Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi

Chapter 380: Central Plains Unification War ⑤ Second Battle of Zan Dora, Following the Scorching

After the dust settled from the destruction of the city walls by siege weapons, the enemy cavalry came running through the hole.

I match them by charging on Schwartz with my longsword and shield readied.

Celia and the escort squad, Irijina, and Sekrit follow behind me.

「A city of this size is nothing special! We’ll crush it easily!」

「We have to capture the city quickly and then join in the battle outside. We can’t take too much time.」

We’re being underestimated quite a bit.

I can see how they might feel that way after destroying the city walls of a city like Zan Dora though.

「I’ll show you it’s not going to be that easy.」

In terms of numbers, we are at an overwhelming disadvantage of 15 000 to 3000, but that’s where the complicated layout of the city can be used to our advantage.

At most, the approaching enemy is lined up five horses wide.

Regardless of the city wall being broken, Zan Dora’s main road was never that wide to begin with.

「If that’s the case, the escort unit should be enough. Am I right?」

「Of course, chief!」

Gido replies briskly and Mack nods silently.

I thought I saw Christoph for a split second and soon realized that it was just my imagination.

That guy went to the stars.

「Enemy heavy cavalry in front!」

「Don’t falter! What can a few hundred cavalry do?」

「H-hey. The enormous horse in front...... and that stupidly large sword...... isn’t that-!?」

It seems the enemy has noticed I’m leading the charge.

Their formation almost seemed to mess up, but the man who appears to be the commander points his spear at me.

「How admirable for a general to put himself in the vanguard! I challenge you!」

「Sure, bring it on.」

The distance between us is closed in an instant.

He swings his spear, and I correspondingly tighten my grip.

「I will take out this formidable opponent and prove my loyalty to Her Majesty! Come――!!」

He was a good commander with some guts.

His spear accurately aims for my chest.

I use my shield to deflect the tip to the left and then thrust my longsword at him from the right.

「Guboh!」

The courageous man couldn’t react to my counterattack with how fast the both of us were moving towards each other, so my sword pierces his chest and protrudes out through his back.

「See ya.」

I flick my sword up, tossing the man off my sword and into the air, his body dancing around in midair until gravity brings it down onto the roof of a house.

「The commander-dono......」

「D-don’t falter, the enemy commander is right before you!」

As if inspiring themselves to keep going, the enemy soldiers move their frozen legs.

「The chief has shown us an example of what to do!」

「Follow his lead!」

Undaunted, the escort unit raise their voices and charge forward, turning the fight into an all-out melee.

「Teei!」

Gido blocks a strike and tangles his sword with his opponent’s, directing it away from his body before slashing the enemy’s exposed torso.

Gido has similar skills to Celia, except he has more strength, which allows him to be more forceful.

「Hnngah!!」

Mack swings his warhammer down.

The head of the enemy who attempted to take the blow with his shield is split open through his defense and then the soldier who twisted his body out of the way falls to the floor after his horse is clobbered to death.

His attacks rely purely on brute strength, though that is sufficient most of the time.

Nevertheless, the one who was targeted the most is me.

「Uooooh!!」

「Woah.」

I evade the enemy’s slash and whack his helmet with my sword.

The impact made a satisfying crack sound and then his helmet as well as his head splits in half cleanly.

That wasn’t accurate enough.

「Soryaa!」

「Ooh.」

I grab the spear heading for my body with my left hand, pull the soldier towards me and then push my longsword through his throat.

The man squirts out blood like a geyser before falling off his horse.

That wasn’t fast enough.

「Oryah!」

「Mm.」

I deflect a horizontal sweep aimed at my head with my armguard, then return a slash of my own to him.

His cleanly decapitated head spins several times in the air.

My hand doesn’t feel numb at all, meaning that wasn’t strong enough at all.

「Y-yaaaaah!!」

「Hey now.」

It was a female cavalry who rushed in while shouting, except the timing of her attack didn’t match the timing of her charge.

