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It won’t take long before the goblins that left the frontlines to arrive at the closest village. 

According to what I heard, a great number of the enemies are terribly exhausted due to the strategy of the man that is friendly with His Majesty. 

The enemy soldiers that appeared in this place were also in a state of extreme exhaustion… This is the perfect opportunity to hit them…but…I became a knight this year and finally got to join the Leano Division.

It is good thus far, but to think I would have to wage war against a Demon Lord in that very year. I wasn’t included in the bandit subjugation, so I don’t have proper real combat experience. 

Even if you tell me to not be nervous, I can’t do anything about this one.

“Kayle, what are you doing trembling in the face of the enemy as a knight of Taizu?” 

“L-Lord Leano?! M-My apologies!” (Kayle)

Lord Leano reprimanded me for my hesitation. 

This place becoming a battlefield is already unavoidable. That’s why I must not be swallowed by it. I put my sword in between my armpits and smack my cheeks with both of my hands.

“Good. What you should prioritize the most once the battle begins is to not die and to create surplus. It is when you have surplus that you can coordinate with your allies for the first time. Make sure to remember once again what you should do and must do.” (Leano)

“Yes sir!” (Kayle)

“You are putting too much strength. Kayle, you weren’t brought to the battlefield to bring up the numbers. It is because I acknowledge you as someone who can shine as a combatant in my unit that you obtained the opportunity to fight for the sake of His Majesty. Have confidence -however, throw away your conceit.” (Leano)

Lord Leano said this and went to check on the other members. The captain of the Leano Division that has the most knights, Lord Leano, knows everything about the knights of his own division.

The reason why the Leano Division has the most members is because of how good Lord Leano manages his members. 

I also learned a variety of techniques from Lord Leano through the training given to me. What I learned the most there was how to not be injured in battle and the methods to lengthen my time for survival. I have learned the teachings of Lord Leano that are more about surviving than fighting, so at the times when I spar against knights of other divisions, I could perform in battle in a way that, even if I don’t win, I would never face a crushing defeat and would make them work for it. 

“No matter how massive the enemy is…I just have to believe in the teachings of Lord Leano…!” (Kayle)

“Oi oi, greenhorn, did you already forget the advice of Lord Leano? Loosen the strength in your shoulders. If you get so strained fighting by my side, I will end up putting strength too.” 

“S-Senpai?! M-My apologies!” (Kayle)

“I won’t tell you to slack, but your field of vision will widen if you breathe slowly and loosen up your strength. You won’t be fighting only at your front in the battlefield after all.” 

“Y-Yes!” (Kayle)

“You are a statue. Can’t be helped. I will tell you a story so you let go of that excessive strength.” 

“Story…?” (Kayle)

“Actually, the wife of Lord Leano is a super hottie. Lord Leano is super soft to his wife.” 

“I-I see…” (Kayle)

“But you know, they got in a bit of a fight one day. The Lord Leano that day was amusing! Do you know how many hours he was practicing his apology in his office? ‘Ooh, my wife, it is all my fault no matter how you see it! Please…Please forgive me!’, he went!” 

This is pretty hard to believe from that Lord Leano, but I was on the verge of laughing out loud just imagining it. Senpai grinned when looking at that state of mine and smacked my back.

“By the way, if Lord Leano discovers that this story is known, you will without doubt suffer terrible work. I couldn’t eat for 3 days.” 

“G-Got it…” (Kayle)

“It is a funny story taught to the nervous greenhorns of the Leano Division. You will be telling the story to a newcomer the next time, just so you know. Survive.” 

“…Yes!” (Kayle)

The excessive strength in my body disappeared thanks to my senior. At the same time as this happened, roars from afar reached my ears. 

I strained my eyes and saw an army of goblins charging this way while letting out bloodlust. 

“All hands, deploy your barriers! Use mana strengthening only on your arms and around your legs as the core points!” (Leano)

The orders of Lord Leano echoed from a bit further back. 

