Viers, who had drawn his sword, continued showing his swordsmanship to allies and enemies alike. The Empire’s soldiers couldn't retreat even if they wanted to, for retreating without orders was the same as desertion and the penalty for desertion was execution on the spot. Like a human wave, they only moved forward. On the other hand, because of piling up exhaustion and injuries from repeated fighting, the knights had shown a decline in fighting capability. With the situation as it was, Viers had to step up his game. There was no lack of enemies for Viers to cut. Because of his lightning mage DPS set-up earlier, the soldiers that came after him got some sort of lightning resistance buff. Futon could still deal heavy damage if he used his full power but Viers let him rest and chose to use the sword. “Kill the Latias bastards! That guy, especially, is a bigger bastard than usual! Follow me! Just be careful of his quick draw. Don't give him the chance to use that technique!” The squad leader came to Viers with all of his might, bringing his men in tow. If you think my swordplay is only made up by Cut the Crap and Slash the Sky, you are gravely mistaken. As the man’s broadsword swung down from above, Viers readied his sword to receive it. The man internally smiled, thinking Viers’ slender sword would break from the impact. Contrary to his expectations, Viers tilted his sword at just the right angle and the right moment, making the man’s attack miss. With one fluid motion, Viers transitioned the parry to beheading. The result was one severed head. Suiten Mitsurugi-ryuu, First Stance – Flowing Water. There were two more attackers. The head of the squad leader hadn't even touched the ground; it happened so fast that they were unable to stop their initial momentum. Viers parried them both and gave them a courtesy, both got their own deadly counter. Two more people were slain. One with a severed torso and one with a punctured heart. Viers used the Sea Universe sword style that he found in the Book World as the framework for Suiten Mitsurugi-ryuu. His efforts had borne worthwhile fruits after a few years. The essence of Flowing Water Stance was defense. In many games, parrying or perfect block was OP. Viers liked that and incorporated that into his self-made sword style. After the parry, use the opening in the opponent's stance to deliver a devastating blow. A simple dead man recipe. In middle ages Bohemia, as Henry, Viers dominated the land using what they called the Master Strike. The combos were too difficult to pull off, so Viers’ Henry just did Master Strike until the very end. And it worked! Jesus Christ be praised! Even after the squad leader and two of their comrades were on their way to the netherworld, instead of broken morale like Viers expected, the Empire soldiers kept attacking. This time, they were brimming with the fire of revenge. “How dare you! Avenge the captain!” It seems the enemy unit I face is a tight-knit group. Their camaraderie is strong... No matter. Come! “Come on! I FEEL QUITE HUNGRY!!” Blades danced and blood spilled. Viers showed the difference between them, of MCs and mooks. Using the Flowing Water Stance, Viers didn't even get hit once, even against eight opponents. “Is he really a Level 3? There’s something wrong here!” The guy guessed correctly, but Viers truly only used Level 3 power. After cutting down so many of them, even their revenge zeal was fading. Fear replaced it. Many soldiers in front of Viers were trembling. “Pathetic! Show your pride as men of the Harkelan Empire! Kill the Empire’s enemies, no matter who they are!” A Level 4 of the Empire’s side roared from behind. The Empire’s soldiers were washed with a red aura. Viers squinted his eyes. He and the knights were unaffected but all the surrounding soldiers now had a red tint and madness in their eyes. “Ugaaaahhh!” Like berserkers, the enemies attacked anew with unprecedented savagery. ...A frenzy spell of some kind. With improved offence, defence, speed, and fearlessness, the knights were truly struggling this time. The soldiers didn't even hesitate in trading mortal blows. Their sense of self-preservation seemed to be erased. But Viers held his ground, like a rock jutting out from the sea floor. With him as an anchor, his section was somehow holding, preventing a rout. Other than him, Boram, Croix, and several others also achieved the same feat but everywhere else, the knights were pushed back. “Stop your meddling.” A Level 4 of the Kingdom engulfed the Empire’s Level 4 in his Imaginary Domain. The surroundings of the black sphere remained in fierce fighting. The soldiers remained frenzied. The enemy seemed endless. As his allies got overwhelmed, Viers was getting isolated and surrounded. The mostly Level 3 enemies began landing hits on Viers, especially from behind. Suiten Mitsurugi-ryuu, true to its name of Water Heaven, was made with Viers’ water affinity in mind. With his water affinity currently sealed, he used physical and steel only. Not only that, Viers was limiting his power