Chapter 293
The site of the Bestir Empire’s army headquarters. There were about 30 people on horseback riding towards it. From Rei’s view from the sky, it was clear that their speed was faster than even the warhorses used by ordinary knights.
「……Well then, Set. Shall we get going?」
「GURURURURU~!」
At Rei’s voice, Set gave a cry filled with fighting spirit as he flapped his wings in the sky. His speed was by no means slower than the horses running across the ground. No, in fact it would be wrong to compare Set’s flying speed with the people riding horses below. Easily overtaking the ground forces, Rei headed straight for the enemy’s main camp, ahead in the distance.
Rei had been appointed with the task of going ahead to through the enemy camp into confusion. Taking advantage of the confusion, the ambush unit would then rush in and kill General Kastom, the enemy’s chief commander. There had been thoughts that Rei could re-create the fire whirl that he had used at the beginning of the war, but due to the range limitations of the magic, it would have been necessary to rush into the enemy’s main camp before he could make the fire whirl. Others thought that even if they could, it wouldn’t be possible to determine if they had killed the enemy general or not if they did that.
……But all things considered, it would only have been possible if everything went well. If there were any obstacles that appeared, they would have to eliminate them first. Yes, obstacles like the 20 Dragon Knights that were currently flying up from the main camp.
「I thought that I had killed quiet a lot of them with the fire tornado……but there are still so many of them. Set, remember our role? We have to keep the Dragon Knights away from Elena and Siminar. If a Dragon Knight shot a fire ball at them from the sky, we’ll be wiped out before we can carry out our ambush.」
「GURURURURURURURURU~!」
Set gave an awe inspiring cry at Rei’s words.
They had probably heard Set’s cry. For a moment, Rei saw the Wyverns that the Dragon Knights were riding on slow down.
However, it was only for a moment. As expected of the Dragon Knights, the most elite soldiers in an army, they immediately calmed their Wyverns down before changing their target from the ambush unit on the ground to Rei and Set in the sky. What Rei didn’t expect, however, was that not all the Dragon Knights flew towards him. It was true that most of the 20 Dragon Knights flew towards him and Set, but three of them headed for the ambush ground forces.
「Tch, I guess some of them are smarter. ……Set, we’ll take them out quickly.」
「GURU~!」
Giving a sharp cry at Rei’s words, the next moment, Set flapped his wings as he narrowed his form. At the same time, a large number of fireballs shot out from the Wyverns flew past where Set’s body had been a moment ago.
Without pause, Set continuously dodged the fireballs as Rei used the Death Scythe to block the ones that got too close. Basically, Rei wasn’t on the offensive, but on the defensive.
「Flying Slash!」
With his shout, another Flying Slash flew out from the Death Scythe, bisecting to Dragon Knights that had lined up.
At the same time, confused that the knight controlling it had disappeared, a Wyvern lost its balance and collided with the Dragon Knight next to it as they both fell to the ground.
「15 left! Set, I’m at a disadvantage from range. Melee combat!」
「GURURURU~!」
Hearing Rei’s words, Set sped up as he plunged into the Dragon Knights.
Of course, Set had a number of ranged skills, including Fire Breath, Water Ball and Wind Arrow. However, using them here would be showing Set’s uniqueness. It could also result in the existence of the Magic Beast Art being revealed. It was hard to notice when Set used them in conjunction with Rei’s magic, like with the fire whirl, but it was a lot harder to hide with so many enemies around them.
「Flying Slash!」
A Flying Slash flew out again. However, the Dragon Knights were considered the most elite soldiers in the army and it was natural for them to pay attention to attacks they had seen before……in particular, extremely fatal attacks. Yes, the moment Rei shot out another Flying Slash, they all moved out the way to avoid it.
「Tch, they’re quick to respond. But, if they move too much, it will only slow them down!」
With a shout, holding the Death Scythe in his left hand, he took out a spear from the Misty Ring that didn’t have its spear head, which would normally make it useless.
「Hah-!」
Rei threw the spear with a spirited shout. The spear was superior to a Flying Slash in terms of speed alone and was also a pin point attack. The spear flew through the air and pierced into a Wyvern rather than a Dragon Knight. ……The moment it hit the Wyvern, it pierced all the way through and into the shoulder of the Dragon Knight on its back, knocking the Dragon Knight off.
There was no limit to the ammunition in the item box, or rather, to be exact, given the number of spears he had stored inside, there wasn’t anything limiting his use of them on the battlefield. The Dragon Knights were surprised and were slow to order their Wyverns for a moment.
Rei couldn’t miss such an opportunity and neither did Set.
「GURURURURURU-!」
With a cry, Set flapped his wings vigorously as he rapidly flew towards a Wyvern.
