The Tripartite Medical Alliance

Dawn broke.

The sun rose in the east, and the area quickly brightened. Even in this

land which was in the northern half of the continent, and therefore warmer

than the kingdom, it felt cold at this time of year.

In the morning air, there were seven people standing near the western

gate: Halbert, Kaede, Ruby, Jirukoma, Lauren, Kuu, and Leporina. Behind

them were the soldiers of the Kingdom of Lastania, waiting for the time of

battle to come.

"Well then, shall we get started, Ruby?" Halbert asked.

"Yes. Let's get started, Hal."

Ruby turned into a red dragon, and Halbert jumped on her back.

"Sir Halbert. Madam Ruby. We'll be counting on you," Lauren, the

captain of the soldiers, said to them, bowing her head.

"We know," Hal nodded. "You take care of yourself too."

"You'll be working outside the walls, so you'll be in danger just like us,"

Ruby added.

Jirukoma pounded his burly chest. "Leave this place to us. We will put

our lives on the line to defend the work crews."

"Ookyakya! We'll be helping here too, so don't worry," Kuu laughed.

"Don't get carried away and screw this up, Hal."

"You're the one who's going to say that, Young Master...?" Leporina

muttered.

Yep, Kuu had the same baseless confidence as ever, and Leporina was

holding her head in exasperation.

Kaede walked over to where Halbert was, placing her hand on Ruby's

foreleg.

"Ruby, take care of Hal for me."

"To borrow a line from Naden, 'Roger that.' You can leave him to me."

"Hal, you too," said Kaede. "Don't go too wild, you know? Ruby is with

you, so make sure you don't act recklessly."

"I know, okay?"

Kaede took a step back from the two of them, then turned to the soldiers

and spoke. "His Majesty and Sir Julius are preparing our next move, so I

will take command here. Everyone, let's do our best."

""Yeah!""

The moment after everyone responded to Kaede's order, Halbert and

Ruby took off into the sky. As they left the ground, Ruby grabbed the

blocky object that had been prepared for her with her hind legs. That object

which had iron walls on five sides and a metal bar door on the sixth side

was a cage for the lizardman that had been fed the monster meat.

Carrying that cage with her as she flew, Ruby asked Halbert, "First, we

let this lizardman loose near the forest to the west of here, right?"

"Yeah. We'll have to touch down, so be careful."

"I know."

When they were flying alone, the chimera-like monsters that could fly

started to gather around. They probably considered Halbert and Ruby as

easy pickings because it was just the two of them. The monsters had no

understanding of how powerful those two were.

"Halbert Magna, coming through!" Halbert swung his two favorite

spears around, slicing apart the monsters that attacked from above. Then he

wreathed one spear in flames and threw it. The moment it planted itself in a

monster...

Boom!

There was a burst of fire, and even the other monsters close to it were

caught in the blast.

"Here, have another!"

Halbert pulled on the chain attached to his other spear, retrieving the

first spear from flames, then wreathed the other spear in fire and threw it.

Repeating that cycle, he made bursts of flame blossom like flowers all

around them.

Halbert smiled as he swung his spears around. "It's convenient not

having to throw them away after one use. I've gotta remember to thank Taru

for making these."

"Kaede warned you not to get carried away, remember...? I'm setting

down now."

"Sure."

Halbert crouched low on Ruby's back, and then Ruby came down to

earth at a forty-five-degree angle. As she touched down, she opened the

door to the cage, then immediately took off again.

Halbert spotted the lizardman crawling out of the cage down below. It

immediately ran off into the western forest where its kind were hiding.

"Nice! The lizardman is successfully freed. Next, we fly over the

forest."

"Yeah."

Ruby spread her wings and flew slowly, heading over the forest with

flying monsters in tow. They needed to pull in as many flying monsters as

possible, so they couldn't go too fast, which meant the faster monsters

caught up to them.

Bzzz! There was a huge, one-eyed, bee-like monster coming at them

with its wings buzzing.

"Do something!" Ruby shouted. "I don't want to be swarmed by bugs!"

"On it!"

Halbert quadrisected the bee monster with his two spears. The bee

monster's fluids splattered everywhere as it fell to the ground, with just its

translucent wings dancing around and refusing to come down.

