Chapter 111 — Midra
Estante, the Knight Commander of House Hoover, gazed across the battlefield with a look of genuine admiration.
"My, my……."
The fighting was not yet over, but the Alliance Forces had seized the advantage. Viale's infantry were already pushing forward, sweeping away the enemy masses.
"Screeaaagh!"
"Fire!!"
When the Corrupted closed to within thirty paces, the Dwarf commander's cry rang out. The clatter of chanisms followed, and the repeating crossbows demonstrated overwhelming firepower. The enemy tried to accelerate their bodies, but at that range and speed, there was no evading it.
Fwap-fwap-fwap!Thud.
Dozens of them collapsed in an instant, and hundreds more ca rushing in — yet all they found before them was an unyielding wall of shields.
Thoom.
"Push—!"
The Dwarves endured the first impact without yielding, then advanced in unison to a single rhythm. Their characteristic brute strength drove the enemy flat against the ground, and their rear ranks finished the job with swift efficiency.
The sa scene played out all across the battlefield.
A main force of six thousand quietly consud an enemy army of nearly twenty thousand. Scattered across the wide battlefield, the Corrupted were no longer beings of terror — rely a disorganized mob of beasts charging blindly.
And that was undeniably the cavalry's achievent.
"……Royce, you old friend. When did you climb so high?"
Every emotion was contained in that single sentence. Estante's gaze traced the trail left by the Mountain Rabbits. House Hoover's own knight order was among the kingdom's finest, yet today he could not claim they were fit to be compared.
"With cavalry alone, to sweep the battlefield so fluidly."
This was not domination through sheer force. Without once breaking formation, a thousand riders moved as one body. Unorthodox maneuvers, fluid transitions, the precision of their formations — it was as though a vast living organism breathed through each of them, every mber fulfilling their exact role from their exact position.
"This is already an art that belongs to the Mountain Rabbits alone."
And at the head of it all, a young man's figure ca into view.
A shallow tremor passed through Estante's chest. Barely a year ago, Calix had been nothing more than a young rcenary brimming with potential.
Yet the man he had once thought of as a young predator now stood at the center of the world.
Alongside a pleasant sense of awe, an inexplicable competitive spirit crawled up his spine.
Just then, a flag flashed from the Mountain Rabbits' side. At a single signal, the cavalry rearranged their formation with crisp precision. Monts later, they drove into the enemy's flank and once again carved open another breach.
Calix's command carried both human flexibility and chanical coldness at once.
'If things continue like this…… Truly, even a hundred thousand enemies would not be frightening.'
But he knew.
The battlefield forgave no complacency. The mont one felt as though victory was already in hand — that was the most dangerous mont of all.
Unfortunately, the Knight Commander's instincts were not wrong. Just as the certainty of victory began spreading among the alliance soldiers, a dense and imnse shadow fell across them.
***
At that sa mont, Calix cast his gaze beyond the battlefield. Near the city walls, sothing of unknown nature radiated an overwhelming presence.
[Warning — Danger Index rising sharply. Threat level of hostile target assessed as extrely high.]
[Unidentified Interference Signal detected — possibility of temporary neural network anomaly. Caution advised.]
No — in truth, he had already known.
"……Midra Who Takes Away."
"Is that the Legion Commander?"
Vice-captain Marik asked in a near-shout, and imdiately Gregor, Marik, and other unit mbers reacted as well.
"Calix, what do we do now?"
"The enemy numbers are still too high!"
Hadiya's observation was correct.
'It's too soon to strike at the head. But if left unchecked, enemies will pour out from inside the walls.'
And so, the answer was already decided.
'Before Midra begins operating in earnest, we have to cut off the enemy's rear. This is a decision that requires soone's sacrifice.'
Yet to prevent greater losses, a choice had to be made.
Calix did not hesitate.
"Hadiya, go to the main force and relay the ssage! Tell them to advance!"
"Got it!"
"We cut the enemy at the waist! Now or never!"
The Mountain Rabbits' cavalry rode forward, driving their exhausted bodies into motion. The alliance infantry began pushing ahead, and the Kalahim cavalry received the signal and hurried their charge preparations on the opposite flank.