Originally, the Dragon Knight’s aim had been to keep a certain distance between them and Set as they continued to attack with fireballs. Of course, they also had to be careful about long range attacks such as Rei’s Flying Slash and other magic, but their formation had been based on the assumption that Set had no means of long range attack. However, after allowing Set to close in during a moment of mental lapse, the Wyverns could do nothing against a Griffon. Even though thte surrounding Wyverns could shoot fireballs at Set, there was a possibility they could hit their own allies if they weren’t careful. They could try to use their spears or the Wyverns claws, but those were easily avoided by Set or blocked by Rei’s Death Scythe. As Set dived into the Dragon Knights, he knocked a Dragon Knight of their Wyvern as he crushed the Wyvern’s neck with his claws.
Rei also swung his Death Scythe at nearby enemies, striking fatal blows through a Dragon Knight’s armour with the scythe blade or knocking the Dragon Knights off their Wyvern with a single blow with the shaft.
「Damn it! Fall back! We don’t stand a chance in melee! Focus on bombarding him from a distance! Don’t think about attacking when he gets close!」
The commander of the Dragon Knights’ shouted in a rushed voice. The number of Dragon Knights had already fallen to five. Even if three of them had been sent to intercept the ambush ground forces, they had still lost 10 knights.
(Damn it, it’s because there is such a high ranking monster like a Griffon. The fact that he’s on a Griffon also means he’s definitely that Crimson that the soldiers were talking about……)
It was just a moment. Yes, the commander had only be lost in his thoughts for a moment. He was shocked to see the Griffon and the young man on its back right in front of him. The young man then swung the huge scythe in his hands……
「Hah-!」
The commander saw the scythe swing across with a shout before his life faded as his torso was split in half.
「Set-!」
「GURURURU-!」
Rei called out to Set and didn’t watch as the commander’s upper body fell to the ground while his lower body stayed atop the Wyvern. Set answered as he did a loop on the spot.
「Huh-!?」
At the unexpected sight, the Dragon Knight momentarily forgot his anger from seeing his commander killed as he froze in disbelief. After doing a full loop, Set’s forefeet swung down towards him……crushing his head together with his helmet. At the same time, knocked unconcious from the sudden shock, the Wyvern crashed towards the ground.
But, Rei’s attack wasn’t over yet. After his strike, Set spread his wings to slow his fall, but by the time he had stabilised himself again, he was quite close to the ground. In other words, the three remaining Dragon Knights were all above him. The three Dragon Knights had also been shocked by Set’s loop and had lost sight of him for a moment……and the next moment, two of the Wyverns had their body pierced by spears thrown from below as they fell towards the ground.
「1 left! Set!」
「GURURURURURU-!」
Set gave a cry at Rei’s shout as he climbed into the sky. Probably deciding that he couldn’t win by himself, the remaining Dragon Knight tried to escape and join back up with the other Dragon Knights that had gone to intercept the ground force.
The Dragon Knights which were considered the elite within the army, one of those Dragon Knights had turned their back to the enemy as they tried to run.
「GAAAAaa-!」
The next moment, the Wyvern gave a cry as it fell.
「W-What-!?」
The Dragon Knight looked at the Griffon as he fell, but the Griffon was still far away. The only thing the Dragon Knight saw as he fell was a whip like weapon pierced into the body of his Wyvern.
Following the whip as he fell, he saw a beautiful woman looking at him from on top a warhorse on the ground. As the scene was burned into his eyes, he slammed into the ground, ending his life shortly.
Seeing the last Dragon Knight cleaned up, Rei descended to the ground with Set. Of course, it had been Elena, holding her sword whip in her hands. None of the others in the ambush unit were with her and the fighting had already began in the main camp.
「Thanks for the help.」
「What, there were only three Dragon Knights heading our way. Rather, since the Dragon Knights have all been cleaned up, we will assist the ambush unit.」
「I understand.」
Rei glanced at the Wyvern that had fallen to the ground and was no longer breathing. However, he had no excuse to go and collect its body while they were fighting for every minute and second. Because of that, he had a disappointed expression as he got back on Set and headed for where the chief commander of the Bestir Empire army was located alongside Elena.
At the headquarters of the Bestir Empire’s army. The place where General Kastom, the chief commander, was located had turned into a fierce battlefield.
「Haa-, you lot from the Mireana Kingdom. I’d never thought you’d try come for me.」
As Kastom shouted, swinging the sword in his hand and slashing through the head of one of his enemies, he saw five people aiming their bows at him from the corner of his eyes.
「Everyone, fall back!」
The act of putting the general at the front usually wouldn’t happen in the army, but the soldiers with him did not hesistate as they followed Kastom’s orders and moved behind him.
Then, the next moment, the five archers in the Mireana Kingdom’s ambush unit fired a barrage of arrows towards Kastom.
Despite seeing more than 20 arrows heading towards him, there wasn’t the slightest impatiance on Kastom’s face. With a ferocious smile, he pointed his right arm, covered in armour, towards the falling arrows.
「Roar, Behemoth!」
The moment Kastom said those words, the dirt on the ground instantly rose, covering Kastom, his knights and his soldiers within a dome, blocking all the arrows aimed at him and protecting everyone inside.
The Behemoth Bracelet was a magic item that could manipulate dirt. The Bestir Empire’s Ministry of Magic had poured a large number of rare materials to make it and it was a valuable magic item that was unique even in the Bestir Empire.