"Hang in there, Ruby! This is where it gets serious!"

"I know!" she shouted back. Roarrrrrrrrr!

Blowing fire and shooting thorns, the monsters attacked from a distance.

A number of those attacks grazed Ruby, but she kept flying at the same

steady pace.

Halbert and Ruby finally succeeded in bringing the monsters they were

pulling with them over the top of the western forest where the lizardmen

were lying low.

Ruby roared, "We'll settle this in one try! Hold on tight!"

"Got it!"

As Halbert clung to Ruby's back, Ruby rapidly accelerated, lifting her

body, climbing higher into the sky, then somersaulting into a rapid dive to

behind the monsters.

In an instant, the hunters became the hunted.

"I'll pay you back a hundred times over!"

Bwoooooooooosh!

Ruby opened her mouth wide, unleashing a great gout of flame toward

the flying monsters.

Dragon breath was the attack most emblematic of dragons, said to be

able to lay waste to an entire kingdom. The monsters hit by Ruby's dragon

breath were fried to a crisp and dropped to the forest one after another.

Seeing that, Halbert scratched at his cheek. "Wasn't that a bit much? The

monsters were charred black, you know?"

"M-Meat tastes better well done."

"I prefer it rare, myself."

The two of them continued to squabble over things that didn't matter.

They could banter like this because the job was done, so they were now set

free from the tension they'd been feeling before.

Halbert looked down to the forest the burned monsters had fallen into.

Even from here, he could tell the lizardmen were making a fuss.

If the lizardman they'd freed started eating the fried monsters, the other

starving lizardmen would no doubt follow suit. Then, with them having

learned the taste of monster...the project would move on to its third stage.

"Let's head back, Ruby. Kaede and the rest will get worried."

"You're right."

They turned and flew back the way they came.

While Halbert and Ruby were luring in the monsters, there had been

movement on the ground too.

The gates of the city walls opened, and armed soldiers piled out. They

numbered roughly 600.

Once the soldiers came outside the walls, they attacked the monsters on

the ground that were eating the burned lizardmen corpses. The monsters

were so absorbed in eating that the soldiers were able to catch them by

surprise, cutting them down with swords, shooting them with bows, and

striking them with magic until they died.

These 600 soldiers were all battle-hardened. That was to be expected.

These soldiers were a mixed unit made up of the Kingdom of Lastania's

regular forces, the refugee volunteer soldiers, and the Kingdom of

Friedonia's Dratroopers. For this group of combat specialists, slaying

monsters that didn't fly and weren't particularly more powerful than

lizardmen was no different from going hunting.

Inside that group, Captain Lauren shouted to encourage her troops as she

knocked away a small monster with the large shield she was holding.

"While Sir Halbert is keeping the flying monsters at bay, we will carve a

path! There is no need to chase monsters that flee! Protecting the rear unit is

our top priority!"

Lauren's heavy equipment was ill-suited to moving quickly, but wellsuited to settling in and holding a single position. Lauren bashed the

monsters that came at her with her shield, cut them down with her sword,

and was defending the place where she now stood.

Once the weak monsters realized she was not an enemy who would be

easily defeated, they immediately started to move away.

As Jirukoma raced over, kukris in hand, he let out a gasp of admiration

despite himself.

"Splendidly done, Madam Lauren. I raced over because you seemed

surrounded, but it seems my concern was unwarranted."

"I am a professional soldier after all. This is nothing to me." Lauren

smiled proudly...and then wryly. "Well, even though I feel that way as the

captain of the soldiers, I'm a little embarrassed as a woman that I'm able to

fight monsters so easily. I wish I could be a gentle, graceful woman like the

princess too, but it's beyond me..." She laughed weakly.

Jirukoma was a little confused. "What could be wrong with being a

strong woman? In my tribe, strength and toughness are seen as virtues in a

woman. They can give birth to stronger children that way after all."

"Ch-Children?!" Lauren's cheeks went red. "Um... Do you like strong

women, Sir Jirukoma?"

"Hm? I suppose I do. My sister was a tomboy after all. I think I do like

them."

