Faced with the situation, Ray issued orders. Regardless of whether it was optimal, just giving orders made the soldiers obey him successfully as their leader.
Moreover, not one soldier fled. Though I, their commander, was incapacitated, they raised their spears as one, undaunted by the prospect of enemy retaliation and charged ahead valiantly.
Faced with the unexpected counterattack from the soldiers, the Demon Army scout platoon retreated a step. Then Gran and Ragan deployed as the detachment, as well as Otto, Cale and the others, assaulted them.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect, but unfortunately the formation was far too poor.
The original plan had been to divide the enemy and stab them from behind. But now with me at the center, they had shrunk formation to reassemble in a circle formation, backs to the precipitous slope, crowded together as the enemy surrounded them.
Even with Gran, Otto and the others attacking from behind, the Demons calmly allocated two to fall back and engage Gran and Otto each in confrontation.
In my hazy consciousness, I watched Ray and Al standing before me.
The two faced the glowering Demon platoon leader, swords in hand, breathing heavily.
This was it. The tide of battle would be determined here. Which side prevailed at this point would seize the flow of combat and take victory.
But Ray and Al had no prospect of winning. The opponent was a trained Demon Army veteran and their platoon commander at that. Though bereft of armor with only scaly skin, his body was honed to durability and overflowing with strength.
The Demon Army was a battle-hardened force. They followed survival of the fittest, with the stronger rising in rank.
Against that platoon commander class enemy, Ray and Al’s level differed vastly. And most importantly, Al was gravely injured at death’s door. They had no chance whatsoever.
The two surely understood this, yet they stepped forward without fear.
The Demon commander pounced as if soaring, swinging machetes from all sides.
Ray desperately swung his blade, his body slashed down, but still warded off the Demon’s strikes.
Considering Ray’s actions so far, it was a veritable miracle of defense.
Then in the opening created by Ray blocking the attacks, Al slipped in a strike.
Though Al was as good as dead, the blow shook the commander’s blade, making his arm quiver slightly.
Despite the seemingly miraculous offense and defense, neither let up in their counterattack.
Ray blocked the distant enemy’s blows while Al unleashed fierce individual strikes.
Both displayed peerless swordsmanship and explosive power they had never revealed until now.
I had witnessed this phenomenon before.
Were they in the process to awaken?
The radiance as if burning their lives. During the journey, the Prince occasionally showed signs of awakening as well.
But even so, the enemy still retained the advantage. Despite Al and Ray’s vigor throwing him off initially, the platoon leader had regained composure. With blades in both hands, he leisurely addressed the two simultaneously.
If Al hadn’t been injured and both had a bit more training time, perhaps they could have won. But even with the awakening, prospects of victory for the two who had just come into their power were slim.
Though I tried to speak and issue orders, I could produce no voice. Exerting my all, I uttered just one sentence.
“You must win.”
My voice was small, unsure if they heard. But both responded to my voice.
“We know!”
Gripping their swords, the two stepped forward with overwhelming momentum.
In contrast, the Demon spread his blade-like wings widely, ceaselessly unleashing attacks as if in dance.
Ray desperately tried to halt the fluidly morphing blades. But against the whirlwind assault raining from unseen angles, his whole body was slashed in an instant, drenched in blood.
After just minutes of fighting, both were covered in injuries. And yet their eyes still blazed with fighting spirit, solely fixed on the enemy.
At that point, a change occurred around the two.
A current of air swirled around Ray while Al’s body emanated heat.
The air current gradually grew, forming a cyclone enveloping Ray’s body. And flames spewed from Al’s sword.
It was magic!
Undoubtedly magic’s effect. While I knew they both had talent, I didn’t expect their gifts to bloom at this time.
“Ohhhh!”
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Howling, Ray unleashed everything he had, wrapped in the wind.
Just as the Demon platoon leader moved to raise his machete, Ray’s wind-clad blade slipped past the machete’s defense ever-so-slightly. Like sliding into the opening it generated, Ray’s sword pierced the seemingly impregnable defense. Ray’s edge severed the burly Demon’s left arm in two.
Blood sprayed as the scaly arm and its blade spun through the air. Before the blade could drop, Al swung his flaming sword upward.