Everyone readied their weapons at that order and casted their barriers. 

Only a few seconds more before the battle begins, but there’s already things that we have to do.

I confirm the equipment of the enemies at the forefront. It is mainly spears and swords. The ones coming in first will most likely be the spears. There’s the archers at the back with others that seems like they use magic. 

I confirm the equipment of the archers: the shape of the bow, analyze the range judging from its size, and estimate the time it will take for them to begin their attack. 

The enemy approached us at the time I did this. 

“Engage!” 

I must not attack them blindly. The vanguard of the enemy will try to lower our soldiers at the front as much as possible. 

In other words, they will be unleashing a full power attack aimed at our vitals. 

What I should do is a mana strengthened weapon deflect, calmly tell which enemy is aiming for me, and…

“Hah!” 

I deflect the spear aimed at my face with my sword and unleash slashes towards the unprotected spots in the armor of the enemy. 

The goblin staggers, but I don’t continue my attack immediately. The vanguard of the enemy has reached this point which means the archers at the rear have already shot their arrows. 

I take half a step back and widen my field of view. I distinguish the arrows coming at me from their trajectory. I block the arrows that will pierce me by using my sword, and for the ones that will just scratch me, I use my armor to repel them. 

The moment the rain of arrows stopped briefly, I once again concentrate on the enemy in front of me. 

There’s goblins that have been hit by misfired shots of its allies, but there’s no sign of their rush stopping. 

I carefully deflect the attacks that came at me and wait for their balance to crumble. 

“Kayle, match my right side!” 

“Yes sir!” (Kayle)

I confirm that the goblin my senior deflected the attack of had its posture crumbled, and we attacked it as a duo. 

The attack of my senior was blocked, but my attack stabbed deep into the goblin’s throat. 

But even that couldn’t be called a fatal wound. Its eyes haven’t died, it hasn’t dropped its weapon. 

I quickly pull out my sword from its throat and maintain formation. 

It is not like the goblins in front of me will stop attacking even in the time when we were attacking the goblin in front of my senior. 

I calmly block the attacks again.

“Shoot!” (Leano)

The archers stationed at the back unleash their arrows at Lord Leano’s order. The distance of the arrows shot by the knights of the Leano Division are always fixed. They pierce the goblins in the front with precision. 

They would collapse if they were humans, but the goblins are not affected much. However, your body will move reflexively if you get hit by an arrow of a Taizu knight on the knee or elbow. 

If we attack in that window, they would have to take it in a bad posture. 

“There!” (Kayle)

I make my mana strengthening stronger and deflect the attack of my enemy with strength. 

I sliced off the leg of the enemy after confirming that their posture was broken greatly. I stab my sword on the neck of the enemy that had lost their balance and fallen, and withdraw again. 

That one landed well. It should have died with that… No, it is still moving. 

I did hear that the monsters will be lively until right before death, but this is way too lively no matter how you slice it. 

“Kayle, don’t grow hasty. The ones following behind are catching up!” 

I come back to my senses at the call of my senior and return my gaze to the front. 

The goblin at the back narrowed down their target on me after the goblin at my front had fallen down, and swung its weapon. 

I hurriedly ready my weapon and deflected the attack.

That was close.

“Thank you very much!” (Kayle)

“They are trampling their fallen allies as if natural after all. That helps us out. Let’s have them trample them more!” 

They are a mass of strife that don’t even see their fallen comrades, but that also means they don’t have any intention at all to coordinate. 

If they step on their comrades, they would trip or break their posture. The ones who are trying to get up won’t be able to properly if they get stepped on. 

Their ability to confirm their feet decreases if it turns into a free-for-all fight, so being able to calmly confirm your footing leads to an advantage in battle. 

The enemies mainly consist of intermediate and high ranks. It seems the lesser goblins have run out of strength on the way just as reported. 

I am careful of the high ranks that are fighting against my ally knights as I defeat the intermediates in front of me with certainty. 

It is an enemy that doesn’t die easily, but I am beginning to get used to their movements as battle continues. 

