Just as Tigre had predicted, the Valentina army confronted Arma Zirnitra in Zamberk. It happened around the time when the gradually climbing sun reached the middle point between horizon and zenith, shining down on the frozen earth as if to unravel the winter’s cold.
Zamberk was a flat prairie looking out on distant forests and mountains. As Arma Zirnitra somewhat fell behind in numbers, it was bitter that they couldn’t make use of the terrain. But, if they had gone into the mountains or forests, they wouldn’t have been able to amply capitalize on their 10,000 soldiers. Hence, they had no choice but to go with this location as a battlefield.
Arma Zirnitra took up position with the lords’ forces, numbering approximately 2,000, taking the center, Leitmeritz’s forces of 4,000 holding the right wing, and Olmutz’s forces of 4,000 taking the left wing. The central division was commanded by Tigre with Mashas as his advisor. Elen led the right wing while Mila led the left wing. Of course, Lim was with Elen. Moreover, Leitmeritz and Olmutz’s armies had split infantry and cavalry with the cavalry waiting in the rear.
Keeping the center thin was intentional. If the enemy charged the center, they could use the move of pincering them from both sides by moving the wings. Then again, it was hard to believe that Valentina would carelessly humor their invitation.
Regin, Titta, and Marina were surrounded by guards, remaining at a place separated from the battlefield. Marina had the obligation to observe the battle with her own eyes as Eugene’s representative. Regin and Titta had been insistent on their wish to watch Tigre’s battle.
On the other hand, the Valentina army adopted a surprisingly extreme battle formation. 7,000 soldiers of the former Adelaiyda army had been deployed in the center, the ring wing held 2,000 soldiers of the western lords while the 3,000 soldiers of Osterode formed the left wing. Valentina commanded the left wing, Viscount Lodion the center, and Baron Vladlen the right wing. By the way, the eleven-years-old Adelaiyda wasn’t with the former Adelaiyda army. Valentina had her stay behind in the capital.
──Valentina isn’t anywhere to be seen, huh?
Standing at the head of Leitmeritz’s army, Elen gazed at the enemy in front from the back of her horse. Having said that, the distance between both armies still amounted to 700-800 alsin, so she couldn’t tell for sure. But, even after straining her eyes, she couldn’t spot Valentina’s characteristic, pure-white dress and the big scythe.
The wind blew across the land from the north to the south, making their respective flags flutter violently. The blaring of their horns was carried away southwards with the wind. With their armors clattering and their weapons gleaming dully in the sunlight, both armies started to advance.
When they reached a distance of 300 alsin from each other, the archer battle began. Currently Elen couldn’t do much more than hold up her wooden shield with its leather-strapped surface to deal with the rain of arrows falling down on her and her men. She might have been able to knock down one or two arrows with her sword, but both armies shot so many arrows that the sky was filled with a swarm of flying twigs.
As her heartbeat sped up out of nervousness, Elen’s face stiffened up slightly. She thought that a Vanadis dying from a stray arrow would be too ridiculous to imagine. Fortunately for her, the shield managed to block all arrows coming at her.
The spear-wielding soldiers stepped in front at both armies. Raising war cries, their fear was swallowed by wild madness. That madness linked them to their war buddies all around them, compelling the soldiers to go forth.
Osterode’s soldiers kicked off the ground, charging while followed by a cloud of dust in their wake.
“Charge!” Elen brandished her longsword.
Her soldiers answered with angry bellows.
Elen met an attacking Osterode soldier from the front. After warding off the head of his spear with her blade, she cleaved open his neck. Blood sprayed into the air. But, faster than it could fully seep into the ground, a new enemy soldier approached Elen, brandishing a mace.
Elen observed his movements, and then launched a ramming attack by spurring on her horse. The Osterode soldier lost his balance just as he had lifted his mace, stumbling forward. Without missing that opening, Elen embedded her sword in her opponent’s chest. All that escaped his mouth was a short scream.
Elen tried to pull out her sword, but couldn’t. The sword had apparently cut deeply through the man’s flesh, getting stuck in the process. The enemy soldier struggled furiously due to the sharp pain in his chest, colliding against Elen’s horse with his shoulder. Having squarely received his ramming attack, the horse shook and staggered, retreating several steps. Just for another Osterode soldier to work his spear through his hands, stabbing the horse’s belly. This resulted in Elen losing her horse early on.
“I suppose you can say that it’s just what you’d expect of Osterode’s soldiers. They’re different from barbarians.”
Elen pulled her feet out of the stirrup, and jumped down on the ground without any hesitation. Immediately after landing, she leaped at a nearby enemy soldier who was holding a mace. In passing, she cut his flank open, just for her small sword to break. On the other hand, the enemy soldier collapsed, vomiting saliva mixed with blood.
