NOVEL NEXT Volume 7, Chapter 4 – Those Who Have Hope, Part 8
Volume 7, Chapter 4 - Those Who Have Hope, Part 8
“Your Highness Celia Estrella, it appears that the main army of the Six Kingdoms has attacked and destroyed the first line.”
“…All right.”
When Liz heard the report, she nodded vigorously and turned her horse’s head around. Behind her were light cavalrymen in vermilion armor.
“It’s time for us to go! The day has come to make the name of the Rose Knight Order known to the world!”
The “Rose Knight Order,” which belongs to the Fourth Imperial Army, is one of the most elite and agile units in the Great Grantz Empire. The Third Imperial Army, which Aura once led, is made up of heavy cavalry, as are its elite, the “Imperial Black Knights,” while the “Rose Knight Order” is made up of light cavalry.
In order to maintain the security of the unstable southern region, it had been impossible for them to accompany Liz in her battles, but now that a war had broken out involving all of Grantz, they were finally able to come to her aid.
“When you are in doubt, look ahead! When you feel scared, look forward!”
The Rose Knight Order, led by its original commander, was at its most battle-hungry on this battlefield.
“If you feel lost, look ahead! I’ll be there!”
She pulled the Flame Emperor from her waist and pointed it at the azure sky.
“I’ll take away all of your fears!”
At that moment, the atmosphere explodes.
The Rose Knight Order responded with a shout. They clanged their swords against their shields, raised their spears high in the sky, and shouted heroically.
“Bless our ‘Flame Princess’ with the blessings of the Spirit King!”
Morale was high, spirits were high, and Liz, who was leading the excited soldiers, was also in high spirits.
The time had come.
She breathed deeply as she set her eyes on the clear sky and the banner of the rose that was raised from the main camp.
“We will now attack the main army of the Six Kingdoms!”
She pulled on the reins of her beloved horse and galloped off at a brisk pace.
The goal is to annihilate the main army of the Six Kingdoms ― those who have bitten the central army of the Grantz.
Liz and the others, who were waiting on the left-wing of the third line, were in a position to rush to the second line’s predicament by the shortest way.
(So far, everything has gone according to Aura’s plan.)
As expected of a “War Maiden,” Liz praised her. All that remained was for Liz to do what she had to do. And, surprisingly, the moment came quickly.
She was supposed to attack the main camp of the Six Kingdoms, which was supposed to be engaged with the second line.
“…What does this mean?”
She caught sight of the enemy army pushing forward vigorously to the side. Liz was taken aback by the sight of the enemy troops advancing with overwhelming crushing force.
In the rear, away from there, there was the main army of the Six Kingdoms desperately chasing after her allies.
“Your Highness Celia Estrella, it seems that a portion of the enemy is closing in on the center of the second line.”
When a soldier called out to her, Liz succeeded in bringing back the consciousness that had been coated with thoughts. Yes, there is no doubt that the enemy is advancing at speed faster than expected.
If they are not stopped here, the speed of their advance will hinder future operations.
“We’re going to hold off that enemy force!”
“Are you sure? Our role is to flank the enemy’s main army.”
“Yes, but if they keep up the momentum, their fangs will reach our main camp.”
“That will be difficult. There is no way they can reach the main camp with that many people, is there?”
Liz thinks so too, but a warning bell is ringing in the corner of her mind that it could be dangerous.
If they were that capable, she would surely regret it.
“Eradicate the enemy forces on the right!”
She waved her “Flame Emperor” to light the way, and the “Rose Knight Order” faithfully followed.
They could penetrate the second line through a thin area and caught the rear of the enemy troops, who gave off a strange atmosphere. After they passed by, there were bodies lying around, twisted in agony.
The dead and dying were spread out in an unbearable mess.
“We’ll stop them here at all costs!”
As soon as she caught up to the rear of the enemy troops, she kicked the saddle, leaped, and cut off the head of the cavalryman running in front of her with a single swing of her sword. She didn’t stop there, using the enemy’s warhorse to leap through the air and instantly slice through the enemy’s vitals one after another.
At this point, the Rose Knight Order caught up with Liz and attacked the enemy troops from behind, flashing their tips. Their martial arts skills, honed over many years, exploded. They pierced the enemy’s vitals with admirable precision.
But…
“Wha ― are these people sane?”
The voice of one of the allied soldiers was laced with astonishment. The enemy soldier fell to the ground with the spear stuck in his side, engulfing him.
The two of them disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke.
“Be sure to stop them from breathing! If you can’t do that, leave immediately ― Gaah!?”
An enemy soldier, realizing that he was dying, jumped from his horse and disappeared into the dust while hugging a Grantz soldier. As if caught up in this, the following cavalrymen whose legs were caught in the corpse fell one after another. There was no hesitation on the part of the enemy to destroy them, and the momentum of the “Rose Knight Order” was weakened by their spirit.
If I’m going to die, I will take as many Grantz soldiers with me as possible. And Liz felt a chill run down her spine as she sensed such persistence.
What drove them to that point, and how much resentment they had to harbor to choose the path of self-destruction, was something that Liz could never understand.
But she couldn’t let any more soldiers die in vain.
Liz’s decision was swift.
“Speed up…”
She muttered halfway through, and the rest of the words never left her throat.
It was because her opponent had suddenly turned around.
With a heavy cloud of dust rising, the army of the Six Kingdoms forcibly changed direction while involving the surrounding Grantz soldiers, not caring that they would fall off their horses.
“Ooo, oooooohhh!”
