Kerrk! Kekerrk!
Grrrrrrrr!
The cries of beasts rang out.
Clang! Clang!
Old, rusted iron gear clashed together, producing sharp shrieks.
Shuffle... Shuffle-shuffle...
The plains, trampled underfoot, kicked up gritty little sandstorms as if protesting the invasion.
They were a legion. Not just a word you’d find in a history book, but a vast, living horde in all its muddy, noisy glory.
A monstrous host, the sort that could swallow up a lesser barony without so much as a hiccup, swept across the open fields, their eyes flashing menacingly.
“Humans, death, forever, food!” A Gnoll who looked every inch the vanguard captain—waving a battered greatsword—bellowed to its kin.
That greatsword was decorated with mysterious bits of flesh and streaks of blood. Those gruesome decorations seemed to proclaim just how many battles the vanguard captain had fought.
“Death...!”
The vanguard captain curled its lips and let out a thunderous roar. It was the sort of performance one might expect from someone about to start a war.
The copious drool splattered around its mouth showed how excited it was about the prospect.
“God’s ore! Food! Country!” The vanguard captain kept bellowing.
“Raaaaargh!” The other Gnolls nearby howled in response, eager to join in the racket.
Disaster had arrived in a tiny fiefdom perched on the Empire’s farthest edge—the Barony of Harris.
* * *
After telling Baron Harris to remain in the territory, I grabbed my bow and headed for the spot the guards had mentioned.
Honestly, if we were just talking about Kobolds and Gnolls, they weren’t particularly difficult opponents.
Compared to the Goblin Lord I’d fought before, these monsters were a lower threat altogether. That’s what Kobolds and Gnolls were: monsters of a lesser order.
The problem was, these monsters had formed a legion.
Monsters, by nature, aren’t exactly known for their intelligence. Their guiding principles are survival and instinct.
And yet, here they were, massed together in a proper horde.
Which meant, of course, that someone—or something—was controlling the Kobolds and Gnolls.
...Is it another Lord this time, too?
A Lord: a monster that rules over other monsters.
These sudden oddities are born to lead, gathering monsters and forming their own factions from the moment they first draw breath.
Only one is ever born at a time—solely to ensure the survival of their kind.
And once such a horde is assembled, the gap in power between them and a ragtag group of monsters is as vast as the difference between a thunderstorm and a leaky faucet.
After all, a Lord’s power allowed even lowly Goblins to toy with Aura Adepts.
And that’s not all.
Warriors, Mages, Vanguard Captains, Priests, and so on—variants that shouldn’t exist by nature—are born under such Lords.
…Well, this has turned into a proper headache.
This sort of thing definitely didn’t happen before I regressed.
Somewhere, something must have changed. That’s probably the reason.
The reason why events that never happened before are suddenly unfolding now.
I gripped my bow tightly and hurried my steps.
Whatever the cause, it didn’t matter for now. First, I needed to see this horde with my own eyes. Only then could I plan how to fight it.
“Let’s pick up the pace.”
I had barely sped up when I reached the ramparts, where the wide plains spread out before me in all their ominous glory.
“Attention!” The guards who spotted Rom saluted.
Compared to the men of House Praha or Berg County, their salute was rather lacking. But for a barony, it was the sort of salute that comes from plenty of practice.
“What’s the current situation?” Rom asked.
“They’re still advancing. At this rate, they’ll reach the walls within the hour.”
Rom sighed, muttering, “An hour…”
That was far too short. Even if the townsfolk started fleeing now, an hour wouldn’t be enough.
“We need to buy as much time as possible. Can you manage that?” Rom asked.
“Are reinforcements coming?” one of the guards replied, his face bright with hope. He seemed to think that if they could just hold out, help would come.
But Rom couldn’t say anything. Forget reinforcements—everyone who could fight was already here.
He was about to admit as much.
“…That’s—”
“They’ll come. For now, get ready for battle.” I cut Rom off and finished his sentence for him.
What they needed right now was a dash of hope. And since that was the case, why bother confronting them with grim reality when you could plant a little optimism instead?
