Hugo confidently walked forward.
He threw off his gloves and clenched his fists, and the muscles in his arms flexed.
The target was the chieftain of the Rock Tribe, swinging a sword wildly against the knights on the landing.
Huff.
Hugo swung his arms wide and faced the chieftain.
—Wham!
A powerful wave burst forth, and a gust of wind blew.
His sword emanated corrupted divine power, forming spells from his hands.
“Acella’s effective… you said that savage is a sorcerer.”
Tanya, who had regained her strength from my prescription, fluttered her hair and asked me.
“No matter how big he is, he can’t have that kind of physical ability purely. He knocked the commander back just by colliding with him, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Do you see that thing hanging around his neck?”
I pointed at the chieftain on the landing.
The groove-carved amulet around his neck sparkled in the light.
“It’s a legendary artifact. It can control curses below the upper tier. It’s a kind of local faith talisman.”
“A curse? Do sorcerers use curses too?”
“Sorcery is a debuff in the sense that a price must be paid to gain enhancement effects, which is similar to a curse.”
“Is it different from a blessing?”
“All you need for a blessing is divine power. In contrast, curses and sorcery require blood, souls, or sometimes even lives as sacrifices. The effects are that good, but they are forbidden spells.”
Tanya furrowed her brows.
“That’s wicked. So he sacrificed other lives to gain power, huh?”
I nodded.
“We shouldn’t show mercy.”
Tanya adjusted her grip on her sword and stood up. Fire burned in her eyes.
“Just wait a little. I’ll have Hugo take care of that cheat.”
Hugo was ready.
The divine power composed of Acella’s spell swayed in a strange form.
It wasn’t a precisely patterned magic circle.
The spell circle continually changed shape as if it were a living creature.
Huff!
—Boom!
Hugo stretched out both hands and shot the divine power directly at the chieftain.
The chieftain, exposed to the black wave, paused mid-swing with his stone knife aimed at a knight.
Hugo’s Acella spell seemed to irritate him, baring his teeth and glaring at us.
Hmm!
Hugo matched the intensity of his gaze, staring down the savage without batting an eye.
“Grrraaaargh—!!”
The chieftain, who had maintained his silence with dignity, could not hold back his anger and roared.
It was a powerful threat that felt like it would tear through my eardrums.
To threaten us meant he felt threatened.
The Acella spell began to take effect.
Recognizing the chieftain as an enemy, the Acella spell rebounded against the sorcery.
The chieftain’s skin cracked and peeled off as if all moisture had dried up.
Moreover, Hugo’s divine power naturally contained some curse due to his touch.
Just being exposed must hurt quite a bit.
Ugh…!
A sphere made of divine power appeared in front of Hugo.
Lines crisscrossed all over, resembling a puzzle that could be disassembled into various pieces.
It was a depiction of the curse’s incantation.
This was the main part of the Acella spell.
Crack—!!
Thud, thud.
The chieftain came barreling at us, making enormous footsteps.
I raised my arm to stop Tanya, who was preparing to leap to face him.
“Not yet. Let’s wait for the timing.”
Hugo spun the sphere and examined it.
Thanks to his research on curses, he quickly understood the structure of the sorcery.
In an instant, Hugo began to disassemble the sphere.
Crack!
Hugo tore off the first piece and crushed it in his hand. At the same time,
—Boom!
“Grrk?!”
Mana exploded behind the chieftain, severing the first enhancement spell.
He staggered, losing his balance but did not stop running.
Thud, thud! The chieftain continued to charge at us.
Hmm!
Hugo shattered the second piece.
“Grrraaargh—!!”
Though in pain, the chieftain’s threatening steps did not halt. The distance was now fifteen meters.
“Hugo, how many are left?”
“Three. Now two.”
The enhancement spells hanging on the chieftain were being broken one by one.
His colossal frame was gradually shrinking, his muscles weakening, and his sharp teeth dulling.
It was almost time.
I had to prepare.
An eye for an eye, an enhancement for an enhancement.
I opened my notebook and quickly recited the incantation.
“Blessing of strength, blessing of speed.”
Tanya’s body, wrapped in my divine power, shone radiantly.
Life returned to her weary body.
“Grrraaaargh—!!”
A roaring beastly cry.
The chieftain swung his stone knife with the momentum to smash our heads.
“One, done!”
“Commander!”
—Slice!
Without me even having to call her name, Tanya reacted first.
With a running start, Tanya’s sword precisely aimed at the chieftain’s neck.
The beautifully glowing blade, sharp as if on fire, traced a perfect line.
“—Grrk.”
The chieftain’s head and body were severed in an instant, and he lost all strength.
—Boom!
The charging chieftain’s body flew past us, colliding with the castle wall in mid-air.
Unable to withstand his own weight, he crashed through the railing and fell.
I cautiously peeked over the edge where the chieftain had fallen.
—Whoosh!
A fierce wind whipped through my hair.
It was a deep cliff where the ground below was unseen.
“Phew.”
Tanya elegantly wiped her sword and sheathed it, then spoke to me with an expressionless face.
“I thought I was going to die.”
“Me too.”
At that moment, I felt truly grateful to have Tanya by my side.
“Good job, Hugo.”
“It was quite fun.”
I fist-bumped with Hugo.
With the chieftain down, the battle to take the Central Fortress tilted overwhelmingly in our favor.
