The atmosphere tears apart. From high up in the sky, the wind is split, and a thunderous roar descends towards the ground like the sound of gunfire.

The number isn’t large. At most, it barely reaches three hundred. The silhouettes dropping from above are unlikely to make a significant impact on the battlefield.

However, there is something to be said about momentum. It’s the fear that infantry inevitably feel when facing a cavalry charge. Each one falling from the sky is a knight who could be classified as elite.

The downward-facing cavalry spears glow red under the evening light. They are now close enough for the demon army on the ground to see them clearly as they fall.

“Forever Glory of Tylesse!!”

It’s a shout that borders on a scream. Just before the shout can even be heard, already—

-KWA-AAAAAAANG—!!!

The first collision occurs. Like a meteorite crashing down, it obliterates all objects and demons around it, literally grinding them to dust.

And such collisions were happening simultaneously across the battlefield under the shadow of the sky battleship.

-KWA-AAAAAAANG—!! KWA-AANG—!!

Each one carries a shockwave akin to a meteor impact. These astounding cavalry fighters twisted their bodies, striking their targets with all their might just before impact.

Demons brushed by the spear tips turned into pulp, and those standing near the impact area lost limbs or were flung away to their deaths.

-KWA-AANG—!!

Amidst the bloodstorm, a knight rises from a modest crater. Clad in full armor with a surcoat, the knight shakes his head vigorously, then grabs his helmet with trembling hands and throws it away fiercely.

“Ptooey!!”

After spitting blood onto the ground, he looks around. His vision, still shaking from the impact, sees nothing but demons, yet he senses the presence of his comrades.

“Fortunately, there are no fatalities!”

He cheerfully exclaims and then decapitates a nearby demon who stood dazed. Lifting the standard that still maintained its form despite the intense drop.

“Eastern Knights—!! Assemble!!”

“Gather!!”

Shouts echoed from all directions. The knights who hadn’t regained their senses from the impact began to regroup instinctively through their long training. Shouting the gathering signal, they pulled their still-staggering comrades forcibly.

Paladins can fill roles similar to heavy infantry. In other words, those wielding spears can form a kind of shield wall and move together. Especially a superhuman shield wall.

-KWA-ZIK! WOOD-DEUK!

Superhumans move in a turtle-like formation. In earthly battlefields, knights are often compared to ‘armored vehicles’. They were called the tanks of the medieval era. Considering their overwhelming breakthrough capacity and defensive power, it’s quite an apt comparison.

In a world where mana exists, it’s no longer just a metaphor. They can perform exactly the same functions. The knights advanced, literally smashing through everything blocking their path.

Until they squeaked in-between the shield wall of the Krasilov 2nd Legion, demons did not dare obstruct them.

The young man leading them thrusts the standard into the ground and bows his head in military etiquette.

“Oscar de Etarique, commander of Tylesse’s expeditionary force, meets the lord of Krasilov.”

“Thank you for coming, Oscar, or rather… Lord Protector. Is King Tylesse unharmed?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Thanks to you.”

As Elizaveta smiled in response, Oscar quickly surveyed his surroundings.

“If it were a better place, there would be an appropriate time to pay my respects, but for now, I must prioritize attending to Your Majesty.”

“Is this all your force?”

“The supporting units have not yet arrived. Due to the urgency, we had to land as soon as possible.”

“I see.”

Elizaveta’s expression darkened slightly. A few hundred knights. They were indeed powerful forces, but not enough to turn the tide of battle.

Given the current encirclement state, it could only be seen as arriving to perish together. Had they detected this before landing, she would have ordered them to retreat to the rear defensive line.

Rather than accompany the survivors here for a mutual demise, they would have had better use.

However, there was no look in Oscar’s eyes that suggested surrender. Elizaveta collected her thoughts briefly and asked.

“What is the plan?”

“The sky battleship of Kalion is about to commence bombardment. The direction of fire will be west, the direction of the setting sun, and we will open the way with our charge alongside the bombardment.”

Indeed.