And, as expected, the guard’s face brightened as he snapped off a salute. “Yes, sir! I’ll have everyone ready at once!”
He hurried off to spread the word to his fellow guards.
Rom looked at me and asked, “Why did you lie?”
“Because it’ll keep them alive.”
Rom pressed his lips together, unable to reply.
Normally, I’d have clapped him on the shoulder and told him it wasn’t his fault, but there was no time for that now.
I brushed past Rom and climbed up onto the ramparts, gazing out over the vast plains.
A fierce wind whipped up clouds of sand. The cries of beasts echoed in the distance.
A horde of Gnolls and Kobolds was advancing, filling the plains from end to end.
“…This is madness.” I stifled a bitter laugh.
That wasn’t just a few hundred monsters. I saw at least a thousand.
This was a disaster fit for the annals of national calamity.
“…We’re doomed. Absolutely doomed.” Another guard beside me muttered, his face frozen in disbelief. He even managed a hollow, disbelieving smile—his mind clearly teetering on the edge.
Well, who could blame him?
What could you expect from men whose greatest accomplishment was defending a barony, when faced with a force like that?
Frankly, it would be a relief if none of them broke ranks.
“Lancelot, Roxen. You two will each act as vanguard captains.” I strode past the shaken soldiers and issued orders to my squad. “Kai, use the chaos to take the heads of Gnoll Mages. Sir Rom, you’re with me—we’re going for the enemy leader.”
I fired off my commands in a voice that brooked no dissent.
And then…
Creak—!
I drew my bow, infusing the string with Aura.
〈Full Bloom〉
Thwip.
The arrows loosed from my bow split into dozens of shimmering shafts.
Before anyone quite realized it, the arrows were threading through the throats of Gnolls and Kobolds alike, each shaft soaking up blood as it passed.
Splat! Splat!
“Kerrrrrrrk—!”
It was as if a camellia tree had stretched out its branches and burst into bloom.
Only, these were no gentle red blossoms—these were camellias blooming in blood, painting the battlefield crimson as the Gnolls were cut down.
As dozens of Gnolls lost their lives, I lowered my bow and murmured quietly, “Special Taskforce, begin the attack.”
The battle had begun.
* * *
Baron Harris was a man in a hurry, darting about and sending desperate pleas for help to every neighboring lord within reach.
His own territory might lack military power, but the neighbors were another story.
There was a county nearby, wasn’t there?
A county, surely, would have enough military muscle to swat aside a few Gnolls and Kobolds as if they were bothersome flies.
Maybe, just maybe, even an Expert-level fighter or two would show up.
If that happened, his barony might survive. His people might live, their homes and livelihoods spared.
Baron Harris wasted no time, sending an urgent request to the county.
And then… a letter arrived.
[ Request denied. ]
A reply from the county.
Baron Harris hugged himself, hollow with despair.
So this was how his domain would fall.
He’d spoken so nonchalantly to the young lord of House Berg, but in truth, he was terrified.
Terrified for his people. Terrified for his land. Terrified that everything he’d protected until now would crumble to dust.
The fear was overwhelming.
“Oh, heavens…”
Just as the baron was about to direct a few choice complaints skyward—
Rustle.
He found another letter, tucked behind the one that had so unhelpfully said “no.”
“…This isn’t some kind of cruel prank, is it?” Baron Harris eyed the new letter, hope and suspicion wrestling for dominance.
This one explained the reason for the refusal. Then it stated that the 2nd Order of Knights from the Imperial Capital would be dispatched.
Baron Harris clutched the letter in trembling hands.
They were saved.
Even if it was just the 2nd Order, surely they could handle a horde of Gnolls and Kobolds.
All he had to do was hold out until they arrived. If he could manage that, victory would be theirs.
The baron hurriedly shouted at the servant standing nearby. “Go at once and tell everyone what’s happened!”
“M-me, sir?”
“Would you rather not?”
“W-well, it’s just that…!”
The servant’s eyes darted about in panic, his expression making it abundantly clear that he’d rather be anywhere but a battlefield.
The baron clenched his fist. How could a decent human being think only of himself at a time like this?
