Chapter 456

Thunder Dragon Roar

“Stand back, my Lord! The enemy cavalry is breaking through our defense lines at great speed!”

Baron Hermann, an officer of the Third Crusader Army, expressed his opinion with a scream as he looked at the pillars of thunder thrusting beyond the standing Crusaders.

“… no, I won’t.”

This was Count Bergunt’s voice, who had a morbidly pale look on his face but also stared at the battlefield with a glazed look in his eyes.

The Count, the General of the Third Army, had left the Crusaders’ camp and was already in the middle of the snowfield. Standing on the battlefield to lead the charge sounds nice to listen to, but a General leading a large army of over 100,000 doing it is very dangerous.

And now he was about to make an even more dangerous decision.

“I’m sure that’s the enemy’s trump card. If we can beat that unit, then we will win the war… We’ll send in our cavalry, too.”

“We can’t fight head-to-head against them. If we were to go head-to-head against them, we’d lose…”

“I’ll lead the First Cavalry unit and as many Heavy Cavalry as I can move.”

“No, that won’t do, my Lord! The enemy is not only those cavalrymen, but also the adventurers that are gaining momentum. The stolen Taurus too! It would be too dangerous for you to advance any further!”

“Damn it! I don’t have time to argue here. If you disobey my orders, Baron Hermann, no matter how you are, I will…  Slash!”

There was no way for him to voice any further objections to the General’s stubborn, if not downright insane, attitude.

“I’m sorry… We will do our best to support your cavalry assault, sir.”

“That’s fine. I have to get my daughter out of there as soon as possible, as soon as possible. Oh, Linfelt, wait for me, soon, I will be there…”

The Baron turned his head away as if he had just seen something horrible as he stared into the distance and murmured to Count Bergunt.

With his beloved daughter was in the hands of his enemies, the Count was losing his mind. Yes, even if it is not Hermann, he knows it, but there is nothing he can do about it, at least not right now.

In order to prevent the Third Army, a coalition of noble families, from collapsing due to the foot-dragging of their own people, they had planned meticulously and organized the army to ensure that the Count’s orders would be carried out.

Baron Hermann knew Count Bergunt’s intelligence and bravery better than any other nobleman. Or should he say, he thought he knew him?

He had been helped many times in the past by the Count, whose lands were adjacent to his own, and who had a higher rank and more land. Although Hermann was a year older than him, he did not underestimate Bergunt as a “young man”. It was because he recognized Bergunt’s talent.

I was able to build a good relationship with him, and even though I’ve been ridiculed for being the Count’s hipster for a long time, it’s an undeniable fact that it’s been the most profitable move for me.

However, Hermann could not help but regret that he had misjudged only one point: Bergunt’s love for his daughter, a very personal feeling. Even the Count’s eyes were clouded to this extent.

“I leave the command of the army in your hands, Baron Hermann.”

“Ha! May God bless you, my Lord!”

At last, the victory or defeat was in doubt.

Thinking of retreating as soon as possible, Baron Hermann looked as the Count bravely rode away.

“Hmph!”

A flash of spirit. General Emelia waved her halberd with one hand on her horse. Her opponent also held a halberd.

She crushed the opponent’s halberd and continued the attack to entangle the mounted opponent.

Clunk

Immediately after, a mass of steel flew through the air.

It was a one-armed blow delivered from Bicorn-back. With just that, a Heavy Knight weighing over a hundred kilograms was blown away as lightly as a leaf. Even among the most elite Heavy Cavalry, only Emelia was able to display such power. She has what others call, an extraordinary physical strength.

“Hmm, that’s… you’re not going to challenge us to a fight, are you?”

As she crashed through the battlefield with on her Bicorn, with a massive frame for an elf, much less a woman, Emelia looked at the shadows appearing beyond the enemy lines with a cold expression and tone of voice.

The silver-white Crusaders were wriggling above on their horses. It was an attack by the enemy cavalry troops.

“They are idiots, sister.”

One of her subordinates, who was running alongside her with a large arrow on his bow, shooting and killing the Heavy Knights at close range, was her brother. He is not her adopted brother, Simon, but her own blood brother. The eldest son of the Baliel family, Gale.

He had a sharp face with blond hair and blue eyes, and fair skin. He was tall and thin, but his body was firm and toned, and he has magic power and exceptional talent with a bow. He is the ideal elf man, but he looked ordinary when he stood side by side with Emelia on the battlefield.

“There are a lot of them, and they have a certain level of skill. … They are good opponents, and we welcome them.”

Emelia smiled faintly. It was a fearless, yet fierce smile, befitting a female General who roared with valor.

“Gale, I’m going on ahead. Continue pushing through the enemy lines under the Lieutenant-General.”

“Is it the usual solo rush? There’s a lot of them today, so be careful.”

“Don’t worry, I have already done it once before here in Galahad.”

By the time Gale was able to convince himself that his sister had made a name for herself in the Fourth Galahad War by doing this, Emelia had already jumped down from the Bicorn she was riding at top speed without hesitation.

