Volume 3 - CH 30

Act 3-30: Complete Defeat(Side: Mudaito)

Southwest of 【Demonic Forest】, 【Demon Lake of Sirauso】, the headquarters of Count Ketzer’s army.

「We have received several messenger birds. All of them are asking permission to withdraw! We have also lost contact with several teams!」

They keep receiving such baffling reports.

「Just what in the world is happening here!?」

The commander of the territorial army, Mudaito, shouted and struck the table with his fist.

According to the information they had, Wind Cat’s folks were composed of the relatives of the people who had committed treason toward the Amelia kingdom and who didn’t have a place to live in most parts of the kingdom. In short, they were like illegal citizens. Business aside, their lives had been ruined after the bigshot nobles had targeted them. The dispatched soldiers didn’t need reinforcement to subjugate Wind Cat’s folks.

Mudaito pondered the matter.

「Have they by any chance asked the great spirit to make his move?」

He then asked a wild-looking youth who wore a blue robe and was drinking liquor in the corner of his tent.

The name of this young man was Onyx. He was the big brother of Ruby and was an over-class mage. Onyx and his brother, Ruby, had been hired after they received a mysterious piece of information about Duchess Felis being in a contract with a great spirit.

Since Count Ketzer had paid a huge sum of money to hire them, it would be extremely troublesome if the siblings ended up doing nothing.

「Impossible!」

「How can you say that? The spirit contracted to Duchess Felis should be quite powerful, right?」

「Maybe. But Ruby is participating in the subjugation squad. The great spirit should’ve asked quite a hefty price if they were to fight Ruby’s Deimos Lich. Which meant that they would have no choice but to offer the entire life force of Wind Cat’s folks.」

「Since that’s the case, if Duchess Felis offered the life force of all of Wind Cat’s folks to force the great spirit to make his move and won―」

「Even if it managed to beat Deimos Lich, it should already be close to running out of gas. It won’t be able to beat a thousand soldiers in this forest.」

「THEN HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE CURRENT SITUATION!? We have already lost half of our soldiers!?」

「Maybe, the reason for this situation lies in the former commander of Casael’s mage knight. Worry not, no human can win against Deimos Lich. It should be about time for us to receive good news from Ruby and co. 」

「But―」

「AAH, quit with yer yapping!! If the worst happens, I’m going to be their opponent. You got no problem with that, right?」

Onyx was a summoner. In terms of ability, he was an over-class summoner contracted to several legendary beings. He alone was enough to annihilate the entire territorial army in Demonic Forest.

「Understood.」

Mudaito turned around toward the messenger.

「No one shall withdraw. Anyone withdrawing from battle will be considered a deserter. And don’t ever think that they’ll be able to work for the army again! Deserter shall be executed!」

Thus, the commander gave such an order.

A while after that, no more reports entered the HQ.

「Any contact from any squad?」

「Not yet. But, they didn’t ask for reinforcements after that, so they might have suppressed Wind Cat’s folks.」

「I see… Well, that’s natural.」

Although he was slightly puzzled by the reason Count Ketzer went so far just to annihilate a community composed of nothing but small fries, the commander stopped thinking about it since it wasn’t his part to think about this matter.

His tension finally loosened after he realized this. However, as he heaved a sigh of relief and poured liquor into his glass―

「ー-!!」

A soldier suddenly tumbled into the tent, his teeth rattling non-stop as he pointed outside the tent. The color had drained from the soldier’s face, and he had a hard time speaking.

「What’s the matter!? Tell us quickly!」

Mudaito didn’t doubt his victory a little bit. All that was left was secretly bringing Duchess Felis to Count Ketzer. Then, he could kiss goodbye to this boring job.

""

Onyx, who had been enjoying his liquor until now, smacked his lips and stood up from his chair.  He walked out of the tent.

「We have been surrounded.」

He muttered with an annoyed look on his face.

「Haah? You mean a surprise attack? What about the soldiers stationed around this place?」

「Who knows! There have been no reports about them leaving their posts until now.」

Mudaito’s aide shook his hands while replying.

— Have they left their posts to plunder Wind Cat’s folks? Well yeah, they are no different from wild animals once we let loose of their reins. Could it be that the other party used that to surround us?

(Haah, this is why I hate such a mishmash army that has been put together in hurry!)

Mudaito couldn’t help but curse his undisciplined subordinates.

「Onyx, can you kill those thieves?」

He decided to dispatch Onyx to solve the predicament.

「Okay. But you have to pay more since there are a few of them.」

「No problem.」

He had no choice but to pay more to escape from their current predicament.

The moment he stood from his wooden chair, the tent got torn into pieces.

「UWOOOOOOO!?」

When confusedly looked around, dozens of people appeared around them as the moonlight shone over them.

(What the… They’re supposed to be amateurs!)

Young women aside, this group also had old men and children in the mix. And none of them looked strong. Part of that was because most of them had never even held a sword in their entire lives.

Although he had to raise his vigilance against the magic that they used to tear his tent to shreds, his side still had a trump card called Onyx. And there was no way Onyx would lose against these amateurs. Despite feeling something was amiss since he should’ve arranged many skilled mages around his tent, Mudaito wondered whether those mages did their job properly or not. After all, they had allowed such amateurs to slip into the vicinity of his tent.

「How can they allow these amateurs to get this close to the HQ!?」

He shouted at the guard soldiers who were trembling non-stop since a while ago, but then his eyes went wide.

