Chapter 187 : Chapter 187

Chapter : 187

War.

A ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍once-in-a-lifetime gamble, staking everything—honor, wealth, and even one’s life.

That ‍​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍was why surviving for a long time in war could not be dismissed as mere luck. It meant possessing a special sense and an ability to read circumstances—an insight that ordinary people simply did not have.

And ‍​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍Count Steffen, who had survived on battlefields for more than ten years, possessed that in abundance.

“Your ‍​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍Excellency! It is a trap!”

“I ‍​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍know that!”

The moment they reached the palisade—identified as the weak point—the soldiers of the Margrave of Bellua burst out as though they had been waiting.

-Kill them!

-KKAAAARGH, spare me!

-FSSSSSHK!

-CRACK. THUD.

The soldiers who had charged at the front became cold corpses in an instant.

More troops forced themselves forward after them, but it did not seem to help much. The defenses were sturdier than expected, and each soldier was elite.

A trap prepared to the hilt.

‘Damn it…!’

Even as he marched out, something had felt wrong the whole time….

As he grasped the situation, Count Steffen’s mouth tasted bitter.

To think he had been played.

At this point, Count Steffen had no choice but to admit it.

‘I thought he was just a blood-soaked whelp, but the way he moves is like a hardened old general.’

Who could have predicted it?

He had displayed a lax, debauched air for an entire week, holding a banquet without pause.

From the castle walls, Count Steffen had seen with his own eyes the margrave stumbling about drunk. That was why he had prepared this raid….

“Your Excellency, should we not withdraw now? If this continues, the assault force will collapse completely.”

“No. We continue. Push through!”

“What? B-but….”

At Count Steffen’s order, his vassals hesitated.

No matter how they looked at it, forcing troops into that place was madness. The soldiers they had brought were already elite; if they lost them here, how would they defend the castle afterward?

For an instant, the vassals suspected that Count Steffen was losing his rational judgment for the sake of pride.

In truth, that was partly correct.

If Count Steffen withdrew now, what would become of his dignity? He would be crushed utterly.

But aside from that, Count Steffen had his own reasoning.

“It has been a week since they began that banquet. Do you think he can control that many people? There cannot be many troops he can still deploy.”

“Ah?!”

“Indeed. Now that you mention it, that is true.”

“So keep pressing! Spur the men on—get them over that palisade!”

Saying so, Count Steffen swept the battlefield with ice-cold eyes.

His words were firm, but it still did not seem possible to break through that palisade and inflict meaningful damage.

He needed another opening—something that could deal serious harm to the Margrave of Bellua’s formation.

“Pull out everyone necessary for command and gather all the knights to the rear.”

“Are you withdrawing?”

“No. I will hold them as reserves for a moment.”

“Understood.”

Using his strongest force—the knights—as reserves was an order that made little sense, but the vassals did not question him.

The situation was already twisted enough, and they had no desire to discover what Count Steffen might do in a fury.

“Tsk.”

Clicking his tongue at his cowed subordinates, Count Steffen mounted his horse.

-Neeeeigh!

‘Hmmm. Where is it? Where is it?’

A vital point that could overturn the entire momentum of the battlefield.

He had to find it.

With so many soldiers and such a wide battlefield, no one could control every place perfectly.

Especially not in the pitch-black night. Orders were often lost, and darkness and shouting could shatter morale in an instant, turning a winning fight into a defeat.

Just as a single small hole can bring down a dam, a battle, too, could collapse at once from a single weakness that looked like a mere mistake.

And that was what Count Steffen did best.

‘Found it!!’

From afar, as he observed calmly, his view suddenly cleared.

The Margrave of Bellua was shifting troops—forcing them along—to slaughter the force already caught in the trap.

Even soldiers who should have been holding the central main force.

-CLANG!

“All knights, raise your lances—!”

Drawing his sword, Count Steffen shouted to the gathered knights.

“The target is the central main force! We strike there! Charge—!”

Count Steffen’s lethal counterattack, born of fury, had begun.

---

-WAAAAAAH!

-THUDTHUDTHUDTHUD

-A lance charge! Block them all!

-Too late!

-CRUNCH. CRACK!

In the darkness, the sudden charge of the knights crushed the soldiers in an instant.

A commander who belatedly grasped the situation tried to form a phalanx, but it was useless. This was a lance charge—knights who had built momentum from afar and driven their speed higher and higher.

-Break through—!

-Do not stop. Break through like this and seize the Margrave of Bellua—!

As a result, the cavalry led by Count Steffen tore through the center in a blink and came racing toward the command tent of the main force.

“Damn it!”

A four-star general from [Pangea Universalise] was not someone to be taken lightly.

To find a gap for a counterattack even in such a disadvantageous situation.

That cool, ruthless judgment left me so dumbfounded I could not even speak.

I had thought I had won the battle of wits completely, but when the lid was opened, it was the exact opposite.

As I clicked my tongue and berated myself—

“Your Excellency, you must evade!”

“Their momentum is too overwhelming. Even now—!”

The knights around me shouted in urgency.

They were all telling me to flee.

It was not honorable, but the charge led by Count Steffen was that fierce.

The gate in the central palisade had been breached long ago.

Even the second defensive line, thrown together in desperate haste, did not look as though it would last.

“We will hold them back, so please withdraw first!”

“What are you doing? Why are you not escorting His Excellency?”

With grim resolve, the knights drew their swords as they spoke.

They looked ready to throw away their lives to protect me.

However—

“What nonsense is this? Withdraw like cowards? Come to your senses!”

I roared at them.

“Hurry and rally the soldiers. We must stop them!”