Schwartz simply steps forward and tackles the horse she’s riding, easily knocking the opponent’s mount down and sending the woman flying into a house.

She didn’t have enough brains.

「I wonder what the next person will be lacking.」

I give a menacing glare to all those around me, scaring off many of them into running towards the other escort squad members.

They don’t have enough guts.

「Here I come!」

「Wahahaha!! Come!!」

An enemy roars and rushes at Irijina, who barks back several times louder.

「Toh! Yah!」

Swift thrusts to Irijina’s chest and neck were easily brushed away by her spear.

「Hmp! Hm, hm, hm, hm!!」

Irijina’s counterattack began.

She unleashed a storm of thrusts to her enemy’s face, chest, throat and stomach. Not only were her attacks fast, her unimaginable strength for a woman broke the opponent’s stance everytime she was blocked.

「Guwah!」

The moment her opponent’s body swayed, Irijina ran her spear into the unguarded thigh of the enemy, which caused a natural curling up reaction.

That’s checkmate.

「Doryaah!!」

Irijina’s voice echoed like thunder before her spear pierced the enemy’s throat.

She lifts the beautifully skewered opponent and throws the body to the ground.

「Wahahahahaha!! I won!!」

Irijina twirls her spear in a good mood and heads toward the next enemy.

She’s someone I can rely on, I just hope she doesn’t get injured.

「S-so fast!」

「You’re just slow.」

Sekrit’s dual swords assault an enemy, giving no time for him to rest.

The enemy desperately defends with a sword and shield, but he couldn’t keep up, getting his shield knocked away, dropping his sword, then having his right and left hand cut off, and finally being decapitated.

As usual, Sekrit is dismembering her opponents unnecessarily.

「Like you’re one to talk.」

An enemy charges at me while I was looking away.

Of course, I was staying alert so he didn’t catch me by surprise.

「Hmph!」

When I swing down my longsword, the man’s head is smashed, his right hand is chopped off, his body is split in half, and various substances splatter everywhere.

「In my case, they end up dismembered not of my own will.」

On that note, Celia fights in an extremely clean way.

「Yah!」

Celia dodges the enemy’s slash and then sticks her sword into a gap in the opponent’s side.

「Gabh......」

Her thin sword pierces the man’s chest from the side and he lets out a groan before dying.

「This little brat!」

She dodges the next enemy’s attack by a hair’s breadth and then slices his wrist.

With the enemy’s attention focused on stopping blood loss from the cut, Celia flies past and cuts the man’s carotid artery with a sweeping motion.

「Sei!」

Celia’s contributions don’t end there.

She reaches for daggers and throws them at the enemy in front of her, using the opening from him moving back in a panic to stick her sword into the helmet’s gap...... into the eye-slit.

Her fighting style is smooth and flowing.

Unlike us, she doesn’t get bathed in the spurt of blood.

She turns to me with her eyes sparkling, trying to see if I’m impressed.

「Fool, don’t look away.」

An enemy tries to attack from behind Celia’s self-satisfied face, but his head is cleaved messily by Sekrit, spilling an abundance of blood on top of Celia’s head and turning her red.

「......」

「You have a problem with that?」

Celia puffs her cheeks unhappily, unable to complain after being saved.

I can be more at ease if I know they’re going to protect each other.

Although there are only a handful of elites from the escort unit, our side is one-sidedly racking up kills.

It suddenly weakens the enemy’s offensive.

「We can’t pass by these few people!?」

「There’s no choice, have the cavalry pull back! The path is too narrow and it’s hard to fight.」

「Have the spearmen step forward. Fill the road with them and form a spear wall!」

Spear infantry replace the cavalry at the front and advance in a spread out formation.

All of them are marching with their spearheads pointed outward so nobody can approach carelessly.

「We sealed their legs for now.」

We stopped the cavalry for now.