"Y-You do?!" Lauren wore a brilliant smile for just a moment, then

gripped her shield tightly as if getting her mind back on task. Then she used

the sword in her right hand to point forward. "Now then, Sir Jirukoma. I

want to ensure safety over the widest area possible, so I would like to ask

you remove the monsters from this area. Leave defending this place to me."

"No, but..."

"I'll be fine! I am a strong woman!" Lauren pounded her puffed upchest.

With an expression that looked dumbfounded by her sudden declaration,

Jirukoma nodded. "R-Right... I understand. But make sure you don't do

anything reckless."

"Right. You be careful too, Sir Jirukoma!"

Lauren him go as Jirukoma took off at a run.

While he raced around cutting down emaciated, goblin-like monsters

with his two kukris, he ran into Kuu, who had an awkward look on his face.

Kuu swung around his cudgel, crushing lizard-like monsters that raced

around, then stood back-to-back with Jirukoma and asked him,

"Buddy...you wouldn't happen to be dense, would you?"

"Dense? What are you talking about?"

Catching the blank look on Jirukoma's face, Kuu shook his head in

exasperation. "I'm talking about you taking responsibility."

"Responsibility? Um, what do you mean?"

"I wonder. Try thinking for yourself!"

As Kuu said that, he was confronted with a monster coming in at high

speed. It was larger than the other monsters, shaped like an ostrich with a

goat's head, and it had its head down and was charging him in as if it was

trying to gore him with its two horns.

Kuu put his cudgel behind him, then rushed toward the monster.

"Sir Kuu?!" Jirukoma cried out despite himself, but Kuu performed a

slide right in front of the monster, then used his momentum to kick out the

monster's left leg, which was bearing its weight.

"Down you go."

There was a snapping sound. With the combination of the creature's own

momentum going forward, Kuu's power coming at it, and the creature's

weight acting together, the monster's left leg snapped. With only one leg

left that it could still use, it rammed into the ground with all its inertia.

Kuu let out a laugh as he watched it. "Ookyakya! Like I thought, your

leg was wide open!"

Whoosh... Thock!

An arrow flew in, planting itself into the goat-headed monster's throat as

it writhed on the ground. That finished it off, and it ceased to move.

The person with a bow rushed over to Kuu. "Young Masteeer, don't

scare me like that!" Leporina begged with a tired look on her face. "Our

mission is to remove monsters from the mission area. There's no need to

charge in, so show some restraint!"

"Ookyakya! I'm fine, so there's no problem!" Kuu tapped his cudgel on

his shoulder, smiling unabashedly.

While Leporina frowned over Kuu's lack of repentance, she saw the

second group begin heading out from the city gate out of the corner of her

eye. The second group, unlike the first, numbered over 2,000, and in place

of weapons they were carrying large logs, pieces of firewood, basically any

lumber they could lay hands on.

Leporina tugged on the Kuu's outfit. "Look, Young Master. The second

group has come out, so we need to go and guard them."

"Whoops, you're right. If I play around too much, Bro will get mad."

"I would like to give you a proper scolding myself, but...perhaps it

would be better if I arranged some lecture time together with Taru."

"Y-You don't have to bring Taru into this, okay?!" There was panic in

Kuu's voice.

He thought nothing of being scolded by Souma or his father Gouran, but

an extended lecture from the girl he liked was something he wanted to

avoid.

Kuu clapped his hands as if trying to dodge the subject, then urged

Leporina to go on. "Look, we're supposed to be defending them, right?

Let's get a move on."

"Honestly..."

Leporina shrugged and took off after Kuu as he ran.

The one leading the second unit, which Kuu and Leporina were headed

to, was Kaede.

"Hurry," she ordered. "We have to finish before the monsters come

back, you know."

This second unit was the soldiers conscripted by the Kingdom of

Lastania. They had minimal equipment, using carts and their own arms to

carry logs, firewood, and straw bales. In short, they were a supply unit.

Kuu, Jirukoma, and the others had swept the monsters out of this area to

secure their safety.

As the supply unit reached the point Lauren was defending, at the

midpoint between the walls of Lasta and the forest where the lizardmen

lurked, they unloaded the lumber they were carrying. Then the soldiers

made a pyramid with the logs they brought, filled the inside with firewood,

and stuffed in straw.

What they were building was a giant bonfire, with a height of maybe

five meters. This same construction process was repeated in several places

simultaneously.

