It was a truly fierce battle. Although Zich was drawing much of the Bellids’ attention in the front, the allied forces were definitely not at an advantage. The Bellid knights, priests, high-level monsters, and powerful Demon People kept the allied forces’ elite forces in check while the rest of their monsters and undead tried to stomp down the rest of the allied forces with their large numbers. Of course, the allied forces put up an impressive resistance. Knights, mages, holy knights, and priests landed tremendous attacks and pushed against the Bellids’ army.
The soldiers also used the defensive walls to stop the monsters and the undead from advancing further. Both forces tried their best to squash the other force down. The situation was at a perfect standstill, so it wasn't strange for the situation to suddenly turn over for either side.
Baaam!
“Kuaaaah!” Another Demon Person scrambled back after receiving a deep injury from Zich, and he immediately gave chase. Demon People beside him tried to grab Zich back by his ankles and high-level monsters on standby stood in front of the Demon Person to act as obstacles.
Cruunch! Even high-level monsters posed little threat to him, and Zich cleanly slaughtered the monsters that dared to interfere with his goal. Yet, by the time he finished taking care of them, the Demon Person Zich had been targeting had disappeared.
Bam! Another Demon Person attacked Zich from behind. He easily blocked the attack and extended his free hand backward.
“Kuh!” Zich’s palm clutched the Demon Person’s neck. The Demon Person tried to attack Zich frantically to free himself from Zich’s grasp, but Zich was faster. With a chilling crunch, the Demon Person’s neck broke, and although his body was agile just a second before, it drooped loosely.
Another Demon Person had just lost his life under Zich’s hands. Yet, many enemies still remained.
—Kuaaah!
There was a loud cry from above. A gigantic flying monster was diving straight down toward Zich.
Whoosh! Whoosh! A Demon Person and monster attacked Zich from both sides. Rather than trying to inflict a critical injury on Zich, it seemed like the Demon Person’s intention was to expose Zich to the monster’s attacks.
Wiiing!
Zich’s sword rang loudly. With him at the center, large air blades shot out in all directions. The Demon Person near him quickly moved to hide behind the monsters.
Kuaaah!
Kueeeh!
The monsters howled loudly as their bodies were mutilated under Zich’s sharp air blades. Most of the monsters died instantly on the spot, and even the ones left alive were panting on the ground—they had difficulty breathing. It didn’t appear that they would live for long.
Booom! The monster attacking from above smashed onto the ground and lay there with its long tongue hanging out of its mouth, dead. Yet, all the Demon People survived the last attack. Thus, they began attacking again and new monsters replaced the dead ones. The Demon People’s strategy was simple: they only attacked and left the task of defending against Zich’s attacks to all the high-level monsters nearby. Not having to think of defense, the Demon People’s attacks were certainly threatening; likewise for the high-level monsters attacking from above.
Zich, however, defended against their attacks calmly and adeptly. Although corpses of high-level monsters piled up around him like mountains, there wasn’t a single noticeable wound on Zich’s body.
Barooooo!
Some time later, a loud signal rang across the area from the Bellids’ side. After rushing at the allied forces madly until now, the Bellid forces halted. They began to retreat one after another. It was the same for the Demon People fighting Zich. They also stopped fighting and moved backward, but of course, Zich had no intention of letting them go peacefully. The allied forces thought the same and rushed forward to inflict more damage on the retreating Bellid army.
Yet, the Bellids turned the monsters against the allied forces and high-level monsters attached themselves around Zich. None of them seemed to treasure their lives in the slightest as they threw themselves at Zich to hold him by the ankles as their bodies were sliced apart and their hearts smashed.
Boom! The last monster fell to the ground, but the Demon People who had attacked Zich were already gone. The allied forces were in the same situation. When they shot down and killed all the monsters, the Bellid forces had already retreated back to their camp lines. In the end, the allied forces had no choice but to retreat and regroup. They had to set up proper guards, evacuate the injured to the rear, and repair the collapsed areas of the fortress. It was only then that the first battle between the allied forces and the Bellids came to an end.
***
The two forces clashed multiple times. The Bellids were always attacking, and the allied forces pushed the Bellids back between the defensive walls and the fortress. Since so many fighters and skilled talents participated in these battles, casualties reached an all-time high. The allied forces used their priests to the maximum to limit the losses in their troops, but because of how fierce each battle was, there were still many deaths every time.
The Bellids also suffered significant casualties, but they were able to maintain their numbers of knights, priests, and Demon People. This was thanks to their active, abundant use of the undead and monsters. However, they suffered startling losses because of this. As if they weren’t too concerned about this, the Bellids continued to take out more and more monsters and undead soldiers.
‘They are coming again.’ While watching the battlefield over the defense barriers, Hans sighed quietly. New undead soldiers and monsters were flowing out of the Bellids’ camp base.
“Those guys are occupying an entire empire and three kingdoms. I’m sure they are overflowing with the undead.” The Bellids were filling up their decreasing supply of the undead by killing people from the back. The Bellids would be able to supply their undead force until not a single human remained. It was a very cruel method, and Hans scowled.
