The verbal sparring concluded as Vihera and Pelfeel retreated to their respective camps.
Back with their own forces, both women took their places at the absolute front to lead their units. Under normal circumstances, it was unthinkable for a member of the Imperial Family like Vihera to stand on the front lines. However, she was technically a fugitive who had already fled the Bestia Empire. Standing on that basis, she insisted that there was nothing strange about her leading the vanguard.
Naturally, Mercurio had worried for his sister, and Frizion for her sibling, but Vihera had ultimately talked them both down. Her performance in previous engagements had already proven exactly how much power she could bring to bear when leading from the front.
Positioned near Vihera’s unit were the troops of the three nobles. These were the men who had originally joined the Mercurio Army—back when it was still called the Rebel Army—with the express intent of betraying it. Since Rei had exposed their planned treachery, Mercurio had ordered them to serve as the arrowhead in battle. However, the opportunity to fulfill that grim mandate had never actually arisen until now. During the Battle of the Encampment a short while ago, the chaos of the Subjugation Army’s surprise attack had left these three as the only ones unable to reach the front.
As a result, they had found themselves at the absolute vanguard of this clash—the Final Battle of the Civil Strife.
"Dammit, dammit! Why do I have to be the one to suffer like this?!"
"This... all of this is because I was foolish enough to listen to you!"
"Enough! Bickering won't save us now. We must focus entirely on how to survive this slaughter."
"Should we just charge straight into the enemy and try to defect then and there?"
"Don't be a fool! There are archers behind us aiming right at our spines! If we make one suspicious move, a hail of arrows will pour down on us from the rear! Besides, we haven't sent word to His Highness Cabajid that we intend to join him, have we? If we approach their lines defenselessly in this state, they’ll cut us down without a second thought!"
Stationed directly behind the three nobles was one of Theoreme's subordinates, leading a full unit. Their weapons were leveled not at the Subjugation Army, but at the three nobles themselves. This unit functioned as a disciplinary squad; if the nobles attempted to flee or showed any sign of hesitation, the squad's attacks would fall upon them instantly.
Under such conditions, the only path left to the three nobles was absolute, unquestioning obedience.
And then... the fated moment finally arrived.
"All forces, commence the advance!"
The command echoed across the plains, signaling the start of the final and greatest battle of the civil strife within the Bestia Empire.
The first to march were, naturally, the units at the front. Weapons in hand, they surged forward to shatter the Subjugation Army Vanguard. At the absolute tip of the Mercurio Army Vanguard were the units belonging to the three nobles whose treachery had been uncovered.
Stationed where they were certain to be ground to dust, the three nobles fought with the frantic desperation of men with everything to lose. At this point, betrayal was a secondary concern; they focused entirely on keeping their subordinates in line and fought like demons against the Subjugation Army.
"Heh. They're doing better than I expected."
On the left wing of the Mercurio Army, Vihera murmured in admiration as she charged into the enemy lines alongside Gurgast and his men. She had started the battle on horseback, but she had already dismounted to fight on foot. Given that Vihera relied on martial arts, she found the solid ground more conducive to her style and reach.
In contrast, Gurgast remained mounted, his Battle Axe whistling through the air as he cleaved through the Subjugation Army Soldiers.
"Honestly. I don't mind Lady Vihera, but it would be a help if Gurgast would put a little more thought into his charge... Do not let the support fire falter! I don't care about Gurgast, but do not allow a single scratch to be laid upon Lady Vihera!"
While speaking somewhat harshly of his colleague, Tilleul issued orders to his archers. Most of the arrows rained down in the path of Vihera's advance, with only a few scattered shots covering the unit led by Gurgast.
"Gah! You're in the way! I told you I didn't need help over here!"
Despite his complaints regarding the rear support, Gurgast did not slow the momentum of his Battle Axe. He slammed the heavy blade into the armor of a soldier charging his way; perhaps the man's gear was of poor quality, for the metal shattered instantly. The body within was crushed, bone and flesh pulped by the impact.
Furthermore, the members of Gurgast's unit fought as they pleased, unleashed their own raw combat instincts. His unit was never one for complex maneuvers or tactical coordination; it was a gathering of battle-hardened veterans who carved paths through the enemy as they saw fit. While they could hardly be called a cohesive military unit, the reason they did not decisively fall apart was entirely due to the overwhelming strength of Gurgast himself. He didn't so much lead them through strategy as he did through the sheer gravity of his presence.
Meanwhile, on the right wing, the White Rose Knight Order led their cavalry in a thunderous charge against the Subjugation Army. Since every knight was mounted, their mobility was easily equal to Vihera’s group on the left. While Vihera viewed her horse as nothing more than a vehicle to reach the enemy, the White Rose Knight Order was fundamentally composed of cavalry.
Rei had seen their capabilities during his previous encounter with Videre, but their true worth lay in their mounted combat power. This had been demonstrated to its fullest extent during the battle against the unit led by Blatta when Frizion had fled the Imperial Capital. Now, that skill was being unleashed once again.
"Advance! Show the Subjugation Army the true strength of those who follow Her Highness Frizion!"
At the First Unit Captain's command, the White Rose Knight Order charged straight into the enemy. The infantry of the Subjugation Army Vanguard leveled their spears, attempting to brace against the impact. Against ordinary cavalry, that might have been an effective defense, but the White Rose Knight Order was far from ordinary.
Arrows and magic launched from the Fifth and Sixth Units in the rear rained down upon the enemy, shattering the infantry's formation moments before the First Unit made impact.
