Two Battles

Around the same time that the trio's group got to Red Dragon Castle, Souma set off to get to the capital of the Carmine Duchy, Landel. Specifically, they were positioned right outside of Landel Castle, which currently houses the most dangerous people in the civil war, that being Duke Carmine and all of the corrupt nobles.

Souma, along with 10,000 troops of the Royal Army, were brought in via rhino transport, again, courtesy of Tomoe, and they arrived shortly after sunset. The plan that both Souma and Hakuya hatched up was one of the most absurd things by the world's standard, and Hakuya's for that matter, but it worked, nonetheless. What it involved was using rotation with earth mages and about a third of the forces in tandem building a fortress. Using this strategy, they were able to build and complete a fortress in record time, that being just in time for the sunrise.

"Sire," Kaede began, "if I'm allowed to speak freely, I honestly never thought something like this would ever work, you know."

"Well, truth be told, it was a gamble, but this was better than nothing." Souma retorted. This wasn't his idea, but rather something he learned in Japanese history called the One Night Castle constructed by Hideyoshi. Using an abandoned fortress that was previously held by Amidonia before it was taken over, the Royal Army simply improved upon it using their constructions skills that Souma had them do when they were building roads. Additionally, because of the rhinos, they were able to have an immense number of materials for construction brought to them in an incredibly short amount of time.

"It is impressive." Hal joined in. "Let's just hope it holds up for long enough."

Souma, Liscia, Aisha, Kaede, and Hal were all going to be part of the attack on Landel Castle to subjugate Duke Carmine. They didn't get a full good night's rest, as could be expected from a stressful situation like this, but it was enough to at least function. Right now, their current job was to turtle up and wait for the air force to deliver a payload on top of the castle. Unfortunately, that plan was diverted a bit due to Castor's rebellion, and they were now being forced in a disadvantageous position due to that, relying completely on the success of Rimuru, Testa, and Hinata.

---

"Overnight?! An entire fortress was rebuilt overnight?!"

A young scout was currently trembling from the clear anger from his superior, no doubt disbelieving what he just heard. After all, something like a fortress appearing out of nowhere was unthinkable. However, it wouldn't be hard to miss.

The place where the supposed fortress was located was about 5km away from Landel Castle, and the space in between was that of flat land, which meant an all-out battle was the most effective, but also the most costly. However, with the fortress in mind, this could now go one of two ways: either they choose to try and break down the fortress walls as quick as possible, or they can try and win through attrition. The latter option had the least immediate risk, but there was no telling what Souma had planned, whereas if they went with the former option, yes, they stood to lose more troops, but considering time wasn't on their side, it made the choice far more appealing.

Well, that last sentence wasn't exactly true for the man reading the report. Yes, getting things done early would hasten their plans, but they also weren't itching to be put in a position where they could suffer heavy casualties. To be more accurate, the ones making the decisions would be the people who hired them, which would be the large group of nobles taking shelter with Duke Carmine.

The Zemish mercenary, the same one who got the report from his scout, went back to the nobles and explained the report he got, much to the bewilderment of the nobles. Where things started breaking down was where to go from there, as the mercenaries were far more willing to drag things out.

"Well, we paid your asses to fight for us, so go out and fight for us!"

"Keep in mind, merc boy, your job is to follow orders!"

"Maybe we should cut the payment in half if you dare to defy us again!"

Such things were being said to him, and right in front of his face, no less. While he didn't really care about the war a lot, nor what the nobles said to him, he believed that they were biting off far more than they could chew when dealing with him. After all, a mercenary's loyalty lied with gold. And while he didn't really care what his fellow mercenaries were being paid, it would be quite the nuisance if the nobles decided to scalp on the payments. This was one of the rarer times when mercenaries would band together.

"Hah? Remember who needs who, you fucking pigs. Maybe we should just leave and let that new king and his army deal with you."

If those words weren't enough to piss off the nobles, his cocky and arrogant attitude was more than enough to get the job done.

"Oh? And who the hell would hire mercenaries who would just leave when things get tough? Once we win this war, I'll make examples out of you idiots!"

The audacity with which they were talking to him considering their position was incredibly ironic. After all, Zem mercenaries made up a large portion of their fighting force. If they could win the war and 'make examples out of you idiots,' they wouldn't have even needed to hire them in the first place. It would have just been a wasted expense.

This time, though the smile still was on his face, it didn't reach his eyes. In a chilling tone, he said, "True, no one might hire us if they found out that we left, but that's only if you people live to tell the tale. And considering that the new king has it out for your heads, I doubt that's the case."

This was a blatant bluff, as word would reach the surrounding countries immediately. However, he was betting on the fact that the nobles care far more about their own hide than that of sullying the reputation of the mercenaries. And sure enough, the nobles were silent, though their faces were warped in anger.

"No objection? Well then, it seems that this conversation is done here. We'll launch your foolish idea of an all-out attack, and when it fails, you can be the ones to deal with it." He turned his back to them, but before leaving added one final thing. "Oh, and by the way, our rates just went up by 30%."

"You can't be serious!"

"This is an egregious abuse of power!"

The mercenary stopped to look back and said, "Do you want to make it 50?"

Getting no response from the nobles, he chuckled to himself, just loud enough so that the nobles could hear, as he strolled outside. Once he was out, the nobles who were left let out all their unbridled fury.