Spearmen don’t have the same mobility as horses, so there is no danger of them trampling us

「Everyone, dismount.」

Everything is going as planned so far.

Cavalry are not suited for an urban battle anyways.

「All of you, form the spear wall!」

「Don’t leave any gaps. Tear open a path with your spears.」

The road is packed tightly with soldiers in line, marching with their spears held out.

Countless spears are directed in our direction, and with the number of troops they have reflected in the depth of their formation, it doesn’t look like we can stop them easily.

The dismounted escort unit holds out their shields, however the pressure slowly pushes them backward.

「It would be a different story if this was just a narrow path.」

I raise my hand.

「That’s the signal.」

「Go together.」

Allies hidden on the roofs of shops from both sides of the main road stand up and hurl rocks or logs down at the enemy.

「Above! Careful of your heads!」

「Don’t break formation―― gueh!」

Parts of the enemy ranks become disarranged, thus letting up some pressure.

Both hands are needed to wield the longspears, so shields could not be used.

They have no method to defend themselves from the projectiles.

「Good, the enemy is wavering! Push them back!」

The escort unit who were on the backfoot start moving forward.

I remain still briefly and enjoy the moment.

「Aegir-sama?」

「Didn’t I seem resourceful just now?」

Watching as a plan unfolds with just a signal from my hand is an indescribably nice feeling.

「Tristan was the one who made preparations though.」

I don’t listen to Sekrit.

「I’ll join in too.」

I overlook the state of things.

On the main road in front, the enemy and the escort unit are crammed together, jostling for position.

Although allies on the roofs are chucking stones and spears, the enemy infantry are bringing out shields to support the spearmen, so the effect wasn’t as great as before.

「If I think about this normally, I should go to the front......」

If I swing my sword in that jam-packed space, I’ll take out my own allies.

There’s no point in me going if I’m going to be restricted in a confined space. Rather, I’ll only get in the way.

Let’s climb onto the roof.

Using a ladder prepared in advance to reach the roof, we start attacking immediately.

「Here I go!」

Celia throws her shortswords and stones which have already been gathered.

The enemy is already in position to defend against such an attack, and most of them are blocked, however I don’t mind.

If the enemy focuses their attention on us up here, our allies in front will gain an advantage.

「Geez, we’re fighting like bandits.」

Sekrit throws javelins and hatchets she found from who-knows-where.

Her accuracy isn’t up to Celia’s standards, but the force unleashed from her flexible arm, which bent back to the point where her joints appeared to be dislocated before being whipped forward, is on a completely different level.

Her attacks would throw the opponent off balance if they were blocked or kill instantly otherwise, so the enemy had no choice but to be more careful.

As of this moment, her prowess is being demonstrated as a giant hatchet spins in the air, lops off the head of a shieldbearer and continues on to stab into the face of a spearmen behind.

「I’m over here!!」

Irijina isn’t very skilled at throwing so she stands on the edge of the roof with her spear.

She would stab enemies in her reach from there and skewer those who tried to climb up the roof.

「I’ll also show off my skills.」

I grab a javelin and throw it as hard as I can.

「You missed.」

Because the spear was rotating, the shaft ended up hitting the enemy.

I try throwing a shortsword next.

「You missed again.」

It was blocked by an enemy’s shield and deflected away.

Although the enemy fell backwards from the impact, because the sword was too light, I couldn’t penetrate his shield.

「Damn it all!」

I throw a rock with all my strength behind it.

Because I got too worked up, the rock slipped out of my hands and flew horizontally and landed onto the roof on the opposite side.

「Owah!」

「That was close!」

My allies stare back resentfully.

「So close, you almost had it.」

「Don’t agitate Aegir-sama!」

Everytime Sekrit inserted a joking comment, I would get more irritated.

Nothing’s going well for me today.

No, the weapons are just too small to begin with.

The logs...... they were all thrown down from the first attack. Well, are there any good weapons in the house below me?

――there are.