The remaining savage remnants couldn’t group up and would thus be easy to root out.
“Thanks to you, I could bring down the chieftain. I’m indebted to you, Teacher.”
“Good job, Commander. Your sword skills were impressive. Teach me that sword energy later.”
“Impossible. You have to be born with it.”
When it came to swords, Tanya was sharp as a blade.
“Even so, you overdid it. You, a healer and even the attending physician, jumped into the very front lines?”
“The results are good, so it’s fine. I might get scolded by Acella, so let’s hurry back.”
As we headed down the stairs, the sounds of knights reporting came from various places.
“Third floor secured!”
“The corridor is secured! No sign of a path underground!”
“Civilian refugees have not been found yet!”
Looks like they couldn’t find Count Blücher and the refugees.
The intel stated they were hiding somewhere underground; perhaps they were engaged with the savages.
‘I hope the only result isn’t that they’re all massacred. We barely won this hard-fought battle.’
I asked Tanya.
“Commander, haven’t you found the way down?”
“Not yet. The Central Fortress is quite large. We encountered the chieftain while trying to occupy areas for search.”
“There are still savage remnants scattered around, so we need to hurry. First…”
Shh.
At that moment, something swiftly moved into my view.
“What was that?”
As I got closer, I found a frightened young boy curled up in a corner.
“Hey, kid.”
“Gulp… a, a person!”
“Yeah, it’s a person. You don’t think I look like a savage, do you?”
“W-were you here to save us?!”
“Right. I came from the system.”
“I’m alive….”
The boy sighed in relief and patted his chest. For a moment, he shook his head and shouted with a tense expression.
“Over there, please help! My father got injured fighting the savages!”
Looks like he’s a survivor. His clothes looked high-quality, indicating he was the son of a knight. However, he appeared disheveled from not having bathed for a long time.
“I was looking for you all along. Where are the refugees? How did you get out?”
“They’re right below here. I got out this way.”
The boy walked to the castle wall and pointed down far below.
Upon closer inspection, there was a tiny gap. It looked like a ventilation shaft leading to the basement.
“You crawled out of there? That’s brave of you.”
“I guess so.”
I patted the back of the boy and asked.
“How do you get down to the basement?”
“Um… I don’t know, actually. I was too panicked while we were escaping. But…”
“What?”
“They found the entrance to the warehouse where everyone was hiding! So I hurried outside…!”
“Commander.”
“Yes. I’ll quickly triangulate the location considering the surroundings.”
Tanya quickly responded.
Just as we were about to move, suddenly—
Crash!
Grrr!
A few savages jumped down from above, crying out.
They were remnants that had been on the fortress roof.
“Teacher!”
Tanya reacted quickly and tried to shield me.
But I pulled the boy’s arm, swiftly getting out of Tanya’s range.
I threw the boy first into Tanya’s arms.
The savages landed on the ground where we were standing.
—Boom!
The weakened ground couldn’t withstand their weight and collapsed.
Oh, my footing is about to give way as well.
“Oh, come on.”
I reached out to Tanya, but there was no way I could catch her.
My feet slipped on the frigid, slick bricks.
Gravity pulled me, leaving no room for my thoughts, and my vision shot upward.
In an instant, I fell into the deep cliff below without any promise of return.
*
“Your Majesty, we have annihilated all the savages in the Central Fortress and captured it. The refugees hiding underground have also been found.”
“What about Count Blücher?”
“He’s safe.”
Acella smiled with victory at the news from the commander.
The battlefield was imbued with a sense of triumph. The glory of the extermination battle belonged entirely to Acella.
Even in her first outing, the Moonlight Palace’s battlefield management was flawless.
Her commanding abilities would undoubtedly appeal to the Emperor greatly.
“We’ll return to the Southern Fortress after completing the rescue of the refugees and join Heike’s forces.”
“I will relay the order. However, one thing…”
“What?”
Just for a moment, a flicker of joy crossed Acella’s face, only to be replaced with a grim expression as she continued the commander’s report.
“Teacher Gothberg….”
Acella rushed towards the fortress without a moment to regain her composure.
“Princess Tanya!!”
Acella shouted as she spotted Tanya.
All the nearby knights were stunned by the sight of their commander.
Tanya had already formed a rescue team and was ready to descend the cliff.
“Your Majesty.”
“The prince is missing? What do you mean?”
Tanya clenched her mouth tightly.
Acella understood the weight of the silence in Tanya’s response.
“Princess Tanya!!”
Acella’s shout echoed like a wail among the mountain peaks.
*
“I thought I was going to die again.”
I pulled myself out of the snow, which buried me to my waist, and stood up.
“Thank goodness I quickly cast the blessing of lightness.”
Just as the staircase crumbled and I fell into the cliff, I used the blessing to lighten my weight.
While I managed to minimize the impact during the fall, I expected I’d still incur some injuries.
Fortunately, there were several meters of snow at the bottom of the cliff, allowing for a cushioned landing.
“The problem is how to get back.”
Looking up, the light barely penetrated into the abyss.
As I surveyed my surroundings for any means of escape, something caught my eye.
“Oh.”
In the snowy field, something white stood out—it was the corpse of the chieftain who had fallen first.
Nearby, a shiny object glimmered.
It was the legendary artifact, the chieftain’s necklace.
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