Chapter 332: From Deployment to Battle (2)

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And then the battle began.

In a battle between large armies, it was always the archers who started.

The infantrymen were the ones standing in front of the archers. As they advanced slowly with their spears and shields at the ready, a hail of arrows rained down on them from above in an attempt to block their advance.

Most of the arrows missed or were blocked by the shields over their heads. But some arrows were not; they reached their targets unobstructed, and the unlucky soldiers who were hit by them fell on the spot with shrieks and screams.

Of course, some of the adventurers working with the infantry were magicians, and they protected their comrades with shields and protection spells. However, the effects of their magic were less than dependable considering the scale of the battlefield.

As the distance between the Empire’s army and the Kingdom’s army narrowed, stones were mixed in with the arrows that came flying.

Infantrymen picked up the stones on the ground and hurled them at the enemy forces. The effectiveness of this method of attack was greater than the cost.

“Quite subdued, isn’t it?”

Lapis muttered boredly in the midst of battlefield, where arrows and stones were flying around.

Next to her, Loren, who was using the flat of his greatsword to repel anything that might hit him or Lapis, heard her muttering and frowned.

“Don’t you usually have magicians who can attack with magic on both sides?”

‘”Well, in a battle of such scale that kings and emperors would appear, such magicians might accompany them.”

The existence of a magician was not something common. Because the knowledge and skills required to become a magician were greater than other professions, only those with a certain level of education could become one. Unlike soldiers, who could fight to a certain degree as long as they were equipped with weapons and armor, the training of a magician took time and money.

This was another reason why there were so few magicians among the lower- and working class of population. Moreover, beginner or self-taught magicians were not capable of immediately exercising magic on the scale that could be used in warfare, and there was no way that they could be sent to the frontline.

“We usually have a few of them guarding the main camp, but they rarely come out this far forward.”

“It seems the adventurer magicians are here though?”

“Well, yes. But if they keep using magic to dodge arrows and make some attacks, they’ll run out of uses and have to flee backwards.”

The kind of mages, who became an adventurer were quite different from the court magician who belonged to a country. Though the adventurer mages called themselves ‘magicians’, they only had a few rudimentary skills, which was far inferior in quality to the ones who belonged to a state.

For a magician to be deemed qualified to serve in the military, he must be at least on par with an Iron or even Silver ranked adventurers.

“I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’ve heard that those who have received the title of Court Magician have power comparable to that of a Gold-Rank adventurer. If they were sent to the front line so readily, we wouldn’t be able to hold our own.”

“If that’s the case, I’d better act only as a priest, shouldn’t I?”

Lapis had thought that if the battle was filled with a barrage of magic attacks to some extent, she would not be exposed in the chaos even if she secretly used some magic. However, considering the current situation, it was obvious that using even one spell would make her become conspicuous, and Lapis reluctantly took the use of magic out of her mind.

As Loren and Lapis were having such a carefree conversation, around them were Gula and Luxuria, who were exuding a relaxed atmosphere, and Klaus with his group, who were tense because they were on the battlefield. However, the tension was rather ruined by the presence of Dauna, who was still being carried on Klaus’ back.

“Ah, uhm, Lapis?”

One of the girls in Klaus’ party called out to Lapis. It was Ange, the magician.

“I didn’t get a chance to ask because Klaus didn’t seem to mind, but that Dauna person, I remember him from the adventurer training school-“

“You’ve got the wrong person.”

Lapis stated plainly without allowing Ange to continue. Ange was momentarily daunted and faltered, but she quickly regained her composure and continued to press her point.

“That can’t be right…”

“You’ve got the wrong person. You see, this deja vu feeling you’re having is a misunderstanding. You’ve never met Dauna before, and you don’t know who he is.”

“Wh-What?”

Lapis firmly gripped both shoulders of Ange, who squealed in confusion and bewilderment, and gradually brought her face closer and looked her eye-to-eye.

“It is said, that there are three people in the world who look like each other. He may look like someone you met before, but he is not the same person. Alright? Do you understand? What you are feeling is just your imagination.”

“It’s all… my imagination.”

“If Klaus says something similar, you must correct his mistake. Is that clear? Please repeat after me. ‘You are mistaken’.”

“You… are… mistaken.”

Despite hearing a hint of depression in Ange’s voice and catching Loren’s startled look at the edge of her vision, Lapis continued without a care.

“Good. Are you feeling better now?”

“Eh?! Ah? Uhm… Yes. What on earth did I misunderstand?”

Ange tilted her head as she went back to Klaus’ group. As he watched her go, Loren asked Lapis, who was waving her hand smilingly next to him, in a nonchalant voice.

“Can you do brainwashing or something?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Are you doing it to me?”

“If I were, you wouldn’t be so troublesome.”

Loren gave her a suspicious look, to which Lapis replied with a sigh.

“It’s just a trick that can’t be used on someone with such a strong sense of self like you. If it were effective on you, and if I wanted to do it, you would be saying ‘I love you, Lapis!’ by now.”

“Your taste is…”

Loren reflexively took a step away from Lapis. She looked up at him with a hurt expression on her face and said.