Not a single person spoke, yet every one of them felt the sa weight pressing down. Lips were bitten, one after another. Sowhere between resolve and fear — that was the emotion that filled the battlefield.
[Kh-hh-hh.]
The unknown entity laughed at the humans. That single laugh ran cold down every spine.
***
The Alliance Forces resolved to accept sacrifice and eliminate the enemy. The cavalry charged with the determination to cut off the rear, even at the cost of their lives, while the infantry quickened their pace and drove straight into the front lines.
"Strike — in one thrust!"
Fwump-fwump!
"Aaagh!"
"Stab—!"
A fist swung by a giant crushed a tight square formation. The sound of shattering bones and screams rang out, but the soldiers drove their spearheads forward to the very end.
Now there was no avoiding the mid-tier enemies. Only a direct charge remained. The cavalry was no different.
"Enemy on the right!"
At Marik's warning, the beast known as Kriol — its back bristling with ice spikes — blocked their path. Several of the Mountain Rabbits' newer mbers were torn by its claws, but Calix did not slow his pace.
In a split second, the beast's bloodshot eyes t his gaze. He bit down on his molars and swung his blade. A mass of mana broke away, hurling the enemy's body aside.
Rather than delivering a lethal blow, he focused entirely on driving it back.
"Keep moving as is! Don't stop!!"
Even at an irreversible cost, he would save as many of his comrades as possible. He fixed his mind on one singular objective.
And yet, strangely enough, Midra did not move at all. Like a predator watching the skirmishes of smaller creatures, a gaze that mingled languor and indifference washed over the battlefield.
Right then—
[Child, why do you strain yourself so?]
"……."
The mont Vice-captain Marik barely managed to save one of the recruits, cold air bored into his ear. A voice that shook the very soul seeped into his heart with a numbing chill.
And when Calix drove through dozens of the Corrupted with a blade blazing with Divinity—
[Young one, how long do you intend to burn yourself?]
A wicked whisper struck and chilled the back of the neck.
Crash!
And again, the instant Gregor cleaved a foe's skull open with the edge of his shield—
[Old one, do you feel powerless?]
Cold ran along the spine. It was not directed at any single individual — every living being on the battlefield heard the sa voice, yet different words.
For one brief mont, an eerie silence settled over the battlefield.
***
The operation succeeded. At a trendous cost, the Mountain Rabbits' cavalry and Kalahim's cavalry t at a single point. The enemy's formation was severed at the waist, and the alliance main force was already pressing the remaining troops into a rout.
It appeared as though only the 'head' remained. Everyone wanted to believe this battle was drawing to a close.
Then, all at once, the wind stopped.
The air froze. Soone tried to cry out, but the bitter cold sealed their lips. In the stillness that fell over the battlefield, Midra Who Takes Away moved its steps with slow deliberation.
Crackle. Crackle-crackle.
With every step its rotting toes took against the ground, ice spread outward. Only then did Calix take in the enemy's true form.
Midra stood nearly three ters tall.
Across skin as rough and warped as stone, fractures of dark blue ice spread in jagged lines. One half of its face retained the remnants of a human; the other half was overtaken by ice, bearing the shape of a skull.
Its two eyes flashed with different lights. One swirled with icy blue cold; the other churned with a deep crimson darkness.
Its mouth was split to the ears, and a row of teeth caked with dried blood was barely visible. Both arms were grotesquely long, as though they had lost all distinction between human and beast, and at their ends six fingers extended like pale blue blades.
It killed even its own allies on a whim, as though playing a ga. A nearby beast froze solid while still alive — then, like shattering ice against stone, crack — it crumbled apart. The Corrupted, too, seized motionless, then crackle — their forms disintegrated.
And then it spoke, laced with mockery.
[Take comfort. Death is equal for all.]
Fwooo-HAAAAAAH!!
The neural network's warning blared. As though he had inhaled smoke, the sensation in the hand gripping his sword grew numb, and his vision wavered.
Calix resisted with Divinity and imdiately turned his head back.
"Ella!"
He had tried to call upon the Rank 4 Cleric's aid, but she was already chanting her prayer. Even from her pallid expression alone, the severity of the situation was apparent.
