Renée, having cast “Fly” upon herself, became a silver meteor streaking through the battlefield, crashing into the battle above the Royal Capital.
She chased after a Wyvern-riding cavalryman of Vizofinir, who was bringing up the rear, and struck him with her blade before he could even turn around. Her sword stopped on the feathers with a hard thunk.
Translator’s Note
ヴィゾフニル (Vizofuniru) is translated as Vizofinir.
“What the!?”
Two protective charms loaded onto the Wyvern’s saddle burst simultaneously. The rider shouted in surprise.
――I thought so, but they even give charms to their mounts… I think the cost of one of these is about a month’s salary for the average worker?
Since the Wyvern-riding cavalry itself is high-cost, it was natural that they would want to protect it, even if they had to give it expensive items.
Renée’s crimson blade was a magical attack. It had poor compatibility against defenses that shut out magic. However, these charms were merely to strengthen defenses against anti-aircraft fire. If she could directly slash, they weren’t much of a threat. While the rider fumbled to draw his sword and counterattack, Renée slashed twice more, burning through all of the Wyvern’s charms and splitting it in two.
“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh…!”
The bisected Wyvern and its rider, having lost their mount, were caught in the chains of gravity and fell. The rider was still unharmed, but falling from a height greater than the spires of the Royal Castle would almost certainly turn him into a crushed tomato.
――One down…!
Hearing the screams, the other Wyvern-riding cavalrymen noticed the anomaly.
“Undead!”
“Is this the one?!”
Among the reinforcements, two Hippogriff riders were a tandem of a knight and a priest. The priests, upon seeing Renée, immediately began chanting.
“Holy Ray!”
One of them cast a spell. A brightly shining flash burst forth and swept across. Renée dodged by swerving and adjusting her altitude, diving under the beam of light.
Then, the next spell approached.
“Shooting Nova!”
A magic bullet, only describable as a cannonball, flew in, leaving a trail of white afterglow. It gently arced and pursued. Renée sharply decelerated and grazed past it, slashing the magic bullet itself with her crimson blade, canceling out its magic and dispersing it into mist.
However, weaving through the spells, a different Wyvern cavalryman approached, unlike the previous one. The Wyvern was a relatively lightweight flying mount. It flew nimbly without a tandem rider, and the rider was equipped with a slender spear.
Renée, feinting as she flew, and the Wyvern cavalryman crossed paths several times. Renée’s crimson blade burned through several charms, but the rider and mount each had charms equipped, skillfully dispersing the damage, preventing it from reaching the main body.
Her side felt hot. The spear had torn Renée’s dress. That spear also seemed to be blessed with “Consecration.”
――Annoying…
As expected of the soldiers of Noacurio, one of the five major powers. The types and number of mounts, their training, the level and power of the magic they used, the splendor of their equipment, everything gave the impression of being first-rate.
“So you’re the one they call the ‘Rose Princess of Hellrage’!”
A Wyvern cavalryman hovered at a slight distance in front of Renée, and the male rider roared. He was a knight in excessively decorated armor, painted in primary colors in places. Due to the full-body armor, it was impossible to tell what kind of object was inside, but his voice gave the impression of a “stuffy middle-aged man.” From his mount’s decorations to the pattern on his cloak, he looked more important than the other Wyvern-riding cavalrymen, making it clear that he was the captain. Or rather, that’s probably why he was differentiating himself with the decorations.
The sorcerer riding behind the captain (provisional) cast “Speaker.” The captain’s (provisional) booming voice echoed through the skies of the Royal Capital.
“I am Evan Jodas Reizen, second son of Duke Reizen of the Kingdom of Noacurio, and captain of the Third Division of the Wyvern-Riding Cavalry! I have come to protect the people of the Kingdom of Ciel-Terra from the tyranny of these monsters!!”
It was a grand self-introduction. It was, so to speak, a battlefield custom. Not unlike Japanese Sengoku warlords, it was common for nobles, mercenaries, and adventurers alike to announce themselves through some means during battle. This pompous old man named Evan was doing something akin to a neighborhood broadcast, both to impress Noacurio’s benevolence upon the citizens of Ciel-Terra and, above all, to raise his own name and bring glory back to his country.
It would have been appropriate to return the introduction, but Renée did not. The reason was that the opposing priest had begun chanting a spell. Perhaps he thought etiquette was unnecessary against monsters. There was no need to give time to someone who was already in a combat stance, and she had no intention of being polite to such a rude fellow.
Renée controlled her flight and charged directly at Evan. Naturally, the Wyvern opened its mouth.
Dodging the breath attack with a slightly exaggerated trajectory, Renée simultaneously cut off the head of a Wyvern that had charged at her. The mount’s charms were already gone. The body and rider fell, spinning end over end.
“[Performance Bias: Spread Custom] Holy Arrow!”
“Holy Ray!”
Sacred magic was unleashed again. Countless split light arrows flew, geometrically intertwining. And, at the same time, a beam-like flash was emitted from a different angle.
The “Holy Arrow,” which had its power reduced in favor of increasing the number of shots, was not much of a threat. Renée allowed herself to be hit by a few, while ascending to escape the two spells.
And then, she released “Fly.”
“Counter Magic Field.”
A protective magical power enveloped Renée.
The pursuing “Holy Arrow.” The “Holy Ray,” slowly turning towards Renée. The “Fireball” shot by the sorcerer. All of them burst before reaching Renée.
“What!?”
Evan was astonished. Not because the magic had been defended, but because she had used “Counter Magic Field” at this point.
Renée’s body, carried by the momentum of “Fly,” was thrown in a parabolic arc as if launched by a catapult, and began to fall according to gravity. Towards the Wyvern that Evan was riding.
