Chapter 39

Five hours had passed since the battle began, and a significant change appeared on the battlefield.

Until then, the kingdom's army had held its ground with the Brain Fortress at its back, but it began to retreat and returned inside the fortress.

"The kingdom's soldiers are retreating!"

"Charge into the fortress! Don't let them close the gates!"

Pursuing the retreating kingdom's army, the imperial soldiers who had been surrounding them stormed the fortress.

"Ah, it seems we are victorious!"

Seeing the imperial soldiers heading towards the city gates, Dallas Safaris cheered.

"General Vargen, as expected! Your command was magnificent!"

"......Yes."

In response to the congratulatory words from his adjutant, Gracos Vargen nodded, but his face was somehow not cheerful.

"......Is something wrong, grandpa?"

Seira, noticing the old general's darkening expression, asked with a worried look.

Vargen, realizing he had worried the adorable princess, was startled and widened his eyes.

"N-no, it's nothing... I just think it's too anticlimactic."

At first, the imperial army suffered a painful counterattack, but they quickly turned the tide and pushed towards victory.

The kingdom's army had already retreated inside the Brain Fortress. Several imperial soldiers were holding the gates open, and others were rushing inside.

If this continued, the fortress would fall, and the imperial army would win.

(Bazell Ghalst is not a fool. He is not an incompetent general who would engage in a battle he cannot win. Then why did he step out into the open field?)

Vargen bowed his head in thought.

He had assumed that Ghalst had a secret weapon to bring the battle to a stalemate, but it had not yet appeared.

Or could it be that he still had the luxury to hold back his trump card at this point?

(If this continues, we will win. Come on, Ghalst!)

"Wh-what...! General Vargen, look at that!"

"Wh-what!?"

At the adjutant's cry, Vargen raised his head.

In front of him, soldiers who had entered the Brain Fortress through the city gates were fleeing in panic.

They were abandoning the victory that was almost within their grasp, crawling away in terror.

Their backs were slashed by a jet-black blade.

"What is that... magic?"

Dozens of imperial soldiers were blown away by the black blade. Seeing his own soldiers flying through the air like petals, Vargen widened his eyes in shock.

It seemed there was a powerful magician skilled in attack magic inside the fortress.

Though it was unclear why they had held back until now, a high-ranking magician could indeed be a trump card that could turn the tide of battle.

"......No, grandpa. That's not it."

"Princess?"

Seira whispered in a tense voice.

Vargen and Safaris turned to her in surprise, and they saw the princess's face, clad in armor, rapidly pale.

Her lips were tightly pressed together, and her small shoulders were trembling.

It was the first time they had seen the usually carefree Seira show such fear.

"Wh-what!?"

"Wh-what!?"

While Vargen was fixated on the trembling princess, he was startled by a scream that cut through the battlefield and turned his gaze back to the fortress.

The city gates of the Brain Fortress remained open, and countless imperial soldiers lay dead around them. The surviving soldiers were keeping their distance from the gates, pointing their spears in fear.

Then—under the watchful eyes of many imperial soldiers, a man appeared, passing through the city gates.

He was a young man in black armor, and even the sword in his right hand was pitch black. His completely blackened appearance was like that of a reaper from legend.

"Hah!"

"Wh-what!?"

The man swiftly swung his right hand. A sinister miasma was released from the sword as a blade of darkness.

The vicious blade, spreading in a circle around the man in black armor, swept past the bodies of the imperial soldiers surrounding the city gates.

Instantly, the soldiers fell without a drop of blood, lying on the ground like corpses.

"It's not magic... That's a holy sword. The same kind of holy sword as Claustrum."

Seira whispered in a trembling voice. Safaris also cried out in shock.

In the princess's eyes, which were fixed on the man in black armor, there was a mix of hostility, excitement, and fear.

Claustrum, hanging from Seira's waist, was also excited, releasing sparks as it faced an equal holy weapon.

"Wh-what? A holy sword wielder on the enemy side!?"

"So, the Kingdom of Zain also has one. One of the twelve holy swords."

Safaris shouted in shock, and Vargen's expression twisted in dismay.

The old general, experienced in battle, keenly felt the shift in the tide of the battlefield and the victory that was slipping from his grasp.

"What a cursed power! O holy sword of darkness and curses!"

At Vargen's gaze, the man raised his holy sword again.

A curse miasma rose from the sword as a black tornado, sweeping away hundreds of imperial soldiers in one go.