"What kind of shit is this?! Who the hell does he think he is, just ordering us around like that?!"

"It's complete horseshit! Fortunately, we only need to play his little game until we can overtake that fort. Duke Carmine said that he believed Souma was in there, and if that's true, then once we take his head, we don't need to worry about those damned mercenaries any longer."

"Ha, ha, that's true. But that also means we need to aid those irredeemable little shits. As wrong as it feels to lift a finger for those idiots, we should get some cannons for them to use. If they somehow manage to fuck it up with those on their side…"

Begrudgingly heading to the armory, they used their rank to force the poor beastkin to let them have some cannons. They were only able to get three for the time being, but assuming that should be more than enough to take down a fort that was built so quickly, they took off with what they could get and gave it to the mercenaries.

Unless they had someone skilled to take down targets from afar, and outrange a cannon, they would have to deal with those cannons up-close, and outnumbered. Otherwise, their walls would quickly break.

---

"Jeez! It's so frustrating to just sit here and get bombarded!" Liscia complained. "Souma! Do we have a plan here or what?"

While she was shouting, it was largely because of the constant magical bombardment from the mercenaries while the actual land army was only peppering the other sides of the castle. If they had to guess, the Zem mercenaries found it better to focus one side of the building and leave the rest for the land army, effectively meaning that if Souma were to focus all efforts on the mercenaries, they would be leaving the other fortress walls exposed, and someone could easily climb them and wreak havoc from inside.

"Relax, Liscia. It's not even been an hour, and these walls are going to need quite a bit more than just magical bombardment to take them down."

"Well," Kaede chimed in, "it will be taken down in time, but that's only if they keep at it constantly for days. Eventually, they will run out of reserves and be forced to retreat. Additionally, they're not going to make camp here at night unless they have a death wish, you know."

"Ugh. Aishaaa," Liscia groaned. Though Liscia was amazing when it came to combat, waiting wasn't really her forte.

As far as Aisha went, if she were being honest, didn't really mind waiting. Despite the situation largely being do-or-die, she was strangely at peace with the whole situation. As such, when Liscia leaned on her to complain, she hugged her and said, "Relax, princess. I'm sure we'll get to show our strength soon. After all, our king should rely on us more."

Seeing the smile on Aisha eased his mind a little bit. However, it was only a bit. The plan that he had in mind for today's strategy would be a deciding factor for how difficult it would be to hold the fortress until reinforcements arrived. As such, he had devised a strategy with his prime minister that even he had to respect the efficiency of, even if it was a slightly dirty tactic. To calm himself even more, he remembered the lecture he received from Testa on one of the few occasions he sought her wisdom.

"What is too far in a war?"

She seemed a bit confused by the question, especially with her head slightly tilted to one side.

"Yeah. I don't know if Rimuru has ever told you anything about our world, but certain things were not permitted unless under extreme circumstances." The major thing that he was referring to were nukes, which, at least under the Geneva Convention, were only allowed to be used in a defensive warfare to deter any attackers. Using them in any offensive manner would quickly get your country banned from any international treaties and trade. The last one was especially brutal, considering that there wasn't a single powerful economy that wasn't self-sustaining.

"You are talking about those Geneva Conventions, correct? Well, unless I'm severely mistaken, no such thing exists in this world, and therefore no rules to follow. Meaning that the only objective is to win by any means necessary."

"Well, with the idea that I had in mind…"

Explaining the idea to her, it was one of the few times that Testa honestly praised the ingenuity of someone else other than her master. It wasn't something completely ridiculous, but it was something that had slipped her mind, mainly because she could easily get the desired result through her own power.

"I see… And I understand that you are hesitant in employing such a strategy?"

"Well, don't you think it's an unfair tactic? I mean, it almost feels wrong to use…"

She eased his worries with a smile. "Souma, I can guarantee that people have tried your tactic before, but just weren't able to make it work. So no, I don't agree that it is 'wrong to use.' Secondly, even if it is an unfair tactic, which would you rather be: unfair and alive, or fair and dead?"

He gave a light chuckle at the logic. "That easy, huh?"

"Of course. It's only natural that you use every advantage you have in war. You should absolutely expect your enemy to do the same. Even though your enemy is currently employing the use of mercenaries, they knew what they were getting into the moment they signed the contract. You can't hold back because of a silly little thing like that."

"You know, I kind of expected something like this, but I guess that is the only outcome we have, huh?"

It was sufficient to say that Souma wasn't exactly ecstatic upon hearing her counsel, but he realized that at the end of the day, she's right. There was no point to argue if you were dead. Betting on the tiny hope that this would be the last war he would ever need to fight, he prepared his strategy to use in the war.

Back in the present moment, Souma asked Hal to peek over and see how the current situation was going.

"Right. It seems more like they are letting most of the mages do the work, along with the archers. Our soldiers are holding their own quite well, which is to be expected. Many of them seem to be congregated a little ways away from the gate, so any attacks that miss just hit the stone wall that we've built."

Souma thanked Hal for the report and then said, "I think now's as good a time as any to use them. I'll be counting on you for this."

Hal showed a fearless smile in response and said, "You got it!"