「Hugryaah! W-what’s that...... a stove!?」

「Why did something like that fly at us!?」

A furnace made of stone flies at high speed and mows down a row of enemy soldiers.

「Are you kidding!? Migya!!」

「That’s not something you can throw!」

A large wooden shelf drops in the middle of the enemy lines and shatters into smaller slivers.

「Don’t get flustered! Furniture being thrown is proof of how desperate the enemy is―― bugh.」

「The commander-dono got squashed!」

A bronze statue of an important-looking old man is thrown at a man on a horse and flattens him into a lump of meat.

「......that’s absurd. And also incredible at the same time.」

「The enemy is visibly getting flustered!!」

I hurl more items as I hear Celia and Irijina praise me.

As more heavy objects fall from the sky, the enemy’s attention is focused more and more on the roofs, allowing the escort unit to fight more comfortably.

By the way, Sekrit started laughing from the time I threw the bronze statue.

Stop watching and fight, what did you come here for?

「They’re starting to collapse. Space is being created!」

As Celia comments, the once orderly ranks of soldiers packing the path have turned into a jumbled mess.

This is our chance.

I grab my longsword with both hands and jump off the roof.

「Eh? W-wait, you can’t!」

Before Celia could finish, my boots crush a person’s head as I land and I simultaneously slash another with my longsword, cutting open his stomach.

「He came down!」

「What an impertinent idiot!」

They must think they could kill me now that I’m within their reach.

More than ten enemies run at me with bloodshot eyes.

「He’s isolated, we have to save him!」

「I’m on my way!!」

I smile reassuringly to ease Celia and Irijina of their worries.

「I wonder who the impertinent one is.」

The enemies scramble excitedly to get to me first.

There are a lot of them, but their attack is not coordinated. Each of them are coming at me independently.

「Hup!」

I also run at the enemies who are running at me.

The first person misjudged the distance and was late to swing his sword.

I crouch down, swipe at his torso and bisect his body.

Bringing the blade back using the momentum of tearing apart the first person’s body, I then stick my sword into the face of a second.

I rely on strength to lift my sword up, along with the second enemy’s head, and meet the third person’s sword.

The enemy’s sword breaks as soon as it makes contact with my longsword and my blade continues downward, cutting diagonally into the man’s shoulder, then escaping out from the man’s side. The person’s head which was attached to the tip of my blade was also flung off.

「Eat this!」

「No thanks.」

My downward swing carries my body closer to the ground and I spin once while squatting at the same time, feeling a slight wind blow above my head as a spear barely misses me.

I utilize the centrifugal force from spinning and slice upward.

The fourth person’s right leg, a little above the ankle, and left leg below the thigh fall to the ground separated from his body.

「Sorah.」

I kick the shield of a fifth enemy to knock him over, then behead the sixth person.

My blade, again, comes back to slice off the head of the fifth person who fell on the ground.

「S-so stro――」

I thrust my sword through the throat of the seventh person before he could finish his comment and then twist the blade to finish him off before pulling my sword out.

「Seven people in an instant...... demon......」

「He isn’t someone a human can match up against......」

The enemy steadily backs away.

Because a large space was created around me, the escort unit in front was granted an even bigger advantage.

「It’s because all of you weren’t attacking in unison. He may be strong, but he only has two hands. Attack together!」

An unnecessary comment was made by the enemy commander.

After looking at each other, enemy soldiers partially surround me and agree on a timing to attack.

「Fumu.」

I lightly tap the heel of my boot against the ground.

The main road was nicely paved with stone, although the earlier scuffle damaged the surface enough for some stones to stick out unevenly.

「Go――!!」

「「「「Uooooooh!!」」」」

The enemy soldiers charge forward all at once after the order was given.

「Hmp!」

I lower my hips and unleash a full-powered sweep.

Obviously, the enemy was wary of a slash from me.

However, I wasn’t aiming at them.

My longsword slammed into the stone road.

