By the time Vihera reached the scene with her subordinates and Tilleul in tow, the fighting on the battlefield had already begun to wind down.
Gurgast stood in the middle of the field, narrowing his eyes with satisfaction as he surveyed his surroundings. Vihera, a fellow battle maniac, and Tilleul, who had a long history with the man, understood that he wasn't keeping watch; rather, he was reminiscing about the thrill of the fight.
the heavy stench of blood hung in the air. Corpses of Subjugation Army soldiers were scattered everywhere, along with a handful of bodies from Gurgast's unit, but Vihera approached him without showing the slightest concern. Being a battle maniac herself, Vihera was well-accustomed to the sight of the dead. While she didn't particularly enjoy the view, she didn't scream or react like an ignorant civilian.
"Gurgast, you seem to be in high spirits. Did you have a satisfying fight?"
"...Lady Vihera, is it? Indeed. It wasn't quite a battle I could be satisfied with from the bottom of my heart, but it was enjoyable enough. Far short of how it felt to face Rei, though."
He muttered this while casting an entranced gaze at the battle axe he held in both hands. Normally, his appearance would make anyone want to keep their distance; he radiated an aura so unsettling it seemed to warp the very air around him. However, Vihera simply gave a small smile and nodded at Gurgast's words.
"I see. I'm glad to hear that."
"...And you? It seems you finished quite an enjoyable battle yourself."
Understanding the implication behind his gaze, Vihera answered with an ambiguous smile.
"I wonder. He was certainly strong, but his way of fighting was completely different from mine. It's true that I had an overwhelming advantage in terms of compatibility, but if you ask if it was fun to fight him... well, I suppose you could say it was pleasant enough."
Despite her vague words, the image of Digma crossed her mind. As an A-Rank Adventurer and an Alias Holder, his strength had certainly been worthy of his titles. However, as his alias "Water Dragon" suggested, Digma's specialty lay in fighting multiple opponents. While his individual combat prowess was by no means low, and his coordination with the Water Dragon was undeniably powerful, it was a fact that Vihera hadn't been able to fully surrender herself to the exhilaration of combat as much as she had hoped.
Gurgast looked at Vihera's expression with a hint of suspicion, but before he could speak, Tilleul's voice echoed through the area.
"Well, now that we've cleared out this entire vicinity, shall we begin our march? The Subjugation Army's Rear Unit has already suffered heavy damage at Rei's hands. Wouldn't it be fine to push straight through to the Main Camp all at once?"
"...You're right. Gurgast, are you still—no, looking at you, I don't even need to ask."
When Vihera turned her gaze toward him, Gurgast didn't say a word. Instead, he swung his battle axes broadly to demonstrate that his physical strength remained, and that he could still fight... or rather, that he hadn't yet fought his fill.
As for Vihera herself, some time had passed since her battle with Digma, and she hadn't faced anyone she could call a formidable foe in the subsequent skirmishes, allowing her stamina to recover. Tilleul generally didn't engage in direct combat himself, having spent the battle issuing orders to his subordinates, so he had exhausted very little of his strength.
Gurgast's subordinates had consumed their stamina for the sake of enjoying the fight, but since their spirits were soaring, they were capable of short-term combat, even if a long engagement might be difficult. The greatest element of concern among those present was the unit led by Tilleul.
It wasn't that they were a burden; on the contrary, by any normal standard, they possessed the skill to be called elites. Even so, perhaps because the other members were outliers in so many ways, they couldn't help but give that impression to those around them.
"Tilleul."
He must have known what she wanted to say from that single word. Tilleul gave Lady Vihera a profound bow.
"Leave it to me, Lady Vihera. I and the soldiers I lead shall color your exploits on the battlefield magnificently."
"...Hehe, you're the same as ever. But please, keep it within the range that doesn't push them too hard."
In response to Tilleul, who acted no different even in the middle of a war zone, Vihera spoke with a captivating smile. At the sight of the smile of the woman he worshipped, Tilleul spread his arms wide as if overcome with emotion.
"Now, let us go! To end this battle... this civil strife where we have been forced to fight our own kin. And to spread the word of Lady Vihera's brilliance to everyone!"
"Good grief, he never changes no matter how much time passes," Gurgast muttered with a sigh, yet he continued down the path, radiating the joy of a new battle from his entire body.
Watching their exchange, Vihera also stepped forward, anticipating the truly final battle of this civil strife. Flanked by Gurgast to her right rear and Tilleul to her left, Vihera took the center. The soldiers followed behind them.
The Center had already completely collapsed, and the few soldiers who had been barely holding on had already been scattered by Gurgast and his subordinates. While some individuals still remained on the battlefield, none could raise a hand against Vihera as she moved orderly through the fray. If anything, seeing Vihera's figure advancing boldly without fear, some felt a sense of divinity in her presence.
Though Vihera and her group advanced as if through an empty field, there were still many who held deep loyalty to their lords. Such men gathered and managed to pull together a certain number of soldiers, waiting at the rearmost position of the Central Front Line—a point where crossing would lead directly into the Rear Unit.
"...Do it!"
"Here we go."
Without exchanging another word, the final battle on the Central Front Line began.
In terms of military force, the Subjugation Army still had the advantage in numbers. The fact that they still held a numerical lead despite being at an overwhelming disadvantage after fighting this long spoke to the Subjugation Army's hidden strength—even if that "strength" was comprised of the common people of the Bestia Empire.
As for Vihera, her honest feeling was that she wanted to finish this without killing if possible. They recognized that this was a losing battle, yet they remained on the field out of loyalty. Of course, it wasn't that everyone remaining here was driven solely by devotion. Precisely because it was a losing battle, many thought they could receive a generous reward if they achieved a great feat here. Among them were even those who, at this late stage, were lured by Vihera's beauty.