Shortly after, seven dolls were able to be seen on the wall, and clumsily jumped off the wall to make the almost eleven-meter drop. The surprising thing, especially to the enemy, was how, eerily similar to how zombies work in movies, they simply got back up and started running into the forces. Not walking, but running.

Scarier still, was how arrows didn't seem to hinder them at all, and only one was hit with magic, though the doll seemed to just shrug off the fire. However, if one looked closely, they would have seen a piece of rope start to burn.

"Now, Hal! Do it!"

In a flurry, Hal ignited and threw his spears where the dolls were, some barely grazing them, and others slightly ahead of where the dolls were so that they could just run through the fire. After about fifteen seconds, the dolls, made to carry a neat chunk of gunpowder and sulfur, started to explode in spectacular fashion, affecting everything in a ten-meter radius. To add to that, since Souma was controlling them from start to finish, he was able to get to some of the more important people, such as the mages and archers.

Even though Hal knew the plan, it was still something else to watch. With that alone, they were able to get rid of a decent portion of their ranged and magical units. Though it was still a bit nauseating to see the occasional head and limbs fly up about four meters above the ground.

While Hal and Souma were still a bit shocked, Liscia and Aisha were almost terrified of what they saw. In a slightly shaky voice, Liscia asked, "Souma… what the hell was that?"

"Your Highness, I also have some… questions as to what that was."

Souma took a deep breath to calm himself, and then explained, "That was something of an inspiration from my old world. Albeit with some elements from this one. I stuffed a bunch of explosive materials into those dolls and reinforced the outside of them with magic so that arrows wouldn't be able to penetrate them. It isn't perfect, as swords can still get the job done, but fortunately they didn't realize that they could have just cut the legs off and drain the doll of the explosive powders."

What he neglected to say was that it was very similar to how suicide bombers operated in his world but judging from the look on the rest of them, they were probably thinking the same thing. Suicide bombers were something that this world has dealt with before, but certainly not to the scale of this. For one, they were useless in battle, as they would just get shot down by archers. Doing it by stealth wasn't really a valid option either, as if you could sneak up on your enemies, it made far more sense to just kill them while keeping your life than hoping the resulting explosion does the job.

This only left public gatherings and places of interest. However, any important public gathering was always vetted properly, and the same could be said for places of interest. Additionally, enemies wouldn't really just target the public without an exceptionally good reason, especially with the Domain to deal with, as that was a good way to get your country excluded from the Humanity Declaration.

Liscia didn't really know what to say after witnessing the carnage. "That's… innovative…"

Fortunately, or perhaps not, something else quickly grabbed their attention, snapping them back into recognizing the fact that they were in a war zone.

"Is that a cannon? What the hell are we supposed to do against one of those?!" Hal cried out.

"Ah," Souma retorted. "We won't need to worry too much about that. We have plans to deal with those things."

Cannons were certainly a problematic existence when sieging a fort, as they relied purely on physical power, meaning the only way to really defend against them was to have a very strong fort. While the fort that they just built was strong, the walls would be breached quite shortly if they let the cannons go unbothered.

Souma, however, not showing any concern for them, simply walked down the stairs to the ground to greet Ludwin. Before he could even usher out a word, Aisha practically shouted out, "Sur? What are you doing here?"

The man she addressed, Sur, was a dark elf with handsome features, no doubt accentuated by his muscular physique. "Ah, Aisha. Or perhaps Madam Aisha? In any case, I am here to of course assist our king." He was briefly interrupted by the sound of a cannonball pummeling itself into the wall. "Unfortunately, sire, we could only spare about two thousand of us."

Aisha tried to get a word in as to why Sur addressed her with 'Madam,' but Souma drowned her words out. "No problem. Any help we can get is welcome. Has Ludwin briefed you on our mission?"

"To hold the fort, correct? In that case, a simple matter. Perhaps we can take some heads as well! Ha, ha, ha."

Souma appreciated the light mood he brought in. He later learned that Sur was almost 200 years old, and though he didn't fight very much in battles, he was the type to not flinch in the face of one.

At that same time, Ludwin showed up, in almost a fictional fashion as the titular silver knight on a white horse. "Your highness, I see you've met our reinforcements. With the dark elves and the defectors from the land army, our numbers are about 15,000."

"Thanks for the briefing, but we need to take care of those cannons first."

"…Ever the pragmatist, huh? Simply give us the order and we'll take them down."

Souma nodded in affirmation. "In that case, Ludwin, take your cavalry and destroy those cannons. It would be nice if we could reclaim them, but lives are more important." He then turned to Sur and said, "Sur, I want you and your soldiers to provide cover fire for them."

"At once, Your Highness!"

"Leave it to us!"

Soon after, the gates opened, releasing a torrent of cavalry, courtesy of Ludwin, into taking down the cannons. The dark elves, much to the surprise of everyone else, save for Aisha, was not only able to provide excellent support fire, but also able to shoot down a moving cannonball. When Sur was asked about this, he exclaimed that much of the prey in the forest would move at those speeds, and to top it off, also don't fly in one direction for too long. Essentially, to him, the cannonballs were moving at the speed of a small dog.

