Seeing the Demon King’s army’s reserves move, Raven, who had been waiting as a reserve force in the rear, began to make a large detour around the battlefield to launch a pincer attack on the enemy.
Raven’s horse was fast, not just because it was a thoroughbred, but because Raven’s excitement was uncontrollable.
“Hey, Ray, you’re too fast!”
“Yeah, don’t leave us behind!”
Looking back, he saw Tars and Sei, who had also been assigned to the reserves, shouting. Although he was indeed leaving the soldiers behind, he couldn’t wait any longer.
Albion and the others were fiercely battling Garios on the battlefield, and other units of Romelia’s army were fighting the Demon King’s forces. Above all, Romelia herself was leading the Royal Guard with only a few soldiers.
And yet, Raven had been waiting in the rear. The waiting time had been far too long.
“Tars, Sei! Hurry up! Finally, it’s our turn!”
Raven shouted without slowing down, urging those behind him.
The bombardment had ended, and the Demon King’s reserves had been deployed. Now it was finally their turn; there was no time to wait.
Honestly, Raven had wanted to fight Garios like Al and the others.
But Romelia had given Raven the reserves and ordered him to stay back.
[In this battle, there are three main ways to win.]
Before the battle, Romelia had explained the methods of victory to Raven and the others.
[The first is to defeat Garios. If we can kill that demon, we can win this battle.]
Romelia held up one finger.
If they were to defeat Garios, they should have thrown everyone in Romelia’s unit against him.
But in reality, Ben and Bly were the core of the infantry, with Gran, Zeze, and Jini on the right, and Lagun, Borel, and Gat supporting the left. The two hundred infantrymen who were also in reserve were led by Glen and Hans, fighting the giant soldiers of Garios.
[It would be great if we could defeat Garios, but we’re not aiming for that. Because there’s no guarantee of victory. It’s much easier to win the war itself than to defeat Garios. This is the second method.]
Romelia held up a second finger.
Though it might seem like she was underestimating them as soldiers, recalling Garios’ power, which had scattered hundreds of the Royal Guard, they couldn’t be certain of victory.
To win the war, Romelia had kept Raven and the others as reserves, with orders to attack the rear of the Demon King’s reserves once they moved.
“Hey, Ray! It’s fine to be enthusiastic, but don’t forget the real goal. Do it right, man.”
Tars shouted from behind Raven, who was galloping ahead.
Hearing this from the usually careless Tars left Raven with no excuse. He slowed his horse and lined up beside Tars and Sei.
“I know. Let’s follow Romelia’s plan. Tars and I will each take eighty men, Sei will take forty. Especially Sei, your fight will be tough, but I’m counting on you.”
“Yes, leave it to me, Ray.”
Sei straightened his back and bowed. His meticulous bow was like that of a butler serving nobility.
“Alright, let’s go!”
Raven gave the order and made a large detour around the battlefield, emerging behind the Demon King’s army.
However, what they saw when they made the large detour was not the large backs of the giant soldiers, but a line of shields and spears at the ready.
“Oh man, they saw right through us.”
Tars smiled wryly.
The enemy’s prompt formation change meant that their plan had been completely exposed.
“With them watching from above, of course they’d see us.”
Raven looked up at the sky, which was dominated by three hundred winged dragons.
It’s said that a commander needs a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield.
Though easy to say, having an actual bird’s-eye view is not a simple feat. But if you can actually see from the sky, it’s not difficult at all.
The enemy had anticipated the flanking maneuver, and the element of surprise was lost.
“Sei, Tars! Let’s go!”
Raven called to the two and charged at the giant soldiers’ formation.
Against the average Demon King’s army, even if their plan had been read, they had confidence in breaking through the shields. But Raven’s spear was deflected by the thick shields.
“They’re tough.”
Raven grunted as his spear was deflected. The giant soldiers’ shields were twice as thick as usual, and the soldiers holding them were strong, standing like an impregnable wall.
