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Volume 5 Chapter 1 Part 6

Lassic chuckled. Now they have no choice but to prepare themselves for a tough battle.

「Lord Lassic, please step back together with Lord Serge. I will take the lead. 」

Moreno suggested in his usual light tone.

「But I am now the leader of the Artuk Treaty, you know? And as a leader, I cannot simply run away from the battle. If Milza is coming this way, then that just means that I have to challenge him right here. 」

Lassic said so, and he calmly drew his sword.

「Please don’t die. If you die, Lord Lassic dies, the Artuk Treaty is going to die with you. 」

After Serge’s contracted Mage called out to Lassic, she stepped back as if to urge her own Lord.

「I’m not going to repeat the tragedy of the Theater King. 」

Lassic muttered to himself, spreading his men out and preparing for his cavalry charge. If the formation is not in order, there is no choice but to let them fight at their own discretion.

「Don’t underestimate my soldiers. 」

The soldiers led by Lassic were thoroughly trained in the mercenary style of fighting. Furthermore, it is strengthened with the power of the 「Spartan」 Banner. Close quarters combat is where they’re showing their true strength.

「Captain Grak, it’s your turn. 」

Lasik called out to the giant mercenary captain.

The mercenary army led by Grak was hired when he was still the Lord of Mimura, a village inherited from his father, and has run with him on many battlefields. Now the relationship between them is the one of trust that is equal to that of a subordinate Lord to their master… no, perhaps it’s even more than that.

「Humph! 」

Captain Grak replied with his usual snort.

His skin has already turned grey. As an Artist, the Art that he possesses allows him to make his entire body as hard as steel. However, in that state, it seems difficult for him to move his mouth, so he always answers with snorts that express his general intentions.

Captain Grak spread his legs back and forth and his hands out to the sides. Lucas, a mastersniper, hid behind him and waited for the enemy to approach. He was also an Artist.

Then, Dartania’s cavalry began to charge.

The ground shook, and dust clouds rose up. They rushes towards Lassic and his army like a raging wave.

Lucas jumped out from behind Grak and fired an arrow. For each shot an enemy fell off his horse, but after three shots he hid behind the mercenary captain once more.

「I’m not good at hand-to-hand combat. I’ll leave the rest to you. 」

Grak replied to Lucas’ words with a rough snort.

「Ugh, using boorish Elemental Magic is not my favorite thing to do, but… 」

Waiting for the enemy to approach, Moreno quickly converged the magic he had imagined in advance. It was the magic that manipulated light, which he specializes in.

He built a light-reflecting wall in front of the charging enemy.

For a moment, it seemed to the Dartanian army that enemy cavalry had begun charging towards them. Of course, if you’re human, you’d immediately notice that it’s was just a simple mirror image….

But it was not so simple with the horses.

Panicked, rampaging horses started shaking off the riders one after another. Attempting to avoid the fallen soldiers, the following formations were disorganized and their charge got weakened considerably.

But it was not as effective as Moreno expected. As for him, he was thinking that this one magic would decide the fate of the battle, but that is not what happened.

「Both horses and men are that trained and disciplined? 」

Moreno clicked his tongue in displeasure.

「No, that’s enough. The magic you used just now made me glad that I made a contract with you. 」

Lasik complimented Moreno.

「Milzer is aiming at me. Stay away from now on! 」

「…I will. 」
Moreno hesitated for a moment, but he didn’t think he could do anything against Milza. Rather than be a hindrance to Lassic, he stepped back and hid himself behind him.

「Now, come at me! 」
Lassic got fired up and glared at the Dartanian army that would approach them at any moment now.

Milza, dressed in all black and riding a black horse, led the way. It means that he and his horse were someone who would not flinch even when faced with Moreno’s magic. However, because of that, they were the only ones that stood out.

Lassic was glad that they wouldn’t be disturbed. There are some allied soldiers in front of Lassic, but none of them could possibly do anything against Milza.

It is clear that it will be a battle of passing each other, so Lassic concentrates all of his attention on Milza and followed his movements closely. Then, he let go of the reins and raised his sword with both hands.

He felt as if every step taken by their horses was extremely slow. That’s what it feels like when your spirit reaches its limit. Milza must have felt the same way…

But everything has been settled in what must’ve been a single moment.

Others must’ve had no idea at all what had happened.

The two of them seemed to clash head-on. However, they passed each other at a distance where the shoulders of the horses could touch each other, and at the same time they swung their swords.

「Sei! 」

Using his momentum, Milza swung his sword horizontally, trying to decapitate Lassic on the spot.

「Nen! 」

Lassic raised his sword high above his head and then stroke it down with all his might. The two blades slammed into each other and then bounced off each other.

Their bodies were lined up side by side, and their gazes were intertwined

「Uraa! 」

Milza switches the flicked sword behind him from right to left and turns around to aim at Lasik’s neck.

「Deei! 」

Lassic switched the bouncing sword to his right hand and swung it down behind him.

Milza’s sword’s edge grabbed Lassic’s cloak, and Lassic’s sword’s edge cut through Milza’s turban. Lassic’s cloak flew into the air and Milza’s turban got blown away by the wind.

And then they parted.

It felt like the passage of time has returned to normal.

(Looks like I’m still alive.)

Lassic spoke to himself in his mind.

He had goosebumps all over his body and cold sweat was pouring down his back. When he put his hand on the back of his neck, it felt all slimy. In the next moment, he was worried that his head might fall off, but the amount of blood on his palm wasn’t that bad. It seems that the cut he received was a shallow one.

Checking his own sword, he saw a slight amount of grease on the tip of his blade. It seems that Lasik’s sword also reached Milza, but he only cut him at the skin level, just like Milza did to him.

「Dartania’s Viceroy Milza is a terrifying man after all. 」

He checked his surroundings and saw that the battle was already over. The Dartanian army was retreating to the rear. Before long, it turned sharply to the right and returned to Artuk.

「Oh, that was amazing… 」

With a trembling voice, Moreno stumbled closer.

「Are you okay? 」

「Yeah, somehow… I was slashed by about two people, but I dodged splendidly. 」

Moreno gives a stiff smile.

However, the robe he was wearing was stained with mud.

Upon closer investigation, there were more than 100 casualties on both sides. It was not a small amount of damage for a battle that lasted only a short time. It’s probably because it was a clash between two well-trained armies.

「Fuh… 」

Grak, the mercenary captain, came to them while snorting. Next to him was the sniper Lucas.

Grak was shirtless with the rest of his clothes torn. He had two hoof marks clearly visible on his chest, since he was trampled head-on by the charging horse, but Grak grabbed him by the leg and flipped the horse over. His rider was slammed into the ground and the back of his head was split open before he was crushed by his own horse.

Captain Grak had already slammed his steel arms into the necks of two charging horses, causing them to suffocate. Lucas, who was hiding behind the captain, shoot an arrow at close range to finish off the fallen rider.

However, about 10 mercenaries also lost their lives. The price of mercenaries has skyrocketed as the war has gotten into full swing, so they can’t afford to hire new ones.

「Return to the marching column. We will advance and rendezvous with Regalia’s army. 」

「Eh? Are you serious? 」

Moreno frowned.