Forcefully wrenching the mace out of the enemy’s hand, Elen slammed it on the head of another soldier who was charging her way. At the same time, her opponent’s sword grazed Elen’s head, causing a thin line of red blood to stream down between her silver hair.
Tossing the mace away, she snatched the sword from the soldier that had gone down moments ago. It lacked grace and exhilaration, but Elen didn’t consider it to be pathetic. It was impossible for a warrior to regard a warrior’s way of fighting as ridiculous.
──I’m not a Vanadis because I wield a draconic tool.
Her movements were the very reason for her being a Vanadis. She slew all enemies coming at her from the left and right with a single blow. Swinging a bloody sword, Elen yelled at her own soldiers. While the area from her forehead to her left cheek was dyed crimson.
“Your lord is over here!”
Leitmeritz’s soldiers responded to their mistress’s vigorous shout. And it was at that very moment that Valentina appeared in front of Elen.
She didn’t use a draconic art to do so. She simply showed up by pushing her way through Osterode’s soldiers. While shouldering her scythe, she steered her horse onward, facing Elen.
Elen gritted her teeth so as to endure the pressure. Until a moment ago, this place was actually dominated by Leitmeritz’s army. Elen’s brave fighting had boosted her soldiers’ morale. But, the instant Valentina appeared, the atmosphere changed completely. The feeling of oppression the black-haired Vanadis released from her entire body caused Leitmeritz’s soldiers to falter.
“I should have slain you before the likes of Sofia,” Valentina hissed with a frosty voice, looking down on Elen.
During the time of her leaving until arriving on this battlefield, Valentina had constantly wondered why things had developed like this, why Tigrevurmud Vorn had stepped forward, naming himself the next king of Zhcted, and why she had to step on the battleground herself.
As she had continued to carefully deliberate, a certain silver-haired Vanadis surfaced in her mind. Like a lightning flashing through the deep night.
Valentina despised Elen. Leitmeritz, the land governed by Elen, was the furthest principality from Valentina’s Osterode. Moreover, although Elen was regarded as an excellent ruler, her true character was that of a warrior. Valentina knew all that, and she had believed that Elen wouldn’t become an obstacle to her own ambition, except for a time when she had to face her on the battlefield.
One couldn’t call that conclusion wrong. Elen alone might not have been able to oppose Valentina. But, Elen’s existence summoned Tigre to Zhcted. Her existence made him decide to get involved with the disturbances in this country. In such a meaning, Elen doubtlessly stood in the way of Valentina’s ambitions. If not for Tigre, the Vanadis would have never banded together like this.
Elen tightly clasped her iron sword, glaring at Valentina. Elen knew that Valentina would kill her in the blink of an eye if she only thought of running away. In front of Ezendeis, her sword was no more than a stick. It wouldn’t be able to block or ward off its blade.
“You guys, scatter!” Elen yelled at the Leitmeritz soldiers around her.
By no means was it a shameful act to run away when having a Vanadis as an opponent. But, only at this time, her soldiers didn’t obey her order. They felt a sense of duty, telling them that they had to protect their lord, and on top of that, taking down an enemy Vanadis was the highest deed of arms one could dream of.
Brandishing their spears, two Leitmeritz soldiers attacked Valentina from the left and right side. After a glance at both, Valentina casually swung her scythe cutting the approaching spears in halves. And, faster than they could take their next action, her scythe swooped down on them, blowing away the head and helmet of both soldiers. Their bodies, as they hit the ground, were completely missing the part above their necks.
Without even sparing a single glance at their corpses, Valentina advanced while brandishing Ezendeis. She reliably and surprisingly quickly cut apart the Leitmeritz soldiers coming at her. A scarlet squall colored her surroundings, but not a single drop of blood reached her pure-white dress with its rose decorations.
In her case, it might be more precise to say that she was blowing away her enemies rather than cutting them apart. As might be expected from a scythe, the trajectories of Valentina’s attacks were hard to grasp. One Leitmeritz soldier after the other was turned into a lifeless corpse, littering the ground. Broken armor pieces and weapons were scattered in the spaces between their dead bodies as blood rained down on all of it.
The soldiers of Leitmeritz were horrified. The overwhelming might of a Vanadis was leagues above the barbarians they had fought the other day. This whole battle was like challenging a dragon with toothpicks.
Valentina plunged onwards, creating a storm of blood around her. One Leitmeritz soldier, then another, and then another crumbled while Elen could only watch on, unable to even restrain Valentina. She threw a dagger when she spotted an opening, but Valentina pulverized the blade on the side without a single change in her expression. Even her horse neighed lowly as it treaded across puddles of blood and smashed corpses with its hooves.
And then, after countless dozens of Leitmeritz soldiers had turned into corpses, they finally ran out of courage. Their hearts had broken after being confronted with Valentina’s abnormal, destructive force. One of them screamed, threw his weapon away, turned around, and ran away. One became two, two became five, five became ten, and soon Leitmeritz’s army started to rout.
