Chapter 1295: Arrival of Reinforcements
「That’s... the banner of the North Conquest Duke!」
Huh? So the last duke finally reveals himself?
「And those are the Vermilion Eye Knights behind him!」
Sibylla had apparently lost contact with the last Red Knight division earlier, and now they arrive on the battlefield alongside the duke.
Are they really allies though?
Pwon! Pwon! Pwooooooon!
At the forefront, a knight with a large flag at his back blew a golden trumpet rhythmically. Must be some kind of charge fanfare.
Then, without a word, the knights began advancing towards the Evil God Fragments.
The orderly formation galloping across the land was almost mesmerizing.
Moreover, I could tell their mounts weren’t ordinary horses because of their extraordinary speed.
There was a steady flow of mana emanating from the horses’ bodies, enveloping them in light. In other words, every single one of these thousands of horses were magical beasts.
What’s more, they were not the only ones who appeared on the battlefield.
「...! Look, the sky!」
「A bunch of blackish things are flying toward us?」
『Huh?』
Indeed, the western sky was dotted with countless black shadows. All of them were fluttering around with bat-like wings.
And they were clearly getting closer.
Both Fran and I knew that this was no enemy, since we recognized their identities immediately.
Judging by their ominous appearance and sinister mana, they were all demons, making them the forces of Phyllius. I could even sense the mana of Flut and Satia.
They were closely accompanied by a demonic presence more powerful than any I had ever seen before. There must be another member of Phyllius’s royal family among them.
「...! And over there too!」
『Yeah!』
This time, Fran turned towards the east. There was yet another approaching army, and we recognized some of the mana signatures.
「I think I sense Carna?」
『Yeah. And there are some adventurers and academy teachers too!』
The timing was almost too perfect, as if it had been planned. Were they actually coordinating together? Or perhaps they had been waiting for an opportunity to strike, which revealed itself when the capital got nuked to the ground.
OROOOOOORH!
The fragments were evidently displeased, which means...
「Evil Crusher.」
As Fran pointed on, they had invoked a power similar to our Evil Crusher. The surprising part was that every single knight was equipped with this sword.
Such a powerful anti-evil sword, and they have a copy for everyone? Just how much would that cost?
「...Huh? They aren’t using ice?」
「What do you mean?」
「The North Duke’s subordinates are famous in Raydoss for using ice-enchanted magic swords and armor, which was apparently due to his relic... But it seems he can produce gear with other attributes too.」
So he has a relic capable of bestowing elementally-enchanted gear to his subordinates? I guess Chariot already proved its ability to manipulate multiple elements, so such a power is not too far-fetched.
That said, powerful equipment would be rendered useless if the wielders are weak. In that sense, gathering such skilled knights might be more difficult than acquiring tons of magical horses or enchanted gear.
『Incredible...』
「That knight at the front is a black cat.」
Huh? Wait, she really is a black cat! There were clearly black cat ears on the one who used the skill for enhancing their army speed! To think we would find such a powerful black cat at a place like this...!
I could also see fishkin and insectkin among their ranks, so they apparently employ demihumans regardless of race. They must be running something similar to a meritocracy.
In sync with the valiant efforts of the Northern Knights, magic came flying in from the forces to the east. They had bombarded the fragments with a spell containing an anti-evil power similar to the knights.
This seemed to be a ritual spell performed by over 100 magicians. As expected from the elite graduates from the Academy of Magic.
I doubt it inflicted much lasting damage, but it definitely served as a deterrent. Not to mention the other 1,000 mages keeping up the pressure with an endless rain of spells.
That’s when the demons dove into action.
They had blasted the fragments with countless black explosions, pushing them back. Again, this seemed to be intended as suppressing fire rather than for inflicting damage.
「I’ll head in to support them.」
「But Fran, your sword is still covered in cracks. Do you have a spare or something?」
(...Master?)
『I’m good to go. No problem at all.』
(Really? You’re not pushing yourself?)
『Yeah, I’m completely fine.』
I’ll push myself as much as it takes for Fran. I am her sword, after all. My repair has progressed quite a bit, and I’ve regained most of my sensing and control abilities. I’m ready to go.
『Let’s get going!』
「Nn!」