On Ludwin's end, the trek through the enemy's army was quite a breeze. This was largely due to the fact that Zem mercenaries, while individually strong, were horrible when put together in a large army. The main reason being is that there was little to no training on their part on how to act in large groups, as even though mercenaries often acted in small groups, similar to adventurers, they rarely stuck together past their contracts. This didn't really allow for any sort of strategy training, and so when faced with a sudden counterattack, the weak chain of command was swiftly broken, leading to large disarray in the enemy army.

The cannons, now unmanned, were swiftly destroyed by Ludwin and his cavalry. While they could have been wheeled into the fortress, that would have effectively made them sitting ducks when doing so, and there was no guarantee that the cannons would be staying in one piece once the land army retreated back into the castle.

Once the cannons were down, the cavalry returned into the fort, and much of the land army retreated for the day, suffering some decent casualties.

---

Earlier in the same morning, a different battle started brewing.

"Has the city been evacuated?" Castor asked.

A man with orange hair answered him. "Yes, Duke Vargas. Every single citizen has safely fled the city. On that note, there are several members of the air force who wish to join you."

Castor pitifully chuckled to himself. The air force, for better or worse, were a bunch of ruffians, and though they were mainly human, largely believed in a 'might makes right' philosophy. So, it was only natural that they wound up gravitating towards Castor, who largely embodied that philosophy, both being strong and having some rugged edges himself.

"Turn them away, Tolman. I will not have them join me in dying for the sake of my silly pride."

Castor had come up with a sort of revelation after waking up for the morning and could only curse himself for not noticing it sooner. That revelation being Souma actually being a good king, and that, for whatever reason or another, Duke Carmine, the one who, he still wished he could call a friend, was either senile in his attempt to cling to the past, or worse, maliciously trying to seize power.

"I figured you would say that, master. I will have them leave."

"Good. Thank you." Just as Tolman was about to leave, Castor added on, "Wait. One more thing. In the event that I lose, I want you to take over managing the dukedom and leading the air squadron."

Tolman looked back at him with a slightly shocked expression, before a resigning smile took place. "You truly are a mean one, master."

He could fully understand why Castor decided on such a course of action, and the main reason was that Accela by herself couldn't properly manage the dukedom, and Carl was far too young to worry about such matters. In essence, until Carl grew up to manage the territory, Tolman would do so in his place.

Once he left the room, Castor was left sitting on the throne, only his thoughts to keep him company.

*I wonder, how many people will you send to take me down. One thousand? Two thousand? Perhaps even five thousand? Show me your force, Souma!*

Castor was honestly excited to know just how many people would be prepared for him. Especially since his own force was barely only two hundred people. Of course, these were all wyvern riders, but not all of them would be joining in the air. Some had to stay behind and guard the castle, after all.

As he was mulling over what strategy Souma would pull, Carla came through the door, and while it was clear that there was some urgency behind her actions, he found her a bit too calm for the situation at hand. "Father, there is a force coming…"

Castor gave a broad smile at her words. "Oh? And how big is the force?"

"…Well, that's the thing. From what we have gathered, they only number twenty."

Castor felt like his brain short-circuited. "…Are you sure? Twenty?" He asked in what could only be described as a meek voice.

Carla would've found the situation hilarious if the stakes weren't so high. "Yes, indeed. There are only twenty of them. Though there could perhaps be far more in hiding."

This all but forced Castor to think a bit more logically about this scenario. Specifically, what he would do in Souma's shoes. Sending a force of twenty to subjugate a castle, even if the castle only housed two hundred soldiers, was nothing short of suicidal. Which obviously meant that there were more forces in hiding. The difficulty lay in guessing where they would be, and how they would approach.

The approaches that he ultimately thought of were that the twenty troops were most likely a scouting force, or a group of people sent to negotiate terms. In any case, they needed to be dealt with first, and swiftly at that. If they were a distraction, however, then they not only needed to be swift in dispatching them, but they also needed plenty of troops to hold down the castle for when the actual battle begins. The last option that he came up with was that they might be using the secret entrance and exit pathways designed for escape that were built in every castle. This was certainly troubling, but he honestly wasn't too terribly worried about it. The reason being is that they monitored that entrance vigorously, and the only way that someone would have snuck in was during the nighttime without using any sort of magic to light their path. A remarkable feat for literally anyone to do, especially with the new moon there was last night.

Ultimately, Castor made his decision. "Carla, go and see what they want. With a force that small, they might just be here to try and talk me down from this. Make sure to-"

He was rudely interrupted by the sound of a large explosion, followed by feeling a low rumble. He didn't even need to see what happened to know. After all, he has felt numerous attacks like this before. "Never mind. Carla, gather a hundred soldiers and crush them."

"At once, Father!"

---

In another part of the castle, specifically in an escape tunnel, was a certain light blue-haired man casually walking to the castle. While Castor was correct in thinking that it would be a difficult feat to sneak in through the escape entrance, such a feat lost its difficulty when you didn't need light to see. And so, in pitch-black darkness, Rimuru was easily making his way to the castle.

"I really feel like they need to clean this place more. It's quite disgusting."

<<I agree. Master shouldn't have to walk through this muck when sneaking in.>>

Rimuru put on a tired yet happy face. "Eh… Ciel? That kind of feels sarcastic."

<<There's nothing sarcastic about that statement. My genuine feelings are that Master shouldn't have to deal with this nasty stuff.>>

Rimuru simply decided to agree with her and shelve the conversation. He continued walking up a bit more and came across a fork in the tunnel. "Do they really need multiple entrances from the castle?"