「FUHI! HIHEHEHE… These people… are monsters.」

Naturally, the soldier who had witnessed the event started crying. He then laughed with tears and drool staining his face as if he was losing his mind.

「MONSTER!? These?」

Onyx squinted, looking at the people who had surrounded the tent.

An old man walking with a cane then came forward.

「You have been surrounded by us, Wind Cat’s folks. You have two choices. Surrender obediently and expose all of the Count’s evil deeds. Or else, enjoy a journey to hell.」

He told them to surrender obediently.

「Surrender!? To amateurs like you?」

Onyx asked in a low voice as he took out his knife.

「…」

But the threat apparently couldn’t even scare the children who had never experienced battle, All of them just stood in silence, waiting for Mudaito’s reply.

「Don’t get cocky, amateurs! Oi, armored dragon! Wake up!」

Onyx snapped his fingers, looking irritated at Wind Cat’s folks’ fearless attitude. Then, a giant lizard manifested in front of him.

It had no wings, but a sharp mouth and black luster scales. Its appearance was unique to a dragon. As the strongest species, dragons were harder to control than spirits, but their strength alone was enough to turn the table. At that moment, Mudaito was convinced of his side’s victory.

""

『You have prepared the compensation, right? I’m not going to work for free even if the opponents are just small fries, you know?』

The wingless, armored dragon looked around, gazing at Wind Cat’s folks with a bored look on its face. He looked at Mudaito and his subordinates, before asking that question as it turned to look at Onyx.

「Yeah, there’s a huge amount of life force over there. I’ll give you eight for now. It should be enough to kill the likes of them, right?」

『Enough. Contract established.』

The armored dragon opened its mouth as if it were sucking something. At that moment, Mudaito’s aides fell one after another.

「O-Oi!」

「Can’t be helped, Armored Dragon is a big eater after all. Now, prepare yourself. The price of your stupidity is… death.」

It was equal compensation a summoner had to offer to their summoned beast, namely life force.

Mudaito didn’t care even if he had to sacrifice his aides, as long as it could ensure his safety.

「U-Understand. I’ll leave this matter to you.」

The moment Mudaito nodded…

「You, you actually sacrificed your comrades?」

The old man asked with a devilish look on his face.

「Comrades? They were just disposable pawns. And those pawns have fulfilled their role. Right?」

Onyx scornfully asked while turning to Mudaito as if he were making fools out of the old man from Wind Cat’s side.

「Yeah. They should be happy that they died as the sacrifices needed to turn the tide of this battle.」

「Happy, eh? So you fellas are that kind of people, eh. I’m glad to hear that. Since I don’t have to show mercy against such kind of trash.」

「You think you can defeat this guy? Dream on.」

Onyx’s face distorted as he spoke. Then…

「Armored Dragon, kill them all!」

He ordered the wingless dragon to attack Wind Cat’s folks.

『I know already. It’s a contract, after all. I want to enjoy human mana-less flesh every once in a while, too. Well, the meat of this old human seems to be tough and unappetizing though.』

The Armored Dragon walked toward the old man as it said so. It was as if the dragon were taking its time to enjoy the dreaded expression on the old man’s face. The dragon was causing the ground to quake due to its sheer weight.

「Old man, let me―」

The old man stopped the black-haired girl with a bob cut with his cane.

「I’m alone enough for this lizard.」

The white-haired old man muttered as he looked at the approaching Armored Dragon. The next moment, his eyes became dyed in golden color as his body underwent a dramatic change.

The old man’s body swelled up several times its original size. Golden scales appeared on his skin, sharp claws and fangs grew out from his limbs, and a pair of wings appeared from his back. He transformed into a member of the strongest species in a mere moment.

『…』

The Armored Dragon could only look up dumbfoundedly with its mouth half-open at the golden dragon, who was tens of times bigger than it.

「I-impossible…」

The same could be said for Onyx. The moment that golden dragon made its appearance, his face became devoid of color

Suddenly, a pillar of fire rushed out of the golden dragon’s mouth and covered his entire field of view.

When his eyesight returned, the area around the tent had already transformed into a scorching ground.

「Such a thing…」

Mudaito fell on his rear upon witnessing such unreasonable power. That was only natural since the 【Demon lake of Shirauso】, which happened to be right behind the army HQ, had evaporated with not even a speck of water left. In place of the lake was now a giant, scorching crater.

「…」

Onyx could only tremble non-stop in front of such irrational power. And then―

『GIHIIIII!』

Maybe because it had lost its fighting spirit after the opening attack, the Armored Dragon escaped at its top speed. Unfortunately…

『You think I’m going to let you off.』

The eyes of the golden dragon, who spoke in a low voice, shone for a moment. Then, the huge body of the Armored Dragon stiffened.

『I should’ve told you, right? There’s no mercy for you guys. I’ll make sure that you’ll pay the ultimate price for every single cruelty you have committed until now!』

The golden dragon then looked up at the starry sky, which could be seen very clearly after he transformed part of the forest.

『GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!』

Then, he unleashed a roar that shook the forest. The air shook and turned into a ravaging storm with that roar.

Inside that raging storm, Mudaito’s fat body was no different from a weightless leaf. It rolled around in that chaos, knocking one uprooted tree after another until finally, the back of his head hit something. His consciousness fell into darkness.