My attack crushed the paving violently, scattering sand and smaller rocks at the group of soldiers.

「Uwah!?」「M-my eyes!」「Ow!」「Stupid, don’t stop moving!」

For a split second, all of them stood still.

That was enough for me.

I work off the power from the first strike and spin, swinging my sword at the rearing enemies this time.

I couldn’t tell if what I heard were voices or simply air being sucked in, I just know that I heard more than a few.

I felt some resistance on my sword too.

「......what is going on?」

「Hiiiih!!!」

The enemy commander mutters dumbfoundedly, then the female soldier accompanying him screams and falls over.

What they saw was a display of five standing corpses with only the portion of the body below the waist remaining.

A few seconds later, the upright corpses slowly fell forward, spilling guts everywhere.

My gaze shifts to the commander next.

Before the commander could move though, a dagger pierces his throat.

「Doryah!!」

「Shi-」

At the same time, a soldier trying to circle behind me gets impaled by Irijina’s spear and then a crossbowman aiming at me is hit in the chest by a shortsword thrown by Sekrit.

With that, my back is covered.

「The enemy has collapsed. Push, push――!」

Our interference bore fruit and the escort squad is now overcoming the enemy in front.

As if going against the current of a river, the enemy starts running away.

「Careful not to get entangled by the enemy and kill them.」

「Yes!」

「Yeah!!」

「Mm.」

We stick to the side of the path, making sure not to block the escape route while slaughtering the enemies.

My longsword cuts down enemy soldier’s like grass, Celia’s sword swipes at the legs and necks of the enemies, and Irijina skewers the enemies with her spear.

Sekrit makes sure to finish off any fallen enemies.

「I won’t tell you to show mercy, but why do you have to cut them up starting from the legs? Please aim for their vitals.」

「They scream more that way, plus it’s fun.」

Her personality doesn’t seem curable.

When the enemy in front of us withdrew up until the area around the gate, a messenger runs up to me.

「I have instructions from Tristan-sama.」

「Why is Tristan giving directions to Aegir-sama!?」

Celia grabs the messenger by the collar.

Tristan is certainly overseeing the overall urban battle operation in Zan Dora, however I don’t remember giving him any instructions...... regardless, there isn’t any meaning in strangling the messenger and there isn’t any time to complain.

I’ll just have Irijina kick his ass after the battle.

Unlike Celia, she’s got ridiculous strength, so he better be prepared for a good beating.

「Go on.」

「Right. He orders the escort unit to leave the main road immediately and to transition to phase two of the operation―― hiih!」

「Order? Did you say “order” to Aegir-sama!?　......hrghaah.」

I pinch the enraged Celia’s nose and quiet her down.

「Save it for later. We’re going to move to stage two. Let’s join up with Tristan for now.」

I am not opposed to abandoning the main road we worked hard to protect.

The escort squad members don’t show any signs of resistance either. They also understand the plan well.

The second operation...... immediately following the soldiers spreading out and hiding in the alleys or small residential buildings, the enemy bombarded the area around the main road with cannons and catapults.

Stones paving the road were drastically blasted out of place, clouds of dust billow up from the two-story shops as they crumble to the ground, and large holes riddled the roofs of wooden houses.

We watch it all happen from an outsider’s perspective.

「Look at that damage.」

「If we tried to protect it, we would have suffered major casualties.」

Hidden in a location distanced from the main road, we observe the scene in front of us with a bitter smile.

Stones thrown by the catapults ruthlessly demolished this area’s largest commercial area.

「......uuu, huge losses for sure.」

「Haah, I know Adolph-san will grumble about this to me.」

Celia lets out a sad comment.

I ignore Tristan’s complaint.

「There’s no use fussing about it now.」

Since we’ve decided to wreck it, let’s see it through to the end.

After adjusting my attitude, it unexpectedly feels good watching everything unfold.

「Ah.」

A cannonball crashes into a pink building and partially destroys it.

That was the only high-class brothel in this city.

