The mage Belis cannot understand the sight in front of him.
The Crown prince was right about Belis being an amateur. Belis did not have any experience in leading an army. But for Belis that should not be a problem. After all, in the world of demons, the stronger one will definitely win.
In a one-to-one battle, the living dead and the skeleton soldiers have superior strength and stamina compared to human soldiers. As for endurance? That was not even a question! The number of soldiers in the army of death was also superior compared to the human army. There was no way he could have lost.
Yet after the kingdom’s cavalry destroyed the army of death’s two flanks, and the kingdom’s soldiers attacked the rear of the army of death’s two flanks Belis stopped understanding what exactly happened in front of him. He also had no time to try to understand as the situation in front of him kept changing.
When he realized it, his army which was supposed to have the superior number was surrounded by the kingdom’s army. As the kingdom’s army kept pushing its army from all sides, Belis was lost. He did not know what kind of command he should give in this kind of situation.
Since the soldiers of the army of death did not receive any command from Belis, they kept blindly attacking any living beings. They were forced into a situation in which they did not have enough space to dodge as the soldiers of the kingdom’s army destroyed them one at a time.
“Y…You bastard! <Flame Storm>!”
While Belis was thinking for the first time that his soldiers around him were a hindrance, Belis chanted a spell and shot the area magic toward the kingdom’s army in front of him. Where Belis’s magic exploded, shrieks and groans of pain can be heard.
“A Mage!”
“That’s where he is!”
“Archer squad, shoot!”
The entire army already knew what had happened at the Veritza Fortress, that was why every soldier knew of the possibility that area magic might be used in this battle. At the very least, no soldiers would run away at the sight of area magic. Though not being able to decrease the damage was quite painful for the kingdom, all commanders knew that the current priority was to kill the mage as soon as possible.
After the soldiers pointed out where Bellis was, Baron Kupfernagel ordered the archery squad to fire their arrows in that direction. One by one rain of arrows fell on the place where Bellis was standing. Though mere arrows will not be able to kill Bellis, he was unable to completely ignore the damage that will build up either.
Not to mention that when the living dead fell due to the arrows striking, other soldiers of death would fill the hole caused by the living dead making the rank of the army of death even more chaotic, and it caused Bellis’s movement to become restricted.
The sound of arrows flying and the physical damage caused by them when they hit Bellis’s body made him able to only have a grasp on his close surroundings. Though in the first place, Bellis has no ability to command an army.
On the other hand, there was one group among the group of mercenaries and adventurers that attacked the rear of the army of death’s two flanks.
“Huff…”
With just one swing of his sword, Mazell bisected the living dead in front of him and he continued to attack a skeleton soldier. Beside him was Luguentz. He too cut a living dead that swung a huge sword with merely one swing.
“This sword is really sharp.”
“I have to agree.”
While fighting, Luguentz let out a sigh of amazement and Mazell replied to him. Mazell now understood why Welner told him to just use it, or rather he was half grateful and half amazed by Welner who easily let him borrow this kind of amazing sword.
A little further for them, Feli cut the skull of a skeleton warrior to pieces. The adults around him let out a gasp of surprise. Mazell and his companions were probably the only people here who were not surprised by Feli’s feat.
“Oh, you are quite skilled.”
“You’re skilled too, uncle!”
Elrich, who Feli called uncle, let out a bitter smile. Yet, he did not fix Feli’s way of addressing him, as he kicked a living dead strongly causing it to stop moving.
For a monk who was in the midst of training, Elrich was quite skilled in fighting. He was the only one among Mazel’s companions that did not borrow weapons from the Zeavert house, yet that does not mean that he has fallen behind Mazell and others. With just his fist and kick he repeatedly returned the moving corpses to ordinary corpses.
If Welner was here, he would probably comment ‘well, this is not too bad’ After all the weapons held by the current Mazell and his companions were weapons that originally appeared in the middle stage of the game. For them to use those weapons in the beginning stage of the game like this was already quite excessive.
But in the eyes of the soldiers, this group who killed one enemy with just one strike has no choice but to stand out.
Along with these four that destroyed a large number of enemies in the vanguard, the mercenaries group led by Gekke was able to skillfully energy the crack within the enemy’s formation. Then, the knights that rushed from behind used the group battle tactic and successfully cut the number of the enemy, making the army of death suffer even more damage. It did not take long for the enemy’s rear which suffered a pincer attack to completely collapse.
There was no such thing as fear in the mind of the soldiers of death, yet, after one part of their rear collapsed, the entire army of death started to become chaotic. Right after the collapse of that rear, Mazell and his companions heard a deafening explosion-like sound from the distance. It was the sound of countless arrows raining down on one part of the army of death.
“The enemy’s commander is at the place where the arrows are concentrated! Aim there!”
“Yes!”
“Don’t let him get away!”
Because of these voices, all soldiers turned their feet to Bellis’s direction. As a result, the soldiers of death that were standing between Bellis and the kingdom’s army were completely obliterated. Things like being lost in momentum certainly existed, as the fear of the army of death that rooted in the heart of some soldiers has completely disappeared.
Like a surging wave, everyone that has confidence in their skill, be it the kingdom’s soldiers, the mercenaries, or adventurers turned their weapon to the direction where the arrow rained down.
“Y..You Bastard…How…How did this happen…”
“It looks like that’s the boss.”
“Yeah.”
The sturdiness of the soldiers of death backfired. The soldiers of death that kept moving with arrows stuck on their body acted as a mark for the kingdom’s soldiers to find Bellis.
Among the kingdom’s soldiers that swarmed toward Bellis, Mazell and Luguentz kept destroying the soldiers of death that stood between them and Bellis and in mere seconds they successfully reached Bellis.
“Why! Why did things become like this! Why…”
The soldiers of death that surrounded him made it hard for Bellis to run. Bellis wanted to put up a last resistance, and yet he was unable to do so. He was unable to grasp the situation around him, and he was unable to understand what he could do.
Bellis’ desperate shout was easily cut off by Mazell with one swing.
“The enemy commander has died!!”
“The adventurer killed the mage!”
“Exterminate the army of death! Leave no one alive!”
“Yes!”
After the news of Bellis’s death reached his ear, the Crown Prince ordered that without any hesitation, and the soldiers let out battle cry and started the extermination battle. It was only when the beautiful sunset dyed the land that all soldiers of death stopped moving.
Thus, the battle of Hildea Plain which was feared by the kingdom ended with the kingdom’s overwhelming victory. The voices of the soldiers that praised the Crown Prince, Hubertus, resounded.
As for the main culprit that brought the legendary battle of Cannae [1] to this world, Welner…
(Note: Battle between Carthage (modern Tunnisia) led by Hannibal vs Roman empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cannae https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjnck2XvuPQ&t=1141s )
“Ah, so the merchant corps has safely returned to the capital.”
“That is correct. I have heard that your esteemed father was amazed by the equipment that was brought back by the merchants corps.”
…He was rubbing his chest in relief after hearing the message of the merchant corps safe return.
From the messenger, Welner learned that there were some injuries among the merchant corps but no casualties. He also confirmed that the appropriate remuneration for this success was already paid. After Welner also got his desired information about the situation in the capital, he put down the report regarding the merchants corps and turned his attention back to the refugees escort mission. While listening to the report from the scouts, Welner gave them the order to keep their vigilance for tonight.
Without knowing about the battle of Hildea Plain, Welner was swamped with his own work. It was only late at night that Welner once again turned his attention to the report of the merchant corps’ journey.