Horses went wild with panic; riders were thrown and fell one after another, and the strength drained from soldiers' grips. The sacred prayer was completed, and the cavalry's color partially returned — but the main force, standing further away, was in a different state. Without realizing it, n stumbled backward and collapsed, and so simply crumpled where they stood, their nerves paralyzed.
The chain of command shattered in an instant.
Even the Corrupted, seized by fear of Midra's aura, lost all sense of direction. Distinguishing ally from enemy had beco aningless.
"……Calix, this is the limit of my abilities."
Priestess Ella bit her lip and spoke plainly.
"How long can you hold?"
It was a cruel question for Calix to ask — yet one that had to be asked.
"With prayers…… five tis…… no, six."
He raised his head and swept his gaze across the battlefield. The beast they had encountered earlier — Kriol — was charging toward the alliance soldiers. And another figure, enormous and grotesquely misshapen, sothing between human and beast, was rampaging as well.
"……Barakh."
"Vice-captain?"
"Never mind."
Volga threw a question at Marik, whose complexion had gone pale, but he had no capacity to spare for it. The small rcy was that the Corrupted, too, had been rendered powerless.
But—
'This is no longer a question of strategy. Midra never had any desire to win from the start. It is absolutely certain it can achieve victory all on its own.'
Calix looked up at Midra's hunched back. Broken blades were embedded across it like trophies, countless in number.
He had to help his allies.
'How?'
Calix drew a long, deep breath at the heart of the chaos. His fingertips trembled, and his breathing felt as though it might faintly cut off — yet his mind grew clear and still.
'The key to victory or defeat is already determined.'
It was Midra Who Takes Away. Win, and they would live. Lose, and there was only death. With that, he reached up and drew out the whistle hanging from his chest.
Pheeeeeeeeeee!!
The sound was not loud enough to split the entire battlefield.
Yet after a brief silence, Royce moved to his side without a word. Gregor t his gaze with clear eyes and struck his shield. Airien shook the blood from the tip of her blade, and Vice-captain Marik filled his place without a sound.
The Dwarf Basim only said he 'would rather just dismount and fight'.
"The ti has co."
When Barakh of Kalahim crossed over as well, the numbers were roughly assembled. Each of them stood at his side carrying their own wounds, their exhaustion, their fear.
They were the Alliance Forces' finest swords.
Calix looked one last ti at those standing beside him.
"Now — we go to see this to its end. Those who remain…… hold the city gates."
But in truth, there were still those who had not yet arrived.
Broooooooo!!
From behind, beyond the outer walls, a war horn rang out long and deep. A heavy clash of iron followed, and the ground trembled faintly underfoot.
Soone was drawing near, headed for the city gates.
The Mountain Rabbits turned their heads — and saw ten-odd riders galloping out in desperate haste. In that instant, a surge of mana pulsed through the air.
CRABOOOM!
A fla ignited on a blade struck the protruding section above the city gates dead-on, bringing it crashing down whole. Dozens of Corrupted were buried under the rubble and vanished without a scream.
And then, a man approached through the dust, covered in gri.
"Calix. I didn't want to reunite under these circumstances."
An unfamiliar voice.
Brown hair soaked dark with blood, eyes as deep blue as the sea — soone who had the look of a sailor at first glance, yet carried the subtle air of royalty beneath.
"Fate really does have a nasty sense of humor, doesn't it?"
Adrian Deconti — Prince of the Latia Republic.
He looked worn, yet he made his intention to keep fighting clear — offering a fist salute to Midra, who watched with what seed like curiosity.
In any case, with this, the fighting force was complete.
There were now three Top-Rank Swordsn. Calix at the vanguard, with Barakh and Adrian Deconti.
The rear was supported by Upper-Rank Swordsn — Unit Leader Royce, Vice-captain Marik, Gregor, Airien, and the Dwarf Basim — the core pillars of the Mountain Rabbits who held the backbone of the battlefield. With both Ella and the newly joined Rank 5 Cleric Isabela, there was enough to stake a fight on.
Step.
With that, Calix was the first to move.
And so the greatest fighting force stepped forward to face the bitter cold of winter.
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