CH 36

The armies of the Kingdom of Zain are positioned with their backs to the fortress.

The armies of the Western Sector of the Empire of Alsatian are positioned side by side on the hill.

As if by design, the two armies complete their formation at the same time, and a standoff ensues between high and low.

The soldiers of the Royal Army look up at the Imperial Army on the hill as if to challenge them.

In contrast, the soldiers of the Imperial Army glared down at the enemy as if looking down on them.

Both armies are waiting for the commander’s orders, their sweaty hands tightly gripping their weapons.

“Hmm, the kingdom’s army is not moving…”

Gracos Barzen sniffed at the enemy below him.

He had suspected that they had moved first and were planning to take us by surprise, but the Royal Army seemed to have taken the trouble to wait until the Imperial Army had formed up.

“Come on. Come at me.”

The voice of Bazel Garst, the enemy general, inviting him to join, was clear to Barzen’s ears.

“Very well, I’ll take you up on your offer!　Let’s see what you can do with this huge army!” 

“First army, charge!”

His second-in-command, Safaris, shouted at him.

“Wohoooooooo”

Some of the Imperial troops on the hill began to move. The Imperial troops, lined up in a horizontal line, are driven by the slope of the hill like a tsunami.

“The high shall prevail over the low. This is the basis of warfare!”

The army of the Kingdom of Zain is in a dense square formation behind the fortress of Blaine.

The imperial soldiers, who are outnumbered by the kingdom army, are lined up side by side and spread out to envelop the solidified kingdom army.

The imperial soldiers who went down the slope vigorously attacked the kingdom army, fiercely with momentum.

“Spearmen, forward!”

“Mmm!?”

However, the kingdom’s army is not to be beaten silently.

The soldier in front of him who was holding the shield quickly moved back, and another soldier who had been hiding behind him stepped forward.

In their hands, they hold a four-meter long spear, nearly twice as long as the lances used by the Imperial Guard.

“Guhhhhhhhhhh?!”

“Stop! Guwaaaaaah!”

The imperial soldier, charging downhill with all his might, is skewered by a long spear that suddenly appears.

The soldiers who hurriedly tried to kill the momentum and stop were also pushed out by the following soldiers and suffered the same fate as those who charged ahead.

“So that’s why they are in a tight formation!”

Barzen frowned and snarled.

There was no room for the Kingdom’s forces, who were crowded together and holding their long spears, and they stood as a wall of spears.

The lances used by the imperial soldiers could not reach the kingdom soldiers, and the cavalrymen were skewered with their horses.

“It’s a shame they can’t use the difference in height to their advantage! But they’ve already got men around the flank!”

The imperial troops who charged from the front fell prey to the long spears, but the troops who went around the flank were still alive and well. In the end, it was a matter of time before they were able to get to the bottom.

“Archers, shoot, shoot, shoot!”

However, a rain of arrows rained down on the imperial soldiers.

The source of the arrows, which were fired to protect the Royal Army, came from the fortress of Blaine, which the Royal Army had its back to.

Soldiers lined up side by side on the walls of the fortress and fired covering shots at the Royal Army, which was positioned to defend the fortress.

“Shit!!! Royal Guards!”

“Aah! Aah! Aahh!”

“Come on! Take out the Imperial Guard!” 

The Royal Guardsmen thrust their spears at the Imperial Guardsmen, who flinched under the covering fire.

Although the imperial soldiers were superior in number and skill, there was no way they could break the kingdom’s dense formation when they had to be wary of arrows from above.

“Well, the general of the kingdom of Zain……has done well to use the fortress in a different way than a siege!”

“Grandpa, do you want me to get it?”

The imperial troops were unexpectedly pushed back. Célia called out anxiously to Barzen.

The imperial princess, who had been wearing a military uniform earlier, had now changed into blue and silver armour.

The armour, forged from the finest mithril and worn only by the royal family, was ironclad and impervious to any attack.

“Don’t be in a hurry. The war has only just begun!”

Barzen smiled good-naturedly to reassure the doting princess, and stroked his beard with a gentle hand.

“The enemy is stronger than we expected. I’m sure it will hurt, but that’s the joy of war. You must stand firm, Your Highness.”

“Really…? If so, I’m watching …”

Célia nodded at Barzen’s words, but her face was somewhat unconvinced.

Her gaze is fixed on the corpses of the soldiers lying around the Royal Army.

Her shapely lips are pursed, apparently unable to accept the deaths of her own soldiers as a necessary sacrifice.

“She is a kind person. If I could, I would not want her to be in such a position to stand on the battlefield. …..”

Célia Von Althlein, the princess, is an innocent and well-liked person. If she had not been chosen for the Holy Sword, she would not be standing in such a bloody place, but would be living a life of loving flowers.

“And eventually marry a man of great nobility. …… Oh , my eyes…”

Barzen, forgetting the situation, became so sentimental that he coughed, holding his eyes.

“Bring the First Army to the rear!　The second army is to surround the enemy slowly and unhurriedly, while the third army is to spread out on the hills and fire its bows!” 

Shaking off the slightest hesitation that had arisen in his mind, the old general gave his orders fiercely.

The sun, shining brightly in the sky, had only just passed its zenith.

The battle had only just begun.