“Since countless monsters also exist deep inside the mountains, they would be able to keep using them too.”
The Bellid’s current strategy was to save their knights, priests, and Demon People by continuously sending out the undead and monsters to deplete the allied forces’ troops. Even if the allied forces tried to limit their casualties by using priests, they couldn’t, especially compared to the Bellids who continued to use their forces like consumables.
“Is it difficult for you to also wipe them away, Sir Zich?”
“Yeah, since those Demon People are thoroughly holding me back. Well, given enough time, I’m confident that I can chip away at their forces, but before that happens, the allied forces would be destroyed first,” Zich answered. Without allies, their enemy would be able to catch Zich with sheer numbers. This was the Bellids’ plan. It was a pretty good one, and the allied forces were also aware that the Bellids would continue to use sacrifices to wear them down. Yet, the allied forces failed to come up with a clear counterplan.
“Then, is there nothing else that can be done?”
“That’s not what I said.”
Hans’ eyes sparkled and he looked at Zich as if he thought, ‘As expected!’
His master had always skillfully solved every crisis with strength and wisdom no matter the situation. It didn’t seem any different now. Hans’ trust and admiration for Zich rose to another level.
“What is the method, sir? Ah, is it perhaps a secret?”
“No, there’s no need for me to go that far. It’s something that anyone can think of.” Zich thought of Ultel—the mastermind behind everything and a cruel smile hung on his lips.
“Let’s see if they’ll keep fighting even if their pope dies.”
***
The Bellid headquarters was now located in the fallen Brodstock Empire’s central lands. Since most of their forces were at the Cronon Kingdom, there were likely few remaining at the headquarters. Claiming this point, Zich suggested that they ambush the Bellid headquarters. The allied forces’ commanding officers didn’t accept Zich’s suggestion so positively at first. They were barely managing to stay at a standstill with the Bellids, and if they took out some forces for the ambush, they would be immediately pushed back. Furthermore, even if the Bellids’ main troops were mostly gathered in the Cronon Kingdom, they didn’t know exactly how many forces were remaining in their headquarters. There was a good possibility that their ambush could fail.
Yet, in response to Zich’s strong claims and warning that the allied forces would only keep getting pushed back the longer the battle went on, the allied forces had to accept Zich’s proposal in the end. Thus, several days later—so early in the morning that the sun didn’t even rise yet—Zich stood at a vacant lot behind the allied forces.
Zich stroked the sword he had on his waist. When Zich’s mana grazed it, a faint light flowed across the sword. It was Estellade.
[It seems like you need this sword right now more than I do, Sir Zich.] Hans had said this while handing Estellade to him, and Zich didn’t refuse.
Zich smirked. To think he would be walking around with the sword he loathed so much until recently. This was a scenario he had never expected or imagined, and while Zich laughed at his current predicament, he heard footsteps.
Thud! Zich turned his head slowly and knew that the companions who would ambush the headquarters with him had come.
“Welcome Mr. Til.”
Til looked around his surroundings with a serious face. “Where are the others?”
“They are still not here yet. You came here first, Mr. Til.”
Til nodded and stood next to Zich. His lips were tightly pressed with no sign of opening. It was natural considering his quiet personality, but it would be awkward for them to stand together in complete silence. Thus, Zich spoke to Til first and Til gave succinct, blunt replies. While they were conversing, they heard bickering from a distance: it was an old man’s voice clashing with a young woman’s voice. Without knowing the proper situation, an outsider would’ve thought the young woman was being considerably rude to her elder, but the situation couldn’t have been more different. Their voices loomed closer and Zich turned to the two. There was the mage wearing a robe and holding a staff and an elf wearing light armor with a bow and arrow hanging from her back: it was Walwiss and Leona.
“Welcome,” Zich greeted them and Walwiss responded first.
“Ah, Mr. Zich. Good to see you. I know it’s a sudden request, but can you talk some sense to this rude person? She has no respect for an old person like me!”
“I told you that I am much older than you! Ah, hello Zich!” Leona shook hands with Zich, and she looked happy to see him. However, that didn’t last for long, and the two fell into a quarrel again.
“This little one is acting out too much!”
“It’s your height that’s so little!”
Zich and Til looked at one another, nodded simultaneously, and took a step away from Walwiss and Leona. They clearly didn’t want to intervene between the two. Walwiss and Leona’s argument continued for a while, and when they were finally finished, the two quickly turned away and took a couple of steps away from each other. Zich and Til were both relieved that the yelling that had prickled their ears was gone now.
Seeing Zich and Til’s response, Walwiss looked slightly embarrassed.
“Ahem ahem. I’ve shown you a bad side of me.” Yet, Walwiss glared at Leona while even saying this, so it didn’t appear that he was really reflecting on his actions. It was the same for Leona.
“I can’t believe I have to travel with that old man. I can’t help but sigh.”
“That’s what I should be saying...”
It seemed like the two were going to start their second round of fighting when another voice intervened.
“Oh my, am I the last one to have come?” While joining them with a slight smile on her face, their last party member—Lubella—arrived.