If the supreme commander retreated, how could this chaos be contained?

And in the middle of the night, no less.

Discipline was already loose from the prolonged banquet; if Count Steffen’s cavalry ran rampant inside the main force, the army would collapse in an instant.

-CLANG!

I clenched my teeth and drew my sword.

“Follow me. My place is at the very front. There is no retreat!”

Even if I died—no, I could not die.

In any case, if we were to break, we had to break at the front.

That was the only answer—how to overcome this crisis and force the path toward victory.

Do not let yourself be stained by fear.

Then the way will reveal itself.

---

-CLANG-CLANG, CLANG, CLANG.

-CRUNCH!

-GUHGK!

The main force, which had been quiet, was swallowed from every direction by the shriek of metal and the screams of men.

“KYAAAH! Damn it—what the hell is this?!”

Startled, Magician Azulela burst out from the tent where she had been resting and shouted.

“It seems things have gone wrong. Count Steffen’s knights appear to have launched a raid on us.”

“What? What are you talking about, Agpiel? A raid? Had we not already won? Was that not why we held the banquet?”

“Tsk.”

Magician Agpiel clicked his tongue at Azulela’s words.

For someone called a magician, how could she be so dull and slow-witted? He had been pleased lately, seeing her unearth and develop mysteries in her own way, but perhaps he needed to dock her points once again.

“The banquet was bait. Bait to draw in Count Steffen.”

“Whaaat? Then why are we being attacked right now?”

“Because the plan must have warped. Count Steffen seems more capable than expected. Hrk!”

As he spoke, Magician Agpiel rose and swung his staff.

-Woooooong!

-BZZZZT!

-GUHGK!!

One of the charging knights was wrapped in a surge of rising timber and became a skewered corpse.

At the gruesome sight, Azulela flinched and shouted after Magician Agpiel as he moved ahead.

“S-sage, where are you going so fast?”

“Where else would I go? To the margrave, of course. He must be fighting at this very moment.”

“M-might he not have fled? If the enemy has pushed this far, the command tent cannot be intact….”

“Tsk. Do you still not know that man?”

As if she did not know.

A crafty, sinister, exploitative tyrant of a lord! Azulela pouted as she thought it, though she did not dare say it aloud.

“That man would be commanding at the front by now. He knows that retreat means losing this war, so he will not pull back.”

“R-really?”

Azulela tilted her head at Agpiel’s words. If it were the lord she knew, he would never do such a thing.

But before she could even finish, Magician Agpiel cut her off and spoke like an order.

“Ah, you will come too.”

“What?! No, why should I—”

“Why? Are you not a magician who handles mysteries as well? You must go and help the margrave. Unless… you are not saying you plan to run away here, are you?”

Magician Agpiel looked at Azulela as though she were contemptible. Without thinking, Azulela blurted out in a shout.

“N-no! What do you take me for, speaking to me like that?! I was going to do that anyway. H-hmph! Let us go. No, I will lead the way!”

Of course, the moment she said it, she regretted it terribly.

‘Damn it. Why did I say that? If I go there and Count Steffen notices me, I will be in real trouble….’

No matter how openly she worked as a vassal for the Margrave of Bellua, she had not yet abandoned her status as a court magician.

And if she used magic in front of Count Steffen?

He would realize at once that she had betrayed the emperor. Then, condemned for her insolence, she might earn a fury so great that she would be visited night after night by unwelcome guests.

But even so, she could not bring herself to explain her situation and slip away from Magician Agpiel.

-KKAAAARGH!

-BZZZZT!

-CRUNCH, CRACK!

-KK—

-Ugh… a magician—! There is a monstrous magician!

Because the sight of Magician Agpiel’s back as he led the way was far too terrifying.

“…….”

Truly, a great sage.

Azulela had never seen a magician who handled mystery—destructive mystery, at that—so freely.

-Gulp.

If she said anything foolish, it felt as though she might end up like that twisted, dead knight as well.

“What are you doing? Surely you are not…?”

“Eek! No! I am casting! Look, Sage! Hah! Hah!”

As a result, Azulela—who had originally meant to read the room and slip away—had no choice but to move more actively than anyone.

‘Waaah….’

Somehow…

Azulela could not shake the feeling that everything was becoming tangled—more and more badly.

---

-CLANG, CLANG!

-WHOOSH!

-Die!

-You die instead, you vile bastard! Raiding at night like a mercenary—!

Near the command tent of the central main force, it was already a bedlam.

Knights were so thoroughly entangled that it was difficult to tell ally from enemy.

“Damn…”

Magician Agpiel sighed at the sight.

If things were this bad here, was the young noble not truly in danger?

At this point, he almost wished that, as Azulela had said earlier, the margrave had fled.

A fear struck him—what if he was already too late?

“D-do you think he has already lost and been captured?”

“Shut your mouth—! If he had been captured, would these men still be resisting? They would have collapsed long ago and scattered.”

Even so, a foul thought brushed through Magician Agpiel’s mind. It stirred his emotions, something that rarely happened to him.

“Tch. Follow me. We must go forward!”

Magician Agpiel snapped, hurrying his steps. With burned tents and fallen corpses all around, his unease only grew.

But then—

“Oh… dear.”

The moment he reached the front, Magician Agpiel realized that he had been worrying over nothing.

-A-a monster!!

-Uwaaaah! Do not cling to the margrave! Fight from far—kgh!

-CRACK!

-CRUNCH—!

The Margrave of Bellua was butchering knights—holding a holy sword in his right hand and a war hammer in his left.

“Great Sage, it does not look as though he needs our help…?”

“…Be quiet.”