<<It helps in the event that people need to flee. Though from what I've gathered about Castor, he is far too prideful to ever flee in defeat. Taking the right path leads to the entrance closest to him, and also the least guarded way.>>

"Right it is, then. Probably best to finish this up quickly or else Souma might get all petulant with me."

Shortly afterwards, he felt the shaking of the attack that came, no doubt from both Testa and a few other mages attacking the castle.

"Well, no problem in letting them have their fun for a little, I suppose."

---

After quickly gathering her soldiers, they flew out from the walls to engage the attackers. The first thing that Carla noted was how they were deceptively far out. Perhaps about 75 meters from the walls. The second thing that she noted, and was quite shocked at, was that the main person who was attacking, and creating fireballs, was none other than Testa. This meant that unless the intel they gathered on her was either seriously wrong, or, even more unlikely, she had an affinity to more than one element.

Ultimately, from the time they flew out to the time she noticed this was only about two seconds.

And after that agonizingly brief time passed, she noticed another person step out from the crowd and raise her arm, almost like she was ready to catch a small ball.

Another couple seconds passed, and Carla was only thirty meters away from her target. Not close enough to engage, but close enough to see what was happening.

And immediately upon seeing it, fear.

Naturally, the wyvern forces were best suited to the air, and normally only flew during clear skies, such as today. They didn't always fly during cloudy skies, and never during stormy ones for a simple reason. The reason is that if lightning decided to strike, for some reason, it always had a propensity to strike them. And unfortunately, they never figured out how to guard against it, nor how to avoid it during those conditions, so they simply decided against flying during those conditions.

However, it made anyone who could wield the lightning element not only incredibly dangerous to them, but also prime target number one. Fortunately, it was quite rare that anyone ever possessed it. Unfortunately, the opposing force did have someone, and they were about to learn that she was quite skilled at manipulating it.

"Retrea-!"

The words couldn't get out of her mouth fast enough as she saw someone release a flood of lightning, enough to affect quite literally almost every single wyvern rider that she brought with her. Her screams were drowned out by her senses being overwhelmed by the lightning and the thunder that came with it. While it wasn't terribly loud, it was another thing entirely when you were less than a meter away from it.

In an interesting twist of fate, since she was already close to the ground, it made her landing fairly safe, albeit at the cost of her wyvern sliding almost ten meters on the ground. The others, particularly those at the back, weren't so lucky. The lightning knocked out most of the wyverns, so they couldn't rely on them gliding to the ground so much as using them to cushion their fall.

Completely disoriented, she gracelessly got up from the ground and took notice of her surroundings. Of the one hundred riders she brought with her, only twenty-five seemed to be in any battle-ready condition. Around that same time, another person walked up to her, who she recognized at the white-haired 'saint,' and stood about three meters away from her, asking in an almost condescending voice, "Ara? You don't seem to be looking too well. Would you and your forces kindly surrender?"

Any confusion was immediately pushed out by an indignant fury. "Go to hell!"

Dodging a couple of her rattled attacks, Testa continued to provide 'advice.' In reality, she just enjoyed taunting her. After all, while Hinata's attack was quite fierce, she confirmed that none of the wyverns or riders were dead nor gravely injured. Some would certainly die out in a few hours without proper medical care, but they would be done well before that happened.

"You shouldn't be pushing yourself too hard, dear." She said with a smile. "You did take quite the fall after all."

Carla grew more and more angry with Testa's words, and her subsequent attacks became more and more concise. "Shut the fuck up!"

What irritated her more was that Testa didn't even look like she was breaking a sweat while dodging her attacks, especially since she wasn't wearing anything that could even resemble armor. Just some tight leggings, a shirt, and a robe. Each one came close, but almost as if to spite her, was millimeters away from making any contact. With an attempt to deal some sort of damage, she threw some fire magic at her, only for Testa to deflect it with air magic of her own.

"Now, now. Haven't your parents taught you not to play with fire? Someone's going to get burnt if you keep doing that."

This time, rather than dodging her next attack, Testa made the ground slip from under her by using a combination of water and earth magic, before accepting a sword from Hinata as the squadron they brought went to engage the remaining enemies. This also meant that Carla couldn't count on any reinforcements to take down the monster right in front of her.

Testa looked at the longsword, running her fingers down the blade and doing a couple practice swings. "This isn't my preferred weapon of choice, but it'll have to do for now."

What she opted out of saying is that being a primordial and one of the oldest beings in existence, she is well versed with every single weapon that exists. Even if a new weapon came up that she had never seen before, as long as it is useful, it would take her very little time to masterfully wield it. To her, though, she felt most comfortable with a whip.

"How long do you plan on staying down? Though I won't hold it against you if you wish to take a nap. Battles like these really should be left to those who know what they are doing."

Carla felt like her pride has been taken out and flayed in front of thousands to see. Already, she led her soldiers into a blatant trap, and while it was true she couldn't really be blamed for it, seeing as lightning mages simply aren't factored in when conducting battle, it still shred her heart. Add to that Testa's blatant taunting, and plenty of people would have just given up right then and there.