Elizaveta nodded briefly. If they could bombard, then it might be possible to retreat under the protection of the knights since superhumans wouldn’t fall to bombardment.

However, she soon shook her head.

“I refuse. Evacuate with the bombardment. I will hold this position.”

“…What? Your Majesty, that is….”

“To evacuate via the ground along with the bombardment, would we not have to abandon all of these?”

Elizaveta replied, pointing at her soldiers.

She had undoubtedly led the infantry of the 2nd Legion to their deaths. They executed their plans without informing them of the presence of a lifeline, and finally, they were cornered here with the only lifeline—the underground tunnels—occupied by the enemy.

However, in retrospect, it could be seen as laying the groundwork for victory on a grand scale. After all, they had endured for a long time while gathering the demon forces.

But hiding the lifeline did not mean abandoning them. There had been casualties and losses, but if the operation’s objective was achieved and a retreat commenced, more than half of these people could survive.

It was a gamble for the minimum necessary sacrifices and the maximum achievable goals.

But if they escaped through the ground with the knights, the infantry would not be able to follow. They were those who couldn’t locate a lifeline amidst the sweeping bombardment from the Kalion battleship.

Furthermore, heading west from here to break through the encirclement and reach the vast plains would weigh the infantry down. The infantry couldn’t flee faster than the demons over Raspucita.

Thus, the knights’ operational plan was essentially to throw all of the infantry behind as food for the demons and flee. A desperate mission to rescue only the queen.

“If so, Your Majesty, if you have another plan, please share it. I will listen.”

“We will break through the underground tunnels. If it were only with my forces, it would be impossible, but with your help, it will be possible. We will break through the underground tunnels, clear a path, and stop the enemy’s offensive by cutting off their rear based on the support of the Kalion battleship.”

“Indeed. But can we find a path underground?”

“We may have been isolated by the goblins’ ambush, but not every dwarf perished in just two days. We can contact them underground and move to the rear. Can you do it?”

“I will carry out your orders as commanded. Please lead the way.”

Oscar nodded briefly. He was now representing Tylesse here, and the Lord Protector holds diplomatic standing, never below that of another ruler. However, in this urgent battlefield situation, command should not be divided.

In discussions over command authority, Elizaveta’s military experience far outweighed Oscar’s. There were ample reasons to follow her opinion based purely on her experience commanding troops.

-PEEE-IN—!! KWA-AANG—!!

While their brief meeting continued, the sky battleship of Kalion was buying as much time as possible. As bombardment followed, the demons scattered, hastily summoning sorcerers and mages.

However, their poorly prepared spells, unable to enhance the aerial defense, failed to breach the defenses of the sky battleship. Fireballs and the like exploded near the battleship, crumbling to the ground.

[Pathetic acts—!!]

Nekinon gritted his teeth, rising from a situation where he had momentarily staggered due to the bombardment. He surged forth, spitting out intense rage, scattering the shockwaves in fervor.

His metal skin remained smooth, showing no signs of damage despite Kalion’s firepower being directed at him.

Nekinon’s gaze was fixed on the battleship. His hands gathered in one place, touching different rune symbols. Soon, a dark mana flowed through his arms.

[None can escape here!! Did you come to find limbs? A delusion!]

“Certainly, none can escape from here.”

As he attempted to move forward, a clear voice echoed across the battlefield. The moment he hesitated, turning his gaze away from the spell he was about to complete.

There, on the bow of the battleship he targeted, stood a silhouette, looking down at him with a smile.

Golden hair fluttered in the rough, high winds. In the strong gusts, a woman emerged, brushing her hair back.

She wore an eyepatch over one eye, and with her missing arm, she lightly leaped off the bow while resting one hand on her sword’s hilt.

Nekinon knew the name of that elf.

[Edel…Platt…?!]

“Edelplatt Cohenulf of the Swordsmanship Faction joins the fight!”

-SWE-E-E-EEK—!!

