CH 43

What?! It’s the enemy’s surprise attack!?”

In the crucible of confusion and anger, Dallas Safaris cries out in distress.

In the midst of this chaos, Dallas Safaris cried out in distress as the Kingdom troops suddenly stormed the Imperial position on the hill. There were only about 500 soldiers who charged into the camp. If he looks at the numbers alone, it is not an opponent that should be feared by the Imperial army, which has an army that reaches 10,000 soldiers.

But the timing of the surprise attack was so unexpected that the soldiers of the Imperial army could not fight back properly, and they were attacked unilaterally.

“Why? Why didn’t anyone notice?　What were the guards doing?”

It was a cry of the soul that came out of Safaris’ mouth. It was a question from the bottom of his heart.

It’s not a surprise that the kingdom’s army raided the Empire’s positions.

Hitting the enemy’s main camp is a common tactic in warfare, and of course Safaris knows this.

What he doesn’t know is how they managed to pull off such a surprise attack.

“We’ve built our camp on a hill with a good view so that the enemy can’t surprise us.　How is it that no one noticed them? How could we have been the only ones getting hit?”

“Stop, Safaris.”

Placing his hand on the shoulder of his second-in-command, who was shouting in disbelief, Gracos Barzen said in a stern tone.

“There is no point in asking why. There is only the result in front of you. Accept the result in front of you and move on.”

“Sorry about that ……!”

Safaris’s eyes widen at the words of his superior and he immediately tries to gather the confused Imperial soldiers together.

As he watches his men run towards his position, he clenches his fists tightly and stares at the enemy fortress.

“You’ve done it,………… Bazel Garst!”

From the top of the hill, so far from the fortress, it was impossible to see the enemy general who was supposed to be there.

But Barzen could clearly see Garst’s martial face with a smile on it, as he succeeded in his ruse.

Normally, a position built on a hill with a good view of the city is unlikely to be taken by surprise by the enemy.

The sun was still shining at its zenith, as it would be at night. The sun was still shining at its zenith, and any ally who missed the enemy’s shadow would have been slain by Barzen before the enemy could strike.

This is because of the young man who is now crossing swords with Célia.

“Is it…… that holy sword holder acts as a diversion. ……!”

The reason why the Imperial troops were caught by surprise was because all the imperial soldiers in the camp were blinded by the battle between Raidorl and Célia  that was unfolding below them.

Raidorl was scattering cursed winds, while Célia was unleashing thunderbolts like the wrath of heaven. The battle between the two holy sword-bearers was like something out of a myth, and everyone present watched with bated breath.

This is why they were too late to notice the Kingdom Army’s ambush coming from the opposite direction of the battlefield.

“The holder of the holy sword is a trump card that rivals an army ….., and I never thought he would use it just to attract our attention ……!”

Barzen’s bearded face twisted with regret.

It’s not just a diversion or a decoy. It’s not only the eyes of the people who are caught in the middle, but also the eyes of Célia.

As the keeper of the holy sword, no surprise attack can succeed without her being in position. The reason for Raidorl’s flamboyant rampage with the tornado was probably to lure Célia, another holy sword holder, away from the camp.

“Guh. you, young bastard……. you’ll be sorry later.”

He slapped his blue-streaked forehead and snapped out of it.

After the enemy attack, the Imperial positions are still in chaos, and completely unorganized.

Despite Safaris’ best efforts, it was only a matter of time before the enemy reached Barzen.

The general of the westward invasion army of the Alsatian Empire is nominally the royal family, Célia Von Althlein.

But the real commander is Barzen, and if the old general is killed, the invasion force will collapse.

“I think I have to admit defeat here. I think I’ll pull back and reorganize the army.” 

“I’m sorry, but that’s a bit of a problem.”

“Who?”

At the sound of a voice behind him, Barzen turns around in a panic.

“Did I, who should have survived many battles, not notice she was behind me so easily?” 

It was a girl who looked like a girl who didn’t look suitable on the battlefield.

“A..maid?”

“Yes, I am a maid– Fufufu”

“What kind of a joke is this?!”

Behind Barzen stood a girl dressed in the kind of clothes a female servant would wear.

The silver-haired girl, who is probably two or three years younger than Célia, grabbed the hem of her skirt with both hands and waved it happily, wondering what was so funny.

“Why is a child like you doing on the battlefield …..?　You’re not a member of the Kingdom…… Army.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I don’t have much time, so I’ll just finish my business here…………[Shadowbound].”

“HGuhhh”

A black shadow stretched out from under the girl’s feet and wrapped itself around Barzen’s body like a tentacle.

In the blink of an eye, the old general, who had supported the Imperial army for many years, was bound hand and foot, and crawled to the ground to lick it.

“Noooooo …… you ……!”

“It’s boring to tie up old people, after all. Well, Master will reward me if I catch you before the kingdom’s army, won’t that be nice?”

“Master ……? You are not a kingdom soldier,……”

“Oh, don’t be like that. Let’s wrap it up quickly, because the people from the Empire will be here soon.” 

“Gah!”

The girl in the maid’s uniform clasps her palms together. In a moment, only darkness could Barzen’s eyes see.

“Célia……, please run away ……!”

Barzen shouts in his fading consciousness. The last thing he wants to think about is the princess, whom he loves like a grandchild.

But the words never came out of his mouth and disappeared with his consciousness into the darkness.

“General Barzen, prepare to withdraw ………… what?”

By the time his second-in-command, Safaris, came back to Barzen, his esteemed superior had disappeared without a trace.