Kaede was using her earth elemental magic (gravity manipulation) to

make the logs ignore gravity, allowing the assembly to proceed more

efficiently.

In the middle of all that, Lauren ran over to her. "Madam Kaede. We

were able to drive off most of the monsters, so let us help too."

Kaede shook her head. "No, Madam Lauren, please remain on watch in

the nearby area. We can't be sure the monsters that followed Hal and Ruby

won't come back. Please stay extra cautious so we can keep the workers

safe from monster attacks."

"Y-Yes, ma'am! Understood!" Lauren gave her a salute and then

returned to her position.

The second unit under command of Kaede continued their work under

the protection of the first unit led by Lauren, and in a little over an hour,

there were about ten bonfires set up.

Right around that time, a massive shadow appeared in the western sky.

That shadow with its big wings spread out was Halbert and Ruby, returning

after their duties were complete.

Even though seeing they were well made her feel a sense of relief,

Kaede's face remained stern as she gave orders. "We can't overstay our

welcome. If you've finished building, set the fires, and return inside the

walls!"

"Yes, ma'am! Setting the fires!"

The newly built bonfires were all set alight at once.

The straw burned quickly, and the smoke turned orange as the light of

the fire began to rise.

With the bonfires burning behind them, the second unit hurried inside

the walls, followed by the soldiers of the first unit slowly withdrawing

while fending off monster attacks.

"I hope the plan goes well..." Lauren, who was in the rear guard, said,

sounding concerned.

Kaede chuckled. "We've done all we can. Now, we just have to pray it

works out."

◇ ◇ ◇

Gwah! Grrr!

Having lost many of their kind in the battle yesterday, the lizardmen

were now lurking in the dark forest. They were all looking up at the sky.

A red line raced across their vision.

For a while now, several red lights had been flying through the sky.

What are those things? they wondered as they watched.

Things fell to the ground in pieces. When they approached, it was

charred monsters.

The lizardmen turned their snouts toward the sizzling remains of the

monsters.

The cooked meat gave off a savory smell.

The starving lizardmen wanted that smell. However, they stopped short.

Before, when they had eaten similar monsters, many of their kind had

experienced stomach cramps, and more than ten of them had died.

Whether that was due to the monsters' meat being poisonous, because of

diseases they carried, or the result of parasites...they didn't know. The

lizardmen had no way to know, and they lacked the intelligence to attempt

to find out.

The information that "eating the mixed-up monsters can result in death"

was all that had been entered into the lizardmen's not particularly large

brains. That was why, even though they were starving, they made no

attempt to eat the mixed-up monsters.

But then...

Kshaaaa! ...Chomp!

One of the lizardmen started eating the charred monsters.

It acted as though they tasted good, eating several of them.

The pack of lizardmen watched that individual cautiously.

It was eating the mixed-up monsters, but not only was it not dying, it

didn't even seem to be getting stomach pain.

Why?

Looking at it, the individual was eating well-cooked meat, and avoiding

undercooked portions.

Seeing that, the data in the lizardmen's brains that said, "Eating the

mixed-up monsters can result in death" was overwritten to say, "Eating the

mixed-up monsters raw can result in death, but if they are well-cooked, they

can be eaten."

In the next instant, the lizardmen swarmed around the roasted monster

meat. Due in part to their hunger, they tore into the meat with reckless

abandon.

Even the lizardmen who hadn't witnessed the original individual

witnessed those who had seen it, learned the same information, and a battle

over the cooked meat began.

Eventually, that information spread through the whole pack.

However, there was far too little meat for 800 lizardmen. The wellcooked meat vanished in no time flat, leaving only the undercooked meat.

While they were wondering what to do, a light appeared near the outside

of the forest.

Looking at it, there was a place with fire burning brightly.

If I use those flames, I can cook this undercooked meat! The lizardmen

who thought that took the undercooked meat and approached the fire, then

threw it in. They ate it when it was cooked.

In the pack, there were some who could breathe fire themselves, and

those individuals cooked and ate by themselves.

However, there was a limit to the undercooked meat too.

I want more.

Looking around, they noticed that...there was plenty of "raw meat"

feeding on their kind's corpses.