“It’s nothing more than an example, Loren. I would hate to make you do that.”

Loren thought that it would be dangerous to continue this topic as he flicked another arrow off with the flat of his greatsword.

As they were talking, the distance between the two armies was closing, and now the soldiers on the front line began to engage each other in a fierce battle with spears.

The spears held by the soldiers were quite long, and they not only thrusted them out, but also swung them down in an attempt to eliminate the enemy’s formation of spears. But the enemy also thrusted or swung down their spears, and clattering sounds echoed throughout the battlefield, and soldiers fell down as they were stabbed or knocked unconscious by the enemy.

“It’s time to get to work. I’m going to cut some down.”

Here and there on the battle front, both armies were beginning to break apart.

If this continued further, close combat between infantry would begin, and then, depending on the situation, other types of troops would be introduced into the battlefield.

If cavalry were to engage, the situation would not be very interesting for the infantry. Loren decided to make some gains before that happened.

Clutching the hilt of his greatsword with both hands, he rushed to the front line, weaving his way through the soldiers.

Not too far ahead, there were already tips of the spears seen clashing against the armour and shields.

Some adventurers, perhaps thinking the same thing as Loren, tried to cut their way through the soldiers and into the enemy army. Some lucky ones succeeded in getting through the line of spears, some unlucky ones were pierced, and still more unlucky ones lost their lives there.

Loren, in the midst of all this, swung the greatsword he carried on his shoulder at the tips of the countless spears being thrown at him with great force.

With that single blow, the spears of the Kingdom army were easily smashed as if they were twigs, and some of the Kingdom soldiers lost their balances from the impact.

Then Loren swung his greatsword in return, and several Kingdom soldiers were cut in half by the torso, their lower bodies collapsing on the spot while their upper bodies spinning in the air like some kind of joke.

“What is this guy?”

“People are… like pieces of paper…”

Loren stepped further into the lines of flinching soldiers of the Kingdom army.

Swung by an arm strength far removed from that of an ordinary person, his sword of unusual size was carelessly swept sideways. With that single blow, several more Kingdom soldiers were cut in half, following those who had gone before them.

“He uses that stupidly big weapon so easily…”

“Hold up your shields! Don’t let him swing it around like that!”

A huge weapon like the one Loren handled had to be swung with great force, and the force of the swing and the weight of the sword itself increased its power. If it could be stopped, it would take a great deal of force and time to swing it again, and the Kingdom soldiers immediately took up shields to defend themselves.

Normally, such a strategy might have worked. However, the man in front of them is Loren, and the greatsword in his hand was a legendary item that was originally used by a Demon King.

“What a pain in the ass!”

Not caring that they were lying in wait for him, Loren once again swung his greatsword.

As the blade seemed to gleam with the barest hint of light, a soldier who was trying to stop the attack had their shields and bodies cut in half horizontally.

As the torso of a stunned Kingdom soldier was cut into three or four pieces in rapid succession, someone muttered.

“It’s a magic sword… He’s got a magic sword!”

The word spread like a wave among the soldiers of the Kingdom army, and immediately there was a great commotion around Loren.

“What kind of magic sword can cut through a man’s shield and armor?”

“Hey, get away from him! If you stay within range of that blade, you’ll all be slaughtered!”

“Move! Get out of the way! Let me out of here!”

“You fools! Don’t push me!”

“Call the cavalry! Call the knights!”

Screams and yells filled the air, and the Kingdom soldiers fell into a state of panic as they tried to keep as much distance from Loren as possible.

Loren shrugged as he watched the soldiers drop the weapons in their hands and turn their backs to him in an attempt to be the first to flee.

“They’ve got no guts.”

He grumbled, to which Shayna replied.

[‘I think I understand the feelings of the soldiers over there.’]

A soldier with a huge, well-trained body that can unleash an indefensible attack – if ordinary soldiers were to encounter such a man on the battlefield, she thought that they would have no choice but to make a run for it.

“The enemy formation has been broken!”

“Push in! Don’t let them escape!”

The Empire army, seeing the corner cleared by Loren as an opportunity, rushed forward.

The Kingdom army, who were terrified by Loren’s fighting style and were fleeing without being able to intercept any of his attacks, was rushed into by the Empire soldiers from where Loren had cleared. Stabbed and slashed in the back, they fell down one after another, littered the battlefield with their corpses.

Even though he thought that the enemy formation had become very fragile after a tile had been broken, Loren was not relaxed. He had not yet seen the Evil God of Wrath, but he had overheard someone’s instruction to call in the cavalry.

“The cavalry is a pain though. They’re fast.”

But Loren did not retreat, and continued to advance forward.

No matter how strong Loren’s power was and how extraordinary his physical strength was, cutting down nearly ten soldiers with shields and armor must have been draining. He had also used the power of his greatsword, albeit only a little bit.

Knowing this, Shayna did not stop Loren, who was trying to advance further, but began to quietly use Energy Drain to steal life force from the surrounding Kingdom soldiers who were still breathing and convert it into Loren’s strength.

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