「Grr......I was prepared for the city to be destroyed, but it’s still tough to watch after all.」

「「「......」」」

They’re so cruel to aim for a brothel.

After the attack from the siege weapons ended, the enemy cavalry charged forward once again.

Learning from what happened earlier, the cavalry advance slowly along the path, though they start speeding up gradually when they realize the main road is unmanned.

It seems like they thought we ran away in a hurry.

「It’s only because we didn’t need to protect anything.」

Tristan promptly gives a signal.

Several soldiers quickly emerge from the shadows and run into a sturdy stone-made building along the main road.

「They’re going to sever the pillar next to the path and temporarily replace it with a log.」

「If it’s removed......」

Like wooden toy blocks, building after building is made to tilt to one side.

「Then it this happens.」

The once sturdy buildings fall successively on top of each other with thunderous booms.

Not long later, the road is filled with piles of rubble.

「Now, the only usable roads are the narrow alleys and the cavalry have become worthless.」

I can’t see the enemy’s faces, but they must be stomping their feet in frustration.

The second phase has begun.

As the enemy soldiers tried to enter the central part of the city, our allies hidden in various alleys and houses engage in small skirmishes.

Not only would this neutralize the difference in numbers, the situation can be worsened if the enemy is cornered into a tight alley.

There is no room for the cavalry to run. The enemy would either have to fight in each and every house to take it away from us or destroy it as they go along.

Furthermore, the foundational pillars in the buildings at strategic points and high vantage points were cut so that the moment the enemy entered those locations they fought desperately to rob from us, the buildings would collapse onto and crush the poor enemy soldiers.

「Things will be settled outside the city anyways. All we have to do here is to buy time and irritate the enemy.」

Tristan says as he continues to give out instructions based on the detailed movements of the enemy.

I help out by cutting up the enemy in places about to be broken through.

Everything is generally going as planned, except the enemy is still closing in on the central part of the city.

「What wasn’t predicted was the large quantity of siege weapons. We aren’t even a proper fortress city, so I don’t understand why they have so many...... gosh, nothing ever goes perfectly. My life is a prime example of that......」

I don’t care what Tristan is complaining about, but I do think the number of siege weapons is problematic.

When we gain an advantage in the alley fights, they rain down cannonballs and stones on us.

They keep destroying our defense camps and we have no choice but to continue retreating.

When a certain camp falls, Tristan lets out an extra heavy sigh.

「Acha...... so that station finally went down. I guess this is it.」

「Surrendering is not allowed. You alone will fight to the end and die.」

「Why do I have to...... I mean, normally it would be impossible to defend when they’ve pushed this far. So our only option is to move to the third step. This cannot be undone...... so I really didn’t want to do this.」

Tristan looks at me and heaves another big sigh.

「Haaah...... what am I going to say to Adolph-san?」

He complains to the end and instructs messengers to be sent to the ally soldiers dispersed throughout the city, leading to visible movement.

Certain squads run as fast as they can, certain squads join up and isolate themselves with the enemies.

Still, others force an attack to secure various sites.

Once Tristan receives the notice from all squads that preparations are complete, he turns to face me.

「I can’t be the one who gives the final order. I can’t take the responsibility for what happens and I don’t have any obligation to. This is the Margrave’s duty.」

I guess that’s true.

「Okay, stage three of the operation, commence!」

「So easy......」

It’s not easy at all.

I decided to burn the city so what good does hemming and hawing do.

If I’m going to mull over it, then I wouldn’t have chosen to do so from the start.

By my order, fire erupts simultaneously in different parts of the city.

The city of Zan Dora, the target of the siege weapons and where we were doing battle up till now, was instantly engulfed in flames.

「That’s the end.」

Yes, it is like Tristan says, this is the end.

The hellfire burns without discrimination and without end―― well, actually our allies got away safely, leaving only the enemies to burn.

Ally and enemy stop fighting altogether and lower their bodies to avoid the fire.