The lizardmen began to hunt.

◇ ◇ ◇

"It's incredible to see, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah..." Julius murmured.

It was around ten in the morning, with the sun was fully risen, and

shining brilliantly.

I was with Julius, standing on the wall, watching the scene unfold

beneath us in awe.

We watched the lizardmen surround the bonfires, cooking the meat of

monsters they had hunted. It was like a banquet for primitives.

The lizardmen were a threat to us, but this was like watching a scene

from ancient times, and it put me into a strange, indescribable frame of

mind.

Aisha, who could see well at a long distance, pointed and explained.

"Over in that corner, a group centered around a fire-breathing lizardman is

starting to form, sire."

Because we had taught them to cook before eating, there was now a

major shift in the balance of power happening within the lizardman pack.

Naden and Ruby were dropping in kindling and straw from the air to

make sure the fires didn't go out, but not that many could gather around the

bonfires, and the inevitable result was that the strongest individuals

monopolized them. With that happening, those that could breathe fire for

themselves were at an advantage.

The lizardmen who couldn't get near the bonfires were apparently

hunting an extra share of monster meat for the ones that could breathe fire

in order to have those cook meat for them. It was a very simple contract

based on a mutually beneficial relationship. There was a clear hierarchy

forming between the lizardmen.

"It's like watching a microcosm of society, you know," I said, and Julius

nodded.

"I couldn't agree more. I never would have dreamed the day would

come when I'd see society reflected in the actions of monsters."

"If we gave them another thousand years, don't you think they could

achieve something resembling civilization?" I asked.

"Possibly, but...we can't afford to wait a thousand years."

"True enough."

The relationship between mankind and monsters was one of kill-or-bekilled.

Because it was impossible to converse with them, if we didn't defeat

them, they would bring harm to those we cared about. It might be cruel, but

there were people and things we needed to protect.

Julius stood on the edge of the city walls, then gave the order to the

eagerly waiting soldiers.

"The number of monsters is down! Now, wipe out the lizardmen!"

At Julius's command, the north and south gates swung open.

◇ ◇ ◇

"North and south forces, begin the attack!" he ordered.

To deal with the lizardman gathered in the west, Julius sent 1,000 troops

out of the north and south gates, which then circled around to northwest and

southwest of the pack.

"We will go on foot to circle around behind the enemy!" Jirukoma

called.

"We will attack from the south side! Men, don't be late!" Lauren

shouted.

The one leading the northern force was Jirukoma, and the commander of

the southern force was Lauren.

Partially because the lizardmen were distracted by eating, they let these

two forces approach them easily.

Kaede, who was watching from the walls, raised her right hand. "Now,

light the signal!"

At Kaede's command, a smoke signal went up from the west gate.

When Jirukoma and Lauren saw it, their forces attacked the lizardman

pack from the northwest and southwest. With a force of 2,000 attacking

them in a V formation, the surprised lizardmen were pushed toward Lasta in

the east.

When she saw that, Kaede poked her head out over the inside edge of

the city wall, and said to the person down below, "The time is ripe! We're

counting on you, Sir Julius!"

"Understood!"

Moving away from the wall, Julius, who was riding on a white horse,

drew his sword and held it aloft.

The 1,000 soldiers around him were mostly elites, including Lastanian

regulars and the Dratroopers. The troops were waiting for the order to set

out to come at any moment, and Julius announced to them, "The fate of this

country hangs on this battle! Eliminate the lizardmen, for the sake of the

families huddling in fear behind these walls!"

"""Yeahhhhhhh!"""

While listening to his men shout, Julius gave the order to the gates.

"Open the gates!"

The west gate opened, and 1,000 troops led by Julius leapt out.

The soldiers kept going with that momentum to plow straight into the

confused pack of lizardmen.

"My life for Lastania!"

"Die already, you damn lizard!"

As if venting their grudges over the battle on the walls, they made a

bloody mess of every lizardman they came across. Julius rode around

swinging his sword too, lopping the heads off one lizardman after another.

There was a trail of lizardman blood left behind where he had passed.

At the end of that line, Julius pointed his sword to the west and gave the

order, "Keep going, and push until we've finished them!"

◇ ◇ ◇

"He's doing a brilliant job commanding them, huh?" I commented.