“Holy shit…” Elen groaned.
She couldn’t even blame her men. It was her own poor judgment that Valentina wouldn’t come onto the battlefield in person. Elen believed this sorry state to be completely owed to her own stupidity.
Elen, Mila, and Lima had considered countermeasures for everything else. But, without an opportunity to exhibit a single of their little plans, Leitmeritz’s army ── the right wing of Arma Zirnitra had started to collapse.
Elen resolved herself, kicked off the ground, and charged straight at the mounted Valentina. Her aim wasn’t Valentina herself, but the horse underneath her.
Valentina calmly raised Ezendeis overhead, and then swung it down on Elen.
Blood danced in the air.
The scythe’s blade had stopped at grazing Elen’s head. While half of her face was washed in blood, Elen looked up to Valentina, baring a daring smile.
“Is it really okay for the supreme commander to butt in at a place like this?”
Valentina swung her scythe without answering. Tearing apart space alongside the dust and dirt swirling through the air, the scythe drew a trace.
Elen couldn’t carelessly step into Valentina’s combat range. The complex movement patterns of the scythe played a part in this, but even more so, Elen had no means other than dodging while Valentina could easily block Elen’s slash with her draconic tool. And, if that should actually happen, Elen’s sword would most likely break into pieces.
──If only I could force her into a mutual stab…
Such an idea crossed Elen’s mind. If she managed to kill Valentina, the supreme commander of the enemy army, this battle would end with Arma Zirnitra’s victory. But, Elen immediately discarded that thought.
Elen’s existence was the reason for Tigre’s fighting. She couldn’t afford to die. Not only for her own sake, but also for Tigre’s.
Osterode’s soldiers, who had remained behind Valentina, flooded towards Elen with gleaming eyes, their swords and spear raised. Not a single ally remained around Elen at this point.
Elen corrected the grip of her sword, getting ready to fight to the bitter end. She thought that Valentina might save her own men, but Valentina didn’t move an inch, only glaring at the silver-haired Vanadis. Elen suspected she might follow the notion to avoid snatching her subordinates’ achievement.
At that moment, a single arrow cut through the air, penetrating the right eye of an enemy soldier who was on the verge of thrusting his spear at Elen. The soldier dropped his weapon after a short scream.
──A stray arrow?
Elen wondered. But she immediately perceived that she was mistaken from the change in the atmosphere passed on through her skin. She could sense the powerful presence of the one approaching this place.
Another arrow flew. Piercing the windpipe of an Osterode soldier near Elen.
Pushing away the fleeing soldiers of Leitmeritz,a single youth appeared while galloping on his horse. In his left hand he held a black bow, in his right hand three arrows between his fingers. In a flash, he shot all three arrows in succession. Three Osterode soldiers received those arrows with their bellies and throats, crumbling down on the spot. Not only was his nocking and firing of the arrows abnormally fast, but so were the arrows themselves.
The soldiers of Osterode stopped, their feet rooted to the ground by shock and fear. Their exaltation of a moment ago was gone like the wind as they looked up to the youth, engulfed in terror and awe. Valentina glared at him, her violet eyes oozing murder.
That youth was, of course, no one other than Tigrevurmud Vorn.
“Elen…!”
While nocking a new arrow onto his Black Bow, he steered his horse next to Elen. Even Elen was dumbfounded by Tigre’s appearance, but she immediately came to her senses, comprehending what she ought to do next. Running in tune with his horse, she synchronized her breathing with the horse, and then leaped behind Tigre.
Even during that short time, Tigre had shot another Osterode soldier to death.
Tigre turned his horse’s neck around, spurring it into full gallop. Taking heart at last, the Osterode soldiers chased after them, but because they were infantrymen, they couldn’t catch up with Tigre and Elen.
“──Space CorridorVordoll.”
Valentina appeared above Tigre. She swung her scythe down on Tigre’s head.
A strange clank resounded, similar to an iron blade being repelled by a big rock. Tigre had blocked Valentina’s slash with his bow. Valentina immediately understood her blunder. She had been too preoccupied with the Black Bow. She should have killed Elen first.
Elen threw a dagger. In response, Valentina leaped back, dodging the dagger and landing on the ground. The soldiers of Osterode caught up with Valentina, and formed a protective circle around her. Valentina didn’t launch a second attack, probably convinced of her having won this battle.
The collapse of Leitmeritz’s army spread to the center and then the left wing. It didn’t take that much time for the soldiers’ retreat to change into a collapse, and the collapse to even change into a rout. Even Mashas, who had taken over the command of the central unit, and Mila had to invest all their might into making their divisions fall back while somehow maintaining ranks and order. Of course, all of this boosted the enemy’s morale, and they decided to persistently pursue Arma Zirnitra.
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