Though Carla didn't earn her position through her strength alone. Her will was just as strong, and it wouldn't crush from something like this. Slamming her fist down in the newly created mud, she quickly got back up and gazed directly into her opponent's eerily red irises.

Seeing the fiery resolve in the redhead, Testa concealed her giddy excitement behind a serene smile. To her, she slightly lamented that their instructions were to only kill if absolutely necessary, as she was normally quite fond of that. However, looking on the bright side of things, this also gave her an opportunity to break her opponent psychologically.

"It will take far more than your deficient taunts to break me!"

"This wouldn't be fun otherwise."

While she was certainly incensed, she also clearly recognized the opponent ahead of her. Someone who, beyond all rhyme or reason, has an affinity with all magic. Additionally, the movements she made dodging proved that she was no amateur, however she had one thing that her opponent didn't: she is a dragonewt. A being descended from dragons, and therefore, having quite a bit more strength than the average person. Though Testa was certainly incredible in her own right, she doubted she would have the strength to compare to her. With this knowledge in mind, she adopted a stance, waiting for her opponent to make a move.

"Ara? Not moving, are we? Hmm, I'll give you props for thinking rationally. However," she said as she readied a fireball, "you can't beat me by staying away!"

Immediately, Carla realized just how true her words were. It was one thing counteracting fireballs and water jets, but the second she sent any rocks her way, she was forced to use her arm guards to defend herself, temporarily rooting her to the ground, and allowing Testa to ready more offensive magic. The odd thing was that she could swear that Testa was still holding back, as if trying to make her find a way in between the constant stream of magic that was bombarding her.

Eventually finding a way through with a unique movement pattern and a flurry of counterattacks of her own, she got into melee range and swung her sword down, causing Testa to block her swing with her own blade. However, as she tried to apply pressure, Testa simply sidestepped and let her follow through on her swing. Thankfully, no magic came flying her way, but she also knew that this was Testa's way of looking down on her.

Rather than be any angrier about it, she vowed to make her regret giving her any leeway, and immediately pounced on the offensive. Between clashes, Testa didn't say anything, but her smile was something that stayed plastered onto her face, despite the constant blows she was receiving. It was close to this point that Carla wanted to cry. She took up sword fighting as early as she could remember, and yet, despite her natural strength, her countless hours and tireless days training, absolutely no opening could be found.

To top it off, her opponent, who looked no older than her early twenties, was incredibly gifted in magic. She just felt it was unfair.

Eventually, a thought formed from her mind, and she gave voice to it. "What the hell are you even trying to do here?! How can you possibly hope to occupy our castle with only a force of twenty?!"

Testa was quite confused at the question. "Ara? Why would you ask a question like that? Or perhaps… your father didn't tell you?"

A couple more blows were exchanged as Carla cautiously answered the question. "… Tell me what?"

Testa let out a sonorous giggle, which earned her a couple more blows from the fiery redhead. "We only need to capture the leader, or the king, if you are familiar with chess. No one said anything about occupation. To our end, we only need to serve the purpose of distraction."

Carla stopped in her tracks, her face a mixture of shock, realization, and fear. "You'd send such a powerful force as a mere distraction?"

Testa hummed in delight, delectably enjoying the expression on her face. "I believe that if we haven't yet captured Duke Vargas, he will fall quite soon. Now," She said as her free hand jolted with electricity, "shall we continue?"

If Carla's will wasn't broken yet, it certainly was now. Of course, now that it's right in front of her, it makes sense that the woman with all affinities could also manipulate lightning. If Carla's forces somehow wanted to win this, they not only would have to fight against the black-haired lightning wielder, but they would also have to deal with the terror that was right in front of her.

Looking around the battlefield, as she was certain that Testa had no intention of killing her, she saw the remaining fights taking place. None of her forces were fighting two on one, but she did see one of her men knock over his opponent, only to have a bolt of lightning be sent straight into him the very next moment.

Seeing this, she hung her head and fell to her knees. "We surrender. We had no chance of winning this at all."

"Oh? But you were doing so well. I was almost starting to root for you."

"Quit mocking me. We both know that you could've ended this the second you wanted to."

Testa let out a melancholic sigh. "Very well. Tell your forces to stand down. If we want them to help us tomorrow, they need to be in good shape."

Hearing this, Carla tilted her head upward. "You're not just going to kill us?"

Testa palmed her head with her hands. "Souma requested that if either Duke Carmine or Duke Vargas were to fall, their troops were to be joined into the Royal Army. That also includes healing them." Muttering under her breath, she continued, "I swear, he's pushing his bounds with this one."

Carla didn't hear nor care about her last words. Just hearing that her troops would be okay was more than enough for her. Wasting no time at all, she got to action.

---

The trip to Castor's throne room was quite uneventful. Rather, to Rimuru, it felt like playing a stealth game in the third person with the mini map enabled. With Ciel helping him all the way, telling him when and where to go, not a single guard noticed anything was off. And thus, about the same time Carla's forces engaged with Testa and the others, Rimuru was standing right outside Castor's door.

Opening it lightly, he slowly stepped in, though not without alerting Castor and Tolman to his presence. "Ah. Hello. Castor, I presume, yes?"

He didn't look amused in the slightest. "It's Duke Castor to you. And you're not Souma."

"Oh, my bad. And yes, as you can see, I am not Souma. I'm kind of what's referred to as the 'other summoned one.'"