"Whoa, are those guys for real? Providing cover fire that close to the front... one mistake and they'll hit their own people."
One of the mercenaries running in the wake of the first to fourth units of the White Rose Knight Order muttered in disbelief. It was a natural reaction; the risk of friendly fire was so high that such tactics were rarely attempted. Yet, the knights possessed the training to execute the maneuver without a single stray shot, and the charging vanguard possessed the courage to trust their comrades implicitly. Those following could only let out breaths of admiration as they ran, acknowledging that these were indeed the elite units directly under Her Highness Frizion.
The Center, the right wing, and the left wing—in every sector, the Mercurio Army held the advantage. In the midst of the carnage...
"Well, shall we go, Seto?"
"Guruuuu!"
Rei spoke to Seto as he watched the Mercurio Army Vanguard—specifically the White Rose Knight Order nearby—plunge into the fray.
"If we do this right, this war should be over in a few hours. It seems they've prepared some kind of measure against me, but... well, let's see if a Magic Item that merely absorbs fire can really handle us."
Rei murmured as he climbed onto Seto's back. As if waiting for that signal, Seto took a short, running start before flapping its powerful wings and soaring into the sky. With each beat of its wings, Seto rose higher and faster into the air.
Cheers erupted from the Mercurio Army, while screams of terror rose from the Subjugation Army. Despite the battlefield being a chaotic clash of tens of thousands, the Subjugation Army Soldiers did not miss Seto's silhouette. They had suffered under Rei's hand countless times before. Orders had spread throughout their ranks to report and engage any aerial target as a top priority, and they were on high alert for his arrival.
"He's here! It's Crimson! Don't let him roam free up there! Fire!"
At the command, countless arrows were released in a massive volley. Stones were also launched from catapults. Though they weren't as numerous as the archers, the Subjugation Army had prepared a significant number of siege engines, and a barrage of stone projectiles hurtled toward Seto.
Seto flapped its wings to bank and weave through the projectiles, continuing its ascent. Some of the missed arrows and stones fell back into the Mercurio Army below, but most of the soldiers were able to dodge or raise their shields. The stones were nearly impossible to block, however, forcing the men on the ground to dive for cover.
Regardless of the chaos below, Seto continued to climb. They reached an altitude of about 150m. Considering they usually hovered around 100m, this was a fifty percent increase in height. At this altitude, the catapult stones fell short, and only a tiny fraction of the arrows could even reach them. Even those few projectiles had lost so much velocity that Seto found them easy to dodge.
Seto soared through the heavens. From the ground, Seto was little more than a speck against the vast blue, yet the sight of that dot filled the observers with a profound, gnawing dread.
In the midst of the panic, one man within the Subjugation Army murmured as if the situation were trivial.
"I see. It's certainly a chore to reach him once he's that high. Well then, I suppose it's my turn."
"Will you do this for us?"
In the encampment that served as the Subjugation Army's Main Camp, Cabajid looked to the man—Noise.
"Yeah. If we leave him alone, this place is going to take a direct hit. Besides, for my own sake... I'm curious to see exactly how much stronger he's grown in such a short time."
Noise murmured and scanned his surroundings for a projectile. His eyes settled on a spear held by a nearby soldier. He also recalled reports stating that Rei was an expert at javelin throws.
(A preemptive strike using Rei's own specialty... that might be amusing.)
Just as Noise prepared to act on his mischievous impulse, countless objects were jettisoned from the sky, raining down toward the earth.
Noise’s preternatural vision caught the falling objects for what they were: rocks. Specifically, stones the size of a man’s head. A massive volume of these rocks had been dropped from above, plummeting into the Subjugation Army's rear.
Soldiers raised their shields instinctively, but there was no way a shield could withstand stones that had gained such terminal velocity from 150 meters up. Shields were crushed, arm bones snapped like dry twigs, and some men had their skulls caved in instantly. Rocks falling into the densely packed formations crushed multiple men before they even realized they were under attack.
"Tch, how troublesome. Hey, give me that spear."
The soldier was paralyzed by the carnage, but as a member of the elite guard assigned to the camp, he quickly regained his composure and handed his spear to Noise.
This encampment gathered Cabajid, Schuls, and their attending nobles. Naturally, Rei, looking down from above, understood the camp's significance and began dropping rocks specifically toward that location. This opening salvo consisted of the heavy ammunition Rei had scavenged when he destroyed enemy catapults during previous skirmishes.
Those head-sized rocks were falling toward the Subjugation Army's rear with startling frequency. The damage was catastrophic, claiming the lives of soldiers, knights, and commanders alike.
However, the encampment where Cabajid and Schuls were located was heavily defended. Their mages utilized Wind Magic to create a buffer, deflecting the falling stones.
Furthermore, because Rei and Seto were at an altitude of about 150m, it was impossible to drop the rocks with pinpoint accuracy. Even if they were all roughly head-sized, each stone varied slightly in weight and shape. There was also the unpredictable influence of the wind during the long descent. Given those variables, the precision of the bombardment was limited.
And then...
"As long as I'm here, I won't let you do as you please!"
With the spear taken from the guard in hand, Noise aimed at Seto high above... and threw it with all his might. The fact that he didn't even bother activating his Overlord's Armor suggested he thought it would be boring if he ended the fight with a single strike.
Regardless, the spear launched by Noise's hand tore through the air, screaming upward toward Seto high in the sky.