A screeching voice ― no longer a word, but a sound wave that made one want to cover one’s ears.
Hearing the incomprehensible sound of desperation mixed with fear, the warhorse that had been trained primarily to fight on the battlefield stopped in fear.
A brief pause ― a strange void between the two.
It is not of a restful nature. It’s a detached disgust.
“Ooooooh!”
The soldiers of the Six Kingdoms charge forward, crushing their fallen allies as if they don’t even know the difference between friend and foe.
“Push them back!”
Liz also gave a fierce command and kicked the horse’s belly.
The soldiers in bloodstained armor ― red and vermillion ― crossed each other.
They thrust their spears with their own resentment and swords with their own pride. The two armies jumbled together, red flowers hit the sky, and red rain poured down on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, it became a battlefield of corpses, mountains, and rivers of blood, and countless dead were created.
“……What the hell?”
After cutting down the opposing enemy, Liz was overcome by a chill when she looked into the eyes of the dead who had built up a grudge against her.
As she looks at the bloody landscape with vacant eyes, she has no words to speak and does not mutter a single word of resentment. The only thing they are obsessed with is “killing the enemy” in the name of everything.
Liz couldn’t hide her confusion at the appearance of an enemy who was only directing one-sided hatred at her.
“But that doesn’t mean――”
She let out a sigh of relief as she spoke the words.
“I won’t go easy on you.”
A firm will shine in the back of her eyes. There is no such thing as sympathy on the battlefield.
If the enemy has something they can’t give up, then Liz also has something important to protect.
“So I will do my best to deal with you.”
She kicked the saddle with unusual spirit and slashed at the enemy, whose eyes were as vacant as a ghost’s. The wind pressure from the powerful skill made the space scream. Even so, the ghost in front of her is not intimidated and responds. A slash that contained a fierce impact from Liz, but there were no sparks, and a blast of flame enveloped the enemy soldiers with more power than that.
“Aa ――… Aa… Aaa.”
The enemy is sinking into the flames, screaming inaudibly.
The wave of flames that spread all over the area ― creating a serpent-like raging sea ― swallowed the surrounding enemy soldiers. The flames, which boasted an absolute amount of heat that could not be prevented, mysteriously did not bite any of the allies. It only preyed on the enemy.
“Your Highness Celia Estrella! A portion of the enemy force has further split up and is heading towards the main camp unabated!”
Reacting to the soldier’s words, Liz cut her gaze from the sea of flames and looked ahead.
A large amount of dust was rolling up. The flowing brown steam was heading towards the main camp with great force.
“Couldn’t it be that… I’ve cut them off, stranded from the source?”
If the repeated acts of self-destruction and sudden reckless reversals were all part of a strategy to deceive them, the images projected in front of them were proof of that.
If they were only concentrating on taking down the main camp, they would not be able to do so.
“Kuh, we will follow them right away!”
Regardless of whether Liz, the leader of the banner, is safe or not, if the disgraceful news of the fall of the main camp is notified to all the troops, the war situation will have the worst possible ending, no matter the advantage.
And then…
“……I found you.”
A sticky voice shook her eardrums as if she were crawling out of the depths of a coma.
It was as if someone was talking to her over her shoulder, and though she hurried to check her surroundings, she could not find the other person anywhere.
No, no, no, the other person is right in front of her.
A huge hole was drilled in the ground with a destructive force that was out of the ordinary.
A gust of wind that pierced the skin blew, and the flame snake that Liz had created was cut into pieces.
After the dust rushed into the sky with the wind, a woman appeared.
She had burns on the left side of her body that made Liz want to turn away from her, and her left arm had a sleeve that swayed in the wind, indicating a hollow space. She had a thin, well-proportioned figure, but she wore the dense abomination of a distorted form.
“Eagle, I found her. The girl with the red hair, the red sword, the red soldiers, all dyed in red, she must be the sixth princess of the Great Grantz Empire.”
The cloudy eyes that had captured her skull turned to Liz.
Liz choked on her breath when she saw the eyes full of despair and without hope.
It was similar. She had seen it many times. There was no way she could forget it.
The nightmare of being dragged in and not being able to make a difference, no matter how much she refused, was still burned into her mind. At the end of the hell that kept showing up forever, where she wanted to help but couldn’t, where she wanted to save but couldn’t, there was a young man with the same kind of eyes.
“Eagle, stay here and watch.”
The woman placed the skull on top of the charred corpse, leaving the upset Liz to her own devices.
“This corpse is still warm, so you won’t get cold, okay? I’ll finish it before you get cold.”
The incomprehensible situation muddled Liz’s thoughts. But the roar of the murderous voice forced her to switch her mind.
“N-no way he’s still alive――”
“Ohhhh!”
The white bones peeked out from under the burnt skin, and the melted armor was burning the flesh. The white smoke that covered the entire body swayed in the wind like a grudge.
The very sight of it…
“The Ghost Squad… are my cute little toy soldiers.”
The woman’s voice reached her through the fierce friction of the sword’s fierce sound again.
When Liz looked back at the voice owner, she saw a woman with a hammer in her hand laughing in a deflated fashion.
She is dead while living. Pathetic lap dogs, living and dead at the same time. She was glaring at Liz, looking both close and far away.
Whether or not the person in the back of her eyes is really her, Liz has no answer.
“And I am its owner, Luca Mamon de Urpeth.”
With a single swing of the hammer, a tremor shook the earth.
“Now ― shall we drink blood and surrender ourselves to the sweet pleasures?”