They were a mere rabble, but as they were aiming for a total reversal in a losing battle, they were a gathering of those with a certain amount of confidence in their own skills. That was exactly why they clashed head-on with Vihera and the others.
From the perspective of Vihera's group, their main forces consisted of Gurgast's unit, where the primary fighters moved as they pleased, and Tilleul's subordinates, who were tired from long hours of combat. Naturally, the main force became Gurgast's unit, and they shifted into their usual formation where Tilleul's unit provided support. On the other hand, those remaining on the Subjugation Army's side were also a patchwork unit, and there weren't many who could properly coordinate with allied forces.
For these reasons, the result was a head-on collision between the two sides.
"Did you challenge me with that level of skill? Come back after you've become a bit stronger."
Vihera muttered these words to an opponent who had already lost consciousness from a Magic Impact Palm delivered while dodging a spear strike. She looked around, but what was taking place there was a battle that could almost be described as a massacre.
From the start, the Subjugation Army's side had no chance of winning this fight. Even so, they had gathered here to buy even a little time for the Rear Unit to regroup. Above all, they held the hope that with the time bought here, Cabajid or Schuls would devise some sort of breakthrough.
"Damn it! Don't retreat! Absolutely do not retreat! If we lose here, only the Rear Unit will be left! We have to hold out here somehow! Until His Highness Schuls can devise a strategy!"
One of the men standing in Vihera's way shouted from the bottom of his heart.
"Uoooooooooh!"
The soldiers were inspired by those words. They desperately swung the weapons in their hands, attacking to reduce the enemy's strength by even a fraction.
"Die!"
"Oops. You have quite the eye to come slashing at me. It's true that I'm weaker compared to Lady Vihera or Gurgast."
As he spoke, Tilleul turned his body sideways to dodge a spear thrust aimed at his torso.
"But you see..."
Just like that, with a flash from the rapier he swiftly drew from the sheath at his waist, the spear tip was easily severed. Normally, a rapier was a weapon primarily for thrusting. The reason why the spear tip had been severed by a thrust was none other than the fact that the rapier Tilleul held was a magic sword.
However, even though it was a magic sword, its performance was by no means high. Unlike a typical magic sword, it couldn't produce elements like fire or lightning, and its durability as a weapon was only slightly higher than a normal rapier. The reason this rapier was still classified as a magic sword was because it had the effect of applying a slashing impact centered on the spot where the sword tip pierced.
"Eh?"
Perhaps not expecting the spear tip to be severed by a thrust, the soldier who had lunged with the spear let out a dumbfounded cry.
"I too am one who serves Lady Vihera. Naturally, I possess at least this much strength."
He thrust his rapier rapidly while speaking. Two thrusts in a single second. To Vihera or Gurgast, it was a speed of no consequence, but to an ordinary soldier, it was a speed they could barely follow with their eyes, making it impossible to move to evade.
The thrusts were unleashed, piercing the gap in the leather armor covering the soldier's elbow joint and torso. Instantly, the magic sword's effect activated, tearing the skin and rending the flesh. Still, the fact that it didn't have the power to cut through bone was likely why it was treated as a low-rank magic sword. Then again, normally even a low-rank magic sword wouldn't be very common on the market. The reason the Bestia Empire possessed such a large number of magic swords was thanks to the advancement of alchemy.
"Gyaaaaaaaaah!"
Even if it couldn't cut through bone, the pain of having skin and flesh torn was considerable. If he hadn't realized he'd been cut, he might not have felt the pain in the excitement of the battlefield, but since he'd been cut right in front of his eyes, it was only natural—and it was less of a sharp cut and more like a jagged tear.
After delivering a blow to knock out the soldier as he crouched on the ground screaming in pain, Tilleul looked for his next enemy. What was unlucky for this soldier was his assumption that Tilleul was weak; at the same time, what was lucky was that his opponent was Tilleul. Because it was Tilleul, he had respected Vihera's desire not to kill people now that the tide of the battle had been decided, and settled for knocking him unconscious.
Granted, Vihera's desire not to kill was not born from an aversion to murder, but rather from a wish not to wastefully consume human resources. However...
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
A soldier whose right arm had been severed by a single strike of a battle axe screamed. The one who had done it was Gurgast. Caring nothing for the sentiments of Vihera or Tilleul, he swung his battle axe mercilessly at anyone standing in his way.
If there had been someone among the soldiers with the potential strength of Blatta, it might have been a different story, but those who were nothing more than rabble to Gurgast had their lives extinguished without question.
"Damn it! Stop them! Somehow stop them here! The Rear Unit is still in chaos! If we let them through now, they'll collapse in an instant and strike all the way to the Main Camp!"
The highest-ranking commander among the survivors shouted. They needed to buy time here, and so he shouted with desperate intensity to try and raise morale, but...
"Oh, is that so? For our part, we'd be grateful if that were the case."
Suddenly hearing a voice right next to him, he turned around... and the moment he saw the figure of a woman with beauty and allure ill-suited for a battlefield, he lost consciousness. The last thing he felt was something touching his armor, but the man never learned what it was.
The man who had been managing the command, after a fashion, went down in a single blow, and naturally, the morale of those who saw it plummeted. They were already losing in numbers, losing in quality, and had only been barely holding on through morale... so the soldiers who had built the final line of defense of the Central Front Line collapsed in an instant.
Then, the Main Body led by Vihera surged toward the Rear Unit of the Subjugation Army, absorbing the Mercurio Army units that joined them along the way.