Al, finally able to speak clearly again, looked at me reproachfully.
The front would bear the brunt of the enemy’s fiercest attacks. For Ray now, it was like telling him to go die, but that wasn’t so.
“Let me say this first. No commander places a subordinate they don’t trust at the enemy’s forefront.”
If the front collapsed, they couldn’t win no matter how hard they tried. Commanders typically wanted to place someone they could rely on as much as possible at the vanguard.
“I believe in you, Ray.”
I gently patted his shoulder.
“Y-Yes!”
At my words, Ray tightened his grip on his spear in response. Though he wanted to relax his tense emotions a little, it only wound him tighter instead. I should modify my phrasing somewhat.
“Just as I trust you, trust those around you too. If everyone just does their job, it’ll be fine.”
Even the best soldier can only accomplish so much alone. There’s no need to do everything yourself. You can only entrust your comrades and believe they will handle their roles.
At this, Ray was finally able to look around him.
Whenever he met eyes with a comrade beside him, they would respond with a faint smile.
“That’s right, believe in us. No one has any expectations of you.”
Despite being on death’s door, Al’s foul mouth was still in good health, intentionally saying provocative words.
Seeing the faces of comrades around him, Ray’s expression softened slightly.
The tense atmosphere had eased a little, but the next moment, birdsong echoing through the ravine instantly froze the relaxed air.
It was the signal Cale had arranged as the ambusher. Telling us the Demon Army was approaching. The enemy would arrive soon.
Cale’s covert signal prompted the soldiers to stand, but I stopped them with a hand gesture.
“Stay calm. We’ll wait for them to come and pretend we haven’t noticed.”
I soothed the soldiers and had those standing sit back down.
Anxious time passed.
All the soldiers were trembling slightly, faces pale, panting heavily. Some even wore expressions like their hearts would spew out. My own complexion was probably similar.
At this point, it was unclear whether I wanted the enemy to come or not.
My mind was also filled with unease.
A formless anxiety swelled, making me want to clutch my chest. But if the commander lost composure, any chance at victory would be lost too. I thought of other things, trying to calm myself.
Suddenly, musical notes and melody sounded in my mind. What song was it? Come to think of it, someone often sang this song during our journey to defeat the Demon King. What was that song again?
I tried to recall how it started, but I couldn’t remember no matter how hard I tried. I could recall the mid-melody, but how did it begin?
As I desperately tried to remember the song, the soldiers looked at me in surprise. Only then did I realize the melody had slipped from my mouth.
Looks like I had sung it out loud.
While inappropriate for the situation, I could only laugh it off. I smiled meaningfully, and for some reason, smiles spread among the soldiers too, lightening up slightly.
“Enemies approaching!”
At the shouted warning, the soldiers’ faces tightened. Everyone stood together, raising their spears.
From ahead and behind, two demons each way ran straight for us like dogs.
Seeing the Demon Army, the soldiers panicked, but I didn’t abandon the battle plan yet.
With no path of retreat, all we could rely on was my strategy. But if we could act according to plan, though slim, we still had a chance at victory. Because everything was going smoothly, I could see a ray of hope.”Calm down. The first six people, the last five people, form a team and block the way.”
“Calm down. The first six people, the last five people, form a team and block the way.”
I utilized the power from my dantian and spoke loudly. While motivating the soldiers, I also aimed to attract the attention of the demon army, so that the decoy team positioned at the back wouldn’t be detected.
Perhaps inspired by my voice, the soldiers formed ranks and extended their long spears together.
As long as we solidify our formation and focus on defense, we can buy some time.
The constant worry, the tension, has now subsided, and I’ve synchronized with the people around me.
The soldiers squeezed out their voices and courage, thrusting their long spears to obstruct the attacks from the demon army. Wedged on the narrow path, even the demon army couldn’t break through. Everything was proceeding according to plan. Afterward, if Otto and the others launch a strong attack from behind, we will have a chance of success. Things were going smoothly, bringing a glimpse of hope, but a sense of discordance struck immediately. It felt a bit strange.
The truth behind this sense of discordance was soon revealed.
“The numbers, the numbers are wrong!”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
The Demon Army numbered two in front and two behind for a total of four. But when we first encountered them, there should have been five. One was missing.
Moreover, the pressure of attacks from front and rear was far weaker than our initial clash. While I wanted to attribute it to the soldiers’ valiant fighting and the “divine blessing’s” effects, the Demons’ assault lacked drive. Biding time?
Continued observation revealed the Demon soldiers were looking upward, saying something.