Except compared to our allies who only choke on the smoke, the places where the enemies are are swallowed by fire and soldiers would run around covered in flames before eventually burning to a crisp and turning into ash.

In some ways, it looked as if we had a fire monster working on our side.

「My, oh my...... I see.」

Celia is wide-eyed.

Sekrit also stares at Tristan in awe.

「It almost seems like a living creature.」

「It’s the result of my hard work. The timing was really strict.」

The trick to getting the fire on our side is simple.

In Zan Dora, there are houses made of wood and houses made of stone.

The houses made of wood will burn and the houses made of stone won’t.

Our allies happen to be in the districts that won’t burn up, while the enemies were in areas that can burn. That’s all.

「No, that’s completely wrong. I would have such an easy time if things were so clear-cut. The wooden houses where our allies stayed in were coated with mud and demolished so the fire wouldn’t spread. In the houses likely taken by the enemy, flammable objects were casually placed all over. I had to keep looking at the map and carefully comparing their predicted formation...... I couldn’t get a wink of sleep, much less a nap.」

Either way, the bottom line is that our allies were in a camp that couldn’t burn and the enemies were in a camp that could.

「Yes, that’s right. Who cares about the theory.」

「Wahahahaha!! It’s all good if we won!!」

「Praise my efforts more...... I’ve just done three years worth of work......」

Sekrit pats Tristan’s head as he slumps his shoulders.

「Fumu, you’re a pretty interesting guy. You’ve piqued my curiosity.」

What was that?

「Please don’t look at me like that. Rather, I’m scared my neck is going to get twisted off when Sekrit-san touches me.」

「Kukuku.」

I felt jealous for a second there, but it’s like a cat playing with a frog no matter how I look at it, so I’ll forgive them this time.

「So just like that, the enemy can’t move anymore?」

「Yes. Now, there are only two ways of dealing with it. The first is to run out of the city for a while. If they do that, they can’t attack until the fire dies down and their losses are already substantial...... in other words, they will do exactly as we planned.」

「And the other way is?」

It was the soldier on lookout duty who answered instead of Tristan.

「The enemy is attacking! They’re making their way through the fire with brute force!」

「...... so that’s how it is. They just have to jump over our camps if they want to avoid the fire. It will be fairly disadvantageous to them, but if they want to take the city no matter what, this is one option. I understand the theory behind it, I just didn’t think they would actually do it.」

I inform Tristan with a casual smile..

「They’ve come out.」

「’Kay. I’ll take command here.」

When I lifted up my face, I could feel the wave of heat against my skin.

Well, that’s only natural. Even if I’m not directly touching the fire, the entire city is burning.

I soak my cloak in mater and wrap it around my body.

Celia swiftly brushes away the sparks from her head, then wets her beautiful silver hair and a cloth with plenty of water.

「It’s the wonderful smell of burning people.」

Sekrit takes a deep breath with a trance-like look on her face.

「Like I though, this person is really weird......」

「Ready to go!!」

Irijina stuffs her mouth with bread and assumes a stance with her spear.

The battle continues within the fire.

The enemy pushes forward countless times despite getting burned, meanwhile our allies drives them back without taking a single step backwards.

We also do our part to cut enemies down, impale enemies, throw enemies into the fire, and generally go wild.

Nevertheless, our attack wasn’t what caused the most damage. Many were enveloped by the fire and lost their lives that way.

In reality, the battle lasted no more than 30 minutes in the extreme heat, yet it felt like half a day to the soldiers.

Eventually, the short period of time, which felt like an eternity, passed and the enemy collapsed.

There was no need to chase them down as the enemy reached the limits of their stamina and either fell victim to the scorching heat or mistook their escape route and got caught in the flames.

When the fire subsided, a very small number of injured survivors and innumerable burnt corpses remained on the battlefield.