But no matter if it is an intermediate or a high rank, I won’t be able to come out fine if they get a direct hit on me. 

I strain my eyes and perk up my ears without getting impatient and concentrate on my battles. 

If this were against soldiers of other nations, they would have allowed the invasion of the enemy and it would turn into a melee. But the sturdy defensive formation of Taizu knights doesn’t crumble. 

We reject a melee which would be favorable for the enemy. 

“Kayle, it is about time we fall back!” 

The voice of an ally rang at my back. 

It is not like the knights at the forefront can fight forever. If there’s an opening, we will fall back, and gather our breath. 

I confirm my own breathing, mana amount, and answer without looking back.

“It is okay, I can still go on for a while more!” (Kayle)

“Got it. Those were some nice moves!” 

“Thank you very much!” (Kayle)

The number of enemies is just not lowering. But that’s the same for us -no, the enemies are being injured, but the knights are barely injured. If this continues, the ones at an advantage will be u—

“Watch out!” 

My senior suddenly shoved me to the back. I saw a giant boulder land where I was in. 

The enemy threw it from the backlines?! 

I should have been able to detect it like an arrow if it is a projectile. The fact that I couldn’t means that this boulder was thrown at an unbelievable speed.

“T-Thank you, Senpai! But this is…?!” (Kayle)

“It is him. The goblin over there threw it from above!” 

There was a goblin a size bigger than the others beyond the gaze of my senior. The quality of its equipment is also better compared to the others, and the mana I feel from it is higher than a high rank. 

“Unique…!” (Kayle)

“To think we can’t even crumble a single human formation. My army is pathetic. You fools who have lost your sanity from the power granted by the Demon Lord-sama and can only flail about your strength, this is how you crush the enemy formation!” 

The Unique goblin placed a hand on the ground. When he did, the ground swelled and a giant boulder was being formed. 

That Unique can use magic too! 

He understands that our equipment has magic seal stones, so he attacks by creating matter beforehand. It seems it has pretty high intelligence too.

“Kayle, it is coming!” 

“Y-Yes!” 

The boulder the Unique goblin created was thrown towards our formation.The speed of it is faster than when thrown, so you have to avoid getting a direct hit from it. You can avoid it by a narrow margin with the reaction speed of a knight since it is a long range attack, but our formation is crumbling cause of it. 

“What’s the matter, humans?! Your methodical formation you are so proud of is crumbling! Hahaha!” 

“Damn it, mere boulders!” (Kayle)

“You idiot. Stop it, Kayle!” 

I take on the boulder flying at me with my sword. A boulder created with earth magic shouldn’t be that sturdy—heavy! 

My sword bend and the boulder landed directly on my body, barely killing any of its force. My whole body was lifted by the strong impact and was sent flying back. 

The boulder landed a bit to the front of me, but I was smashed to the ground with the impact of it. 

I tried to get up immediately, but I couldn’t bring out the strength. This is…the bones in my arms are broken?! 

“How’s the taste of a boulder with added spin? Hmm? Don’t think the attacks of this Zoberamitaya can be stopped by the mere mana strengthening of you bastards.” (Zobera)

The goblin called Zoberamitaya created boulders one after the other and threw them at our formation. The knights that saw me being sent flying had no choice but to concentrate on avoiding, and the formation crumbled even further. 

The enemy soldiers charged at those openings and the battle is switching to a melee. 

“Are you okay, Kayle?!” 

“I am… I can still…fight…!” (Kayle)

“You idiot! If you fight with those wounds, you will only be dying a dog’s death! Fall back for now!” 

My senior carried me, who couldn’t get up. But that has delayed the speed at which he can react to the boulders flying our way. 

A boulder is flying straight at us. Evading in this state is just…!

“Good spirit. I would say you get a passing mark when it comes to your first campaign.” 

The trajectory of the boulder changed. 

Lord Leano showed up in front of us at some point in time. Seeing as he has his sword drawn, it must mean that Lord Leano used some sort of technique to repel the boulder. 

