared, but she wanted to return to her friends. To Shiori. She raised her bow towards Tengu.

"[Rock Blast]!"

A projectile was sent flying, but even if it was hard as a rock, Tengu simply twisted his spear to deflect the shot.

"Oi, is that really all you can do? I expected more from a hero. I'll give you one final chance. Use your strongest attack!"

Momoyo had no choice but to listen. This wasn't an opponent she could handle. "Fire my strongest attack, and then make a run for it" was the conclusion Momoyo reached.

She raised her bow once more. This time a red pentagram appeared before her. It was meant to amplify the force.

"Eat this! [Burning Ray]!"

As soon as she fired the arrow, she turned around and started to run. She could hear an explosion behind, but she didn't look back. She was confident in her speed. But a minute later, blood gushed out. She was pierced from behind right above her left breast. When she turned her head around, she saw Tengu, without a single scratch.

"That was a rather rude thing to do. I was nice enough to give you a chance, and you respond by running? Naive. Your marksmanship might be decent, but for a hero, you are weak. Too weak. Here's an advice. Only turn your back to a corpse."

Tengu pulled his spear out and then… he spun it around, cutting all 4 limbs. His cuts were precise. He cut her legs right near her knees, and her arms around close to her armpits.

"Aaaaaaaa!"

She screamed. The pain was intense. She even ended up wetting herself. Blood kept pouring.

"Do you understand now? There is no escape. There never was. Although you will die from blood loss if I leave you like this, I shall grant you mercy. I shall grant you death."

Tears formed in Momoyo's eyes. But not from the pain. In those moments Momoyo could only think about Shiori. Will she be sad? Will she be safe? "Sorry, Shiori. It seems I can't keep our promise." She resigned herself.

Tengu slowly raised his spear. He aimed for her heart. He striked. But the tip of the spear was caught.

Out of nowhere, with a terrifying speed, a red haired loli came in between them. She blocked the strike with her bare hand. The spear didn't pierce her. Instead, she then tightly gripped it and crushed the spear tip. She was covered with a thick magical aura.

"That's enough, Tengu! Stand down!"

------

I barely made it in time. Tengu was about to kill prez. If I was a second late, there would have been nothing I could do. After the duel with Odin I feel I can control my power better. So I covered myself with dark magical energy. The spear didn't pierce my skin, but the impact still hurt, ouch! After I crushed the spear, Tengu immediately kneeled before me. The confused centaurs did the same. Anyway, I need to hurry before she dies from blood loss.

I reached down for my shadow. It seems my shadow can be treated as a storage space. But unlike other fantasy novels I read, my shadow didn't have infinite space. It was only about the size of your average Holliday suitcase. I pulled a glass of Phoenix Tears. I quickly took a sip. I drew my face closer to Momoyo. You guessed it. I force fed her the potion with a kiss. In her state there was no other way I could make her take it.

When she swallowed the red liquid, all her wounds were healed. No. Let me be more precise. Phoenix Tears aren't the same as my Phoenix Resurrection. It only closes wounds and clears any abnormal status one might have. But lost limbs or shattered organs… it can't heal something that's missing. Simply put it can't grow her limbs back. It only sealed the wounds to stop the bleeding.

"Your Highness… why… to use such an item… *guah*..."

Tengu was sent flying a few feet. But I wasn't the one who did it.

"Easy boy. That's enough. He learned his lesson."

I was talking to Fenrir. Yeah, the only way I could make it in time was by ridding this guy. That was Odin's solution. A 'Fenrir' is a wolf of myth. It is said a mature wolf can be one of the strongest beings in the world. Even stronger than a Demon King. I was surprised when Odin told me this boy was still a puppy. A puppy big as a tank. At least he was super fast. Ridding him felt like a rollercoaster ride. I almost threw up. But anyway, back to the matter at hand.

"Tengu, I don't recall having to explain myself to you. Listen carefully, I'll only say it once. Never question my decisions!"

The skeleton almost shoved his head into the ground at those words.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness!"

"That's better. Now stand up. All of you."

Tengu and the centaurs slowly stood up, but they still kept their eyes in the ground.

"Take this girl to my castle. Clean her, give her a room and make sure she properly recovers."

"As you command!"

Well, I guess I need to focus on the next task now. It seems I just can't get a moment of rest. Until Momoyo recovers I better try to find a way and fix her. I can't play with a broken toy, after all.