「Report on the damage.」

「Ally losses are moderate, the enemy’s losses are extensive...... 80% of Zan Dora has been destroyed by the fire.」

「Mm.」

I raise my sword and yell.

「Declare our victory. Make sure our allies fighting outside the city can hear it.」

Urban warfare and fire in a city gives off bad impressions.

We have to let it be known that Zan Dora has indeed not fallen and victory is ours.

「「「「「UOOOOOOH!!」」」」」」

The soldiers shout loudly.

「Urgaaaaaah!!」

「Guoooooooh!」

Sekrit and Irijina both make sounds one would not imagine a woman can make. They were roaring like beasts.

「Uoohーーー-desu!」

Celia does her best to let out a rough howl, though it only sounds cute.

「Oohー, gehogehoh, achoo.」

Tristan’s not even trying.

I let out a shout of my own to finish.

I’ll give them an extra loud roar.

I suck in a huge breath of air and then let out a resounding sound.

「――――――!!」

Even I was surprised at what a savage roar came out from my mouth.

「Hiih!」「Uwah!」「Was that an orc!? No, a dragon!?」

Ally soldiers flinch and hold up their weapons while looking around frantically, almost like they were scared for their lives. Gosh, how rude of them.

「Piih!」

In addition, an enemy female soldier rolled out of a house which wasn’t completely burned.

She dropped the crossbow that she was probably planning to snipe me with.

She tries to run immediately, although her hips give out and she can’t get away.

As she was wiggling on the ground, Celia hits her with a heel drop and knocks her unconscious.

That can’t be because of my roar. Anyways, the good news keeps coming in.

「――reporting in!! The battle outside the city resulted in an ally victory! The enemy has started to retreat and Leopolt-sama has transitioned to pursuing them.」

「We should meet up and give chase too. I know everybody is tired, but this is a critical point. Let’s persevere a little longer.」

Thus, the second battle of Zan Dora ended.

I defeated the enemy on the inside and outside of the city and went as far as persistently chasing the enemy to deal the eastern army a major blow.

Leopolt and Tristan agreed that the enemy’s eastern army lost its ability to march on.

「20 000 defeated 70 000. This is a big win.」

「Yeah, I guess.」

I look at the city of Zan Dora.

It has been devastated to say the least and most would consider this normal for scorched earth tactics.

Citizens stare blankly at the ruins as Myla ushers them to the north.

They won’t be able to live here anymore.

「Erich better do his part. If this continues, we’ll lose as much as we win.」

We raise a burnt flag on the smouldering remains of Zan Dora.

「So, if you’re feeling down, why not torment this prisoner girl?」

Sekrit suggests.

Ah, that girl who was scared of my roar?

「I don’t like that kind of thing.」

Myla and Irijina also shake their head in disapproval.

「Aw, you’re not going to rape her?」

Sekrit disappointedly tosses the whip and fruit knife in her hands.

「I have to speak with her though.」

She’s a precious prisoner. I might learn some beneficial information from her.

「What’s wrong?」

Myla and Celia silently narrow their eyes.

Let’s not worry.

......for some reason, it’s hard to walk properly.

「That’s because you have a bulge in your pants.」

「Yotto.」

Sekrit picks up the whip she threw away earlier.

I told you, I don’t need that.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 25 years old. Spring.

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Margrave. Great Feudal Lord of Eastern Area. Mountain Legend. Friend of the Dwarves. Friend of the King of Aless. Dragon Slayer Hero.

Elf Mediator. Sex King of White City.

Escort: 130 men

Infantry: 11 500, Cavalry: 1200, Archers: 1400, Bow Cavalry: 5800, Cannoneers: 450

Total: 20 480 men.

Cannons: 60, Large Cannons: 30, Dwarven Cannons: 16, Field Cannons: 20, Chariots: 45

Achievements: Demolished Enemy Eastern Army

Losses: Zan Dora Destroyed

Assets: 200 000 gold

Sexual Partners: 776, children who have been born: 68 + 565 (non-human)

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