The west gate opened, and the 1,000 troops coming out of it were

attacking the lizardmen who had been pushed east. Under attack from three

sides, the lizardmen were in a state of terror.

Hal and I were watching the scene unfold from up in the air on Ruby

and Naden's backs.

The forces led by Julius had just surrounded the lizardmen in a triangle

formation. He didn't close the encirclement, however, leaving a slight

escape route to the west, between Jirukoma's and Lauren's units. If he

closed all avenues of escape, the enemy would focus on his forces, but if

there was even a narrow way out, the lizardmen would be distracted by it.

As the lizardmen turned their attention to the west, Julius's forces

moved to crush the pack from the east.

Somehow, it reminded me of a pastry bag.

"In my world's military tactics, this would be an example of, 'In order to

capture, one must let loose,' but you wouldn't get that reference. Let's call

it the Pastry Bag Strategy instead."

"No, no, a name that makes you want to use it is no good," Naden said,

poking fun at me with her telepathy.

Hmm...

"Then, since it looks like a ryuu's mouth, how do you like 'Naden's

Mouth' instead?"

"Don't go putting my name on it without permission!"

"Here's how it'd sound on the battle field: 'Let's use Naden's Mouth

here!' 'This is the essence of Naden's Mouth.' 'Is there no one here who

can break out of Naden's Mouth?!'"

"Stoooop iiiit!"

"You two...I know I'm not one to talk, but this is a battle, so be a little

tenser, would you?" Hal, who was had brought Ruby's body closer, said in

exasperation.

Ruby nodded. "You too, Naden. Take your job more seriously."

"I didn't do anything wrong this time, did I?! Souma's the one acting

silly!"

"...You have a point," Ruby admitted.

"Don't worry, I'm looking around like I'm supposed to!" I called back.

My job in this battle was to monitor the area and ensure no unexpected

crises arose. We couldn't be sure there would be no sudden influx of

reinforcements. That was why I was using Living Poltergeists to scatter my

wooden mice and monitor a wide area around the battlefield.

As we were talking, I had a response.

"Hal, there's a group of lizardmen coming in from the north. New ones

that've crossed the river. There's fifty."

"Got it! We'll wipe them out real quick. Let's go, Ruby!"

"Okay!"

Ruby flapped her big wings and flew off to the north.

Hal and Ruby were a commando unit. They used their power and

mobility to support areas that looked ready to collapse, or to respond to

unexpected situations like just now.

"Now then..." I said, looking down.

There was a one-sided fight unfolding. The lizardmen were being

pushed back by the force Julius was leading and gathering at the narrow

escape route to the west. With all the pushing and shoving to get there,

some were even being trampled to death by their own kind.

It looked like some lizardmen were getting out of the encirclement

through the escape route. They were trying to flee into the woods, but...it

wasn't going to be that easy. This was a war of extermination. In order to

avoid later troubles, we couldn't let them get away here.

"So, I'm counting on you for the finishing touches, Aisha."

My strongest fiancée was waiting for the ones fleeing into the woods.

◇ ◇ ◇

The lizardmen fleeing into the forest must have thought they'd escaped.

However, there was no time for them to feel relief, as another crisis came

down on them from above.

"Hi-yahhh!" Aisha shouted.

Thud! There was a loud sound as her greatsword swung into the ground,

and a large lizardman was split in two.

The bisected lizardman's dead body crumpled.

Aisha, the strongest fighter in the kingdom, lifted her greatsword with

one hand, a weapon heavy enough to split the ground after cutting through

the lizardman, then effortlessly swung it to clean off the blood.

"This feeling... It's been a while." Aisha held her greatsword level with

her eyes. "Today I am not here as His Majesty's fiancée, or as his

bodyguard, but as a single warrior here to demonstrate her skills. Aisha of

the God-Protected Forest is coming for you!"

She held her greatsword sideways as she ran forward. As she passed by

some lizardmen bewildered by the sudden surprise attack, a single flash of

her sword divided three of them in two simultaneously.

"Gishaa!" the lizardmen shouted.

Coming back to their senses, the lizardmen pounced at Aisha, but she

used nearby tree trunks as footholds to bounce from tree to tree.

