Shinwa Densetsu no Eiyuu no Isekaitan - Volume 7 - Chapter 4.3

“My lady! The enemy isn’t stopping!”

The retainers’ cries verged on screams. Their faces grew paler with every new report.

“I know.”

Aura turned her eyes away from the battlefield, dismounted her horse, and cast her gaze to the map of the battlefield on the table. Her eyes darted to and fro as she moved pawns around, taking stock of the situation.

There was no fixing the ragged hole that had been torn in the imperial center. Liz had not been able to lessen their momentum; it seemed to have been all she could do to thin their numbers. Still, the majority of Six Kingdoms’ troops had not penetrated the second cohort. The most pressing issue now was the unit that had broken through.

“We have reserves in the rear we can call on,” one of the aides said.

“We’d be better off retreating ourselves,” another replied. “The entire center should fall back.”

“The more cards we have to play, the better,” a third argued. “This war may not end today. We ought to save the reserves for when they will be most needed.”

Aura heard them and nodded. “How are the wings faring?” She cocked her head, seemingly disregarding all that they had said.

“M-My lady...” one of the aides stammered. “Surely we must focus on the more pressing danger...”

“How are they faring?” Her eyes flashed. She was not looking to debate. The aides gulped. Seeing their hesitation, Aura sighed and pointed at one. “You. Tell me.”

“The right wing is gaining ground, my lady. The left wing has just engaged the enemy.”

Information took time to travel across a battlefield, and the situation would have progressed since that point, but it was unlikely to have changed too much. From the start, Six Kingdoms’ wings had only ever been intended to strip away the walls protecting the imperial center. They were, in short, bait. While their commander no doubt hoped they would prevail, they were almost certainly under orders to draw out the fighting as long as possible if they fell into difficulty.

“So, that’s their plan. Straight through the middle.”

With the imperial army’s wings peeled away and Six Kingdoms’ center bearing down on its core, Aura knew that her prediction had hit the mark. She had never believed that the enemy would truly attempt to encircle them. She had known, however, that they believed the imperial army would attempt to do so with the benefit of its greater numbers. Accordingly, she had diverted soldiers from the center to the wings to lure them in. In case they proved cautious, she had attempted a reverse encirclement, subconsciously pushing them toward a central charge. That was the key: giving them an opportunity so tempting that they wouldn’t hesitate and wouldn’t suspect—and all of the pieces were finally in place. Not everything had gone according to her predictions, but for the most part, events were proceeding as expected. Now to play her next card.

“It’s time to put my plan into action.”

The ploy wasn’t strictly necessary. Left to its own devices, the battle would fall in her favor. The empire had Six Kingdoms beaten in numbers; its triumph was guaranteed. But a predictable triumph would not win Liz any laurels. Aura’s true challenge in this battle was to produce a victory spectacular enough to leave the whole continent slack-jawed.

“I’ll win this battle with minimal losses.”

Aura produced a letter from her sleeve: Hiro’s final letter that she had taken from his swiftdrake’s saddlebag. She regretted opening it before realizing it was addressed to Liz, but the more she had read, the more thankful she had become that it had not reached its intended recipient. It detailed Hiro’s origins, as well as the schemes he had left in place. Aura had stopped reading the section about his origins partway through, cut it out, and stored it in a safe place. She had not been certain that Liz could stomach it in her delicate mental state.

That decision proved wise. When Aura showed Liz what remained of the letter—the part detailing Hiro’s schemes—it had left her profoundly shocked, to the point that she had feared reading it. Aura had resolved to keep the rest from her until she was ready to handle it. She did not know when that day would be, but in the meantime...

We won’t let Hiro’s plans go to waste.

She and Liz had decided as much together. They would make the most of the boons he had left them.

“Raise it,” she commanded the standard bearer.

The aides’ eyes widened as they watched the standard rise. In a second, their wild panic transformed into the indomitable expressions of seasoned warriors. It was as though they had become completely different people—as indeed anybody would at the sight. A dragon took flight on a field of midnight black, clutching a silver blade as it unleashed a mighty roar. Above the field fluttered the sazul, the sacred standard of the man once known and feared as the War God.

“Listen to me,” Aura said. “What we do here will decide this battle.”

The aides stood at attention at the sound of her voice. The critical moment was upon them. They could hold nothing back, committing their all to seizing victory.

“First, we rout this unit approaching the core.”

“Aye, my lady.” One of the aides grinned. “We can’t very well leave them to run riot, can we?”

“No.”

The situation was not as desperate as it seemed. The enemy cavalry had punched through the second cohort with fearsome speed, but the third cohort still remained behind that. It was true that their current momentum put them in danger of reaching the Imperial core, but as far as Aura was concerned, that was a trivial matter. Their actions were unexpected, but not unanticipated.

