"An earth dome?"
Having finished off the Dragon Knights, Rei reached the Bestia Imperial Army’s main camp—now a chaotic battlefield—a step ahead of Elena on her warhorse.
From atop Seto’s back high in the sky, his eyes were immediately drawn to a massive earth dome, easily five meters in diameter. The members of the surprise attack unit were battering the structure, but their strikes were mostly deflected, barely leaving a mark. Even when they did manage to mar the surface, the damage repaired itself in the blink of an eye.
Because the soldiers were so focused on attacking the dome, they were leaving themselves wide open. Bestia Imperial Army knights were already beginning to capitalize on those gaps.
Speed was of the essence. Since this was a surprise attack, they needed to kill or capture the supreme commander, General Kastom, as quickly as possible. This entire raid was only possible because the majority of Bestia’s military strength had been deployed to the front lines.
"…Tch. We’re running out of time. We have to hurry."
As Rei scanned the ground while clicking his tongue, Seto growled, its eyes fixed on a specific section of the fray.
"Guruuuu."
Sensing the message of look over there, Rei followed Seto’s gaze. He saw Siminal, the commander of the surprise attack unit, swinging his sword to cut down an opponent who appeared to be a mage. He was also busy shouting instructions to the nearby soldiers.
"Seto."
"Guru!"
Seto understood Rei’s intent with just that single word. The Gryphon chirped its acknowledgment, flapped its wings, and began its descent toward the ground.
"Hah!"
As a parting gift, Rei swung the Death Scythe, its blade neatly severing the neck of a nearby Bestia knight.
Leaving behind the knight’s corpse as it sprayed blood like a fountain, Rei reached the spot where Siminal was coordinating his men.
"Siminal, what’s the status?"
"Not good. If we don’t do something about that thing, we’re going to run out of steam."
Siminal glared loathingly at the earth dome.
"…Is the supreme commander inside?"
"Yeah, so it seems. Bestia’s supreme commander is a man named General Kastom. We didn’t have any intel suggesting he was a magic user, though."
"Questions later. It’s safe to assume the front lines have been notified of our attack. If we don’t finish off this Kastom before their reinforcements arrive, we’re in trouble."
Siminal’s expression tightened at Rei’s words. He looked at Rei and spoke.
"Rei, can you do something about that earth?"
"I suppose. I’m not sure if it’ll work, but I’ll give it my best shot."
"Please. Meanwhile, we’ll hold the—whoa!"
A soldier suddenly lunged at Siminal with a spear mid-conversation.
Seeing the two talking so casually in the middle of a battle—and noting Siminal’s high-quality armor—the soldier had correctly pegged him as the commander. His instincts were sound, and his attempt to exploit their distraction was tactically correct. However…
"Too slow."
With a soft murmur, the Death Scythe flashed. The soldier’s spear was sliced clean through the middle of the shaft.
"Damn it! Then take this!"
The soldier threw aside the useless wood, drew a sword from his waist, and slashed at Rei. But before the blade could reach its mark, a whip-like sword tip snaked out of nowhere and severed the man’s head.
The whip-sword. It was a magic item that could function as a solid blade or a segmented whip at will, and as far as Rei knew, only one person could master such a weapon.
Rei looked toward the source of the strike and found exactly who he expected.
"Elena, you made good time."
"Did I? I felt I was slow, given I had to cut my way through. Regardless, what is the situation? It looks like our momentum is stalling."
Elena swung the whip-sword again as she spoke. The extended blade slashed the throat of a soldier aiming a bow, sending up a fresh spray of blood.
Nearby, Seto was also a whirlwind of motion. It crushed a knight’s head—helmet and all—with a single blow from its forepaw, then wrapped its tail around another soldier’s leg, swinging him around like a makeshift club.
Between Seto’s ferocity and the efforts of the elite adventurers guarding Siminal, a small safe zone had formed around the group. That was the only reason they had the luxury of speaking at all in the heart of the camp.
Of course, as the spearman had proven, "safe" was a relative term.
Siminal glanced at their surroundings and spoke to Elena. Though he was deeply attracted to her, he clearly didn't have the luxury for such thoughts now. His expression remained strictly professional.
"Lady Elena, General Kastom is inside that earth dome. The structure is incredibly sturdy and apparently uses the surrounding soil to repair itself. I’ve decided to leave the destruction of the dome to Rei. I want you to use your prowess as the Princess General to focus on thinning out the enemy’s numbers."
"Understood. We are a surprise unit; our numbers are inherently limited. I shall do my part. …Rei, I leave the rest to you."
"Yeah. It’s just a lump of dirt. I’ll handle it. Seto!"
"Guruuu!"
Responding to Rei’s call, Seto batted away several soldiers and hurried over.
Rei gave the Gryphon’s head a quick pat before mounting its back. He left Elena and Siminal behind and headed toward the dome.
On the way, he swung the Death Scythe at any Bestia soldiers engaged with his allies, providing support like a passing phantom.
The members of the surprise attack unit were all veterans; they didn't miss the openings Rei created. Slowly, the unit began to reclaim the tactical advantage in several pockets of the camp.