[I know you well. Edelplatt, the disgrace of elves! Are you not the leader of a bunch who can’t even weave a single spell?! Do not liken me to that fool Tumor, swordsman!!]

“Ah, that’s not entirely incorrect.”

Edelplatt grinned as she gazed at the spell reaching out towards her from Nekinon. In free fall, her cape billowed dramatically, revealing her empty left arm.

With her one remaining arm, she unsheathed her sword and declared fiercely.

“So I brought a spellcaster! I’m the heir to the one you fear most, so look forward to it!! Elphi!!”

-Yes, Lord Cohenulf!!

A voice amplified by the spell burst forth from the sky battleship. As Elpheira intertwined her fingers, the entire battleship began to glow a bright blue.

The hum of the flowing mana was vividly felt. The floating of the battleship essentially showcased the essence of mana engineering, based on a powerful mana core. It was an ancient elven legacy that can no longer be restored.

Once, a race that had created their own gods solely with mana, they were the products of that lineage. Mana streaming out from the ship flowed toward Elpheira’s fingertips.

-KWA-ZIK, KWA-ZIK, KWA-JIJIJIJIK—!!

Elpheira is the daughter of Veolgrin. In terms of mana optimization, she was evaluated to rival the same Veolgrin of her time and was regarded as a genius in Kalion among the gathering magical prodigies.

Since the moment she operated the warship of the Swordsmanship Faction, she’d been preparing for now. The power to stand against the Seven Dragon Lords.

Isabelle split the heavens, right?

Elpheira grinned mischeviously, channeling great mana with the intent of igniting her nerves, extending her arms skyward—

“Elpheira’s—!!”

From her eyes surged a radiant blue mana. Static electricity crackled, and her hair stood on end. Like aiming a gun, she pointed her fingertips directly at Nekinon.

The immense mana exuded by the power source of the sky battleship shaped a spell through her fingers.

One hand was raised to the sky, invoking the heavens.

The other hand lowered toward the ground, refining her target.

“Descending Thunder—”

Veolgrin ascended the heavens (踏天). Reading the will of the sky, questioning the heavens, responding to the heavens, he ascended to the skies. The greatest astrologer in history tore and shook the heavens that defied celestial will.

Now in this moment. The daughter of the astrologer weaves a power denied by her, responding to her father with her talent.

The sky that her father shook and split, now gazing upon the era of mankind without gods and the sky of man, reading the celestial will from the nature devoid of will and intent.

Thus, it is not about ascending to the heavens.

It is about descending from the heavens. In other words,

“Thousand Thunder—!!”

It is divine punishment.

A thousand lightning bolts intertwine and descend as a white pillar. Under the clear evening sky, where the sky torn by the bombardment of the sky battleship lies beneath, lightning appears from the cloudless expanse and shatters the atmosphere.

-ZZZ-THOOOOOOOM—!!

It disassembled Nekinon’s spell in its entirety.

-KWA-KEKEKEKEKEKEG—!!

As Nekinon was struck directly and staggered backward, Edelplatt’s longsword, having fallen straight down, smoothly passed over him. It traced a long crack from his head down to his torso.

Landing lightly on the ground, Edel smiled up at the giant.

“Go on, my queen. I shall bind his feet.”

Having done this once, how hard could it be?

Elizaveta, with a serious face, nodded towards Edel and turned back. Leading the knights of Tylesse, they rushed towards the underground passage swarming with goblins.

-…!!!!

Behind them, the frantic call of the god and gunfire, the bolts of lightning igniting the extreme light, and the screams of the swept-away demons echoed.

Yet, they did not stop their steps, aiming straight for the rear defensive line constructed by the 2nd Legion’s artillery.

Toward the battlefield where the full strength of the United Kingdom could be manifested at maximum firepower.

Two days had passed since the engagement. It was an exceeding achievement of the strategic objective.

Two-thirds of the mobilized forces were lost in this operation. However, Elizaveta did not mourn for those who had departed first.

Instead, she had been preparing the next strategy solely for vengeance, and now it was time to reap the fruits of that labor.