Just how did he manage to do that against an attack of that level…?

“L-Lord Leano!” (Kayle)

“All units, fall back while maintaining formation! I will take on that Unique!” (Leano)

The knights fall back as ordered and begin fixing the formation. 

Lord Leano walks alone towards Zoberamitaya, but goblins swung their weapons on his way. 

“You are in the way, small fry.” (Leano)

The attacks of the enemies slash the air the instant Lord Leano swung his sword. The enemies lost their posture from having swung onto nothing. 

Lord Leano didn’t follow with an attack and just headed to where Zoberamitaya is. 

“Looks like there’s a human with some guts. My name is Zoberamitaya. Let’s hear your name, man who will soon be killed by me!” (Zobera)

“Don’t act like a warrior just because you can talk a bit. I have no name to give to a dirty goblin.” (Leano)

“Nice bark! I shall dye away that haughty attitude into fear!” (Zobera)

Zoberamitaya throws a boulder, but Lord Leano swung his sword and changed its trajectory. 

That boulder landed directly onto the other goblins with force to spare. I couldn’t see any special motions just now. It just looked like the motions you do when deflecting a normal attack. 

“Hmph, even bandits don’t throw boulders. So, in the end, you are just a mere beast that has intelligence.” (Leano)

“Then, taste the sword dance of that beast!” (Zobera)

Zoberamitaya draws the sword at his back and charges at Lord Leano. The slash coming from the side was deflected straight upwards with a single stroke of Lord Leano. 

Zoberamitaya must have judged that a counterattack would come in the time his posture was crumbled, he jumped up while spinning with the centrifugal force and created distance. 

But Lord Leano simply lowered his sword and watched his movements. 

“I was expecting a sword dance though. You are done with just a side slash? There’s a limit to exaggerations.” (Leano)

“…Haha…Hahahahaha! This is amusing! I now want to break that leisure of yours! —Now, let the slaughter begin!” (Zobera)

The state of Zoberamitaya changed drastically. His body became a size bigger, and the muscles of his legs and arms had become twice as thick. 

I heard Uniques can use the power of the Scarlet Demon Lord on their own, but this is…! 

I can tell clearly even by just watching…that’s strong. Your average knight wouldn’t be able to match that thing at all. The amount of mana he has is far above that of Lord Leano…

“Senpai, that’s bad! We have to help out Lord Leano!” (Kayle)

“Listen here, how are you going to help out in that state? Just watch -the power of our captain.” 

“Is this the time to be saying that?! The enemy is clearly—” (Kayle)

“Lord Leano doesn’t fight a losing battle. If it were an enemy that he can’t win against, we would have been given the order to retreat a long time ago.” 

Judging from the mana that can be felt from the other party, he is by no means an enemy we can win against. But the battle had already resumed while I was worrying about this. 

The attacks of Zoberamitaya were far faster than before, and I wouldn’t even be able to see the trail of it if I weren’t watching from afar. 

Lord Leano is deflecting them just before they land, but I don’t see him being able to retaliate at all. 

“What the matter?! You doing nothing! This the true power of the Demon Lord-sama! Fear! Revere! Regret!” (Zobera)

“You really talk a lot. Sorry, but can’t you fight in silence? My sword would get dirtied if I were to cut your spit.” (Leano)

“You bark a lot for offering!” (Zobera)

“You are the one barking.” (Leano)

It seems like they are talking while fighting, but honestly speaking, just watching is already nerve-wracking. 

The attacks of the enemy were unrelenting, and just thinking about the possibility of one hit landing… But the other knights watching the battle of Lord Leano were unfaltering. They simply continued dealing with the enemies they had nearby. 

“Why are the seniors able to watch so calmly? Lord Leano is certainly a wonderful knight, but he is not that famous for his combat prowess…” (Kayle)

“A commanding officer of a knight division doesn’t just entail aptitude. It is true that the Ragudo Division composed by Lord Leano and the knights with the most seniority are the most famous, but the captains of other divisions have strength that’s acknowledged by all members of the Ragudo Division.” 