But even with his left arm cut off, the Demon soldier hadn’t lost fighting spirit. He met Al’s strike with the remaining right blade.
Echoes of fierce clashes resounded as their blades crossed, both vying intensely.
Losing one arm, the Demon’s injury gushed blood as he focused strength like the jaws of a tiger with the remaining one. Veins surfaced on the right arm and the muscles swelled tumor-like.
Despite only one arm left, he pressed Al down with unbelievable brute force using both hands on his sword.
“I won’t let you have your way!”
Right before being overwhelmed, with a roar, flames burst violently from Al’s entire body.
The flames focused on the sword blade, heating it red-hot.
“Ohhhh!”
“!”
The intense heat melted the brutish blade, slowly liquefying it.
Accompanied by a shout, Al swung his blade out. The searing hot edge sliced through the Demon-forged steel like butter, cutting deeply into the platoon leader’s flank.
Despite letting out a brief wail, the Demon Army platoon leader did not fall. He supported his collapsing body on his feet.
Losing vast amounts of blood from his left arm. His slashed open side cauterized from the intense heat, glowing dark red, still burning hot. A critical wound nearing death at any moment. And yet he did not fall, aiming at me as I lay there like a dragon making its last stand.
I will not die in vain, he seemed to say, exerting his remaining strength to toss aside his severed blade and stagger toward me.
The soldiers forming the circle thrust out their spears, piercing the Demon platoon leader with three. But even so, he did not halt his advancing steps. He looked as ferocious as a dragon reverting to instinct.
The soldiers desperately tried to force him back but the platoon leader knocked aside spears with one hand, extending his neck as if to bite and kill me even if only his head remained, baring his fangs.
Rows of fangs approached before my eyes, my vision covered by the dragon’s crimson maw. But the instant those fangs reached me, flames suddenly erupted from the platoon leader’s slashed open side.
The fire spread across the Demon’s body. Even the platoon leader couldn’t help but wail.
“Gyaaa!”
The platoon leader writhed on the ground, trying to pat out the flames on his body, but they licked over him rapidly like serpent tongues, engulfing his entire being in an instant.
Surrounded by the inferno, the Demon Army platoon leader reached his remaining hand toward me, but as he tried to grab me, his fingers suddenly crumbled away.
The fierce blaze consuming his whole body had carbonized his arm and wrist, spreading further until it burned away his very life.
“We got him! We got him!”
The soldiers cheered at the platoon leader’s death and wavering spread among the Demon soldiers.
But that wavering only lasted a moment. Even losing their commander, they would not readily falter. Instead they fiercely attacked like sworn enemies. Just then, a group of imposing figures appeared on the path here.
It was four fully armed soldiers.
They were the ones I had ordered to take a different path as a feint. They had circled back.
It was an unplanned action. To be honest, I didn’t expect them to return.
The bait had been a dangerous gamble. While I anticipated the enemy would pursue us as the main force, exceptions could happen. With things as they were, the small number of men would undoubtedly die.
Conversely, if the Demons didn’t chase them, they might have lived, escaping if they just kept fleeing. They may have been saved.
So I hadn’t instructed them to circle back here.
Having narrowly escaped death once, I didn’t think they would return to the battlefield even if ordered.
But based on their own judgment, they had come back.
Dragging their injured bodies, they came running with spears in hand like an avalanche. Joining with Otto’s group, the Demon soldier stubbornly holding the rear was struck down.
It proved the decisive blow, completely turning the tide in our favor. Once momentum took hold, the “divine blessing’s” effects became unstoppable. The Demon soldiers engulfed by the momentum were felled one after another.
We won?
Even watching from the best seat, I still couldn’t believe what I saw.
Even with all the miraculous spectacles witnessed while journeying with the Prince, this was a true miracle.
They weren’t the Prince or heroes, only ordinary villagers not long ago. But they had fought more bravely than anyone, reversing hopeless odds. They were the very image of valor.
At the battlefield’s center were Al and Ray, the chief contributors to this victory. But more than me, they had already lost consciousness.
Not just gravely wounded, it was also their first time using magic, so it was only natural.
They wore the faces of men who had accomplished something.
Seeing their faces, I relaxed my cheeks in satisfaction. And just like that, smiling, I lost consciousness.
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