CH 39

Five hours had passed since the battle began, and a great change had taken place on the battlefield.

The Kingdom’s troops, who until then had held their ground against the fortress of Blaine, withdrew and went back into the fortress.

“The Royal Guards are retreating!”

“We’re going straight into the fortress!　Don’t let them close the gates!”

In pursuit of the retreating Royal troops, the besieged Imperial troops stormed the fortress.

“Oh, it looks like we’ve won!”

“Dallas Safaris cheered as the imperial soldiers made their way towards the city gates.”

“It’s a great victory. You have done well!”

“………… Mmm.”

When his deputy congratulated him on his victory, Gracos Barzen nodded with a face that for some reason did not float.

“….. What’s wrong, Grandpa?”

The old general’s face darkened and he looked at her with a worried expression.

Barzen’s eyes widened as he realised that he had worried the pretty princess.

“No, no, it’s not a big deal, but …… I just think it’s too easy.”

At first, the imperial troops suffered a painful counterattack, but they soon reeled back and pushed on to victory.

The Kingdom’s forces have already retreated into the interior of Blaine Fortress. Some imperial soldiers are holding the gates of the fortress, which are about to close, and other imperial soldiers are rushing inside.

If this continues, the fortress will fall and the Imperial troops will be victorious.

“Bazel Garst is not a fool. He is not so incompetent as to take a gamble he cannot win. Then why did he go into the field?”

Barzen kept his face down in thought.

Barzen had expected him to have some sort of trump card to bring the game to a draw in the field, but he has yet to show himself.

Or can they afford to save their best moves at this stage?

“We’re going to win this thing, aren’t we? What’s the matter, then? Garst!”

“……! General Barzen, That!”

“Muh?!”

Barzen looked up at the cry of his deputy. 

In the eye of the beholder, the soldiers who entered the Blaine fortress through the castle gate are rushing out to escape.

The soldiers are crawling to escape, even throwing away the victory that they could have grabbed in a few moments.

“What is that …… magic?”

Dozens of Imperial soldiers are blown away by the black slashes. When he saw the allied soldiers flying through the air as lightly as flower petals, Barzen opened his eyes in shock. 

It seems that inside the fortress there was a sorcerer who was skilled in offensive magic.

Barzen doesn’t know why they’ve been saving the magician for so long, but certainly a high ranking sorcerer could be a trump card in a war situation. 

“….. No, Grandpa. it’s…not…magic”

“Your Highness?”

Célia  murmured in a firm, nervous voice.

As Barzen and Safaris turn to look at her suspiciously, the armoured princess’s face pales as they watch.

Her lips are tightly pressed together, and her small shoulders are shaking.

This is the first time the two of them have seen Célia , who is the picture of innocence, show so much trepidation.

(TL: a feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen.) 

“Whaaaahhhh?”

“…..!”

Barzen, who had been watching the trembling princess, turned his attention to the fortress when a scream cut through the battlefield.

The gates of Blaine Fortress are still open and unclosed.

There are countless Imperial soldiers lying around the gates, and even those who are safe are standing at a distance from the gates, pointing their spears in a frightened manner.

Eventually – under the watchful eyes of the many imperial soldiers – a man emerges through the gates.

He is a young man in black armour. Even the sword he carries in his right hand is jet-black, and his blackened figure resembles that of the god of death in folklore.

The man swung his right hand quickly, and from the sword miasma was released as a slash.

The fierce slash, which spread in a circle around the man in black armour, brushed past the bodies of the Imperial soldiers surrounding the gate.

As soon as the soldiers fell without a drop of blood spurting out, they lay on the ground like corpses.

“It’s not magic,…………, it’s a holy sword. It’s the same holy sword as the Claíomh Solas.”

Célia murmured in a trembling voice. Safaris, too, cries out in astonishment.

The eyes of the princess, staring straight at the man in black armour, are shimmering with hostility, elation and awe.

And the Claíomh Solas at her waist starts to emit sparks as if he is excited in front of a divine weapon of the same rank that stands in front of him as an enemy.

“…… I didn’t think the enemy had a holy sword, did they?”

“I see…… the Kingdom of Zain has one too. One of the twelve holy swords.” 

Safaris cried out in dismay, and Barzen’s face contorted as if he had never seen anything like it.

The old warlord sensed that the tide of battle had turned, and that the victory he had been certain of was slipping from his grasp.

“What an abominable power! A holy sword of darkness and curse!”

In front of Barzen’s gaze, the man held up the holy sword again.

The miasma of the curse swirled around the battlefield in a black tornado, knocking down hundreds of Imperial soldiers in one fell swoop.

Extra: Mertina Marcell on the left and Célia Von Althlein on the right