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“It’s no good, their defense is too solid!”
Sei, who had clashed with the enemy, turned his horse around.
“Ah, this is hopeless. These guys are too strong.”
Tars voiced his frustration as he turned his horse to flee. Raven also retreated, following Sei and Tars.
As they fled, the laughter of the demons pierced their backs.
Showing their backs and fleeing after just one attack might seem pathetic to both the enemy and their allies, but that was fine. Raven pretended to flee, riding towards the rear of the giant soldiers. Ahead lay a thousand-strong horde of winged dragons.
“Ray! Sei! They’re going to catch on soon!”
“I know! Everyone, charge! Kill all the winged dragons!”
Hearing Tars’ voice, Raven aimed his spear at the winged dragons.
Before the battle, Romelia had shown them three ways to win the war.
The third method was to take down the winged dragons.
[In this battle, we don’t need to defeat Garios or annihilate the Demon King’s army to win. We just need to kill the winged dragons.]
Romelia had raised a third finger and declared that they didn’t need to defeat the enemy.
[This is our land, and the Demon King’s army is a small unit stranded in enemy territory without allies. We don’t need to risk everything to defeat Garios or fight a desperate battle against the superior enemy forces. We just need to take down the winged dragons. If we leave the winged dragons alone, the Demon King’s army can cross the border as many times as they want. Killing the winged dragons is more significant than winning this battle.]
Romelia explained the importance of defeating the winged dragons, entrusting this crucial task to Raven.
However, they couldn’t let the enemy realize that their true target was the winged dragons. That’s why they feigned a flanking maneuver and pretended to flee towards the winged dragons.
Behind them, they could see the Demon King’s army, who had been laughing, now hastily pursuing them. They had finally realized that the target was the winged dragons.
“Ray! Tars! Leave this to us. Take care of the winged dragons!”
Sei, leading his forty men, turned to face the pursuing giant soldiers. The enemy had more numbers, but as long as they could hold them off while the winged dragons were killed, that was enough.
Raven and Tars headed towards the winged dragons.
The demon riders who controlled the winged dragons at their feet noticed the approaching Raven and the others and mounted the dragons. But the winged dragons couldn’t take off immediately.
“Hey, just as Romelia-sama said, they really can’t fly away.”
“With those huge bodies and demons on their backs, they’re too heavy to take off!”
Running alongside Tars, Raven explained why the dragons couldn’t fly.
As someone who could fly with magic, Raven understood why the winged dragons couldn’t take off.
To fly, a certain size of wings is necessary. The heavier the body, the larger the wings must be. But larger wings mean more weight. Thus, birds above a certain weight can only glide and not flap to fly.
Those winged dragons had enormous bodies, so they likely needed to leap with powerful legs to catch the wind and take flight.
No matter how powerful its legs are, the demon on its back is too heavy. If it gained enough speed, it might be able to fly with the demon, but with such a burden, it cannot take off.
So how does the Demon King’s army make those wyverns fly? There’s only one answer.
The rider on the wyvern’s back grabs a rod attached to the saddle. At the tip of the rod is a green gem.
When the rider waves the rod, the green gem glows brilliantly. It’s a magical tool that activates a spell. Dust swirls around, and a current of air forms.
If there’s not enough power to take off, they just add more. This is something even Raven himself does.
“They’re generating wind! Are they magic soldiers? A thousand magic soldiers?”
Tars exclaims in disbelief.
“Yeah, they’re wealthy!”
Raven shouts back at Tars.
The wyvern squad ahead must have cost a fortune. Not only would raising and training the wyverns be expensive, but they’d also need valuable magic soldiers and costly magical tools. The operational costs must be unimaginable.
But this is also good news. Taking down even one wyvern is worth more than killing ten demons.
Raven and his team close in on the grounded wyverns. However, just then, the magic creating the airflow kicks in, and a few wyverns begin to take off.
“Not if I can help it!”
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