“Shall we issue the reserves?” another aide asked.

“Mm. But only Queen Claudia’s unit.”

“The Lebering troops, my lady? Alone?”

The aide seemed skeptical that Claudia’s troops could halt the enemy cavalry. It was hard to blame him—even Liz hadn’t been able to stop them. By the same token, however, it would have taken their best to waylay her. The Lebering troops might be tired after their string of battles, but they had by far the most experience fighting Six Kingdoms and had the greatest chance of success.

There were political factors as well. The Lebering forces had contributed a great deal to the war effort, and leaving them to rot on the back lines would risk inviting criticism that the empire was too petty to allow them further glory. On the face of it, the empire would be indebted to Lebering, but considering how much the latter would benefit from its boost in status, it was, in fact, they who would owe the empire.

“Give the signal.” Aura drew the spirit weapon from her belt and leveled the tip at the standard bearer. Once the flag of Lebering flew high, she turned back to the aides. “Send word across the army. This is where we make our stand. Every unit is to hold position. Stop their charge with all we have.”

“At once, my lady!”

The aides jumped to their tasks. They turned immediately into a milling mob, dispatching messengers to all corners of the army.

Aura watched for a moment as the core came alive, then turned around and looked to the rear. The Lebering troops’ flag danced on the wind in answer.

The zlosta had ruled all of Soleil once upon a time before being driven to the far reaches of the north. Many in the empire regarded their frozen kingdom as a jail, with the zlosta as its inmates. Yet upon seeing Claudia for the first time, Aura had marveled that anybody so beautiful could exist, and after both witnessing her brazen cunning at the strategy meeting and glimpsing the burning ambition that lurked beneath, she had developed something of an admiration for Lebering’s frigid queen.

At that moment, an aide approached to alert her of a new development. “Lady Aura! Smoke has been sighted on the enemy’s back lines!”

Aura pushed her musings from her mind and turned to look at the western sky. Black smoke rose in the distance, billowing fiercely as though declaring its intent. A shiver ran through her. Her eyes widened as she pressed an overlong sleeve to her mouth. She had believed she would never see them again, had given up on ever again witnessing their valor.

“Thank goodness you’re safe,” she whispered.

The Knights of the Royal Black are alive in Faerzen, Hiro had claimed in his letter.

In Faerzen was a man named Rache du Vertra. While the royal family still reigned, he had been the captain of the royal guard, and after their deaths, he had served as Scáthach’s deputy in command of the Faerzen Resistance. There was no telling how many of the Knights of the Royal Black had survived under his command, but word had come on the day before last that they were making for the imperial border—the only good news amid a deluge of bad.

Admittedly, she had been uncertain how best to put them to use. After their historic defeat in Faerzen had permitted Third Prince Brutahl’s capture by the enemy, their survival might well be considered a stain upon their pride—something that they understood themselves. Accordingly, they had sought out Rache and gone to ground. With him, at least, they would find honorable deaths.

Hiro’s letter, however, had stressed their importance. They had not fled, he had insisted, but were seeking a chance for revenge—a chance that he had requested Liz grant them.

He left us plenty of options. Plenty of possibilities.

When she had realized Hiro’s true intentions, she had been overjoyed but also felt terror stir in her chest. Just how far had he seen? It was as though he had read the future. It was impossible not to feel awe. Orchestrating this was a deed beyond the province of mortal men; it was the work of a god.

But I’ll still surpass him.

She could not afford to give up or fall short; not with the name of the Warmaiden around her neck. She wanted to see what he saw, to understand to what end the Hero King of Twinned Black had dreamed of such unprecedented feats.

If the truth is anywhere, it’s there.

But for now, she stowed her ambitions deep inside herself and held her spirit weapon high.

“Send word to all the reserves. The time has come. They are to skirt around the battlefield and crush Six Kingdoms’ core.” She slowly lowered her weapon so its tip faced the smoke rising in the west. “Tell all units that victory is at hand, but they aren’t to be complacent. I expect nothing less than their best.”

Emotions welled up in her aides’ hearts, fierce yet rooted in tranquility. They turned their gazes to the sky. Tears trickled from the corners of their eyes, in shame, perhaps, of their previous hysteria.

“Oh great Spirit King, father to us all, sing praise of our lord’s deeds.” One by one, they fell to their knees and bowed their heads. “Our lord’s justice shall pierce the heavens. His might shall split the earth. His passing shall part the seas, and his deeds shall light all of creation.”

In a world of clamor and chaos, here alone was an island of calm, a space where time seemed to have stopped. As the aides lowered their heads, Aura laid a hand to her chest and issued her final decree.

“Fight with honor, in the War God’s name.”

“As you command, my lady.” They rose as one, quietly, fiercely, and burning with an unbreakable will.