The other summoned one. Castor knew that there were three and had only ever seen the face of one of them. Perhaps if he bothered to do any reconnaissance, he would have known who was who, and not just know the names. Regardless, he still felt it necessary to put on airs. "And you must be the one known as Rimuru Tempest, correct?"

"Oh? So, you do know me? That's quite a relief. In any case, Souma needs you to surrender, and I'm here to make sure that happens. So… how do you wanna do this? I'd personally prefer if you just surrender now. Souma even stated that if you do, he won't hold it against you. But if you wanna do things the hard way, we can do that too."

Castor wasn't sure what the hell the woman in front of him was thinking, but before he moved forward, he wanted to confirm something really quick. "Who else is with you?"

She sat on a nearby bookshelf. "No one else. Well, not technically. The others should be outside, and I doubt that they've finished there, yet."

Castor, much like Carla, felt like his pride was quite bruised with the minimal number of forces that was apparently being sent his way. "Wait, wait, wait. So let me get this straight right here. In order to deal with me, Souma sent twenty people to assault my castle, and sent one person to infiltrate it to deal with me. And that woman is wearing no armor whatsoever. Color me impressed by how you managed to slip by all the guards, but this is honestly more insulting than anything."

Not bothered in the slightest that he was once again mistaken for a woman, he said with a face that was one step short of a pout, "That's not true! I'm wearing a leather vest!"

*Ah. So that's probably why she looks like she's lacking in the chest department.*

Still, Castor looked at her with a very annoyed expression. Seeing this, Rimuru asked, "So… should I mark you down for the hard way?"

Castor grit his teeth, however, he acknowledged that this Rimuru character was either just blatantly lying about reinforcements, incredibly good at bluffing, or genuinely had the strength to back up her confidence. The second option was the best, but Castor felt that all three scenarios required the upmost caution.

However, before he began, he clarified one last thing. "This is Tolman, my former right-hand. As of right now, he is only an observer, and should I fall, will take command of the air force."

She nodded in understanding. "In that case, since it seems like things will get messy, it would be best if he leaves the room."

He really didn't like how casually she was taking this whole situation, but nonetheless was thankful that she was allowing Tolman to be safe. A quick nod to him, and he started walking out the room while Castor made absolutely sure that Rimuru didn't try anything dirty. Once he was out, his full attention shifted back to the main threat in front of him.

He watched as Rimuru hopped off the bookshelf and drew her sword. Though he was slightly intrigued by the katana, as it was something that doesn't really show itself in Elfrieden, he watched her brandish it and take a stance. Castor followed up with one of his own using his bastard sword. Immediately after, Rimuru went in for the attack.

Exchanging a few test blows, Castor realized that his strength wouldn't give him much of an advantage over his adversary. Despite her small frame, she was going toe to toe with him, blocking or parrying every single attack that he throughout. Her skill alone earned his praise, but the strength backing it up sealed the deal for him. At the very least, he convinced himself that she either possessed dark magic to strengthen herself, or simply wasn't human.

To be more accurate, very few humans he crossed blades with possessed the strength to trade blows without giving any ground, and without fail, all of them had incredibly toned physiques. While Rimuru had some semblance of muscle, it clearly wasn't defined enough to wield a sword. Of course, this could also just be a natural quirk of the humans from her own world, but he doubted such an outcome. In any case, he felt the need to shift strategies.

Defending against an overhead slash, he remarked, "You have quite the strength in that little frame of yours."

Rimuru simply smiled, retracting her blade when he pushed up against his. "I've been told that. After all, better to have an enemy underestimate you."

"Always a wise option." He remarked. Flapping his wings a bit, he yelled, "But it'll take more than that to take down someone with the blood of a dragon!"

Creating large gusts of wind using his wings in combination with his air magic, he was surprised that Rimuru didn't get blown back. Thankfully, it was enough to get her to cover his head from the debris that was flying her way, and taking that opportunity, he lunged downward to finish her.

Only to be blocked once more. However, he noticed that, once again, she didn't budge a single bit.

*Oi, oi. Are you serious? Is this woman genuinely stronger than me?*

Retreating a bit further back than normal, he readied himself for another charge which he was able to defend against just in time. "You know, I take back what I said. "

She answered him in between blows. "Oh? Ready to surrender now?"

He would have laughed at her statement if he had the leeway to. "Hell no. I meant that I wasn't underestimated. Clearly, you people thought this out."

"At a time like this, you still care more about your pride than your life…"

"Can you blame me? Pride is the only thing I have left."

Several more blows were exchanged, and this time, Rimuru was the one who was getting more peeved as time went on. Specifically, because of the limitations that he applied for himself. Castor's long life clearly was spent more with swordsmanship than anything else, as no matter how much he tried to parry, riposte, or feint, Castor was able to respond accordingly. To make things worse, the one thing that usually made the difference in battles without magic, which were battle arts, didn't exist in this world. Meaning he was only able to use limited strength, speed, and skill.