Her movements were so light that it was hard to believe that she was heavily armed with an armor helmet, a large shield, and a halberd. But the moment she landed, her super-weight hit the snowy ground as it should. The Crusader infantry and others who were standing there stopped fighting.

Snow, blood, and splashes of red and white rolled up. Emelia slid upright, following her inertia, a dozen meters away, making a sound that drowned out the screams.

“… Hey, hey, that General jumped down alone.”

“Careful, he jumped down on his own. He’s either very strong or very stupid.”

Daedalus had experience in battle against Emelia. If she had landed in this way against the Daedalus Knights who boasted of their strength would surely have wanted to fight her in a one-on-one duel.

However, from the perspective of the Crusaders who knew nothing about her, it was only natural that they would have such an impression when they saw her jumping in the middle of the enemy lines alone leaving her subordinates.

Even if the Crusaders didn’t know her face or name, the equipment she wore made it easy for even the most casual soldier to recognize her rank. The shining golden ornaments on the glossy jet-black ground, the red cloak fluttering on her back and the gravity and solemnity of it all were enough to make any soldier take notice.

However, those with a warrior’s eye for the enemy’s strength, rather than an aesthetic eye, would see that the armor has survived many fierce battles. This is not just designed as a symbol of authority but has a performance that is purely specialized for combat. It also reminds others of the strength of the person who wears this massive piece of metal plate heavy armor.

But there was no one here who could have guessed that much. There might have been someone with those eyes.

What left people speechless was the fact that Emelia herself, of all people, took off her armor.

“[Armor Seal Release]”

The voice that she mumbled was lost in the wind. The next moment, her armor, which embodied absolute defensive power, came off.

There was a crunching sound like gears meshing. Then all the parts of the armor separated at once. Even if the clasps were damaged at the same time, it would not fall off as neatly as this. As if the shoulder straps of a dress had been undone, the black steel armor fell onto the snow – before disappearing like a haze.

Maybe it was stored using ‘Dimension Magic’, but nobody cared…

Because in front of the Crusaders appeared a female elf who had taken off her armor.

“What the hell, … am I dreaming?

“I don’t care if it’s a dream or an illusion! This is unbearable…”

“I’ve always dreamed of being sucked to death by a succubus.”

There was no one who was focused.

Her blonde hair, cropped at the shoulders, flowed smoothly, and her slit blue eyes were sharp and beautiful.

Her body, suitable for a heavy cavalryman on the battlefield, was muscular and toned, but at the same time, it had the most feminine lines. Her breasts were so large that they seem to fit perfectly inside her helmet. While her beautiful abdominal muscles stood out, her hips were nipped, leading to her large buttocks and long legs.

Her soft skin, which was as white as the snowfield that stretched out before her, was now sparingly exposed to the world.

Emelia was wearing black underwear that was so tight that only a high-class prostitute could wear it. The only remnant of her previous equipment was the red cloak that still fluttered majestically. It did nothing to hide her naked body.

If such an exquisite female body appeared from within the hard and heavy steel, it would not be surprising to think that it was an illusion of a man’s shallow desire. What’s more, they were in the middle of a bloody battlefield. The most realistic answer would be that a succubus had created an illusion.

However, Emelia Friedrich Baliel was definitely not a succubus. She had taken off her armor, and even though she was as naked as one could be, she still had weapons in her hands.

“The queen of thunder and lightning who sits in the stormy sky, [Zeo Elizabeth- Thunder Dragon Roar].”

Her divine protection activated and a huge pillar of purple lightning engulfed Emelia’s body. The lightning strike, like a large tree, thrust toward the sky, and just like real lightning, and then quickly disappears.

And, after the huge flash of light that could not be produced even by hundred simultaneous explosions, she appeared again. In a different form.

“…Draconian”

There must have been more than one or two Crusaders who muttered the name. What they witnessed was a figure that could only be called a Draconian.

Two horns like shining crystal sprouted from Emelia’s head. The black scales on her arms and legs, which should have been covered with her white skin, were replaced by black scales with a steel sheen.

The most conspicuous change, however, would be the pair of wings extending from her back. Her arms, covered with black scales, were thick as if they had been transplanted directly from a real flying dragon, and her hand in the middle had three fingers with sharp claws. The dark purple color of the wing membranes, which spread wide, seemed to be glowing eerily.

Emelia, who had undergone a transformation in which the characteristics of such a dragon manifested in her body, opened her mouth with red lips as if to sing. What were the words that came out of her mouth?

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

It was a terrifying dragon’s roar that was so intimidating that it made one’s soul tremble.

“… Great, push them all back at once.”

That’s what I was thinking as I stood on the wall. From this height of twenty meters above the ground, I could clearly see the big battle unfolding on the snowfield.

The second squad, the Tempest, took advantage of the opportunity presented by Simon and Galdan’s rampage through the Taurus and jumped out of the main gate in a single bound, successfully breaking through the center of the enemy line. As a matter of course, the power of the Tempest was incomparable to the time when I captured Linfelt.