to Level 3. As things were, he was getting pressured by the numerous enemies. There was a limit to how many attacks he could parry. Before Viers acted, Futon took matters into his own cloud hands, metaphorically speaking, since the cloud elemental possessed no hands. He voluntarily channeled his lightning to Viers’ blade, upping his attack power. It wasn't as effective as he’d hoped. The soldiers got lightning resistance applied on them. The Empire command sent a specific squad to deal with Viers. Futon changed his approach. A shockwave spread out with Viers in the center, knocking back the swarming enemies. A blast of wind! The cloud elemental could use other things besides lightning. With the unexpected crowd-control new skill, Viers was able to kill enemies as they got distracted. Of course, the Level 3 had their defensive Unreality Field but Futon was at a similar level and could affect them. Because of the frenzy spell, the soldiers couldn't deal with the wind more smartly, only doing a headlong charge. The wind explosion was repeated a few times until support came to Viers’ position. “Wahahaha! See? The adjutant will not lose. Look! His fart can defeat the Empire’s finest soldiers!” Someone from the Red Dragon Unit was among the reinforcements and said in a big voice. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. “Guuuh! Damn that farting knight!” The Empire’s commander looked humiliated and angry. “Where’s my reinforcements? Get in there and bring me his stinking head!” “...Futon. I know you’re trying to help, and I appreciate it. But it’s better if you don't do that again,” Viers telepathically said to the cloud elemental in his not-Poké Ball badge. The cloud elemental replied with confusion, asking why. “I’ll be your opponent, Fart Knight!” A dark-blue armored Level 3 peak Pathseeker from the Empire attacked Viers. Viers was determined to kill all the surrounding enemies before the nickname spread. But first, the new guy. Suiten Mitsurugi-ryuu, Second Stance – Formless Lake. Viers changed his sword technique into one of fast attacks. The attack was fast and accurate but light. That was fine because the aim was to unbalance the enemy. Viers’ sword came from unusual angles and even targeted the legs. The concept of the Formless Lake Stance was to disturb the opponent, as if they suddenly found themself underwater. Unsteady footing, water resistance, and so on. Once an opening was created, Viers could go for the kill. Still, the new guy was pretty good and was able to keep up. His martial ability was pretty high. Suiten Mitsurugi-ryuu, Third Stance – Ocean Depths! Because of his insult, Viers wasn't going to play around. His eyes sharpened with a heightened focus. With a series of high-speed attacks from all sides, each blow carried serious weight behind it, Viers emulated the crushing pressure of the deep ocean with his third stance. Viers cut the enemy into pieces in the blink of an eye, armor and all. Unlike usual, the resulting cuts weren't smooth and clean but raw and messy, as if it was done with a blunt axe. It was the consequence of the Ocean Depths Stance. Sneakily, the opponent’s soul, blood, and items were collected as a victory loot; a winner’s prerogative. “I STILL FEEL QUITE HUNGRY!” Viers let out another unusual war cry, along with his unrestrained killing intent. The sight of the blood-soaked him roaring to the sky on a field of corpses was quite surreal. He leaped to the next enemy right after the kill, sword raised high. “He- he’s mad... A hungering mad beast!” “Er... He’s on our side, right?” A knight nervously asked and the answer he got was a shoulder shrug. Viers planned to replace the fake fart impression thing with his craziness and it was working. “Whoah... Master Avel is much more showy than usual.” Croix looked at Avel’s position and let out a smile. The morale of the knights in that area was unusually high, especially after hours of fighting. “He does that from time to time.” Boram said from on top of a snake rock construct. He was sitting on the snake’s head. “Boram, what brings you here?” “I was thinking if you need help,” Boram said, looking at Falmerion. “It seems I’m wrong.” Falmerion was having a grand battle with a Harkelan Behemoth. It was a bull-tiger thing with a hundred times the ferocity. The greatest of the behemoths were on par with True Dragons. Falmerion’s opponent was a Rank 3 behemoth, the same as him. However, Falmerion’s victory seemed near. “Good thing I was able to defeat the controller. It’s a truly mighty beast-” Croix blocked an ambusher in white. Boram was also attacked. He sent his rock creation to attack but the white cloth guy turned it to ice in an instant. “Prince Croix, I, the Middle of the Three-headed Ice Serpent, will take your head,” Croix’s opponent introduced himself under the shattered ice pieces of Boram’s rockboa. “And you,” the second white cloth pointed his blade at Boram from beside his comrade. “Will be my prey, the Left of the Three-headed Ice Serpent.” “Three-headed Ice Serpent... A