*Ciel, any ideas on how to beat this guy?*

<<With the limitations you've set for yourself, you'll either need to show off more of your hand or wait for him to make a mistake as he tires himself out.>>

*No other option, huh?*

<<I would personally recommend using a racial attribute, or perhaps your dark magic.>>

He thought about this. It certainly wouldn't be unrealistic to reveal himself as a dragon. After all, he technically was one, and it would allow him to justify the use of more strength and speed. But that was a card best saved for future use. Additionally, it could potentially attract unwanted attention from the nation of dragon riders, which he'd rather not have to deal with. As far as the dark magic went, it technically wouldn't be wrong to use it here, but this was the time when Veldora rubbed off on him in the wrong way. Essentially, he wanted to wait for a bigger stage to reveal it.

*Hmm. Probably not right now. Actually, maybe talking things out might work.*

<<I doubt he would listen, but this current situation might be enough to second guess himself.>>

With Ciel kind of on board, he decided to employ it. After deflecting an attack and taking a couple steps back, he said, "Don't you find the situation with Duke Carmine a bit strange?"

Castor paid his words no mind and swung down on him. "There's nothing to say. Right now, this is between me and you."

Rimuru kept prodding. "Really? Because the whole situation seems quite a bit strange to me."

Castor, again, paid his words no mind, and this time, kept his mouth shut. Deciding to continue, Rimuru continued his thought process. "He allies himself with all of the corrupt nobles in an attempt to take back the kingdom, yet not once does he ever go on the offensive."

Castor responded with a horizontal feint to transition into a diagonal slash. "It's simple. He's senile."

"Hmm? Have a bit more faith in your friend. Like you said, he did oppose Souma with good reason."

This elicited a slight response from Castor, though more to the point of anger. While his words weren't laced with anger, his movements certainly showed it. "What possible reason could those actions be seen as good?"

"Everyone seems to be on the same page with him. He is extremely loyal to the country. Why would he shelter all the corrupt nobles? Why would he not take any directly malicious action towards the throne?"

This time, Castor's words took a more robotic tone. "I don't know, and I don't care."

Tiny slips could be found in Castor's defense, but Rimuru didn't take any advantage of them just yet. "If he truly had any intention of taking the throne, why would he disown his wife and daughter and send them out of the country?"

This caused Castor to fully hesitate in his swing, which Rimuru took advantage of and shoved him back a few meters. Though Castor was a bit confused as to why he didn't take the killing blow, he also didn't go back on the offensive. With a steely gaze, he asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Seeing Castor still with his guard up, but not clearly taking any action, Rimuru loosened up his own guard. "Your intuition right on the money when you said he had a good reason, just not with the same though process. By sheltering all of the nobles and committing treason, it would allow Souma to uproot most of the corruption in this country in one fell swoop."

As Rimuru kept speaking, Castor's face transitioned to one of realization. Then, he just laughed pitiably while covering his face. "Ha. Ha, ha, ha. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I'd certainly like to believe those words to be true. And perhaps they are." Removing his hands from his face, he continued, "No. Knowing him, that's definitely what he did." Sagging his shoulders, a hint of betrayal came across his face. "I just want to know why… why he didn't tell me. Did he feel like he couldn't trust me?"

Rimuru walked closer to him, close enough to put his hand on his shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, he didn't tell Excel either. I'm guessing that he thought the fewer people know, the higher chance his strategy would work."

Putting himself in his shoes, Castor realized that, if his light was starting to die out and he could help his country in any way possible, he might very well do the same. However, this wasn't the current reality. With this thought in mind, he waved away Rimuru's hand, and once again adopted a battle stance.

Disbelief marred Rimuru's face as he let his thoughts bubble to the surface. "What the hell are you doing? I tell you that your friend is sacrificing himself for his country and you still want to fight?"

Castor gave a genuine smile this time. "Yes. The path I chose was an absolutely foolish one. One that will most likely cost me my life. However, right here, right now, I just want to blow off some steam, and you seem like the perfect person to do so with."

Rimuru just walked a few steps back while shaking his head. Picturing a certain red-haired oni, he muttered under his breath, "I swear, you two would get along splendidly."

Taking a stance of his own, the two once more crossed blades.

---

A man whose face resembled that of a lion more than a person was sitting alone in an assembly hall. After dismissing the nobles for the night, telling them of his 'strategy' and admonishing them of their 'failure,' he sat back in his seat and took a deep breath. Another man walked in, this one having a face resembling more of a panther and addressed the man sitting at the table.

"Duke Carmine."

The duke nodded. "Beowulf."

Beowulf bowed in response. "The preparations are finished. Though, we are at the mercy of when they will surround us."

"God, I seriously hope that the new king forgives that idiot." The original plan was to have the air force led by Castor bomb Landel Castle, thereby signaling that they've lost. However, because Castor rebelled in tandem with George, they needed to improvise. Best case scenario is the air force joins them, hopefully with Castor. Worst case scenario is months of planning go down the drain. However, if that were the case, he would have been warned.

"Having cold feet about this?" Beowulf joked.

George scoffed at this. "Oh, knock it off. Though in all seriousness, I hope I get to meet them before I pass."

"Indeed. At the very least, we'll be paving a bright future for them."

George simply smiled in response. In reality, something was bothering him, though without being able to confirm it, he simply had to wait to see results. That thought, however…

*They told me there was only one…*

In any case, George would dutifully fulfill his mission. If his life is what it took to ensure the success of the new king and the princess, then he would be willing to do anything for it.

Even if it meant dying as a traitor.