It was a sight to behold as the cavalry charged into the enemy lines with their power, firing a barrage of attack magic centered mostly on the lightning attributes. It’s no wonder why people say that the cavalry charge is the flower of the battlefield.

The spearhead that penetrated the enemy lines was the First Cavalry, the most elite of the Tempest. There were about three hundred of them. And behind them, the second and below, all the cavalry units, a total of about three thousand, I think. Heavy Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Magic Cavalry, and a mixture of all three types of cavalry followed.

Further behind them, a group of astute adventurers, seeing an opportunity to take credit, leaped forward into the battlefield.

However, the most conspicuous figure in the midst of such a fierce battle was General Emelia, who was single-handedly pushing forward, reaping the benefits of the onrushing enemy.

“I heard she had the divine protection of Thunder Dragon, but it’s like she’s become a dragon.”

Despite the distance, I, with my enhanced eyesight, and Fiona, who used [Hawkeye], could see her.

The halberd in her hand was covered with a dazzling purple lightning flash, and with just one swing, countless electric shocks spread out. Rather than a blow from a weapon, it was more like a thunder dragon spewing out thunders.

A mere infantryman could not even get close enough to her halberd when he was burned by the one-sided lightning. And if a Heavy Knight with excellent magic defense withstood the lightning strike and stepped into the gap, he would be struck down by a blow from her halberd that came from an arm that had the physical strength of a dragon.

Her power and her lightning-blue blade, combined in a single flash, cut a Heavy knight in half. Considering that even I can’t cut through an entire shield without the combo of “Resonant Grudge” and “Black Calm”, it was very powerful.

I see, so when I master my divine protection, I will become this strong and flashy.

I was a little jealous, but at the same time, I felt pity for Simon, thinking that if his sister was such a fierce one-hit wonder, he would have a hard time with her.

“At this rate, we’ll really make it to the General.”

“It’s fortunate that you chose to go head-to-head against me.”

From this position, I can see the activities of my allies, and at the same time, I can clearly see the movements of the enemy camp. That’s why I was able to see clearly that the Cavalry of the Crusaders, who had been waiting behind the lines for Tempest’s assault, had all started moving at once.

Now, the two sides are clashing head-on on the snowfield, a chaotic melee of cavalry and infantry.

However, the front line was slowly approaching the point where the flag with the cross and the green emblem of arrows and hooves was fluttering, where the enemy General was probably. Normally, it wouldn’t be strange to retreat, but the enemy General, perhaps showing some mysterious guts, refused to move from his spot.

However, if he retreats now, even if he reached the Crusader camp a kilometer away, the Spada army will most likely avalanche there at once.

The Crusaders are spread out on both sides of the wide snowfield, so in terms of numbers, they are still far superior to the assaulting Tempest and some of the Gladiator units. If we go in too far, they will fill in the holes behind us and we will be in danger of being surrounded and annihilated.

Will it be faster for us to defeat the General, or will the enemy be able to regain their position and complete the siege first? It’s a dicey war situation, but…

“I won! Hahahaha, my Taurus is the strongest!”

“That’s what I’m talking about! It was no big deal!”

Simon and Galdan, who had been engaged in a super-duper fistfight with two enemy Taurus, vigorously announced their victory. In spite of their words, their bodies and faces were so battered and bruised that it would be more appropriate to call it a hard-fought victory.

At the feet of the Taurus, there was an aircraft that was not only tattered but had completely stopped functioning and turned into scrap iron. Kicking away the wreckage of the hapless loser, the allied Taurus finally turned to the Crusaders who were wriggling like insects. The fuselage looks badly damaged, but the boosters are still alive, and the whole body seems to be working fine. It still has more than enough power to kick apart a group of humans.

“I think we’ve got it.”

“Yes.”

“Hey, hey, why are we not charging ahead?”

It won’t be too late to move from decisive battle to hunting the remnants. If we head to the front lines now, we’ll be able to raise our heads more than we deserve.

“We are not looking for credit. Look, there are still adventurers running out of the city with the momentum. If the defense line becomes too thin, what do you think will happen?”

“Yes!”

Lily didn’t seem to have any particular obsession with credit, so she smiled and gave me a cheerful reply.

“So the Apostles didn’t show up after all. What a shame.”

“…no, I don’t want to fight them, because it’s better not to.”

I had a feeling that this time I would be fighting one.

However, when I saw the victory in front of me, I felt more relieved that we could win safely. In fact, if Sariel had come out from the beginning, the Galahad fortress would have surely fallen.

“Come on, let’s keep our heads down and defend the walls until the end-”

And so I cut down the last of the Helvetian Knights with their distinctive green cloaks.

This is how we eradicated the elite Knight squad that challenged us here. If we can focus only on the enemy in front of us without being distracted by other things, no one is a match for us Element Masters.

Beneath the city walls, as if the magnificent silver and white armor and cloak were a lie, the charred and dismembered bodies of the Knights were part of the pile of dead infantry and chimera soldiers that had already been piled up.

“This time, we win.”