lethal three-person assassin squad from the report. Be careful,” Croix said to Boram. “Where’s the third of you?” Boram asked. “Oh, he’s hunting the noisy guy over there,” the Middle pointed at Avel’s position. “I see. Is the Right stronger than you, Middle?” Croix kept his sword ready. “No. I’m the strongest among the three of us.” “Heh. Poor guy then, your Right.” Because since the Middle was at the level where Croix could match him, the Right would definitely be decimated by Avel. The battle began afterward. The Serpents were waiting for Falmerion to get tied up by the Behemoth before they struck. The Left and The Middle were Ice Pathseekers. The Left used a sword with a wavy appearance like the flamberge while the Middle used a pair of sai blades. Both weapons were high-quality ice attunement weapons. Croix shouted while fighting Middle since he saw Boram’s earth skin get cut by the Left. “Hihihi! Your opponent is me because I counter you. I’ve analyzed you. Your prided defense is worth nothing, for there’s nothing that I cannot cut!” The Left attacked Boram again. The hammer he wielded was unsuited for defense. The blade would hit his flank. Before, the cut was just a graze but this time, it would be fatal. Or the Left thought. His prized ice flamberge could not cut past Boram’s skin. Arte - Iron Blood and Body. The Left got his head crushed by Boram’s hammer because Boram caught him while he landed a hit. “Hmph. Even my Master doesn't boast that there’s nothing he cannot cut. Compared to his slash, yours just tickles.” While the Middle was distraught, Croix was wondering whether Avel really slashed Boram, even for training. That was pretty nuts, wasn't it? Surprisingly, Croix could imagine the master and disciple pair doing exactly just that. Oops, concentrate on your own fight. Concentrate. Croix admitted the Three-headed Ice Serpent was strong. However, he wasn't an ordinary guy. His flames carried the heat of dragonfire. He hadn't shown he was able to use such a high temperature on his own so far, which was why the Middle was getting flustered that all his ice techniques got melted. “Arte - Fire Dragon’s Might. I got you!” Just as Croix was about to land a finishing blow, he saw the Middle smirk and a dangerous feeling was coming from his back. It was another white clothed assassin. This one had a spear. “Three-headed Ice Serpent, the Tail. Nice to meet you and goodbye, Your Royalness.” But the ambusher got ambushed. Arte - Scattering Flower Assassinate! Seemingly out of nowhere, White Bloom from team White killed the Tail guy with a lethal strike. The Arte created a flower-patterned blood stain after the body landed on the snow. With a smile, Croix also finished off the Middle at the same time. All three heads of the Three-headed Ice Serpent, including the tail, were no more. Croix wanted to thank White Bloom but she was gone when he turned. “Thank you!” Croix shouted loudly instead. Things are looking good. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩 The army was getting very close to the walls of Grandia Castle. The Zami fortresses started falling down from the sky. Earlier, when the Empire’s necromancers tried to raise the dead from the battlefield I panicked but Ciel and the others were able to cast Turn Undead at a grand scale. We can do this. We can recapture Grandia Castle! The next moment, something fell on the front line, the area close to the castle walls. It was like a meteor. The shockwave knocked Croix to the ground, along with a great amount of snow. He was a bit far from the front lines. How much worse was it at ground zero? Before he could rise, he was assaulted by a terrifying presence. Croix felt his consciousness wavering, like a raft in a storm. But through grit, he was able to maintain his awareness, though he was paralyzed. The majority of the knights fated. Those who were still awake were unable to move. The Empire’s soldiers, however, were unaffected. After a moment of confusion, they began a massacre. All their efforts... Was it all for nothing? Only a Level 5 could do something of this scale. The Empire struck first and the Kingdom was able to stop the massacre two minutes later. But how many were lost during those two minutes? He saw someone slowly flying from the ground zero of what he thought was a meteor falling. Sure enough, it was a Level 5. Someone he knew, Rostov the Blanket. Croix would never forget his face after the Battle of Gryphon's Reach. Rostov retreated to the Grandia Castle. However, he wasn't alone. The unconscious knights of Latias from the front line, Rostov levitated them and brought them across the castle’s wall with him! Just eyeballing it, Croix counted about a hundred of them. Were they alive or dead? Croix couldn't be sure. With his sharpened eyesight from Dragon Sight Arte, Croix saw Avel was among them. He felt his blood turn cold in an instant. The first to issue a retreat was the Empire and the Kingdom followed soon after. It signaled the end of the first day of fighting. It felt like a bitter defeat.