Any other day, he’d have rung the alarm bells and given the servant a proper scolding, but today, time was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
“…Fine, I’ll go myself.”
With a look of resolve, the baron turned away.
Just then—
“Ahaha…”
A man stood there, grinning sheepishly at the baron.
He looked about as eager to volunteer as a man being asked to jump into a pit of snakes, but he managed to speak up… albeit with a sigh.
“I’ll go.”
It was Hans the coachman’s last scrap of courage.
* * *
The battle claimed lives by the dozen.
Those who had watched me and my squad fight found a spark of courage and joined in.
In the end, they became cold corpses, lying scattered across the wide plain.
Perhaps because there hadn’t been many to begin with, the baron’s soldiers quickly reached their limit.
When all was said and done, only the Special Taskforce, Rom, a few of the baron’s men, and I remained on the field.
SPLAT!
I thrust my spear through the neck of a Gnoll Warrior.
The Gnolls nearby were suppressed with Crushing Presence, while the ones clustered farther away were wiped out in a single blow with Full Bloom.
SPLAT!
Another Gnoll fell beneath my spear.
SPLAT!
I wiped the blood from my face and muttered, “There’s no end to them.”
The end was nowhere in sight. They’d said there were a thousand, but facing them now, it felt less like an army and more like staring into a boundless sea.
“Rom, are you holding up?”
“…I can still manage. For now.”
“‘Manage,’ he says. You look like you’re about to drop dead.”
And indeed, Rom looked as if he might collapse at any moment. His legs were trembling, and the spear in his hand seemed ready to slip from his grasp.
Even so, the light in Rom’s eyes hadn’t died.
He cut down Gnolls and Kobolds as if each one were the last sworn enemy he had left in the world.
“…Hah.” Rom suddenly staggered, nearly losing his balance. But he steadied himself, forcing his mind back into order.
“…There are still so many left. We can’t run away now, can we?” he said.
“That’s true.” I nodded calmly.
If I turned tail here, this horde would pour straight into the Barony. Granted, at this point, calling them a “horde” was a bit generous.
Even so, there were still hundreds left—enough to erase a powerless barony in the blink of an eye.
And if that happened, I’d have to abandon the Mithril. A tragedy of the highest order.
“Not a chance.” I muttered quietly, shaking my head. If I wanted to avoid that fate, I’d have to push myself a bit further.
There, among the Gnoll pack, was a group that looked especially dangerous. That was probably where the Lord-class monster was lurking.
The presence of a Gnoll Warrior and a Kobold Priest more or less confirmed it.
“Rom, we’re heading over there.”
“…That spot?” Rom hesitated for a moment, uncertainty in his voice.
I gave him a wry smile, asking, “What’s wrong? Are you scared?”
“…Yes, of course I’m scared.”
“Then run if you want. No one will say a word.”
“…I can’t do that. I’m the lord’s son.”
Dragging his exhausted body, Rom started moving toward the place I’d pointed out.
The Kobolds began to snicker, watching their prey walk right up to them—even with their comrade’s corpse lying nearby.
Monsters, it seemed, had no room for sentiment beyond instinct.
I nocked an arrow to my bow, calling out to Rom in a low voice as he walked ahead. “Just keep your eyes forward. I’ll clear everything else out of your way.”
Lightning seeped into the arrow, blue sparks beginning to crackle.
Crackle. Fzzzzzt.
〈Lightning Strike〉
I channeled the skill I’d recently picked up, the Divine Archer’s technique.
Quick as light, it shot from my bowstring and streaked straight toward the Kobold army.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The arrow blasted a huge passage open right in front of Rom—a corridor lined with blackened corpses and slick with blood.
The Kobolds faltered, shuffling backward. The Gnolls, catching the scent of burnt flesh, gagged and retched.
Rom looked at me with a blank, stunned face.
“…You had an ability like that?” he asked.
I let out a short, dry chuckle.
I rummaged through the inside pocket of my coat, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.
Sssst...
I felt a faint glimmer of my Aura returning, just a little. Maybe it was because these things cost a fortune, but I did feel a bit sharper.
I took a drag before answering.
“Trade secret.”