The words of my senior were overflowing with confidence. The people who have been in the Leano Division for long don’t doubt the victory of Lord Leano. Him not choosing to retreat means that there’s victory lying in wait. 

The attacks of Zoberamitaya are not going down in strength, but now that I look closely, I can see changes in the movements of both sides. The speed at which Lord Leano is deflecting the attacks is gradually…getting faster…? 

It looked like it was barely in time before, but now it looks like he has leeway. 

“It was not that long ago that we fought a horde of undead in Taizu. They would regenerate even when slashed, and wouldn’t die unless we had the power of the clerics. You bunch don’t die easy and only your movements are pretty fast. But well, in my opinion, undying undead are more troublesome than you guys.” (Leano)

“You bastard!” (Zobera)

“You are only letting your high physical specs do the talking, and I don’t feel a single shred of skill in your attacks. What do you expect to accomplish with that?” (Leano)

The clash of swords that were echoing endlessly suddenly rang loudly, and the body of Zoberamitaya shifted heavily. That’s…a pose of when your attack has been deflected completely. 

The attacks of Zoberamitaya just now was far stronger than the boulder I couldn’t stop. 

Are you telling me that he has seen completely through those attacks? 

“Nuh…! What you do?!” (Zobera)

“I just deflected normally with no twist to it. What about it?” (Leano)

“The strength of humans can’t take on my attacks—” (Zobera)

“That’s what mana strengthening is for. Concentrate the mana strengthening to only the places in your body you are using for deflecting and increase their power explosively for a brief period of time, and it can match the attacks of monsters with far more power. Just strengthening your whole body like an idiot would just waste your mana unnecessarily after all.” (Leano)

“Y-You…!” (Zobera)

Zoberamitaya tried to resume his attacks, but his posture was broken further with the sweep of Lord Leano. This time his posture was broken before he unleashed his attack. 

“Also, you attack recklessly way too much. Even though you have been strengthened, you show all your cards in an instant. It is like you are begging me to learn your moves.” (Leano)

Lord Leano stabs the right knee of Zoberamitaya when his posture was broken. 

Zoberamitaya jumped back quickly, so the wound is shallow. It should be shallow, but he buckled. 

He groaned as if he didn’t understand what happened to his own body.

“Ooooh!” 

“I said undead are more troublesome. They can heal their wounds in an instant after all. But you all simply can move even if wounded. If I throw your mana strengthening in disarray through your wounds, your movements fall along. You probably have only trained between other monsters. Did you seriously think you would surpass the research humans did for centuries since the days the Demon Lords were born to go against the monsters that are far superior in strength than us?” (Leano)

Lord Leano attacked first for the first time in this battle. 

Zoberamitaya tried to block the attack, but fell immediately to the feint of Lord Leano, and a part of his body was slashed. 

The movements of that spot grew dull and received further attacks. 

Zoberamitaya couldn’t evade or defend, and wounds were etched into his body one after the other. The newly created wounds were getting deeper and deeper, and that led to even duller and duller movements. 

The goblins that felt their captain was in danger attacked Lord Leano, but Lord Leano dealt with those attacks with ease. 

“You bastard… You bastard…!” (Zobera)

“Aah, there’s one thing I have to thank you about. It seems like you have moved away from the main battlefield and are trying to invade the nearby villages just like the other monsters, but if a captain that’s supposed to be the strongest is only on this level, it doesn’t seem like there’s any need to send reinforcements to the other places. Even if there may be some margin of error, the captains of the other divisions should be able to deal with it without issues. I thank you for dispelling that worry of mine.” (Leano)

“You bastaaaard!” (Zobera)

Zoberamitaya roared and attacked Lord Leano…but that exchange was so one-sided, it crushed all the worries I had at the beginning, and it didn’t take long before the head of Zoberamitaya was sliced off. 

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