If this had been an “arrow flying in a parabolic arc,” Evan would have reflexively avoided it, and the Wyvern might have even avoided it on its own. However, faced with the incomprehensible sight of a “headless girl in a dress flying in a parabolic arc,” Evan’s reaction was slightly delayed.
“Bgya!!”
Renée landed on the shoulder of the sorcerer riding behind Evan.
“You!”
Evan, instead of drawing his sword at this point, spurred the Wyvern, applying a sudden brake. The Wyvern bucked up, down, and sideways like a rodeo. It was trying to shake Renée off. However, Renée, in her Dullahan form, was quite strong despite her appearance. She wrapped her legs around the sorcerer’s neck and forcefully clung on. And then.
“Bye-bye.”
“Eh…?”
Renée kicked Evan off. Not with a magic attack, nor by slashing him with her crimson blade, but by cutting the lifeline of his harness and kicking him off with one foot. She thought she didn’t know how many charms he had, so she chose the quickest way to kill him.
Gravity was equal and merciless to all. Evan, with a look on his face that showed he didn’t understand what was happening, grew distant.
The Wyvern continued to buck, but Renée stabbed her crimson blade into the saddle where Evan had been sitting, that is, into the Wyvern’s torso beneath it. The charms equipped on the Wyvern burst one after another. And on the fourth stab, Renée’s sword finally pierced the Wyvern’s heart.
“Gyoaaaaaaahhh!!”
With a strained scream, the Wyvern lost its balance. But it wasn’t dead yet. It seemed likely to survive for the few seconds it would take to reach the ground. Renée could escape even so, but that would leave the Wyvern’s corpse a mess.
“Pain Whip!”
The cursed whip struck the Wyvern, and it finally seemed to give up the ghost, falling limply. The sorcerer, still connected to the Wyvern by the harness, and Renée, clinging to the sorcerer, fell with it.
“Create Undead!”
As Renée cast the spell, the fall stopped. Intense gravitational acceleration occurred, and then they ascended. Bleeding from its chest and mouth, the Wyvern began to flap its wings powerfully. The Wyvern Zombie was complete. This Wyvern was now Renée’s loyal servant. When Renée reached out her hand, the Wyvern Zombie bent its snake-like neck and affectionately rubbed its head against Renée’s hand.
“So. Um…”
Renée, gracefully landing on the saddle, looked at the sorcerer in the back seat, where she had been clinging with her legs until just now. He gave a strained, bitter smile and raised both hands.
“I… I surrender…”
Seeing this, Renée smiled.
“Very well. Serve me with only your bones and soul. Become a Lich!” “Gyaaaah!”
Renée unleashed three consecutive slashes, burning through the sorcerer’s charms and finally killing him.
“Once more, Create Undead.”
From the dead sorcerer’s body, flesh peeled away like dust. In the hollow eye sockets of the sorcerer, now just bones, an eerie red light burned.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Lawrence was agitated.
“Damn it…! If only I had wings!!”
One of the towers in the castle had been converted into an operations command room, where Lawrence, Hilbert, and several other knight order executives were stationed. As long as the king was on the battlefield, the commander was the king.
The battle in the sky could be observed from the slit-shaped window of this room. They could see the captain of the reinforcement unit, who had finally arrived, being easily defeated.
Lawrence was undeniably the strongest warrior in the country. If he went to the front lines, he could defeat hundreds of undead by himself, and morale would rise. The reason he didn’t was because he was wary of the “Rose Princess of Hellrage.” If the castle were attacked while Lawrence was away, there would be no way to stop it. In this battle, Lawrence was merely a piece to be thrown against the “Rose Princess of Hellrage.” Well, because of that, he was also accumulating frustration from not being able to fight.
“Lawrence. You are fulfilling your role admirably by being here. For now, leave it to your subordinates.”
“Yes…”
Rebuked by Hilbert, Lawrence clenched his hands.
“Was that flying speed ‘Fly’? ‘Air Step’ can’t keep up.”
“Probably so. She manipulates magic.”
“Air Step” is a wind elemental magic that allows the caster to walk in the air. It’s a convenient magic that allows even those who aren’t mages themselves to move freely in the air, but there’s too much of a difference in speed between “walking in the air” and “flying.”
“She’s controlling ‘Fly’ at will while engaging in sword combat…”
Hilbert groaned. Those who can use both weapons and magic to some extent are called “magic warriors” or “magic swordsmen,” but such an unconventional fighting style is normally impossible.
“Putting users of sacred magic on the Wyvern-riding cavalry seems to be having some effect. For now, we’ll drive her back with this.”
“Yes. Even if she has the power to fly, the sky is still the Wyvern-riding cavalry’s battlefield. We’ll knock her down.”
“Oops.”
Suddenly, a flash of sacred magic flew up from below, and Renée changed the Wyvern Zombie’s flight path to dodge it.
Looking down, she saw that even the Ciel-Terra Royal Palace Knight Order’s Hippogriffs were carrying priests in tandem. Seeing how the reinforcements were fighting, they had temporarily landed and added human artillery.
“…The odds are looking bad, aren’t they?”
Renée muttered, looking at the enemy’s formation. All of Renée’s forces were undead. With more sacred magic in the sky, it would become difficult to fight.
Renée immediately decided to retreat. There was no need to fight any longer here and now.
“This first strike is good enough. …Let’s go back. Let’s go, Schadenfreude.”
Renée turned her mount’s head and gave the return order to the Hippogriff Zombies as well. The Wyvern-riding cavalrymen were taken aback by the sudden, clean break. After a short pause, they seemed to come to their senses and launched a pursuit with magic, but it was blocked by Renée’s defenses and failed to deal any damage.
A/N: By the way, the Hippogriffs of the reinforcement unit have properly undergone night flight training. That’s why they were able to arrive in time for the battle with night vision magic + all-night flight. Impressive.