"I was born and raised in the God-Protected Forest. I have a slight

advantage fighting in the forest," Aisha grinned with confidence.

It wasn't like the lizardmen could understand a word of what she was

saying. But Aisha turned toward the ones who were bunching together to

try to attack her and swung with her greatsword's flat side down. Like

swatting flies, the lizardmen were smashed.

Aisha shook off the blood like before, then looked at the lizardmen as if

searching for her next prey. That glint in her eye intimidated the creatures,

and they stayed still.

"You aren't coming? Then I will go to you!" she yelled.

Aisha cut down the lizardmen one after another in order of proximity.

For the lizardmen further away, she sent a cutting blast of air pressure,

Sonic Wind, to cut them up. Her Sonic Wind slashed up not just the

lizardmen, but the surrounding trees as well, making it like a violent wind.

This is crazy. There's no way we can take her. The lizardmen

instinctively sensed that and scattered.

However...

"Whoa, there. Young Miss Aisha's not the only one used to fighting in

the forests!" a voice called.

Having circled around in front of a fleeing lizardmen, Kuu took a hard

swing with his cudgel into the underside of the lizardman's jaw.

An arrow that flew in from between the trees in yet another direction

planted itself in the lizardman's forehead.

Up on a branch in a large tree nearby, Leporina held her bow at the

ready.

Kuu jumped up into the branches, hanging down by his tail with a

cheerful laugh. "Members of the snow monkey tribe are good at climbing

trees, and Leporina's from a family of hunters. It'll be another thousand

years before you're any match for us in the forest."

"If you get too cocky, you'll get hurt," Leporina warned him as she

jumped from branch to branch.

"Oh, come on, like that would ever—Whuh?!"

When Leporina landed on a branch in the tree Kuu was hanging from,

the branches shook, and his tail slipped, making Kuu fall headfirst to the

ground.

Leporina quickly looked down below. "Wait, Young Master?! Are you

all right?!"

"Ow... I didn't quite land properly." Though he was rubbing his head in

pain, he didn't seem particularly badly hurt.

Though Leporina was relieved, she puffed up her cheeks. "Geez, don't

worry me like that."

"Sorry, sorry... Now, let's clean up the rest of them."

Kuu shouldered his cudgel and took off running. Leporina hurried after

him.

Those like Kuu, Leporina, and Aisha, who excelled at fighting in the

forest, had been lying in wait to exterminate the lizardmen when they fled

in there. The lizardmen who had been hunting chimeras were now being

hunted themselves.

Just as the battle in the forest was ending, the battle in the field wrapped

up too.

As might be expected from the side that had held the advantage from

beginning to end, compared to the piles of lizardman bodies littering the

battlefield, the combined forces of Lastania and Elfrieden had taken only

minor losses.

The battle near Lasta was about to end in victory. However, it wasn't as

though it was all over, so they couldn't afford to stop.

In with the soldiers, Julius was shouting, "The liberation of Lasta is a

success! However, if nothing changes, we will be surrounded again! We

will continue north from here, seize the fortress at the river crossing, and

push the line of defense up! Only once that is possible can the families

inside the walls get a good night's sleep!"

Then Julius thrust his sword skyward.

"It's just one last push! Let's go!"

"""Yeahhhhh!"""

With that, 3,000 soldiers marched on the fortress to the north.

They advanced up to the Dabicon River, taking out a group of a little

over ten lizardmen that were heading south along the way, and approached

the fortress near the crossing point.

It seemed there was no shortage of lizardmen nesting in the fortress, but

they didn't have the intelligence to fight a siege and were quickly

eliminated to retake the fortress.

"Well done, everyone!" Julius called. "Give me a cry of victory!"

"""Hip, hip, hooray!"""

The soldiers' victorious shout echoed as dusk fell on the fortress.

Souma and Julius went on to use this fortress as their base, eliminating

the lizardmen that crossed in small numbers, as they waited for the main

body of reinforcements to arrive from Friedonia.

Material aid from the Union of Eastern Nations was now able to enter

the liberated Lasta, and supplies were carried to the front-line fortress by

the wyvern cavalry who had returned.

Then, a week later, roughly 60,000 reinforcements at last arrived from

the Kingdom of Friedonia.