Chapter 71: Townsperson A Overruns the Kingdom of Saus Army

I flew through the night, and by the time the sky began to pale with the coming dawn, I had crossed into the Ramslett Ducal Territory.

Below me stretched autumn fields, the soil empty of the wheat yet to be sown. If the scale of my map was correct, it would take about another hour to reach the ducal capital of Wiechen, where the Duke should be stationed.

That I could traverse mountains, forests, and stretches of untamed wilderness untouched by man was entirely thanks to the Vytol Custom. Even though we had already passed the Valley of the Flying Dragons, both Jerome and Melissa continued to accompany me. I truly have wonderful friends. I couldn't thank them enough.

As for Ana, she had been sleeping with a peaceful expression ever since we took off in the Vytol Custom. That beautiful face I loved so much remained unchanged from the girl I remembered.

I’m sorry... I was late to save you...

I gently stroked Ana’s hair and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

A notably large town loomed ahead. Even comparing it to the map, there was no doubt—that was the ducal capital.

We reached the skies above the city in the blink of an eye, but I quickly spotted a massive gathering of people to the south. I checked through my binoculars; the side closer to the capital flew the banners of House Ramslett, while the opposing side raised the flags of the Zaus Kingdom.

The Est Empire soldiers hadn't been lying. The Zaus Kingdom had indeed invaded the Ramslett Ducal Territory. The fact that they had pushed this close to the capital meant the tide of war was likely turned against the Duke.

Furthermore, the Zaus Kingdom’s numbers were staggering. No, wait—wasn't that a bit excessive? Our side had maybe ten thousand men, tops. Looking at the opposition, I felt like they had ten times that amount. It was a miracle the line hadn't been broken yet.

"Hey, what is going on down there?" Melissa asked. "Why are humans always fighting like this?"

"Because they’re fools," I replied. "But the ones on the defensive are Ana’s father's people. So, I’m going to go scatter the invaders."

Hearing my words, Melissa wore a look of weary resignation.

"E-eh? T-then should we help too...?" Jerome stammered.

"Don't bother," Melissa told him. "Besides, Allen-san will be fine on his own."

I appreciated the vote of confidence. As expected of Melissa.

"Ana, I'm sorry. Bear with me just a little longer."

I nodded to Melissa, then gently stroked the cheek of the still-sleeping Ana. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I saw Ana offer a faint, gentle smile.

I revved the Wind Magic Engine, accelerated over the Kingdom of Saus Army, and began dropping bombs in rapid succession.

By carpet-bombing across the enemy lines, I didn't have to worry about friendly fire. Just like back in Bruseni, I had the run of the place. As the bombs burst, the Zaus soldiers were caught in the explosions one after another, losing their ability to fight exactly like the Est Empire soldiers had.

Unlike the incident at Bruseni, however, my heart didn't waver at all.

Well, that's only natural, after everything I've been through, I muttered self-deprecatingly as I continued the bombardment to annihilate the Zaus forces.

A short distance away, I spotted a command post flying the Zaus Kingdom flag along with two other unknown banners. This was likely the enemy headquarters. Naturally, I decided to treat that position to a massive helping of explosives as well.

Since I kept up a constant stream of fire while moving, a trail of destruction formed on the ground, tracing my wake exactly. Even the Kingdom of Saus Army seemed to realize that something was above them, dropping death from the sky. The soldiers desperately fired arrows at me, but of course, they couldn't reach my altitude.

I soared across the battlefield in every direction, relentlessly bombing them for about thirty minutes. Eventually, the units clashing with the Ramslett Ducal Army began to unravel.

From my observation point in the sky, it appeared that the individual combat capability of the Ramslett Ducal Army was superior. In contrast, the Kingdom of Saus Army was using overwhelming numbers to crush that quality gap.

That said, the Ramslett Ducal Army had likely fought skillfully to avoid being encircled and annihilated. The Kingdom of Saus Army had resorted to a strategy of pure attrition, pushing through with raw numbers. They would rotate front-line units out before they were wiped out and push fresh units from the rear. By ensuring that new enemies appeared no matter how many were cut down, they were slowly grinding down the Ramslett Ducal Army's morale and numbers.

In that situation, I focused my thorough bombardment on the reserve forces and the command centers. Having lost their numerical advantage and their tactical leadership, the Kingdom of Saus Army collapsed in less than ten minutes and began to flee in a total rout.

Once I confirmed the state of the battle, I spotted the Duke on horseback in the center of his army. I began a slow descent to speak with him.

"I’ll cover you," Melissa said.

"Thanks, Melissa."

With that, Melissa and Jerome flanked the Vytol Custom as if to guard it, lowering their altitude alongside me.

Naturally, the Ramslett Ducal Army had noticed something was overhead. However, when two dragons—and Sky Dragons, the kings of the sky, at that—appeared, it was a different story entirely. The Knights surrounding the Duke tightened their formation to protect him, readying bows and shields to intercept us.

However, they didn't actually open fire—perhaps because the Duke was holding them back, or perhaps because they realized that a clumsy move would mean certain death.

"Heh. He's quite wise. As expected of the father of Allen-san's mate," Melissa said with a satisfied look.

She touched down on the ground first, followed by Jerome. Finally, I landed my Vytol Custom right between the two of them.