As Elena watched the man and the beast move away, she spurred her warhorse into the fray, determined not to be outdone.
In terms of pure reach, her whip-sword actually surpassed the Death Scythe. By lashing out with the segmented blade and issuing sharp commands to her allies, she demonstrated exactly why she was feared as the Princess General, commanding the battlefield despite being vastly outnumbered.
"…So, this is it."
Rei murmured as he stared at the earth dome.
He had already dismounted. While he focused on the dome, he left his defense to Seto.
True to its task, Seto dived from the sky, bringing its forepaw down on a soldier who was trying to draw a bow on Rei. The man’s head was obliterated instantly.
Ignoring the din of battle, Rei reached out to touch the dome, testing its properties.
"Tch!"
The moment his palm neared the surface, the earth wall spiked outward. A sharp spike, fifty centimeters long, lunged at him.
Rei leaped back instantly to avoid being skewered.
Fortunately, the spike wasn't launched as a projectile; it simply receded back into the dome as if being reabsorbed.
(It didn’t show any offensive capabilities when I saw it earlier… Why didn't it shoot the spike? Can it only control the earth while it’s part of the structure? No, more importantly, how did it know I was an enemy? If they’re inside, they shouldn’t be able to see out. Is it magic or a magic item? Either way, it must have some way to distinguish friend from foe.)
Rei put some distance between himself and the dome, then swung the Death Scythe.
"Flying Slash!"
The flying blade of air carved a deep gouge into the earth dome, but it wasn't enough to shatter it. The wound began to seal itself almost immediately.
(I see. The restoration speed isn’t actually that fast.)
Observing closely, Rei saw the dome slowly pulling in soil to fill the gap left by the Flying Slash.
(But if it’s doing that, the walls should be getting thinner. Since they aren't…)
Rei looked down at the ground beneath the dome. It was, of course, made of dirt.
(It’s replenishing the mass from the ground itself. At this rate, they really could hold out until reinforcements arrive. However…)
A question occurred to him.
Would a supreme commander of the Bestia Empire really hide like this without even attempting to direct the defense?
If the commander stayed hidden in an absolute sanctuary while his men died, morale would inevitably crater. Even though the surprise attack unit was small, they were nearly on equal footing with the camp’s garrison. Normally, that should have been impossible given the disparity in numbers.
Then again, facing the Princess General, a Gryphon, and the adventurer who had become a legend in this war, perhaps it was natural for the enemy’s spirit to break.
(The restoration is slow. The spikes only trigger if I get close, and they aren't very fast either. In fact, they probably can’t even form spikes if the dome is busy repairing itself. …In that case, there’s only one thing to do.)
Rei gripped the Death Scythe, pouring his magic power into the weapon as he glared at the dome.
"I’ll just hit it with more power than it can repair!"
He swung the Death Scythe with everything he had.
"Flying Slash!"
The blade of air flew out, carving another massive wound into the dome. Simultaneously, Rei sprinted forward, closing the distance.
The dome sensed his approach. Spikes lunged out to intercept him, but because the structure was reeling from the Flying Slash, the repair process was clearly taking priority. The spikes were noticeably slower than before.
Rei spun past the lunging earth and brought the Death Scythe’s blade down directly into the existing gouge, activating his next skill.
"Power Slash!"
The skill triggered as the blade struck the weakened section. Instead of a clean cut, the blow delivered a devastating impact.
The Power Slash sacrificed sharpness for raw concussive force. The earth dome, already struggling to repair the damage from the Flying Slash, couldn't withstand the secondary shockwave. With a thunderous roar, the earth wall shattered outward from the impact point like an explosion.
Rei didn't stop. He continued to hack at the crumbling wall with his magic-infused scythe until he had carved a hole large enough to enter. Keeping his weapon ready, he lunged into the interior… only to freeze at the sight before him.
Inside lay more than twenty corpses, piled atop one another. They were nothing but skin and bone—mummies.
"…What?"
The sheer absurdity of the scene left him stunned for a moment.
Then, a bracelet on the wrist of one of the desiccated corpses began to pulse. Suddenly, Rei felt his own magic power being violently yanked from his body.
Seeing that, the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place.
"They ran out of magic power, so the item started feeding on their life force. It drained them until they were nothing but husks."
Rei stared at the bracelet that was now greedily drinking his own mana.
Though Rei didn't know its name, this was the Bracelet of Behemoth, a masterpiece of Bestia’s alchemy. It was designed to manipulate the earth, but the alchemists had intended it for offensive spears, not a massive defensive dome. Because it was a prototype, the excessive demand of the dome had caused it to go berserk, devouring the magic power and life force of General Kastom and his entire staff.
But even a relic that hungered for magic power had its limits. It couldn't possibly contain the bottomless well of Rei’s immense magic power.
Cr-crack. Crack-crack-crack.
High-pitched fractures raced across the surface of the jewelry. A moment later, the bracelet shattered into a thousand pieces.
With the destruction of the Bracelet of Behemoth, the magic maintaining the dome vanished. The reinforced earth began to give way.
"Tch!"
Rei dove through the hole in the wall just as the structure gave a final, heavy groan. The earth dome collapsed inward, burying the mummies in a heap of silent soil.