The Demons spoke Enoch, a different language from ours.
To those unfamiliar, it sounded like birdsong, but during my journey with the Prince, I had desperately studied it. Using books and documents the Demon King possessed as a foundation, I was in the process of deciphering and learning it after returning home.
While still imperfect with no primers or teachers, and the grammar quite vague, I had reached the level of grasping fragments of meaning.
Waiting? Platoon leader? From above?
Amidst the incomprehensible sounds, I somehow parsed a few sporadic words.
Putting them together, I shouted loudly.
“Above! They’re coming from above!”
I had just yelled the warning when a sound like a mudslide came from directly overhead.
Looking up while hurriedly moving away, a black shadow fell into our formed ranks.
Appearing as if plummeting was the Demon platoon leader covered in gray scales.
Unbelievable. Just to circle around behind us, they had climbed the sheer cliff-like mountain, heedless of the danger of falling to death only to slide down here.
“Hisss!” Landing in the center of our circular formation, the Demon Army soldier let out a serpentine sound in intimidation. To reduce weight, he had discarded all armor and was armed with only the pair of large, brutish machetes gripped in both hands.
The platoon leader spread the blades in his hands like wings and stared at us with reptilian eyes.
“Lady Romelia!”
Ray shouted but it was already too late. …No good, we’re done for.
Seeing the Demon raising the enormous machetes like a grotesque bird spreading its wings, I understood my miscalculation and defeat.
The Demon Army were supremely formidable. I knew better than anyone the extent of their training and high morale, but most worth wariness was their wealth of experience across countless battlefields.
Without overestimating their advantage of being outnumbered, they had chosen an even bolder, more ruthless tactic than my strategy.
The slope behind us was an almost vertical precipitous cliff. Retreating down from here was impossible. And yet that was why they had done this. Outwitted by audacious thinking.
While we sought to encircle their rear, we were surrounded instead. And now the situation was irremediable.
Though only one, with an enemy breaching their ranks, the formation would collapse.
Otto and the others in the detachments wouldn’t make it in time either. Failure and death could be foreseen.
The platoon leader commanding the squad eyed me with his reptilian orbs, then leapt up brandishing his blades as if dancing.
Of course. The first target was me, the commanding officer and weakest one here.
I immediately raised my sword to try blocking, but owing to the difference in strength, I was easily defeated. My slender blade was snapped and the machete swung toward my chest.
Like being rammed by a boulder, the impact pierced my whole body, accompanied by intense pain as I was blown back.
I ached all over. I thought I had died, but fortunately I was still alive. Looking at my chest, that fearsome blow had slashed through both sword and breastplate. Luckily the blade had been blocked by armor and mail, resulting in no blood loss. But that only meant a delayed death. The pain left me unable to even breathe, let alone move my limbs.
A second lethal strike was immediately unleashed at my immobilized self.
Ah, so it ends here?
Like losing in a board game, I accepted my defeat.
It wasn’t bad luck. Even dying at our first encounter with the Demon Army wouldn’t be odd. Fairly put, surviving that could be called lucky instead.
Nor was it the soldiers’ fault. Any one of them could have, rather than Demons, betrayed and killed me instead. Yet no one blamed me and continued following me. I had good subordinates.
Everything was my responsibility. My plans and tactics were too naive. My incompetence had caused this failure.
I could only accept it.
As the commanding officer, I accepted defeat and abandoned everything. The situation was just so hopeless.
But in this critical moment, only I gave up. The others did not.
“It’s not over yet!”
As the dull flash of the blade reached before me, two soldiers blocked its path. The two overlapped their swords and barely managed to suppress the deathly blow before it landed.
“We won’t let you have your way!”
“I won’t let you touch her!”
It was Ray and Al, reacting swiftly to the enemy’s attack.
Ray, Al! Unable to even shout their names, I could only watch their figures wordlessly.
Before me, the two drew their swords to stand against the Demon scout platoon leader.
“Protect the commander! Defend this position!”
“Everyone! Reform ranks!”
Al and Ray yelled loudly. But it was impossible. With the ranks already breached and me as the commander downed, no one could command them.
In my hazy consciousness, despite thinking it futile, something astonishing happened against my expectations.
Without Ray saying so, the soldiers themselves shrank the formation, reforming in a circle with my fallen self at the center.
“Mitch, Ban, Bray, Say. Left wing. Gran, Red, Shura, Meli. Right wing. Partner up to cover each other. Ikku and Hans between each pair to assist both sides. Me and Al will take the vanguard.”
Ray swiftly assigned everyone roles.
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